Links - 10th February 2011

"In case you're worried about what's going to become of the younger generation, it's going to grow up and start worrying about the younger generation." - Roger Allen

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how to: pore strips - "You know those Biore pore strips you buy at the drugstore for about $12 a pop? Yeah, those. Today I’m going to teach you how to make your own homemade pore strips." I almost feel like trying this

Wikipedia Ponders Its Gender-Skewed Contributions - "Women are less willing to assert their opinions in public... the gender breakdown of contributors to “public thought-leadership forums,” a participation rate of roughly 85-to-15 percent, men to women, is common — whether members of Congress, or writers on The New York Times and Washington Post Op-Ed pages"
Of course, you have people claiming that Wikipedia is sexist and racist because some articles are longer than others

YouTube - USB Wine, telechargez vos vins en direct des domaines !

Chao Ah Gua (by name of Helena 94334141) cheats guys' hard-earned money - "This is a real story of an Ah Gua sex predator, by the fake name of Helena, using sex as a bait, prowling on adult males for their hard-earned money. His heinous acts date back to 2004"

Abortion Doesn't Increase Mental Health Risk, But Having A Baby Does
Interestingly, this study was funded by an organization "which supports abortion rights organizations and projects", but the usual people who complain about conflicts of interest won't here

The Straight Dope: Could early man only see three colors? - "1. All languages contain terms for white and black.
2. If a language contains three terms, then it contains a term for red.
3. If a language contains four terms, then it contains a term for either green or yellow (but not both).
4. If a language contains five terms, then it contains terms for both green and yellow.
5. If a language contains six terms, then it contains a term for blue.
6. If a language contains seven terms, then it contains a term for brown.
7. If a language contains eight or more terms, then it contains a term for purple, pink, orange, grey, or some combination of these."

The Empire of Lies by Guy Sorman - "Popular discontent simmers, especially in the countryside, where it often flares into violent confrontation with Communist Party authorities. China’s economic “miracle” is rotting from within. The Party’s primary concern is not improving the lives of the downtrodden; it seeks power more than it seeks social development... Some families found themselves stripped of everything simply for acknowledging publicly that their children had vanished at Tiananmen Square... When Bill Clinton visited Henan in 2005 to distribute AIDS medicine provided by his foundation, for example, the Party prevented him from visiting the worst-off villages... I’ve been to many Chinese villages, and everywhere I have encountered the peasantry’s feelings of helplessness and anger when dealing with the Communist authorities... Some experts think that the true figure [of incidents of unrest] is upward of 150,000 a year, and increasing... The agents kidnapped 17,000 women, forcing abortions on those who were pregnant—in some cases, immersing seven- to eight-month-old fetuses in boiling water—and sterilizing those who weren’t"

The Eloquent Peasant » Blog Archive » Statues of Tutankhamun damaged at the Egyptian Museum
Luckily Egyptian museums outside the country are safe; this is a good argument for sharing cultural heritage with the world instead of hoarding everything for political purposes

Foursquare For Sex - CollegeHumor video

CONCLUSIVE PROOF - That There Is No God and Humans Are Essentially Evil - Vice Magazine - "If a man walked near her, she would turn herself around, present herself, and start gyrating and going through the motions. She was being used as a sex slave... You could choose a human if you preferred, but it was a novelty for many of the men to have sex with an orangutan. They shaved her every other day"

Can Power Rangers stage mighty revival?

Fate of Coptic Christians in post-Mubarak Egypt worries some - "Copts complain Muslims are able to get away murdering them with impunity much like whites did in the South under Jim Crow, and the government discriminates against them by placing restrictions on the building and repair of churches while not imposing a similar rule on mosques"

Divorce judge orders crash amputee to hand over most of his £500,000 compensation to ex-wife

Man takes sex dolls on holiday - "Dave Hockey, 57, insists his wife "doesn't mind" about his £16,000 bizarre trip of a lifetime... "My wife understands it is a hobby. She isn't threatened by the dolls she knows I'm not going to run off with an 80lb piece of silicone shaped like a woman""

