Links - 21st April 2013

Pakistani man accuses ambassador to U.S. of blasphemy - "According to Pakistan's blasphemy laws, anyone found to have uttered words derogatory to the Prophet Muhammad can be put to death. Those who are accused are sometimes lynched by mobs even before they reach court... Blasphemy accusations are on the rise, according to a report released by the Islamabad-based think tank, Center for Security Studies. At least 52 people accused of blasphemy have been killed since 1990. The charge is difficult to defend since blasphemy is not defined and courts often hesitate to hear evidence, fearful that reproducing it will also be blasphemy. Recent cases have included a teacher who made a mistake setting homework, a man who threw away a business card belonging to a man name Mohammed"

A Devastating 26-Word Challenge to President Obama's Leadership - "Mr. President, what it comes down to is every American has the right to know when their government believes that it is allowed to kill them."

Wow, Someone Invented Mass Effect-Like Medi-Gel - "[Veti-Gel] close any size wound that it is applied to,” Landolina says. “As long as you can cover it, it can close it.”"

Pre-marital sex 'usual' in China - " Research published by the State Family Planning Association showed that in most regions, 60-70% of people had lost their virginity before they applied to get married. The findings underscored a dramatic shift in attitudes towards pre-marital sex in China, where in the 1970s and 1980s, such behaviour was still considered taboo."

Sex before marriage more accepted in China - "2004： Forty percent said they were understanding of and agreeable to the concept of cohabitation, and 30 percent said they had not formed a clear idea. Few would have supported such behavior ten years ago, when the majority of university students were against cohabitation, as it signified moral depravity and immaturity."

Game of Thrones - 1995 Style - YouTube

What's the best office temperature? - "The chief operating officer at Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, has revealed that the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg likes to keep the temperature low, 15 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit). A piece in The Times newspaper over the weekend revealed that people there keep jackets to ward off the cold. Lucy Kellaway, Financial Times management columnist, explained to Today presenter Justin Webb that this is a way to "stop cyber-loafing" and explained that Facebook are "make people so uncomfortable that they have no option but to actually do their work"."

Internet Social Justice Mob Goes Batshit on Activist, Has No Sense of Irony - "Have you ever said something sort of dumb and immature on the internet? When it was brought to your attention, did you own up to it, acknowledge that your saying it was wrong, apologize for the offense and pain it caused, and immediately explain how you've learned from the experience and will make sure it won't happen again? For sex positive educator and internet denizen Laci Green, that very series of events was followed by a deluge of harassment, defamatory gang ups, public humiliation, and, ultimately, death threats — and all from people who were supposedly allies. The world is a rainbow of assholes... After Green issued her apology, Tumblr basically exploded with calls for her to shut up that went from a trickle to the roaring, raging river of vitriol that, from the looks of it, was the result of a hyper-sensitive pissing contest. It seems resentment toward Green had been dammed up for awhile in that community and was just waiting to be set free — the fact that Green's an atheist, and in the past has made comments on how Islam and Mormonism perpetuate sexism and have led to personal strife for her and her family (Green's father is from Iran and his family is Muslim, her mother is Mormon) have led to charges of Islamophobia. Green's also white, a biological female who presents as a feminine woman, able-bodied, and slender, which led to charges of her being ableist, transphobic, ignorant of the strife of people of other races, and an all-around idiot dummy jerk... One message contained a picture of her apartment building and came with text that called her a "stupid transphobic cunt" and told her that they knew where she'd live and that they'd smash her face. Neil Gaiman and John Green lept to Green's defense, which was met with bristling by other people who claim that Laci Green is white and nonwhite people get harassed all the time and no one makes a big deal out of it, so therefore they don't support Laci Green. Someone brought a folding chair into the ring! Everyone weighed in! Clusterfuck city!... This is far from the first time that a group of allegedly peace-loving left wing equality nerds decided to show their ugly side and gang up on another, more prominent person in the digital realm"
The fact that this is on Jezebel is a great exercise in irony.
Gem of a post: Masterpost: Why Laci Green Sucks., calling her Islamophobic, transphobic, cissexist, saying she has internalised misogyny etc

Beer goggles don’t exist - "Being drunk doesn’t make you find ugly people more attractive... “We still see others basically as they are,” she says. “There is no imagined physical transformation – just more desire.” The part of the brain that makes us want to shag is the last to be affected by drinking, and functions until we are ready to pass out. Booze does, however, make you more spontaneous. “Alcohol switches off the rational and decision making areas of the brain while leaving the areas to do with sexual desire relatively intact”"

This Is How Asians Pose (96 pics)
How to ACBC

STOMP - Singapore Seen - Confession: Army life transformed my BF into a pervert

Woman at centre of underage paid sex to testify in-camera - "Deputy Public Prosecutor Kavitha Uthrapathy pushed for a private court hearing, saying the woman is a "very vulnerable witness" and is "susceptible to mental and emotional injury"... defence lawyer Selva K Naidu said it is "difficult to accept she was a victim"... Mr Naidu also pointed out that the girl received S$43,400 from providing sexual services and she kept half (S$21,700) for herself... The prosecution asked Tang why he did not change the girl's age to 18 on the website that promised sexual services, when he found out her real age in 2010. Tang replied that the girl was 17 years and 8 months old, and it appeared logical to him to round up her age. He also claimed that he was unaware that the legal age for a prostitute is 18. Tang was also questioned if he had decided on the rates of S$600 and S$650 for the girl. He explained he obtained the girl's services from her previous escort agency, and she had pressed him for higher rates when she joined him. He said he did not ask for her identity card (IC) on meeting her, and only found out about her true age much later in 2010. But he admitted he had a "nagging thought at the back of his mind" that the girl was below 18 as she would repeatedly bring her older sister's IC to see her clients."

