Links - 29th May 2012

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." - Anonymous, often attributed to Dan Quayle

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Experts: Euro was troubled from birth | McClatchy - "“This first cut has released all the old demons,” Whitman said. “We’re back to calling the Greeks lazy, the Italians shady, the British disconnected, and the Germans bent on domination. It didn’t take long, did it?”... “The nickname is ‘one-size-fits-none monetary policy’”"

The 140-Character Fatwa - "Despite assurances from the Saudi government that it is cracking down on religious radicalism, the kingdom's top clerics continue calling for attacks on Christians across the Arab world... Saudi Arabia's grand mufti, Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, told the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society -- which has been designated as a "specially designated global terrorist" entity by the United States and the United Nations for arming and financing al Qaeda -- that it is "necessary to destroy all the churches in the Arabian Peninsula." And there's more where that came from. The mufti also believes that proponents of women's rights are "advocates of evil and misguidance"... With the help of ConStrat, a Washington-based technology company, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies collected and analyzed more than 40,000 social media entries in both English and Arabic... of the thousands of messages ConStrat scored, 75 percent could be described as xenophobic, bigoted, or openly hateful. Some Saudi clerics like Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, head imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, still describe Jews as "sons of monkeys and pigs""
Islamophobia!

Revealed: a woman's 'sexiest time' - "A survey has concluded that around 11pm on a Saturday night is the most common time for a woman to feel amorous... Forty per cent of the 1,000 women questioned in the British magazine Women's Health survey admitted to having "al fresco sex". Regular lovemaking outside was labelled the "most exciting" way to become aroused, followed by sex at work and on the beach"

Bisexual Role Models?
Do asexuals need role models too? What about foot fetishists? Or swingers?

Stand Up, Walk Around, Even Just For '20 Minutes' - "Reynolds recommends standing for two minutes every 20 minutes while desk-bound — even if you can't move around your office... Use chocolate milk to replenish sugars after an intense workout. Reynolds calls it an "ideal recovery beverage" because it has the right ratio of carbs and proteins to aid your body's recovery process."

Photo: An entire class of high school students receive IV drips while cramming for exams - "Mr. Xia, director of Office of Academic Affairs, said that what is delivered to the students intravenously is nothing but amino acids to restore their health"

Everybody Else Can Quit Cosplaying Now, This Guy Won It - "The guy in the clip has created an Iron Man costume that does really amazing things - things that I think are achieved with CGI in the Marvel movies"

Piracy, what piracy? Avengers smashes box office records - 3 lessons - "1). While piracy is out there, it evidently is not killing the motion picture industry.
2. Let people pay to watch a movie. The Avengers didn't quite get simultaneous worldwide release, but it hit screens in many countries, including New Zealand, at the same time. Fewer frustrated viewers in the colonies means less opportunity for pirates...
3. Make a good movie. With Joss Whedon as director."

Mahatma Gandhi and his anti-tea campaign - "In the early 1920s, Acharya Prafulla Ray, an eminent chemist and a passionate nationalist, published cartoons equating tea with poison. Later, Mahatma Gandhi wrote a chapter in his book, A Key to Health, explaining why tannin, the compound that gives tea its astringency, was bad for human consumption. He called tea "an intoxicant", in the same class of avoidable substances as tobacco and cacao. Another widely held belief was that tea made the skin darker. Among a people obsessed with fair skin, especially in north India, this amplified the political message as a taboo"

Schoolgirl Hogs Subway Seats with Her Furry Friends

Malaysia clerics issue fatwa against holding demonstrations - "'Rioting, causing disturbance and damaging public property are all forbidden by Islam,' National Fatwa Committee chairman Abdul Shukor Husin told state media"

SKorea finds smuggled capsules contain human flesh - "The capsules were made in northeastern China from dead babies whose bodies were chopped into small pieces and dried on stoves before being turned into powder"

Would you date/marry a blue-collar worker? - "In a poll conducted by the New Paper, 100 percent of 50 female undergraduates aged 21 to 28 said they would not date a blue-collar worker... "In fact, if a graduate were to scoff at the idea of marrying down, then I'd say her years of education have been wasted on her""

