Links - 29th April 2014

Claire used £1 Nivea cream on half her face - and £105 Crème de la Mer on the other. The results are VERY revealing - "While I felt that both creams made my skin look great, if you can get better results for a fraction of the price of Crème de la Mer and a lot less hassle in the morning, the winner is obvious."

Eric Pepke's answer to Sexism: Why do some men hate women? - Quora - "whatever you hate or dislike, women are somehow supposed to be exempt. This is terribly sexist, of course, but this is a kind of sexism that hasn't been challenged much by feminism and has been embraced by quite a lot of feminism. As the influential Marilyn French said, "women are great, and men are awful." In the words of Frank Zappa, "if you want to believe that women are a wonderful species that: [1] never goes to the toilet; [2] can't possibly do anything wrong; [3] is completely superior to men, then believe it -- whatever makes you feel good." Add to this the expectation that if you dislike one woman, you must hate them all. The result is a kind of reality distortion field around any and all women. It's OK to hate a man for what he's done. It's also OK to hate men in general. But if you say anything against any woman, let alone anything against what women tend to do in a culture, you're a misogynist. I'm sure that there exist men who hate all women as a sex, just as there are women who hate all men as a sex. However, I've never actually met one, and I've met a lot of people. It's usually something that men are accused of, mostly because nobody is really willing to listen to, let alone discuss what they say."

Crystal Linn's answer to Feminism: Is feminism making women meaner? - Quora - " I have always ended up feeling attacked and harassed by feminists. The ones I've met (which have unfortunately been a large number) have been openly hateful of women that aren't feminist or are against the feminist movement (there goes the whole "It's equality for both sexes" argument if they're that upset about anti-feminist women), have been disrespectful of different opinions and are unwilling to have a calm debate that doesn't include insults, and are generally very offensive. I've been called a woman-hater, a misogynist (sooooo many times I'm just starting to call myself that at this point), and I've even been called a "pathetic excuse for a woman," just to name a few of the insults that have gotten thrown at me. Just because I'm not a feminist... I wouldn't even categorize some of these women (many of them who were classmates of mine) as radical feminists. They were the ones that were preaching about how feminist is equal rights for both sexes, etc., etc., and yet...if you are a woman and argue with them, they attack you faster than a wolf would a sheep. I'm sorry, but that's not right. I get attacked by women who are neither feminist nor anti-feminist because of my views regarding this ideology. In what world are we living in where a woman cannot simply state that she doesn't agree with modern feminism? If even women that don't consider themselves part of the feminist ideology are willing to turn on women in their own gender that disagree, then yes, feminism has made women meaner."

McDonald's sued for $1.5m by customer given just one NAPKIN - "A McDonald's customer is suing the fast food restaurant for $1.5million because he was given only one napkin with his meal. Webster Lucas claims he is now unable to work because of the 'undue mental anguish' and 'emotional distress' caused by the incident... Mr Lucas, who is African-American, says the he was racially abused by the manager when he went back to the counter to ask for more... The employee, who is named only as 'Angel' and is said to be of Mexican-American appearance, is alleged to have mumbled something that sounded like 'you people', Mr Lucas claims"
It seems many Americans are very mentally fragile

17 Mouthwatering Photos From The Legendary Sushi Restaurant Where Obama Just Ate Dinner

Vegetarian, vegan or meat eater: Which is correct? - "Even though I was an expert in vegetarian eating, after 21 years it caught up with me. I started getting really ill. My protein levels were plummeting, and the more protein I ate, the worse I got. Finally after some tests, we discovered I had become allergic to all the vegetarian sources of protein! I was in a serious quandary - my kids were raised vegetarian, my friends were all vegetarian, I encouraged vegetarianism in my practice - my whole life was wrapped up in it! This was to be a major life change, but I had no choice. Once I started eating meat again, my health drastically improved. The evidence was there. Something else surprising happened. There were eight of us women who hung out together. We were all health care practitioners, very active and "healthy," and all vegetarian. When I confessed to eating meat, I found all seven of the other women had been secretly eating meat too because they were also getting sicker and sicker."

Study: Vegetarians Less Healthy, Lower Quality Of Life Than Meat-Eaters - "Vegetarians may have a lower BMI and drink alcohol sparingly, but vegetarian diets are tied to generally poorer health, poorer quality of life and a higher need for health care than their meat-eating counterparts. A new study from the Medical University of Graz in Austria finds that vegetarians are more physically active, drink less alcohol and smoke less tobacco than those who consume meat in their diets. Vegetarians also have a higher socioeconomic status and a lower body mass index. But the vegetarian diet — characterized by a low consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol that includes increased intake of fruits, vegetables and whole-grain products — carries elevated risks of cancer, allergies and mental health disorders. Vegetarians were twice as likely to have allergies, a 50 percent increase in heart attacks and a 50 percent increase in incidences of cancer."
Paper: "When analyzing the frequency of chronic diseases, we found significantly higher cancer incidence rates in vegetarians than in subjects with other dietary habits. This is in line with previous findings, reporting that evidence about cancer rates, abdominal
complaints, and all-cause mortality in vegetarians is rather inconsistent... Several studies have shown the mental health effects of a vegetarian diet to be divergent"

