Dow Jones Surges After 2011 GOP Debate

(Click for full size.)

The GOP debate in New Hampshire began 8pm on 13 June 2011. The various candidates for 2012′s Presidential run gave their views.

The next morning, the Dow Jones surges up +120 points after the constant slide down since the start of May.

Coincidence?

Compare against the kind of Down graph Obama generates as well as this extensive collection. It’s not an isolated case.

In Rush’s words:

Right now, folks, there’s not a Republican on that stage that wouldn’t do a better job for this country than what’s currently being done as president.

America is rejoicing at the slew of alternatives to the disastrous Obama administration train-wreck.

How to Deviously Hide Your CRAAAAZZZYY When Commenting Online

Via AoSHQ from Pajamas Media, just one excerpt:

Tips for Not Appearing Crazy on the Internet

…

If you can actually read and understand what non-crazy people are saying and still keep your own crazy, that’s a really advanced state of crazy you’ve achieved. Be proud.

Comparing the Maybankcard 2 Gold Card – American Express + MasterCard

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: Maybankcard 2 Gold Card – American Express gives excellent returns via its 5% rebate for weekend spending and Maybank TreatsPoints. With even moderate spending timed to be done on weekends, you will easily cover back the RM50 Government Service Tax.

However, American Express charges higher rate on the business using it. So I suggest to only use it for big companies (e.g.Tesco, Jusco, Shell etc) and avoid using it on small businesses (e.g. family cafes) and charities (e.g. Barnabas Fund) as you will be basically transferring their hard-earned profits to the American Express company.

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The following may contain inaccurate data due to the vast amounts of calculations, choices and terms/conditions involved. If you spot any error, please inform me.

UPDATE: Sadly both the AmEx and Mastercard share the same total credit limit. So if your credit limit is RM5,000 and each card has reached RM2,400… You cannot swipe either card for a RM300 purchase!

The Maybankcard 2 Gold Card provides one American Express (AmEx) and one MasterCard (MasCa) credit card. Hereafter referred to as the 2card.

Among the extolled advantages, the two cards share one statement and – attractively – one Government Service Tax (GST) of RM50/year. This means that you can flexibly wield two different credit card lines without paying extra GST – although in Malaysia this is something of a moot point, as the question is more of where does accept AmEx and where doesn’t accept Mastercard. See bottom of post for a list.

The AmEx gives you 5x Maybank TreatsPoints which can be collected to redeem for products, cash vouchers – or even to negate the RM50 GST. Meanwhile, the MasCa only gives 1x TreatsPoints. So avoid using the MasCa whenever possible.

Using solely on the AmEx, you have to spend just RM2000 a year (RM166.67 a month) to get the 10,000 TreatsPoints needed to waive the RM50 GST. I’m quite certain anyone eligible for the card will spend more than that already on basic unavoidable expenditures such as petrol and grocery shopping,.

Furthermore, using AmEx on weekends gives ’5% cash back’ in the form of a discount off your bill for the respective items. (I’ve tried it for buying petrol at Shell, and it really works.) Limited to RM50 a month though. You’d have to spend RM1,000 each month on weekends alone to reach the cash back limit, so it’s really more of an occasional small bonus.

UPDATE: In less than a year of using the AmEx, I have earned back far more in rebates than the RM50 government tax. Even though I often missed chances to use it (e.g. by shopping on a weekday instead of a weekend). Definitely worth it.

Membership is also free for life.

Altogether, looks pretty attractive right?

So the question is, are the 2card’s benefits better than alternatives?

For this exercise, I’m going to use my own ad hoc unit of measurement, PBR (Pay Back Ratio) which is a measurement of how fast each Ringgit of expenditure through a credit card pays back in the form of vouchers, rebates or etc.

The following calculations will exclude the weekend 5% cash back bonus which is limited to RM50/month for ease of comparison.

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VS. Citibank Gold Credit Card

Citibank’s gold cards give 3x Citi Reward Points that can be used to redeem stuff. Now obviously this seems much lower than Maybank AmEx’s 5x points – but when you average out the 5x AmEx and 1x MasCa, it comes to 3x anyway. Simple solution, use AmEx whenever possible.

