Links - 5th May 2017 (2)

Four charged with kidnapping in case linked to insult of Islam - "Ng, 24, had been kidnapped on July 16 and assaulted after a provocative Ramadan greeting by bloggers Alvin Tan, 25, and his girlfriend Vivian Lee, 24 reportedly mocked fasting Muslims with a picture of a pork dish deemed taboo in Islam. The kidnap victim had allegedly been stripped and photographed with the words, “Saya hina agama Islam (I insulted the religion of Islam)” scribbled in black ink on his torso. The case, according to national police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, had links to the duo’s Ramadan insult and was likely triggered by the widespread Muslim outrage over their tasteless post... Ng has since publicly denied the link that his kidnapping was related to Alvivi’s post, saying instead he had been taken to extort money from his family"

Tennis star Bouchard honours Super Bowl blind date bet - "Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard has honoured her promise to join a 20-year-old student for a date, after he won their Twitter wager over the US Super Bowl."

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent Podcast, Democracy and discontent: South Africa and Germany - "The tabloid Bild, Germany's best-selling newspaper has positioned itself as the crusading champion of refugee rights.
Given that many stories of migrant crime that only are covered in English by Breitbart, the Sun, the Express and the Daily Mail refer to Bild, this is even more reason to trust them

The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution - Freakonomics Freakonomics - "I think what they actually are doing is they’re laughing at stupid things people do. And Amos was asked once by somebody who said, “Does the work you and Danny do have any bearing on artificial intelligence?” And Amos said: “I’m much more interested in natural stupidity than I am in artificial intelligence”... The psychologist Richard Nisbett, after he got to know Amos, designed a one-line intelligent test, which gets repeated over and over. And it’s this: “The longer it takes you to figure it out that Amos Tversky is smarter than you, the stupider you are”...
DUBNER: But you know it seems to me at least that there is a little bit of Catch-22 in that in the modern era we talk a lot about equity and fairness and reparations of different sorts and therefore dwell even more on the defining characteristics that are different. And my concern is that by focusing on the differences, you essentially just continue to rebuild and re-create and magnify the stereotypes. Am I wrong?
LEWIS: I think you’re right. If you want to reduce the power of a stereotype, you eliminate the classifications. The more you reinforce the classifications, the more powerful the stereotype will be. That’s their work, I mean that’s not me speaking. That’s their work. And so it is, you’re absolutely right, the more we focus on race as a differentiator between people, the more stereotypes are going to be driving people’s judgments."

Trevor Noah Has a Lot to Say - Freakonomics Freakonomics - "DUBNER: So Midrashim are these informal but revered Jewish teachings by the sages, right? There’s one Midrash about what God prays for, which I thought was a fascinating idea, just because it flips it. And the question is asked, “What does God pray for?” and the answer is, “He prays that His mercy be greater than His anger.”

Man 'injured by harpoon' during riot on Corsica beach after tourist takes photo of woman in burkini

Can the DJ of Dakar stop people emigrating? - ""We Senegalese, we are the black Chinese," Amadou tells me, flicking his waist-length dreadlocks over his shoulder and tugging his baseball cap firmly down. "You give us one dollar, we make two!"

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent Podcast, Drug Wars - "[On the Philippines] Meeting an assassin face to face for the first time is a disconcerting experience. Especially if she arrives in the form of a lightly built nervous woman with a baby in her arms... A woman is useful in the contract killing business, because she can get closer to a target without alarming him"

Trouble in Paradise - "She was here in 2008 when more than thirty years of corrupt autocracy finally gave way to democracy. A young progressive, Mohammed Nasheed, swept to power in the country's first free elections, while the former strongman, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, slunk away to scheme in the shadows. Olivia reported as President Nasheed rolled back repressive laws, bolstered democratic institutions and captured the world's imagination with an underwater cabinet meeting to highlight the risks of rising sea levels. The Maldives' brief moment as a model Islamic democracy was not to last, however. The water on the coral reefs may be crystal clear, but politics in the so-called "island paradise" has always been very murky."