» Report: Cops Continued Beating Dead, Unarmed Suspect Alex Jones'

Time to pack in your job: Someone FINALLY needs a cat vids curator

Sensitivity is a two-way street - "Indonesians never tire of reminding Singapore that we should be "sensitive" and "neighbourly". But Indonesians do not seem to believe that they should be equally "sensitive" to their neighbours. "Sensitivity" and "neighbourliness" are to them a one-way street... What would Indonesians think if the Singapore Navy were to go crazy and name one of its warships after Noordin Top, the terrorist behind bombings in Jakarta in 2004 and 2009 and who may have assisted in the 2002 Bali bombings?... as the respected American scholar of Indonesia, the late Dr George McTurnan Kahin, wrote in 1964 while Konfrontasi was still ongoing, that episode of aggression towards its neighbours was the consequence of the "powerful, self-righteous thrust of Indonesian nationalism" and the widespread belief that "because of (the) country's size… it has a moral right to leadership"."

Computer learns language by playing games - "“Games are used as a test bed for artificial-intelligence techniques simply because of their complexity,” says Branavan, who was first author on both ACL papers. “Every action that you take in the game doesn’t have a predetermined outcome, because the game or the opponent can randomly react to what you do. So you need a technique that can handle very complex scenarios that react in potentially random ways.” Moreover, Barzilay says, game manuals have “very open text. They don’t tell you how to win. They just give you very general advice and suggestions, and you have to figure out a lot of other things on your own.” Relative to an application like the software-installing program, Branavan explains, games are “another step closer to the real world.”"

Porn addiction isn't real research suggests - "After reviewing current studies into pornography addiction, he discovered that 37 per cent of studies describe excessive use of porn as an addiction, while 27 per cent of articles contain no data at all. His study published in the journal 'Current Sexual Health Reports', also suggests that there are no negative side effects for a person who excessively uses porn, and that there is no link between erectile dysfunction. Dr Ley added that experiments into the condition based on these articles are therefore carried out poorly and without scientific rigour. When these factors are combined, he claims that the pool of evidence proving porn addiction is real is very shallow... Dr Ley instead claims that porn can improve attitudes to sexuality, increase quality of life and pleasure in long-term relationships, because porn gives an outlet for illegal sexual desires and leads to a decrease in sexual offences. However, Paula Hall, a sexual and relationship psychotherapist and sex addiction, and the chair of the Association for the Treatment of Sex Addiction and Compulsivity, disagrees with Dr Ley’s findings and told The Independent that porn addiction not only devastates the person’s life, but the lives of those around them. “The clients are very very real, and comments like this dismiss and belittle the very real pain that people suffer."
"Suffering" trumps data and science
Study: The Emperor Has No Clothes: A Review of the ‘Pornography Addiction’ Model - "Since a large, lucrative industry has promised treatments for pornography addiction despite this poor evidence, scientific psychologists are called to declare the emperor (treatment industry) has no clothes (supporting evidence). When faced with such complaints, clinicians are encouraged to address behaviors without conjuring addiction labels."

Porn users don't realise they are being watched - "in the Denver area, fans experienced a 70% swing in porn use as their team staggered towards a crushing 43-8 defeat to the Seattle Seahawks. At the start of the game, porn use in Denver was 51% below national average; by the time the drubbing was complete, it was 10.8% above. Figures for Seattle - where jubilant Seahawks fans were too busy doing old-fashioned things like drinking beer, laughing, talking and watching action replays - were 17.1% below national average, post-game... most men turn to porn not when they are happy, but when they are at their most vulnerable"

France - French chefs tell customers ‘no more food porn’ - "Gilles Goujon, whose "L’Auberge du Vieux Puits" restaurant in southern France holds three Michelin stars, says photos posted on social networks can ruin the experience for other diners. “If people take a photo and put it out on social media, it takes away the surprise,” he told AFP, citing the example of his dish “oeuf de poule pourri de truffles” (chicken egg laden with truffles). “It takes away a little bit of my intellectual property too. Someone could copy me,” he continued... Gauthier believes the constant snapping of dishes by smartphone-wielding customers detracts from the dining experience. “They used to take family photos, of their grandmother, and now its photos of food,” he told AFP. “We tweet, we ‘like’, we comment, we respond. And the food is cold... But chefs should not be so quick to shirk the free publicity that social networks bring them, says French food blogger Stéphane Riss, of the “Cuisiner en Ligne” website. “The more we talk about chefs, the better it is for them,” he said. “Photos increase visibility and therefore revenue.”"