Links - 2nd September 2019 (1)

Twenty-one years of using insect resistant (GM) maize in Spain and Portugal: farm-level economic and environmental contributions - "For every extra €1 spent on this seed relative to conventional seed, farmers have gained an additional €4.95 in extra income. These income gains have mostly arisen from higher yields (+11.5% across the two countries using the technology). The seed technology has reduced insecticide spraying by 678,000 kg of active ingredient (−37%) and, as a result, decreased the environmental impact associated with herbicide and insecticide use on these crops (as measured by the indicator, the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ)) by 21%. The technology has also facilitated cuts in fuel use, resulting in a reduction in the release of greenhouse gas emissions from the GM IR maize cropping area and contributed to saving scarce water resources."

Lee Kuan Yew made journalists 'look behind their backs': veteran journalist PN Balji - "“There were many (journalists) who were penalised by him because he didn’t like what they wrote…and that made a lot of people frightened and made many people look behind their backs,” mused Balji, who counts himself among those to fear incurring Lee’s wrath. As he ruefully says in his book, “Nearly every editor in Singapore has a Lee Kuan Yew story to tell.”On one occasion, Balji chose to ignore what he saw as an unreasonable embargo on Lee’s Chinese New Year message in 1981 and went to print. The then-New Nation acting editor later received an angry response from Lee via his press secretary, “Who is that journalist practising Western-style journalism?”While Balji got off with a warning, many others did not. “His record with journalists who veered off the straight and narrow path was legendary. Some have been detained without trial, some blackballed and others forced to leave journalism and even the country,” writes the 70-year-old, who also details stories of colleagues being punished for their outspokenness. But the genius of Lee, who was never afraid to actively intervene in the media industry, lay in his ability to mix the carrot and the stick. “He made sure that Singapore Press Holdings and of course Mediacorp, had no competition. And that had a positive effect because SPH could make tonnes of money. Nobody (else) was prepared to come and work or start a newspaper or TV station under those kinds of restrictions.”Balji added, “So SPH could boom and when SPH boomed, people like us also boomed, because we got good salary increments.”... Balji may have been a reluctant editor, but he was far from reticent in calling self-censorship “the greatest sin in Singapore journalism”. And as far as he is concerned, it is “worse than what it used to be before.”As an example, he pointed to recent mainstream media coverage the day after a decision was made by Malaysia and Singapore to scrap the Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) at Seletar Airport in favour of Global Positioning System-based (GPS) instrument procedures.“As a reader, I would like the newspapers and/or media to tell me: which is a better system, GPS or ILS?”... “They will say, we cannot do this because it will upset Mahathir, for example. Then what you do about your profession? So I think that the fear factor is always there.”"

COMMENT: Unequal access and self-censorship reign in Singapore journalism - ""Reluctant Editor" largely covers Balji's time as editor of The New Paper and Today, with many behind-the-scenes stories of the government's often contentious relationship with the mainstream media. It topped the non-fiction bestseller list at Books Kinokuniya the week it was released.The 70-year-old paints a portrait of a thin-skinned government that often reacted defensively to negative coverage and was unafraid to resort to strong-arm tactics. Jobs were literally at stake, and more than one journalist felt the wrath of the authorities... SPH and Mediacorp outlets are given priority for the most important press releases, speeches and event invites.It is not unusual for accredited outlets like Yahoo News Singapore to be sent press releases hours after the MSM outlets have broken a story, or to be told that certain high-profile events are reserved for "local media only". On one occasion, when we requested an advance copy of the National Day Rally speech - probably the most important political speech of the year - we were given the runaround by senior government officials who all had the same excuse: "I don't have it." Meanwhile, MSM reporters had obtained the speech the day before... Without the equivalent of a Freedom of Information Act, which enables Americans to request the disclosure of information by the US government, local government agencies are often less than forthcoming, particularly on sensitive topics.In April, while Yahoo was pursuing a story about maid abuse, a request was sent to the Manpower Ministry for facts and figures on this issue. We received a one-liner in reply, "We’re unable to facilitate your queries."... Then there is the practice of having your access cut off, often with no notification or explanation. Think of it as being ghosted by a Tinder date.In March this year, in response to a peculiar incident where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's eldest son was filmed by a stranger who gave him a lift, the police revealed the man's antecedents. To date, the driver has not been charged with any offence. I then did a follow-up story with quotes from lawyers who questioned why the police had potentially prejudiced any case against the driver by publicising his previous brushes with the law. Upon receiving my request for a quote, a police spokesperson called our editor and posed the classic question, "What is your agenda?"After giving the assurance that our “agenda” was only to practise good journalism, we were promised an official response, and therefore held back our story. Two days went by without word from the police.When Yahoo informed the police that we were going ahead with the story, we received a bizarre request: could we not mention that we had asked the police for a response?Shortly after the story was published, something inexplicable happened: Yahoo stopped receiving police press releases about impending court cases... During an interview ahead of his book launch, Balji said self-censorship is "the greatest sin in Singapore journalism" and that it is "worse than what it used to be before". Sometimes, it seems that the MSM does not even need to be pressured to play ball. In late May, news broke that Li Huanwu, a grandson of Lee Kuan Yew, was marrying his male partner in South Africa but none of the MSM outlets covered it... There was also inertia among MSM outlets in their coverage of PM Lee’s recent comments that Vietnam had previously invaded Cambodia, which triggered strong criticism from Singapore’s two Asean neighbours.Perhaps it also had to do with the ever-present fear of reprisal. Just consider that in 2017, the Official Secrets Act was invoked against a Straits Times reporter over the leak of a confidential HDB project.The broad powers that the anti-fake news laws have granted ministers to determine what constitutes a falsehood mean journalists have to tread carefully more than ever. If the journalists themselves are afraid of doing their jobs, how is the public being served? If the journalists do not speak up, then who will? In a country whose institutions are so thoroughly dominated by the ruling party, where will the checks and balances come from?It only feels appropriate to end this commentary with a quote from Balji. Addressing a group of young journalists recently, he asked pointedly, "Are you afraid of losing your job? If you are, then you shouldn't be in this profession.""
Things aren't always getting better

