Links - 6th November 2017 (1)

Hamburg supermarket stabbing: Migrant kills 50-year-old man, six injured - "“It’s also infuriating that this perpetrator is someone who asked for protection in Germany and then turned his hate against us,” Scholz said. A police spokeswoman said she could not confirm that the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar”, Arabic for “God is Greatest”, as he ran out of the supermarket, as one witness told German broadcaster n-tv... The police spokeswoman said the motive for the attack was still under investigation"

'All white people are racist': Cambridge University probes head of equality group for saying white men, women and children 'can all get it’ as he heaps praise on London rioters in shocking Twitter outburst
How come "equality" (e.g. Bahar Mustafa, Goldsmiths diversity officer) often turns out to be hating white people?

Rashan Jermaine Charles dies after Hackney police pursuit - "Footage apparently showing the incident has been shared on social media, along with the hashtag #JusticeForRash... Campaigners from Hackney Stand Up To Racism have announced a vigil for Mr Charles outside Stoke Newington police station"

VIDEOS: 'Black Lives Matter' Riots in London, Police and Public Attacked - "Molotov cocktails, fireworks, and bottles have been hurled at police during a ‘Black Lives Matter’ riot in East London following the death of an alleged drug dealer. Rashan Jermaine Charles, 20, died in hospital after being apprehended by police in Dalston, Hackney on the 22nd of July. He was attempting to flee a shop while swallowing a stash of drugs when tackled by officers"
I guess the police were to blame and they shouldn't try to arrest black people because that's racist and injustice

Alexa calls cops on man allegedly beating his girlfriend - "During the assault, Barros waved a gun and threatened to kill the woman before he allegedly asked: “Did you call the sheriffs?” The question was inadvertently picked up by the smart speaker and the voice-powered virtual assistant recognized the phrase as a command"

The moment in history when Muslims began to see dogs as dirty, impure, and evil - "dogs were treasured by the Prophet and millions of Muslims after him"

Cockroaches live in a democracy - "Cockroaches govern themselves in a very simple democracy where each insect has equal standing and group consultations precede decisions that affect the entire group, indicates a new study"

The global food crisis: ABCD of food – how the multinationals dominate trade - "the four giant transnationals that dominate the raw materials of the global food system have largely stayed below the radar of European consumers. Known as the ABCD group for the alphabetic convenience of their initials, ADM, Bunge, Cargill and (Louis) Dreyfus, account for between 75% and 90% of the global grain trade, according to estimates. Figures cannot be given with confidence, however, because two of the companies are privately owned and do not give out market shares."

When the Boss is a Woman - "women's typically more mentoring, coaching style is more favorably received in female-dominated professions; men's more typically "command and control" style is well received in male-dominated professions... The participatory style may backfire in traditional male settings such as the military or organized sports. Conversely, the command-and-control style more typical of men may backfire in a social-service agency or retail outlet."

Since Trump's Election, Women Especially Pay More Attention to Politics - "Democrats feel more negatively about talking politics with people who have a different opinion of the president than do Republicans. A large majority of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents – nearly seven-in-ten (68%) – say they find it to be stressful and frustrating to talk to people with different opinions of Trump. Among Republicans and Republican leaners, fewer (52%) say they find this to be stressful and frustrating. White Democrats and Democratic leaners are more likely than black and Hispanic Democrats to say it is stressful and frustrating to talk to people with different opinions of Trump... Overall, more women (64%) than men (54%) say talking to people with a different opinion of Trump is stressful and frustrating. And adults under 30 are more likely to say they find these discussions interesting and informative than do those 30 and older (42% vs. 33%)... About a third (35%) of Democrats and Democratic leaners say that, if a friend had voted for Trump, it would “put a strain on [the] friendship;” a smaller share of Republicans and Republican leaners (13%) say the same about learning a friend had voted for Clinton... Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, whites, college graduates and liberals are among the most likely to say knowing a friend voted for Trump would strain their friendship
More evidence on Democrats/liberals being more intolerant than Republicans/conservatives
Interestingly the white educated Democrats are more intolerant

