Links - 14th December 2019 (1)

‘Broken heart syndrome': Woman hospitalized after mistaking wasabi for avocado - "She reportedly consumed a "large amount" of the spicy wasabi paste, thinking it was a mild, avocado-based dip. Within minutes, the woman felt a "sudden pressure" in her chest, which then spread to her arms.That wasn't enough to convince her to leave the ceremony, though, and she endured the pain for several hours. The pain even started to die down by the end of the evening, so it wasn't until the following day — when she woke up feeling oddly weak — that she sought medical attention.Doctors diagnosed her with "broken heart syndrome," a term that applies to people who experience symptoms similar to a heart attack following physical or emotional distress.The condition, which is technically referred to as takotsubo cardiomyopathy typically affects women aged 58 to 75. In addition to physical causes, "broken heart syndrome" can also be brought on by life-altering events such as financial loss, frightening car accidents or after receiving bad news.But this case was the first to be brought on by "food consumption alone"

Moms Outraged After Shirtless Beach Photos Of Their Long-Haired Sons Keep Getting Taken Down By Instagram - "in some cases, the moms were even banned from Facebook or Instagram for days on end...
maybe stop sexualizing the chests of girls and women?  The chest is not a sex organ. Breasts are not genitals."

World postal rates overhauled after US quit threat - "The US had earlier threatened to pull out, arguing that discount rates for countries such as China were putting the US at a massive disadvantage.It said that it had become cheaper for US consumers to ship items from China rather than buying domestically. As a result, it argued this was unfair to US manufacturers and was costing the US Postal Service up to $500m ($404m) a year... From January 2021, high-volume importers will be able to impose "self-declared rates" for delivering foreign mail and packages.Countries that import more than 75,000 tonnes (75m kgs) of post every year can apply their own rates by July 2020... China's delegation supported the deal, and said during talks that it had been "actively working... to find a positive solution and compromise". Under the UPU's remuneration system, national postal operators are compensated for delivering mail from abroad.In theory, higher rates are applied to highly developed countries, and lower rates to those that are least developed. But several members complain that advanced economies like China have been miscategorised and are paying lower rates than they should be.The UPU had previously pledged to discuss changes to the system, which is already reviewed by members every four years.But the US signalled last October that it would leave unless the system was changed, and members voted earlier this year to hold emergency talks."

Orchard Road ice cream carts could end with their owners - "his ice-cream cart and six others along the stretch of shopping street could become a memory when their licence holders pass on.Street hawkers like Mr Chieng hold licences that are personal to the holder and non-transferable, said the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).They cannot transfer their licence to family members or friends who might want to take over.“It’ll be a pity if there are no more ice-cream uncles, especially because this is Singapore’s traditional ice-cream,” said Mr Chieng in Mandarin. “I don’t know if anything will be done to make sure Orchard Road will still have ice-cream uncles in the future.” Mr Chieng is among 13 street hawkers allowed to sell ice-cream on any "public land”, according to SFA, with seven choosing to operate along Orchard Road... In a written reply to a parliamentary question in 2016, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli said that street hawkers were licensed in 1994, in a one-time exercise to control their numbers, and “no more licences were issued after that".“The intention was to phase out these street hawkers through natural attrition and allow such trades to move into proper premises”... Mr Masagos explained that the street hawking scheme was reopened in the early 2000s to temporarily help those who are needy and less employable tide over their financial difficulties... All the ice-cream street hawkers on Orchard Road hold an islandwide licence, which allows them to sell ice-cream and canned beverages in public areas in Singapore.Mr Chieng explained that newer street hawkers hold a licence that only allows them to operate within the town council where they live, which is why there are so few ice-cream street hawkers on Orchard Road.SFA said there are about 200 street hawkers who have chosen to sell ice-cream... About 20 years ago, there were more than 30 ice-cream hawkers along Orchard Road, with many of them gathering where Ion Orchard now stands, recalled Mr Tan, whose stall is located outside Wisma Atria... Tourists and locals CNA spoke to said they would miss the ice-cream street hawkers... The tourist from the Philippines who is visiting Singapore with friends for the first time said the ice-cream street hawkers “give character” to Orchard Road.“I didn’t know that there are so few left here. It’s like Singapore’s special product, so it’s quite sad”... For many Singaporeans, the ice-cream street hawkers were a common sight growing up"

