AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF PRIVATE VERSUS PUBLIC AIRPORTS - "In the United States, most airports used by commercial airlines are owned and operated by the public sector. However, the trend towards airport privatization in other countries has stimulated new thinking in this regard both from the federal government and businesses. As the privatization trend in the airport industry continues, airport managers are facing increased pressure to find more cost-efficient ways of running their airports, and implementing improvement standards will become a necessity. This paper compares the efficiency of privatized and government-owned airports using detailed information on fifteen airports, both private and public, chosen based on their similarity in hub size. Ratio and regression analyses were used for measuring airport performance. Findings indicate that government-owned airports have better operating efficiency in terms of passengers per runway area, movements per gate, and movements per runway, while privatized airports have higher financial efficiencies such as revenue per passenger and revenue per landing. Countries with privatized airports generally impose some form of price regulation or landing fees, so privatization does not always insure that citizens get the services they require from government at lower cost. Airport profitability appears to be the result of the relationship between regulatory controls, choice of market, market power and productivity."
Weird. We're told that the government always screws up and the private sector is always superior
Letter Grading Government Efficiency - "We mailed letters to non-existent business addresses in 159 countries (10 per country), and measured whether they come back to the return address in the United States and how long it takes. About 60% of the letters were returned, taking over six months, on average. The results provide new objective indicators of government efficiency across countries, based on a simple and universal service, and allow us to shed light on its determinants. The evidence suggests that both technology and management quality influence government efficiency, just as they do that of the private sector."
Senior counsel questions handling of Keppel bribery case as other lawyers weigh in; Indranee to address matter in Parliament - "A senior counsel has questioned the decision by Singapore authorities not to prosecute six former senior management staff members of Keppel Offshore & Marine for a US$55 million (S$73 million) bribery case involving Brazilian oil giant Petrobras... the Singapore Academy of Law, which manages the news service, said the article "was not within the editorial parameters of Singapore Law Watch which are focused on commentaries on the latest Singapore Supreme Court judgments and articles on recent legislative changes”... Mr Singh questioned the decision by the AGC and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) made in January. The two agencies had announced that they would not be prosecuting the six Keppel O&M employees for their involvement in the bribes allegedly paid to Brazilian state officials to secure 13 large contracts there. Instead, the six will be given stern warnings. Mr Singh asked if this decision signalled "a crack in Singapore's long professed policy of zero tolerance towards corruption", and whether Singaporeans should be concerned by the decision... He said non-prosecution could not be justified just because a corrupt scheme is complex and transactional, and said there is already a large amount of evidence of the scheme available and accessible to prosecutors. The six former staff members appear to be within Singapore's jurisdiction, so CPIB has extensive investigative powers over them... Keppel O&M itself has openly admitted its involvement and paid a massive fine. This is also "one of the largest bribery scandals in Singapore's history" with the corrupt acts involving the wholly owned subsidiary of a Singapore public listed company... Mr Singh also asked whether assistance has been sought from foreign authorities for any crucial foreign evidence and if such assistance has been refused. "Is the evidence in this case such that not even a single individual was sufficiently blameworthy to warrant a prosecution?""
Meme - "I am Andrew Bustamante, a former covert CIA intelligence officer and founder of the Everyday Espionage training platform. Ask me anything."
"Does the cia use child prostitutes to control assets?"
"I plead the 5th. The things we use to control assets are unsettling enough without going into details."
"That's a scary fucking answer."
