Links - 21st November 2016

Dear White People, Your Safety Pins Are Embarrassing - "No. Just no. Please, take it off. Let me explain something, white people: We just fucked up. Bad. We elected a racist demagogue who has promised to do serious harm to almost every person who isn’t a straight white male, and whose rhetoric has already stirred up hate crimes nationwide. White people were 70% of the voters in the 2016 election, and we’re the only demographic Trump won. It doesn’t matter why. What matters is there’s a white nationalist moving into the Oval Office, and white people — only white people — put him there. We don’t get to make ourselves feel better by putting on safety pins and self-designating ourselves as allies."
Comments: "Well....isnt lumping all white people into one block kinda the same as lumping all Mexicans as rapists...or all African Americans as the 'inner city'...?"
"who gave you the authority to decide how other people should or should not show their support? are you going to tell me not to wear a rainbow to support gay rights? not to wear my feminist regalia to support women's rights?"
The left is still tearing itself apart

Trump to supporters harassing minorities: 'Stop it' - ""I am so saddened to hear that," Trump told CBS' Lesley Stahl on "60 Minutes" when she said Latinos and Muslims are facing harassment. "And I say, 'Stop it.' If it -- if it helps, I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: 'Stop it.'"...
Trump said he's "fine" with same-sex marriage remaining legal across the country, and wouldn't appoint Supreme Court judges with the goal of reversing that ruling. "It's irrelevant because it was already settled. It's law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it's done," Trump said... He said relying on those lobbyists now while planning to eliminate them later is no contradiction. "I'm saying that they know the system right now, but we're going to phase that out. You have to phase it out," Trump said... Trump also signaled he has no real plans to change his tone -- even though it's seen by many as evidence of a man too combustible for the presidency. "Well, sometimes you need a certain rhetoric to get people motivated," Trump said. "I don't want to be just a little nice monotone character, and in many cases I will be.""
How come no one is asking the anti-Trump protestors to calm down?
Will the homophiles change their mind or will they continue being proud of their closed-mindedness?

Kellyanne Conway: It’s up to Clinton, Obama to calm anti-Trump protesters - "“If this is going to be a time of healing, we must first put the responsibility for healing where it belongs: at the feet of Donald Trump, a sexual predator who lost the popular vote and fueled his campaign with bigotry and hate,” Reid's statement read in part. “Winning the electoral college does not absolve Trump of the grave sins he committed against millions of Americans. Donald Trump may not possess the capacity to assuage those fears, but he owes it to this nation to try.” Conway cited Trump's victory speech as evidence that he was “off to a great start” in unifying the country, then turned her anger on Reid."

Media Warned Of Trump Riots, Now Covers Clinton 'Protests' - "NBC News ran a story about the “dangerous tone” of Trump-inspired election pranks in the weeks leading up to the election, but is now reporting on the “inspired” protests of his victory happening across the country. Clinton supporters across the country have been reported beating up white people, burning American flags, vandalizing private property, threatening to assassinate Trump, and shouting violent slogans such as “Die Whites Die” and “Kill Trump.”"

Muslim Scholars: Israel Is ‘Root Cause’ of All Islamic Nations' Failures - "Radical Iranian cleric Mohsen Araki said that destroying Israel and “countering the arrogant world” should be the two main priorities for “resistance clerics,” reports Iran’s state-run Taghrib News... Iran’s state-run Press TV reports that the Muslim scholars all agreed that Israel is a “root cause of economic, political and cultural problems facing Muslim nations in recent decades.”"

Love in China - "I have been told in China that a young person who dates many people may be seen as capricious or disloyal, which could lead to a bad reputation. In the west, by comparison, dating has practically become a sport. A westerner who dates only one person is seen as foolishly limiting their pool of candidates for love, and thus their chances of finding the ‘right’ person. Youngsters are generally advised to date as many people as possible, to look for that ‘ideal’ partner. Breakups can be difficult, but as the saying goes ‘there are plenty of fish in the sea’. Sexual activity also seems to occur much earlier among young people in the west, another result of a culture focused on personal pleasure and happiness."

Asian Philosophy and Critical Thinking: Divergence or Convergence? - "both India and China do have their own indigenous traditions of logical and argumentative thinking. Since the logical traditions within both Indian and Chinese cultures were perceived to be not conducive to their respective ideals, they were eventually supplanted by the more dominant traditions which did not emphasize criticism or argumentation as much as social harmony or intuitive insights"

The man who demolished Shakespeare's house - "the Reverend Francis Gastrell. He bought the house in 1753 but quickly got irritated with tourists wanting to see it, says architectural historian Gavin Stamp. He is also said to have been in a dispute over taxes with local officials. Gastrell was already in the town's bad books after chopping down a mulberry tree planted by Shakespeare in the garden. Then, in an extraordinary fit of spite, he demolished the whole house in 1759. It was never rebuilt and only the foundations remain. The people of Stratford-upon-Avon were horrified and Gastrell became so unpopular he eventually had to move out of the town, says Stamp. He wasn't the only property owner to begrudge tourists."