Nearly half of liberals don’t even like to be around Trump supporters - The Washington Post - "Part of the reason for the imbalance is likely that liberals tend to live in more homogeneous places and don't even associate with conservatives. Another Pew study last year showed a whopping 47 percent of people who planned to vote for Clinton didn't have any close friends who were Trump supporters. By contrast, 31 percent of Trump supporters said they didn't have any friends who backed Clinton. Because of the way our population is sorted, with liberals clustered in urban areas and Republicans more spread out, Democrats tend to be more insulated from dissenting political voices. So perhaps it's no surprise that they don't hear and don't want to hear those voices coming from their friends' mouths"

The Nordic Gender Equality Paradox - "Nordic countries, in one international ranking after another, are shown to have few women among top-managers and business owners. Another surprise is that the three Baltic countries, which have more conservative societies and a more small-government approach than their Nordic neighbors, have more women managers, top executives and business owners. In this book, Dr. Nima Sanandaji shows that the apparent paradox has a simple answer: Nordic welfare states are – unintentionally – holding women back. Public sector monopolies and substantial tax wedges limit women’s progress in the labour market. Overly generous parental leave systems encourage women to stay home rather than work. Welfare state safety nets discourage women from self-employment. On the other hand, the much-avowed affirmative action laws in Norway have not helped further women’s career possibilities."

Rochdale grooming gang get legal aid to fight deportation - "Members of an Asian grooming gang are being given legal aid to fight deportation – after it emerged they have already received more than a £1million to unsuccessfully defend criminal charges."

UK taxpayers' money given to Guantanamo detainee was 'passed' to teenage jihadists who died in Syria - "The deal agreed in 2010 to pay £20 million to 17 former British detainees, is hugely controversial. Another former Guantanamo detainee Jamal al-Harith, a Muslim convert born Ronald Fiddler, joined the so-called Islamic State in 2014 and earlier this year detonated a car bomb at an Iraqi army base near Mosul, in a suicide mission."

Muslim gang rampaged through Liverpool attacking strangers because they were white “non-Muslims” - "Mohmed made no comment to police, but later claimed he could not remember anything because he was so drunk. Mohammed initially denied the assaults and suggested they had been racially abused by other men. However, he confessed to “targeting people because they were white and non-Muslim”."

Professor Suspended For Making Un-PC Joke, Accused of Creating ‘Hostile Learning Environment’ - "A former Johns Hopkins University professor claims he was suspended from teaching after making a politically incorrect joke about a call center in Pakistan, saying he was viewed “like a criminal”... Despite being cleared of the charges, the professor, who had taught there for six years, left the university after it declined to renew his contract"

Bible says Canaanites were wiped out by Israelites but scientists just found their descendants living in Lebanon - "the Canaanites actually managed to survive this purge of their traditional homeland, passing on their DNA over the centuries to their numerous descendants in modern-day Lebanon... “The Bible reports the destruction of the Canaanite cities and the annihilation of its people; if true, the Canaanites could not have directly contributed genetically to present-day populations,” the researchers wrote. “However, no archaeological evidence has so far been found to support widespread destruction of Canaanite cities between the Bronze and Iron Ages: cities on the Levant coast such as Sidon and Tyre show continuity of occupation until the present day. “We show that present-day Lebanese derive most of their ancestry from a Canaanite-related population, which therefore implies substantial genetic continuity in the Levant since at least the Bronze Age.”... it had been a “pleasant surprise” to be able to extract and analyse DNA from human remains that were nearly 4,000 years old, particularly as they were found in a hot environment."

Oxford University a 'school for stupid people', says Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte - "The Philippines’ fiery President Rodrigo Duterte has lashed out at Oxford University as a “school for stupid people” after it published a study claiming he had paid for a cyber army to increase his popularity on social media."

Retired Top Gun pilot Dave Berke explains the importance of discipline - "Discipline's value transcends the battlefield. Discipline drives you to do the work you don't enjoy, but is required. Discipline conquers fear. Discipline keeps you going when your curiosity, motivation, and excitement evaporate"

Why a Toaster's "A Bit More" Button Is a Design Triumph - "When the toast reveals itself to me above the Breville’s chassis, I visually gauge its browness. If insufficient, I press the button, which actuates the basket motor. Down it goes for a brief, return visit to the coil. Then back up again, having been toasted, well, just a bit more. The button also makes toasting bread, normally a quantitative act, more qualitative"

A Team of Scientists Just Made Food From Electricity — and it Could be the Solution to World Hunger