The real reason why millennials like me aren't going to the pub any more
The Neocons' Primary War Tactic: Branding Opponents of U.S. Intervention as Traitors - "One of the most bizarre but important dynamics of Trump-era U.S. politics is that the most fanatical war-hungry neocons, who shaped Bush/Cheney militarism, have become the most popular pundits and thought leaders in American liberalism. They have not changed in the slightest — they are employing the same tactics they have always invoked, and for the same causes — but they have correctly perceived that their agenda is better served by migrating back to the Democratic Party which originally spawned their bloodthirsty ideology. The excuse offered by Democrats for their embrace of neocons — we did it only as a temporary coalition of convenience to oppose Trump — is false for many reasons. This unholy alliance pre-dated Trump... perhaps the most influential and beloved pundit in U.S. liberal political life now is former Bush White House speechwriter David Frum, now at The Atlantic and CNN. His cover stories for that magazine warning that Trump is an unprecedented evil (which has the convenient benefit of absolving him and the rest of the D.C. establishment of all their past sins) were passed around and celebrated as if they were this generation's Dead Sea scrolls... Frum condemned these anti-war conservatives of being guilty of every bigotry he could think of: racism, anti-Hispanic animus, and anti-Semitism. He concluded his lengthy accusatory screed with rhetoric that should sound very familiar to anyone who has heard Frum cast similar aspersions over the last five years toward anyone not as obsessed with Trump as he is, or more recently, not as eager as he is to send other people's kids or American resources to fight Russia... This rhetorical tactic — impugning the patriotism and loyalty of one's opponents — is now the dominant theme in American liberalism precisely because liberals are now led by neocons. Under this rubric, anyone (on the right or the left) who opposed Hillary Clinton and then Joe Biden during the Trump years was deemed not just wrong but treasonous: a Kremlin agent. That included Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein, WikiLeaks, leftist critics of Democrats, right-wing critics of Democrats, and in general anyone who echoed President Obama's long-standing view that Russia did not pose a serious threat to the U.S. I cannot count the number of times I have been accused of being a Kremlin agent or asset not by random social media trolls but by prominent Democratic Party and liberal media and political figures for expressing those views."
Weird. Liberals keep insisting their opponents are fascists, but an eagerness for war is a characteristic of fascism
Rebecca Katz on Twitter - "Never underestimate @giselefetterman. She really can do it all. 🔥"
Angry Arizonans on Twitter - "So she's back from vacation? Nice timing. Notice her jacket open, no helmet, no gear, hair down, on the phone while the other fire fighters are still in their gear. Seems like a publicity stunt to me."
Island Pouncer on Twitter - "My local volunteer fire department has pretty strict rules on hair length. Not that her department can’t have more relaxed rules but shouldn’t hers be tied up tight?"
ChristinaBistes on Twitter - "She wasn’t anywhere near that fire. Perfectly clean bunker gear speaks the truth. Truly disgusting."
Twan on Twitter - "So she donned a firefighters jacket, walked around, talked on the phone, and posed for pictures. Wow. 🙄"
PghFan16🇺🇸 on Twitter - "I honestly don't get the giant media hype over this. I was a firefighter for 15+ yrs with some of the best in the business in the Pittsburgh area in my opinion and not one of them was ever featured in the media for doing such a job for free nor given an outpouring of support bc of it and honestly no offense but bc she is the wife of a man that shouldn't even be a Senator she is given all this attention when most of the members at the station she pretends at have been at it for years. Our society really is ass-backward with the ppl who get fawned over."
Haldalorian, NAFO Adjacent on Twitter - "And didn't wear a helmet, which is unsafe and stupid, unlike oh, all the other firefighters who were actually doing something."
Shaq Reveals Why He Rejected a $40 Million Sneaker Deal With Reebok - "he was confronted by a woman who scolded him for selling his signature Rebook shoes at a price that many of his younger fans could not afford. “That day, I cut ties with Reebok,” he said of forgoing a $40 million deal he had with the brand following a moment of clarity. “I said keep the money… this ain’t right. I’ll still wear the shoes I do during the season, but I’ll be looking to do my own thing,” he said. “So, I started the Shaq brand. I went to my favorite store, Walmart, and we did a deal. I was in all stores and my price point for the shoes was $29-$19 and since then we sold over 400 million pairs.” He added that he brought on designers from Reebok to join him in the new Walmart venture. “It’s not kids that don’t want to wear $20 shoes, they don’t want to wear shoes that look like they cost $20.” Shaq eventually began selling a line of Shaq brand shoes at Walmart that he said in 2016 sold “over 120 million pairs of affordable shoes for kids.” The TV personality isn’t the only NBA start to sell affordable shoes, as the ex-New York Knicks player Stephon Marbury endorsed his own range of Starbury sneakers, which sell for as little as $14.98."
