Transgenerational epigenetic teen violence

Transgenerational epigenetic observations

Marcus Pembrey and colleagues also observed in the Överkalix study that the paternal (but not maternal) grandsons of Swedish boys who were exposed during preadolescence to famine in the 19th century were less likely to die of cardiovascular disease; if food was plentiful then diabetes mortality in the grandchildren increased, suggesting that this was a transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.[43] The opposite effect was observed for females—the paternal (but not maternal) granddaughters of women who experienced famine while in the womb (and their eggs were being formed) lived shorter lives on average.[44]

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above observation points to the possible epigenetic origination of teen violence in Singapore where the parents are subjected to ramdom acts of violence during 2 years NS slavery and according to epigenetics theory pass the unhealthy enviromental factors to the offsprings.

sg is a piece of shit full of itself spending obsene money on vanity projects

By any measure, Singapore's defense capacity is huge for a country of only 660 square kilometers (264 square miles) of territory. The prosperous island-state, with a 76 percent ethnic Chinese majority, sits between Indonesia and Malaysia and has been skittish about its largely Muslim neighbors since the 1960s. Singapore practices what it calls a “poisoned shrimp” strategy – it might be swallowed by one of its neighbors, but doing so would kill the neighbor.

Accordingly, Singapore’s defense budget, at US$6.9 billion annually, is nearly 3.5 times as big as Indonesia’s. Singapore’s defense budget comprises 30 percent of its national budget and slightly over 5 percent of GDP. The Indonesia Air Force and Navy get a mere US$494 million each.

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The crisis has shone a light on the revolving door that operated between Fianna Fáil and the construction industry. Under successive governments, Ireland became the plaything of a crony capitalism that neglected the public interest in favour of a golden circle of banks, property developers and state bureaucrats.

In its bid to attract inward investment, the country became a virtual tax haven, leaving it ever more dependent on revenues from the building industry. At the height of the boom, construction accounted for a fifth of the economy and house prices rose 520 per cent between 1994 and 2006. When the property bubble burst, the state was left with no way to finance its debts.

another local male regret serving NS for nothing

Well I am not sure if there is a point in writing this because I am not sure if there is anyone from the government who will be reading this. But I guess for the record, I ‘ll just do it.

I am in my thirties and a PMET. I worked for a local company for 6 years as a Software Engineer. Recently, the boss started to hire Foreign ‘Talent’ from the Philippines and India. Rumour has it that they are employed because they are ‘cheap’.

My point is they are just ordinary workers, who need guidance from local staff, doing ordinary jobs that Singaporean PMETs can do. There were locals came in for interviews but in the end those foreigners are selected by the boss. And mind you the IT Manager who decides who to hire is also a foreigner himself.

Everyone in the office agreed that these so-called ‘talented’ foreigners are sloppy in their job but they are excellent ‘balls lickers’. They work hard only when the boss is around.

Unfortunately, the company financial situation got worsen and the big boss decided to let go some staff in order to save money. Guess what? The first batch consist of Singaporeans only while those foreigners are retained. They are cheap I guess.

And that was last April. Till now I have yet to find a job. It has been 8 months and I am living on loans to survive. Both my parents were warded in the hospital for few months recently and I am now paying the huge debts incurred due to the hospitalisation. Mum got a stroke which rendered her immobile and Dad got a heart attack. All this happened when I am unemployed.

HDB arrears are getting bigger and CPF was unable to deduct from my OA for the compulsory HPS insurance. There are no more money left in my OA. On top of that, we have to eat and there is a little girl aged 4 years old staying with me.

Things are getting out of control and I was under depression state because of this. I have lost count numbers of resumes sent to companies but there are no response from any of them. IT industry as we all know gets competition from foreigners all over the world. Besides I am in my late 30s.

Out of desperation, I sent an email to my MP asking for assistance in job employment and two months later, I have yet to receive his reply besides the one and only auto-reply.

