Saturday, May 21, 2016

Bernie Sander's political revolution

When we started this campaign, my greatest fear was that if we did not do well that it would be a setback not just for me, but for the ideas driving our campaign.
We had no campaign organization, no money, and very little name recognition. The corporate media called us "fringe," we were taking on the entire Democratic establishment, and we were down 60 points or more in the national polls.
Then a supporter from Chicago, Illinois made the first contribution to our campaign — for $3. A few minutes later, $50 from a supporter in California, then $10 from someone in Georgia. A little more than 12 months laterI am humbled to share that our campaign has received more than 7.6 million contributions through April, more than any presidential candidate at this point in a campaign ever. And we’re just getting started.
Your support has powered us to 21 victories and a much larger lead against Donald Trump than Secretary Clinton’s campaign. So we’ve created a website to show everyone the depth and diversity of our political revolution. It’s very important that you visit and share it with everyone you know today.
- Bernie
Take a look at our new website showing the depth of our political revolution

Friday, May 20, 2016

Gods in the ivory tower of MAS

The "gods" living in the ivory tower of the Monetary Authority of Singapore are concerned about internet security.

They passed a decree to the banks, stockbrokers and other denizens in the financial sector to impose a high standard of internet security, including the following:

a) All passwords must be a strong password forming a combination of capital letter, small letters, numbers and special characters.

b) The passwords must be changed at regular intervals and cannot be reused in the future.

What the gods did not realize is that an ordinary citizen, like me, is impacted in a most severe way. I have to maintain a confusing arrays of passwords for the following:

a) Two Paypal accounts - personal and corporate
b) One CDP account - using Singpass
c) Several stockbroking accounts for investments and trading

The administrators of these websites have different definitions of what is a strong password - so I cannot use a common password for some of these accounts. The regular change of passwords is a nightmare. The change request usually occurs at a bad moment, when I do not have the time to pay attention.

The outcome? I have to write down all the passwords in a notebook. It can be accessed by anyone who finds my notebook (isn't it risky?). Sometimes, I forget to update my notebook with the change in password and cannot remember the "funny" password that was created at the last change.

My online experience is now a nightmare - thanks to the "gods" in the ivory tower of the MAS.


Compare the Hong Kong MTR and Singapore MRT

This article compares the Hong Kong MTR with Singapore's MRT.

It also reflects the difference in emphasis of the government of Hong Kong and Singapore. The Hong Kong government is much better in looking after the interest of its citizens. The Singapore government is "out of this world" and "in the clouds".

http://mothership.sg/…/how-successful-is-hong-kongs-mtr-co…/

A ridiculous structure of taxi fares

The government allows each taxi companies to set their own fares. This can produce a ridiculous situation that occurs daily.

At the airport queue for taxis, the usher asked the passenger in front of me. Do you want the Mercedes taxi with starting fare of $3.90. No. Do you want the Chrysler with staring fare of $3.90. No. Do you want the Maxi Cab with starting fare of $5. No.

The usher went down the queue to ask the same sets of questions to every passenger. The answer is still "No".

 These expensive taxis occupy three spaces and must have been there for some time. The poor usher, who speaks with a foreign accent, must have asked the question 10 to 20 times before a passenger take the "offer".

The usher is not telling the complete fact. It is not just an increase in the starting fare. There is also an increase on the distance fare. My usual fare of $25 could earn up 30% higher with the expensive fare.

This ridiculous situation must be occurring for many years, not only at the airport but all over Singapore. Our million dollar ministers are not aware of it, or maybe they don't care.


Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Bernie Sanders is likely to win Kentucky State

With 95% of the votes counted, Bernie Sanders is ahead of Hillary Clinton by a whisker, less than 1%. It is a virtual tie.
This is a great achievement for Bernie Sanders. The voters of Kentucky have supported the Bill and Hillary Clinton for the past two decades.
Bernie Sanders has achieved an upset victory!


It is not cool to not know what you are talking about

A great speech by Barack Obama. He is subtly negative of Donald Trump.
https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Politics/videos/1015027085240290/

How to get the Amazing Number cards

Mr. Tan
Where can I get the Amazing Number cards?

Reply
You can order them here. You pay $6 for 4 sets of cards. It makes a wonderful gift.
Great news - postage is FREE for the time being.


http://www.tankinlian.com/cart.aspx?ID=41

Watch the video here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=441VgUkVk2E

Display the sequential stop number in the bus

Here is a simple and inexpensive solution to make travelling easier for the public. The bus operator should install a sequential stop number to be displayed in the bus when it arrived at each stop. This allows the passengers to know if they have arrived at the right stop, Even if they are familiar with the road, they cannot see the landmark when they are travelling at night, when it is raining heavily or the bus is crowded.

http://tankinlian.blogspot.sg/…/bus-should-display-sequenti…

We do not need the transport minister to be paid a million dollars a year. He only needs to be aware that there is a problem with the current system, and take feedback from the public on how it can be solved.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Secret of the Amazing Number cards.

