MikeLigalig.com

He warned that there might only be a relatively short window for a colony to be set up on Mars. He fears events on Earth could mean that technological progress is not merely halted, but actually goes into reverse.

He explained:

I don't think we can discount the possibility of a third World War. You know, in 1912 they were proclaiming a new age of peace and prosperity, saying that it was a golden age, war was over. And then you had World War I followed by World War II followed by the Cold War. So I think we need to acknowledge that there's certainly a possibility of a third World War, and if that does occur it could be far worse than anything that's happened before. Let's say nuclear weapons are used. I mean, there could be a very powerful social movement that's anti-technology.

This might sound fanciful -- or merely the script for another Will Smith movie -- but it's easy to delude ourselves that humanity will always become, as the current popular phrase would have it, smarter.

As individuals, we all do immensely stupid things. Just one look at not only those in power but those vying for it leaves open the possibility that we might make a terrible mess of things.

It's heartening that someone so committed to hyperloops, electric cars and rockets to Mars is still level-headed enough to realize that humans don't always make sensible decisions.

Why else would he be one of those desperate to ensure that the future of artificial intelligence isn't left to (certifiably) mad scientists?

Tech Culture
December 13, 2015
11:00 AM PST

by Chris Matyszczyk


President Donald Trump becomes very upset because Mexico won't pay for the wall, so he presses the nuclear button.

Vladimir Putin's troops invade Norway because their GPS malfunctions.

Switzerland decides it's tired of being beige and attacks Liechtenstein.

Please forgive me, I'm merely imagining scenarios for the start of World War III. I've been moved to such thinking by Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk.

In a new interview with GQ, Musk was asked about his ambitions to colonize Mars -- which he hopes will be achievable through his Space X rockets. He was curiously sanguine.

One shouldn't imagine, he said, that technological progress is a given.

"Most of us instinctively assume that technology relentlessly marches forward, but there have been times before now in human history -- after the Egyptians built the pyramids, for instance, or after the multiple advances of the Roman Empire -- when the civilizations that followed could no longer do what had been done before, and perhaps there's a complacency and arrogance in assuming that this won't happen again," he said.

Complacency and arrogance are, indeed, two characteristics sometimes associated with today's tech industry. Musk, though, fears that a global war could set back humanity in many ways.

HARBOR LIGHTS. At least 13 vessels were told to stay put in Cebu instead of leaving for Leyte, Samar and other points in the Visayas and Mindanao, while typhoon Nona continued to gain strength. (Sun.Star Foto/Alan T.)

Persona non grata

A call for the City Government of Davao to declare Roxas a persona non grata is meanwhile growing after the former secretary's statement calling Davao's peace and order a "myth."

Many netizens urged the Davao City Council to bar Roxas from entering the city, as his statement was an affront to the Dabawenyos.

To this, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte said such call is a "valid sentiment," but added that declaring Roxas persona non grata would put the Dabawenyos on the same level with Roxas, who is desperate of attention to save his "dying campaign."

"The call to declare Mar Roxas as persona non grata I think is a valid sentiment of the people as we think that Mar mocked the achievements of the city for his personal political gains. But I see no compelling reason to declare him as such for to do so would put us on the same level as he is. His campaign is gasping and for us to afford him our attention would breathe life into a dying campaign," the vice mayor said.

"While Ramon Bautista and Roxas are of the same color (yellow), the difference between their utterances is that the former singled out our women at binastos sila so he shall personally bear the consequences of his act, while Roxas' is political mudslinging and he shall bear his consequences come 2016 presidential elections," he added. (Sun.Star Davao)


Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on December 14, 2015.

Non-index crimes

The mayor also hit Roxas over his statement that the much ballyhooed peace and order in Davao City is all but a myth.

The former DILG chief based his statement on the data from the PNP Camp Crame that show Davao City logged a crime volume of 18,119 last year.

Quezon City had the highest crime volume in 2014, at 40,433, followed by Manila (22,778), and Zamboanga City (19,089) and Davao being the fourth.

But the Davao City Police Office quickly clarified the PNP figure, saying that out of the 18,119 crime volume of Davao City for 2014, only 6,548 (36 percent) is attributed to index crime, meaning crimes against person and properties.

The DCPO explained that the remaining 11,571 (64 percent) is attributed to non-index crimes, which are police-initiated operations that yielded positive results especially on anti-drugs and other special laws.

Duterte challenged Roxas to conduct a survey within the PNP to determine how many would support him as president. The mayor said that if Roxas would muster majority of the PNP members, he would withdraw from the presidential race and campaign for Roxas.

Duterte also warned Filipinos that aside from being a liar and a weak leader, Roxas could also not handle stress well as what he personally witnessed when Super Typhoon Yolanda hit Tacloban City.

By BEN O. TESIORNA


DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte lashed back on Sunday at fellow presidentiable Manuel "Mar" Roxas, whom he accused of falsely claiming to be an alumni of Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university.

In Sunday's edition of Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa (From the Masses, For the Masses), Duterte said Roxas is not in the official list of Wharton Alumni, which include, among others, Donald Trump and Warren Buffett.

