Links - 28th August 2017 (2)

Photo : Dites « ouistiti » et vous aurez le plus beau sourire ! - "Selon une étude réalisée par le fabricant d’appareils photo Nikon, le « ouistiti » utilisé en France au moment de se faire prendre en photo est le petit mot le plus efficace pour s’assurer un joli sourire... En compétition : 26 locutions utilisées en Europe testées par des mannequins sous contrôle d’un linguiste. Après analyse des photos issues de l’expérience, il ressort que le « ouistiti » français remporte la palme du plus beau sourire. Sur la seconde marche du podium, on retrouve le « famiglia » (« famille ») italien, suivi du « patatas » (« pommes de terre ») espagnol, puis du « marmolada » (« marmelade ») polonais et du « Zaag Eens Kaas » (« fromage ») des Pays-Bas. Le fameux « cheese » britannique (qui signifie également « fromage ») finit quant à lui dans les choux. Souriez, vous êtes photographié !"

The Official Olympic Salute Stopped Being Popularly Used After WWII Due to Strongly Resembling the "Heil Hitler" Salute - "Both the Nazi salute and the Olympic salute are thought to be based on a supposed Roman salute, though no actual Roman text or artworks that describe or show it have survived. Despite this, in the 19th and early 20th century it became very popular in plays, artwork, and movies to portray this “Roman” salute. This soon resulted in it being adopted by the Italian Fascist Party and then the Nazi Party. This was not without controversy within the Nazi Party as many didn’t like the fact that their salute was influenced by the Italian Fascist Party. In true Nazi form, an attempt was made to fabricate a new history which predated the Italian Fascist Party’s use of the salute, to make it appear the Italian Fascist Party was influenced by the Nazi Party in terms of the salute, rather than the other way around...
There is a story that Hitler snubbed 4 time gold medal winner Jesse Owens by leaving the Olympic Stadium when he was supposed to be congratulating medal winners, including Owens. Owens denied the claim that Hitler snubbed him during the games, “Hitler had a certain time to come to the stadium and a certain time to leave. It happened he had to leave before the victory ceremony after the 100 meters. But before he left, I was on my way to a broadcast and passed near his box. He waved at me and I waved back.” Hitler also later sent Owens an inscribed commemorative photograph of himself. Owens further went on to say, “Hitler didn’t snub me – it was FDR who snubbed me""

The peculiar history of the Pledge of Allegiance - "It wouldn't be terribly difficult to crop the American flag out of photos of U.S. citizens reciting the Pledge of Allegiance; without the flag in the shots, the photos could be mischaracterized as proof that Americans were expressing support for the ideologies of Hitler and Mussolini."

What Color Do Hindus Wear to Funerals? - "In traditional Hindu funerals, white is the standard color for grieving friends and family members of the deceased. Casual, white clothing is the preferred norm. In fact, many mourners wear sandals to the funeral, as it is compulsory to take off shoes to pray at the temple during services. Wearing black, which is customary in Western cultures to denote mourning, is considered impolite at a Hindu funeral... White is the color of purity and a mixture of the different symbolic colors in Hinduism. The Brahmin, the highest social caste, wear white both in life and in death. Red symbolizes both purity and innocence, so girls under 3 and married women are both dressed in red when they die. The color saffron also represents purity. Green represents life, while yellow is the color for education and knowledge. Blue represents determination and valor."

Why does traffic entering and leaving the Savoy Hotel in London drive on the right?

Bagels battle baguettes for French appetites - "Wegh also touted the nutritious upside of his bagel sandwiches, noting that women make up the bulk of his clientele -- 80 percent -- "because the bagel enjoys a 'lite' image.""

The Alaskan Town Living Under One Roof - "Begich Towers (or BTI as it's more commonly known) held on, though. More than that; it essentially became Whittier, housing 75 percent of the town's 200 residents and providing nearly all of its municipal essentials. The first floor alone provides most of your basic city functions. The police department behind one door, the post office behind another. Walk a bit further down the hall and you'll find the city offices as well as the Kozy Korner, your local, neighborhood grocery store"

Japan's escaped penguin recaptured after 82 days on the run

Cat 'arrested' for break-in at Brazilian prison - "A cat has been detained in the grounds of a jail in Brazil with contraband goods for prisoners strapped to its body with tape... The confiscated items included drill bits, files, a mobile phone and charger, plus earphones... A prison spokesperson was quoted by local paper Estado de S. Paulo as saying: "It's tough to find out who's responsible for the action as the cat doesn't speak.""