Melissa Chen - A few things to note about the state of secularism... - "The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie is banned in this country, for sale and in public libraries. It is available at Yale-NUS college but a government agency has requested for the library's record of everyone who has ever checked out this book."

McDonald's fries into trouble over animal oil - "The chairman of the United Muslim Association of Hong Kong, Mohamed Alli Din, demanded the chain change its cooking ingredients. 'We've warned about its use of animal oil in our own community papers,' he said. 'There are 80,000 Muslims in Hong Kong. If McDonald's wants their business, it must adapt.' Mr Din said that in Malaysia and Singapore, foods prepared by McDonald's were halal , meaning they accorded with Islamic dietary principles... 'The original recipe for McDonald's hash browns and French fries uses pure beef tallow,' the company said. 'The original recipe is still used in Hong Kong because of the consumer preference in this market.'"

Sympathy for the terrorist - "For terror to work scaring people is necessary but not sufficient. Even all-powerful, naked, totalitarian terror requires more than fear to function. For the asymmetric terror of the weak — Basque, say, or Chechen or Uighur secessionists — fear serves as kindling to ignite an illusion of sympathy... Jerusalem Hebrew University scholars Eric. D. Gould and Esteban F. Klor looked at terrorist incidents between 1988 and 2006 in Israel (their 2009 study is entitled *Does Terrorism Work*?) to conclude that “terrorism appears to be an effective strategy in terms of shifting the entire political landscape to the left.” Bingo! Asymmetric terrorists hit the jackpot when they manage to convince their targets that they haven’t been swayed by fear of injury or inconvenience, but by a desire for justice. Once he has frightened his victim enough to do his bidding, what clinches the terrorist’s triumph is salvaging his victim’s self-esteem. Terror is victorious when it persuades the terror-stricken that they’re motivated by a sense of equity. When victims meeting the terrorists’ demands think they’re acting out of an abundance of goodwill rather than an abundance of caution, terror is triumphant... Terrorism’s great achievement isn’t hijacking jetliners, but hijacking the debate. Successful terrorism persuades the terror-stricken that he’s conscience-stricken. Once adapted and internalized by its targets, asymmetric terror can be as powerful as totalitarian terror. Ultimately, terror triumphs when it allows perpetrators to masquerade as victims"

Reasons U.S. not Japan dominates world software market - "Americans are more willing to make trade-offs between quality and time to market. In many other countries it is not suitable to put out a product before it is as good as you can make it. But in the fast-moving software industry, where the lifetime of given product may be only a year or two, getting products quickly to market is critical. By contrast, after a piece of software is written in Japan, the period for testing and quality assurance is typically one year. By that time the product is likely to be completely out of date."

Why Apple's products are 'Designed in California' but 'Assembled in China' - "iPhones aren't made in America because they just can't be. The infrastructure and labor force doesn't exist at the levels necessary to support Apple's operations -- it's not even close. The Chinese factory where most iPhones reach final assembly employs 230,000 workers. I just asked Siri how many cities in the US have a population higher than that, and the answer was a mere 83 cities -- and that's total population, not workforce"

Stop using toys to teach young boys unrealistic beauty standards!

Women bosses 'more depressed' than male counterparts - "Women are more likely than men to display symptoms of depression when in a position of authority at work, according to US scientists. In men, authority, such as the ability to hire and fire people, decreases depressive symptoms, the study said"
Perhaps this is another explanation for the gender gap in management

Saudi Arabia: Ban on women in restaurants draws praise and criticism - "One restaurant owner said he felt the need to ban women from the premises as a strict policy in order to avoid possible problems following a series of harassment cases. Saudis in posts on social networks welcomed the move, explaining that the presence of women in restaurants “caused several social issues”... “Restaurant managers are usually foreigners who do not know the right way to conduct themselves and their business when there are women without male custodians around. They would rather ban them than allow them in and face serious issues,” one blogger writing under the moniker of “Not A Simple Decision” said"

This is What Happens When You Order Ridiculously Cheap Clothing From Singapore - "This coat clearly was not going to work on me. Not only was it cut for a person with no boobs, the sleeves ended far above my wrists. I checked the label again. Size Large. Size Large?! “Size large for KIDS, maybe,” I snorted. And that’s when it hit me... How could this possibly be the dress I had seen in the photo? The “skirt” portion was only about two inches long! The only explanation was that the model was the size of an American Girl Doll!"