So let’s go to the actual benefits in terms of cash. For ease of comparison, let’s use two basic items that anyone will be able to use – shopping vouchers and rebate on GST.

The best points-to-rewards ratio Jusco voucher from Citibank Gold is worth RM100 for 21,000 points. That’s a ratio of 100/21000 = 0.00476 PBR (higher PBR is better as it shows how much each reward point is worth). But don’t forget the 3x rate. The actual ratio is then 0.00366 x 3 = 0.01428 PBR (meaning you get back RM1 in vouchers for every RM70 you spend thru Citibank). Note that other versions of the card are different, for example AirAsia Gold card needs 27,300 points instead of 21,000! Laaaaaame.

The best ratio Tesco voucher from Maybankcard AmEx Gold is worth RM50 for 11,000 points. That’s 50/11000 = 0.00455 PBR, but the AmEx 5x rate makes it 0.00455 x 5 = 0.02275 PBR (meaning you get back RM1 in vouchers for every RM44 you spend thru Maybank Amex.).

So purely on shopping vouchers, Maybankcard AmEx is clearly the winner at 1.75x faster money back speed than Citibank Gold. Without factoring in 3x and 5x, Citibank Gold’s base voucher ratio is marginally better (and the AirAsia Gold is worse!).

Moving on to GST rebate, Citibank lets you waive the RM50 tax for 10,000 points. That’s a ratio of 50/10000 = 0.005 PBR, factor in the 3x rate makes it 0.005 x 3 = 0.015 PBR (you get back RM1 in rebate for every RM66.67 spent). Again, note that other versions of the card are different, for example AirAsia Gold card needs 13,000 points instead of 10,000! Boooo!

Meanwhile, Maybank GST rebate is exactly the same ratio of RM50 tax for 10,000 points. That’s a ratio of 50/10000 = 0.005, factor in the 5x rate and it’s a stunning 0.005 x 5 = 0.025 PBR (RM1 rebate for just every RM40 spent)!

So again, the AmEx’s 5x again makes it 1.67x the money back speed as Citibank Gold’s 3x.

And don’t forget the weekend 5% cash back that AmEx offers you!

Furthermore, the number of Citibank branches seems much lower than Maybank ones. This comes into play when you want to pay your credit card bill. Without easy access to a Citibank branch and without a Citibank account, you either have to mail the cheque to Citibank (60 sen now) with risk of interception or getting lost, or else pay RM2 to GIRO transfer via online banking.

Using your likely existent Maybank account to pay your Maybank 2card online means zero fees. A small saving even over a year, but it contributes. Together with Maybank AmEx’s other benefits (5% cash back and 5x points), it’s overkill.

And finally, Citibank charges annual membership fee of RM195 and RM100 for supplementary, against Maybank AmEx’s free for life!

In practise it should be easy to get waived with points or plain old begging/threatening the customer service desk… But why add that hassle?

WINNER: Maybank AmEx

(UPDATE: Most or all insurance companies do not accept AmEx for auto-payment of policies. And since insurance policies tend to be large sums – especially for families – the 3x points of using MasCa under Citibank Gold becomes more substantial. Nevertheless, it’s quite unlikely IMHO that insurance expenditures will outstrip combined petrol, groceries and nonessential purchases for which the Amex 5x points can apply.)

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VS. Tesco RHB Credit and Debit Cards

Since we’re on the shopping=necessity theme, RHB has two contenders – Tesco Credit Card and a Tesco Debit Card.

First, the Tesco Credit Card. It gives you 2% cash back at Tesco at any time (0.02 PBR, get RM1 back for every RM50 in spending).

You also get 1 Tesco Clubcard point per RM2 spent at Tesco or ‘anywhere else’ (that is, 0.5x points earning ratio). Each Clubcard point is auto-converted into 1 sen (RM0.01) worth of Tesco vouchers by Tesco itself. The end result is a ratio of 0.01/2 = 0.005 PBR (get RM1 back for every RM200 in spending). You have to have the Tesco membership of course, which is like BonusLink or J-Card.

Apart from the Tesco stuff, you then also get RHB points at a 1x rate that can net you an RM50 Tesco voucher for 12,200 points (0.004098 PBR, RM1 vouchers for every RM244 spent) or the usual RM50 GST rebate for 10,000 points (ratio of 0.005).

