Links - 3rd January 2013

"Exercise relieves stress. Nothing relieves exercise." - Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata

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Atheist Census - Numbers matter. Be counted. - "Atheist Census is a project to count and collect demographic information on the world’s atheists."

Reducing Risks Of Sexual Assault | AWARE Singapore - "It is advisable for women to take the safety precautions to minimise their risks."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Severed Cinema - "The follow-up to the 2006 "Cannibal," Marian Dora's "Melancholie der Engel" -- translated in English as "The Angels' Melancholy" -- is the most notorious, undeniably hardcore German release to date. Clocking over 2 hours of length, the film is an epic portrait of pain and suffering. An ultimate personification of pure evil, the visuals suggest an illustration of man's inhumanity to man. I must admit I viewed the film without English subtitles, as its German release is the only version currently available. Without subtitles, it is fairly difficult to gauge a clear understanding of the "plot." As of now, there is no way to know if the dialogue is pretentious and filled with pseudo-intellectual nonsense or not."
First film review I've seen where the reviewer doesn't understand the language

Mozart's scatological disorder.

Sydney lass plays lady in waiting - "Joining the discussion were a couple of flirtatious Australian women, who started debating whether hairy or hairless was sexier... at one point all the women in the group were rubbing their common hands over the very princely torsos to compare which was the more sensual... "All the girls around the table were discussing what is best, the man with a hairy chest or a man without hair, and the princes were wearing open shirts," said Ms Tarnawski"

PCWIN Speaker Record 1.0.0.7 Free - A tool that will record the sounds of your speakers. - "PCWIN Speaker Record is a handy utility designed to record everything you hear from your speakers. No configuration required- works even if your sound card does not support recording from speakers. Record from Internet radio stations. "

Circumcision - Does the Quran Approve it? - "The Qur'an deals with Prophet Ibrahim's construction of the Kaba and other matters - but does not say he was told to cut off a part of his private parts... In numerous Verses of the Qur'an, Allah tells us that He has created everything, including human beings, in the most perfect form... when a baby leaves the mother's womb, he or she is in the most perfect of shape down to the finest detail. Nothing needs alteration"

“He Said—She Said”: The Role of the Forensic Evaluator in Determining Credibility of Plaintiffs Who Allege Sexual Exploitation and Boundary Violations - "From a clinical perspective, the perception of having been victimized may lead to symptoms similar to those that occur when someone is actually victimized. For example, if a woman perceives that she was powerless to stop a sexual encounter, then she may develop symptoms similar to those of a woman who actually has been raped, such as feelings of betrayal, fear, embarrassment, guilt, depression, and anxiety and even symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. It may not matter that the alleged perpetrator considered the sexual encounter to be consensual. From a clinical perspective, the victim's symptoms are likely to be based on her perception. Stress-related symptoms are shaped by the internal psychological experience of the event"
We can extrapolate and say that similarly, what determines if negative outcomes is not whether someone is discriminated against - but whether he *thinks* he is being discriminated against.

No means no. But what about yes? - "Of course “no” means “no”, but sex is an act that rarely has an explicit “yes” attached to it. Sometimes a lack of consent means we’re not sure – not because we’re weak, vulnerable or under male pressure, but for our own reasons: “I shouldn’t stay as I’ve an early work meeting but I’m tempted”; “I should say no as I’m married but I really like him”; “I’m tired but I love him”; “I’m drunk and might regret it, but what the hell”. Surely women and men need space for such ambivalence, to negotiate the delicate ins and outs of interpersonal and sexual relations? In truth, sex and relationships are often a tangle of false starts, uncertainties and messy complications; active consent is no guarantee of romantic or sexual bliss. Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of the new Act is that it sets out ­situations where there can be no free agreement, such as where someone is deemed to be “so drunk they are unable to give any meaningful consent to sexual activity”... “yes” doesn’t always mean “yes”, according to the new law. Does this mean that a man should wait for a woman to sober up before taking her at her word? Is it in women’s interests to have an official ban on sex while drunk? A man can never claim he’s too much the worse for wear to elicit consent from a sober woman. This legislates that a drunken man is accountable for his deeds, but a drunken woman is not, thus negating even the presumption of equal rights before the law... absolving women who engage in drunken sexual liaisons of responsibility for their actions is not liberating; it’s demeaning... the effect of blurring rape with ambivalence and regret can mean we lose a sense of perspective. A society that sees no difference in scale between hesitant acquiescence and brute violation will have difficulty in doling out justice. My fear is that if we relativise rape and portray it as a commonplace risk of all inter-sex ­relations, juries and the public at large will find it even harder to weigh up the seriousness of allegations"

