Can a country get too rich? - "Norwegian oil has built an economy that is the envy of other rich countries, not to mention poor ones. GDP per person is a cool $90,000, behind only city-states, tax havens and Switzerland. Since 1991 the government has amassed a sovereign-wealth fund worth $2.2trn, or $400,000 for every one of Norway’s 5.6m people. Proceeds sustain one of the world’s most generous welfare states. Yet not all Norwegians are happy about this. In 2025 the country’s non-fiction bestseller was “The Country that Became Too Rich”, an attack on the economic model by Martin Bech Holte, an economist and former McKinsey consultant. Mr Bech Holte has captured an emerging mood. In elections last September the centre-right Progress party, which argued that Norway “throws more money at problems” and needs to stop, made the most gains. The worry is that Norway’s riches are warping the behaviour of everyone from politicians to white-collar workers and schoolchildren. Confident of handsome handouts, few worry enough about the future. Can a country’s wealth undermine its prospects? As the oil windfall and investment returns have doubled the size of the wealth fund over the past decade, it has made Norwegian politicians profligate, Mr Bech Holte thinks. Although the fund invests only abroad to avoid crowding out the domestic private sector, it funnels money back to the government, which uses it to plug the gap between spending and taxes. In 2008 that payout was a modest NKr36bn ($6.4bn at the time), or less than 5% of outlays. By 2025 NKr414bn ($40bn), a fifth of spending, came courtesy of the oil fund. This is having perverse consequences. Politicians can put off difficult decisions. Voters see little reason to temper demands for more spending. Take health care, the government’s biggest expenditure. On average, medical services cost 30% more in Norway than in the European Union. But why reform hospitals when you can throw more money at the problem? Denmark, which spends about as much per person as Norway, has reduced waiting times for routine operations twice as fast as its neighbour to the north. Few lawmakers bother weighing their proposals’ economic benefits and costs, sighs one. This is a weakness elsewhere, but Norway seems especially prone to it. As with the Munch museum, renovations of the parliament building in Oslo took four years rather than one and cost six times as much as expected. In 2023 the government funnelled NKr250bn, half its take from taxes on labour and capital, to foreign aid and domestic charities. That is a high price to earn goodwill abroad and salve climate guilt at home. The figure in Britain is below 10% of labour and capital taxes. Norwegian citizens are no less profligate than their representatives. Average household debt is 250% of annual income, the highest in Europe. When you can count on national wealth to bail you out, the need to save for a rainy day feels less pressing. So is the need to generate income in the first place. Nearly one in ten Norwegians in their 20s are unemployed, compared with one in 20 Danes. Norway’s rate of secondary-school and university drop-outs is among the highest in Europe. The higher-education system offers as many degrees as you want free of charge, plus generous loans for students. This encourages people to delay their degrees, switch them and extend their time in school. That makes for an accomplished population: more than 70% of unskilled service workers (think baristas and call-centre staff) born in Norway have masters degrees. People from immigrant backgrounds do 100,000 research jobs in science, technology and engineering, half the total. Another 100,000 will need filling by 2030. This financial hedonism is already damaging the economy. The central bank is reluctant to raise interest rates in the face of high household borrowing, which has weakened the krone and repelled foreign investors. Worker productivity has stopped growing. Real wages are starting to fall. You could argue that none of this matters so long as the country can provide for the current population and future generations. GDP matters, politically speaking, because it is a way to guarantee citizens’ welfare: directly, through paid work, and indirectly, through tax-funded hand-outs. In theory, that welfare can be paid for with rents rather than output. So long as national wealth rises faster than government spending, this can go on indefinitely... Such thinking is complacent, for two reasons. First, in practical terms, unless artificial intelligence dramatically boosts global productivity, returns of 6% may prove elusive. Second, and more important, a thriving economy benefits societies in ways that go beyond sustenance. Politicians are more accountable if they must ask voters for money in taxes. Foreign investors bring new knowledge. Many people find work fulfilling. All this contributes to human flourishing. No one should begrudge Norway its wealth—except, if they are wise, Norwegians."
