Links - 6th December 2017 (3)

Rebels of Google: Tampons Kept in Men's Restrooms Because 'Some Men Menstruate' - "“Before the election someone ran an informal poll, and I believe the numbers were 81% Clinton, 19% Trump. While that’s obviously lopsided, it still means that about 14,000 Googlers voted Trump (with current headcount of about 72,000).” 14,000 Google employees, while far from a majority, is still quite a large amount of employees at the liberal Silicon Valley company that support President Trump... gender issues surrounding bathrooms were quite common. These issues were seemingly caused by Google’s in office gender quotas, “It occurs to me that another gender-related story is that there are literally hundreds of memes about the difficulty of finding a stall in a men’s room after lunch! This has been going on for years. The gender imbalance runs up against zoning codes that require equal numbers of men’s and women’s restrooms. So they can’t just build more men’s rooms.”"

Same-sex couples do not influence their adoptive children’s gender identity - "the toys that children prefer to play with in their preschool years are much more tell-tale about whether they will grow up to conform to typical gender norms or not."... the few preschool children who played more with toys that are not typically assigned to their sex were in their later school years more likely to aspire to jobs and to prefer activities that are not typically ascribed to their gender... little truth was found in the idea that lesbian or gay parents might encourage or allow more gender nonconformity among their children"
While this can be taken to support same sex parents, it also "reinforces" "sterotypes" about gender norms and suggests that parents are not being mean when they don't want their male children to get a butterfly tattoo

'Racially insensitive': Theater pulls Gone with the Wind - "Another asked if Wizard of Oz would be next as 'it might offend "little" people.'"

Rogue One Virtual Sets Breakdown Reveals VFX Hiding In Plain Sight - "Believe it or not, almost all of the lights, switches, levers and other cockpit dashboard features in that ship were added in post-production. There are only the basic shapes of the boards on which all of those features sit upon, all in that bright white color with essentially no detailed features."

No space for Allah as German unis close prayer rooms - "The Technical University in Dortmund has permanently closed down its prayer room - which was intended for people of all faiths - Die Welt reported in February. The university says that Muslim men had tried to take it over by imposing gender segregation (with a prayer space for men larger than that for women) and storing prayer mats inside. "The attempt to create a pan-religious meditation space has failed," said a spokesperson."

20 Tons Of Nutella Stolen From Truck In Germany - "The chocolate robbery wasn’t even the only food-related crime of the weekend. Another trailer with 30 tons of fruit juice inside was reportedly swiped from the town of Wittenberg. The stolen Nutella and other chocolate candies has been valued at around $82,000. In the meantime, police are warning people to be suspicious if they get any odd offers for sweet treats. “Anyone offered large quantities of chocolate via unconventional channels should report it to the police immediately""

The 'Bitter' Tale Of The Budweiser Family - "For nearly 150 years the world-renowned beer manufacturer Anheuser-Busch was a family company. It was passed from father to son for five generations. A couple drops of Budweiser were put onto the tongue of each first-born son before he even tasted his mother's milk. That trademark brew, Budweiser, is known to the world as the "King of Beers," and the Busch family wasn't too far from American royalty."

A Giant Sculpture Crawls Out Of The Ground In Public Square Of Budapest

General average - Wikipedia - "The law of general average is a legal principle of maritime law according to which all parties in a sea venture proportionally share any losses resulting from a voluntary sacrifice of part of the ship or cargo to save the whole in an emergency (for instance, when the crew throws some cargo overboard to lighten the ship in a storm)."

American Nazi Party - "The American Nazi Party gets regular e-mails from non-whites who sympathize with our struggle"

Osaka homestay bans Malaysians following trio's hooliganism - "The Vitti Lodge and Family Apartment owner said on Facebook that the move to bar Malaysians followed the trio’s act of vandalising a common area at the lodge, defecating in the shower and threatening its caretaker... “I have banned Koreans and Chinese from staying in our lodge and guesthouse, and now we will ban Malaysians too,” the owner said. The lodge is well-known among Malaysians for its affordable rate and halal food... One of the three also vandalised the lodge where he punched a hole on the wall. According to lodge owner who did not identify himself said the three of them caused damages not only on the wall but also on the furniture... The owners also claimed that the three had forced their staff to fork out Japanese yen 130,000 (RM5,1104) to be paid to the owner to repair damages. “They forced my staff to lie to me and said that they were the ones who paid,” the owners added. At the time of writing, video of the fracas on Facebook has reached over 260,000 views and 2,000 shares. To their defence, Ramadhan had uploaded a video on several social media accounts to justify his act, in an effort to seek apology from furious Malaysian netizens. He had also lodged a police report, claiming innocence and threats of violence from unknown individuals."
Luckily Japan doesn't have laws against discrimination based on country of origin

Presidents and elected leaders have shorter lifespan than runners-up, study says - "In a study of elected presidents and prime ministers from 17 countries, the winners typically lived 2.7 fewer years and had a 23 percent greater risk of premature death than runners-up who never served in their nation’s highest office, according an analysis of more than 300 leaders spanning nearly three centuries. “The increase in mortality among those leading a nation, relative to others in politics, may stem from the greater responsibility and stress of the job”... U.S. presidents live about as long as normal citizens, despite any advantages from their upbringing that may have helped them win the election, said Andrew Oswald, an economics researcher at the University of Warwick in the U.K. who wasn’t involved in the study. He, too, cited the potential for stress to flood the body with excess cortisol. And he noted that sleep deprivation or living in a constant state of high alert might come into play."