Altogether, the Tesco Credit Card’s three benefits of 2% cash back, Clubcard points and RHB points means that you get a money return ratio of 0.02 + 0.005 + 0.004098 = 0.029098 PBR (get RM1 back for every RM34.37 spending).

It however charges a RM88/year fee after the first free year! So you need to spend 34.37 x 88 = RM3,024.56 yearly just for your savings to break even with your annual fee! Whatmore if you have a supplementary card at RM20 per year (another RM687.40 spending needed).

And don’t forget the usual RM50 GST, which can be waived for the usual 10,000 points as with the other card brands.

Moving on…

Second option is the Tesco Debit Card. This baby gets you 5x Clubcard points at Tesco and presumably 1x anywhere else. With the ordinary ratio being 1 Tesco Clubcard point per RM2 spent, 5x rate means 1 point per RM0.40 spent. Not being a credit card, you don’t get RHB points to redeem I think.

So we’re working with just RM0.01 vouchers for every Clubcard point, calculated to 0.01/0.4 = 0.025 PBR (get RM1 back for every RM40 in spending). Looks good by itself, but loses out to the combined three benefits of the Credit Card version.

And even the Debit Card has a fee! RM20 per year means you must spend 20 x 40 = RM800 annually for your savings to break even with the stupid fee. Throw in another RM400 spending for each supplementary card’s RM10 fee.

So what if we compare the two RHB Tesco Cards’ ratios against Maybank AmEx’s ratio?

First, we need to add in Tesco Clubcard ordinary points earnings to the AmEx, because you still get Tesco Clubcard points for your Tesco membership no matter how you pay the bill! So AmEx’s usual ratio of 0.02275 + 0.005 = 0.02775 PBR (get back RM1 voucher for each RM36.04 spending).

Now the comparisons:

RHB Tesco Credit Card = 0.029098 PBR
Maybank AmEx (Tesco vouchers) = 0.02775 PBR
Difference = 0.001348 PBR

To make up for the RHB Tesco Credit Card annual fee = 88/0.001348 = RM65,281.90 needs to be spent per year, after which the RHB Tesco Credit Card starts saving you money compared to Maybank AmEx

RHB Tesco Debit Card = 0.025 PBR
Maybank AmEx (Tesco vouchers) = 0.02775 PBR
Difference = -0.00225 PBR

RHB Tesco Debit Card NEVER saves you money compared to Maybank AmEx

And once again, this isn’t counting in AmEx’s 5% cash back which trounces the RHB Credit Card’s 2% cash back at Tesco only.

WINNER: Tesco RHB Credit Card if you’re hardcore Tesco-reliant and spend tens of thousands of Ringgit on groceries/electronics/furniture/etc every year. AmEx for normal people. If you plan on getting Maybank AmEx, the savings from having a Tesco RHB Card as well are almost impossible to realize!

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VS. OCBC Titanium MasterCard

The following is excerpted from My Credit Cards which has in-depth looks at various cards.

Comparison between Maybank 2 American Express Card and OCBC Titanium MasterCard

MBB 2 Amex gets 5X Reward Points Everyday, Anywhere and Anytime vs. OCBC TMC Nothing, Nil, None, Zero;

MBB 2 Amex Free Lifetime Annual Fees vs. OCBC TMC need to swipe 12 times;

MBB 2 Amex GST must pay (but with 5X points only need to spend RM2K to get 10,000 Treats Points to offset GST ) vs. OCBC TMC must pay but auto waived if spend RM10K annually;

MBB 2 Amex 5% cash back on weekends anywhere vs. OCBC TMC 5% cash back anytime but not everywhere;

MBB 2 Amex offers Travel Insurance vs. OCBC none; and last but not least

MBB 2 Amex overseas transactions are subjected to 2.5% Admin Charge but with 5X maybe this is acceptable vs. a lower overseas conversion rate with OCBC TMC (do note again that the RM50 cap which may limit the usefulness of OCBC Titanium MasterCard for overseas spending).

BOTH MBB 2 Amex and OCBC Titanium cash rebate is capped at RM50/month

So does the above comparison conclude that you should not get the OCBC Titanium? Not necessarily. It depends on your spending pattern.