History Cool Kids | Facebook - "Hokusai spent decades studying the movement of water, returning to the same subject again and again as he tried to express the feeling he saw in waves. The development of his wave imagery shows this gradual evolution clearly. In 1792, Hokusai presents a calm sea where the wave sits quietly in the background and people remain the focus. By 1803, the wave becomes stronger and more dynamic, with boats beginning to look small beside it. In 1805, the wave is front and center, already showing clear hints of what would later become The Great Wave. Finally, in 1831, The Great Wave off Kanagawa fully realizes his vision as the wave dominates the scene, tiny boats struggle in the water, and Mount Fuji stands distant and still, creating a sense of overwhelming power. Hokusai once said he did not feel proud of his art until he was past 70. He believed that if he continued working, perhaps by 80 or 90 his drawings would be truly great, and by 100 they might even come alive. For him, art was never about reaching a finish line, but about constant growth, learning, and evolution."
Why is American friendliness often seen as "fake" by Europeans, but similar warmth in other cultures isn't? : NoStupidQuestions - "I often hear Europeans say that American friendliness feels fake, superficial, or scripted. You know... Things like smiling a lot, being overly polite, chatting with strangers, asking "How are you?" without really expecting an honest answer, etc. What confuses me is that there are other cultures like Brazil (and other Latin American countries) that are often described as even more expressive, louder, warmer, more emotional, more touchy-feely. And yet, people usually don’t call that “fake” or superficial in the same way. If anything, it's often described as fun, genuine, and even awesome. So why does the stereotype of Americans as "fake friendly" exist specifically? Is it something about the style of American politeness, cultural differences in communication, or expectations from outsiders? Why is one type of warmth considered authentic while another is labeled superficial, even if both involve being outwardly friendly to strangers?"
Why is American friendliness often seen as "fake" by Europeans, but similar warmth in other cultures isn't? : r/NoStupidQuestions - "Honestly, I think subconscious racial bias probably plays into it. White Europeans could look at white Americans, subconsciously, as being closer to their in-group. Which is why when white Americans act differently (in this case, more polite/warm) it could come off as insincere as it is violating the expected social norm of the in-group. Whereas people from Latin American cultures could appear ethnically distinct enough to clearly be outside of the cultural in-group, erasing a preconceived social expectation, and instead attributing their behaviors to mere cultural differences or the fact that they are “more exotic”."
Why is American friendliness often seen as "fake" by Europeans, but similar warmth in other cultures isn't? : r/NoStupidQuestions - "I'm Canadian and we aren't friendly like Americans are. I have always found Americans to be genuine and never found something sneaky about it. They are also more likely than us to tell you off or be confrontational. Which is genuine also."
DNA analysis of 3,700-year-old skeleton from Italy reveals first evidence of father-daughter incest
'We've lost our way': S'porean laments poor quality of restaurants here, blames costly rent - "“Travelling through Shanghai, Anhui, Guangzhou, living among the residents there, it was obvious that the quality of life, especially when it comes to food, was much higher,” said Mr Ang to MS News. He added that this changing food landscape may also, to a certain extent, affect tourism. Mr Ang, who was born in the 1970s, said that dining at restaurants used to be a treat due to both the food and the experience. He noted that meals were made from scratch, using fresh produce and meats. “Going to a restaurant was something we looked forward to as a family. It meant good food, warm service, and a genuine sense of occasion,” wrote Mr Ang. However, according to him, the food is “no longer what it used to be”. “The prices are outrageous. The service feels robotic. Something has gone terribly wrong,” added Mr Ang. It’s no longer about food, Mr Ang realised. It’s about rental costs. “Over time, I realised that most restaurants today are not in the food business — they’re in the real estate survival business,” he wrote. Mr Ang pointed out that high rent leaves “little room for chefs to buy quality ingredients, experiment, or deliver consistency”. Hence, food quality often takes a dip as many restaurants rely on factory-processed ingredients and central kitchens to pre-cook meals for mass reheating. “Worst of all, our food ingredients are not fresh and mostly processed or frozen,” said the former tech sales professional to MS News. However, Mr Ang added that most of the time, eateries have no choice but to buy in bulk and freeze to reduce operation costs. “Everything is about speed and cost. Authenticity and freshness are the casualties of a profit-driven model,” he wrote. Mr Ang came to this realisation when he began paying S$30 or more for dishes that “tasted off”. Even mid-range establishments once known for delicious home-made cooking, he emphasised, “have gone down this path just to survive”. “There’s simply no space left for slow, honest food.”"