Low-cut dentist dresses distract patients - "A German dentist has bought low-cut dresses for herself and her nurses to distract patients as she works on their teeth... "The most important thing for us is to take away the patients' fear. The sight of cleavages gets patients narcotised and distracted from the pain rather quickly." She added: "Some patients' mouths are already wide open on entering the practice - and that is just what a dentist wants"... For Dr Klarkowski the investment paid off - she has a third more patients since the change - all of them male. She added: "It could be that the cleavage is a little distracting but in the end it's me who has to concentrate and the patient can perhaps think about something different and relax during the treatment." One of Dr Klarkowski's employees, Larisa Hrustic, said: "I much prefer working in a dirndl, I enjoy looking good at work and it's a lot more fun since we had the new outfits""

Most would move to Canada, if they could: Poll - "A majority of people from around the world would move to Canada if presented with the opportunity... Eight in ten respondents (79 per cent) said they think Canadians enjoy one of the best qualities of life anywhere in the world"

Gender differences in erotic plasticity: the female sex drive as socially flexible and responsive. - "A large assortment of evidence supports 3 predictions based on the hypothesis of female erotic plasticity: (a) Individual women will exhibit more variation across time than men in sexual behavior, (b) female sexuality will exhibit larger effects than male in response to most specific sociocultural variables, and (c) sexual attitude-behavior consistency will be lower for women than men. Several possible explanations for female erotic plasticity are reviewed, including adaptation to superior male political and physical power, the centrality of female change (from no to yes) as a prerequisite for intercourse, and the idea that women have a milder sex drive than men"

United Kingdom Venn Diagram « Grey's Blog - "After many requests, I’ve made a poster version of my ‘The Difference Between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Presentation‘"

Why ARE women's breasts getting bigger? The answers may disturb you... - "L-cup breasts weigh approximately a stone. Since Terri was a ­teenager, she has sought out specialist lingerie and suffered almost constant physical discomfort as a result of carrying such a heavy load... [Besides obesity,] ‘Girls today reach puberty earlier than ever before, and are going on to have fewer ­children and breastfeeding for less time. As a result, we have far more periods than our ancestors would have had and we are exposed to more monthly surges of oestrogen, which stimulates ovulation... Pregnancy and breastfeeding have a ­protective effect against breast cancer because they control the hormones which stimulate the growth of new cells in breasts’... about two-thirds of the milk we consume comes from pregnant cows. To ensure that a dairy cow has a steady ­supply of milk, she is almost constantly pregnant... 'Because my breasts are so large, strangers will grab and touch me when I’m out, sometimes in front of my ­children... Women are wary of me, because they see my figure as overtly, perhaps threateningly, sexual. I’m automatically ­considered a tart’"
Casting aspersions on those who don't want something (e.g. a job, life) just because others want it is like saying women who have breast reduction surgery are stupid because there are those who would kill for bigger breasts

Using Evolutionary Psychology To Breakdown Pop Music - "Throughout this song, Bieber appeals to major aspects of female psychology and it’s helping him sell millions of records. He’s exhibiting athletic prowess with his dance moves, he’s signaling commitment, and he’s demonstrating his plentiful resources to provide for her"

Without language, numbers make no sense

How Tech Tools Transformed New York's Sex Trade - "“Dating,” “massage,” “escort,” and “dancing” have replaced hustling and streetwalking. A luxury brand has been born... Streetwalkers: Keep working to support drug habits. Escorts: Keep working to pay for clothing and shoes... “You’ll make about 50 percent more with a good boob job,” one woman said. Other things that can increase a sex worker’s earning power: 1. Dying her hair blond., 3. BlackBerrys. To clients, this symbol of professional life suggests the worker is drug- and disease-free... I asked [a pimp] how pimping experience helps him in the legit economy: “You learn one thing,” he said. “For a good blow job, a man will do just about anything. What can I do with that knowledge? I have no idea”... A sex worker always carries: Extra panties. “Always bring them—men pay for souvenirs”... 83 percent have a Facebook page"

Protests across the UK expected for Save Our Libraries Day - "Councils hard-pressed by government budget cuts say the harsh reality is that difficult choices must be made, with other vital services including those for the elderly and disabled also crying out for funds. Keith Mitchell, the council leader in Oxfordshire, where Philip Pullman lives, has queried whether local authors have "thought through the impact of their messianic message about literature on the most vulnerable in our society""
Perhaps they would rather cut the NHS, welfare or foreign aid instead