The temperature on the tube surpassed the legal limit for transporting cattle - "According to EU law, cows can be moved around in temperatures of up to 30C. Yesterday, the mercury hit a sweltering 35.5C on the Central Line... Not only do farm animals enjoy cooler conditions than this, they’re also allotted more space than humans are given on the tube... The heat has even led to workplace rows. This guy was sent home for wearing shorts, and came back in his mum’s dress."

Men can't wear shorts to work, so they're wearing skirts - "Men across Europe are complaining about what they see as unfair dress codes. With temperatures reaching record highs in the French city of Nantes, bus drivers of the CFDT Semitan union showed up to work wearing skirts, as they are not allowed to wear shorts despite the hot conditions. According to the International Business Times, the drivers called the shorts ban "absurd," and pointed out that female drivers are allowed to wear skirts, but men are not allowed to wear shorts... the boy, along with his friends, wore skirts—and only one of them got in trouble, because his was "too short." Upwards of 50 male classmates are now planning to act accordingly, borrowing skirts from girls"

More Than Just Free ContentJournal of Communication Inquiry - Mark Cenite, Michelle Wanzheng Wang, Chong Peiwen, Germaine Shimin Chan, 2009 - "40 in-depth interviews were conducted with file sharers in Singapore using a standard protocol, then transcripts were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Downloading is perceived as an alternative through which users satisfy desires that existing markets do not meet. Respondents reported downloading to avoid long waits for content to arrive in Singapore; to access difficult-to-find and censored content; to sample content, including content outside their usual tastes; and because downloading is convenient and free. Respondents reported a norm of reciprocity and sense of community that motivated them to upload and an obligation to purchase content they liked"

Eager To Burst His Own Bubble, A Techie Made Apps To Randomize His Life - "One year, Max decided to use the Facebook-event generator app to choose where he would celebrate Christmas. It came up with a party at someone's home in Fresno, Calif. With a pie and a friend, Max drove for three hours and showed up on the doorstep of a retired psychologist, Karena Beasley. Karena was celebrating with a handful of friends and family — and now, also two 20-something strangers. "She was completely not fazed," Max says, describing the moment they met Karena. "She didn't miss a beat. She said, 'Oh, wonderful! We love Facebook, I'm so glad you're at the party. Welcome.' And it was like instantly we were friends.""

Man arrested after hurling himself onto car at Pasir Ris Farmway 2 - "It is understood that he then complained about injury and asked the driver for compensation"
China's culture is here

Eight-year-old drag queen says if your parents won’t let you do drag, ‘you need new parents’ - "An eight-year-old drag queen has the best, most uplifting message for anyone who aspires to join his art form"
Anything is inspirational nowadays. This is not going to help quash claims about the gay agenda
Comments: "Quite the opposite in fact : if your parents LET you do drag, ‘you need new parents'. Not because this is gay or about being gay, but because 'dressing children as adult hookers and pumping them out for audience attention' (thank you Star Gayzer) leads the child to an early sexualization that is weird and disturbing. It's not healthy for the child, and it can even prove dangerous for him."
"for an 8-year old to so casually talk about getting new parents is just bizarre."

Most violence in the world is motivated by personal morality - "Most explanations tend to revolve around the core assumption that violence is wrong. If someone is violent, something must be broken in their moral psychology—they are intrinsically evil, they lack self-control, they are selfish, or they fail to understand the pain they cause. However, it turns out that this fundamental assumption is mistaken. It is not the breakdown of their morality at all, but rather the working of their moral psychology. Most violence in the world is motivated by moral sentiments... the perpetrators of violence felt like what they are doing was morally right. In fact, when they were committing the act, they perceived that not acting would be morally wrong. It wasn’t about a breakdown in moral sensibilities, but more that their sense of morality was different... violence was intended to regulate social relationships and sustain a moral order"

India: Rajasthan in 'cars for sterilisation' drive - "Sitaram Sharma, the head doctor of Jhunjunu in western India, is hopeful that the chance to win a car might be just enough to tempt at least 20,000 men and women to undergo sterilisation. He is also offering motorcycles, televisions and food blenders. The offer is open to all Indians and not just residents of his drought-prone region."

