Links - 2nd October 2011

"Barnum was wrong - it's more like every 30 seconds." - Unknown

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Meet The Old Lady Behind The Sounds In Porno Flicks!

Islamic Sharia Law Court Opens in Belgium - "The Sharia court is the initiative of a radical Muslim group called Sharia4Belgium. Leaders of the group say the purpose of the court is to create a parallel Islamic legal system in Belgium in order to challenge the state's authority as enforcer of the civil law protections guaranteed by the Belgian constitution... Legal experts say the Islamic court will also undercut the state's ability to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of so-called honor crimes... Sharia4Belgium says the court in Antwerp will eventually expand its remit and handle criminal cases as well... Choudary said he would help launch Sharia4Belgium to prevent Muslim immigrants from integrating into Belgian society"
They can always label opponents islamophobic

ATHENA HAPPY - YouTube

Jumping Off a Building With Bubble Wrap | Wired Science

'Vegetarian' dating site pulled off the menu - "Veggiedates.co.uk admitted that its database of users was shared by several dating sites, and acknowledged that the majority of its members were non-vegetarian and non-vegan"

Bossy women have less sex - "'The more decisions a women reported making on her own, as compared to joint decision making, the less likely she was to have sex and the longer it was since she last had sexual intercourse.' Study co-author Carie Muntifering says: 'Understanding how women's position in the household influences their sexual activity may be an essential piece in protecting the sexual rights of women and helping them to achieve a sexual life that is safe and pleasurable'"
When women are bullied, they must be protected. When women are bossy, we must still prioritise their welfare. Very good.

Bored Singaporeans the world's heaviest Facebook users

Have you upgraded your Windows Chinese IME to the new Microsoft Pinyin (MSPY) 2010? - "Good news to all MS Windows XP/Vista/7 users who need to type Chinese characters using IME!... MSPY 2010 loads up much faster than the previous MSPY 2007, and also has faster respond to keyboard typing. By using MSPY 2010, we can type Chinese faster as it is more accurate in getting the correct words we want, and it supports short-cut input style as well as intelligent word predictions."

Better Facebook! FREE Browser Extension - "Better Facebook is a free browser extension that improves the Facebook site by adding lots of great enhancements and functionality"
"Does Better Facebook work with Internet Explorer? No. IE is a bad browser. Do not use it. It is most vulnerable to viruses and spyware, and it lags behind most other browsers in capabilities. Seriously. Switch to Google Chrome at least!"

FULL FLUSH BUT NOT FLUSTERED - "Zack is a 24-year-old university student who shares with us his sexual encounters with other men: over a hundred of them and counting- with the rate of at least one more person added to the number every two weeks. Among Zack’s cured STDs include syphilis, Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea- that he contracted three times. Beyond that, Zack lives with the incurable genital herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV) and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS.) Though one might think that he would wise up after his initial experiences with STDs and take precaution, Zack was quick to retort, “I had my reasons”... Zack was going through a period of his life when he was chronically depressed and needed an outlet- an outlet he found in unprotected sex... With HPV, getting diagnosed was really “awkward for me, since a number of the DSC Clinic doctors are homosexual themselves”"
Would people bash this site for perpetuating the stereotype that gay men are promiscuous?

Letters: On America and the Middle East, Jean Monnet, Yahoo!, high-speed rail, paper, drug shortages, Thailand, rhetoric, oxymorons | The Economist - "Your article on the United States Postal Service suggested that sending electronic Christmas cards over the internet is more “green” (“Neither snow nor rain”, August 20th). I take issue with that. When you take into account the entire life cycle of a piece of paper versus what it takes to send an e-card, it becomes clear that there is no environmental benefit to going paperless. Consider the energy and resource-intensive process required to produce a computer: extensive mining and refining operations of dozens of minerals and metals, many of which are not recyclable and will inevitably end up in a landfill once the device is rendered obsolete by the next generation of computer, tablet or smartphone. Add to that the carbon-generated electricity needed to power computers. Contrast that with paper, which is one of the most recycled products; last year 63% of all paper purchased in the United States was recovered for recycling"

DNC, Obama sued for record of racism and violating black civil rights - "A black researcher and best-selling author has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee and President Barack Obama, alleging the party has engaged in a systematic policy of racism over the years... The 46-page brief systematically lists examples illustrating 210 years of racist statements and actions by the Democratic Party... The brief also cites Obama’s August bus tour, noting that the President “intentionally and specifically chose to ignore and exclude cities and towns that had high black unemployment.” Rep. Maxine Waters, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, agreed with Perryman’s statement saying, “He’s not in any black community.”"

