Links - 29th September 2011

Miniskirt-Wearing Cyclist Pulled Over by NYPD - "Rijcken, who was in town for the New Amsterdam Bike Show, says she was approached by an officer who told her that her outfit was "very disturbing, and it's distracting the cars and it's dangerous""

Women too old to wear bikinis on the beach at 47, survey shows - "The study, carried out among 2,000 women, found most wouldn't be comfortable wearing a two-piece on holiday once they approach their half-century - and frown upon others who do... boob tubes are a no-no from the age of 33, and that no self-respecting woman over the age of 35 should be showing off a pierced belly button... five per cent of those polled said a shop assistant had warned them an item wasn't right for their age"
The main people controlling women are not men but... other women

U.S. poverty rate at all-time high, Mount Pleasant poverty also increased - "46.2 million Americans are now living below the official poverty line, the highest number in 52 years"

Aging and Aging Well: The Use of Historical Context in Video Games Criticism - "A feminist writer I read every so often personally wished for the [Washington Monument] to crumble. Not for reasons of what some might view as purely political relevance, she wanted it to fall because she saw it as nothing more than a “giant erection.” Arguments over sexual imagery in the modern world aside, the problem with this statement is that it’s completely and utterly void of any historical context or understanding, instead employing modern standards and philosophy exclusively to this reading of the monument’s meaning. Such statements are particularly damaging to rational thinking, for they presume that any particular event is a spontaneous point in time without causation, a logical fallacy. As such, it is useful to have some historical understanding when discussing anything made in or events that occur in the past."

London Weight Management Capsule - YouTube
This is even more disgusting than The scummiest bust enhancement and slimming ads

Conscription: A farewell to arms | The Economist - "The German Johann von Thünen denounced conscription: the latter blamed it for fuelling Napoleon’s recklessness in Russia. More recently two economists, Panu Poutvaara and Andreas Wagener, said making young people become soldiers was as odd as “forcing all citizens to work as nurses, heart surgeons or teachers.” Their research on members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (a rich-country club) over the 40 years since 1960 concludes that conscription hampers growth... Britain’s two-year national service (which ended in 1960) cut later earnings by between 5% and 8%."

CSI fan uses hair, saliva to implicate attacker - YouTube

Pakistani Intelligence Announces Its Full Cooperation With U.S. Forces During Upcoming Top Secret June 12 Drone Strike On Al-Qaeda At 5:23 A.M. Near Small Town Of Razmani In North Waziristan - "Pasha emphasized the ISI's extensive integration with U.S. forces in planning the attack, saying that the specific time was agreed upon to ensure the terrorists wouldn't try to escape across the porous Afghan border, which he noted is often poorly guarded—especially near the town of Shirhani—at that hour of the morning"
"The Onion scooped the Washington Post by one day"

Rape Culture and Other Feminist Myths - "When I have tried to connect with women who campaign on violence against women, I repeatedly get told that because I have not been raped, I have no right to talk on this issue or to try and empathize with women who have... Have you ever heard a feminist say that we live in ‘transphobic assault’ culture? Or ‘murder of young black men’ culture? Or ‘homophobia’ culture? Or even ‘domestic violence’ culture? I haven’t. Incidentally domestic violence is far more common than rape, and can also include rape. But it just doesn’t seem to impress the feminists who believe in rape culture. They are welcome to their victim top trumps, but I am not playing anymore... rape is ‘privileged’ in feminist discourse... by focusing on the centrality of rape in our culture, feminists are actually making it more difficult for all of us to campaign against all forms of gendered violence in society... onto ‘special victim’ status has some pay offs for feminists. They can continue to present gender politics as a binary opposition between ‘men’ (potential rapists) and ‘women’ (perpetual potential victims of rape). Basically, the concept of ‘rape culture’ is misandrist, and it does not allow for the fact that women are sometimes perpetrators of sexual assault, and men are sometimes on the receiving end. I’d like to quote somebody who left a comment on a previous essay of mine about this topic. This woman is a survivor of rape, so the rad-fems won’t be able to dismiss her critique of rape culture the way they do mine: 'This mythologizing of rape is still rooted in the whole “pedestal” complex'"

Teacher calls local Tea Party president a Nazi - ""When you get to name calling that just shows that there is no logic to your argument any further. It's all emotion, " said George Rodriguez, President of the San Antonio Tea Party. The teacher's emotion came from a panelist's comment that school administration should deport undocumented students"
Someone commented that it was a "surprisingly apt barb--no wonder it struck home". I noted that if one calls homosexuals dirty sodomisers, it is apt (one cannot fully clean out the anal canal before anal sex). Would people's angry response to this jibe show that it was apt?