Man didn’t notice 8.25 cm nail go into his brain

Experiencing the Only Penguin Bar in Tokyo

Rising Temps Lower Polar Bear Mercury Intake - "Instead of the ringed seals they ate out on the ice, the bears are foraging on bowhead whale carcasses, cast up on the beach."

If You Want to Be Creative, Don’t Be Data Driven - "data by itself is at best meaningless, and at its worse, misleading. In most cases it will tell you very little or nothing about what to do. Unfortunately, that’s not how many professionals treat the data they are given. I often hear colleagues, in the midst of needing a design or business decision, ask “what does the data tell us to do?” The real answer: not much."

Chips are down for Belgian frites as EU acts on 'unsafe compound' - "The European commission has been accused of a crime against the people of Belgium for what local politicians say amounts to an attempt to ban the national dish, the frite – or frieten, as they say in the Flemish-speaking north of the country... In a move that appears to demonstrate a dazzling lack of common touch on the part of EU officials in Brussels – which is both the capital of Belgium and the home of the union – the commission is proposing that the potatoes should be blanched first to prevent the formation of acrylamide, an allegedly hazardous compound that can form in the frying process when certain foods are heated to a temperature above 120C. Belgium, which claims to have invented frites, says the move will spoil the taste and destroy the country’s “rich gastronomical tradition”... The double-frying process – once for the soft inside, then again at a higher temperature for the crunchy outside – is regarded as the key to making the perfect chip. Belgian chips are not thick and hearty like the English variety, nor thin and elegant like the French. Belgians regarded theirs as a cut above. To add insult to injury, the consultation paper refers to chips as French fries, a term to which some Belgians take great exception"

Belgium: Female students asked to wear low-cut tops to graduation - "The email was sent to medical students at the Free University of Brussels (ULB). "From an aesthetic point of view," it read, " it is better for young women to wear a dress or skirt, and a nice revealing neckline"... The ULB Confessions page also published a response it had received from a student: "No one has the right to tell you how you should feel in your skin. Nobody has the right to tell you how to dress. No one has the right to tell you how to play your role as a woman. No one has the right to take away this freedom that has been (and is still being) obtained with such difficulty." The email was most likely sent by a woman as the secretariat did not include any men, the dean of the medicine faculty, Marco Schetgen, told Belgian news outlet RTL."
How did a suggestion become interpreted as a requirement? Aren't dress codes someone telling you how to dress?

Catholic care home in Belgium fined for refusing euthanasia - "Buntjens’ family later sued the nursing home for causing their mother “unnecessary mental and physical suffering”... During the hearing, the three judges decided unanimously that “the nursing home had no right to refuse euthanasia on the basis of conscientious objection”. The test case clarifies Belgian law to mean that only individual medical professionals – and not hospitals or care homes – have the right to refuse euthanasia requests. The judgement could spell the closures of scores of Catholic-run nursing and care homes across Belgium because the Church has stated explicitly that it will not permit euthanasia “under any circumstance”... the ruling was condemned by campaigners in Britain who see it as further evidence of the relentless liberalisation of the practice of euthanasia in the Low Countries... “It is an absolute tragedy that euthanasia is now seen to be a right. If you look around the world, anywhere assisted suicide has been introduced there is a constant erosion of any safeguards that have been put in place. This a further leap down the slippery path warned about time and time again and it shows that those warnings were true”... Last year, a paper published in the Journal of Medical Ethics reported that the majority of euthanasia cases in Belgium involve patients who are illegally “put to death” by doctors without ever giving their consent"

If ISIS Is Not Islamic, then the Inquisition Was Not Catholic - "Actually, what people like Obama, Paul, Volsky, and Jenkins consider “true” faith is this: “faith that promotes the kind of behavior that I like.” So, as do all believers, the apologists pick and choose from scripture the dictates that they find congenial, ignoring the bad ones."

Gloria Gaynor praises Glasgow police officer who sang karaoke 'I Will Survive' after making arrest in city pub - "A police officer who entertained a pub crowd with a rendition of I Will Survive to defuse tension following a brawl has been praised by the woman who made the song famous, Gloria Gaynor."