Ravi Shashtri beef byte sparks row - "Former Indian captain Ravi Shastri landed in a mess after he made public his love for Biltong—a dish made from dried beef. He now has a petition seeking action against him for hurting the religious sentiments of his community... "The youth of this country look up to Aishwarya Rai. By kissing the way she did in Dhoom, an irreparable damage was done to our culture, so I filed against them""

Can Men and Women Be Friends? - "Heidi Reeder, at Boise State University, confirmed that "friendship attraction" or a connection devoid of lust, is a bona fide type of bond that people experience. Distinguishing between romantic, sexual and friendly feelings, however, can be exceedingly difficult... Topping women's list of dislikes: sexual tension. Men, on the other hand, more frequently replied that sexual attraction was a prime reason for initiating a friendship, and that it could even deepen a friendship. Either way, 62 percent of all subjects reported that sexual tension was present in their cross-sex friendships... men rated cross-sex friendships as being much higher in overall quality, enjoyment and nurturance than their same-sex friendships... women rated their same-sex friendships higher on all these counts. They expect more emotional rewards from friendship than men do, explained Sapadin, so they're easily disappointed when they don't receive them... "Friendships with men are lighter, more fun," said Sapadin. "Men aren't so sensitive about things"... of more than 300 college students surveyed, 67 percent reported having had sex with a friend. Interestingly, 56 percent of those subjects did not transition the friendship into a romantic relationship, suggesting that they preferred friendship over sex... women and men categorized as androgynous had twice the number of cross-sex friends"

Pakistan death decree over wedding video - "Four women and two men have been sentenced to death in northern Pakistan for singing and dancing at a wedding... Afridi said the events stemmed from a dispute between two tribes and that there was no evidence the men and women had been inter-mingling... "This is tribal enmity. The video has been engineered to defame the tribe""

Diablo 3's Launch Fiasco Proves Video Game Journalism Fails - "As usual, the major gaming websites and industry-reliant video game journalists are tooting their own horns, telling their readers to "shut up" and wait or do something else instead of being frustrated that the $60 product they just bought doesn't work... the video game media industry is hanging off the balls of publishers... I don't blame gamers for being savvy enough to find outlets to express this rage, it certainly beats being spoon-fed patronizing notions that the publisher is always right; video games are just a luxury; consumers should never be outraged at faulty products, or demanding quality equates to being a whiny, entitled brat... how many day-one buyers of Diablo III actually knew that the always-on DRM was to protect Blizzard's Real-Money Auction House?... we at least have hackers to thank for keeping us informed about when we're being swindled"

Zoos’ Bitter Choice - To Save Some Species, Letting Others Die - NYTimes.com - "Dr. Monfort wants zoos to raise more money for the conservation of animals in the wild and to make that effort as important as erecting fancier accommodations for their captive collections. Zoos, he said, should build facilities — not necessarily open to the public — that are large enough to handle whole herds of animals so that more natural reproductive behavior can occur. And less emphasis should be placed on animals that are popular attractions but are doing fine in the wild, like African elephants and California sea lions, Dr. Monfort said, adding that they should be replaced with animals in desperate need of rescuing... As standards for animal care rise and zoos install larger, more natural-looking exhibits, there is room for fewer animals"
A zoo is not [just] a wildlife refuge

Forget brains, we want the pan-Asian look - "Last year, the pageant organisers dumped their usual height and weight requirements and focused on finding intelligent women instead. Potential contestants were posed tough questions like being asked for their views on infanticide in India and plastic surgery. But it didn't work - Singapore's Miss World representative, polytechnic student May Hsu, did not place in the international finals in London last November... "Since we are a multi-racial country, a pan-Asian looking girl would, ironically, be a representation of many of the races we have here"... Those who supported the pan-Asian focus in the pageant felt that imposing a preference for looks was no different from say, giving a height requirement. Said marketing executive Karen Lau, 27: "To say that it's discrimination is nonsense. "I'm short and plump and will never see the light of day in a beauty pageant. But people don't see pageants as discriminating against short and fat people""
Did people complain they discriminated against stupid girls last year?