Links - 15th July 2017 (2)

A moment that changed me: lashing out at a man who opened the door for the newly thin me - "I began screaming at him at the top of my lungs. “No, you can not open this door for me! You wouldn’t have opened it two years ago, so you damn sure can’t open it now!” I scowled and stormed away, completely enraged. It was the third time that week that a man had done something polite for me"
And feminists wonder why people have problems with feminism
Comments: "Speaking as someone who routinely holds doors open for people, whatever their weight or sex, and often gets ignored for it, I think you might be projecting your own issues on that man."
"I remember being at school, when a (very decent) male teacher held the door for a female teacher. The female commented - fairly loudly - in front of a group of students and staff, that he was 'a good old-fashioned male chauvinist'. He let the door go, knocking a pile of books and papers out of her hands, which she had to pick up herself in front of those watching. Priceless!"
"I offered my seat on the tube to a woman I suppose of my age with shopping who snapped " I've got a perfectly good pair of legs I don't need your seat ""

Iranian Media Clash Over Ahmadinejad’s Embrace of Chavez’s Mother - "In the picture taken last week at Chavez’s funeral Ahamdinejad can be seen touching the hands of the grieving Elena Frias de Chavez, Chavez’s mother, under the watchful eye of his Deputy Hojat al Islam Mohammad Reza Mirtaj Aldini. The picture immediately went viral on Facebook and Twitter. Most users either joked about his sincerity or wondered how religious circles would react back in Iran. Islamic law forbids the touching of unrelated men and women. The reaction from religious circles was swift."

Survey reveals Muslim views on violence - "Up to 1.3 percent of Indonesian Muslims nationwide admit using violence against people or objects they consider contradictory to their beliefs... The survey, conducted from 2001 to March 2006, found 43.5 percent of respondents were ready to wage war on threatening non-Muslim groups, 40 percent would use violence against those blaspheming Islam and 14.7 percent would tear down churches without official permits... a simultaneous study on the reasons for the results found Islamic teaching and Islamism made the most significant contributions to violent behavior, both in the domestic and public spheres... between 30 percent and 58 percent approved of amputation of the left hand for thieves and the stoning to death of rapists, as well as other tenets of sharia law, and opposed the election of non-Muslims for president."

‘Ghost in the Shell’: Mamoru Oshii on “Whitewashing” Allegations - "While Johansson’s casting has been decried by many — including George Takei and Margaret Cho — one notable defender has been the original director of the classic 1995 anime version, Mamoru Oshii. In an interview with IGN, Oshii voiced his approval of Johansson and displeasure with fans who took issue with her portrayal of The Major.
“What issue could there possibly be with casting her?” Oshii asked. “The Major is a cyborg and her physical form is an entirely assumed one. The name ‘Motoko Kusanagi’ and her current body are not her original name and body, so there is no basis for saying that an Asian actress must portray her. Even if her original body (presuming such a thing existed) were a Japanese one, that would still apply”... “I believe having Scarlett play Motoko was the best possible casting for this movie. I can only sense a political motive from the people opposing it, and I believe artistic expression must be free from politics,” he added."
Looks like the Japanese need to be educated about how they are being oppressed

We Don't Have A Wage Gap Problem, But Hollywood And The White House Do - "We live in a time when people think they’re courageous for saying things that everyone agrees with... the White House suffers from a deeply alarming pay gap. And a pay gap that hasn’t gotten better since Obama took office. We have two possible scenarios here. Either the White House — the headquarters of Mr. Equal Pay himself — suffers from a whopping pay gap of 13.3 percent, practicing unconscionable sexism by paying its female staffers an average of five figures ($10,100) less than the male staffers, or the White House is guilty of deception about pay gaps. It’s actually the latter, but it’s not like our media will press them on the matter... It’s sort of hard to feel bad for a group of women who made more money this year than you will in 20, but if there is one industry that is super sexist (and racist, not that Arquette mentioned that), it’s Hollywood. This is an industry riddled with problems. Charlize Theron apparently found out from those hacked Sony emails that she was being paid $10 million less than her less experienced male co-star named Chris Hemsworth."