There's A Jackson Hole In China? - "Surrounded by mountains two hours north of Beijing lies a town that looks freakishly similar to the American west. Behold — Jackson Hole, China, a resort town where wealthy Chinese city-dwellers vacation in timber-frame homes surrounded by expansive views, moose decals and other ranch-like accoutrements. There’s even a quaint town square, a clapboard church and a rock-lined creek."

How Obamacare Lowered the Divorce Rate - "Yes, her husband would eventually qualify for Medicaid coverage. But that would only happen after their 401(k) and children’s nest egg were nearly completely dried up. Under that option, Kristof noted, she would “face a bleak retirement with neither her husband nor her savings.” Or, she could divorce her husband—whom she still loved dearly—merely in a financial move to shield her assets. In the end, she chose divorce."

Cam-girls: Inside the Romanian sexcam industry - "Interactive webcamming is the fastest-growing sector of the global pornography business. In Romania, thousands of women work as "cam-girls" from studios and from home. It is a 24/7 market, the majority of clients logging in from North America and Western Europe."

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, Fear, Foreboding and Fake News In Kenya - "[On Romanian webcam women] Most were born in the nineteen nineties. The years after the nineteen eighty nine revolution that deposed the Communistic dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu were some of the toughest for Romania economically. Many people sought work abroad in Italy and Spain, leaving their children with extended family. They'd send money home for their kids but they might only see them once a year...
[They are] part of that left behind generation. And he says because of that, they identify love with cash. So just as they receive money from their expatriate parents, so they believe the way to show their own boyfriends affection is to give them thousands of Euros... even when the men who have been defrauded [by the women] get the whole picture... some of them still send the women more money... 'They fall in love... and all of these guys are looking for a lasting relationship'"

World Taekwondo Federation to change its name because of WTF acronym - "The World Taekwondo Federation [WTF] has announced it will rebrand its commonly used acronym because of the rapid rise in its use as a slang term in recent years."

Media Bias against Israel: Shameful, Naked, Alive and Well - "NBC News recently published a story entitled, “Dispute Over Viral Video of Shot Ahmed Manasrah Sums Up Israel-Palestinian Conflict.” What it summarizes is nothing; what it omits — that the wounded 13-year-old Palestinian and his 15-year-old cousin were shot after stabbing and seriously wounding two Israelis — is quite a bit. At the New York Times, there was, “Israeli Police Officers Kill Two Palestinian Men.” (Guess why)."

The surprising downsides of being clever - "At best, a great intellect makes no differences to your life satisfaction; at worst, it can actually mean you are less fulfilled... those with the higher IQ did indeed feel more anxiety throughout the day. Interestingly, most worries were mundane, day-to-day concerns... A tendency to rely on gut instincts rather than rational thought might also explain why a surprisingly high number of Mensa members believe in the paranormal; or why someone with an IQ of 140 is about twice as likely to max out their credit card... "The people pushing the anti-vaccination meme on parents and spreading misinformation on websites are generally of more than average intelligence and education"

Study Says Owning A Cat Or A Dog Tells Much About Your Personality - "an statistically significant number of women and men that a relationship would be likely to work with a “dog person,” but less people surveyed said that it could work with a “cat person.” Surprisingly 25% of men and 33% of women say that they’ve been attracted to someone just because of their pet; and once again, more often dogs have been the cause of that attraction than cats."

Your cat may want to kill you, study says - "People think of cats as cuddly. But research published in a psychology journal calls them neurotic and unstable... Domestic house cats and have similar personality structures to African lions with high inclinations toward dominance, impulsiveness and neuroticism"

Strong Claims and Weak Evidence: Reassessing the Predictive Validity of the IAT - "The authors reanalyzed data from 2 influential studies-A. R. McConnell and J. M. Leibold and J. C. Ziegert and P. J. Hanges-that explore links between implicit bias and discriminatory behavior and that have been invoked to support strong claims about the predictive validity of the Implicit Association Test. In both of these studies, the inclusion of race Implicit Association Test scores in regression models reduced prediction errors by only tiny amounts, and Implicit Association Test scores did not permit prediction of individual-level behaviors. Furthermore, the results were not robust when the impact of rater reliability, statistical specifications, and/or outliers were taken into account, and reanalysis of A. R. McConnell & J. M. Leibold (2001) revealed a pattern of behavior consistent with a pro-Black behavioral bias, rather than the anti-Black bias suggested in the original study."

Publisher refuses to take on Muslim Imam's book that criticises Islam out of fear their offices will be attacked by extremists - "Imam Tawhidi, who has come under fire from hardline Muslims for condemning extremism and Sharia Law, said the rejection would not silence him... members of the Muslim community called for him to be beheaded... When footage of young Muslim girls at a hijab ceremony surfaced online in June, Imam Tawhidi slammed the tradition. The ceremony was conducted to signify the age when girls became women and needed to cover up their bodies. It showed 24 girls walking on stage covered head-to-toe in white."