Are Soas students right to ‘decolonise’ their minds from western philosophers? - "“Whiteness is not a useful category when talking of philosophy,” says Appiah. “When people speak, they speak ideas, not identity. The truth value of what you say is not indexed to your identity. If you’re making a bad argument, it’s a bad argument. It’s not bad because of the identity of the person making it”... “I don’t know where you’d get the powerful tools for criticising European colonialism if you did not have the Enlightenment”... That today so many should so easily dismiss the Enlightenment in the name of “decolonisation” tells us more about the shaky foundations of contemporary radicalism than it does about the Enlightenment."

There’s no significant connection between your personality as a teenager and a septuagenarian

George Takei Spoke Glowingly About Being Molested as Young Teen by Older Man - "Milo Yiannopoulos is getting blasted by almost everyone for giving his imprimatur to sexual relationships between teenage boys and adult men. But at least one Internet luminary has made similar comments in the past."

Why do a lot of South American and Central American countries have populations that are mixed ancestry between Native American and European people, but North America seems to have a very low mixed population? - Quora - "The Spanish incorporated Indians into their colonial system, albeit within a racial hierachy"
"The Spanish ended up conquering, among other regions, Middle America and the Andes, the two regions of the Americas with the largest and densest populations of people before the Spanish conquest"
"the Spanish migration gender ratio was different from that of the English migration. The Spanish population that migrated into South America was mainly male"
"Spanish were previously conquered by Arabs, and had other ethnias present in their population, therefore they had a background of a mixed society, this clearly made the idea of mixing with other cultures more acceptable"

Un site indiquant la meilleure période pour visiter chaque pays - "Vous saurez quand le climat est le plus agréable et verrez les températures minimales et maximales enregistrées sur ce territoire pour chacun des mois de l'année ainsi que la quantité de précipitations. Vous planifiez plutôt faire un voyage à un moment précis, mais n'avez pas de destinations en tête? Le site permet également de découvrir les pays agréables à visiter à cette période de l'année."

Attractive Students Get Higher Grades, Researchers Say - "Hernandez-Julian and Peters wrote that though discriminatory, instructors may not be giving favorable treatment to attractive students in grading but rather in teaching—instructors may simply pay more attention to attractive students, resulting in higher grades. “The more attractive students do earn higher grades, but these higher grades are actually a result of higher learning,” they wrote. “In this case, appearance does produce more learning.” Hernandez-Julian expands on that idea in an email to Newsweek: “Suppose that you have two students both going to office hours for help on an assignment. Because of unconscious biases, a professor may spend more time with the more attractive student. As a result, that student learns more and produces better work, earning a higher grade. If that is the case, the student's appearance is productive because it actually helps the student achieve a higher level of learning.” Hernandez-Julian compares the case to a salesperson who sells more products because customers find him or her more approachable. It’s not as if two students “produce identical assignments, and the better-looking one gets a higher grade,” he adds... The trends existed regardless of whether the instructor was male or female"

Martin Scorsese Breaks Down the Difference Between Story & Plot - "The plot it what happens. The story in a movie, on the other hand, is why it happens, and how"

Halo Wars 2 review: Spinning its Warthog wheels in a stagnant RTS genre - "by-and-large the genre’s faded in popularity commensurate with the rise of MOBAs like League of Legends, and it’s understandable for diehard fans to wonder why. Why did the once-dominant strategy genre die off? The answer: They’re all the same damn game."

Millennials and myth of gender equality - "I recently ran into a former schoolmate around Raffles Place, and, after we exchanged the requisite pleasantries, he asked: "How come you're not wearing heels and makeup? Isn't it a work day?"... This was not some gentleman of advanced age from whom casual sexism might be almost expected"
Is it sexism to tell a male professional he should wear a long sleeved shirt and/or a tie?
Is it ageism to think that older men are sexist?

Archie D'Cruz's answer to What advertising agency did Donald Trump use for his Presidential campaign? - Quora - "The database had captured information on millions of Trump supporters, including email addresses and phone numbers. Had he lost, they would have used it to build an audience for a Trump TV network. In fact, barely three weeks prior to the election, the Financial Times reported that Kushner had approached LionTree Advisors chief executive Aryeh Bourkoff about the possibility of launching just such a network. The Trump operation was the ultimate “win-win” setup. Which win Donald Trump would have preferred is anybody’s guess."