Muslim businessman says Australia's white race will die - "A leading Muslim businessman predicts Australia's white race will become extinct within 40 years because Australian men are too busy smoking, drinking beer and taking drugs to procreate. Halal certification boss Mohamed Elmouelhy told his Facebook followers Australian women needed Muslim men to 'fertilise them' and 'keep them surrounded by Muslim babies'... Mr Elmouelhy, who is the president of Halal Certification Authority, said Australia's white race 'will be extinct in another 40 years' if the country is 'left to bigots'. The Muslim businessman called on these 'bigots' to kill themselves or plan to die... Mr Elmouelhy's latest post comes just days after he predicted more non-Muslims in Australia would be eating more halal food than ever. The 2016 Census revealed that Muslims made up 2.6 per cent of the Australian population, up from 2.2 per cent in 2011. Australia's Muslim population soared to more than 604,000 people, overtaking Buddhism as the most popular non-Christian religion, and marking a significant jump from 341,000 a decade earlier"

An Ontario court has just affirmed that cultural norms that excuse violence have no place here: Editorial - "When the husband was convicted of sexual assault and assault, Justice William Gorewich of Ontario court sentenced him to 18 months, citing mitigating factors that included the lack of a criminal record. The judge also noted a “significant cultural gap” between behaviour that is accepted in Canada and in Iran, and the “cultural impact” of changing countries. That didn’t cut much muster with the Ontario Court of Appeal, nor should it have... This principled decision is in line with the United Nations, which has held that cultural practices do not excuse human rights abuses."

Why America Needs More Processed Food - "Processing can be a force for both health and unhealth. Processing has given us potato chips, soda, cookies, and all the junk food that litters grocery store aisles. But it also has granted millions of people access to fruits and vegetables, as chemical preservation and freezing permits them to be transported over thousands of miles. Pasteurization means that people no longer get sick from drinking milk. Moreover, adding vitamins and minerals to products like breads and cereals has unquestionably contributed to the health of all... Looking to the future, food scientists can create starches that resist digestion and thus deliver fewer calories. They can alter the structure of salt to grant the same taste while adding less. They can utilize new technologies like ionizing radiation, high-pressure processing, and pulsed electric field processing to sterilize foods whilst keeping the nutrients intact. They can make use of preservatives and technologies that keep food fresh for longer, thus reducing the 130 billion pounds of food Americans discard every year."

The Painful Truth About Affirmative Action - "The single biggest problem in this system -- a problem documented by a vast and growing array of research -- is the tendency of large preferences to boomerang and harm their intended beneficiaries. Large preferences often place students in environments where they can neither learn nor compete effectively -- even though these same students would thrive had they gone to less competitive but still quite good schools... Because of mismatch, racial preference policies often stigmatize minorities, reinforce pernicious stereotypes, and undermine the self-confidence of beneficiaries, rather than creating the diverse racial utopias so often advertised in college campus brochures... The student who is underprepared relative to others in that class falls behind from the start and becomes increasingly lost as the professor and his classmates race ahead. His grades on his first exams or papers put him at the bottom of the class. Worse, the experience may well induce panic and self-doubt, making learning even harder... this could reinforce in the minds of your classmates the stereotype that blacks are weak students... With striking uniformity, university leaders view discussion of the mismatch problem as a threat to affirmative action and to racial peace on campuses, and therefore a subject to be avoided. They suppress data and even often ostracize faculty who attempt to point out the seriousness of mismatch. (See, for instance, the case of UT professor Lino Graglia, who was condemned by university officials after he observed that black and Mexican-American students were "not academically competitive" with their white peers.)... The total number of black and Hispanic students receiving bachelor's degrees were the same for the five classes after Prop 209 as for the five classes before. How was this possible? First, the ban on preferences produced better-matched students at UCLA, students who were more likely to graduate. The black four-year graduation rate at UCLA doubled from the early 1990s to the years after Prop 209. Second, strong black and Hispanic students accepted UCLA offers of admission at much higher rates after the preferences ban went into effect; their choices seem to suggest that they were eager to attend a school where the stigma of a preference could not be attached to them. This mitigated the drop in enrollment. Third, many minority students who would have been admitted to UCLA with weak qualifications before Prop 209 were admitted to less elite schools instead; those who proved their academic mettle were able to transfer up to UCLA and graduate there. Thus, Prop 209 changed the minority experience at UCLA from one of frequent failure to much more consistent success."
"Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good." - Thomas Sowell