Links - 21st May 2015

Islamic conference keynote speaker says September 11 not unjust | The Australian - "Malaysian cleric Hussain Yee, who has also claimed a “group of Jews” was “having a party when they heard that the Twin Towers had been burned”, was announced late last night as the headline act at the Islamic Research and Educational Academy’s Islamic “peace” conference, to be held at the Melbourne Convention Centre.

Sweden’s Multicultural Center Expert on Islamophobia Joins ISIS

Japanese turn sex doll into dental-training robot - "That model even incorporated the concept of being female simply so junior dentists could learn not to accidentally fondle her breasts. We kid you not."

Women’s groups: Cancel law charging women with rape! - "representatives of women’s organizations unanimously opposed it. According to attorney Ruth Eldar of the Noga Center of the Ono Academic College, men will take advantage of the legislation to defend themselves against rape charges by accusing the women of raping them."
So the feminists are afraid of... false rape accusations
Feminists: fighting for gender equality always

Guns, sex and arrogance: I hated everything about America — until I moved here - "I had developed an exaggerated notion about the closeness of family ties in India, believing that in the West, families were detached and broken because of high divorce rates and pressure for children to leave the family home at 18. But traveling the world, I saw loving families of every race and color. In Amsterdam, I saw old men cycling with their grandchildren to school. In Germany, I saw three generations of a family enjoying a vacation. Stepping out of my country broadened my worldview and pushed my cultural horizons... I started off as an Indian, but I have become a global citizen."
Sounds like Singaporeans who keep bashing "The West" (i.e. America)

A sweet walk down memory lane... - "Another disappointment came from the Chabot First Frost wine (Gold) I bought at a Duty Free Shop (DFS) at Changi Airport in Singapore in 2010. The shop assistant, Jennie Tan, told me it was a rare French ice wine more decent than that of Canada’s Inniskilin ice wines that she referred to as “overly sweet”. This and the unusual varietal from which it was made, Petit Manseng, prompted me to buy. However, I later realized it was not an ice wine but a mere sweet white wine and I felt cheated. Its subdued flavors of honey, orange, spiciness and dry jute bag paled in comparison to the bold, brilliant flavors of Inniskilin ice wines."
I got cheated too. Bah.

Former RGS student claims she was bullied, sues school
Wut.

Three foreign tourists arrested for molestation in Japan after thinking it was normal behavior - "there have been three separate incidents of foreign visitors overstepping their bounds. In one instance a suspect was caught trying to capture images up women’s skirts while riding an escalator. Then in another case a Chinese tourist was reportedly caught grabbing a woman’s buttocks inside an adult goods shop. And then we have the case of a man arrested for lifting the skirt of a woman while riding the train. This last incident appears influenced by a scene from the classic 1993 AV Nurse Monogatari staring Miki Mayuzumi…or maybe something else. I don’t know because I don’t watch the stuff. Reports claim that one foreign suspect confessed to police, saying, “Watching Japanese adult videos, I thought the people here were open about sex. I thought molesters were everywhere.”"

Why the artificial insemination of turkeys is a feminist issue
Wait till they learn about grafting and plants...

It’s halal, no question about it - "it was kind of her to assure us that the food catered on that day was halal. That verbal assurance is good enough for me, but not my wife and understandably so, since this friend of ours does not have many Muslim friends. Having been told who the caterer was, she called them to get reassurance that the food was halal and queried whether wine was used for the steak. I told her that what she had done violates a basic principle of halal and haram (the lawful and the prohibited) in Islamic jurisprudence, and that is not to investigate when something is already known and accepted as halal. By doing so, we risk creating doubts about the food we eat. And doubts are one of the main enemies in Islamic jurisprudence, the source of many evils and anti-social behaviour among Muslims. One of the principles of halal and haram is that one should not pry into the origins of something which has been commonly accepted as halal. The same principle applies to many other things. When a host shows us the qiblah (the direction Muslims turn to during prayer) in his house, we do not click the compass app on our smartphone just to make sure... toilets in mosques and other institutions operating under the Islamic banner would be a far cry from their present filthy non-halal state, if only these groups were able to see halalness beyond pork in food... A Muslim can eat from any plate, even it was used to serve pork. Imam Nawawi, the 12th-century Islamic scholar whose writings form a major part of the Shafii school of thought, which is followed by Muslims in this country, said a simple wash suffices, and there is no need to do the silly act of purifying the plate seven times, as many have been led to believe. In Islam, being doubtful is considered a disease... our Islamic authorities seem to be working based on the premise that all things are prohibited unless it is explicitly stated to be halal. And so we see products with halal logos on their labels, when the Quranic way would require that only non-halal products are identified. There will be no end once we start classifying things as halal. What guarantee is there that the water we drink, from pipes which span hundreds of kilometres before they reach our homes, is halal? God forbid that a DNA test finds pork in our water!"