Polyamory May Be Good for You - "an estimated 4 to 5 percent of Americans are looking outside their relationship for love and sex — with their partner's full permission... "People in these relationships really communicate. They communicate to death," said Bjarne Holmes, a psychologist at Champlain College in Vermont. All of that negotiation may hold a lesson for the monogamously inclined, Holmes told LiveScience... So far, studies suggest that polyamorous individuals are well-educated, holding more master's and doctoral degrees than the general population, said Champlain's Holmes, who is conducting ongoing research of an online sample of more than 5,000 polyamorous individuals. Despite their smarts, they're not particularly wealthy. "That tells me that it's probably people who are often more focused on experiences in life," than money"

Girls Who Bash Girls Who Dress Sexy - "Trisha says that because of the way she dresses, women have been calling her a slut for years. She wishes women would be more supportive of each other and stop trying to tear each other down... Kira is a conservative blogger and Internet radio host. “If a woman dresses like a slut, calls herself a slut and acts like a slut, all happily, she shouldn’t be surprised when people treat her like a slut. I’m not a slut-shamer, but I am an advocate for modesty,” she says. Kira says she is concerned for young women who she believes are over-sexualized and seem to be trying to outdo each other with their risqué behaviors. While she doesn't believe young women need to dress like nuns, Kira thinks they should give more thought into the image they are projecting. “Empowerment doesn’t come from saying, ‘I’m a slut,’” she says."
Misogynist: A man who hates women as much as women hate one another.

How to tell if you're still a farang - "You're a farang if you still comprehend satire and sarcasm and find it amusing... If you've got an appointment with a Thai at 5pm, add another 15 minutes. If the meeting is on Friday, you'd better add 30 minutes. If the person you're meeting is a Thai woman, you'd better add an hour. Now you've got the idea... You're a farang if you still expect Thai politicians to resign over offences like committing adultery while in office. The resignation of someone like General Patraeus, a decorated war hero and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency over an admitted affair with his married biographer would be unheard of here... In Thailand we prefer our political and military leaders to be unshackled by high ethical and moral standards, unhindered by the demands of personal accountability and unburdened by the sense of shame that would make lesser men breakdown under the glare of public scrutiny."

Peanut Butter And Jelly Racist? Portland School Principal Ties Sandwich To White Privilege - ""[W]hat's the verdict on grilled cheese? Racist? Sexist?" one person tweeted. "All sandwichs are racist! It's the name "sandwich" the poor tortas are discriminated against!" another wrote. Robb Cowie, the communications director for Portland Public schools, told Fox News that the district was on board with Gutierrez's comments."
EVERYTHING IS RACIST

Massachusetts backs off school bake sale ban - "Cupcakes, brownies and other baked goodies will be spared the chopping block at Massachusetts schools after Gov. Deval Patrick backed down from planned regulations to prohibit the sale of the treats at bake sales during school hours... The regulations, which had been set to take effect Aug. 1, were approved by state health officials charged with overseeing a new school nutrition law aimed in part at battling childhood obesity."

New York Mom Fights Middle School That Banned Her Bike Rides With Son - "Janette Kaddo Marino said their 3-mile rides to and from school in Saratoga Springs have been met with stiff opposition from officials and even a state trooper who claimed it was unsafe — and illegal — for her 12-year-old son Adam to travel on his own pair of wheels"

Marking in red ink banned in case it upsets schoolchildren - "the opposition to using red ink is now a worldwide trend with recent guidelines to schools in Queensland, Australia warning that the colour can damage students psychologically."

Lululemon yoga pants banned at Ottawa high school unless they’re covered up

Schools ban children making best friends - "TEACHERS are banning schoolkids from having best pals — so they don’t get upset by fall-outs. Instead, the primary pupils are being encouraged to play in large groups."

Toronto's Earl Beatty Public School Bans Balls - "The ban was placed by school administrators after a parent suffered a concussion after being hit in the head by a soccer ball."

UGG boots banned in school. Education crisis solved! - "Those "problems"? Cell phone contraband, hidden in the cozy space between the ankle and boot. School policy states students are allowed to bring their phones to school but they have to be turned off and kept in their lockers during classroom time. All that roomy fur has become the perfect place to smuggle handheld technology into the classroom... One parent finds the ban discriminatory towards girls: "I'm assuming this is applying to mostly girls since I rarely see any boys wearing Uggs.... Pockets, bras, socks, what's next?? I think this is absurd!" Meanwhile, one pupil makes the most convincing case for reversing the ban: It won't work. "Most girls hide [cell phones] in there bra, or their waist band, it's ineffective they will just keep finding other places""

New York City Bans References To Dinosaurs, Birthdays, Halloween, Dancing In Standardized Tests - "According to the paper, the mandate is meant to curb fear that references to those topics might stir controversy among students. Dinosaurs, officials said, could bring up evolution, Halloween could suggest paganism, and birthdays might create animosity among students who are Jehovah's witnesses, since they don't celebrate them. CBS New York reports the word "poverty" is also not allowed, as "words that suggest wealth" might cause some students to feel excluded... The department is also banning mentions of "divorce" and "disease," in case students have loved ones who are separated or suffering from an illness. "Slavery" is also flagged and "terrorism" is considered too scary. Department officials told FOX News Nation that the mandates are simply meant to be sensitive to a diverse student body... Robert Pondiscio, a spokesperson for the Core Knowledge Foundation, says the new policy gets rid of topics children relate to the most"