Blasphemy is now a sackable offence - "If you’re not a fan of religion – or political correctness – then it looks like a job at Asda isn’t for you. Examiner Live reports that Brian Leach, a 54-year-old disabled till worker, has been sacked from his job in a Dewsbury Asda because he shared a Billy Connolly video about religion on his personal Facebook page... In the offending clip, says the Mirror, Connolly takes aim at Christianity, Islam and calls suicide bombers ‘f****** idiots’... According to a dismissal letter shown to the press, Leach removed the post, admitted guilt and removed his colleagues from his Facebook circle. But this wasn’t enough. His bosses ruled he had committed gross misconduct by sharing something with the ‘potential to bring the company into disrepute’. This was not before his bosses extracted a quasi-Stalinist apology, quoted in the Mirror, nodding specifically to Connolly’s jokes about Islam"

Baldness solution 'breakthrough' discovered by scientists - "Scientists have discovered a "critical breakthrough" in the treatment for baldness after creating natural-looking hair from stem cells.US researchers said they have refined a method which allowed them to grow hair through the skin of mice using dermal papilla cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells."

UcKema @ los angeles - DC on Twitter - Slate: "Deodorants were created to solve a fake problem and thrived thanks to the patriarchy."
"Come to an anime convention and you will delete this"
"Clearly written by someone who lives in air conditioned offices and has never worked outside a day in their life."
"Checked out other articles written by this person and some of them are beauty centric. U mean to tell me deodorant is a product of the patriarchy but skincare regimens and dieting isnt???!?! This smells like yt nonsense"

RAMZPAUL on Twitter - Tariq Nasheed: "A group of Hispanic white supremacists racially attacked a Black special needs student in Long Beach last week. And they all ran off when the other Black kids showed up. Many of these Hispanic gangs are allied with white extremists groups like the Aryan Nation & Neo Nazis"
"Mexicans are even taking all the White Supremacy jobs."

Schools ‘should teach pupils about sadomasochism’ - "Teachers should talk to their pupils about sadomasochism and promote mutual masturbation and oral sex, a prominent human rights campaigner has said.The recommendations form part of a list of 13 practical and ethical suggestions that Peter Tatchell wants schools to follow in teaching their pupils about sex.From September 2019, relationships education will be compulsory in all state-funded primary schools, and relationships and sex education will be mandatory in all secondary schools... He also said that it should be harder for parents to withdraw their children from sex education lessons, calling for a new requirement that parents attend school to physically remove their child from each lesson."
When sex education is really sex instruction

School gives pupils aged SIX graphic safe sex tips covering oral and anal - "Parents were "absolutely mortified” after a school gave children as young as six letters with graphic descriptions on oral and anal sex.Ipswich West State School's letter gave explicit details on safe sex and included ways for both genders to perform oral sex and the best practice to use condoms safely.It was written after the harmless viral infection molluscum contagiosum was detected in the school in Ipswich in Queensland, Australia... “This week, following medical advice, Ipswich West State School issued a health notice to all parents and carers on a condition called molluscum contagiosum. "An administrative error resulted in an incorrect fact sheet accompanying the notice. “The school apologises for any distress that may have been caused by the provision of information that is not considered age-appropriate."

