Nikolai Rostov on X - "The arguments on both sides seem kinda dumb tbh. First of all, it is not true at all that the Laffer curve has not been empirically tested (see: Liapis et al. 2020, Schmitt-Grohe and Uribe 1997, Lindsey 1987, Novales and Ruiz 2002 etc). Second of all, it is certainly true that Laffer Curve pts. vary as (Trabandt and Uhlig 2012) show across countries. There is very likely no universal Laffer curve, but of course that’s not the purpose of the curve. The basic idea of the curve is to posit a fairly simple truism between tax rates and tax revenue, in that you can’t tax no income and you can’t tax 100% income to expect revenue, so clearly there must be a point that’s “just right”. What this point is relies on some assumptions and testing. This simplicity doesn’t mean that it’s nonapplicable, nor that countries always taxed accordingly to the left side of the Laffer Curve (people argue today that most taxes are to the left of the maximal point). For instance, during the 1920s, the highest marginal rates were 73% before they were cut to 25% causing revenues to increase. Also during the 1980s, top marginal taxes in Sweden marginal tax rates on new share issues were near 150%, retained earnings almost 100% and top marginal tax rates were almost 90%. (Henrekson and Stenkula 2015). This led to decreased savings and output, increased activity in the informal sectors and owner-occupied housing, and overall economic stagnation. (Normann and MacLeod 1997). This is a pretty good example of punitively redistributional tax policy leading to the effects the Laffer Curve described. Also, the critique that there’s only a global maxima doesn’t understand its methodology all too well. The Laffer curve assumes tax rates and the supply of labour are a strictly monotonic relationship, that is, if tax rates change positively by a fixed amount the supply of labour will decrease by a fixed amount. This happens if we assume the elasticity of a certain tax to be a single number. It’s possible this could be the case if say taxes are 95 vs 100% (w/ 95% you may be incentivised to work very hard because you can only keep a sliver of income, w/ 100% you likely won’t work at all because you have no income, but this might not be a very useful theoretical model). But here’s where my criticisms come in. 1. We can’t just post the Laffer curve w/o any data of the Dutch economy nor an idea of how they’ll react to taxation ex-ante. Merely posting the Laffer Curve is of little use. It’s like telling a company we have to produce at “equilibrium market prices” and just giving a supply/demand curve for them to do so. It’s little more than a heuristic. It doesn’t argue in favour for every tax cut. 2. The Laffer Curve applies very differently to different forms of taxes. A “very high” excise tax at the same rate could be decent for income tax. This is a capital tax, so posting the Atkinson-Stiglitz theorem+ Chamley-Judd theory of zero optimal capital taxation would suffice. Also, and this is more philosophical, but 3. Why are you, a libertarian arguing for the “optimal” rate of tax revenue? Why are you arguing by extension that a tax is bad because it funds the government insufficiently? That seems very un-libertarian; as libertarians would say the ideal tax rate (and tax revenue) is 0%."
maximus on X - "Shyness is negatively associated with dating frequency, number of friends, etc. This fact may not be too surprising, but what may surprise some people is that it doesn't correlate with other-rated attractiveness, only self-rated, so it can't be reduced to a byproduct of 'lookism'"
What about Christianity was so attractive to the Norsemen that they would convert in such a large scale? : r/AskHistorians - "The large-scale conversion of Norse societies between the tenth and twelfth centuries is best understood not as a sudden attraction to Christian doctrine, but as part of a long transformation tied to state formation, economic integration, and sustained contact with Christian Europe. As Scandinavian monarchies in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden consolidated their power, Christianity provided resources that Old Norse religion did not, including access to literate clergy who could draft law codes, maintain administrative records, and support increasingly centralized systems of governance. Adoption of the Christian faith also created entry into a broader diplomatic world that included the Holy Roman Empire and the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and it offered rulers a recognized ideological framework for kingship that strengthened their legitimacy in ways unattainable through the decentralized and primarily local cult practices of Norse paganism. Archaeological material from major commercial towns such as Birka and Hedeby demonstrates that Scandinavians had been exposed to Christian merchants, objects, and ideas for generations before royal conversion, and written sources such as Adam of Bremen report that rulers pursued baptism in part to secure alliances and trading privileges with powerful Christian neighbors. Because Old Norse religion lacked a unified priesthood, a central canon, or institutions capable of coordinating resistance across regions, it could not counter the appeal of a universal church that offered legal, diplomatic, and administrative benefits in addition to its spiritual claims. The resulting conversion was gradual and often syncretic, reflected in burial sites and material culture that combine Christian symbols with traditional practices for well over a century, making clear that what appears in hindsight as a rapid or large-scale adoption of Christianity was in reality the culmination of long-term political and social changes rather than mass doctrinal attraction.