Parents of 'unarmed' white teen shot dead by cop outraged - "their fight for justice appears to have fallen on deaf ears because of the teen's race. "It's sad, but I think the reason is, unfortunately, the media and our government officials have treated the death of an unarmed white teenager differently than they would have if this were a death of an unarmed black teen," Bland told The Washington Post. "The hypocrisy that has been shown toward this is really disconcerting.""
Black lives matter more than it is claimed

"Snow White: An Islamic Tale" Reviewed - "the only person to take note of her beauty is the vain stepmother. In fact, more fuss is made over her style of Quranic recitation and generosity than over her looks. And much to my delight, the seven male dwarves are replaced with dwarf sisters-in-faith who not only teach Snow White calligraphy, herbal medicines, veterinary arts, but how to run a business!... It’s amazing to see an Islamic alternative source of fairy tale entertainment return so much agency back to the “princess.”"

Why demonizing white bread falls flat - "White flour contains only the endosperm, but since the 1940s, it’s been fortified to replace nutrients... All “whole grain” breads, artisanal or store-bought, she explains, are cut with white flour. “Bread made entirely from whole grain is very dense and heavy and not to most peoples’ taste,” she explains. “It’s a totally different product.” (Try making pancakes with whole-wheat flour and you’ll see.) It also means that the nutritional advantages of breads labeled “whole grain” varies from brand to brand and bakery to bakery... When it comes to taste, white break remains king, say bakers... “White flour allows for a perfectly thin crisp crust with a soft center,” she says, and restaurants prefer it."

Free booze is drying up in Las Vegas casinos - "If you bet the max—usually $1.25 or so—for four or five hands, the green light goes on and a free drink is headed your way. The red light will cut off the flow of gratis booze if you slow down your playing pace."

Why 30 is the decade friends disappear — and what to do about it - "starting at age 25, we lose more friends than we make each year. On the other side of the 30, we keep adding casual friends, but most of us won’t gain close friends like before; no more best friends. The 30s are a time for settling in to friendly acquaintances and hanging on to faraway friends over texts and Facebook... It has become harder to make friends after each move and each passing year, and my expectations have shifted. I’m no longer waiting for someone who loves reality TV and Twitter as much as I do or has the same warm personality as one of my old friends. I’m down to the important things: someone who lives close enough, responds to my texts, and is willing to hang out."

How Friendships Change Over Time - "“The largest drop-off in friends in the life course occurs when people get married,” Rawlins says. “And that’s kind of ironic, because at the [wedding], people invite both of their sets of friends, so it’s kind of this last wonderful and dramatic gathering of both people’s friends, but then it drops off”... Hanging out with a set of lifelong best friends can be annoying, because the years of inside jokes and references often make their communication unintelligible to outsiders. But this sort of shared language is part of what makes friendships last. In the longitudinal study, the researchers were also able to predict friends’ future closeness by how well they performed on a word-guessing game in 1983... If you never see your friends in person, you’re not really sharing experiences so much as just keeping each other updated on your separate lives. It becomes a relationship based on storytelling rather than shared living—not bad, just not the same."

You Can Now Buy A 70 Mph Adult Version Of The Little Tikes Toy Car.

Age no excuse for failing to learn a new language - "When asked to apply the rule to new words, the 8-year-olds performed no better than chance, while most 12-year-olds and adults scored over 90 per cent. Adults fared best, and have great potential for learning new languages implicitly, says Ferman. Unlike the younger children, most adults and 12-year-olds worked out the way the rule worked – and once they did, their scores soared"

Tokyo court ruling says adultery OK if it's for business: experts

Does True Love Wait? Age of First Sexual Experience Predicts Romantic Outcomes in Adulthood - ""We still don't understand precisely why delaying sexual intercourse is correlated with more satisfied adult relationships," Harden said. "In the future, we are interested in looking at whether sexually active teens are more likely to have negative relationship experiences like intimate partner violence that may put them at risk for worse relationship outcomes later in life." Harden also explains that delaying sexual intercourse isn't always associated with more positive outcomes. In her previous work, she found that teenagers who were sexually active in romantic dating relationships had fewer delinquent behavior problems. "The idea that abstaining from sex is always 'good' for teens is an oversimplification. Teenagers' sexual experiences are complicated," she said."

BBC Threatens To Tell Your Boss If You Post 'Offensive' Comments Online - "It seems reasonable that the BBC should be allowed to report potential criminals to the police. It is less clear what the aim of calling employers or schools could be, other than to get people in trouble without actually having to prove it by interacting with the criminal justice system."

How the Potato Changed the World - "Compared with grains, tubers are inherently more productive. If the head of a wheat or rice plant grows too big, the plant will fall over, with fatal results. Growing underground, tubers are not limited by the rest of the plant. In 2008 a Lebanese farmer dug up a potato that weighed nearly 25 pounds. It was bigger than his head. Many researchers believe that the potato’s arrival in northern Europe spelled an end to famine there. (Corn, another American crop, played a similar but smaller role in southern Europe.) More than that, as the historian William H. McNeill has argued, the potato led to empire: “By feeding rapidly growing populations, [it] permitted a handful of European nations to assert dominion over most of the world between 1750 and 1950.” The potato, in other words, fueled the rise of the West.""