Secretary of State Says Atheists, Too, Are Victims of Religious Persecution - "The State Department just released its International Religious Freedom Report for 2016 and Secretary Rex Tillerson marked the occasion with a speech that mentioned atheism as a reason people are persecuted in certain nations"
Damn Trump! This is just a way to persecute Muslims and perpetuate white supremacy!

BREAKING: Antifa Attacking Boston PD At Boston Free Speech Rally - "An estimated over 20,000 people showed up to Boston to protest the Free Speech Rally after it was reported that the free speech group was made up of white supremacists. Antifa among the counter-protesters began attacking police Saturday afternoon.Around 50 people showed up to attend the Free Speech Rally, none of them are known white supremacists and no white supremacist symbols were being displayed. After the 50 people at the free speech rally gave speeches, police tried to transport them out and Antifa members began to mob them and throw objects at police officers"

DHS Finally Declare Antifa 'Terrorist Organization'
Of course the media will still continue to portray Antifa as heroic freedom loving Nazi hating freedom fighters

Man Who Was Allegedly Stabbed For His Neo-Nazi Haircut Actually Stabbed Himself - "Joshua Witt, a 26-year-old from Colorado, posted some photos to Facebook on August 16th, claiming that he had been stabbed for his “neo-Nazi haircut.”"
Now the media is going to keep trotting this guy out while ignoring all the left wing false flags

Stop Outing Nazis. Your Rights Depend On Theirs - "even if these white nationalists are being properly identified, firing individuals based on their political beliefs, no matter how repugnant, creates an incredibly slippery slope. Writing about hate speech on Twitter, the ACLU warned, “Restricting any group or individual’s speech jeopardizes everyone’s rights. The same laws used to silence bigots can be used to silence you.” In other words, the rights of every single one of us depends on, well, the rights of everyone single one of us, even – especially – those we disagree with...
firing individuals based on their personally held beliefs not only creates a slippery slope, but also as one of my Twitter followers half-joked, “an outcast class of bright, reactionary, but unemployable young men with little to lose. What. Could. Possibly. Go. Wrong?”"

Chomsky: Antifa is a 'major gift to the right' - "Chomsky said, “what they do is often wrong in principle – like blocking talks – and [the movement] is generally self-destructive.” “When confrontation shifts to the arena of violence, it’s the toughest and most brutal who win – and we know who that is,” said Chomsky, a professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “That’s quite apart from the opportunity costs – the loss of the opportunity for education, organizing, and serious and constructive activism”... Last Saturday’s white nationalist/Nazi march in Charlottesville was the largest national gathering of its kind in decades. But the number of people involved was in the hundreds, maybe up to 1,000 or a little over. In a country of 300 million people, that’s not a very significant number. It’s a tiny fringe... When a few dozen members of a racist group announced a march in Sacramento last year, as many as 300 anti-fascists showed up. The result was a violent riot in which numerous people were stabbed and sent to the hospital. Most of the stabbers were never identified by police because they were wearing masks. Sometimes, the largest and most violent group turns out to be Antifa."

The real threat to our republic is the Orwellian Antifa - "Yet, the media would have us believe that it is the white supremacist movement that is the real threat to our republic. Consider that most media estimates put the Antifa movement, largely built out of the “Occupy” movement of 2008-2010, at more than 200,000 members. The Southern Poverty Law Center, on the other hand, puts the number of Klu Klux Klan members at about 6,000 KKK …in a country of almost 330 million. But actions speak volumes compared to mere numbers. The vandalized statue of Christopher Columbus? Antifa. The statue torn down in Durham, N.C.? Antifa. The violence in Charlottesville? Antifa. The violence in Seattle? Antifa. Not excusing the vile nature of the white supremacist protest, but it was a licensed march that remained comparatively nonviolent, albeit troubling, until, as one eyewitness described it, “It started raining balloons filled with urine, feces, paint, burning chemicals & boards with nails driven into them.” This violence against reprehensible, yet innocent citizens, and more importantly, law enforcement, which the Antifa routinely violently opposes, is not the result of a few bad apples. It’s the fundamental philosophy of the loose confederation of Antifa cells, much of it laid out for all to read on “how to” websites... Increasingly, the violence we are seeing on the streets is not the result of the alt-right movement, but of the Antifa movement imposing their views on our society: tearing down statues, burning the American flag, shutting down town hall meetings, destroying private property and looting. All of it tactical toward achieving the goals of destroying the American culture, society and economy. Never mind that the tactics are themselves the tactics of the fascist"
The Hill joins the Neo Nazis

Strange bedfellows: The ACLU, free speech and Neo-Nazis - "Syracuse's Gutterman says what's happening now is a dramatic shift from the era between the 1940s and 1960s when people on college campuses who were being punished, censored and kicked out of school were on the political left. "Fast forward to today," he says. "It's people on the right or the far right who feel they're not getting a chance to articulate their viewpoint.""
Maybe the ACLU is made up of Nazis too