If you don’t spend more than RM1,000 per month with credit cards then maybe no point getting the OCBC as Maybank 2 Cards consists of 2 in 1 i.e. you get AMEX with Visa or MasterCard. Therefore, in the event a particular merchant does not accept AMEX, you’ve still got the Visa or MasterCard as standby.

For the Maybankard 2 AMEX card, on weekends it’s like you get something equivalent to about 7.5% cash back for anything including Petrol (for your information if you spend your money at ESSO you get another 1.5% with Smiles Points and at 1U another 1% with the One Card). Click here to read my post – Cards to compliment your CC.

How did I get 7.5%? The 5X Treats Points (TP) you get for every Ringgit can be said to be equivalent to approximately 2.5% cash back based redemption of voucher(s). For example, 2,000 TP gets you a RM10 McD voucher, 10,000 TP gets you a RM50 Metro Jaya voucher and 20,000 TP gets you a RM100 Jaya Jusco Voucher. Click here to see Treats Points Catalogue for vouchers.

Before you go saying AMEX is not widely accepted, let me repeat here again that AMEX is accepted at ESSO/MOBIL, Guardian, Watsons, Caring, OTO, GIANT, Carrefour, Harvey Norman, Courts, All IT, DELL, TESCO, JAYA JUSCO, TGIF, FOS, Poh Kong, PappaRich, Pasta Zamai, Canton i, Air Asia, JetStar, Malaysia Airlines, DiGi, Maxis, Celcom, Assessment Tax (Cukai Pintu) and many other places and not necessarily only at high end luxury outlets.

I’m not going to delve into the minutia of rewards points or PBR (yet).

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Where American Express is Accepted in Malaysia

Do feel free to comment with your first hand accounts of where else in Malaysia AmEx was accepted.

Paying Telekom and Tenaga Nasional bills thru Maybank2u online bill payment!
Most major hotels
Shell
Tesco
Jusco
Steam (digital download games)
Barnabas Fund – however not encouraged as AmEx charges them more, which means you’re getting more reward points by depriving the persecuted needy.
Direct2Drive (digital download games)
Sushi King
Guardian
Black Canyon
Ipoh Specialist Hospital
Pizza Hut dine in
Kenny Rogers
MPH book stores
Watsons
Baskin Robbins
Carrefour
Courts Mammoth
Caltex
Borders
Kenny Rogers
Auntie Anne’s
Interflora
Cold Storage
Video Ezy
Nando’s
Pamuri 100 Yen
Parkson
Berlin’s Bierhaus
Giant

Where American Express is REJECTED in Malaysia

Do feel free to comment with your first hand accounts of where else AmEx was NOT accepted.

KFC
Petronas
Secret Garden (Ipoh dining – contact number is outdated, use 052410412 instead)
Good Old Games (digital download games)
Pizza Hut online ordering
David’s Diner Ipoh
Toys ‘R’ Us
Burger King
Sakae Sushi
Papa John’s

In conclusion, for a responsible and fiscally aware person, annual membership fee-less and high PBR cards like Maybankcard AmEx are actually profitable rather than sinking you into a hole of constantly increasing debt.

And that’s all I got for now. Feel free to comment.

Strict Chinese Parents vs Gentle Western Parents

Love this piece contrasting Chinese and Western parental attitudes! But can a softie Westernized banana like me do the same?

Excerpts from Wall Street Journal article:

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids. They wonder what these parents do to produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies, what it’s like inside the family, and whether they could do it too. Well, I can tell them, because I’ve done it

…

Despite our squeamishness about cultural stereotypes, there are tons of studies out there showing marked and quantifiable differences between Chinese and Westerners when it comes to parenting. In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that “stressing academic success is not good for children” or that “parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun.” By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way.

…

The fact is that Chinese parents can do things that would seem unimaginable—even legally actionable—to Westerners. Chinese mothers can say to their daughters, “Hey fatty—lose some weight.” By contrast, Western parents have to tiptoe around the issue, talking in terms of “health” and never ever mentioning the f-word, and their kids still end up in therapy for eating disorders and negative self-image. (I also once heard a Western father toast his adult daughter by calling her “beautiful and incredibly competent.” She later told me that made her feel like garbage.)

