Links - 7th March 2019 (2)

EU Hands Sweden Over 700,000 Euros to Tackle ‘Hate Crime’ as Country Gripped by Violence - "Sweden is set to receive 7.5 million Swedish Kronor (738,248 euros) from the European Union for victims of “hate crimes” after the country saw a record number of fatal shootings in 2018.The programme is aimed at providing better support for those who are victims of hate crimes across the country while their cases are being investigated or prosecuted... The EU funding comes after Sweden has seen a record number of deadly shootings across the country in 2018 linked mainly to gang violence across the country.The record number of fatal shootings has led Stockholm police expert Gunnar Appelgren to claim the country resembles a “state at war” as the number of firearms and hand grenade seizures rose in 2018 compared to the previous year, although overall shootings declined."

Give up your grenades and walk free: Sweden's explosives amnesty gets under way - "anyone in possession of hand grenades or illegal pyrotechnical equipment can hand them over to police without risking punishment"

Violent crime in Sweden is soaring. When will politicians act? | Coffee House - "Gun violence is on the rise, with daylight shootings and without regard for bystanders. In the past nine years, reported and attempted murders involving guns have almost doubled. According to Swedish police, hand-grenade attacks (which were virtually unknown until a few years ago) are without parallel in countries not at war... it’s still hard for Swedish authorities to be frank about what’s going on. It’s widely known that gang members are mainly first- and second-generation immigrants, and problems are rampant in what police euphemistically refer to as ‘vulnerable areas’. Thus the gang wars serve as a constant reminder of Sweden’s failed migration and integration policies. This is a problem for the government (and even the opposition) in a country that prides itself on being a ‘humanitarian superpower’. And yet politicians, in government and opposition, seem particularly concerned that violence in immigrant suburbs is a PR problem, a threat to the image of Sweden, and that the remedy is spin... [An] official campaign says the ‘no-go zones’ are in fact ‘go-go zones’. Try telling that to Gordon Grattidge, head of the paramedics union Alarm/Ambulansförbundet. He once told me that members are not allowed to enter some Swedish neighbourhoods without police protection. Firefighters face the same reality. In November, some 50 cars were torched in a garage in a mainly immigrant suburb in Uppsala. Despite citizens repeatedly calling the emergency services, it took three hours before the fire department showed up — protected by police equipped with riot gear and machine-guns... She takes pride in running the ‘world’s first feminist government’ but she has made it a political priority to play down growing numbers of violent crime, rapes included. It’s a form of denial usually associated with non-democratic states or nations in decline... The Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, even raised the prospect of sending in the army — which caused such a reaction that he quickly rowed back... The police’s language is often sympathetic rather than condemnatory. Linda Staaf, a police chief, has pointed out that grenade-throwing is dangerous because those who pull out the pin ‘expose themselves to a huge risk’. Jan Evensson, Stockholm’s police chief, also makes his case on compassionate grounds: ‘It’s hard to be a criminal. We want to help them get out of it.’ This famously soft approach once worked well in Sweden, but society has changed and the authorities have not kept up"

Columbia University to host no-whites-allowed student leadership retreat - "Students of color at Columbia University can apply to attend an upcoming racially segregated retreat hosted by the school that promises to embolden and empower participants, according to organizers."

University seminar teaches faculty not to judge 'quality' of writing when grading - "It’s led by Asao Inoue, a University of Washington-Tacoma professor, and the purpose is to pursue “antiracist ends” through writing assessments.A national scholarly organization that preaches its “commitment” to academic excellence came out swinging against the seminar, telling The College Fix that Inoue’s ideas are “destroying the very idea that composition classes should teach all students to write well.”In an email, National Association of Scholars spokesperson Chance Layton said Inoue is “substituting social justice ideologues’ bigotry for instruction in composition”... He will lecture about “language standards that just kill our students” by subjecting them to “single standards,” which perpetuate “White language supremacy … despite the better intentions of faculty.”... The National Association of Scholars’ Layton said that Inoue is “not an outlier” and that he “represents the mainstream of America’s college writing programs and the mainstream of social justice education, which has taken over much of higher education.”"

Maldives faces Chinese 'land grab' over unpayable debts, ex-leader warns - "Massive debts threaten to force the Maldives to cede territory to China as early as 2019, former President Mohamed Nasheed said, warning that a flawed presidential election this year would lead to a Chinese takeover of the island nation... As of January, obligations to China accounted for "nearly 80%" of the Maldives' foreign debt, according to Nasheed. Much of the money went into infrastructure, including roads, bridges and airports. But these are "vanity projects," according to Nasheed: "roads going to nowhere, airports that [will sit] empty." All the while, the Maldives' debts are accruing interest at high rates, Nasheed said.... "Without firing a single shot, China has grabbed more land than the East India Company at the height of the 19th century," Nasheed said, alleging that the Asian economic powerhouse has taken over "16 islands already" under the Maldives' current president, Abdulla Yameen"

Sucking carbon dioxide from air is cheaper than scientists thought - "Siphoning carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere could be more than an expensive last-ditch strategy for averting climate catastrophe. A detailed economic analysis published on 7 June suggests that the geoengineering technology is inching closer to commercial viability"

A new way of thinking about animal welfare - "“It’s not really possible to fully know whether a cow suffers more than a chicken when raised and killed for food but we do know that it takes about 200 chickens to make as much meat as one cow. Research has been done on how many animals are killed per million calories for foods like grain, fish, beef, chicken, pork, eggs and dairy. Some animals raised for food also have better lives and deaths than others."

Founder of Feminist Group That Goes Topless to Protest Abortion Becomes Pro-Life, Apologizes - "Winter is reportedly upset with how the feminist movement “uses women as objects” and “covers up pedophilia in its ranks.” While Sara’s own religious beliefs are not clear, she did apologize to Christians and referred to feminism as “a religious sect.”"