Pro StarCraft player disqualified after tweeting he'd 'rape' female opponent
Presumably if you say you'll pwn your opponent, you're saying you want to enslave him

HDB Flat Mystery: What Is Causing The Marble Dropping Sound From Above? - "the acoustics in HDB is such that, if someone were to really play marbles on the level above yours, you will not be able to hear anything (much). Or it will not be as loud. Because when real marble balls hit the floor and by the time it reaches the level below, it will not be very audible."

Scientists outshine arts students with experiments in creative writing - "They do not fall fatally in love with their work and will abandon experimental dead ends. Their killer work ethic sustains them through the endless revision that is essential to good writing... est of all, Imperial’s creative students are not obsessed with publication as an end goal. Like Junot Diaz‘s students at MIT, Imperial’s students are “not all trying to be novelists”. This makes them particularly exciting to teach, since they are completely absorbed in the creative process and spared the torment that afflicts so many students on creative writing degrees."

The problem isn’t that life is unfair – it’s your broken idea of fairness

Sweet Peach Probiotics Will Target Yeast Infections And UTIs, Not Vaginal Odor (UPDATE) - "It was previously reported, by this outlet among many others including Inc., Business Insider, BuzzFeed and ValleyWag, that “Sweet Peach” was designed by two men — Austen Heinz and Gilad Gome — and would make a woman’s vagina smell like ripe fruit. In reality, Sweet Peach is a personalized probiotic designed by 20-year-old student Audrey Hutchinson, that was created to help women manage UTIs and yeast infections"
I remember how outraged all the feminists were getting, raging about men controlling women's bodies and entitlement etc

Empathy Can Fuel Aggression - "Empathy can manifest as aggression, even when considering the plight of a stranger"

Kim Kardashian slammed for ‘offensive’ science shirt - “We at the European Space Agency are always scrutinised for how we look and what we wear. It’s nice for someone to focus on the science for a change.”

British couple fined for giving hotel bad review on Trip Advisor - "The hotel told them that it was its policy to charge for “bad” reviews"

How to Turn a Cool Moment Into a #ShirtStorm - "Taylor’s shirt may not have been in great taste. But the outcry against it is the latest, most blatant example of feminism turning into its own caricature: a Sisterhood of the Perpetually Aggrieved, far more interested in shaming and bashing men for petty offenses than in celebrating female achievement... If a scientist gives an interview in a custom-made T-shirt with a photo of his wife and kids, is he telling women their sole purpose in life is babymaking? To suggest that a heterosexual man is incapable of seeing women both as sexual beings and as people is insulting to men and rather sad for women—a feminist version, if you will, of the old Madonna/whore complex (call it the bimbo/brain complex). Besides, generally speaking, cultures that censor sexualized expression have not been particularly progressive about women’s rights... the Internet was in an uproar after a female computer specialist tweeted a photo of two men at a tech conference to chastise them for exchanging jokes about suggestive-sounding technical terms such as forking and dongle. A leading feminist blog, Jezebel, quickly branded the jokesters—one of whom lost his job for this offense—“sexist dudes.” The Jezebel author, Lindy West, actually admitted that she had repeatedly made similar jokes herself—but insisted that in the context of a male-dominated industry, such humor excludes women... Robin Thicke’s song “Blurred Lines,” in which a man seductively croons “I know you want it” to a woman, has been condemned as a “rape anthem” and banned from university campuses. Yet Beyoncé’s “Drunk in Love” and Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda,” songs that glamorize alcohol- and drug-fueled sex—routinely equated with sexual assault in today’s feminist rhetoric—were hailed as female-empowerment anthems in the coverage of this year’s Video Music Awards. Such double standards exist in many environments. At a skeptic convention last year, feminist science blogger Rebecca Watson, a strong critic of sexism in the atheist/skeptic community—mostly in the form of men “sexualizing” women—gave a presentation consisting of a raunchy humorous tale in which a male ex-Mormon was ridiculed for not drinking before a casual hookup and for being overcautious about birth control. If a male speaker had dared to entertain an audience these days with similar crude humor at a woman’s expense, he would have been tarred and feathered for creating an unwelcoming environment for female attendees... Sadly, the brouhaha over Taylor’s shirt overshadowed not only his accomplishments but also those of his female teammates... More spotlight on Allweg, Grady, Alexander and the other remarkable women of the Rosetta project would have been a true inspiration to girls thinking of a career in science. The message of ShirtStorm, meanwhile, is that aspiring female scientists can be undone by some sexy pictures on a shirt—and that women’s presence in science requires men to walk on eggshells, curb any goofy humor that may offend the sensitive and be cowed into repentance for any misstep. Thanks for ruining a cool feminist moment for us, bullies"