Duterte said Roxas may have studied at Wharton but only for short courses.

The mayor dared Roxas to show proof that he is a Wharton graduate by showing a photo of his graduation in the school.

Duterte also said that Roxas does not have the respect of the majority of the members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) when he was still the secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which has supervision over the PNP.

China’s economy depends on a literal piggy bank. Until about the 1990s, most Chinese citizens ate meat so rarely that it only made up about 3 percent of their calories per year. They just couldn’t afford to eat better. Now, with China an economic contender, the average Chinese citizen eats about 40 kilograms (85 lb) of pork each year.

In 2007, blue ear pig disease killed 45 million pigs in China. The rise in pork prices caused inflation throughout the economy. Panic buying had Chinese customers literally crushing each other to get scarce pork from supermarkets.

The communist government became so concerned that they established a strategic pork reserve to stabilize prices. It includes both live pigs and frozen pork. When prices are too low, the government buys pork to make it scarcer and more expensive. When prices are too high, the government sells pork. These moves are more symbolic than anything else. The Chinese government can’t control enough pigs to affect prices on their own. But their signals influence what others do.

It’s almost crazy how far-reaching the effects of these pigs go. For example, they’re destroying large swaths of the Amazon rain forest. China can’t produce enough feed for the pigs, so it imports large amounts of grain and soy. Brazil and Argentina are cutting down thousands, and possibly millions, of hectares of rain forest to grow soy to feed China’s pigs. Some plant species have already been destroyed.

The antibiotics added to this feed are creating superbugs among both animals and humans. Even the animals’ waste is causing a problem. There’s so much of it that it’s contributing to global warming. -- http://listverse.com/

By BEN SPENCER, MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 01:12 GMT, 3 November 2015 | UPDATED: 08:46 GMT, 3 November 2015


Study of 42,000 middle-aged men found two 200ml soft drinks each day was enough to increase the chance of heart failure by 23 per cent

Adds weight to calls for an introduction of a sugar tax on fizzy drinks



The UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition warned adults to consume no more than 30g of sugar a day -  less than that in single 330ml can of Coca-Cola, which contains 35g


Drinking just over one can of sugary drink a day dramatically increases the risk of heart problems, researchers have warned.

A study of 42,000 middle-aged men found that two 200ml soft drinks each day was enough to increase the chance of heart failure by 23 per cent.

The research included fizzy drinks, sweetened fruit squash and other drinks with added sugar or artificial sweeteners, but did not include natural fruit juice.

The study fuels growing concerns that sugar is contributing to a number of health problems.

The UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition warned this summer that adults halve their sugar intake to consume no more than 30g of sugar a day - just seven teaspoons.

That is less than that in single 330ml can of Coca-Cola, which contains 35g.

Wilkam bak, Bay Chris! Long time no see but now sinaw!

Karon pa man tawon ka nakalili diri. Busy galing kag pamoso ug pasinaw he he...

Agoi. Na hala, tawga ninyo ang inyong mga abogado...

He he, kinsa kahay pinapatamaan ani...

Bitaw, he he, mora na ma hinuon ni og horror movie...

Ni JEEPY P. COMPIO


GIKATAKDANG mag-atubangay sa barangay ang ulitawo ug dalaga nga mag-boardmates human sa giingong pagpamaklad sa lalaki ngadto sa dalaga samtang naligo sud sa banyo.

Nahitabo ang insidente sa usa ka boarding house didto sa Waling-Waling Street, Barangay San Antonio, Agdao District, dakbayan sa Davao.

Alas 10:00 sa gabii, Huwebes, nagpa-blotter sa Sta. Ana Police Station si alyas Joice, 26, kay iyang nakita nga milutaw ang kalimutaw ni alyas Spencer, 27, sa bangag sa banyo nga giayo diay siya'g lili samtang naligo.

Subay sa blotter nga natala sa presinto uno, nasayran nga hubo tanan si Joice nga naligo sud sa hayag nga banyo diin sa iyang pagpanglugod, nakuyawan na lang siya nga dunay mikisaw ug nag-uyog-uyog sa kilid sa banyo.

Sa gamay nga bangag, nakita sa babaye ang pagbudlat sa mata ni Spencer nga milili kaniya.

Kalit niya kining gigawas, ug mikaratil og dagan ang ulitawo padung sa iyang kuwarto.

Nauwaw ang ulitawo ug wa na kini migawas sa iyang kuwarto, butang nga nagpa-blotter ang dalaga ug giingong nagdala og pulis sa boarding house.

Pag-abot sa ilang girentahan, wa na igkita si Spencer, diin suma sa pulis ipatawag na lang kini sa barangay aron didto sila maghusay.


Gipatik sa mantalaang Superbalita Davao Desiembre 12, 2015.

So why had they done it after living together as sisters-in-law all these years?

'Because we could - so we did,' she declared. Miss Morris revealed their civil union on Radio 4's Bookclub programme.

Obviously bursting with the good news, she informed listeners: 'I haven't told this to anybody before, but I have lived with the same person for 58 years.