…

If a Chinese child gets a B—which would never happen—there would first be a screaming, hair-tearing explosion. The devastated Chinese mother would then get dozens, maybe hundreds of practice tests and work through them with her child for as long as it takes to get the grade up to an A.

…

Second, Chinese parents believe that their kids owe them everything. The reason for this is a little unclear, but it’s probably a combination of Confucian filial piety and the fact that the parents have sacrificed and done so much for their children. (And it’s true that Chinese mothers get in the trenches, putting in long grueling hours personally tutoring, training, interrogating and spying on their kids.) Anyway, the understanding is that Chinese children must spend their lives repaying their parents by obeying them and making them proud.

…

Third, Chinese parents believe that they know what is best for their children and therefore override all of their children’s own desires and preferences. That’s why Chinese daughters can’t have boyfriends in high school and why Chinese kids can’t go to sleepaway camp. It’s also why no Chinese kid would ever dare say to their mother, “I got a part in the school play! I’m Villager Number Six. I’ll have to stay after school for rehearsal every day from 3:00 to 7:00, and I’ll also need a ride on weekends.” God help any Chinese kid who tried that one.

…

There are all these new books out there portraying Asian mothers as scheming, callous, overdriven people indifferent to their kids’ true interests. For their part, many Chinese secretly believe that they care more about their children and are willing to sacrifice much more for them than Westerners, who seem perfectly content to let their children turn out badly. I think it’s a misunderstanding on both sides. All decent parents want to do what’s best for their children. The Chinese just have a totally different idea of how to do that.

Western parents try to respect their children’s individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they’re capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away.

See more at This Yahoo News piece which ponders if Americans are outraged because they are secretly scared that China will be the new power in a generation’s time… And also this admission:

That was a year and a half ago. Today, Chua has worked out some surprising compromises with her children. Sophia can go out on dates and must practice the piano for an hour and a half each day instead of as many as six hours. Lulu is allowed to pursue her passion for tennis.

UPDATE: Lol, it’s becoming a meme! Via AoSHQ from Buzzfeed:

Image generator and submissions at here.

See also High Expectations Asian Father.

My collection of the above meme images at Super Strict Success Asian Mom and Dad Meme Lols.

LOL! See also Irish Setter Dad (via AoSHQ):

But my kids practice too, hour after hour every day. They practice being jerks. And since almost every boss I’ve ever had was a jerk, this gives them a leg up.

Should You Wait to Tell Her How You Feel? Here’s What Popular Songs Say

So you like that girl… But you’re not sure she likes you back. Do you even have a chance? Maybe you should just wait and see?

Well, here’s what several popular songs have to say about that decision…

Michael Learns to Rock – 25 Minutes

I find her standing in front of the church
The only place in town where I didn’t search
She looks so happy in her wedding dress
But she’s crying while she’s saying this

Boy I missed your kisses all the time but this is
Twenty five minutes too late
Though you travelled so far boy I’m sorry you are
Twenty five minutes too late

Smokie – Living Next Door to Alice

Oh, I don’t know why she’s leaving,
Or where she’s gonna go,
I guess she’s got her reasons,
But I just don’t want to know,
‘Cos for twenty-four years
I’ve been living next door to Alice.
Twenty-four years just waiting for a chance,
To tell her how I feel, and maybe get a second glance,
Now I’ve got to get used to not living next door to Alice

Michael Buble – You Don’t Know Me

I never knew
The art of making love
Though my heart aches
With love for you
Afraid and shy
I’ve let my chance to go by
The chance that you might
Love me, too

You give your hand to me
And then you say good-bye
I watch you walk away
Beside the lucky guy
You’ll never never know
The one who loves you so
Well, you don’t know me

Thanks to Chick for that last one.

And a case in point from Learn From My Fail:

Never, ever put off asking a girl out for two years. When you finally do, you will learn that she used to like you but moved on. You won’t be able to do the same.

Conclusion: There are tons of songs about how the guy was just a bit too late to let his feelings for the girl be known. By contrast, I can’t think of any songs lamenting the fact that he told her just a bit too soon. So be bold, tell her how you feel about her before it’s too late!

After all, it’s the man’s responsibility to bear the (potential) rejection and heartbreak.