I created the Amazing Number game with 7 cards. These cards have starting numbers of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64.

For any selected number, I find the combination of starting numbers that make up that number. For example, the number 13 is made from 1 + 4 + 8. So, I put the number 13 on these 3 cards.

If someone chooses 13 as the secret number, they will find it on the three cards starting with 1, 4, and 8. When they give the 3 cards to me, I add the starting numbers (1, 4 and 8) to get 13.

Easy, isn't it? This is the secret of "reverse engineering".

A good chance for Donald Trump to be elected as President

There is a good chance that Donald Trump will be elected as President of the USA. Here are the reasons:

1.  Hillary Clinton might be indicted for the email scandal. Even if she is not indicated, Donald Trump can focus on this issue to his advantage.

2. If Hillary Clinton is indicted, the establishment Democrats are likely to nominate Joe Biden as the candidate. This will anger the Bernie Sanders supporters. Many of them will not vote in the election or will vote for Donald Trump.

3. The polls have recently changed in favor of Donald Trump. The strong lead of more than 10 points held by Hillary Clinton in the polls have now virtually disappeared. Donald Trump is now ahead in some polls.

4. Donald Trump has shown a remarkable capability of attracting large numbers of voters to support his views and position. When it comes to the general election, he is likely to continue this trend.

5. Donald Trump has recently taken a more moderate position on many of the extreme views that he articulated earlier. He is now seen in a more positive light.

Making a will - list of assets

Dear Mr. Tan
I attended a talk by a lawyer about making a will. The lawyer want to charge $250 for the will. Is this fair? The lawyer said that if I do not have a will, my children will have trouble in recovering my savings and investments. They will have to spend a lot of money to get the "letters of administration".

The lawyer also asked me to provide a full list of my assets. He said that this will make it easy for my children to claim the assets when I pass away.  Is it necessary? What happens if my assets change in the future?

REPLY
It is a fair to pay $250 to make a will. When you make a will, you can appoint two people to be the executors of the will. It will be easier for the court to grant the probate, i.e. to appoint the executors to take charge of the estate. This will prevent any dispute among the family members. The lawyer will also ensure that the will is properly executed in accordance with the law.

When you write your will, you will have to specify how your estate is to be distributed. You can specify a specified sum of money to be given to each child or grandchildren or to your siblings, nieces, nephews or other relatives and friends. You can also donate some money to charity.

You can also specify how the balance of your estate is to be distributed. Usually, you will indicate how many percent of the balance goes to each child or to your spouse.

There is no need to provide a list of assets to your lawyer. It is better to keep this information away from the lawyer, especially as you do not know if your lawyer can be trusted.

You should have a list of assets kept in your home, so that your executors will be able to locate them. They may need to get the lawyer to file the proper documents to take over the assets. The legal expenses are unavoidable and should be quite small, relative to the assets.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Sign petition to stop deportation


Sisters and Brothers -
My father Eli immigrated to America from Poland in 1921 after World War I at the age of 17. He was not a refugee fleeing war, although much of his family later became victims of the Holocaust. He came to America looking to make a better life. He never made a lot of money, but it didn’t matter because he was able to start a family and send his two sons to college. That meant the world to him and he loved this country.
While my father came here as an immigrant seeking economic opportunity, many immigrants arrived in our country fleeing war, oppression and violence. This is true today for thousands of women and unaccompanied children who came to our country in the last several years fleeing horrific violence in Latin America.
This week the media reported something that I find not just wrong, but inhumane: President Obama is currently planning "a month-long series of raids in May and June to deport hundreds of Central American mothers and children" who came to our country fleeing that same violence.
Sending women and children back into harm's way after they already fled horrendous violence in Central America is painful and inhumane, and must be stopped.
Donald Trump has of course called for building a "Great Wall" along the border with Mexico. Hillary Clinton previously said that these same children who fled violence in Latin America "should be sent back" in order to "send a clear message."
I happen to see things differently. I don't believe that the United States should turn away from our historic role as a haven for the oppressed.
I recently met a young Salvadoran woman who came to the United States on her own at the age of 15 to flee gangs trying to recruit her. I’ve also spoken with many children who have told me with tears streaming down their faces that they live in daily fear that their parents will be taken away.
The United States of America must continue to be a refuge for the poor, the tired, the oppressed, and certainly for women and children fleeing horrific violence.
I urge President Obama to use his executive authority to protect families by extending Temporary Protective Status for those who fled from Central America, and I ask you to join me.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders

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