Pigs can't fly - Qantas bans pork on in-flight menu to respect Islam

What’s next? Halal tampons and condoms? - "Wow, even toilet paper is certified halal nowadays! What’s next? Halal tampons and condoms?... I remember going to a Halal Expo a couple of years ago. I was pretty interested in one of the booths at the expo, promoting real estate. “Halal Homes.” I was amused and had to ask the consultant at the booth what it meant to have a halal home. “A housing area which is built on halal land, using quality products and situated in a good location, far from haram activities such as factories producing haram goods and pig farms” – that’s more or less how he described it to me. According to him, a halal certificate will be issued to the house buyers to certify the home is halal... Islamic banking treats lenders who instead of becoming creditors, become partners who invest their money in return for profit sharing and risk sharing in the business. Pretty smart, eh? If humans can twist and turn things around in religion to certify something prohibited as acceptable, what weight does a halal certificate carry? Take GST for example. A couple of weeks ago, Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan said the National Fatwa Committee had on October 2014 declared that GST was halal and encouraged in Islam... Funny though, while we look for halal restaurants and halal food, we often forgo the aspect of cleanliness in our makan places. Have you seen how dirty some of the roadside nasi campur and mamak stalls are? But people especially Muslims do not seem to have an issue with that. Have we forgotten cleanliness is highly recommended in Islam? Or are we closing one eye to that as well?... Thanks to us who are so easily brainwashed with anything marked Islamic, I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up having halal hospitals and halal schools one day.
Writer’s Note:
Have you ever wondered why halal products are a bit pricy compared to those without halal certification?"

CATHAY CINEMAS NO LONGER SERVE HALAL CERTIFIED SNACKS FROM 1 APRIL 2015 - "I am disgusted to find out that Cathay Cinema is not longer going to be Halal certified from 1 April 2015... "For those who dont understand the [Cathay's email] reply.. " Hi there, we wish to tell you we are no longer interested in appeasing the muslim community by providing halal food. As the muslim community is small, it doesnt make a difference. We will gain more profit by introducing non-halal food items. Then again, those who are stupid enough will still buy our no pork no lard food products. Either way, we stil win".""
Isn't profit why businesses go Halal anyway?

Export Facebook Group Members ( IDs and Names ) To excel

70 army personnel found involved with ISIS: Malaysian parliament told

Survey Says: Women Are for Life - "Most commentary and news articles on these two events have parroted the popular yet unsubstantiated narrative that women are largely supportive of the abortion agenda—widespread, open-access abortion policies with little or no restriction. Yet polling data fail to support this narrative... Ironically, it turns out that women are much more supportive of the fictitious “war on women” than men. This seems counterintuitive, at least to those immersed in radical feminist politics. However, when one considers how abortion on demand alters the fundamental sexual dynamics between men and women, it starts to make sense."
If women support the "war on women", is it still a war on women?

Physicians want Dr Oz gone from Columbia medical faculty - "The New York Ivy League school responded yesterday (April 16), issuing a statement to The Associated Press (AP) saying only that the school “is committed to the principle of academic freedom and to upholding faculty members’ freedom of expression for statements they make in public discussion”."
If Dr Oz has tenure and doctors want him removed, does that mean they don't respect academic freedom and tenure?

Is your degree worth it?: It depends what you study, not where | The Economist - "An arts degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art had a hefty 20-year net negative return of $92,000, for example."

Report: Faculty Prefer Women for Tenure-Track STEM Positions - "tenure-track faculty in engineering, economics, biology and psychology fields generally favored hiring female candidates over otherwise identical male candidates by a 2-to-1 margin"
Preferential treatment is equality. War is peace. Freedom is slavery