'We were married when I was young and . . . then this sex change, so-called, happened, so we naturally had to divorce. So we were divorced, but we always lived together anyway.

'I wanted to round this thing off nicely, so last week Elizabeth and I went and had a civil union.'

Newly-wed: Jan Morris today (left) and when she was James Morris


But their love held. They never parted.

The couple had three sons and a daughter (another daughter died in infancy) and their devotion was so strong that they continued to live together in an old house in Gwynedd, Wales, with the famous author referring to her former wife as her 'sister-in-law'.

Yesterday, Miss Morris, as the law post-operatively christened her, was on a literary trip to Corfu.

She was recently named as the 15th greatest British writer since World War II.

Meanwhile, Mrs Morris, as Elizabeth has continued to be called, served herself a cold lunch at their home and chuckled almost like a young girl in love.

'It is rather nice to be legal again,' she said. 'Do I feel wonderful? Of course I do.'

The moving love story between writer Jan Morris and her ex-wife, who she re-married after her sex change
By GEOFFREY LEVY FOR THE DAILY MAIL UPDATED: 21:03 GMT, 4 June 2008
   

The ceremony binding them in a civil partnership was simple and brief, with no fuss or nuptial excitement.

The two ladies who made their statements of commitment and signed the register in their local council offices were far from young - one was 84, the other 81.

The toast to their future happiness was performed with cups of tea. It signalled the final inspiring chapter in an extraordinary and rather beautiful love story that not even Hollywood could have dreamed up.

The younger of the women was Jan Morris, the distinguished author who, until medical intervention in the early Seventies, was struggling to live as James Morris.

The older one, Elizabeth, was the girl who the earlier James had fallen desperately in love with and married in 1949 when both were in their 20s.

Some 36 years ago, after surgery and hormone treatment had helped turn James into Jan, they were divorced.

'We didn't want to divorce - we loved each other very much - but we were told we had to because two women cannot be man and wife,' said Elizabeth yesterday.

Saunders: It does, indeed. I was going to say, he is almost your audience.

Suzanne: That’s right, absolutely. It’s like an observer, and not the participant any more, yes.

Saundes: Leonard Cohen recently described the song as the best of his whole career. He likened it to a 1982 Chateau Le Tour, a good bottle of wine. What does the song mean to you now, as you look back on it? Do you ever listen to it?

Suzanne: Not recently. There’s a little bit of a bittersweet feeling to it that I retain. I guess I miss the simpler times that we lived and shared. I don’t mean to be maudlin about it, but we’ve kind of gone our different ways and lost touch and some of my most beloved friends have departed from this planet into the other spheres. And there’s sometimes a very real homesickness for Montreal and that wonderful time.

Saunders: So it almost has become a symbol of your youth, if you like?

Suzanne: Oh absolutely, and for many of us, I hold dear this time, very much so.


© 1998 by BBC Radio 4 and Kate Saunders.
Thanks also to Lizzie Madder for the tape!

Photo from Montreal Gazette, © Peter Martin;
Thanks to Alan and Monique Powell for help

There are heroes in the seaweed
there are children in the morning
they are leaning out for love

Saunders: Leonard Cohen finally ended up embracing spiritualism in the Mt. Baldy Zen Monastery in California, only a few miles down the road from where Suzanne now lives with her seven cats and works as a dance instructor and massage therapist.

and you want to travel blind
you know that you can trust her
for she’s touched your perfect body
with her mind

Saunders: Do you at all resent the fact that he, if you like, milked you for all the artistic inspiration and then moved on, having created this lovely thing from you? You can almost be said to have created this song yourself.

Suzanne: That may be, but I think poets do that. Poets, when they have a vision or an image, of course, use that. That’s their material. You must do this and being used is not even part of it at the time. That doesn’t exist. What came later was not remaining friends with Leonard and not knowing why. And that’s why there was some ill feeling there or some sadnesses that were not there at the beginning at all. Now the words have more meaning in a sense, because there’s a kind of detachment in the song that I hear now, that I didn’t hear then. Does that make sense to you?

Saunders: Did either of you ever try to take it a stage further and make it more physically intimate or become lovers? Did either of you ever want to?

Suzanne: Yes, he did, coming from Leonard, it did. Once when he was visiting Montreal, I saw him briefly in a hotel and it was a very, very wonderful, happy moment because he was on his way to becoming the great success he is. And the moment arose that we could have a moment together intimately, and I declined.

And you want to travel with her
and you want to travel blind
and you know that she will trust you
for you’ve touched her perfect body
with your mind

Saunders: Do you think he resented the fact at all that you turned him down when he did fancy you?

Suzanne: I’ll never really know because there is a part of me that doesn’t understand the male gender, so I can’t speak about that part (laughs). I don’t know for sure. I forget that Leonard is more than just an amazing poet and philosopher. He’s also a human being who happens to be a man (laughs), so I can’t speak on that side.

Saunders: You feel that you moved apart after the song?

Suzanne: Yes, and I don’t quite understand. I stayed true to art for art’s sake but he moved on and I stayed true to the cause, as it were. And I guess, I don’t know if that intimidated him or embarrassed him or made him uncomfortable.