47-year-old Singaporean man with Indonesian citizenship convicted of failing to report for NS - "Edmond Yao Zhi Hai was found guilty of failing to report for enlistment into full-time national service in January 1997... During the trial, the defence argued that Yao's Indonesian citizenship led him to believe that he was bound by law not to enlist for NS in Singapore, as Indonesian law forbids citizens from entering foreign military service. If he had served NS in Singapore, he would lose his Indonesian citizenship, said the defence... "The Indonesian Citizenship Law merely prescribes that a person will lose his Indonesian citizenship if he serves in the military of another country. It neither commands nor empowers anyone to act in any manner," added the judge. "The accused, in electing not to report for enlistment, had merely sought to avoid the consequences under the Indonesian Citizenship Law. That is not the same as being under the command or empowerment of the law to act in the way the accused did.""
Dual citizens are screwed either way
Johor religious dept arrests 32 for alcohol consumption in New Year's raid - "Thirty-two Muslims, including six Singaporeans, were detained for consuming alcohol during a New Year's Eve raid at an entertainment outlet yesterday. The Johor Islamic Religious Department (JAINJ) said the 3.10am operation saw 25 men and seven women aged between 18 and 45 detained. JAINJ said that most of those detained were visitors from other states and districts who were holidaying in the city. In a statement, the department said that those detained were found seated at tables with alcoholic drinks in front of them. During the raid, enforcement officers secured all entry and exit points of the outlet to prevent escape attempts. All those detained face charges under Section 19 of the Johor Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment for consuming intoxicating drinks. The offence carries a maximum fine of RM3,000, a jail term of up to two years, or both, upon conviction."
Moderate Islam strikes again
Meme - "ANIMORPHS
Girl - 100% would smash
Slightly Mousish Girl - Definitely smash
Mousish Girl - Still smash
Girly mouse - Still smash after a couple beers
Mouse - I dk"
Meme - "This isn't from Woodlands, it's a photo taken from inside a Cambodian scam compound"
"POLICE. WOODLANDS EAST NPC"
Inside an abandoned Cambodian scam centre seized by Thai troops | South China Morning Post - "In the town of O’Smach, along Cambodia’s northern border with Thailand, stands a compound of abandoned buildings that were battered by shelling during recent weeks of armed clashes. The site, now occupied by Thai troops, had served as one of Cambodia’s notorious scam centres, according to Thai officials... Experts say such scam operations in Cambodia and elsewhere have cheated people around the world out of billions of dollars and tricked people from many countries into working in them under slave-like conditions. The Thai military said the compound was secured during the clashes in December, because Cambodian forces had used it as a military base... Dozens of rooms have wooden booths lined with foam for soundproofing, scripts written in multiple languages, lists of names and phone numbers, computer monitors and empty brackets for hard drives. There are also mock-up sets resembling police stations and fake law enforcement uniforms of at least seven countries: China, Australia, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Brazil. One room has a replica of what appears to be a Vietnamese bank branch, complete with service counters, banners and a waiting area. The set-ups were essential for a scam in which victims are targeted by scam operators pretending to be officials or other authority figures. Scripted approaches were meant to threaten arrest or other legal action unless instructions were followed."
Meme - "r/LegalAdviceUK
My son pleasured himself in front of Gemini Live with the camera. My entire family have had our Google accounts banned.