Sources Else Roesdahl, The Vikings, Penguin: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-vikings-9780141941530 John Lindow, Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs, Oxford University Press: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/norse-mythology-9780195153828 Adam of Bremen, History of the Archbishops of Hamburg Bremen, Columbia University Press: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/history-of-the-archbishops-of-hamburg-bremen/9780231500852 Neil Price, The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia, Oxbow Books: https://www.casemateacademic.com/9781785708022/the-viking-way/"
German politician strips naked, calls on ‘open-minded citizens’ to join him on swingers trip in France - "Julien Ferrat, a 33-year-old city councillor in Mannheim, Germany, said an eight-day trip to the swinger hotspot Cap d’Agde in southern France is meant to investigate how it became a global hub for nudist and sex tourism, and how that model could help boost Mannheim’s local economy... The camp includes outdoor sex on the Friesenheimer Insel in Mannheim and will exclude the media to protect privacy. “Having sex in your own bedroom is different from on the beach with a group of masturbating men like in Cap d’Agde”"
Ho-ho-no! Children in tears after vicar tells them Santa is not real - "Schools This article is more than 1 year old Ho-ho-no! Children in tears after vicar tells them Santa is not real This article is more than 1 year old Rev Dr Paul Chamberlain apologises for talk at Hampshire school after angry parents say he ‘ruined Christmas’ Sammy Gecsoyler Sat 14 Dec 2024 20.34 GMT Prefer the Guardian on Google Telling young children whether Santa is or is not real is a parental ritual usually handled with painstaking care. For students at a primary school in Hampshire, however, their childhood wonder was torn to shreds after a vicar told pupils the bearded gift-bearer was invented. Tearful youngsters, angry parents and claims of a “ruined Christmas” followed Rev Dr Paul Chamberlain’s visit to Lee-on-the-Solent junior school this week... He told year 6 students, who are aged between 10 and 11, that Father Christmas was not real, prompting pupils to sob. He also said that their parents bought their presents and ate the biscuits left out for Santa."
Morse Report on X - "🚨Top Democrat political consultant and campaign strategist, James Carville, just stated on the Left-wing ‘Policon’ podcast that when the Democrats regain power, they plan to:
-Grant statehood to Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, so that the Democrats can unlock 4 extra seats in the Senate.
-Pack the U.S. Supreme Court from 9 Justices up to 13 Justices, adding another 4 Left-wing Justices to the court.
-Reopen the U.S.-Mexico border and grant mass-amnesty to every single alien currently inside of the United States.
-His advice to Democrat politicians: “Don’t run on it. Don’t talk about it. Just do it.”
FischerKing on X - "Meanwhile the right forces itself into a straitjacket of ‘norms,’ deliberately oblivious of what’s coming for them."
This new scam could trick you into downloading malware - "A new scam is exploiting a familiar internet security check — tricking people into compromising their own computers. The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) is warning that criminals are using realistic-looking fake CAPTCHA pages to trick Windows users into running malicious commands that install information-stealing malware. CAPTCHAs are commonly used to verify that a user is human, often by asking them to click images or check a box. But in this scam, the page prompts users to follow a series of keyboard steps to continue. Those instructions may tell users to press the Windows key and “R,” then “Ctrl + V,” then hit Enter. According to the ITRC, following those steps opens a hidden command box, pastes a malicious script from the clipboard and runs it, downloading malware onto the computer. Security researchers have identified the malware as “StealC,” which is designed to quietly collect sensitive data. That can include saved passwords, login credentials and other information stored in your browser. A legitimate CAPTCHA will never ask users to run commands or use keyboard shortcuts. If you encounter a page that does, close it immediately."