PS. This principle kinda applies to family too:

Mike & The Mechanics – The Living Years

I wasn’t there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn’t get to tell him
All the things I had to say

I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I’m sure I heard his echo
In my baby’s new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It’s too late when we die
To admit we don’t see eye to eye

Videos below the fold:

United Auto Workers Union Contract – 1937 vs 2007

What a difference 70 years makes…

Year 1937:

One page contract with union workers (GM) (size here reduced due to all rights reserved, click link for larger size)

Year 2007:

Two thousand, two hundred and fifteen page contract with union workers (Ford)

So class, any educated guesses as to why the once-mighty US auto industry has imploded?

(Size of first ever auto industry union contract realized through article at Reuters, on tip from wits0)

Compare non-unionized Subaru.

Ace of Spades on: Why the WTC Collapse Looked Like a Controlled Demolition

From AoSHQ:

…

Let me get to the central stupidity of this proof, which is repeated over and over and over again — that the building looked like a building brought down by a controlled explosion.

There is a reason people say that. A simple reason, actually. I’m surprised these geniuses have never considered it.

The reason they liken it to a building brought down by controlled demolition is because they have never seen a building brought down in any other fashion. That is, their visual memory of buildings coming down is always a memory of big casino-hotels in Vegas being brought down that way. That’s what they all look like.

But have they ever seen a skyscraper that didn’t collapse due to a controlled explosion?

…

Here’s a possibility for the Truthers — 95% of all buildings which collapse will pancake down, one floor collapsing on to the next, just like the 9/11 buildings, whether brought down by controlled demolition or non-controlled unexpected demolition, because that is how these things tend to collapse.

They lack a contrary case — that is, in their stupid little minds they are thinking that most buildings brought down by uncontrolled explosions topple over like Lego towers, falling over to their sides (and knocking over the dinosaur toys right next to them). Thus, any building that pancakes must be brought down by controlled demolition.

That is what they are thinking. Their stupid little memories of knocking over Lego towers.

…

If 95% of all buildings will pancake down, no matter what brings them down, with just one in twenty falling to the side, then what kind of proof is it that the 9/11 buildings pancaked down? They would pancake down 95% of the time no matter what the cause of the demolition was.

…

Guys — gravity pulls down. Directly down. Unless there is a very serious force being applied to the side of a very heavy structure, 99-100% of its movement during a collapse will be directly down, not off to the side (gravity doesn’t pull to the side).

…

Update: Here’s One Building That Toppled Over. I said 95% because I was pretty confident this sort of fall-over was possible — but unlikely.

See also Bush Is Teh Roxxor Genius For Planning 9/11!!!.

Also, the same kind of people who think constructions can’t fall straight down, but usually topple over sideways, are often of the same bunch that pooh-poohs the idea that the walls of Jericho could topple over sideways so that people could just step over it.

Gerrymandering: What Is It? Illustrated

From Zombie via AoSHQ, a concise illustration of what gerrymandering is and what it can unfairly accomplish.

IMAGE 0:

The raw demographic map of a state, showing 9/15 (two thirds) of populace who support Red Star, and 6/15 (one third) who support Green Dot.

The state needs to be divided into 3 areas with equal number of people each. Each area gets one vote, and what party the area votes for is determined by the will of the voting populace.

IMAGE 1:

This is what a fair division would look like – two areas have more Red Star supporters while one area has more Green Dot supporters. Thus ultimately Red Dot would have 2/3 representation and Green Dot would have 1/3 representation… Just like the actual demographics.

The state ends up leaning Red Star.

IMAGE 2:

If a Red Star supporter were in charge of setting the 3 areas and did it to give his party the maximum benefit, he would divide the state in such as way as to have each area have more Red Star supporters than Green Dot supporters. Each of the three areas would choose to vote Red Star, none would choose to vote for Green Dot. Red Star has 3/3 and Green Dot 0/3.

The state ends up leaning Red Star as it would in a fair division, but now with zero concern for Green Dot supporters.

IMAGE 4:

If a Green Dot supporter were in charge of setting the 3 areas and did it to give his party the maximum benefit, he would divide the state in such as way as to lump as many of the Red Star supporters together in one area. That area would of course vote for Red Star. The remaining two areas have more Green Dot supporters, and thus those areas vote Green Dot.

