Links - 17th July 2015

The Current Age of Consent of 16 Doesn't Protect Young People, It Criminalises Them - "Half of all UK teenagers have their first sexual experience by the age of 14, according to the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles. This experience includes intercourse, oral sex, mutual masturbation and sexual touching. Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, all these sexually active young teens are criminals and sex offenders. They are lumped together with rapists and paedophiles... The existing consent at 16 law was introduced over 100 years ago in a puritanical Victorian era. Since then, society has moved on to more informed and enlightened attitudes about sex. Most importantly, the average age of puberty and sexual arousal has fallen dramatically to around ten to 11. In the light of new evidence, the issue should be revisited and re-examined. Whether we like it or not, under-age young people are having sex with each other."

Singapore Chinese Muslim stunned by Halal dietary question in job application
Comments: "The department I worked received public fund to buy a fridge and a microwave for the staff lounge. Immediately, a very domineering Muslim staff labelled them as halal when there was about only 5% of the staff was Muslims. This meant that if we had pork or lad in our lunch boxes or ham sandwiches, they could not be put into the fridge and the microwave. Then one staff used her own money to buy another fridge and microwave. That Muslim woman said she did not like the idea of having two sets because non-Muslims might carelessly place non-halal food in the halal fridge and microwave. The halal fridge was then moved to another location. Later, a new Muslim staff came and once she was appointed to take care of the welfare of the staff, she immediately labelled the fridge which was bought by a non-Muslim staff with her own money "Halal". In the past, we had Lunar New Year yusheng low-hey together as the food and utensils were prepared by a Muslim. Later, that domineering Muslim woman wanted two separate dishes when we did the Low-Hey side by side. The other Muslim staff, under the pressure of this woman complied. Two Muslim lady staff who did not wear the tudung were ostracised."
"Muslim food catering service company would not even interview a non muslim person. Would that make them racist?"
"I have friends who work in supermarkets refusing to serve customers who buy pork because they are muslims and can't touch pork...even pork inside plastic bag..."
"I remember getting told off for excusing myself from a meeting that went into overtime for 5-10 minutes to do my obligatory noon prayer. Plus a few dirty looks as well."

Obama's reply to a trans woman proves LGBT advocacy stops at gay marriage | Meredith Talusan | Comment is free | The Guardian - "when Gutiérrez shouted, “President Obama, I am a trans woman. I’m tired of the abuse. I’m tired of the violence,” she was advocating for an issue that cuts to the heart of what it means for a person to be treated with basic human dignity, regardless of immigration status. President Obama’s response was bracing as it was heartless, especially being the child of one non-American himself. “Listen, you’re in my house,” he said. And later: “I am just fine with a few hecklers, but not when I’m up in the house. You know what I mean? You know, my attitude is if you’re eating the hors d’oeuvres – you know what I’m saying?”"
If a straight white man had been the one heckling Obama, a Guardian columnist would be accusing the heckler of racism
Comments: "When giving a speech and you don't want to be interrupted that is the same as crushing all minority rights and ignoring their oppression. I love reading the Guardian, you guys wonder why you got murdered at the election."
"I'm glad that the other members of the LGBTQ community in the room supported the common decency most of us learn in kindergarten."
"She was shut down like troll she is; not just by the President but by the entire room."
"What did you expect Obama to do? You really expect him to say, "Oh, look, someone is shouting at me, interrupting this event - quick, hold the press, let's all listen carefully to everything she says and I'll immediately produce an executive order to meet the demands of illegal immigrant transgender activists from Mexico"? Should he pause to hear every heckler from every interest group that comes his way? If he did that, he'd never leave the room."

Pakistan heatwave: Death toll crosses 800 people in Sindh - "Matters have been made worse by the widespread abstention from water during daylight hours during the fasting month of Ramadan."

Singapore ranks 6th most expensive city for beer in the world, 2nd in Asia - "Within Asia, the only other city more costly than Singapore in terms of beer purchasing power is Hong Kong, which ranks 74th on the list. The Swiss city of Geneva takes the top spot as the most expensive city for a beer while the Polish city of Krakow lands on the other end of the spectrum, being the cheapest place to grab a cold one. Eastern European cities generally dominate the affordable end with cities such as Kiev, Bratislava and Belgrade holding the No. 2, 3 and 8 spots respectively on the index. For those looking to get cheaper beer closer to Singapore, both Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok rank within the top 10 cheapest places to buy."

Ecstasy 'no more dangerous than horse riding' - Telegraph

Elasticity of demand: Can bungee jumping be addictive? - "In one of our studies, we used semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences and understandings of two small groups of participants engaging in either dangerous sports (i.e., bungee jumpers) or recreational drug use (i.e., Ecstasy users)."