Family at Geylang restaurant charged S$2 for 'outside drinks' after children drank from water bottle, restaurant says it's policy - "A family whose children were drinking plain water they brought themselves was charged S$2 for "outside drinks" at a Geylang restaurant. The customer, who preferred to go by his surname, Ng, told Mothership that he questioned the charge, but the staff insisted the charge applied and did not offer to waive it. "We understand that restaurants may have policies on outside food and drinks, but applying such a charge to children drinking plain water felt unreasonable and lacking in goodwill." In response to Mothership's queries, a spokesperson from Eat First, a Cantonese restaurant at 287 Geylang Road, said that there were signs at the entrance stating that no outside food and drinks were allowed... He said that he had ordered beer from the restaurant, and the children drank plain water from their own bottles... He added that in most dining situations, when customers are already purchasing drinks, such charges are usually not enforced, especially not on children. He said he was under the impression that only adults were subject to the policy, hence why none of the adults drank the water. Ng said the charges were "both surprising and disappointing". He added, "What made this particularly disheartening is that my family has been patronising this establishment for over 20 years, going back to the previous generation." He noted that his family used to visit the original Sik Wai Sin Eating House at Geylang, before the owners split it it into Sik Bao Sin and Eat First... She claimed that the family was apparently made aware of the charges, but still used the restaurant's bowls as cups to drink their water. She added that the restaurant has been criticised for their policy on outside food and drinks, but said that at the end of the day, they are still running a business. In response to this, Ng insisted that his family did not notice any signs of this policy displayed on the premises, nor were they informed in advance about the "outside drinks" charges. The charges, he said, were therefore "unreasonable and unexpected"."
Some people defend the restaurant. Is there any restaurant policy that someone won't defend?
Public grocery stores are having a moment. Can they really make food more affordable? : r/canada - "I remember when my part of the country was having a massive shortage of children’s cough syrup so we had to get some in from the US. Exact same medicine, just a different box. Most parents who came in hoping to buy some medicine decided it was better to let their kids bear the full brunt of their symptoms rather than buy a medicine that came in a US box. If Canadians are fearful of foreigners enough to let their kids suffer than buy medicine with different packaging I really have to wonder if they’ll want to buy groceries from a foreign store. (PS it was a US brand too so even if we had the Canadian version in they would still be buying a US brand anyways, make that make sense)."
When you hate the US more than you love your kids
Man in California arrested for swapping Lego with pasta - "Police in California have arrested a man for grand theft, though the bounty isn’t a fancy car or pricy electronics. It’s Lego pieces. In a pun-heavy release, the Irvine police department (IPD) said that US$34,000 worth of Lego pieces were stolen from their boxes from Targets across the U.S. and in some cases, replaced with dried pasta... Jarrelle Augustine, 28, of Paramount, Calif., was arrested for grand theft and taken into custody at the Orange County Jail. In an Instagram reel from the IPD’s page, video shows a suspect pulling boxes of Lego from a shelf, along with images from his arrest and the boxes of Lego with pasta in them."
Yaeba - Wikipedia - "In Japan, yaeba (八重歯, lit. 'double tooth'; snaggle maxillary canines) are human teeth, especially upper canines, with an uncommonly fang-like appearance. Yaeba most often refers to a tooth overlapping another tooth or protruding from higher in the gum. In Japan it is perceived as a sign of youthfulness and natural beauty"
Elon Musk on X - "A friend of mine donated to an orphanage for over a decade and one day he stopped by to check on the orphans. What he found was a room full of people working the phones for donations and zero kids. Not even one kid for show. Zero."
Wilfred Reilly on X - "Surprising amount of charity is of this kind. My ex, Tess, and I used to give to Koala Rescue. Years later, I found that they just sort of assign you a random ~bear that lives outdoors. Hundreds of people have the same one. Your money doesn't buy it food (they only eat one thing), but rather goes to support various green causes. Etc."