Incredible moment another snake emerges from mouth of red-bellied black snake - "A snake catcher got more than he bargained for after being called to remove a red-bellied black snake from a Gold Coast yard. When Mitch Thorburn from South East Reptile Relocations approached the snake he could tell it had recently eaten, but he did not expect it to regurgitate its meal still alive... the baby eastern brown is still flicking its tongue despite being partially consumed by another animal.""-
Would You Eat This 3D Printed Cheesecake? - "cooking food through a medium such as a 3D printer allows for better control over the nutritional content, leading to healthier food consumption. “This food printing movement is just starting,” Jonathan Blutinger, an engineer at Columbia’s Creative Machines Lab in New York, said in an email to Gizmodo. He added that the technology is starting with manufacturers as plant-based products and will then move to restaurants where chefs “can create new flavor experiences for patrons and delectable dishes that are made to order,” and finally, “it will find its way into our homes as a kitchen appliance.” Printing food has additional benefits and according to the study, “more emphasis on food safety following COVID-19, food prepared with less human handling may lower the risk of foodborne illness and disease transmission.”... Food created by 3D printers could also have an extended shelf life, the report states, and could reduce food waste since consumers would have the option to print only the amount of food they need"
Uproar as Liberal minister's in-law named interim ethics commissioner - "Newly appointed Interim Ethics Commissioner Martine Richard is the sister-in-law of Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc — a veteran parliamentarian with a history of running afoul of Canada’s conflict-of-interest laws... Holland said questions concerning Richard’s integrity are “conspiracy theories” that belong on the internet discussion website Reddit rather than in the House of Commons... “A first cousin of Mr. LeBlanc’s spouse, Mr. Gilles Theriault, could have benefited financially from an Arctic surf clam licence being awarded to the Five Nations Clam Company,” then-Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion commented at the time. “If a public office holder is aware of a potential opportunity to further the private interests of a relative through the exercise of an official power, duty or function, the public office holder must be vigilant in avoiding such conflicts of interest.” Now retired from his post, Dion said earlier this year that the Trudeau government needs to pay closer attention to ethics. “The Act has been there for 17 years, for God’s sake, so maybe the time has come to do something different so that we don’t keep repeating the same errors”... International Trade Minister Mary Ng broke ethics rules by awarding a contract to a friend’s public relations firm. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated ethics rules twice — first in 2017 for accepting a family vacation at the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas, and again two years later for improperly trying to influence former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould into dropping criminal prosecution into SNC-Lavalin... Ethics watchdog and Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher said LeBlanc’s relationship to Richard is no secret around Parliament Hill, and in 2019 even filed a complaint with the federal integrity commissioner over it. “But the ethics commissioner’s office is not covered by the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, and so the integrity commissioner couldn’t investigate to ensure that Richard had recused herself from any investigation relating to LeBlanc,” Conacher told the National Post. “Even if she did recuse herself from any such investigation, she headed up the investigations and legal department, and everyone who worked for her would know about her conflict, and that she would want any wrongdoing by LeBlanc to be covered up or excused, and likely any wrongdoing by LeBlanc’s longtime friend and boss Trudeau also covered up or excused.” Having such a close relation to a cabinet minister in such a role, he said, undermines the integrity of the commissioner’s investigations."
Conflict of interest is something liberals always talk about, but it doesn't apply to things they approve of
Electricity can heal even the worst kind of wounds three times faster, new study finds
Real estate developer's proposal to girlfriend derailed after Bahamas immigration refused her entry - "A Miami-based real estate developer said his proposal plan was derailed when a bigoted immigration official refused his girlfriend and her sister entry to the Bahamas on suspicion they were sex workers. Hal 'Nuby' Sears, 64, had been planning to ask his girlfriend to marry him during a nine-day trip to the Bahamas, during which they were planning on staying on a 70-foot yacht. Darina Pînzaru, 25, and her sister Ina, 36, from Moldova, were denied entry in an act of prejudice, and sent back to London"
What ‘Demolition Man’ Has Gotten Right—so Far - "Self-driving electric cars? Check.
