Links - 16th July 2014

I'm not worried about online privacy (and nor should you be) - "I even worry about stuff that’s never going to meaningfully affect me. Like the Burmese opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Could the most revered woman in the Guardian-reading world survive the day-to-day tumult of politics with her reputation still intact? I’ve never been been to Burma and know no Burmese people, but I dutifully set aside 5-10 minutes a day to scan the web for Burmese stories and then fret about how she might handle future sectarian strife. I hope it never gets so bad that she has to stop wearing those pretty flowers in her hair... it’s a godsend to come across a major issue, event or news story that I don’t care about. I luxuriate in my indifference and I slather myself in ambivalence like a wildebeest who has found a particularly choice and muddy wallow. I experienced this in 2009 when the Telegraph broke the expenses scandal... Compared to the billions lost on carousel VAT fraud, dodgy IT contracts to companies with ex-ministers on boards, shoddy military procurement and iffy planning decisions, it’s a drop in the ocean... I cannot bring myself to fret about MPs raiding the stationary cupboard. But I did rather enjoy thinking “meh” whenever the years’ biggest story came up... If you don’t like what Google does, for instance, pay someone to host your email. It costs around £20 a year - and if you balk at paying this, well, you have a pretty good idea of what your privacy is worth to you... So perhaps the reason I can’t get into a lather about Snowden is that I know everything’s a trade off and I don’t expect something for nothing"

Metrosexual goes mainstream as men outspend women on footwear - "Richard Cope, the market research specialist's principle trends analyst, added the shock figures confirmed that metrosexuality was now "in the mainstream"... Previous studies have documented women's desire for shoes of every shape, size, design and colour. A report earlier this Spring claimed half of women have more than 20 pairs, with 14 per cent owning more than 50. Mintel admitted women are still more likely than men to buy three or more pairs of shoes a year, led by females in the north-west of England. But it claimed younger women were beginning to cut back while the price of pumps and flats were coming down as high street chains such as Primark grow their share of the market"

'Spornosexuality': an evolutionary step backwards for men - "True, Oscar Wilde said that beauty was higher than genius because it requires no explanation. But the TOWIE fans should pick up a copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray, in which they would discover that Wilde’s commitment to aesthetics is not without moral limits or even censoriousness. The writer once summed up the book’s message thus: “All excess, as well as all renunciation, brings its own punishment.” Dorian Gray – forever youthful, presumably forever buff – is so absorbed with his outward appearance that his inner-conscience withers. His soul dies long before his body does: he is a spiritless husk. And isn’t this a rather apt metaphor for what spornosexuality encourages? When people seek physical perfection for its own sake, then character – which is truly the most beautiful thing of all – corrodes. "

Convicted Heavy Metal ‘Christian’ Singer Admits Being Atheist, Duped Fans to Sell Music - "Lambesis, in admitting his atheism, outlined that he turned away from Christianity as he majored in religious studies while attending college through a long distance program. “In the process of trying to defend my faith, I started thinking the other point of view was the stronger one,” he said... “We toured with more ‘Christian bands’ who actually aren’t Christians than bands that are,” Lambesis stated. “In 12 years of touring with As I Lay Dying, I would say maybe one in 10 Christian bands we toured with were actually Christian bands”... “A lot of Christian parents said, ‘Yes, you can buy this As I Lay Dying CD, because they’re a Christian band.’ They don’t even think to actually check the lyrics,” Lambesis stated. “So when you change your views, you kind of owe it to the fans to be honest.”"

Research and Musings: An Open Letter to the Christian Entertainment Industry - "most of the Sci-Fi I got to read was the sort you find in Christian book stores. Stephen Lawhead was the high water mark for living Christian Science Fiction and fantasy writers. The Christian market was so desperate for decent science fiction that the Dune series, as anti-Messianic and anti-religion as you can get, was sometimes sold at Christian book stores and Becka Book sales as an "Allegory". Many of the Christian schools and Churches I attended banned things like The Lord of the Rings and even Narnia. LOTR I could understand, as one of the heroes is a wizard, but banning Naria and allowing Dune convinced me that whoever was making these decisions never actually READ any of the books... The Bible games were not exciting or engaging, but insipid and boring. Yes, you got to play David, son of Jessee, but you didn't play a game where King David is going to war or fighting the rebellion lead by his own son. No, you played a 12 year old David running around collecting lost lambs and putting them in a pen. The game ENDED just before the battle with Goliath, where it really should have been starting... Bibleman is an attempt to graft in-your-face, Christian concepts onto a Christian parent's stereotype of a video game. The models for these games are not the ones that actually sell, but the cartoon image middle aged, highly offended, Evangelicals have of video games. They're an attempt to make a preachy game based on a stereotype and the result is sad, campy and pathetic."