Some old-age truths about happiness - "About 72 per cent of the Chinatown elderly and 69 per cent of the Toa Payoh elderly indicated that they were happy and satisfied with life. However, their reasons for life satisfaction were quite different. The Chinatown elderly lived in smaller HDB flats and preferred to meet friends in community centres or the void decks; their main reasons for life satisfaction were family or social relationships and good health. The Toa Payoh elderly were living in bigger flats and their main reasons for life satisfaction were the comfortable homes and good health. When we assessed the rate of depression in both groups, the prevalence was 5 per cent in the Chinatown elderly and 9 per cent in the Toa Payoh elderly. There was more social interaction among the Chinatown elderly who tended to congregate at public places to chat, watch television, read the papers or play mahjong. The Toa Payoh elderly did not interact as much with neighbours and seemed more isolated and lonely. In short, the Chinatown elderly, although poorer, were happier with lower prevalence of depressive disorder."

British man who lives with TWO girlfriends becomes a dad with BOTH women

How Successful Valedictorians Are After High School - "how many of these number-one high school performers go on to change the world, run the world, or impress the world? The answer seems to be clear: zero... what makes students likely to be impressive in the classroom is the same thing that makes them less likely to be home-run hitters outside the classroom... Academic grades correlate only loosely with intelligence (standardized tests are better at measuring IQ). Grades are, however, an excellent predictor of self-discipline, conscientiousness, and the ability to comply with rules... schools reward being a generalist. There is little recognition of student passion or expertise. The real world, however, does the reverse"

Yale Dean Caught Calling People 'White Trash' and 'Barely Educated Morons' on Yelp - "Apparently Dean June Chu is a champion of diversity and “cultural sensitivity,” except when she goes to crappy restaurants. She referred to customers as “white trash” and “low class folks” and to some employees as “barely educated morons.”"
What does it say that many people who promote "diversity" are intolerant? Someone on Quora drew a parallel with male anti-gay figures caught in public toilets behaving inappropriately

The Official Star Wars Art of Singaporean Darren Tan (Wraithdt)

Oxford student who stabbed boyfriend could be spared jail 'because of her extraordinary talent'
The contrast of the reaction to this with that to Brock Turner is instructive
Keywords: Lavinia Woodward

Dutch King Willem-Alexander reveals secret flights as co-pilot - "he was co-piloting passenger flights incognito, twice a month as king... He told De Telegraaf that he never used his name when addressing passengers and was rarely recognised in uniform and wearing his KLM cap. However, he admitted that some passengers had recognised his voice. "The advantage is that I can always say that I warmly welcome passengers on behalf of the captain and crew," he said. "Then I don't have to give my name.""

Time-restricted feeding study shows promise in helping people shed body fat - "The first human test of early time-restricted feeding, or eTRF, found that this meal-timing strategy reduced swings in hunger and altered fat and carbohydrate burning patterns, which may help with losing weight. With eTRF, people eat their last meal by the mid-afternoon and do not eat again until breakfast the next morning"

Can we bring together Islam and Democracy by Father Professor Samir Khalil Samir, S.J. :: - "Wlodzimierz Redzioch: - Professor Bernard Lewis, outstanding historian and specialist in Islam, claims that Christianity was born in the Roman Empire and developed being aware of the division between religion and state. The historical experiences of Islam are completely different: Muhammad was a prophet but at the same time he was a political ruler. That's is why since the beginning of the history of this religion there has been no difference between the sphere of politics and the sphere of religion in the Islamic society. Is this vision of a religious country still valid in the contemporary Islamic world?
Father Professor Samir Khalil Samir, SJ: - The religious life of Muhammad can be divided into two periods. During the first one, years 610-620, he lived in his hometown Mecca and preached. During that period his teaching was of religious and moral character, and he focused on acknowledging the Only God and the Last Judgement over all other deities... A new period started in Muhammad's life, which lasted till 632. During the second phase the Prophet also became a political leader and organiser of the state...
a predominant majority of Muslims think that religion and politics must be strictly connected and the state is to support Islam so that everybody could or - as some people claim - must practice it. Those who discern the necessity to separate the political sphere from then religious sphere are seen as people who are influenced by the West."