Links - 9th March 2017

'The moment I realised I was asexual' - Telegraph - "one in 100 people is asexual, although many may not realise they are. Most asexuals are female. In one study, using data collected in the 1990s from 18,000 British people, Prof Bogaert found that about 70 per cent of asexual people were women... Some asexuals are disgusted by the idea of sex and remain virgins for life, but others may masturbate and be capable of feeling pleasure sexually and having orgasms."

France demands that its future leaders must speak English - Telegraph - "A spokesman said all "énarques" – as ENA graduates including President Francois Hollande are called – needed fluent English "in order to cope with their future roles"... "We fight for our language," said Mr Chirac, after leading a walkout from a European Union summit in Brussels after a French business leader spoke in English... Ms Loiseau said it was important for students to revise their vocabulary away from French words which are stuffy and outdated. "The usual words such as 'sacrifice', 'vocation' and 'commitment' sound half religious, half military," said Ms Loiseau."

Cheese: the secret to a longer life and faster metabolism? - Telegraph - "those who ate cheese had higher levels of butyric acid, a compound which has been been linked to reduced obesity and higher metabolism. The higher butyrate levels were linked to a reduction in cholesterol. This, Bertram says, "suggests a role for gut microbes and further shore up the connection between cheese and the French paradox.""

Men are happier when their wives don't go out to work, study finds - Telegraph - "even in instances where one partner worked over 50 hours every week, the rate of divorce and relationship dissatisfaction was still not as high as when a female partner out-earned her husband... "When you look at men’s relationship satisfaction, it’s at its highest when their wife is not in the workforce. It does seem that that’s what is behind it; those traditional gender roles die hard. I guess all things being equal, men would prefer their wife at home and managing the household." Indeed, a study published last year concluded that husbands who work long hours are likely to have happier and healthier wives while hardworking women's spouses tend to suffer."
Women have no agency

Men's happiness in later life is determined by the age of 27 - Telegraph - "Women were similarly found to attach importance to life achievements, but different ones to those valued by men. Whilst a stable and established career topped the list of factors conducive to male happiness, female participants were found to be most satisfied and contented once they had reached a high level of education or experienced upward social mobility."

Man angered after ordering a mild curry and getting a receipt marked 'white ppl' - "Stuart Lynn spent nearly £30 in his local Indian restaurant, and asked for his venison curry to be served very mild. This is quite a normal request, so he was shocked when his curry order came with a receipt marked 'VERY MILD, WHITE PPL'. The 44-year-old believes the note was a slur, suggesting that white people can't handle curries that are not mild... The owner of the restaurant, Ruby Kandasamy, clarified what they meant by "white ppl": "Under white ppl, we don't mean white people, but a white sauce made from milk, single cream, coconut milk and spices we add to our dishes when a curry is requested mild. "'Ppl' means 'milk.' "However, we have decided to change the way we inform the kitchen and will mention 'add white ppl' or 'with white sauce' to avoid any confusion with our customers."

Isil jihadist Omar Hussain complains of rude Arabs who steal his shoes and can't queue - Telegraph - "A British jihadist with Isil has moaned that his Arab comrades are rude, do not know how to queue and eat like schoolchildren. In a bizarre rant, Omar Hussain also complained that his fellow terrorists talk loudly when he is trying to sleep, invade his space and steal his shoes. Their bad driving, habit of staring at people and using his charger for their mobile phones also come under fire"

Google to make driverless cars act more like humans after complaints they are too polite - Telegraph - "Google's driverless cars are to drive more like humans by cutting corners and edging forward into junctions, after the vehicles' cautious nature were seen as potential factors in accidents involving human drivers"

Student 'driven from campus' after speaking out against rape seminar - Telegraph - "A student who caused a furore when he spoke out against sexual consent workshops fears for his academic future after a fierce campus backlash. George Lawlor, 19, claims he has been driven out of lectures and bars at Warwick University by feminist campaigners who shout "rapist" wherever he goes... he had been attacked on Twitter and Facebook by student activists branding him a "rapist" and "misogynist"... "The bus to university was the worst. I heard people talking to each other saying, 'I really want to hit that kid'. It got really nasty"

Bradford father 'living in fear after converting from Islam to Christianity' - Telegraph - "Father-of-six Nissar Hussain, 49, suffered a shattered knee cap and broken hand when two hooded thugs battered him with a pickaxe handle outside his home. He was hit 13 times with the weapon and repeatedly punched and kicked by the attackers who leapt from a car as he left his house in Bradford, West Yorks... He converted to Christianity in 1996 and said problems started after he and his family appeared in a Channel 4 TV documentary about mistreatment of Muslim converts in 2008."

Testosterone and sex role identification in lesbian couples. - "Within the lesbian community there exists a common perception that lesbians comprise two types, "butch," having more masculine characteristics, and "femme," having more feminine characteristics. The present study investigated the question of whether these perceptions are reflected in different levels of the predominantly male hormone testosterone. Salivatory testosterone levels and "butch/femme" ratings were obtained from 28 lesbian couples. Individuals within couples tended to be opposite in "butch/femme" ratings [intraclass r(26) = -0.77, p < 0.0001] but similar in testosterone levels [intraclass r(26) = 0.47, p <0.01]. Also within couples, individuals with higher "butch" ratings had significantly higher testosterone levels, although across all individuals as a whole (ignoring couple pairing) there was no correlation between testosterone and "butch/femme" ratings. The results indicate that testosterone is related to "butch/femme" characteristics, but only when regarded within the couple relationship." Stereotypes persist and endure because they are often true

Ringling Bros. circus closing after 146 years - "The iconic circus declined in recent years due to high operating costs and long, costly legal battles with animal rights groups, such as the one to eliminate elephant acts. Ticket sales had already fallen, but they dropped more significantly than anticipated after the elephants were retired last May, according to the statement."