Segments of Random Thoughts - Posts - "I'm English - but I want USA to beat the Lionesses in the World Cup"
"Of course you do. You write for the Guardian."
"I have a theory that you cannot write for the Guardian unless you hate yourself, your culture and/or your nation."
More evidence that liberals really do hate their countries

Microsoft's Ebook Apocalypse Shows the Dark Side of DRM - "Your iTunes movies, your Kindle books—they’re not really yours. You don’t own them. You’ve just bought a license that allows you to access them, one that can be revoked at any time. And while a handful of incidents have brought that reality into sharp relief over the years, none has quite the punch of Microsoft disappearing every single ebook from every one of its customers.Microsoft made the announcement in April that it would shutter the Microsoft Store’s books section for good. The company had made its foray into ebooks in 2017... Other companies have pulled a similar trick in smaller doses. Amazon, overcome by a fit of irony in 2009, memorably vanished copies of George Orwell’s 1984 from Kindles. The year before that, Walmart shut down its own ill-fated MP3 store, at first suggesting customers burn their purchases onto CDs to salvage them before offering a download solution. But this is not a tactical strike. There is no backup plan. This is The Langoliers. And because of digital rights management—the mechanism by which platforms retain control over the digital goods they sell—you have no recourse... “Once we complete a transaction you can’t just reach into my pocket and take it back, even if you do give me money,” says John Sullivan, executive director of the nonprofit Free Software Foundation. “It’s not respecting the freedom of the individual.”... More than anything, Microsoft’s ebook rapture underscores the hidden dangers of the DRM system that underpins most digital purchases. Originally intended as an antipiracy measure, DRM now functions mostly as a way to lock customers into a given ecosystem, rather than reading or viewing or listening to their purchases wherever they want. It’s a cycle that has persisted for decades and shows no signs of abating... a “sizable percentage” of shoppers think that clicking Buy Now entitles them to similar ownership privileges of digital goods—lending, gift-giving, and more—as their physical counterparts... The issue also extends beyond ebooks and movies. Think of Jibo, the $900 robot whose servers are shutting down. Or the Revolv smart-home hub that Google acquired and promptly shut down—sparking another FTC inquiry. Even Keurig tried to DRM its coffee pods... “This is why we call DRM media and devices defective by design, or broken from the beginning. There’s self-destruction built into the whole concept”... At least Microsoft can afford to pay off its impacted customers. The next time a platform folds—and takes its ecosystem with it—those affected might not be so lucky."

Streaming TV is about to get very expensive – here's why - "The most watched show on US Netflix, by a huge margin, is the US version of The Office. Even though the platform pumps out an absurd amount of original programming – 1,500 hours last year – it turns out that everyone just wants to watch a decade-old sitcom. One report last year said that The Office accounts for 7% all US Netflix viewing.So, naturally, NBC wants it back... As a viewer, you are right to feel queasy. The industry-disrupting success of Netflix means that everybody wants a slice of the pie. Right now, things are just about manageable – if you have a TV licence, a Netflix subscription, an Amazon subscription and a Now TV subscription, you are pretty much covered – but things are about to take a turn for the worse... There will be a point where viewers are going to hit their tolerance for monthly subscriptions – I may be able to manage one more service, but only if I unsubscribe from an existing platform – meaning that TV will become more elitist, tiered and fragmented than it already is. There’s a huge difference between not being able to watch everything because there’s too much choice and not being able to watch everything because you don’t have enough money. Most importantly, we should all remember that this content war is hinged upon a fundamental misunderstanding of viewing habits. Netflix didn’t become a monster because people wanted to watch a specific show; it became a monster because people wanted to watch everything... That will be a memory soon. The Netflix model was great for viewers, but it couldn’t last. The content creators got greedy and scared, and now they’re determined to drag things back to the bad old ways. They will force everyone to pay for everything separately, and the subscriber base will split, and the providers will have to recoup the money they are spending to take on Netflix"