Links - 11th April 2012

"McCabe's Law: Nobody _has_ to do _anything_." - Charles McCabe

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Google+: The Charge Of The Like Brigade - "What Google has done, remarkably, is to transfer all the worst qualities of Facebook to themselves while managing to retain almost none of the good ones"

Candwich - The Go Anywhere Sandwich - "Candwich™, the official "Sandwich in a Can", is the perfect food for people on the go. Busy moms, school kids, and outdoor recreationists love Candwich™. The unique packaging offers convenience and protection in both lunch boxes and backpacks. Whether packing a lunch for school or work, feeding kids on the run, or headed out for a fun outdoor adventure, Candwich™ is a great-tasting, healthy alternative to fast food."

Controversial blogger arrested, referred to IMH - "When asked if she was afraid about the backlash from her controversial blog posts, she was unfazed. "What is the backlash you tell me? You must look at the quality of the slamming. Is this all you can say about me? That I'm fat and prostitute-looking?" Jiang responded. Jiang was also extremely receptive when Yahoo! Singapore initially approached her for an interview. She said she was "happy to talk" and even asked the reporter out for coffee in the future. However a few weeks later, Jiang deleted the reporter off her Facebook list. Before her arrest, she also displayed an exhibitionist side when she posed a photo of herself posing in her underwear. Dr Ang Yong Guan, a consultant psychiatrist at Paragon Medical, told The New Paper that Jiang showed signs of borderline personality disorder."

Barbara Kay: Women are not always the ‘gentler sex’ - "Most rapists were subjected to some form of sexual abuse in childhood. A startling amount is perpetrated by females. Peer-reviewed studies conclude that between 60-80% of “rapists, sex offenders and sexually aggressive men” were sexually abused by a female... 95% of all youths reporting sexual misconduct by staff member in state juvenile facilities said their victimization experiences included victimization by female personnel, who made up 42% of the staff... Victorian chivalry and 21st century feminism would seem to make strange bedfellows, but in their equally unrealistic characterization of women as the always “gentler sex,” they condemn both male and female victims of female-perpetrated abuse to silence and second-class social status. To err is human. Are women fully human? Then stop treating them like saints or permanent moral infants."

‘Woe is us’ — bad grammar permeates language - "A recent survey found Fortune 500 companies spending more than $3 billion a year retraining employees in basic English. Even writers have trouble writing. Sacramento Bee columnist Don Morrison sees the enemy every time he looks in the mirror. Morrison is a client of Roger Peterson, who was among the first to notice Americans butchering their language"

Photographer Reveals The Dark Side Of Barbie - "In her photo series ‘Welcome To The Dream House’, ‘Life In Plastic’ and ‘Things Fall Apart’ that was shot on 35mm film, Haney portrays Barbie and Ken in compromising positions—such as drug trafficking, eating disorders, drinking problems, cross-dressing, having external marital affairs, and paying seedy worlds a visit"

Boy out of JC after kissing prank - "Last Wednesday, two junior college boys kissed each other on the lips on a dare by a fellow schoolmate. Andy (not his real name), 18, had promised to shave his head bald if the two boys took up his challenge... By last Friday, Andy was no longer a student at the college... The college's principal said the students' parents are "supportive of the follow-up actions taken by the college"... "This incident taught me the meaning of the freedom of choice and the consequences of that on myself, my family and my future." The principal said the college's approach towards management of student disciplinary offences focuses on enabling the student to "realise mistakes made, to understand and accept the logical consequences for their mistakes, to provide the necessary support and guidance for the students to learn from their mistakes, and to provide opportunities for them to change for the better""
You'd think someone had cheated in an exam or something

Li Anne responds to viewer comments - YouTube - "Actually in Taiwan, girls wearing short shorts is more acceptable than in America, where cleavage is more... ample and common. If you show cleavage here you'll get non-stop stares and double takes. But if you wear short shorts, the only people staring at you will be the foreigners"
Addendum: nma

Annals of development: Dangerous delusions | The Economist - "It’s easy to see why developing countries might be seduced by Singapore’s recent success—but it’s also perfectly delusional of them... When Singapore became an independent, post-colonial country, in the early 1960s, supposedly at the same point on the development trajectory at which many of its admirers see themselves, it was already a highly developed, prosperous and sophisticated entrepôt

Portal 2 Life-Size Inflatable Sentry Turret

Ramen Hacks: 30+ Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Instant Noodles | Serious Eats - "Peanut butter and coconut make for a great chilled ramen salad... But for the ultimate in fusion-comfort food, Ramen-topped shepherd's or cottage pie is the way to go. Mashed potatoes can be a pain in the butt to make for such a simple dish. Why not just boil some noodles, and use them as your pie crust instead? The top of the noodles dry out and become super-crisp under the broiler, while the noodles underneath remain tender. It's a uniquely delicious textural contrast, and one that I believe can help bring the world together."

