Links - 25th December 2010

"The covers of this book are too far apart." - Ambrose Bierce

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Actualités 2002 - Féminisation - "L’Académie française déplore les dommages que l’ignorance de cette doctrine inflige à la langue française et l’illusion selon laquelle une grammaire « féminisée » renforcerait la place réelle des femmes dans la société... Il est inutile, pour désigner un groupe de personnes composé d’hommes et de femmes, de répéter le même substantif ou le même pronom au féminin puis au masculin... De même au singulier, lorsque le masculin revêt un sens générique, de telles surcharges n’apportent aucune information supplémentaire et gênent considérablement la lecture... Le choix systématique et irréfléchi de formes féminisées établit au contraire, à l’intérieur même de la langue, une ségrégation qui va à l’encontre du but recherché"
Ils avaient raison, alors que les féministes américaines tempêtaient

Ladies’ Night perks on condition - ""It's not right to turn us away simply because of the way we look. It should not be called Ladies' Night then, but the Girly Girls' Night, in that case"... When contacted yesterday, Attica and Arena said that they might not extend privileges of their Ladies' Night theme to women who dress up in men's clothing or those who look masculine... "We allow a woman to enjoy Ladies' Night privileges under two conditions: She has to be dressed in a feminine manner and the gender on her identity card has to state that she is female." The club adopts the belief that women dressed boyishly are prepared to forfeit their privileges as they view themselves as being more masculine than feminine, he said. This policy has not caused the club any problems so far, he added."
Considering that Ladies' Night is not right in the first place...

WikiLeaks' Assange complains he's victim of leaks - "Assange claimed the newspaper was ``selectively publishing'' parts of it, and questioned the timing of the leak, saying it was given to the paper a day before his bail hearing last week... The Times quoted Assange as saying there is ``very suggestive evidence'' that the two women were motivated by revenge, money and police pressure... Asked by the Times whether he is promiscuous, Assange replied: ``I am not promiscuous. I just really like women''"
EPIC FAIL!; "A rape victim is frustrated by the need for objective evidence and the trial makes her feel as if she has been raped again in court"

Wikileaks: a Big Dangerous US Government Con Job [Voltaire] - "What is emerging from all the sound and Wikileaks fury in Washington is that the entire scandal is serving to advance a long-standing Obama and Bush agenda of policing the until-now free Internet. Already the US Government has shut the Wikileaks server in the United States though no identifiable US law has been broken"

Recognizing Creative Leadership: Can Creative Idea Expression Negatively Relate to Perceptions of Leadership Potential? - "The negative association between expressing creative ideas and leadership potential is robust and underscores an important but previously unidentified bias against selecting effective leaders"
More simply: creative people are not seen as leaders

The latest WikiLeaks revelation: 1 in three British Muslim students back killing for Islam and 40% want Sharia law - "A survey of 600 Muslim and 800 non-Muslim students at 30 universities throughout the UK conducted by the Centre for Social Cohesion found that 32 percent of Muslims on UK campuses believe killing in the name of religion is justified. A U.S. diplomatic cable from January 2009 quoted the same poll as saying 54 per cent wanted a Muslim party to represent their world view in Parliament and 40 per cent want Muslims in the UK to be under Sharia law... unemployment rates were higher among Muslim men and women than in any other religion. Muslims were also found to have the highest disability rates - with 24 per cent of men and 21 per cent of women claiming a disability - while the cable also cited statistics claiming Muslims were also the most likely group to be unavailable for work or not actively seeking employment due to illness, their studies or family commitments"
Addendum: The Guardian shows how problematic this article is

[GPGT] Singtel wanna sue me - "TAKE NOTICE that unless the said sum S$0 is paid to our clients directly within 3 working days from the date hereof: we have strict instructions to institute legal proceedings against you forthwith. In such event, you shall be liable for further cost on an indemnity basis and interests incurred thereby. We trust that it will be in your interest not to render such a course of action necessary"

8-Year-Olds Publish Scientific Bee Study - "Getting the paper published was a struggle as well. In particular, several journals got stuck on the fact that the paper doesn’t cite any references... “I thought science was just like math, really boring,” he said. "But now I see that it’s actually quite fun""

TRON Guy's Costume -- Banned from Movie Theater - "They won't let TRON Guy see the new remake in the costume that made him an Internet legend"

Boy, 13, Busted For Illegal Marker Possession - "The marker ban--which apparently is aimed at curbing graffiti--stems from a city ordinance making it illegal to possess spray paint or a permanent marker on private property (without the owner’s permission)"

Valuations: The World's Most Expensive Bowl of Noodles? - "10,000 New Taiwan dollars (US$324)... It took the chef 15 years to perfect his recipe, which includes just 120 grams of noodles, five four-inch squares of beef, one piece of tendon, and of course, soup... “I’ve had customers take my soup base to labs to ensure that it doesn’t have any carcinogenic ingredients in it”"

Why some of King Tut's Treasures should be in the British Museum - "The Carnarvon estate was all-but evaporated funding the Tutankhamun expedition. By the time the pharaoh was found nearly all of Carnarvon's properties had gone and he was dead. As the present-day Lord Carnarvon confides, "There would have been no guarantee that Tutankhamun would have been discovered to this day had (Carter and Carnarvon) not found it""

The AWARE Catfight - "I’ve never had much time for AWARE... It screams for equal rights, and yet it has never championed the right of women to do NS. It argues for gender neutral terms, and yet it has never sought to change the Women’s Charter to say, Men, Women, Gay, Lesbian, Transvestite, Transexual, and Everything in-Between Charter. It demands equal treatment of the sexes, and yet it has never argued for the use of the rotan as corporal punishment for women criminals. It admonishes anyone who treats women like fragile pretty ornaments, and yet it does not fight against Western notions of romance and chivalry. Like I said, I have little time for it. However, I dislike Christian fundamentalists even more"

I love cycling in a summer dress but it has its embarrassing pitfalls

Cycle Chic™ - The Original from Copenhagen.

Pourquoi ma femme refuse que je la touche? - "Q: Quand j'approche ma femme, elle me dit d'aller chez ma mère pour trouver de l'affection
A: l’idéal serait qu’elle fasse un travail sur elle pour changer et apprivoiser l’idée que la tendresse et la sexualité sont des choses magnifiques et enrichissante... n homme adulte ne cherche pas de l’amour auprès de sa mère, mais auprès de sa femme. Peut-être tente-t-elle de vous faire passer un message comme : « je ne veux pas une relation avec un homme adulte, car je n’en suis pas capable. Je préfère que tu restes un enfant. »"