5 Times ‘Transgender’ Men Abused Women And Children In Bathrooms - One conservative argument against the leftist push goes as follows: some men will abuse the bathrooms and locker-rooms open to gender identity rather than biology by falsely proclaiming womanhood in order to gain access to women and children for motives of malice. Such facilities could become easy-access breading grounds for predators. Thus, it would be common sense to keep the facilities separated based on biology rather than identity to protect women and children."

Who stole my pictures? - You can use this add-on to search for your own photos used without your permission, or to search for copies of the images in the best quality or without watermarks."
Or you can check if people are using fake pictures (e.g. catfishing)

University: Proper grammar can be racist - "The University of Washington is taking a stand against racism in the field of writing. According to the university, there “is no inherent ‘standard’ of English” and the center will aim that staff does not inadvertently embrace racist practices."

Turkmen leader closes hospitals - ""Why do we need such hospitals?" he said. "If people are ill, they can come to Ashgabat"... President Niyazov is well known for his idiosyncratic orders, but it is extraordinary for a head of state to take such a step. At the same time, the president has also ordered the closure of rural libraries, saying they are pointless because village Turkmens do not read."

A packet of Rice - Timeline - "Once it receives 15,000 "likes" before or by 8 Feb, our regular lunch supplier, Xiang Catering (a subsidiary of Jessie Catering Pte Ltd) will sponsor 330 packed of halal mixed lunch 菜饭 (consists of 4 dishes and rice) for one of our distributions in March!"
Top Comments: "I think xiang catering might want to consider the marketing strategies. The total amount of cost $4X330=$1320.00 Or less and this is clarity. They want 15000likes. U all a group of individuals who volunteered and elderly are needy before they consider sponsorship. 经商也有德。 I would boycott xiang catering personally."
"15,000 likes is a bit harsh, plus you have a deadline for it. Not a very sincere brand. By liking this post, doesn't mean I like your agenda behind this campaign."
"Want to show your sincere? Take money engage some jobless to help. More meaningful"
"I'd be happier to donate a bento personally than to be used as a marketing tool."

Dogs don't experience guilt — it's fear
This is on the "guilty" look dogs give

Schoolgirls report abuse by young asylum seekers - "three female students say they were assaulted and groped by the boys for months."
This is from Austria

Police name four North Koreans 'on the run after organising hit that killed Kim Jong-nam' - "Lee Dong-seop, a friend of Jong-nam who lives there, described him as a good-hearted man who cried at a sad movie. “He was an unfortunate prince,” he said."

Publishers are hiring 'sensitivity readers' to flag potentially offensive content - "a book may get an additional check from an unusual source: a sensitivity reader, a person who, for a nominal fee, will scan the book for racist, sexist or otherwise offensive content. These readers give feedback based on self-ascribed areas of expertise such as "dealing with terminal illness," "racial dynamics in Muslim communities within families" or "transgender issues"... Sensitivity readers have emerged in a climate - fueled in part by social media - in which writers are under increased scrutiny for their portrayals of people from marginalized groups, especially when the author is not a part of that group... Lee & Low Books has a companywide policy to use sensitivity readers. Stacy Whitman, publisher and editorial director of Lee & Low's middle-grade imprint Tu Books, said she will even request a sensitivity reader before she chooses to acquire a book to publish."
I miss the good old days when only Christian fundamentalists got offended by everything

When I Became A Mother, Feminism Let Me Down

Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch calls President Trump attacks 'demoralizing' - "Not everyone was deeply offended by Trump's words. Paul Cassell, a University of Utah law professor who served as a federal district judge from 2002 to 2007 and was nominated by President George W. Bush, said he believes Trump "stepped over the line" in his criticism of Robart. "But I would characterize it as a misdemeanor traffic ticket, not a felony," Cassell said. "Judges have thick-enough skins that they are used to being criticized. We live in a time in which strong language seems to be the order of the day." "The president certainly has a right to criticize the court," Cassell said. He said he thought then-President Barack Obama went further in his 2010 State of the Union criticism of the Supreme Court, which had just decided the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case. Cassell said Obama used "more elegant language," but also contends that Obama's analysis of the case was off-base."

Judy Garland molested on set of Wizard of Oz by munchkin actors, new book claims - "The former husband of screen legend Judy Garland claims that the actress was molested by some of the 'munchkins' on the set of her classic film The Wizard of Oz."