He's 14 and stupidly decided to try and roleplay with Gemini using its live camera mode. The Al correctly identified he was underage and Google banned all my accounts. He did it on the family tablet. It has parental controls to stop him watching innapropriate stuff, but we dind't realise Gemini wasn't covered by these. ALL of our entire family's Google accounts were linked to that tablet. Google banned them all. Everything gone. 15 years of business completely inaccessible. All my emails, all my documents saved in Google Drive. Even my website was linked to my Google account and that's been locked down too. We've written to Google and begged for it to be reinstated but they've said all the accounts have been shut down for child protection reasons. I don't know how I'm going to pay my mortgage in 3 months time. I've literally lost ALL my records for my accountant. My company year ends in May. My whole life is completely fucked. Is there any legal mechanism I can use to get all my google accounts back?"
India considers releasing crocodiles and venomous snakes along eastern border with Bangladesh - "India is considering releasing venomous snakes and crocodiles into its river border with Bangladesh as an alternative to building a physical barrier along parts of its eastern frontier. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist party has ploughed significant resources into building a fence along the 4,096km border with Bangladesh, but around 20 per cent remains largely open. Of the 850km unfenced stretch, some 175km is considered unsuitable for a physical barrier due to the marshy terrain and the risk of flooding."
Left wing logic: this is literally murder
Daniel Foubert 🇵🇱🇫🇷 on X - "24h in France 🇫🇷:
- a grenade exploding in a beauty salon
- a teacher stabbed
- a little girl blown to pieces on the ground
- a magistrate kidnapped
- three passersby stabbed at random
- a young man knifed in Nantes
- shots fired near a school in Bordeaux
- the law for voting rights for foreigners launched"
Techmeme on X - "Sources: Uber is moving to bar drivers with convictions for violent felonies, sexual offenses, and child or elder abuse, after an NYT report in December 2025 (@emilysteel / New York Times) https://t.co/12AEcTdNVt https://t.co/2tPtUKwMQi 📥 Send tips! https://t.co/wlNZvXtJTU"
Corey Quinn on X - "I, apparently a naive idiot, had assumed that this was what “we background check our drivers” always meant."
David Taggart-PDMacro.com on X - "no it is worse than you can imagine lol They use a company called Checkr for their background checks...and Checkr is a fraud. All the gig economy companies use them because they provide a nice API that integrates well with your systems. the problem is that the backend of background checks is NOT an API. In a lot of courthouses you have to call or write letters to get the info, and that requires humans doing the work...Checkr does not do the work. I assume they rely on other vendors that supposedly provide that info, but they are all kind of sketchy af and not very reliable. If you look it up you will find all kinds of stories of people who are denied work because they find stuff for the wrong person and they cant get it fixed because their dispute process is a dead end. These end up in lawsuits and the people win $30-50k all the time. You will also find employers who hired people based on a passed check...and then they find out they are in current legal proceedings for anything from murder to drugs lol. So Uber and the rest of the gig economy rely on a company that sells itself as background checks as a service, but that companies back end does the bare minimum and bad guys slip through the huge gaping gaps, and then randomly people who have nothing on their record get denied because the system is just shit. If you want to see how fast the turnaround is go sign up for the uber driver app and check out the process. Most people that get approved get approved in less than 24hrs. Really deep and thorough checks lol I am clearly on team Uber is a cancer on society, but the Checkr stuff is horrible."
MrBeast on X - "TeamWater is now live! $1 = 1 year of clean water for someone in need. During August me and countless other creators are going to be attempting to raise $40,000,000 to give 2,000,000 people clean drinking water for decades each!!! Donate here pretty plz TeamWater.org"
Lachlan Phillips exo/acc 👾 on X - "What is Mr Beast introducing here that the African people don't have? Is it digging? forging? knowing where to dig?"