The early World Wide Web (screenshots)

Mayan film documentary claims proof of aliens

Scott Adams Blog: Freedom of Data 01/24/2011 - "China's system, as I have written before, reminds me more of a corporate structure, or a meritocracy. In a corporation, you're generally free to disagree with higher ups if you do it with data, and in a professional manner. Usually you need to go through proper channels, but dissent is generally allowed, and sometimes actively encouraged. If you're a jerk about your disagreement with your superiors, or you don't have persuasive data to back up position, you could get fired. But that's a stupidity issue, not a freedom issue... America has freedom of speech. China has freedom of data. Where do you place your bet?"
The comment that sums it up: "you're comparing the *reality* of the US system (with human stupidity, ignorance, weakness and corruption all on show) with the *theory* of the Chinese one (i.e. discounting all those things). That's not a very level playing field." This is also the feeling I get when American academics or journalists come to Singapore and praise it to the high heavens

Journalist in sex slave case told not to reveal 'state secret' - "The Nandu Daily journalist who broke the story of a man who kept six "sex slaves" in a basement prison in the city of Luoyang in central China's Henan province, revealed that police and government officials had tried to suppress the story's release... he had been followed by two men who presented themselves as police officers. They accused him of improperly revealing sources and of revealing a "state secret"... The strict security surrounding the case is likely related to the city's bid for the title of China's "most civilized city." It was believed that if the news got out, it would have had a negative social effect, he wrote. The brutal murders and torture involved in the case caused police officers to worry that the story would cause panic... Ji said he subsequently left Luoyang during the night together with friends and relatives. He said his relatives gave him a knife to defend himself in case of attack"
Long live the River Crabs. Down with subversive elements and spies!

Power Without Status Linked To Abuse, Study Says - "Individuals with some authority combined with little perceived status are more inclined to abuse power"
This explains the Military

Mecca for the rich: Islam's holiest site 'turning into Vegas' - ""No one has the balls to stand up and condemn this cultural vandalism," says Dr Irfan al-Alawi who, as executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, has fought in vain to protect his country's historical sites. "We have already lost 400-500 sites. I just hope it's not too late to turn things around"... In the eyes of Wahabis, historical sites and shrines encourage "shirq" – the sin of idolatry or polytheism – and should be destroyed. When the al-Saud tribes swept through Mecca in the 1920s, the first thing they did was lay waste to cemeteries holding many of Islam's important figures. They have been destroying the country's heritage ever since. Of the three sites the Saudis have allowed the UN to designate World Heritage Sites, none are related to Islam... the house of the Prophet's first wife Khadijah has been turned into a toilet block"
Too bad they weren't colonised in the 19th and 20th centuries

The myth of closure - "A new book argues that this popular concept doesn’t exist — and that chasing it might hurt us"

What Your Internet Laugh Says About You « Thought Catalog

Why Men Are Sloppy Kissers - "Men in general seem to like wet kisses with more "tongue action," said anthropologist Helen Fisher of Rutgers University. This could be because modern males are instinctually using kisses to pick up traces of estrogen in a woman's saliva and thus gauge her fertility. Wet kisses could also be an unconscious attempt to transfer testosterone to the woman, which would stimulate her sexual interest"

Vive la vulve ! - "Elle entame donc une carrière de photographe, spécialisée dans les gros plans à caractère explicite, ou, comme elle les appelle, ses « portraits intimes ». C’est alors que Matthias Reuss, directeur des éditions homonymes lui propose le projet Pussy Portraits, où sexes et visages sont associés. Emballée par l’idée, elle se met au travail et commence à chercher des femmes qui accepteraient de participer. « Tout le monde me demande comment je trouve mes modèles ! Je suis sûre que le fait que je sois une femme me facilite les choses. Mes premiers sujets étaient des amies ou d’anciennes amantes. Ensuite, elles ont amené leurs amies et amantes. » Puis, le bouche à oreille aidant, « beaucoup de femmes m’ont contactée pour faire partie de ce projet unique. […] Nous avons beaucoup ri pendant que j’arrangeais leurs lèvres dans la position parfaite. Je leur dis que c’est comme ouvrir les ailes d’un papillon ou les pétales d’une fleur »."

Disney Princesses in Real Life
They didn't have so much cleavage in the cartoons...

Evolution of Narcissism: Why We're Overconfident, and Why It Works - "Overconfidence pays off only when there is uncertainty about opponents' real strengths, and when the benefits of the prize at stake is sufficiently larger than the costs"