Links - 20th July 2015

Reclaim Australia, No Room for Racism rally in Melbourne - "Right-wing group Reclaim Australia had only just begun its rally at 11am when counter-demonstrators from anti-racism groups and anarchists attempted to breach police lines on Spring Street. A small number of hooded and masked anti-racism protesters broke through and nearly reached screaming members of Reclaim, which included a man with Nazi tattoos taunting them with calls of "lefty scum"... As 1pm approached scuffles broke out as UFP supporters attempted to break through anti-racism blockades. A loud hailer was broken in the process and anti-racism protesters brought several people seeking to join the racism rally to the ground. A woman wearing an Australian flag held her head as she retreated after an altercation with anti-racism protester Debra Holland. The woman attempted to break through the blockade when Ms Holland placed a sign in her path. Other anti-racism protesters then turned on the woman... Mr Ox said a number of tactics were successfully used to stop the Reclaim Australia and United Patriots' Front rallies. The group then did a "victory march" down to Exhibition Street and then back to Bourke Street."
"Anti racism" means that you attack and censor people who disagree with you

SWTOR July 21 Maintenance for Patch 3.3 - Dulfy
Comment: "My predictions, patch goes live, 10 minutes later someone has found a way to jump from their new stronghold in some unpredictable way, into an operation that hasn't even been conceived and bring back loot from the future that vendors for 1 million credits each. Anarchy ensues. 1000 forum posts where we all yell at each other."

Christie Blatchford: Ruling in Twitter harassment trial could have enormous fallout for free speech - "Elliott is charged with criminally harassing two Toronto female political activists, Steph Guthrie and Heather Reilly, in 2012... These are astonishing repercussions given that it’s not alleged he ever threatened either woman (or any other, according to the testimony of the Toronto Police officer, Detective Jeff Bangild, who was in charge) or that he ever sexually harassed them. Indeed, Elliott’s chief sin appears to have been that he dared to disagree with the two young feminists and political activists... contrary to what Guthrie and Reilly testified to at trial, they weren’t afraid of his client — as suggested by both their spirited demeanour in the witness box and their deliberate online campaign to call Elliott out as a troll. Rather, Murphy said, they hated Elliott and were determined to silence him — not just by “blocking” his Tweets to them, but by demanding he cease even referring to them even in making comment about heated political issues... The criminal harassment charge is rooted in the alleged victim’s perception of the offending conduct. The statute says if that conduct caused the alleged victims “reasonably, in all the circumstances, to fear for their safety”, that’s good enough. Yet Guthrie and Reilly didn’t behave as though they were remotely frightened or intimidated: They convened a meeting of friends to discuss how Elliott should be publicly shamed; they bombarded their followers with furious tweets and retweets about him (including a grotesque suggestion from someone pretending she was a 13-year-old that he was a pedophile); they could and did dish it out. “They were not vulnerable,” Murphy said once. “They are very accomplished, politically savvy women. If they can’t handle being mentioned in the tail end of a political discussion (on Twitter), then they’re in the wrong business”... “If anybody was being criminally harassed in this case,” Murphy told the judge, “it was my client, it was Mr. Elliott.”"
"Man Faces 6 Months in Jail For Disagreeing With Feminists on Twitter"
Once again, those who disagree with feminists are "trolls"

Epic Star Wars Pre Wedding Shoot Done With Action Figures
If your photography shoot is mostly photoshop, is it still a photography shoot?

Inside the Islamic State by Malise Ruthven - "As Jürgen Todenhöfer, who spent ten days in ISIS-controlled areas in both Iraq and Syria, stated categorically in January: “We have to understand that ISIS is a country now”... According to Baghdadi’s online biography, supplied by the IS media agency al-Hayat, he is from a religious family that includes several imams (prayer leaders) and Koranic scholars. He is said to have attended the Islamic University of Baghdad where he received his BA, MA, and Ph.D., with his doctorate focusing on Islamic jurisprudence as well as including studies of Islamic culture and history... While skeptics may doubt the sincerity of the ex-Baathists, assuming they are seeking a return to the power they enjoyed before the US invasion, it seems more likely that their support for ISIS has been motivated by religious conviction. With their former hegemony lost, and the previously despised “infidel” Shias in the ascendant in Iraq, these erstwhile secularists are returning to their faith... Contrary to some media reports, girls are not deprived of education. Indeed ISIS in its online magazines makes a feature of its all-female schools and universities. While gender segregation is rigorously enforced, women are not forbidden by law to drive, as in Saudi Arabia... Far from being an undisciplined orgy of sadism, ISIS terror is a systematically applied policy that follows the ideas put forward in jihadist literature, notably in an online tract, The Management of Savagery, by the al-Qaeda ideologue Abu Bakr Naji. This treatise, posted in 2004 and widely cited by jihadists, is both a rationale for violence and a blueprint for the Caliphate. It draws heavily on the writings of Taqi al-Din ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328), the medieval theologian who inspired the Arabian Wahhabi movement and is highly regarded by Islamists for holding rulers to account in the practice of true religion... The online theatricals serve to legitimize murder as a type of qisas—“retaliation in kind”—which is one of the well-known punishments in Islamic law... Also among such spoils of war are the antiquities taken to buyers from ancient archaeological sites, such as Palmyra. In general, sites are destroyed only after everything of value that can be transported has been removed... In June 2006 Zarqawi was tracked down and killed by a fighter jet after posting Rambo-style pictures of himself on the Internet, enabling US surveillance to pinpoint his location... jihadists who failed to master complex systems of cybersecurity were rapidly eliminated, leaving the field to their more sophisticated and technically proficient brethren... In an online poll conducted in July 2014, a formidable 92 percent of Saudi citizens agreed that ISIS “conforms to the values of Islam and Islamic law.”"
If Islamic State is not Islamic (as per David Cameron) can we say the Conservative party isn't Conservative?