I got frustrated to the point of feeling ‘hatred’ towards foreigners when I see them laughing and talking loudly among their colleagues in public places while me, a true-blooded local born Singaporeans who has served NS are struggling to make ends meet. Where do I get the money for my mum’s next therapy session? For my dad’s next appt at the hospital. For the meals? Where?

Do I have the right to vote my MP out in the next GE? If not, what right do I have as a Singaporeans?

.

Allan

mollly meed make sense

The problems highlighted above are real and valid worries, but they hardly touch the heart of the matter. The average Singaporean—and obviously our policymakers are not average Singaporeans given that that our ministers earn enough in one year to afford a decent retirement whereas I can only pray that I would be able to slog away in resigned bitter despair till the day I die—only has his labor to protect him from total helplessness. And it is also what makes him helpless. The same Singaporean who is disadvantaged in terms of employment prospects because of National Service liabilities, who is no match for those who can survive on the lowest wages imaginable, who is not protected by a minimum wage in a country that has third world wage structures is also the Singaporean who faces ever-rising costs of living (which the government sometimes market as ever-improving standards of living) and is ordered to be cheaper, better, faster while clocking the most number of working hours in the world. This is same Singaporean who is also supposed to be kind and nationalistic, speak good English, and vote the PAP into power election after election (which they, disappointingly, will). The average Singaporean is supposed to make merry in misery and be grateful for being able to stay alive by suffering.

Singapore wants me to always be an abject beggar-slave chimera. I have to be a pathetic monster that begs for exploitation because being exploited is my only means of survival. Given that we want to compare with the Finns, perhaps this characterizes the Finns too. Or perhaps we are really much better off.

Finland is not a model that the PAP government of Singapore looks up to as it seems rather fond of the idea of welfare, which is an abomination to the rational PAP. Perhaps we ought to take a look at Finland’s social security system and see how much better off Singaporeans are compared to the Finns.

If Singaporeans want to retire, they should first retire a particular group of expired politicians who are exceptionally talented in marketing asphyxiation to the masses. But we know Singaporeans are good, diligent people like Orwell’s Boxer and we should not expect a Boxer’s Rebellion.

Retirement is not part of the lexicon of Standard English and we should stop using the word.

.

Molly Meek

SIA SAY SAF REGULAR NO GOOD FOR CEO

SIA's No. 2 man resigns
By Karamjit Kaur, Aviation Correspondent
Mr Bey (right) with Mr Chew (left) and Mr Goh at a press conference earlier this month. Mr Bey, whose last day with SIA is Feb 28, did not say what his plans for the future are. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN

http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNews/Story/STIStory_604014.html

THE No. 2 man at Singapore Airlines (SIA), Mr Bey Soo Khiang, has quit - two months after the carrier named his subordinate as the next chief executive.

He was the highest-ranking executive among four SIA officials widely believed to be in the running to succeed outgoing CEO Chew Choon Seng.

In the end, Mr Goh Choon Phong, 47, one of the four, was selected for the top post, which he will assume on Jan 1.

At the time of the announcement, he was reporting to Mr Bey, who is senior executive vice-president for marketing and corporate services.

Announcing Mr Bey's impending departure, SIA said in a statement yesterday that no decisions had been made on who would take over his duties.

He joined the airline a decade ago, after 26 years in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). He was Chief of Defence Force when he left the SAF in 2000.

Mr Bey said in the statement: 'The time is right for me to move on. I will be leaving knowing that the airline remains in good hands.'

Mr Bey, 55, whose last day with SIA is Feb 28, did not elaborate on his plans for the future but said he decided to move on to explore new opportunities and challenges. Mr Shukor Yusof of Standard & Poor's Equity Research said that the day SIA announced that Mr Goh would be the next chief executive, 'the writing was on the wall'.

He added: 'It does not come as a big surprise that someone of his calibre would want to move on, given that he did not get the nod (from the board) for the CEO job.'

There should be no shortage of jobs for Mr Bey when he leaves, Mr Shukor said, adding that he could easily move to a government-linked or private company, given his management experience.

SIA chairman Stephen Lee said it was with 'great regret' that the airline was announcing Mr Bey's resignation.