BREAKING Second Flight Attendant Detained in Dubai Over WhatsApp Image as Cybercrime Crackdown Escalates - "another flight attendant has been detained in Dubai under the UAE’s federal cybercrime laws after sharing an image related to recent regional attacks. In a concerning development, authorities say he was identified through “active electronic surveillance”. A 32-year-old cabin crew member for Emirates Airlines has been held in custody for over a month following his arrest in the early hours of 8 March. He is currently detained at Al Qusais Police Station but fears he will be transferred to Abu Dhabi, which places him at higher risk of extended detention and lengthier sentences if convicted. According to his family, the young man had only just returned to Dubai after being stranded abroad due to flight disruptions and had not seen or been made aware of any official warnings or restrictions regarding the sharing of images or information. A simple date specific Google search shows how little published information there was at the time. In the early hours of 7 March, after being woken by a loud explosion and feeling his room shake, the cabin crew employee took a single photograph on his phone and shared it privately via WhatsApp with colleagues, asking whether it was safe to leave for work or remain where he was. He did not publish the image publicly or intend to cause alarm. The image was subsequently forwarded by others. Despite this, he has been treated as a serious criminal suspect, accused of offences relating to state security and public order."
Clearly, expats don't criticise Dubai because they love it and it's great there
Eitan Fischberger on X - "Crazy story out of Qatar: A British couple honeymooned in Doha, where the wife was harassed at the Ritz-Carlton pool by two men who told her she'd "fall in love" after he slept with her. The hotel gaslit her, with management denying the CCTV backed her story despite their own WhatsApp messages saying the opposite. Her husband posted a TripAdvisor review calling the hotel "unsafe for women." The hotel got it pulled, then a hotel employee filed a defamation complaint against him under Qatar's cybercrime laws. Nearly a year later, when he returned to Qatar for work, he was detained, informed he'd been tried in absentia and fined, and then held for four nights in a deportation centre. The deportation order lasts five years, which severely hurts his career as a Middle East healthcare consultant. In other words, Marriott International, an American company, used Qatari law to silence a complaint about a woman being sexually harassed at their property."
Why My Cousin Vinny is the Best Law Movie - "According to the legal textbook A Guide to Forensic Testimony As an Expert Technical Witness, the authors explain how My Cousin Vinny is an "Entertaining [and] extremely helpful introduction to the art of presenting expert witnesses at trial for both beginning experts and litigators." Supporting the sentiment, Paul Bergman's essay, "Teaching Evidence the 'Reel' Way" cites My Cousin Vinny as an example of demonstrating such courtroom procedures as the rules of evidence, cross-examination, relevance, and voir dire. In addition to learning in stride with Vinny in the popular '90s comedy, the movie makes the legal process easy and accessible to understand."
Supreme Court says a conviction for online threats violated 1st Amendment - The Washington Post - "The Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed the conviction of a man who made extensive online threats to a stranger, saying free speech protections require prosecutors to prove the stalker was aware of the threatening nature of his communications... The case is Counterman v. Colorado."
From 2023. Basically crazy people can threaten others and you can't do anything to them
Meme - "I just don't have feelings for you anymore."
"Appeal to emotional fallacy"
"You don't even care about me ..."
"Strawman fallacy"
"A real boyfriend wouldn't treat me like this ..."
"No-True-Scotsman fallacy"
"Please just leave. I don't want to call the cops."