Thread by @bumbadum14 on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "When I was in college I did Engineers Without Borders and we were working on a well in Nepal. They had already built a well there like 2-3 years ago. It turns out the natives literally ripped the well out of the ground and sold the metal for scrap. The children were also getting incredibly sick because when they had the well they would rub poop all over the spout. I keep getting questions as to why the kids were rubbing poop on the spout. We spent 2 weeks developing an educational program and pamphlets explaining to wash their ass away from the spout and to use soap on their hands. They simply wouldn't. These weren't like 4-5 year olds. 10-15 year old kids would poop not 20 feet away from the well, wipe their butt with their hands, walk over, and "wash" their hands by rubbing their hands all over the spout to get the shit off. It was unbelievable. The solution we developed to all of this was a well where the spout was out of reach and the entire system was encased in concrete to deter people digging it up. The way one would get water was to use a rope that when repeatedly pulled would pump the water out of the spout. We had already given up on teaching them to not rub their feces covered hands all over the spout, so we figured that if it was high enough off the ground then it wouldn't get covered anyway. By the time I graduated one of my friends told me the well was destroyed and sold for scrap..."
Clearly, the problem is they didn't build enough wells, and didn't give them enough free stuff
Makansutra | Why ducks eggs are not sold in Singapore - " Duck eggs were once used to cook familiar local favourites such as char kuay teow, carrot cake and oyster omelette. Owner of Hill Street char kuay teow, Mr Ng Chang Siang who had previously used duck eggs in his recipe says his customers prefer it as it has a richer taste and gives it a more ‘nian’ (sticky) texture. But as prices of duck eggs became more expensive and supply turned scarce, he like many of his peers, resorted to cheaper chicken eggs over the years. The reason for this price difference, says Mr Ong Siew Pang, former Chairman of the Kheng Keow Coffee Merchants Restaurant & Bar-Owners Association, dates back to the eggs’ origin around the 60s. Mr Ong explains that in the past, most fresh duck eggs were imported from Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, there was a shortage of duck eggs which then led to a price hike. As a result, many hawkers that were originally using fresh duck eggs in their recipe substituted them with chicken eggs. Another reason for its unavailability here is because no approval has been granted to any supplier for the import and sale of fresh duck eggs in Singapore, according to egg supplier Mr Tan Kian Soon of Go Market. Mr Tan says the sale of fresh duck eggs in Singapore had already ceased way before he entered the business around 13 years ago. When asked why, the Àgri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) replied that they “have not received any applications to export fresh duck eggs to Singapore”... Mr William Ho, owner of the Farmart Centre thinks that the reason why fresh duck eggs cannot be found in Singapore might be due to avian flu. He elaborates that duck farming requires both wet and dry lands for breeding. He thinks that this makes them more susceptible to water and air borne diseases and as well as avian flu. This makes it an uphill task for duck egg farms to get accredited."
From 2012
Meme - Barmak Farsiwan @Barmakf: "It is difficult to find a Taliban leader who has not been photographed with a bacha. The practice now appears openly tolerated even at the highest levels of the Taliban. Khalifa Sahib Haqqani with his Bacha"
Neera Tanden🌻 on X - "The singular problem in America is the decline of character in Republican political leaders. In prior eras we had Republican Presidents who corrupted the DOJ to attack their political enemies, but back then we had Republican leaders who stopped it because they cared about their country more than their party."
Chris Oldman on X - "“Reagan is a monster”
“Bush is Hitler”
“McCain is a warmonger”
“Romney tortured dogs and killed his employees”
“Ryan wants to throw grandma off a cliff”
“Every Republican is a racist, hateful, sexist bigot”
…
“Where have all the good Republicans gone?”"
Kieran Eleison on X - "And remember how Dick Cheney was Darth Vader until he was critical of Trump, then leftist media fawned over him..."
Meme - "The young Israeli men's guide to Jewish dating.
-Ashkenazim- Superior looks and culture Stunning beauty Obvious first choice for marriage
-Sephardim- Less than Ashkenazi but still desirable Slower aging Solid choice for marriage
-Mizrahi- Half breed Arab Religiously backward Acceptable for fun but do not marry
-Beta Israel- Untouchable African diaspora Avoid all social contact Sue if one moves into your neighborhood"