Humans using computers to increase their self esteem? Check.
Zoom meetings? Check.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s entry into politics? Check.
Attention spans the length of goldfish? Check.
Voice-activated search in homes? Check.
Digital currency? Check.
Tablets? Check.
Portable phones that access the internet? Check.
Anti-smoking laws, language police, germaphobia, and gun control? Check. Check. Check. Check...
If dystopia arrives, what will it look like? Oftentimes dystopia is depicted as malevolent and totalitarian, like in Orwell’s Nineteen-Eighty Four. Sometimes it’s a desolate wasteland of violence, like in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road or Mad Max. But sometimes, like in Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, on which Demolition Man is very loosely based, dystopia is soft, prosperous, and caring—but just as sinister. The Christian philosopher C.S. Lewis once wrote that of all the tyrannies on earth, none was as oppressive as that which was exercised for the benefit of its victims... This was the tyranny Edgard Friendly couldn’t stomach. It wasn’t Big Brother that drove Edgar Friendly underground, it was something closer to the Nanny State. And if we’re being honest, many of Friendly’s grievances speak to our world today. When he says he’s the kind of guy “who wants to sit in a greasy spoon and think, ‘Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs,’” I don’t think he was referring to the synthetic beef Bill Gates wants to shift the world to to save the planet. When Friendly talks about free speech, it’s hard not to think about the growing hostility to free expression on social media, university campuses, and in corporate workplaces. When he says he’s into freedom of choice, the last two years of the pandemic loom large, as the Cocteaus in our world made decisions for billions of people. Wear the mask. Stay home. Get the shot. And do not complain or protest; because we’re all in this together."
S'pore woman loses lawsuit against unfaithful psychiatrist whom she had affair with, judge says 'no true winner' in case - "A woman embarked on a "quest for revenge" after learning that the male psychiatrist whom she had an affair with was unfaithful to her... Serene Tiong Sze Yin, entered into an intimate extramarital affair with Chan Herng Nieng, the owner and psychiatrist at Capital Mind Health Clinic, while she was married in early 2017, according to court documents. All was smooth sailing until Tiong unlocked Chan's phone with his thumbprint while he was asleep. She discovered explicit WhatsApp messages where Chan exchanged "sordid" details and bragged about his sexual conquests with other married women to one Julian Ong Kian Peng, who is a colorectal surgeon who operates Julian Ong Endoscopy & Surgery Pte Ltd. This took place towards the tail-end of the couple's overseas trip and their relationship began to crumble after they returned from the eastern European holiday on Apr. 25, 2018. This was despite Tiong wanting to to continue the relationship initially. She intended to marry Chan eventually, but he "spurned her love for him", and Tiong thus began her "quest for revenge"... She took their "lover's spat" to court and alleged that Chan was medically negligent – breached professional conduct and his duty of care – by plying her with high dosages of a supposedly addictive drug, Xanax, amongst other things. Tiong claimed that she became addicted and suffered significant side effects after consuming Xanax... she alleged that Chan made a statement saying to her that "he was committed to having a long-term and exclusive sexual relationship with her" to e her into sexual relations with him all whilst without the intention of honouring it. As a result, she claimed that she has supposedly suffered significant psychiatric harm at the hands of Chan. High Court judge Tan Siong Thye presided over the Jul. 19 hearing and detailed his findings as follows... Justice Tan noted that Chan and Tiong had a pre-existing sexual relationship and were lovers before she became his "patient" and he gave her Xanax... Justice Tan found that Tiong was a thoroughly unreliable witness who gave inconsistent evidence on oath and even changed her statement multiple times when she took to the stand, amongst other things, according to court documents. As such, he believed Chan's version of events -- specifically the number