"Appeal to authority fallacy"
Meme - Wade (in Tarnation): "WHO KEEPS BUILDING WEBSITES FOR RESTAURANTS THAT HAVE EVERYTHING BUT THE HOURS AND MENU I DON'T CARE THE CHEF ANDY USES MIDWESTERN FLARE"
Keywords: uses midwestern flair
Meme - "How Americans cleared mines in WW2 *mine clearing vehicle*
How the British cleared mines in WW2 *humans probing ground*
How Finland cleared mines in WW2 *anime girl playing song*"
Simple yet effective : r/HistoryMemes - "Context: During the Continuation War, the Finnish Army discovered that the retreating Soviets had scattered radio-controlled mines throughout the re-captured city of Viipuri. These mines were set off when a three-note chord was played on the frequency the radio was tuned to; each mine had three tuning forks that oscillated at specific frequencies unique to each mine. On September 1, the General Staff in Vyborg received one broadcast van from Yleisradio, capable of transmitting over the frequency used by the mines. The car in question was a REO 2L 4 210 Speedwagon taken from Nuijamaan auto Oy. The car was used by N. Sauros. Säkkijärvi polkka was present among the van's record collection and to prevent the enemy from operating the mines, they started playing the Säkkijärvi polkka without any pauses. The frequency over which the triads (three chords) were sent out was jammed by the interference, preventing detonation. On September 4, it was noticed that Soviet troops were continuously transmitting the triggering triads on the same transmission frequency. The broadcast of Säkkijärven polkka continued for three days until another car was sent from Aunus to Vyborg The anime girl is a character from the anime Girls Und Panzer who played Säkkijärvi polkka in the anime. (Reposted cuz i forgot rule 12 existed)"
Meme - Sandy Petersen @SandyofCthuthu: ""Owlbears are fierce, savage predators, vicious, ravenous beasts that combine a bear's power with an perception and a nasty disposition." Actual rules"
*village with happy celebration and cute harmless owlbear in the middle*
Wargamingdad @Wargamingdad21: "Has this guy ever actually played a TTRPG. Cause he smells like a tourist."
The Red Room @moorderehtstore: "That's a joke, right? RIGHT?"
Wargamingdad @Wargamingdad21: "It wasn't I didn't know he was the creator of Call of Cthulhu I'll take that L. This is still tourist behavior."
Jason Mitchell @Real_J_Mitchell: "Yes. Your behavior is tourist behavior."
Meme - Yashdeep Kanhai. This Profile is a safe space for billionaires and Top CEOs: "I Fired an Employee Going Through a Tough Divorce. One of my employees was stuck in a messy divorce-his wife demanded half his income. As a good boss, I couldn't just stand by. So, I did the most compassionate thing possible: I fired him. Why? No income = no alimony. The divorce was finalized with negligible alimony, and financial ruin was averted. Once the dust settled, I rehired him. Now, he's back-better than ever-with a clean slate and no ex-spouse draining his paycheck. Being a leader isn't about making easy decisions-it's about making smart ones. #LeadershipGoals #ToughLove #DivorceHacks #BoldBossMoves #EmployeeCare"
Meme - "LOSARTAN POTASSIUM 50 MG TAB
TAKE 1 TABLET BY MOUTH INTO RIGHT EYE"
Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ on X - ""Chris Rufo solved this social problem, but he did it by generating political action rather than asking the libs nicely" is the perfect summation of why much of the conservative movement—and almost all conservative academics—has been utterly ineffective for many decades."
Coddled Affluent Professional on X - "Institutional conservatism failed as a bulwark against the ideological derangements of the past decade and was completely overrun. Extra institutional RW activism is the only thing that has produced any meaningful gains and is solely responsible for almost every political victory of any importance."
Left wingers want to win at all costs, which is why they win. Time to denounce right wingers as extremists
Meme - abandonware.online: "Encarta'95 Hat. Hats inspired by the old abandonware, freeware, & shareware games you played on your parents PC."
Firefighter shot, killed by patient he was treating - "A call to assist a man thought to be having a medical emergency on a bus escalated into a shooting that ended with the man and an Appleton firefighter dead and two others hurt... The responders gave medical help to the man, who eventually left the bus and started walking toward a nearby library, whereupon “the incident escalated,” police said. Chief Todd Thomas said the man showed a handgun and exchanged shots with the police officers. Firefighter Mitch Lundgaard, a 14-year veteran, was killed. A female bystander and an Appleton police officer were also hit. The woman was hospitalized in stable condition, and the officer was treated and released. The 47-year-old man died at a hospital from his injuries, police said."
Clearly, it was the police's fault for being there, and they murdered him by acting as judge, jury and executioner