Blind recruitment trial to boost gender equality making things worse, study reveals - "Leaders of the Australian public service will today be told to "hit pause" on blind recruitment trials, which many believed would increase the number of women in senior positions... The assumption behind the trial is that management will hire more women when they can only consider the professional merits of candidates... assigning a male name to a candidate made them 3.2 per cent less likely to get a job interview. Adding a woman's name to a CV made the candidate 2.9 per cent more likely to get a foot in the door.
Male privilege! Patriarchy!
To be fair, they were very explicit about wanting to increase the hiring of women - rather than putting the best qualified people into positions regardless of gender. Anyway we already know the Australian governments are very SJW friendly so this is just further evidence
This is also proof that affirmative action leads to worse functional outcomes
Addendum: This is "Going blind to see more clearly: unconscious bias in Australian Public Service shortlisting processes" by the Australian Behavioural Economics Team

Blind recruiting study suggests positive discrimination common in the APS - "The boost increased to 8.6% for “minority females” and 5.8% for men who were also from a minority group. Applications from Indigenous females were a massive 22.2% more likely to be shortlisted when these traits were visible to the person making the decision. BETA also reports: “Interestingly, male reviewers displayed markedly more positive discrimination in favour of minority candidates than did female counterparts, and reviewers aged 40+ displayed much stronger affirmative action in favour for both women and minorities than did younger ones”... Human resources staff demonstrated positive discrimination more than other public servants... The report could easily stoke the simmering debate about whether workforce diversity policies undermine the merit principle, and could be taken as evidence that a truly level playing field is actually unwelcome in the APS... Critics of positive discrimination — who often come from the beneficiary groups themselves and argue their achievements are devalued by affirmative action — could easily attack this piece of advice as evidence that diversity policies only create an artificial appearance of fairness and equity that does not really exist in society. One could interpret these new results — and the way they are presented — as evidence that a meritocratic process is less important in the APS than the need to rapidly boost workforce diversity figures. Blind recruiting is presented not as a way to make things fairer but as a tool that is only valuable where it can boost diversity... Public sector diversity policies are also often underpinned by an aim to more closely reflect the general population, broken down in terms of the distribution of people in various identified groups. The idea is that if all things were equal, a large government workforce should mirror Australian society, but this seems more of an unproven assertion than a logical conclusion, or the self-evident truth it is often presented to be. Like positive discrimination, this concept also seems to run against the merit principle."
Why are males and older people more liberal/feminist?

"Rape" in the Digital Age

Woman Live-Blogged Her Own Rape on Instagram

"This is the story of Amber Amour, a feminist and social activist who live-blogged the aftermath of her rape on Instagram and social media. She was assaulted in the shower of a South African hostel while touring the country on a rape education campaign."

Interestingly, she alleged being raped by a room mate in 2014 but the charges were dismissed, and "says that she is a Vegansexual, meaning that she only has sex with other vegans" ("if a man lies he's a vegan to have consensual sex wit hher, is it also rape in her pov?").


The comments on Facebook are interesting. And curiously, virtually all the "victim blaming" ones quoted here are from women (including from some real rape victims):

"So, a complete stranger asked her if she wanted to take a shower with him and she agreed to it?! I understand that no MEANS no and everything. As a woman, I wouldn't take a shower with a complete stranger and expect nothing to happen. Clearly, she wasn't using common sense. This chick lives in a dream world where everything is butterflies and rainbows, doesn't she? I'm not sticking up for the guy who did this to her. She's a moron for not protecting herself!"

"This offends me as a vegan transgender hipster Native-American-Indo-Chinese hybrid alien agnostic-atheist German engineer who vapes fairtrade organic decaffeinated compressed and hydrated extra-protein soy breast milk on the regular and does Hindi Kama Sutra naked crossfit yoga 5 times per week. I'm also a nonbinary trigender genderqueer male feminist and identify myself as a pastafarian pansexual genderfluid Apache helicopter dog of mega multi alpha beta gamma delta omega combo god of hyper death who's in a polygamous polyamorous relationship to the chihuahua which helped me cross the border of Mexico because it hates Donald Trump. My dog also walks me to the park and doggy styles me, if you find that weird you're an ignorant arrogant homophobic gender-assuming globaphobic bloodthirsty gun-loving cisgender pansexual bestial sexist racist incestuous white-previlege misogynistic biased objectified raped privileged Nazi slave owner terrorist lesbian."