Saunders: The song is about the meeting of spirits. It’s a very intimate lyric, very, very intimate.

Suzanne: This is it.

Saunders: It seems very sad that the spirits moved apart.

Suzanne: Yes, I agree and I believe it’s material forces at hand that do this to many the greatest of lovers (laughs).

Saunders: So would you say in a way, in the spiritual sense, you were great lovers at some level?

Suzanne: Oh yes, yes, I don’t hesitate to speak of this, absolutely. As I say, you can glance at a person and that moment is eternal and it’s the deepest of touches and that’s what we’d shared, Leonard and I, I believe.

Saunders: And that was something you shared, both of you?

Suzanne: Yes, and I guess he retained that.

And Jesus was a sailor
when he walked upon the water
and he spent a long time watching
from his lonely wooden tower
and when he knew for certain
only drowning men could see him
he said All men will be sailors then
until the sea shall free them
but he himself was broken
long before the sky would open
forsaken, almost human
he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone

Saunders: After you’d heard this very intimate song, when did you meet Leonard Cohen again, after you’d heard it, and how had your relationship changed, if at all?

Suzanne: It did change. He became a big star after the song was launched and he became a songwriter. As you may or may not know, it launched him as a songwriter, I suppose. Our relationship did change with time. I traveled, went to the U.S., and we’d see him and bump into him. In Minneapolis for instance, he did a concert there and he saw me back stage and received me very beautifully, ‘Oh Suzanne, you gave me a beautiful song.’ And it was a sweet moment. But then there were some bittersweet moments that perhaps I don’t wish to divulge right at this time.

Suzanne: He was "drinking me in" more than I even recognized, if you know what I mean. I took all that moment for granted. I just would speak and I would move and I would encourage and he would just kind of like sit back and grin while soaking it all up and I wouldn’t always get feedback, but I felt his presence really being with me. We’d walk down the street for instance, and the click of our shoes, his boots and my shoes, would be like in synchronicity. It’s hard to describe. We’d almost hear each other thinking. It was very unique, very, very unique.

Saunders: Could you describe one of the typical evenings that you spent with Leonard Cohen at the time the song was written?

Suzanne: Oh yes. I would always light a candle and serve tea and it would be quiet for several minutes, then we would speak. And I would speak about life and poetry and we’d share ideas.

Saunders: So it really was the tea and oranges that are in the song?

Suzanne: Very definitely, very definitely, and the candle, who I named Anastasia, the flame of the candle was Anastasia to me. Don’t ask me why. It just was a spiritual moment that I had with the lightening of the candle. And I may or may not have spoken to Leonard about, you know I did pray to Christ, to Jesus Christ and to St. Joan at the time, and still do.

Saunders: He writes, ‘you know that she’s half crazy but that’s why you want to be there.’ Did that mean half crazy with unhappiness or just eccentric, bohemian? What did he mean, do you think?

Suzanne: Well, that could be. The half crazy could pertain to the sadness, but I think it was because I was so on a creative drive and the focuses were so strong in spite of any private grief I may have about my break up with Armand and the wheres and whys. There was so much other wonderful things happening. There was the activism. I was already becoming aware of recycling at a very young, young age and I might say, I might be a pioneer in that because I was going to the Salvation Army and getting old dresses and old pieces of just cloth and making something quite wonderful out of them to dress myself, my child, and to make wonderful clothes.

Saunders: Again this is put in the song but then he says, ‘just when you mean to tell her that you have no love to give her, then she gets you on her wavelength and she lets the river answer that you’ve always been her lover.’ What does that mean? Is that something about your level of particular intimacy between you?

Suzanne: Well, I think the river is the river of life and that river, the St. Lawrence River that we shared, tied us together. And it was a union. It was a spirit union.

Now Suzanne takes your hand
and she leads you to the river
she is wearing rags and feathers
from Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
on our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
among the garbage and flowers

Saunders: Leonard Cohen later said that the opening verse of his poem, later to be the song "Suzanne", was a poetic account of the time he spent with her in the Summer of 1965.

Suzanne: One of our mutual friends mentioned to me, ‘Did you hear the wonderful poem that Leonard wrote for you’ or about you and I said no, because I had been away traveling and I wasn’t aware of it. But apparently it got into the attention of Judy Collins, who urged Leonard to write a song based on the poem.

Saunders: When you heard the song as opposed to hearing the poem, did you instantly think, that’s me?

Suzanne: Oh yes, definitely. That was me. That is me still, yes.

Saunders: What did you think about your portrayal?

Suzanne: Flattered somewhat. But I was depicted as I think, in sad terms too in a sense, and that’s a little unfortunate. You know I don’t think I was quite as sad as that, albeit maybe I was and he perceived that and I didn’t.

Saunders: Do you remember exactly when you met Leonard Cohen? Where were you that night, do you remember?

Suzanne: It was maybe several months into my relationship with Armand, which was mostly based on being dancing partners together. And he would watch us dancing, of course. And then I was introduced to Leonard at Le Vieux Moulin, I think in the presence of Armand, in fact. But we didn’t really strike a note together until maybe three or four years later.