Bernie Sanders’s claim that ‘36,000 people will die yearly’ if Obamacare is repealed - "Sanders has tweeted as a definite fact an estimate that a) assumes Republicans will gut Obamacare without a replacement b) assumes the worst possible impact from that policy and c) assumes that data derived from the Massachusetts experience can be applied across the United States. Those are three very big assumptions. Take away any one of them, and Sanders’s claim that repeal of the law will cause 36,000 people to die a year falls apart. Ordinarily, this sort of fuzzy math would be worthy of at least Three Pinocchios. But ThinkProgress, in calculating the number, at least said this many people “could” die. Sanders instead stated it as a definitive fact — that 36,000 will die. That tips this claim into Four-Pinocchio territory."

Number of asylum seekers claiming refuge in Britain due to their sexuality rockets by 450% in just five years - "The rise sparked fears some migrants are using lesbian, gay, bi or transgender status as a way of staying in the UK"

Daughter Starts Fundraising After She's Cut Her Off for Who She’s Dating— Dad Says ‘It Has Nothing to Do with Race’ - "Allie decided to find someone else to come through with the money she needed to pay for school tuition by sharing her story on GoFundMe. The Tennessee teenager has raised thousands of dollars using her story of the heartbreak her parents have caused her, with strangers donating $13,230 towards the $10k goal she initially set... “Sending a white girl from a middle-class family to college is not fighting racism. In fact, expecting to avoid work, student loans, etc. and be treated like a hero for dating a black guy seems pretty racist to me.”"

Slang and swear words 'helped soldiers survive the First World War' - "The military jargon was inherently exclusive, and intended to distinguish soldiers from civilians. Soldiers also cursed to relieve themselves from the discipline and stress of warfare. Swearing became habitual without the customary need to tone down vulgarities in the presence of women and children, and lewd songs acted as an expression of masculinity that forged bonds of camaraderie."
Ditto for the culture of promiscuity

Koran Verse Denying Divinity of Christ Sung at Episcopal Cathedral Service - "The cathedral praised the reading in a Facebook post, calling it a “wonderful event”. However, retired Anglican bishop Michael Nazir-Ali strongly condemned it, saying it was especially inappropriate for the feast of the Epiphany, which celebrates the revelation of Christ as the Son of God... The cathedral’s Facebook page also proudly publicises a press report on the provost’s Christmas sermon, in which he compared U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump to the biblical King Herod, who ordered the massacre of children."

Masturbating at work is a doctor-approved stress reliever - "39 percent of male readers reported masturbating in the office... According to Arnall, however, masturbation breaks shouldn’t be driven by lust or fantasizing about a colleague as this would “likely result in cognitive impairment.” Such breaks should only be taken if they’re motivated by a genuine desire for stress relief."

When good people do bad things: Being in a group makes some people lose touch with their personal moral beliefs - ""Although humans exhibit strong preferences for equity and moral prohibitions against harm in many contexts, people's priorities change when there is an 'us' and a 'them,'" says Rebecca Saxe, an associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at MIT. "A group of people will often engage in actions that are contrary to the private moral standards of each individual in that group, sweeping otherwise decent individuals into 'mobs' that commit looting, vandalism, even physical brutality.""

How antioxidants can accelerate cancers, and why they don't protect against them - "in several trials antioxidant supplementation has been linked with increased rates of certain cancers. In one trial, smokers taking extra beta carotene had higher, not lower, rates of lung cancer... therapies that raise the levels of oxidants in cells may be beneficial, whereas those that act as antioxidants may further stimulate the cancer cells. Interestingly, radiation therapy kills cancer cells by dramatically raising levels of oxidants. The same is true of chemotherapeutic drugs -- they kill tumor cells via oxidation."

Woman spared jail after she raped daughter's 13-year-old boyfriend - "A woman has been spared jail after she admitted to raping her daughter's 13-year-old boyfriend. Elaine Goodman, 46, faced up to 15 years in prison but was sentenced to two years' probation. But while a judge at Kent County Superior Court in Delaware said her action was "an aberration", he did not think jailing her was the answer... Passing the light sentence Judge Robert Young said she had been compassionate in looking after her elderly parents and community members... "The crime has affected the victim in many ways. He's hurt, embarrassed and it is affecting his schooling."
The reaction compared to Brock Turner is notable. Perhaps it's because of white privilege and male privilege

EU tries to ban selfies at landmarks like the Eiffel Tower over copyright

Liberal churches are dying. But conservative churches are thriving. - "because of their conservative outlook, the growing church clergy members in our study took Jesus’ command to “Go make disciples” literally. Thus, they all held the conviction it’s “very important to encourage non-Christians to become Christians,” and thus likely put effort into converting non-Christians. Conversely, because of their liberal leanings, half the clergy members at the declining churches held the opposite conviction, believing it is not desirable to convert non-Christians. Some of them felt, for instance, that peddling their religion outside of their immediate faith community is culturally insensitive"

Archaeologists Carbon-Date Camel Bones, Discover Major Discrepancy In Bible Story - "Using carbon-dating to determine the age of the oldest-known camel bones, the researchers determined that camels were first introduced to Israel around the 9th century BCE. The Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament refers to camels as pack animals as early as the story of Abraham"

A Short Story for Engineers - "A toothpaste factory had a problem: Due to the way the production line was set up, sometimes empty boxes were shipped without the tube inside. People with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming off of it is perfect 100% of the time. Small variations in the environment (which cannot be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean quality assurance checks must be smartly distributed across the production line so that customers all the way down to the supermarket won’t get frustrated and purchase another product instead."