There Are No Jobs Americans Won’t Do - "If immigrants "do jobs that Americans won't do", we should be able to identify occupations in which the workers are nearly all foreign-born. However, among the 474 separate occupations defined by the Department of Commerce, we find only a handful of majority-immigrant occupations, and none completely dominated by immigrants (legal or illegal). Furthermore, in none of the 474 occupations do illegal immigrants constitute a majority of workers...
Illegal immigrants work mostly in construction, cleaning, maintenance, food service, garment manufacturing, and agricultural occupations. However, the majority of workers even in these areas are either native-born or legal immigrants...
Many occupations often thought to be worked overwhelmingly by immigrants (legal and illegal) are in fact majority native-born:
    Maids and housekeepers: 51 percent native-born
    Taxi drivers and chauffeurs: 54 percent native-born
    Butchers and meat processors: 64 percent native-born
    Grounds maintenance workers: 66 percent native-born
    Construction laborers: 65 percent native-born
    Janitors: 73 percent native-born...
The stereotype that native-born workers in high-immigrant occupations are mostly older, with few young natives willing to do such work, is largely inaccurate. In fact, 34 percent of natives in high-immigrant occupations are age 30 or younger, compared to 29 percent of natives in the rest of labor force...
A number of politically influential groups face very little job competition from immigrants (legal and illegal). For example, only 7 percent of lawyers and judges and 7 percent of farmers and ranchers are immigrants, as are at most 9 percent of English-language reporters and correspondents"

The Fiscal Impact of Immigration in the UK - "Studies consistently find that the net fiscal contribution of the current population of EU-15 migrants (those from the older EU member states) is positive, while that of non-EEA migrants is negative. In contrast, the fiscal contribution of EU10 migrants (from post-2004 EU accession states) is contested... the fiscal impacts of immigration also depend on the effects of migrants on the tax contributions and use of public services of the UK-born. One example is the labour market impact of immigration, especially whether and to what extent the employment of migrants creates more unemployment among domestic workers. Increasing unemployment among domestic workers leads to less tax revenues and increase consumption of welfare benefits. Most fiscal impact studies assume that the impact of migrants on domestic workers employment is negligible, yet empirical findings from the literature on the employment effects of immigration remain mixed (Migration Advisory Committee 2012, Rowthorn 2008). On the other hand, the presence of migrants may also increase the tax contribution of the UK-born. For instance, the presence of low skilled migrant females working as nannies may allow domestic workers to increase their labour supply increasing also their tax contributions"

‘Their heads should be cut off’: Belgian volunteers who wore shorts flee Morocco - "Three young Belgian girls are returning home from volunteer work in Morocco after a local school teacher allegedly threatened to behead them, for wearing shorts. The teacher has been arrested and the charity’s work curtailed.The girls were part of a group of nearly 40 volunteers who were helping to build a road in the remote village of Adar. The charity that organized the trip, Bouworde, posted a video of their activities on social media, prompting the 26-year-old teacher to unleash decapitation threats because their attire didn’t “respect the Muslim faith”... The volunteers’ clothing also attracted the attention of Moroccan lawmaker Ali El Asri, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD), who said: “Since when do Europeans start working in clothing that is meant for sunbathing?”... The debacle comes less than a month after three Moroccan men were sentenced to death for murdering two Scandinavian women in a popular hiking area in the Moroccan Atlas mountains."

Paris police attacker had suffered 'psychotic fit', says wife - "The wife of a police employee who killed four colleagues at the Paris force's HQ says he had a psychotic episode, was incoherent and heard voices the night before, reports say... Harpon was a 45-year-old IT specialist who had worked for the Paris police force for 16 years.Officials said he had been working in the force's intelligence division.Mr Castaner said there had been no warning signs about the attacker, adding: "On the face of it, he looked a model employee."Harpon also had a hearing and a speech disability.He converted to Islam 18 months ago, according to reports, and had recently stopped talking to female colleagues in the office. But a government spokeswoman has said there is no indication he had been radicalised before the attack."