"She said yes to showering with him.... thats basically saying she wants it. But last minute calls rape then blogs about it only MOMENTS AFTER. sounds like someones looking for attention... but what do i know. Lol"

"No one is confused
1. She kissed him
2. She knew he was drunk
3. She knew he wanted to hook up with her
4. She went to an open shower area with him knowing all this
I get that the showers at her hotel were cold But she needs to take some responsibility also She willingly put herself in a situation that she could have 100% avoided. Then to document every step of the process including taking a pic of her rap kit??? Im sorry but a victim of rape doesn't think about or have time to post it to social media period."

"So she got in a shower with a strange dude she kissed and is surprised she got raped?"

"I have been drugged and raped and nearly died from the drugs , but even i had to stop at the part where she said Yes to the shower offer i mean what in the actual fuck stupid cunt ! Stories like this only make it harder for womens real stories of rape to be taken seriously"

"I wish people would realize the difference between rape and regret."

"as she was on a sexual assault prevention tour it all just seems too convenient."

"It's weird that you can now consent to and set up a rape. Learn new things every day... She took pictures of it. Anticipating rape before it happened? Maybe I'm wrong but that picture of her on getting raped in the shower seemed a bit odd and set up"

"most rape victims are to distraught in order to jump on social media minutes later. This is a cry for help but not sure the help she warrants."

""Because my water was cold" come on.. I've taken ice cold water showers and felt needles... no way I'm showering with a drunk for warmth."

"I've been in the medical field a long time and I've never known someone to kiss someone, take a shower with them, claim rape, and then document the investigation process all the while teaching about rape."

"This article makes me feel ashamed to be a rape victim"

Links - 28th August 2017 (1)

CNN faced $100M lawsuit over botched Russia story - "The specter of a $100 million libel suit scared CNN into retracting a poorly reported story that slimed an ally of President Trump’s — and forcing out the staffers responsible for it... a CNN insider said staffers are furious at “having lost the moral high ground because of this story.” Sources said Zucker tried to rally his staff during a Tuesday morning conference call. “Zucker stressed that this issue was a ‘lapse in editorial standards’ and said it was a lesson to all reporters and editors to continue to strive for strong, accurate reporting,” a source said... The retracted story was based on a single, anonymous source who claimed the Senate Intelligence Committee was probing ties between the Trump administration and a Russian government-owned investment fund."

Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds - "For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too. His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most -- not the nutritional value of the food. The premise held up: On his "convenience store diet," he shed 27 pounds in two months... Haub's "bad" cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his "good" cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He reduced the level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent... Before his Twinkie diet, he tried to eat a healthy diet that included whole grains, dietary fiber, berries and bananas, vegetables and occasional treats like pizza. "There seems to be a disconnect between eating healthy and being healthy," Haub said. "It may not be the same. I was eating healthier, but I wasn't healthy. I was eating too much"... To avoid setting a bad example for his kids, Haub ate vegetables in front of his family. Away from the dinner table, he usually unwrapped his meals... To curb calories, he avoided meat, whole grains and fruits. Once he started adding meat into the diet four weeks ago, his cholesterol level increased."

Army warns of new threat: Energy drinks - "soldiers in the field were more likely to fall asleep on duty if they consumed multiple beverages a day... "doctors don't know what the effects of (energy drink) ingredients are in larger doses.""

Hong Kong's Tai O fishing village torn between tourism and decline - "Tai O is separated from the rest of Hong Kong by steep, rocky hills. Before 1990, the only way to get to Tai O was by boat. Permits to drive on the town's single road are only granted to villagers and public buses. A sense of isolation still pervades the village's tight-knit community, which many locals say they are keen to keep to themselves. As visitors are drawn to the Venice-like village with homes largely built on stilts, the pathways are dotted with signs warning "Private Property" and "No Entry." To circumvent the signs, tour guides now row tourists on boat down the river and having a look at the houses from the water."