John Esposito’s Deceptions on ‘Islamophobia’ - "I am a Muslim. I believe that accepting our (Muslims’) share in creating “Islamophobia” in the West will help eliminate it. Dr. John Esposito’s recent article in the Huffington Post, “Islamophobia: A threat to American Values?” puts the entire blame on Western “media commentators, hard-line Christian Zionists and politicians.” He even neglects to mention the huge contribution Muslim societies have had on the issue. Esposito ignores that in our global village the West is regularly flooded by violence coming from Muslim societies; violence which is perpetrated in the name of Islam while citing Quranic verses and the Prophet’s examples. The list is long... He also blames the West for resisting the Ground Zero Mosque. I wish he knew how many Muslims around the world are opposed to the proposed Islamic center, not because we don’t want mosques, but because before its construction, the notion of the center created “fitna” (division) and violently divided the whole nation... only last month a new mosque, Baitul Gaffar, was constructed in New York without a shadow of resistance, or how many euros European governments are pouring into the construct of new mosques. By the way, women were barred from attending the opening ceremony of Baitul Gaffar (House of Creator) in New York. Throughout his article, Esposito, a respected scholar, uses mini-exceptions as general examples. Despite overwhelming support for Muslims among politicians, he cites a few bad apples... I wish Esposito mentioned the hate-tsunami against Jews and the West that roars in the media and throughout the pulpits of the Muslim world, constantly in Himalayan magnitude... Yes, “We all [governments, policymakers, the media, educational institutions, religious and corporate leaders] have a critical role to play in countering the voices of hate, the exclusionary theologies and ideologies.” Esposito should give the same advice to the leaders of Muslims world"

Brazil calls to ban 'sexist' Gisele Bundchen ad for Hope lingerie - "The ministry managed to ban a beer ad in 2010 featuring US model Paris Hilton in suggestive poses"
Is there a difference between banning a beer ad with a girl in a suggestive pose and banning girls from striking suggestive poses in public?

Hollywood films: From rom-com to romp-com | The Economist - "At least these films share a strong concept—contemporary, credible, risqué. That’s not something that could be said for many recent romantic comedies. For the past decade, most Hollywood rom-coms have been devoid of both comedy and romance... Of course these films are not really about love, or even about romance. Rather, they are showcases for perfect bodies in fabulous clothes and designer apartments—the real stars of every other scene... For a modern rom-com to be even halfway decent, it has to have some vague resemblance to reality—just one what-if away from our own lives. Watching “When Harry Met Sally”, we know that two platonic friends could fall in love. Watching “Chasing Amy”, we accept that a repressed man could be discomfited by his girlfriend’s bisexuality. Watching “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, we sympathise because, in the pre-Facebook age, a man could be smitten by a stranger at a wedding and then have no contact with her until another wedding weeks later. But no one, before or after watching “Life As We Know It”, has ever asked, “What if your best friends were killed and you were granted joint custody of their baby along with an attractive, single person you hated—oh, and you had to share an immaculately furnished mansion with them?” Rarely has a title been less appropriate"

Overwhelming Victory for the Motion "Men Are Finished" at Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates - "As a result of a changing economy and shifting cultural values, men, who were once seen as the dominant sex, are now in a deep slide to number two status"

Feminists Disrupt a Forum About Battered Husbands 1 - YouTube - "Men's activists hold a public forum to discuss the possibility of giving male victims of domestic violence some of the social services that are currently only available to female victims. Feminists, who strongly oppose any recognition of male victims of abuse, disrupt the forum and try to shut it down. They oppose free and open discussion of gender issues"
"Woman hater!" "She has a right to hit him!"

Trick or Treat: Is There Poison in Your Pixy Stix? - "Has anyone ever really handed out poisoned Halloween candy? To random children? Not that we know of"

Kiwi candy ... Eskimo lolly ... or racial slur? - "By her own calculation, Canadian tourist Seeka Lee Veevee Parsons is one unpopular woman in New Zealand right now –just because of what she insists she is not: an Eskimo. The Inuit woman is garnering headlines – and animosity – for suggesting a favourite New Zealand candy, the Eskimo Lolly, is racist and improper... "Is it right that people go around eating shapes of people of another culture?" The Eskimo Lolly, described as "cherished" and a "treasure" to New Zealanders, is a multi-coloured marshmallow candy in the shape of a person wearing a thick hooded jacket in front of an igloo... "I eat jelly babies. It doesn't mean that I like to bite small children. It's just confectionary," wrote one reader. "If you don't like it, how about you don't buy it!"... Veevee Parsons' uncle, David Veevee, who lives in Iqaluit, said he's been surprised at the uproar created over his niece's statements about the use of the word Eskimo... "It doesn't bother me if people down there in the south use the word Eskimo... It's just a candy, after all""