The state ends up leaning Green Dot, even though overall there are more Red Star supporters!

Head on over to Zombie for a more detailed explanation, an example of real-world gerrymandering where you can see how crazily distorted the area divisions end up, and an explanation of why Democrat-initiated gerrymandering backfired and led to the nationwide Republican landslide in 2010.

And here’s an example of a blatant gerymandering from Zombie’s worst-offenders list:

Here it is: The most ridiculous congressional district in the entire country. No, you’re not looking at two districts; IL-4 has two absurdly gerrymandered halves held together by a thin strip of land at its western edge that is nothing more than the median strip along Interstate Highway 294. The end result is a gerrymandered gerrymander, a complete mockery of what congressional representation is even supposed to be. As with AZ-2, the intention behind IL-4 was to create an ethnic enclave, in this case an Hispanic-majority district within an otherwise overwhelmingly non-Hispanic Chicago. Problem is, Chicago has two completely distinct and geographically separate Hispanic neighborhoods — one Puerto Rican, the other Mexican — but neither is large enough to constitute a district majority on its own. Solution? Lump all Hispanics together into a supposedly coherent cultural grouping, and then carefully draw a line surrounding every single Hispanic household in Chicago, linking the two distant neighborhoods by means of an uninhabited highway margin. Voila! One Hispanic congressperson, by design. And as a side-effect, the most preposterous congressional district in the United States.

A commenter notes that the two halves could have been joint marginally more sensibly by a bar down the middle, but this was rejected as it would separate the black-majority neighborhood. Hence the highway margin solution.

Comparison of Isaiah in Modern Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls (2300 Years Apart)

Column I from The Dorot Foundation Dead Sea Scrolls Information and Study Centre‘s interactive actual image of the Dead Sea Scrolls Isaiah (300-100 B.C.):

Hebrew is read from right to left.

Isaiah 1 from the modern day Interlinear Bible, which for modern readers has been rearranged left to right:

Comparison of the first four phrases:

Chzun:

Isaiah:

bn:

Amutz:

Continuing on in the above manner, it is found that there is no discernable difference in overall meaning between the Dead Sea Scroll Isaiah and any modern Hebrew Bible.

And finally, a handy montage for your ease of use (and Facebook posting):

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever – Isaiah 40:8

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” – Jesus Christ, Matthew 24:35

The LORD is faithful and true. Amen.

Credits: Dead Sea Scrolls interactive found via Peles e cabedais no património cultural: tecnologias, conservação e restauro

See also From the desert to the web: bringing the Dead Sea Scrolls online

Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers PC Version on Steam Cannot Run, Play, start, Load

PROBLEM:

So you just bought Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers on Steam. You excitedly downlaod it, and when it’s finally done you gleefully doubl-click the icon…

And nothing happens. Okay, so maybe you didn’t click it properly. You try again. This time you’re sure you see the little pop up that appears whenever you start up any game thru Steam. It disappears almost instantly… But still no game.

You click the Play button instead, run it from Program Files – nothing.

What gives??!!!

———————

SOLUTION:

You probably need Windows Service Pack 3 like I did.

Head on over to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322389 to get it. Myself used the following option:

1) Scroll down about a page and a half to Let me fix it myself.

2) Look for Download the latest Windows XP service pack from the Microsoft Download Center. (Yes, there is an Express choice, but it failed for me.)

3) Click the link Collapse this imageExpand this image
Download
Download the Windows XP Service Pack 3 package now (or here it is if you prefer).

4) Save the file and wait for the download to finish.

5) Once it’s fully downloaded, turn off your anti-virus’ automatic guard before you run the file (important or the installation will fail after making you wait ages!).

6) Let the installer/updater run by itself.

7) Once it’s finished, let it auto-restart your PC or restart manually.

8) Boot up Steam and play some MtG!

(Solution found at various forums and tested myself.)

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ADDITIONAL:

The screen may be too zoomed-in to see all the cards. And when you zoom in to a specific card, the bottom section is off screen – so you can’t read the details.

SOLUTION:

Simple. Go back to the main menu, get into the options for display, and set it to a lower resolution.

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PS. My recollection of ranking 10th in a Type 1.5 tourney here.