National Archives reveal Hong Kong-to-NI 'spoof' - ""Sadly, it's impossible to make jokes like this any more, the Diplomatic Service has lost its sense of humour. "I think that's a shame because it's through humour that you build relationships, with other departments, with other diplomats at home and abroad." "

What is it like to have diarrhea in the cockpit as a fighter pilot? - Quora

Apple conspired to fix e-book prices, US court rules

Infographic: Average heights of Chinese men and women by province - "people dwelling in China's northern regions tend to be taller, while those in the southern areas are more likely to be shorter."

'Hong Kong is not China': Artist's illustrations go viral - "The unidentified designer of the illustrations revealed that the purpose of the collection was to “Mourn the fact that Hong Kong has been 'colonized' by mainland China" and to "tell the world about the differences between Hong Kongers and Chinese people"...
"Chinese love to be enslaved and manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party.
Hongkongers fuck the Hong Kong Government and Chinese Communist Party""

Why ‘Don’t Worry About Money, Just Travel’ Is the Worst Advice of All Time - "This idea that you must travel, as some sort of moral imperative, without worrying about something as trivial as “money.” The girl in question posts superficially inspiring quotes on her lush photos, about dropping everything and running away, or quitting that job you hate to start a new life somewhere new, or soaking up the beauty of the world while you are young and untethered enough to do so. It’s aspirational porn, which serves the dual purpose of tantalizing the viewer with a life they cannot have, while making them feel like some sort of failure for not being able to have it. It’s a way for the upper classes to pat themselves on the back for being able to do something that, quite literally, anyone with money can buy. Traveling for the sake of travel is not an achievement, nor is it guaranteed to make anyone a more cultured, nuanced person... nothing about your ability or inability to travel means anything about you as a person. Some people are simply saddled with more responsibilities and commitments, and less disposable income, whether from birth or not. And someone needing to stay at a job they may not love because they have a family to take care of, or college to pay for, or basic financial independence to achieve, does not mean that they don’t have the same desire to learn and grow as someone who travels. They simply do not have the same options, and are learning and growing in their own way, in the context of the life they have. They are learning what it means to work hard, to delay gratification, and to better yourself in slow, small ways. This may not be a backpacking trip around Eastern Europe, but it would be hard to argue that it builds any less character."

6 types of girls you see on Tinder in Singapore - "4) The frigid. large eyes, fair skin, with a smile so sweet she melts your cold heart.
She also loves jesus. and quotes from the bible. Typical profile description: “Swipe left if you’re looking for hookups.” (erm, Tinder is a hookup app? hello?)"

The incredible sexual problems Indians are facing every day - "My girlfriend and i have been dating for one year. We enjoy sex. But recently she has been talking a lot about her ex. This has given rise to strange problem. Every time i try to get intimate with her, i hear her ex’s voice coming from her navel and asking me to get lost. I have done some research and concluded that her navel is a portal to her ex. I love her very much and i want to marry her. But this is worrying me.
Tell your friend to tell her navel friend to get lost. You need to visit a psychiatrist. Please let me know your research technique. I too shall try talking to my navel...
My friend feels that her breasts are getting larger because of masturbation. Is this possible?
No. Does she think the clitoris is an air pump?"

Bug chasing: Men deliberately trying to catch HIV for sexual thrill in astonishing craze - "Experts have warned about a new craze in which men are secretly seeking and spreading HIV. The reckless practice, known as bug chasing, started in the US as a bizarre means of getting a ­sexual high from risk-taking. Now, according to one man who willingly caught the virus, hundreds of men in the UK are introducing themselves on online forums, Face­book groups and Twitter. Many then meet up and try to transmit the potentially life-threatening virus, which attacks the ­immune system weakening the body’s ability to fight disease. Some bug-chasers actually claim the virus gives them a better quality of life because of the medication they subsequently have to take. Nick, 30, an admin worker from the Midlands, said: “I feel fit as a fiddle. I feel full of energy and healthier as a result of being on my medication. “I get my liver function tests every three months, my cholesterol tested regularly and I get loads of general health checks so if there are any underlying conditions I know straight away. Even better, I get it all on the NHS”... An investigation by Rolling Stone magazine in 2003 claimed a ­quarter of all new HIV transmissions in the US could be attributed to bug chasing."

A loaf of bread will be more ‘crumpled’ because grains will have less protein - "It's not just the polar ice caps that are predicted to shrink as a result of global warming. Australian scientists have claimed long-term climate change will also cause loaves of bread to become smaller due to a reduction in the amount of protein in grains."

Polar Bears Now Eat Dolphins, Thanks to Global Warming