and frequency of Xanax prescribed -- over Tiong's... With regard to Tiong's claim that Chan had made a false statement of having a long-term and exclusive relationship with her to induce her to have sex with him, Justice Tan raised the question of whether one can take one's ex-lover to court for his or her broken promises during the relationship. For starters, there was a lack of evidence and Tiong could not point to an instance when Chan had explicitly made the statement. Justice Tan also noted that Tiong changed tune during cross-examination. Tiong had said Chan did not make such a statement, but she arrived at the belief that Chan was committed to a long-term and exclusive sexual relationship with her based on his conduct, according to court documents. Justice Tan found otherwise, as Chan had raised the topic of having group sex with Tiong in several instances throughout their "relationship". Chan had also expressed that he was "fine" if Tiong wished to see other men, "as long as she [was] upfront with [him] about it", after he found out that she was still communicating with two of her ex-lovers, one of which was her ex-husband. Lastly, Chan was having sex with other married women behind Tiong's back... Justice Tan said a long-term and exclusive relationship was ultimately Tiong's unreciprocated one-sided intention due to the lack of evidence and Chan's contradictory conduct, amongst other things. He also noted that the pair had sex just two weeks after they met and therefore refuted Tiong's claim that Chan had made the statement to have sex with her. Finally, he threw out Tiong's claim of suffering psychiatric harm at the hands of Chan's false statement. If that were the case, she would not have continued in a relationship with Chan... Describing Tiong's actions as vitriolic, he noted that the case was best described by the adage, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.""
I'm surprised AWARE didn't excoriate the judge
This is like the man who sued the woman for friendzoning him
Longer suspensions for 2 doctors who tried to exploit patient for sex - "Colorectal surgeon Julian Ong, who sent contact details of his patient to psychiatrist Chan Herng Nieng and told him, “Feel free to play your game”... The WhatsApp message exchanges documented conversations where the two doctors discussed the possibility of group sex and their history of having affairs with married women, among other things."
Woman Suing Man ‘Coz He Didn’t Keep to an ‘Exclusive Relationship’ With Her & It Happened in S’pore - "as for the breakup, he claims that the cause was the S$150K extortion that Ms Tiong initiated. Ms Tiong had allegedly threatened to publicise screenshots of private WhatsApp messages between him and his close surgeon friend, Dr Julian Ong... Ms Tiong was apparently issued a warning by the police in Jan 2020 for attempted extortion."
Someone in Toronto ate 712 slices to write their PhD thesis on pizza - "The dissertation explores the importance Italian immigrants played in both Toronto and Buffalo in the 1900s... By the 80s, Toronto's wealthy middle class sought out more luxurious pizza styles as ways to project their affulence. Influenced by the Southern Californian style popularized by Hollywood, toppings like eggplant, ricotta cheese, red peppers, and smoked salmon were used. The use of premium ingredients like heirloom tomatoes, asparagus, and truffle oil are said to have been born out of this period- much of which we still see to this day."
SQ207 SIN to MEL breakfast. Pathetic siol : singapore
Comments: "When they got SATS to cater Army cookhouse food, it ended up the other way around."
"Once I kena fried ngoh hiang, braised ngoh hiang, chopped ngoh hiang with cabbage and ngoh hiang soup. Course warrant forgot to indent dinner for us, we thought can book out early (on Friday). Cookhouse was washing up for the day. Then course warrant backtrack and said, no must eat dinner before booking out. Forced the cookhouse to prepare dinner for us. Everyone felt bad."
"This one if complain hotline can be big issue. Source: CQMS who has gotten enough threats. Haha."
"I remember the food in the cookhouse was so bad (this was even before SATS) that we would save up our combat rations just in case the cookhouse was serving sambal fish. When we saw that it was, we'll collect it, dump straight into the bin and go eat our leftover combat rations. It even tasted better."