Video: Lost New Zealand woman survives on breast milk - Telegraph - "A New Zealand woman has spoken of how she survived lost in rugged wilderness by drinking her own breast milk and burying herself in dirt. Susan O'Brien was taking part in a gruelling 12.5 mile run in forest south of Wellington on Sunday when she took a wrong turn and became disorientated."

Church allows nude worship because 'Jesus was crucified naked' - "Pastor Allen Parker, the leader of White Tail Chapel in the town of Southampton, said he came to the decision to allow naked worship after concluding the clothing requirements of other churches were overly 'pretentious', and decided his own flock should be free to forgo such materialism if they desire... Robert and Katie Church were one couple to have a naked wedding at the White Tail Chapel, with Mr Church saying attendees were far more interested in 'hearing the word of God and speaking the word of God' than analysing the naked bodies on display. Mrs Church wasn't a nudist before the couple met, but says she has since come to love the experience of going to church in the nude and now considers her fellow worshipers 'family'"

Mom of 8-Year-Old Gay Pride Marcher Responds to Critics - "There was plenty to marvel at during the New York City Pride March on Sunday, but one precocious 8-year-old boy stood out from the crowd: Desmond Napoles, of Brooklyn, who joyously strutted and vogued his way down Fifth Avenue in a rainbow tutu and gold sequined cap. And when critics reared their heads on social media Monday, suggesting his participation was inappropriate, mom Wendylou Napoles shut them down with grace and pride"
How many of those condemning 8 year old Muslim girls wearing burkhas would celebrate this?

The world's tallest cow dies after a lifetime of Photoshop accusations - "Blosom, the world's tallest cow, was measured to be a full 6-foot-2 inches tall (190 cm) from hoof to withers when this photo was taken in early 2015."

How Affirmative Consent Laws Criminalize Everyone - "Affirmative consent laws trivialize sexual assault by turning nearly everyone who has ever dated into a sexual offender. For example, if a student throws her arms around her boyfriend and kisses him without his permission, even if she has done this dozens of times before, she has violated affirmative consent policies. She can, at some later date, be hauled before a campus judiciary on charges of sexual assault. Victims of sexual assault should fear this new regime, because it will inevitably confuse rightful cases of abuse with capricious accusations. Journalist Cathy Young writes, “One would think that [our] legislators would have some second thoughts about endorsing a bill that essentially redefines some 95 percent of human sexual encounters as rape (including married sex, since the bill specifically states that a prior relationship creates no presumption of consent)”... Law school professors have been at the forefront of criticizing the way affirmative consent rules violate basic principles of due process and fair procedure... “As things escalate, is he supposed to ask before each of the twenty, thirty, sixty steps? Nobody talks like that, not even lawyers.” George Mason’s David Bernstein writes “There is one type of sexual relationship that . . . involves primarily explicit consent–the relationship between a prostitute and her (or his) clients, with exact sexual services to be provided determined by explicit agreement in advance”... Ezra Klein, editor-in-chief of Vox, admits that under affirmative consent “too much counts as sexual assault” and that innocent students will be branded as rapists. Yet he supports it anyway because “men need to feel a cold spike of fear.”"

Photographs of the Islamic Tuareg tribe where women embrace sexual freedoms - "Before a woman marries, she is free to take as many lovers as she wants. 'They turn a blind eye,' explained Butler. 'The young girls have the same great freedoms as the boys'... The preference for the women's line goes as far as man leaving his possessions to his sister's son as it 'is considered a stronger link to your family than to your own son'. In other words, it can be guaranteed that your sister's child belongs to your sister, rather than a man's son, who cannot be absolutely guaranteed to share his genes. But there is one tradition which is certainly far more unusual: it is highly rude for a man to eat in front of a woman who he cannot have sexual relations with, or any of his elders. In front of his mother-in-law it is especially shameful... 'They think they are superior to other races,' Butler said. 'They are very proud. They certainly consider themselves superior to us. 'Perhaps they consider other cultures a bit stupid and, dare I say it, primitive.'"
If Islamic State isn't Islamic, how about a matrilineal tribe which allows unlimited pre-marital sex and doesn't follow Islamic divorce law?
Also, is it racist to condemn their racism?

How to Measure What Muslims Really Believe - "some ‘moderate’ voices are actually far on the left of the spectrum of Muslim opinion... about 195 million Muslims worldwide support suicide bombing and other acts of violence against civilians... the global percentage is just 12 percent. The Anjem Choudarys of the world get the media attention—perhaps for lack of Muslim leadership, perhaps out of Western media bias—but nine out of ten Muslims disagree with him. For now"

More than 42 MILLION Muslims 'support Islamic State' - "More than 8.5million people view ISIS positively, and around 42million view them somewhat positively, according to the data."