Saunders: So Leonard Cohen saw you when you were a young girl in love?

Suzanne: Oh very much so. He got such a kick out of seeing me emerge as a young schoolgirl I suppose, and a young artist, into becoming Armand’s lover and then wife. So, he was more or less chronicling the times and seemingly got a kick out of it (laughs).

Saunders: When did you then strike up this friendship that Leonard Cohen describes in song?

Suzanne: With Leonard, it happened more in the beginning of the sixties. When I was living then separated from Armand, I went and was very much interested in the waterfront. The St. Lawrence River held a particular poetry and beauty to me and (I) decided to live there with our daughter, Julie. Leonard heard about this place I was living, with crooked floors and a poetic view of the river, and he came to visit me many times. We had tea together many times and mandarin oranges.

and she feeds you tea and oranges
that come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
that you have no love to give her
then she gets you on her wavelength
and she lets the river answer
that you’ve always been her lover

BBC Radio 4 FM, June 1998

Suzanne Verdal McCallister interviewed by Kate Saunders

Transcription from tape by Marie Mazur



"Suzanne Verdal perches in the doorway of the little gypsy cabin
she and her son built on the back of a truck".
Suzanne left Montreal in 1992 with his son Kahlil.


Narrator: Now, "You Probably Think This Song Is about You" and a trip back to the early 60’s in Montreal to meet a young dancer married to Armand, a handsome sculptor. She became the muse of dozens of Beat poets but for one, Leonard Cohen, she became extra special.

Suzanne takes you down
to her place near the river
you can hear the boats go by
you can spend the night beside her
And you know she’s half crazy

Suzanne: The Beat scene was beautiful. It was live jazz and we were just dancing our hearts out for hours on end, happy on very little. I mean we were living, most of us, on a shoestring. Yet, there was always so much to go around, if you know what I mean. You know, there was so much energy and sharing and inspiration and pure moments and quality times together on very little or no money.

By Helena Horton
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
9:38AM GMT 28 Oct 2015



The biscuit is 103 years old Photo: Henry Aldridge & Sons


A cracker that survived the Titanic and lives on, unmunched, today has been sold for $23,000 (£15,034).
The biscuit was saved by James Fenwick, a passenger on the Carpathia vessel that saved Titanic passengers at sea, and was kept intact in a Kodak film envelope by Fenwick along with the following notation: “Pilot biscuit from Titanic lifeboat April 1912.”

The 103-year-old biscuit was used as part of a survival kit on one of the Titanic lifeboats.

It has not rotted or decayed because it is similar to a hot cross bun, in that when the biscuit gets old, it dries out and fossilises.

These types of biscuit do not tend to grow mould if they are kept dry.

It was sold at the weekend Henry Aldridge & Son auction house.

Alan Aldridge, who sold the biscuit, told The Washington Post: “You might say it’s the cracker that took the biscuit,” and noted that while it is a “very much a human biscuit,” Spillers and Bakers were known as dog biscuit manufacturers.

On China’s version of Twitter, one user named Superelfjunior chastised Prof Xie writing: “If women are just only meant for producing heirs and have to mate with many men just to solve the population growth issue, how does this make us any different from animals?”

“Is this a human being speaking?” another user wrote of the essay.

A project manager for a woman’s rights group in the country, Jing Xiong, told the BBC that the idea was “extremely ridiculous”.

“Prof Xie’s suggestion ignores the wishes and rights of women, and casts women as tools used to satisfy men’s needs for sex, marriage and reproduction … this suggestion is basically sexual discrimination,” she said.

However Prof Xie rejects the notion and believes legality is beside the point and the moral alternative is far worse.

Likewise, the cultural importance placed on finding a life partner is extremely overt in Chinese culture. A popular dating game show called If Not Sincere Then Do Not Disturb (known as If You Are the One in Australia) allows a panel of 24 women to choose if they want to date a male contestant. It is the highest rated show on its network.

As it is, many lonesome Chinese men are looking elsewhere for a wife, mainly in the neighbouring countries of Vietnam and Myanmar. However such a scenario has led to greater concerns over human trafficking and online dating scams.

Prof Xie also said if the government legalised same-sex marriage, it would help the situation. Currently, numerous Chinese gay and lesbian couples get together via online forums and services to have fake marriages where they wed one another but live in secret with their homosexual partner.

But it was the novel suggestion of wife-sharing that was picked up by media outlets around the country.

Despite his unemotional approach to the matter, his essay was widely met with derision from the public as countless people criticised it online for being illegal and immoral.

The unprecedented situation needs a solution, and this economist thinks he has one.

On his blog, which has 2.6 million followers, he outlined his idea, which he stressed is purely an economic argument. Supply and demand is the bedrock of economics, and there is an oversupply of Chinese men, he wrote in his essay entitled “30 million bachelors is a groundless fear”.

According to Professor Xie, wealthy men will be able to afford the “high price” of women as their value increases, while poorer men will miss out on having a partner.