Stop Using So Much Laundry Detergent - "If you’ve ever reached into your dryer expecting to pull out a load of downy-soft laundry only to find a pile of stiff, starchy garments, there’s a good chance you’re using too much laundry detergent. Laundry detergent obviously gets dirt and stains out of your clothes, but if you use too much, you wind up creating a new mess. This is a result of detergent residue that hasn’t been fully rinsed out, and it can turn your previously soft wardrobe into a crunchy, scratchy, uncomfortable-to-wear load of clothes. Too much detergent also creates a surplus of suds that can prevent your garments from rubbing against one another (which helps release trapped dirt from your clothes), according to Tide’s website. Though it seems counterintuitive, the more detergent you use past a certain point, the dirtier your clothes become. To effectively clean your clothes, you need to use only 2 tablespoons per load at most—and that’s for big loads weighing 12 pounds or more. As staff writer Sarah Bodgan and senior staff writer Liam McCabe say in our guide to the best washing machines, 1 tablespoon is enough to thoroughly clean an average load, which usually weighs around 8 pounds... It can be even worse if you’re using high-efficiency (HE) detergent, which is made from high-concentration, low-sudsing formulas and can be used in both traditional and HE machines. Liam and Sarah explain that HE detergents are at least double the concentration of traditional detergents"
Fisher Investments Canada reviews how politics can affect markets - "no party is better or worse for stocks. For example, leaders from both major U.K. parties have been in power during bear markets (prolonged, fundamentally driven broad equity market declines of -20 per cent or worse) as well as bull markets (long periods of generally rising equity prices)... This trend holds true in other major developed nations, too... stocks don’t see policies themselves as good or bad. Rather, we think they care about the scale of overall change a given piece of legislation could bring, especially if it involves the areas we find affect stocks most, including property rights, regulations and other factors that can impact the ease of doing business or future profits. Why? In our view, it is because the chief thing you own when you buy a stock is a stake in the company’s future profits. Based on our research, governments shifting their rules unexpectedly can complicate business planning or delay investment as firms wait for the dust to settle — and that uncertainty and lack of risk-taking can weigh on stocks. Another problem? In our experience, all legislation — no matter how well intentioned — creates winners and losers... In our view, this is a reason why stocks generally prefer political gridlock in developed economies with stable institutions that respect the rule of law... Now, we aren’t saying political gridlock means governments can’t pass any legislation. However, we have found much of what passes tends to become less extreme than initially proposed, as competing parties push for their own interests — leading to bargaining and compromising. In Fisher Investments Canada’s experience, that more moderate result means little sweeping legislative change — an important benefit of gridlock for investors."
Saudi Arabia says it welcomes LGBTQ visitors - "Same-sex sexual activity is an offense in Saudi Arabia, according to Human Rights Watch. According to the Human Dignity Trust, which campaigns for the rights of LGBT people around the world, trans people can also face prosecution in Saudi, with “substantial evidence of the law being enforced” and “consistent reports of discrimination and violence” against LGBTQ people. LGBTQ+ travelers are a lucrative market, according to Darren Burn, CEO of Out Of Office, a luxury travel planning service for the community, and of Travel Gay, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ travel platform. “Research shows they spend more money in a destination than heterosexual couples, and tend to travel more times a year,” he told CNN."
Missing Australian woman survived on wine, candy for 5 days in bushland - "The 48-year-old woman, who police identified in a press release as only "Lillian," was rescued by helicopter on May 5 in the Mitta Mitta bushland, a stretch of dense eucalyptus forest in the southeastern state of Victoria. Lillian was driving towards Dartmouth Dam for a day trip from the nearby town of Bright when she hit a dead-end road and realized she'd made a wrong turn. As she tried to turn her car around, the vehicle became stuck in mud. Without cell service, she was unable to call for help. Health issues made it difficult for her to try to walk, police said, but ultimately may have helped her survive, as she was able to use the car heater overnight to stay warm in temperatures as low as 35 degrees. Planning for only a two-hour drive, Lillian had only a few snacks, some candy and a bottle of wine, which she'd intended as a gift for her mother. Lillian doesn't drink, police said, but she eventually consumed the bottle, her only liquid."
