Links - 25th February 2012

"No animal should ever jump up on the dining-room furniture unless absolutely certain that he can hold his own in the conversation." - Fran Lebowitz

***

Red-Wine Researcher Charged With 'Photoshop' Fraud - "A University of Connecticut researcher known for touting the health benefits of red wine is guilty of 145 counts of fabricating and falsifying data with image-editing software... Dr. Das said the accusations against him are part of a campaign to rid the university health center of the "Indian community." "I became the Devil for the Health Center, and so did all the Indians working for me," he wrote. "The evidence for conspiracy and racial hatred is overwhelming." He also alleged that the stress of battling the university administration led to a brain hemorrhage and stroke"
White Privilege strikes again!

Porn star doesn't mean prostitute:Sunny Leone - ""My parents, who are originally from Punjab, were completely shocked when they found out I was in the adult entertainment industry. Their reaction was what I expected, and I was prepared for it. When my father realized what I did, he said, 'You didn't even ask us before you did this! But whatever you do, make sure you do it well'... the fact that my work didn't change me as a person worked in my favour. My parents soon realized it and respected me for who I am and my decisions... Have her parents seen any of her hardcore adult videos? "Of course not! Whose parents would do that?" she asks."

Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It - NYTimes.com - "Many people say they are angry because the government is wasting money and giving money to people who do not deserve it. But more than that, they say they want to reduce the role of government in their own lives. They are frustrated that they need help, feel guilty for taking it and resent the government for providing it... “It may hurt now, but it will be absolutely deadly for the next generation — that’s our children and our grandchildren”... Almost half of all Americans lived in households that received government benefits in 2010... One of the oldest criticisms of democracy is that the people will inevitably drain the treasury by demanding more spending than taxes. The theory is that citizens who get more than they pay for will vote for politicians who promise to increase spending. But Dean P. Lacy, a professor of political science at Dartmouth College, has identified a twist on that theme in American politics over the last generation. Support for Republican candidates, who generally promise to cut government spending, has increased since 1980 in states where the federal government spends more than it collects. The greater the dependence, the greater the support for Republican candidates. Conversely, states that pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits tend to support Democratic candidates. And Professor Lacy found that the pattern could not be explained by demographics or social issues... “I’m glad I’m not a politician,” he said. “We’re all going to complain no matter what they do. Nobody wants to put a noose around their own neck”"

CPI, inflation and the elephant in the room - "Imputed rent is designed as a 'proxy' variable for housing costs... let us be clear. It is basically a shadow price designed to capture the impact of housing inflation on the cost of living. And housing inflation is about as 'core' to the domestic inflation process as you can get in Singapore, both from a cost-push and demand-pull perspective. No other developed country excludes housing from the 'core', unless there is a measurement issue. In fact, the relatively more dominant role that housing plays in every Singaporean's personal balance sheet just adds to the case for inclusion. Just look at the relationship between mortgage growth and consumer price index (CPI) inflation. Pretending otherwise is pure sophistry"
Hoho with Adam Le Mesurier's forum letter maybe Goldman Sachs is gonna get whacked. Or his work permit/PR will be revoked like Ryan Goh Yew Hock

Smoker Inspired By Sight Of Elderly Smoker | The Onion - America's Finest News Source | Onion Radio News
Be against stereotypes!

A Common Organic Sweetener May Boost Arsenic Levels in Foods - "Organic brown rice syrup, a popular sweetener in organic and gluten-free foods -- including some formulas made for toddlers -- is a source of the toxin arsenic"
But it's Natural!

Android app permissions - How Google gets it right ... - "There's been a lot of news lately about a lapse in either security or judgment -- both, really -- at Apple that allows iOS applications to borrow your contact data and send it off to parts unknown without your consent. Apple has addressed the issue to members of the U.S. Congress, and will take steps to hold tighter control in a future iOS update"

Study suggests U.S. box office not affected by BitTorrent - "More importantly, the report revealed that movie studios hold the power to curb piracy by decreasing international box office release windows."