“What about the low-income men? One way is for several men to band together to find a wife,” he wrote.

He believes some rural families are already adopting the idea. “This isn’t some pie-in-the-sky idea of mine. In some remote and poor areas there are cases where brothers jointly marry one wife, and they can live happily and harmoniously,” he wrote.

He worries that the flow-on effects of a generation of lonely men will cause problems as they will not have any offspring to support them in their older age, something that is mandated by Chinese law. The relationship is considered so fundamental that parents are able to sue their children for not visiting enough.

Economist receives heated backlash for wife-sharing proposal to address generation of lonely men
http://www.news.com.au/
OCTOBER 29, 20157:43AM


SHARING is caring.

That’s the message from Chinese economist Xie Zuoshi, who has proposed the idea of wife-sharing for China’s new generation of lonely bachelors.

The men are known as guanggun, meaning bare branches, and by the year 2020, China is expected to have 30 million of them unable to find a partner.

The economics professor at the Zhejing University of Finance and Economics has suggested a system of one-sided polyamory, or as TheNew York Times put it “one wife, many husbands”, to address the growing social problem.

The Asian superpower has become the world’s biggest lonely hearts club due to the country’s one-child policy, coupled with a patriarchal society that leads parents to favour the birth of a son. Sex-selective abortions are illegal in the country but are nonetheless a widespread practice. The result is a gender imbalance that amounts to about 117 men to every 100 women.

Figures from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics show that, as of the end of 2014, the Chinese mainland held 33.76 million more males than females.

OPEC, in spite of numerous appeals to reduce output in support of raising the price of crude, has refused to take action as they attempt to maintain their own market share. Of course why would OPEC reduce production when the Saudis have continually increased production since the last quarter of 2014.

While the situation looks grim on the surface, there is another line of thinking, which suggests that crude oil prices were was intentionally tanked by Saudis. This was done in an attempt to bankrupt the burgeoning shale oil market in the United States, thus allowing the Saudis to continue to dominate the world oil market while at the same time allowing for the U.S. to gain geopolitical advantage over Russia by decimating the oil-dependent Russian economy.

The fact that Saudi Arabia has continually increased oil production, essentially lowering the price of oil, speaks to the fact that they are playing a dangerous game that may ultimately destroy the House of Saud. -- http://thefreethoughtproject.com/

According to a report by RT:

OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Algeria and Libya have all seen their revenues drop sharply as a result of a decline in oil prices.

Saudi Arabia is currently facing a budget deficit for the first time since 2009. The crude price decline has strongly influenced the kingdom’s economy since oil sales account for about 80 percent of its revenues. It has prompted the government to cut spending, delay projects and sell bonds.

The country’s net foreign assets fell by about $82 billion from January to August. The government sold state bonds worth $15 billion (55 billion riyals) this year.

The budget deficit caused project layoffs in Saudi Arabia. Companies working on infrastructure projects haven’t been paid for six months or more. Payment delays increased lately as the government wants to cut prices on contracts in order to preserve cash.

"Achieving fiscal sustainability over the medium-term will be especially challenging given the need to create jobs for the more than 10 million people anticipated to be looking for work by 2020 in the region’s oil exporting countries,” IMF Middle East and Central Asia Department Director Masood Ahmed told journalists after the report was presented in Dubai."

The report also suggests that low oil prices will remain in place for the projected future.

“For the region’s oil exporters, the fall in prices has led to large fall in revenue, amounting to a staggering $360 billion this year alone,” Ahmed said.

Saudi Arabia is Projected to be Bankrupt in 5 Years â€" IMF
By Jay Syrmopoulos on October 23, 2015


Dubai, UAE â€" Strategic U.S. ally, Saudi Arabia, which is the Middle East’s largest economy, is projected to be bankrupt within the next five years if the Saudi regime maintains its current policies and expenditures, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to the IMF’s latest region report, Saudi Arabia is expected to run a budget deficit of 21.6 percent in 2015 and 19.4 percent in 2016, with the IMF urging the Saudi government to adjust their fiscal policy.

Two of the main factors behind the grim forecast are the deepening of current regional conflicts and the depressed price of oil. With the extreme refugee crisis being precipitated by the Syrian conflict, continuing large numbers of refugees are expected to strain the ability of the region to create new fiscal opportunities.

The conflicts have given rise to large numbers of displaced people and refugees, on a scale not seen since the early 1990s, according to the report. The irony in this situation is that Saudi Arabia has been one of the largest suppliers of weapons and ammunition to the forces attempting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad, thus precipitating the massive refugee crisis.

OK ra ni...





Ayaw lang pud ta tagai og ingon ani...

Kaluoy pud. Kutob ra sa underwear...

He he, apil pud si doggie sa lottery...

Bernard Madzivanzira is facing difficulties walking and says he can longer wear underpants after his private parts swelled up permanently in a suspected case of ‘runyoka’ or witchcraft - See more at: http://nehandaradio.com/2011/10/15/pictures-of-cheating-chinhoyi-man-with-%E2%80%98runyoka%E2%80%99/#sthash.ozghm71z.dpuf

Mako jamo, an!