'He has served with great dedication and loyalty. He has made significant contributions towards the development of the company,' he said.

Mr Bey could not be contacted for further comments.

He joined SIA as executive vice-president (technical) in July 2000 and was promoted to senior executive vice-president two years later.

SAF regulars are bastards !!!

This story, reminds me of another incident - some fucking minions in the army.

This young man, he was supposed to attend a hearing for evading NS, he was badly injured in an accident, and missed his enlistment. When he received the letter, he attended the session with a limp as the limb supporting structures were still bound to his legs to help him walk. He had all the documents from the hospital and was ready to present his case.

FUCK that fucking colonel, a typical jiak liao bee and useless bastard. When this guy stood up and limp slowly towards the colonel, the colonel straightaway charged him for insubordination as that young man did not salute to the colonel. He was carried away by the jiak liao bees MP. On the pretext of going to the toilet, he gave them a slip - a Pioneer of Mas Selamat Kastari ?? He climbed over the fence and wall with limp.

For the next 2 months he went into hiding and MP went to his house looking for him. In that 2 months, he wrote to several places to complain.

In the end, owing to his serious injuries, he was exempted from NS. On the day that he went back to the enlistment centre to get his exemption letter, he said these to the same colonel with a middle finger after getting the exemption :

KAN NIN LAO BU AYE CHOW CHEE BYE !!

The colonel dash to fight with him, and he was ready for it. Luckily, that young man relative was there to intervene and stand in between the young man and colonel. I was hoping that the young man smashed the fucking colonel head with his bare hand - a karate opponent.

This fucking bastard colonel is the by product of fucking PAP system - arrogance and self righeous !!

There was another arrogance and self righeous RSM, and every recruits and privates hated him to the core. One day, my friend decided to take the law into his own hand. He paid off some gangsters to mob him at his flat. After one of the gangsters recognized that RSM face, he gathered the gang near the flat to whack the daylight out of him. Unfortunately, these moronic gangsters whacked the wrong person !!! The SON of that RSM !! Father and son look alike and about the same size !!

NS is child abuse

U.S. Debt Is Child Abuse: Laurence Kotlikoff, Richard Munroe
By Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Richard Munroe - Oct 22, 2010 9:00 AM GMT+0800
Bloomberg Opinion

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We don’t want to think about it, let alone read about it, but higher taxes are on the way.

Two tax hikes were passed this year and another is likely. These new taxes are supposedly being levied just on the rich. But over time, they will hit most of our kids. And they are just the beginning of our children’s and grandchildren’s tax trauma, given Congress’s inability to curb spending.

The two increases are for Medicare. They were buried inside the 2,000-page health-care bill and take effect in 2013. Earn more than $250,000 ($200,000 if single) and you’ll face an extra 0.9 percentage-point FICA tax for Social Security. And once your income passes this level, you’ll pay a 3.4 percent tax on your asset income.

These thresholds aren’t indexed for inflation, let alone growth in real incomes. So these taxes on “the rich” will eventually hit everyone as nominal incomes rise with inflation and productivity. Within 20 years most earners will be paying these new Medicare taxes.

The Alternative Minimum Tax also has thresholds that aren’t indexed for inflation. Congress has raised these levels to keep the share of taxpayers affected constant. But there is no guarantee it will continue to do so.

There are two other income-tax thresholds that haven’t changed since 1984. These are the income levels at which the first 50 percent and then 85 percent of our Social Security benefits are subject to taxation. In 2000, only 22 percent of recipients were above one of these thresholds. Now it’s 39 percent. When today’s children retire, virtually all will pay taxes on 85 percent of their benefits.

Bye-Bye Tax Cuts

Take a current 10-year-old who reaches the 25 percent tax bracket. She’ll hand back 21 percent (0.25 times 0.85) of her Social Security benefit in income taxes. To add injury to injury, President Barack Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform likely will recommend a 20 percent benefit cut through a three-year increase in Social Security’s full retirement age.