"He Said She Said" rape convictions: Really happens? - "One case that I did study last semester in Evidence has some parallels: Papakosmas v The Queen [1999] HCA 37. It's not an exact parallel, because it wasn't just a "he said/she said" case. But it's an example of a jury convicting an accused on the basis of the credibility of the complainant's claim that she did not consent. Papakosmas (the appellant) and the complainant were at the office Christmas party. They had both been drinking. One thing led to another and they had sex. The key fact in issue was not whether the sex took place but whether the complainant consented to it. She said that she hadn't consented. What's more, she made that claim to several other people at the party straight after the alleged offence. So it wasn't just the complainant's word, but also that of all her colleagues. They hadn't witnessed the alleged act of sexual intercourse, but they were able to testify about what the complainant had told them straight afterwards. At trial the jury believed the complainant's story (backed up by her colleagues' hearsay evidence) over that of the appellant. A sort of modified "he said/she said". Papakosmas was convicted of having sexual intercourse with the complainant without her consent and was sentenced to three years' gaol. He lost his appeal to the NSW Supreme Court and his subsequent appeal to the High Court (the linked case above)."

China's sex addicts struggle to find help - "In his opinion, sex addiction is a concept created by factions such as the extreme right wing or religious groups, as a means of discrediting sex and promoting abstinence. Fang compared sex addiction with other passions, such as an overwhelming interest in food or autos. "Every day people want to indulge their passion and do something that has no negative affect on society. The desire to normalize the condition has resulted in those who believe themselves afflicted feeling the need to classify it as a disease and search for a, largely nonexistent, 'cure'," he said... Whenever she finished her study assignments, the first idea that came into her mind was hooking up... Sex - with her boyfriend, a "benefit" friend or via a one-night stand - made her feel good and gave her bags of energy, she said. "If we both feel good, I don't think sex bothers anyone. And there's nothing wrong with frequent sex, or as, we say, so-called sex addiction," she said. "It's just like eating; some people eat a little, while others eat more. If sex makes you feel good, loved and energetic, why attribute blame?""

You’re Addicted to What? - "The schadenfreude is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Moralism stands in for sympathy. High dudgeon stands in for nuanced understanding. From all corners, we hear a Greek chorus of voices linking someone’s extramarital affairs to feminism, testosterone, the Internet, sadomasochism, consumerism, or even 9/11... these public thrashings are a chance for the audience to condemn sexual acting out while vicariously enjoying it... here’s my evaluation of almost everyone who is diagnosed as a sex addict—by themselves, their loved ones, or an addictionologist: it’s someone who is unhappy with the consequences of their sexual choices, but who finds it too emotionally painful to make different choices... it’s not about the sex. It’s about the immature decision-making... Perhaps the most interesting thing about the sex addiction movement—and certainly the most telling—is that it did not arise from the field of sex therapy or any other sexuality-related field... Almost thirty years after its invention by Carnes, “sex addiction” is still not a popular concept in the fields of sex therapy, sex education, or sex research... the diagnosis of sex addiction is in many ways a diagnosis of discomfort with one’s own sexuality, or of being at odds with cultural definitions of normal sex, and struggling with that contrast... Exactly how sophisticated can a psychiatric diagnosis be if (1) a professional can diagnose someone without ever meeting them, and (2) lay people with no training whatsoever can use the diagnosis?... I also resent the repeated statement that if I don’t conceptualize these people as sex addicts, I’m either ignorant or I lack compassion. When some progressive Colonial physicians refused to diagnose patients as possessed by the devil, that didn’t mean they lacked compassion. They just didn’t believe in the diagnosis... Sex addiction and porn addiction crusaders complain that porn is terrible sex education. I agree, just as watching a car chase in an action movie is a terrible way to learn to drive... When a patient is diagnosed as possessed by the devil instead of schizophrenic it clearly matters: it determines the treatment to be used, and who is qualified to administer the treatment... The addiction model starts with “we admitted we were powerless.” The therapy model starts with “you’re responsible for your choices; I wonder why you keep doing what gives you what you say you don’t want?”"

Report a PAP Internet Brigade (IB) - "Who are the PAP IBs?
1) A group of Young PAP members have been put under the ‘intelligence’ service
2) They operate in shifts starting from 6am each day monitoring the chats on discussion forums and facebook etc.
3) Some of them have created fake IDs to counter opposite views. If they can’t rebut, they will seek to disrupt discussion or to confuse by posting wrong information.
4) Some have started, but most will be stepping up on their activities."
Uhh...

The Dark Secrets That Dolphins Don't Want You to Know - "Dolphins are violent predators with a predilection for baby killing and rape"
I wonder how many who attended the "Candlelight Vigil and Memorial Service for Wen Wen" (the dead RWS dolphin) knew the truth about dolphins. I felt like crashing the event, crying "freedom for all animals!" and releasing 100 chickens into the crowd

Don't Have the Wool Pulled Over Your Eyes - ""Virtually every medical achievement of the last century has depended directly or indirectly on research with animals." Furthermore, consider that over the past 40 years only one Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine did not depend on animal research for the fundamental discoveries that led to the prize... paralyzed dogs have regained their ability to walk as a result of research conducted in rodents and dogs... even if all testing were done in humans, our pets would lose the benefit of some medications whose usefulness was not found in humans"