Hmm, order?

And the order is...

SHOOT TO KILL!

Tuesday, December 08, 2015
By RUTH ABBEY GITA


SENATOR Alan Peter Cayetano came to the defense of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte after London-based Amnesty International on Monday raised red flags about the mayor's plan to restore the death penalty if elected president come 2016.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2015/12/08/cayetano-duterte-stands-order-not-violence-445834

...basin makaigit ka pa.

Ni EDGAR FUERZAS


KABACAN, North Cotabato -- Patay ang usa ka lalaki nga giingong kabit samtang samdan sab ang babaye human gipamusil ni mister nga pulis, alas 10:05 sa gabii niadtong Lunes.

Giila ang nakabsan sa kinabuhi nga mao si Loloy Sumalpong Bel, 34, samtang samdan si Cherry (bansagon gitago sa Superbalita), 36, mga molupyo sa Barangay Poblacion, Kabacan.

Si Kabacan municipal chief of police, Chief Inspector Ronnie Cordero, nagsulti nga nanuroy ang mga biktima sa kanto Roxas ug Mantawil Street sa dihang nakit-an sa bana sa babaye.

Kalit silang gipamusil sa suspek nga dunay ranggo nga Police Officer (PO) 2 gamit ang 9mm pistol.

Patay si Bel nga nakaangkon og samad pinusilan sa ulo, dughan ug likod sa lawas samtang kritikal sab si Cherry nga dunay igo sa dughan ug nawong nga nadala dayon sa mga nagrespondeng pulis sa Kabacan Medical Specialist Hospital.

Tungod kay grabe ang kahimtang, daling gibalhin ang biktima sa Cotabato Provincial Hospital.

Ang suspek gilayong misibat sakay sa iyang motorsiklo human sa hitabo.

Ang pulis maoy bana sa biktima nga si Cherry kinsa giingong dunay relasyon sa napatay nga si Bel.

Samtang gikalap kining balita, padayong gipangita sa kapulisan ang suspek nga gitakdang idemanda sa kasong pagpatay sa korte.


Gipatik sa mantalaang SuperBalita Davao Desiembre 09, 2015.

Ah, sa ato pa, komportabol ka makigpotosyapanay diri?

He he...

Yogatindog but, at the same time, yogabitay...

Anadir wan...

"I knew there would always be a gaping hole that could never be filled," Harry said.

There have been reports that the boys have "secretly" paid for Diana's body to be exhumed. As previously reported by Starpulse, reports indicate that the boys want to find out more about what actually happened to their mom back in 1997. Whether or not this is true, however, is unknown.

Do you think Princess Diana was intentionally killed? If so, do you think that the truth about her death will ever be revealed? -- http://www.starpulse.com/

Princess Diana's "secret daughter" says that she had a "secret meeting" with Kate Middleton in 2014 and that she has the support of the Duchess of Cambridge. Whether you believe that "Sarah" is Lady Di's child or not, there are other very interesting parts of this story. For starters, people are very interested in the death of the People's Princess and, to this day, many believe that her death wasn't an accident... not even close.

Regardless, Diana's sons, Princes William and Harry, don't seem to be confused about what happened to their mom. According to Us Weekly, Harry recently talked about losing his mom, but didn't seem confused or concerned about her death in any way.

Effie Orfanides
12/4/2015 9:15am EST


Princess Diana supposedly has a "secret daughter" -- and this has been rumored for many years. In a new report put out by the National Enquirer, this woman has allegedly come forward to speak out about her "mother's" death. Evidently, this woman believes that Prince Charles murdered Princess Di and she's out to prove the truth to the world. Problem being, Prince Charles is allegedly doing everything that he can to shut her up.

"I have deliberately stayed in the background for many years. But my mother’s exhumation opened the door for me to go public. If the Palace keeps out of the investigation, it will show Charles was behind her murder. And I still hold bombshell evidence that will destroy the man. I’m his worst nightmare," said a woman named Sarah who claims to be Princess Diana's daughter. "He wants me silenced. He has a team of trained killers out to get me. He’s vowing to murder me, just like he did my mother. He sees me as a threat," Sarah added.

Bwahaha!

Ni Gabriel C. Bonjoc/GMR (Banat) | Updated December 4, 2015 - 12:00am


CEBU, Philippines - Nasikop sa kapolisan ang giingong notado’ng kiriwan sa Siyudad sa Talisay human nakabiktima og factory worker samtang sakay sa pasaheroang jeep sa Mananga, Tabunok niadto’ng Miyerkules sa buntag.

Ang nasikop nailhan nga si Rodulfo Mancao, 40-anyos, minyo nga nagpuyo sa nahisgutang lugar ug lumad nga taga Siyudad sa Davao. Si SPO1 Mikie Espina sa Talisay City Police Station niingon nga nidangop sa ila’ng buhatan si Sheila Lyn Matuguinan Recta, 26, dalaga nga taga Kinasang-an, Pardo, Cebu City kinsa gikuotan.