Congress will, surely, also repeal George W. Bush’s income- tax cuts for the rich by raising rates in the top two brackets to 36 percent from 33 percent and to 39.6 percent from 35 percent. Over time, many of our kids who are middle income and even low income will face these higher rates because of real bracket creep.

Based on these assumptions, many young, low earners, now in the 15 percent bracket, will land in the 25 percent bracket by 2020. And many young workers with moderate earnings, now in the 28 percent bracket, will move into the 36 percent bracket.

What’s the total impact on young and future Americans of these tax time-bombs?

Kids and Grandkids

Consider two couples -- the kids, who are 30, and the grandkids, who will be 30 in 2040. The kids earn $70,000 a year per spouse, own a $400,000 house with a $1,718 monthly mortgage payment, will spend $30,000 on each of their two children’s four years of college, and earn 6 percent (3 percent after inflation) on their assets.

The grandkids are just like the kids except all their numbers are 3.68 times larger because of inflation and productivity growth.

Let’s reference by 100 each couple’s sustainable living standard absent any federal taxes. To compare the kids and the grandkids, we’ve adjusted the grandkids’ living standard down for their increased productivity.

Under the current tax system, the kids’ living standard is 83, meaning they face a 17 percent lifetime tax rate. Add in the new Medicare taxes, and the increase in top tax rates over the next decade, and their living standard drops to 80 -- a 20 percent tax rate.

Approaching Greece

The grandkids face a bigger hit. Their living standard is 74 -- a 26 percent tax. So, compared with the current tax system, the grandkids have to pay 9 cents more per dollar earned to Uncle Sam.

If things continue as we adults have planned, our nation’s debt, measured as a share of gross domestic product, will reach Greek levels just when the grandkids start heading to work. At that point, simply stabilizing the debt-to-GDP ratio will require raising taxes by 50 percent, thereby lowering the grandkids’ living standard from 74 to 61.

This is a 39 percent bite, more than twice the lifetime tax rate that baby boomers have experienced. Bear in mind, this is an average, not a marginal tax rate; it’s like taxing every dollar the grandkids earn at 39 percent.

Deficits Keep Soaring

A 50 percent tax hike will work for a while. But, given projected federal spending, it won’t keep deficits from soaring down the road. So the great-grandkids can expect even higher lifetime tax rates than their parents.

We’ve spent six decades passing the generational buck -- taking ever-larger sums from the young and giving them to the old, while promising the young their turn, when old, to expropriate their own offspring.

This massive Ponzi scheme is turning the American Dream into the American Nightmare. Stopping it means dramatically limiting the growth of federal spending. Here’s how:

-- Scrap our health-care system and provide all citizens with a voucher based on pre-existing conditions to buy a basic health plan, and limit coverages so that the total cost of the vouchers is fixed each year at 10 percent of GDP -- what Germany now spends on care.

-- Freeze Social Security in place, pay off its accrued benefits and replace the system with mandatory saving in personal accounts whose assets are jointly invested, by computer, not Wall Street, at minimal cost, in a fully diversified global index fund. The government would match contributions of the poor to make the system progressive and annuitize account balances at retirement. This Personal Security System would take much of Social Security’s unfunded liability off our kids’ backs.

-- Finally, stop spending more than the next 15 countries combined on defense. Declare victory in our unwinnable wars and bring the troops home.

And what about revenue? Scrap the current tax system and tax the elderly as well as the young through a levy on consumption. Also, provide a fixed monthly payment to each household to make the consumption tax progressive.

This all may sound radical. It’s not. Our progeny only have 100 cents out of every dollar they earn to surrender to Uncle Sam. And if their tax rates get too high, they will have a simple response: “Hasta la vista, baby.”

(Laurence J. Kotlikoff is a professor of economics at Boston University and president of Economic Security Planning Inc., and Richard Munroe is a senior software engineer at the firm.)

To contact the writer of this column: Laurence Kotlikoff at kotlikoff@bu.edu

To contact the editor responsible for this column: James Greiff at jgreiff@bloomberg.net