French police worker who slaughtered four colleagues 'supported 2015 terror attacks' - "The civilian police worker who slaughtered four colleagues in a frenzied knife attack adhered to 'a radical vision of Islam' an anti-terror prosecutor said.The assailant, 45-year-old computer expert Michael Harpon, had been in contact with members of the 'Salafist Islamist movement', prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard told reporters.The attacker 'agreed with certain atrocities committed in the name of that religion' and defended the Charlie Hebdo attacks in 2015 which rocked Paris, Ricard said.He had also changed his attire in recent months and wished to no longer 'have certain kinds of contact with women'... he had worked in a section of the police service dedicated to collecting information on jihadist radicalisation.  Several people interviewed by police have since revealed he converted to Islam in 2008, not 18 months ago as had been suggested"

Guns taken from Paris police amid Islamist fears | World | The Times - "Seven Paris police officers have been ordered to hand over their weapons and one has been suspended after being suspected of Islamic radicalism.The orders were issued amid a climate of fear within the Paris police after a Muslim officer stabbed to death four colleagues and injured two more at the force's headquarters on October 3... After the attack Didier Lallement, the Paris police chief, told officers to be on the lookout for signs of radicalisation among their colleagues. A change in appearance, clothes, eating habits or day-to-day customs, "the refusal to shake hands with female staff", a rejection of authority and "collective life" could all be signs... 33 officers had been identified as possible radicals since the stabbings. Seven had been told to hand over their firearms... Concerns had been raised about 63 officers since 2012"
Is this Islamophobic?

Halal supermarket in Paris told to sell pork and alcohol or face closure - "A halal supermarket in Paris has been ordered by local authorities to sell pork and alcohol or face closure.The Good Price mini-market in Colombes has not followed the conditions of its lease, which states the shop must act as a "general food store", the local authority has said.It argues that members of the local community are not being served properly if the shop does not sell pork or alcohol products... "We want a social mix," Mr Besnard added. "We don't want any area that is only Muslim or any area where there are no Muslims."

France has turned into one of the worldwide threats to free speech - "Macron and his government are attempting to unilaterally scrub out the internet of hateful thoughts. The French Parliament has moved toward a new law that would give internet companies like Facebook and Google just 24 hours to remove hateful speech from their sites or face fines of $1.4 million per violation. A final vote is expected next week. Germany passed a similar measure last year and imposed fines of $56 million... Europeans know these companies are quite unlikely to surgically remove content for individual countries. The effect will be similar to the “California Exception.” All states are subject to uniform vehicle emissions standards under the Clean Air Act, but California was given an exception to establish more stringent standards. Rather than create special cars for California, the more stringent standards tend to drive car designs. When it comes to speech controls, Europeans know they can limit speech not only in their countries but practically limit speech in the United States and elsewhere.Indeed, Europeans are building on past success. Back in 2013, a group of Jewish students used French laws to sue Twitter to force it to hand over the identities of anonymous posters of comments deemed anti-Semitic... the father of French conservative presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was fined because he had called people from the Roma minority “smelly.” A French mother was prosecuted because her son went to school with a shirt reading “I am a bomb.” A German man was arrested for having a ringtone with the voice of Adolf Hitler. A German conservative politician was placed under criminal investigation for a tweet in which she accused police of appeasing “barbaric gang raping Muslim hordes of men.” Even German Justice Minister Heiko Maas was censored under his own laws for calling an author an “idiot” on Twitter.The result of such poorly defined laws is predictable. A recent poll found only 18 percent of Germans feel they can speak freely in public. More than 31 percent did not even feel free to express themselves in private among their friends. Just 17 percent of Germans felt free to express themselves on the internet, and 35 percent said free speech is confined to small private circles. That is called a chilling effect, and it should be feared. There are also renewed calls in the United Nations to make hate speech a type of international crime. Muslim nations want blasphemy included, and Israel wants anti-Semitism to be criminalized. Even in our own country, politicians like Howard Dean and various academics have declared that hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment. Representative Frederica Wilson has called for people to be “prosecuted” for making fun of members of Congress. A recent poll found half of college students in the United States do not believe that hate speech should be protected."