Familial Linkage between Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Intellectual Interests - "Students aspiring to technical majors (science/mathematics/engineering) were more likely than other students to report a sibling with an autism spectrum disorder (p = 0.037). Conversely, students interested in the humanities were more likely to report a family member with major depressive disorder (p = 8.8×10−4), bipolar disorder (p = 0.027), or substance abuse problems (p = 1.9×10−6)... shared genetic (and perhaps environmental) factors may both predispose for heritable neuropsychiatric disorders and influence the development of intellectual interests."

Social Media and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Asian Game Devs, I'm Begging You: No More Three Kingdoms - "In China, though, it seems almost as if “Three Kingdoms” is the default setting for any developer looking to make a game, virtually regardless of the genre."

Why film schools teach screenwriters not to pass the Bechdel test - "I had to understand that the audience only wanted white, straight, male leads. I was assured that as long as I made the white, straight men in my scripts prominent, I could still offer groundbreaking characters of other descriptions (fascinating, significant women, men of color, etc.) – as long as they didn’t distract the audience from the white men they really paid their money to see"
This points to a better explanation for why so many things fail the best other than what the same writer calls "an undeclared war against women": just as minority cultures have been ghettoised while White - or at least Anglo - culture has become World culture, so too do we see a division in gender coding between what is female and what is unisex. Similarly, men win the Nobel Peace Prize for Universal issues, while women win it for Women's issues

Dating Coach David Tian on Singapore TV: Why Are More Singapore Girls Dating Expat Men?
Hahahahahahahaha

Attitudes of women, media and society towards contraception : are we making progress ? - "In 1930 in the encyclical Casti cannubii (Chaste Marriage) the Vatican began down the same road of theologic accommodation to the need for contraception. In a contrived and convoluted way the church began to approve the rhythm method of family planning. The Vatican Council in 1962 was a major milestone in Catholic theology. The majority of Catholics and practically all theologians of stature began to develop an ethical system that embraced so-called artificial contraception. In 1963 Pope Paul VI set up a Pontifical Commission to discuss the matter. Pope Paul was obsessed with the prestige of his office and in the end he rejected the majority findings of his own commission and endorsed a minority report by Cardinal Ottaviani, Fr. John Ford, and others... After Humane vitae the percentage of American Catholics attending mass on a weekly basis dropped from 71% to 50%... Family planning became a common practice regardless of religion, and today the percentage of Catholic women having abortions in the United States is slightly higher than the percentage of non-Catholic women"

Wikipedia top rated for ‘health’ information - "the quality of information on depression and schizophrenia on Wikipedia was generally as good as, or better than that provided by centrally controlled websites or psychiatry textbooks"

Wordmall: Mistakenly racist terms - "'A friend of mine became upset when I used the phrase “to call a spade a spade.” She says that it’s a vicious racist term'... It’s a sign of our hypersensitive times that innocent words are often branded as offensive. Quite bluntly, such a reaction is the product of ignorance... The same is true of “a coon’s age.” It refers to the raccoon and the mistaken notion that it lives a very long time... Twisted minds can take innocent words and images and turn them into an attack, but sometimes the fault is with the listener or reader who, through ignorance, interprets an innocent or unconnected word with verbal assault. This is why I take Ludwig Wittgenstein’s words to heart: “The limits of my language are the limits of my world”"

朵朵神速大宣传视频www.jbladyshop.com - YouTube - "Stop when you reach 36D. Please don't be too big *pictures of American women*"
What's with the Chinese and dodgy bust enhancement products? They need to open outlets in Singapore.

Heartbreaking photographs capture the facial expressions of animals

Bill Nicholson’s Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding

My Shepard is Asexual, and That's Okay - "But growing up asexual, without even a name to put to your confusion and disconnect, can become increasingly frustrating. Especially if you want to believe your hobby of choice has value, is artistically or ethically defensible, and/or does something for you another entertainment medium can't. Unsurprisingly, games insist upon being written for the same sexual majority as film and books. Knowing I hadn't a chance in hell to reshape those attitudes, I tried to adjust my own instead...
It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? As though choosing not to have sex weren't just as important as choosing to have it. But I had been programemd to believe that there was something uncomfortably abnormal about not wanting sex. No-- that there was something wrong about me. It's almost embarrassing how much self-reflection it took to change my mind."
Asexuals: another group to cater to to be "inclusive"