Australia to cut benefits if kids aren't vaccinated - "Parents who refuse to vaccinate their children can lose up to $11,000 of welfare benefits a year under a new government policy... The number of children in Australia who have not received immunization against measles and other diseases has almost doubled in the past decade... Existing exemptions on medical or religious grounds will continue said Abbott, but guidelines on religious exemptions will be tightened"
If giving single mothers fewer benefits is punishing the children...

Hidden cameras show airport workers stealing from bags - "these insider thefts just don't happen in Miami. A CNN analysis of passenger property loss claims filed with the TSA from 2010 to 2014 shows 30,621 claims of missing valuables, mostly packed in checked luggage. The rest occurred at security checkpoints. Total property loss claimed: $2.5 million."

Jihadi John: The bourgeois terrorist - "The diagnosis that poverty, lack of education or lack of opportunities have much to do with terrorism requires a fundamentally optimistic view of human nature. This diagnosis leads to the prognosis that all we need to do to solve the terrorism problem is to create societies that are less poor, better educated and have more opportunities. The fact is, working stiffs with few opportunities and scant education are generally too busy getting by to engage in revolutionary projects to remake society. And history, in fact, shows us that terrorism is generally a bourgeois endeavor. This was just as true of the Russian anarchists of the late 19th century as it was of the German Marxists of the Baader-Meinhof gang of the 1970s and of the Japanese terrorist group Aum Shinrikyo in the 1990s... if it's clearly not deprivation that is driving much Islamist terrorism, what is?
For that we must turn to ideology, specifically religious ideology. And this is where the Obama administration has to perform some pretzel logic. It is careful to explain that the war on ISIS is not a war on Islam and that ISIS' ideology is a perversion of the religion. Fair enough. But the administration seems uncomfortable with making the connection between Islamist terrorism and ultra-fundamentalist forms of Islam that are intolerant of other religions and of other Muslims who don't share their views to the letter.
ISIS may be a perversion of Islam, but Islamic it is, just as Christian beliefs about the sanctity of the unborn child explain why some Christian fundamentalists attack abortion clinics and doctors. But, of course, murderous Christian fundamentalists are not killing many thousands of civilians a year. More than 80% of the world's terrorist attacks take place in five Muslim-majority countries -- Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria -- and are largely carried out by groups with Islamist beliefs... The Taliban and other Islamist terrorist groups are not, of course, secular organizations. To treat them as if they were springs from some combination of wishful thinking, PC gone crazy and a failure to accept, in an increasingly secularized era, that some will kill in the name of their god, an all-too-common phenomenon across human history."
The people who suffer most when one refuses to acknowledge that Islamist terrorism has something to do with Islam - Muslims

Why I put World of Warcraft on my resume - "Symantec's chief operating officer, Stephen Gillett, has an impressive resume that includes executive stints at Starbucks, CNET and Best Buy. He's also a level 70 paladin and priest with a particular focus on healing abilities... he includes his World of Warcraft achievements on his resume, because it's not just about role-playing games. It shows he exercises leadership in both the physical and virtual realms. Plus, he understands the current societal fascination with earning points and interactive entertainment. As a guild master, his current duties and responsibilities include organizing dungeon raids and managing the group's virtual bank. And he has a knack for recruiting key talent. Think mages and warlocks. Those skills transferred to his position as Starbucks' CIO, Gillett says. In that role, he was tasked with saving the company's suffering technology assets. Cash registers were outdated. Computers were scarce. Customer sales were down. Gillett's answer: Take Starbucks executives on a field trip to the Irvine, Calif., headquarters of World of Warcraft maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI, Tech30). The goal was to expose them to a business model that capitalizes on gaming"

Teen to government: Change your typeface, save millions - "Suvir figured out that by using Garamond with its thinner strokes, his school district could reduce its ink consumption by 24%, and in turn save as much as $21,000 annually."

Ronald McDonald to limit appearances in light of clown scares - "His appearances will be limited due to the rise in clown-related disturbances in the US and more recently around the world."