Bill O'Reilly David Letterman Transcript - Letterman O'Reilly Transcript - "O’Reilly: “We believe that the United States, particularly the military, are doing a noble thing, a noble thing. The soldiers and Marines are noble. They're not terrorists. And when people call them that, like Cindy Sheehan called the insurgents 'freedom fighters,’ we don't like that. It is a vitally important time in American history. And we should all take it very seriously. Be very careful with what we say.”...
Letterman: “See, I’m very concerned about people like yourself who don’t have nothing but endless sympathy for a woman like Cindy Sheehan. Honest to Christ”...
O’Reilly [on invading Iraq]: “If you want to question that, and then revamp an intelligence agency that’s obviously flawed, the CIA, okay. But remember, MI-6 in Britain said the same thing. Putin’s people in Russia said the same thing, and so did Mubarak’s intelligence agency in Egypt”...
O’Reilly: “No way a terrorist who blows up women and children is going to be called a ‘freedom fighter’ on my program”
Letterman: “I’m not smart enough to debate you point to point on this, but I have the feeling, I have the feeling about 60 percent of what you say is crap...
O’Reilly: “Listen, I respect your opinion. You should respect mine.”
Letterman: “Well, ah, I, okay. But I think you’re-”
O’Reilly: “Our analysis is based on the best evidence we can get.”
Letterman: “Yeah, but I think there’s something, this fair and balanced. I'm not sure that it's, I don't think that you represent an objective viewpoint.”
O’Reilly: “Well, you’re going to have to give me an example if you're going to make those claims.”
Letterman: “Well I don’t watch your show so that would be impossible.”
O’Reilly: “Then why would you come to that conclusion if you don't watch the program?”
Letterman: “Because of things that I’ve read, things that I know.”"
Presumably Letterman approved of Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa against Salman Rushdie - made without reading his book

Why are liberals so rude to the right? - "Too many people who lean left would rather crack nasty jokes than actually be liberal and listen to other views... Far too many people who are perfectly polite and courteous, otherwise, think nothing of insulting you for not sharing their political opinions... Bush, of course, is dumb – as are all Republicans, and we're epitomized by Dan Quayle, whose spelling of "potatoe" has entered historical canon. (Never mind Obama's telling us there are 57 states, or having a meltdown without a teleprompter)... Liberals have no shame. A dinner guest in our home stood up at the table, clinked his wine glass and said, "It shows how stupid the American people are, they voted for Bush twice." He turned to me, smirking, and said, "I know you voted for him." A biochemist who had been too busy learning liberal doctrine instead of the basic manners of being a guest... Wouldn't it be better for America if liberals really were liberal, and listened to other points of view?... Now is the time for liberals to emulate Ted Kennedy and, instead of automatically ridiculing conservatives for digging into questions about Benghazi, the IRS and the seizure of press records, help us find the truth – no matter what that might turn out to be."
"Conservatives think liberals have bad ideas and liberals think conservative are bad people"

Apoorv Purwar's answer to Men: What are some of the ways men feel discriminated against, that women are oblivious to? - Quora - "some of the housing websites even explicitly mention: 'Pets and Bachelors : Not Allowed'.

Academic Men Explain Things to Me - A teenager's experience - "My teenaged daughter (15) and her friend went to see the Men in Black 3 movie at the cinema... He told her the MIB was garbage and that she should see a real movie, and then proceeded to tell her that Promethius was a REAL movie, not a nonsense movie and she would have been better off seeing it instead. She told him that his taste in movies was obviously different to hers, not more valid, not superior, just different and that she was entitled to enjoy whatever movie she wanted without him mansplaining her about it"
A man telling a woman that Men In Black 3 sucks = 'mansplaining'
Comments: "Having different opinions is okay if you are a woman but mansplaining if you are a man?"
"proof that these people are just fucking contrarians. You could probably kill one by telling them not to go out in a hurricane or a tornado:
"Fuck you, you dirty disgusting penis haver I do what I want I’m a strong proud woman who doooo aaaaaghhh fuckkkk nooooooooooo""
"An “opinion” is just a white cishet patriarchal construct made to LITERALLY RAPE minorities in their oppressed little butts you rapist. CHECK YOUR SUBJECTIVITY PRIVILEGE."

» Feminism and age of consent laws in modern culture - "feminism views children as overly emotional and easily swayed. The irony is that men used to use this exact excuse to deny women their right to vote… To deny someone their rights based on a generalization (age, sex, race, religion, sexual-orientation, etc.) is prejudice. A more accurate solution to gauge sexual maturity, that isn’t prejudice, would be individual testing or parental consent. Individual testing would not conflict with the constitution’s 14th amendment like ageism does in America. The reason why feminists and women voters don’t pursue this easy constitutional solution reveals their true motive behind age of consent laws which is simply ageist bigotry."

Don't be confrontational on LGBT issues: MUIS - "The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) has cautioned against adopting a "confrontational approach", or vilifying those who are involved in LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) lifestyles, or events such as Pink Dot... Separately, the Singapore Islamic Scholars & Religious Teachers Association (Pergas) posted a statement on its Facebook page in reference to Pink Dot, saying Muslims "should not attend any event which promotes and supports transgression. "Still, Pergas says it strongly urges the community not to ostracise any LGBT individuals, but to instead, demonstrate love and concern by reaching out to them."
Strangely, the homophiles do not extend the same courtesy to them