French Muslims fear post-Toulouse repercussions - "France’s five-million strong Islamic community fears it may be subject to repercussions after it emerged the main suspect in the killing of seven people – including three young children – was Muslim"
How much easier it would've been to have been killed by the gunman instead!

BN lawmaker moots gay rehab centre - "The government needs to create a “homosexual rehabilitation centre” to combat the phenomenon in Malaysia, according to Barisan Nasional MP who today claimed 30 per cent of Malaysian men were gay."
Malaysia Boleh!

The strange and evil world of Equatorial Guinea - "Freedom House, the respected US think tank, places Equatorial Guinea alongside Burma, North Korea and Somalia on its list of the world's worst regimes, a ruthless one-party state where elections are stolen, opponents jailed and state coffers looted, control of daily life is all-pervasive and the government is accused of grotesque human rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial killings... Obiang, blaming foreigners for bringing corruption to his country, told people he needed to run the national treasury to prevent others falling into temptation... Tang replied that some governments tried to impose views that were not suitable because of cultural differences, before adding they were victims of stories emanating from the previous regime... Dorries, clearly irked, demanded another question "if we are not going to meet your president", and asked which of their cultural values were at odds with those of their critics. Tang looked uneasy, said he didn't know, then added that their "African values" could never meet "your values in Europe". The mood became glacial. Baker and the ambassador to Britain joined in, the latter saying tribalism made democracy difficult, before concluding: "We can't have people coming from Europe and telling us what to do without understanding Africa and the African way of doing things"... Dorries ended the meal by telling Wales they were not being shown a proper picture of the country and would not write a "whitewash" report; he replied that they had been rude to their hosts and did not understand Africa... the dissident gave me an example of how the regime offered illusions of change while retaining control. "The opposition socialist party used to be unable to sell its papers. Now they can sell them openly in the street," he said. "But anyone buying a paper is followed by plainclothes police and then questioned, harassed and intimidated""
Racist, neo-colonialist, ethnocentric claptrap!

Traditional African values & societal decay in Nigeria - "The clamour for positive African values by some self-appointed sentinels of our society is coloured by a romantic view of pre-colonial Africa (narrow it down to Nigeria). To these sentinels, the coming of the white man disoriented a glorious system of values embedded in rich tradition and custom. Maybe they have a point. But the coin has another side: our fathers killed twins in certain places; had caste systems in others; occasionally ate strangers and travellers in their domain; treated women like dung in some societies; and practised what we euphemistically label African Science. Nudity or near-nudity (which these traditional African cultural advocates blame on foreign importations like Big Brother Africa) was (and still is) a way of life in some of our 'glorious' cultural settings... These traditional values are at times foundations for our contemporary woes. One example: traditionally (at least in many pre-colonial Nigerian societies) the 'Big Man' syndrome was supreme... Transport this traditional mindset into our contemporary society and you get disdain for the rule of law; ingrained belief by certain people that they are born to rule; treating of the national patrimony as a private estate, just to mention a few"

Why I Hate The 'Goldberg Variations' : Deceptive Cadence : NPR - "I'm suspicious of the Goldbergs' popularity. Classical Music is not really supposed to be that popular. I worried for years that I would be seduced into playing them, and would become like all the others—besotted, cultish—and that is exactly what happened. I have been assimilated into the Goldberg Borg... if you ever want to suffer an incredibly tedious time, if you want to be impelled to stick a fork in your brain just to stop the endless flood of mundanity, listen to Handel's 62 Variations... There should be a name for this phenomenon, for instance people who say they love Wagner, but mostly sleep through his long recitatives and developments, in fact 95% of the opera, but wake up for the big tunes, the orchestral highlights... Perhaps the most serious complaint you could make about Bach is that he has every quality of humanity except imperfection."

Say Goodbye to the Annual Performance Review - "Only about 5% of organizations requiring appraisal are satisfied with its results. Most HR departments re-design their appraisal process every three to five years---new forms, altered scales, and novel bells and whistles. The outcome? Déjà vu---most people are underwhelmed and the process fizzles again. If 90% of organizations consider appraisal ineffective, why does it continue? One reason is its good intentions... Pay based on merit gets in the way because nearly everyone expects high ratings---80% of employees think they are in the top quarter of all performers. Instead companies dropping appraisal rely mostly on market adjustments, maturity in the job, and cost of living"