Clown Lives Matter March Canceled Over Death Threats - "The Clown Lives Matter march scheduled to take place tomorrow in Arizona has been canceled after the event's organizer said she received death threats on social media. The march was organized in response to the increase of creepy clown sightings and threats in recent months. Participants were encouraged to wear clown masks, full makeup and costumes and families were invited to "meet a clown and get a hug!" "This is a peaceful walk to show clowns are not psycho killers," a flier for the event said. "We want the public to feel safe, and not be afraid"... The Rev. Reginald Walton, chairman of Black Lives Matter Phoenix, said he was "glad" the march was canceled and called the Clown Lives Matter movement "insensitive" considering the "serious problem we are facing in this country" regarding police brutality... The uptick of scary clown incidents and sightings has rattled the nation in the months leading up to Halloween. The issue has become so severe that it prompted the White House to issue a statement saying the creepy clown incidents should be taken "seriously" by law enforcement."
So much for whataboutery being a problem

More than 100 Nobel laureates are calling on Greenpeace to end its anti-GMO campaign - "The laureates also take Greenpeace to task for seeking to block Golden Rice, a strain of not-yet-approved rice that has been genetically enhanced to produce beta carotene — which, its creators hope, might one day alleviate the Vitamin A deficiency that’s causing widespread death and blindness in the developing world... Greenpeace tends to take very seriously what scientists are telling them. Their website refers frequently to the scientific consensus that the world is getting warmer and humans are the cause. By contrast, Greenpeace’s public statements on GMOs tend to be startlingly unscientific... Will Saletan wrote a damning piece on how incoherent Greenpeace’s campaign against Golden Rice was. As research advanced, the group kept shifting its position"

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet - "Live long and prosper, First Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, leader of the Singaporean people... The Iron Fist: Cities do not rebel nor revolt. Can reclaim coastal tiles into land tiles. Population grows 5 times quicker when allied with a city state, but at double the unhappiness. Roads and railways are maintenance free"

Man takes ridiculous route between Newcastle and London because it's cheaper than public transport - "British rail passengers spend six times more on train fares than their European counterparts... Furness found that Newcastle to Menorca (one of Spain’s Balearic islands), and then on to London Gatwick came to only £26. You can see where he's going with this. So fly to London via Menorca he did, which gave him a 12-hour-stop-over to soak up some sun and indulge in a cocktail or two."

FRIENDS NO MORE? Black Lives Matter Slams Gay Pride Parade - "Black Lives Matter NYC published an open letter slamming NYC Pride for the huge numbers of police helping protect their parade and the NYPD vehicles displaying Pride decals. The letter demanded “the removal of uniformed police and PRIDE-detailed vehicles from the NYC Pride parade ... a commitment to transform the culture and events of PRIDE to center the lives of those most marginalized — queer and transgender Black communities ... the honoring of our ancestors and elders with true integrity of their radical existence.""
If this is the new civil rights movement, maybe civil rights aren't such a good thing after all

Extremism experts are starting to worry about the left - "Levin says that since December 2015, he’s documented nearly two-dozen episodes in California where political events turned violent because of agitation on both sides, something he says he hardly ever saw before. Now, there are violent clashes on college campuses involving groups like Antifa, the anti-fascist group, taking on the alt-right; and aggressive anti-Trump rallies attended by members of the Redneck Revolt, a new pro-minority, anti-supremacist group that encourages its members to train with rifles. Online, hard leftists increasingly discuss politics in dire terms, and rationalize violence as a necessity— even the true inheritor of traditional progressive activism. (Or, in the case of the “Punch a Nazi” meme, a fun game.)... in the years after 9/11, Segal says, the largest source of extremist violence was from the Left: eco-terrorists and animal rights activists"

Men Legally Allowed to Finish Sex Even If Woman Revokes Consent, NC Law States
This conflates a change in the circumstances of the agreement (like violence) with its unlilateral abrogation

Hillary Clinton wishes happy birthday to HERSELF in bizarre Twitter post - "Perhaps worried she wasn't going to receive many good wishes from anywhere else, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton decided to wish herself a happy birthday, while proclaiming she would be the first woman president... 'Shouldn't this have come from one of the campaign accounts?' asked another potential voter, while another summed the whole episode up pointedly stating: 'The saddest birthday tweet comes from yourself.'"