Padulong unta motrabaho ang biktima sakay sa pasaheroan nga multicab paingon sa Lungsod sa Minglanilla diha’ng duha ka lalaki ang nagpaka-aron ingnon nga pasahero ang nitawag sa iya’ng atensiyon nga adunay bubble gum sa iya’ng buhok hinungdan nga iya kini’ng gihinay-hinay og kuha. Apan ang duha ka lalaki ang hinay-hinay sab nga nihinol sa iya’ng bag ug nakuha gyud ang cellphone nga mobalor og P35,000 dayon sibat.

Si Espina niingon nga ila’ng gipatan-aw sa rouges gallery ang biktima ug niila ni Mancao ug laing lalaki nga naila lang nga Allan. Dali’ng nihimo og hot pursuit operation ang kapolisan ug ila’ng naabtan si Mancao sa ila’ng panimaye ug narekober ang butang nga gikawat.

Matud ni Espina nga si Mancao ang kapila na nila nadakpan sa kaso’ng pagpangawat sa modus operandi nga lipaton ang biktima ug may giatubang na kini nga kaso.

Dali sab nila’ng giduso ang pagpasaka og kaso batok sa suspek samtang gibalhug sa prisohan. (BANAT NEWS)

Ni Jojo C. Ugdol/EIM (Banat) | Updated December 4, 2015 - 12:00am


CEBU, Philippines - Samad pinusilan sa tangkugo ang naangkon sa usa ka 85- anyos nga lolo nga nakit-ang patay sulod sa iyang balay diha sa Sitio Guimpilakan, Barangay Kanluhangon, Lungsod sa Tabuelan sa nakalabay nga gabii.

Giila ang biktima nga si Jesus Montealto, nga nakita nga naghawid pa og sundang samtang nagbuy-od sulod sa balay, timailhan nga nisuway pa kini pagsukol sa tawong nipasipala kaniya.

Matud pa ni Senior Inspector Welther Grapa, hepe sa Tabuelan Police nga usa ka pastor sa Seventh-day Adventist nga si Pastor Ron Adlai Fajilan, 43, kauban ang usa ka silingan sa biktima ang unang nakakita sa patay nga lawas ni Montealto nga nag-inusarang nagpuyo sa balay.

Ang pastor matud pang Grapa anha magkatulganan sa balay sa biktima matag aduna kini himuong “Bible study” sa maong barangay  nga nahimutang sa utlanan sa mga lungsod sa Borbon, Tabogon ug San Remegio. Sa inisyal nga imbestigasyon sa kapulisan, upat ka mga tawo nga nagtaptap sa ilang nawong maoy mihimo sa krimen base sa pamahayag sa usa ka testigo nga nakakita nga nanulod sa balay sa biktima.

Nagtuo si Grapa nga nakabantay ang biktima ug nipasalipod sa bungbong sa iyang lawak ug nagkupot og sundang apan gipalapsan og bala sa mga kriminal ang lawanit nga bungbong ug naigo si Montealto sa tangkugo ug namatay.

Human napusilan ang biktima mikuha og hagdanan ang mga kriminal ug giguba ang bintana ug nanulod dayong kuha sa mga butang ug kwarta sa biktima.

Ang biktima usa ka mag-uuma nga nanag-iya og kayutaan sa bukirang bahin sa maong dapit, padayon pa ang imbestigasyon sa maong insidente. (BANAT NEWS)

Dis wan is a bilyonil...

       

"Toddlerpedes" by the artist Jon Beinart.

DAKONG bun-og sa nawong ug hubag ang mata sa usa ka polis human nga gibunalan og bato Martes mga ala 1:30 sa kaadlawon sa Upper Puerto, dakbayan sa Cagayan de Oro.

Ang biktima si Senior Police Officer 1 Rey Abecia, 40, taga Mambatangan, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon ug sakop sa Police Station 6 (PS6) sa Puerto.

Sa impormasiyon gikan sa Northern Mindanao Medical Center sa Cagayan de Oro diin gidala ang biktima nasayran gikan sa kaubang polis nga gisundan sa biktima ang sakyanan nga gituohang adunay sakay nga hijacker.

Gidugang pa nga giatangan niini ang wala usab ikabutyag nga klase sa sakyanan ug gisinyasan ang drayber nga ipahunong hinungdan nga mikanaog ang sakay niini.

Wala makabantay ang polis sa dihang pagnaog sa suspetsado kalit kining gihampak og bato.

Nag-inilogay pa sa armas ang biktima ug ang suspetsado ug nakabuto ug naigo ang suspek.

Giingong naluyahan ang biktima nga polis human usab nga nakaangkon sa samad sa dihang gibunalan og bato hinungdan nga nakapalayo ang suspek dala pa ang motorsiklo sa biktima.

Sa pagsulat niini nga balita ang insidente ang giimbestigahan pa sa kapolisan sa maong dapit ug wala kini giluwatang pahayag sa dihang gihinabi sa Sun.Star SuperBalita. (KCS)


Gipatik sa mantalaang SuperBalita Cagayan de Oro Desiembre 03, 2015.

Bwahaha!