Links - 23rd September 2010

"My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?" - Charles M. Schulz

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Toilet Seat Deities! > APOLOGIA - "We are two women. Two women who make these toilet seats, lovingly, with our own hands, in our own home... We feel that it is important to put strong female images out there in the universe to attempt to counteract the negativity that is and has been directed at woman throughout the millennia."
Somehow putting images of famous female figures on toilet seats is empowering. A more plausible alternative feminist interpretation would be that it is insulting by associating women with night soil and imprisoning them in the bathroom

Terry Pratchett creates a sword with meteorites

Why is it America's job to save the world from asteroids?
If it was China and the asteroid was headed for a country they didn't like, they'd let it hit

Why Minimum Wage Should be Increased - "In a monopsonistic market, a minimum wage brings the supply and demand equilibrium closer to its most efficient levels. Therefore, minimum wage can actually reduce unemployment under this theory. Whether the labor market is actually monopsonistic has been debated, but the argument is a better explanation of labor markets than the supply and demand model"

Why do costs over-run? (on the 2012 London Olympics) - "2003: Consultants Arup put total cost of building and staging the Games at £1.796bn
2003: Tessa Jowell launches bid in May telling MPs it will cost £2.375bn - including a 50% contingency
2005: Bid succeeds in July with "prudent" estimate of preparing for games of £2.4bn
2006: Tessa Jowell says Olympic Park costs up to £3.3bn
2007: Olympic Park budget now at £5.3bn - including regeneration and infrastructure
2007: Total budget, including contingency, security and tax, reaches £9.35bn"
Those who think YOG cost overruns are out of this world need to get some perspective; also see: Olympic Games Cost Overruns over time: Montreal 1976 hit 11.9x the original budget

The shocking effects of being single. - 1 - Sex & Relationships on xinmsn Lifestyle
I'd love being a columnist. You can pull 'facts' out of your ass and no one will call you out

Is This the Saddest IMDB Profile Ever? - "The profile, being called "The Saddest Entry on IMDB," lists Sellors as the uncredited "Woman who urinates herself." Since 2005, she has skyrocketed from being the 1.2 millionth most popular actor on IMDB to 1,442nd thanks to her many fans"

29 Images Define The Hard To Describe Concept Of Irony.
The one with the swastika is a great demonstration of American ignorance

Johann Hari: We need to stop being such cowards about Islam - "How did Christianity lose its ability to terrorise people with phantasms of sin and Hell?... critics pored over the religion's stories and found gaping holes of logic or morality in them... Ask enough tough questions and faith is inevitably pushed farther and farther back into the misty realm of metaphor – where it is less likely to inspire people to kill and die for it... The greatest censorship is internal: it is in all the books that will never be written and all the films that will never be shot, because we are afraid. We need to acknowledge the double-standard – and that it will cost Muslims in the end. Insulating a religion from criticism – surrounding it with an electric fence called "respect" – keeps it stunted at its most infantile and fundamentalist stage... Among Vikings, it was more normal than today to have your arm chopped off, but that didn't mean it wasn't agony... You cannot say that Mohamed's decision to marry a young girl has to be judged by the standards of his time, and then demand that we follow his moral standards to the letter... It is condescending to treat Muslims like excitable children who cannot cope with the probing, mocking treatment we hand out to Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism... There is now a pincer movement trying to silence critical discussion of Islam. To one side, fanatics threaten to kill you; to the other, critics call you "Islamophobic""

The argument against ladies nights - "Clubs promote drink discounts to attract more women -- because that means more men will show up. I believe the technical term for this is: Sex sells. So, dudes end up paying full price for cover and drinks and, in many scenarios, they are essentially helping to pay the way of the female patrons. They are paying for lady-tainment, whether it's explicit or not. It's a lot like allowing a man to buy you a drink -- he is paying for your attention and time. A lot of women are perfectly comfortable with that and others, like myself, not so much -- but I'd argue there should at least be some consistency there... If the roles were reversed, we would be in full-on protest mode"
People fight harder for their interests than other people's rights

Women end up less happy than men - "Less able to achieve their life goals, women end up unhappier than men later in life – even though they start out happier... after the age of 48, men's overall happiness exceeds women's happiness. These gender patterns of overall happiness correlate to patterns in two significant aspects of life satisfaction: family and finances. As Plagnol explains: In later life it is "men [who] come closer to fulfilling their aspirations, are more satisfied with their family lives and financial situations, and are the happier of the two." Women and men have fairly similar life goals when it comes to love... The saddest period of the average man's life – his 20s – is also the period when he is most likely to be single. Young men are also more dissatisfied than young women with their financial situations, not because they are worse off, but because they want more... After 34, men are more likely to be married than women, and the gap only widens with age"
One commenter pointed out that the unhappy men will off themselves as time goes by, which could account for rising happiness

Disinfecting hand gels don't help stop swine flu spread

Fat men enjoy longer lasting sex scientific research show - "Men with high fat levels were found to have higher levels of the female sex hormone oestradiol, which disrupts the chemical balance in their body, making them last longer during sex... "We found that premature ejaculators were leaner""
One comment: "Of coarse they take longer , they grind slower and have to stop to get their breath back every minute"

Six dead after US breakfast killing spree in Kentucky
Clearly the US needs more guns to deter crime

O citizens and permanent residents, where art thou? « Standing Sushi Bar - "I am unable to open because I simply can not find local service staff... Singapore dictates a new company must hire only citizens and permanent residents for the first 3 months... I had 95 people respond to that job ad – 95 people that wanted a service crew position. Guess how many were Singapore citizens? ZERO. ZERO OUT OF NINETY-FIVE. Two out of the ninety-five applicants were Singapore permanent residents. Only one showed up for an interview."

Public Consultation on the proposed Women's Charter Amendments
Naturally, they don't let men claim maintenance from ex-wives zzz

African Manufacturing: Bono’s Naivety Continues… | Kenyanentrepreneur.com - "I just saw an article in the Wall Street Journal that mentions Bono’s fashion line, which was supposed to help African manufacturer’s. The clothes are now being manufactured in China... I think [Bono's] goal of eliminating poverty in Africa is hinged with a level of ignorance, arrogance and extreme naivety... The problem with Africa is culture. We do not have a culture of production. We make nothing and we produce nothing... 'Shipments from Africa arrived late, and retailers complained about the clothes’ design and fit, leading to poor sales'... 'If you want to argue with the Chinese, you better have the same standards for the governments in Africa'"

YouTube - Bach Panther - "Fugue n°XXIV extraite des 60 "Préludes & Fugues dans les Trente Tonalités" de Stéphane Delplace.
D'après le thème de la Panthère Rose d'Henri Mancini."

Four reasons why high-fructose corn syrup is probably not the Devil - "Most of the high-fructose corn syrup you'll run into is only 55% fructose. Other natural sweeteners, like honey and apple sugar, are also in the range of around 50% fructose. There's no solid evidence that shows this fructose to be any different than the fructose in high-fructose corn syrup. If you're really concerned about fructose (And I'm not sure you should be yet. Most of those studies are dealing with pure fructose in test tube or animal research, not real-life mixtures of sugar in human bodies.) your best bet may be maple syrup, which is only 1% fructose."

How Can Beer Make Your Girlfriend's Boobs Bigger? | SPIKE - "Since I've been drinking [beer] competitively, my boobs are a lot bigger. At least a full cup size"
I'm surprised they actually got people with credentials to testify. But apparently it doesn't work