Study: Unattractive Men Not Viewed As 'Dating Material,' No Matter How Great Their Personality - "Maybe nice guys really do finish last, after all. Women don’t view unattractive men as “dating material,” no matter how exceptional their other qualities are, a new study finds. Researchers at Eastern Connecticut State University looked at the mate preferences of 80 young women, aged 15 to 29, while also having 61 of their mothers weigh in... Simply put, men viewed as unattractive were not viewed as potential suitors, no matter the level of other redeeming qualities that accompanied their photos. Those with favorable personality traits that were ranked highly were at least moderately attractive... Mothers, however, didn’t shut the door on their offspring dating a relatively unattractive guy if he outperformed in other departments. But the younger participants wouldn’t budge... Although women will go on record to say that they prioritize personality characteristics over handsomeness in a partner, “they [still] assume that the potential mates at least meet a minimally acceptable standard of physical attractiveness”"

Tennis Legend Triggers Millions After Stating Serena Williams Would Rank 700th If She Faced Men - "Retired tennis legend John Patrick McEnroe Jr. has caused quite a stir online over his insistence that Serena Williams would be nowhere near as successful if she were competing against men. According to The Guardian, McEnroe made his remarks during an interview with NPR on Sunday, stating that while Williams is the “best female player ever – no question,” she would probably rank around 700 in the men’s league. The Guardian further reports that McEnroe stood by his statement in the face of the subsequent “REEEEEEEEEEEE”-ing of SJWs deluded enough to believe that men and women are on the same level when it comes to physical ability. “Have the women play in the men’s circuit,” he said on The Dan Patrick Show today. “We’ll see what happens. Have them all play for the next two years and see what the ranks are”... Serena Williams herself has lashed out at McEnroe over his statement, insisting that he leave her alone and describing his words as “not factually based”... SJWs have rushed to Williams’ defence, crying sexism and misogyny... USA Today sports writer Josh Peter argues McEnroe was actually being generous in his guess of where Serena Williams would rank among men."
When interviewers continually prod people to say apparently controversial things just to kick up a shitstorm...

John McEnroe says Serena Williams would be 700 on the men’s tour. Is he right? - "Given the speed at which men pick up returns in their game, the velocity and power of their serves and the fact that the men’s side focuses on aces and ace returns, Williams would be facing a wholly different sort of challenge at a men’s event. (The women’s game sees more rallies and volleys.) In addition, the high-speed lateral movement required would specifically test Williams as a player since she’s struggled with injuries below her knees over the last few years. Finally, Williams’ personal game — as is the case with all women’s players — is wrapped around the three-set format of the women’s tour. The men’s game goes to five sets."
Even Salon grudgingly admits that men and women aren't built the same way. Though of course the Jedi mind trick follows

Serena tells Letterman she’d lose to Andy Murray in ‘five or six’ minutes - ""Actually it’s funny, because Andy Murray, he’s been joking about myself and him playing a match. I’m like, ‘Andy, seriously, are you kidding me?’ For me, mens’ tennis and womens’ tennis are completely, almost, two separate sports. If I were to play Andy Murray, I would lose 6-0, 6-0 in five to six minutes, maybe 10 minutes. No, it’s true. It’s a completely different sport. The men are a lot faster and they serve harder, they hit harder, it’s just a different game. I love to play women’s tennis. I only want to play girls, because i don’t want to be embarrassed. I would not do the tour, I would not do Billie Jean [King] any disservice. So Andy, stop it. I’m not going to let you kill me."... The mens’ and womens’ games are different things. It’s always forgotten, but Bobby Riggs was 55 years old when he played Billie Jean King in 1974. And back then, the men’s and women’s game were closer than they are today."
Internalised sexism!

How to... beat both Williams sisters in one afternoon - "It was the 1998 Australian Open and the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, had seen some of the male players practising. On the basis of what they saw, they were convinced that they could beat a man ranked around 200 in the world and wanted to set up a game. At the time I was ranked 203 so the men's tour manager mentioned the possibility of a challenge to me, thinking that I was the perfect candidate... In the end I won, but neither myself, nor Venus or Serena took the game too seriously - we were just having a bit of fun. Apparently, after the game, Serena and Venus immediately told the press they wanted to challenge a male player again. This time they revised the ranking of the man they wanted to face, to 350 in the world... when I saw Venus a few months later at the French Open she came up to me with a big smile on her face and said, 'You know that thing in Australia - it never happened!'"

HuffPost: White Gay Men Are Not Allowed To Have Racial Dating Preferences
Presumably straight men who refuse to have sex with gay men are being homophobic