11-Year-Old Grade Dropped For Not Bashing Trump - "an 11-year-old in Annadale, New York, was docked 15 points on a homework assignment because she failed to answer a question demanding students bash Trump"

U.K. Prosecutor Who Withheld Evidence In Rape Cases Becomes First In Position Not To Receive Nation’s Top Honor - "One of the United Kingdom’s former top prosecutors will not be made a Dame, becoming the first in the position not to receive the honor during their tenure or shortly after they depart.Alison Saunders, former Director of Public Prosecutions, resigned earlier this year after it was discovered the Crown Prosecution Service withheld exculpatory evidence in multiple rape cases... In each of these incidents, the crucial exculpatory evidence was provided to the defense just days before the trial was set to begin.Following the collapse of these cases, all rape cases began going through an urgent review by the Crown Prosecution Service... Typically, those in Saunders’ position are knighted or receive damehood while in office or shortly after they leave. Saunders was left off a list of those who would receive the honor... under Saunders’ leadership, “the number of prosecutions in England and Wales that collapsed over disclosure failings increased by 70% in two years.”While Saunders’ office withheld evidence from innocent men, she failed to prosecute her Labour Party peer with child sex crimes.The case of Saunders shows what happens when “Believe All Women” infects the legal system — exculpatory evidence gets withheld and innocent men have their lives turned upside down."
What feminist justice looks like<

India university official urges students to kill instead of complaining - "A top official at an Indian state-run university urged his students to "murder" fellow students if confronted instead of complaining to him, amid a wave of violence being reported from across the state where the school is based."If you're a student of this University, never come crying to me," said Raja Ram Yadav, vice-chancellor of Purvanchal University, in a speech caught on video"

How Google is slowing innovation - "Embrace, extend, extinguish certainly looks different today than it did in 2000 – it’s subtler, friendlier, and more politically correct. But it’s just as dangerous. The war isn’t over. We must fight to diversify the internet, uphold open standards, and stamp out monopoly."

We will never see a movie like The Dark Knight again - Polygon - "Reflecting on it, the distance between then and now sounds more like five decades instead of one.”That’s a privilege and a luxury that filmmakers aren’t afforded anymore,” Nolan told the BAFTA members. “There’s too much pressure on release schedules to let people do that now, but creatively it’s a huge advantage. We had the privilege and advantage to develop as people and as storytellers and then bring the family back together.”Nolan doesn’t exactly need to tell us this; after years of buildup toward a convoluted Justice League, “Release the Snyder Cut” conspiracy theories and continued plans for an extended DC universe, we know what Warner Bros. Pictures’ protection and investment looks like. The Dark Knight, released just two months after Marvel Studios’ breakout film Iron Man, is in debt to Batman without pandering to any single image or comic arc. There is little world-building outside the logic of the immediate narrative. Nolan’s Batman isn’t a superhero in the gleeful, laws-of-physics-defying, action-figure sense, instead burdened by ethical rhetoric and villain complications. The movie is not “for the fans,” and yet it’s held as a blockbuster pinnacle by those who’d self-identify as such. Quality notwithstanding, The Dark Knight is singular. "

Osama the gamer: A list of Bin Laden’s video games from his hard drive - "The feared extremist also had a naughty side, as several pornographic games and videos were seen in his files as well.The CIA, however, refused to reveal the titles due to some copyright content."

New 'modern family' parking spaces baffle drivers at Westfield shopping centre - "They were meant to highlight the diversity of today’s households and included icons that depicted families with gay, trans, single, older and multiple parents... ‘My family and I drove into Car Park A when they were put up and we didn’t have a clue which ones we could park in.‘We had a queue of vehicles behind us as my wife and I tried to work out if we could leave the car in them.’"

Steel worker solves mystery as to why deer cross rail tracks - "Kajimura formed a new hypothesis that even experts or railway companies have never come up with, that deer “enter the tracks because they want to lick the rails to ingest iron.”"

VICE Headline Generator - "Why Being a Canadian Hindu Got Me a Role on "Mad Men""
"Arnold Schwarzenegger's Brother-in-Law is Not a Fishmonger, But He is a Rocket Scientist"
"I Masqueraded as A Representative of "The Aryan Brotherhood""

Remember When Three of Obama's Former Secretaries of Defense Blasted Him? - "Did you enjoy all that time between the announcement of Secretary of Defense James Mattis’s resignation and the Democrats’ politicization of it?"

NY Cleric: Dying In Battle Is Highest Martyrdom | MEMRI TV - "During a December 5, 2018 class that was streamed live on the Hadith Disciple YouTube channel, New York cleric "Mufti" Muhammad Ibn Muneer said that while there are different types of martyrs in Islam, one should not confuse any of them with the martyr who was killed in battle, who holds the highest status of martyrdom."

The Guardian: 'Doxxing' Is 'Effective' Tactic Against 'Far Right' - "In an article for the Guardian, Wednesday, writer Jason Wilson claimed that though doxing is a “tactic” that has been “sneered at by some,” it has “proven to be effective” against ideological opponents and in “dismantling the far right.” Ironically, the same writer called doxing a “danger facing US journalists” in June... In another Guardian article published in June, writer Arwa Mahdawi also noted that those who dox others “often get things wrong,” and end up putting others in danger.One such incident occurred last year, when activists began doxing people they believed to have attended the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally, only for it to be revealed that their victims were not actually at the event.As previously reported, “The identification attempts inspired several others to become involved, including actress Jennifer Lawrence and journalist Kurt Eichenwald. However, several people with no links to the alt-right or the march were reportedly misidentified, doxed, and subsequently received death threats and abuse from left-wing activists.”"