Links - 1st August 2017 (1)

Birmingham millionaire has his Ferrari crushed - "When rogue landlord Zahid Khan turned up at court for a hearing about the way he treated some tenants, he ostentatiously parked his Ferrari 458 Spider on the pavement outside. So his victims must be celebrating after the £200,000 supercar was later confiscated and crushed by police. The 30-year-old was stopped at the wheel last month and the car was seized as officers suspected it was stolen... West Midlands Police said checks revealed it was a Category B vehicle, meaning it was unroadworthy and the shell had to be destroyed. It was also uninsured."

‘I could punch her in the face’: Libertarian student draws ire for exposing biased UWisc classes - "Murphy, who obtained a copy of the syllabus through one of her public records act requests, noted in her piece that the course has students “reflect on their privilege and marginalization. Students also review how meritocracy – and the American Dream – is a myth. Why work hard to achieve your dreams if you can blame sex/race/class/sexuality for your lack of success?”
Murphy added:
A portion of the participation grade is based on whether or not students were inclusive and supported other students expressing their thoughts. This is college, not charm school – and these students (and taxpayers!) are essentially paying hundreds of dollars for a course on how to be nice to people"

European Roma descended from Indian 'untouchables', genetic study shows - "Gypsies have long believed they have origins in India, citing common Sanskrit words in their languages and photographs of darker-skinned ancestors in South Asian clothes... The researchers believe the descendants of today's Roma gypsies in Europe began their westward exodus first to fight in wars in what is today Punjab between 1001 and 1026 on the promise of a promotion in caste status. Later, they left to flee the fall of Hindu kingdoms in what is today Pakistan, with many setting off from near Gilgit. The exodus to North Africa and Europe suggested they may have been early refugees from the spread of Islam into the Indian sub-continent"

Pamela Anderson to campaign for men falsely accused of rape - inspired by Julian Assange friendship - "“Sweden has these very progressive laws against sexual crimes, whatever you want to call it," Ms Anderson told Russian broadcaster, RT . “It’s almost too progressive, it’s almost paralysing," she said, announcing that she would start to push for the rights of men who have been wrongly accused of rape."

It’s a delusion to think that the terror attacks are just about foreign policy - "The trouble is, the link is not nearly so simple or direct. Talk to those who devote their lives to the study of violent jihadism, reading Isis’s propaganda and interviewing its devotees, and a different picture emerges. For one thing, it’s not all about us. Most of jihadism’s victims are other Muslims, in the Arab world or in Africa. When they murder and maim Shia Muslims by the hundreds, they’re not doing that to punish western foreign policy. When Isis set about the massacre of Yazidi men and the enslavement and mass rape of Yazidi women and girls, it wasn’t revenge for western meddling in the Middle East. It takes an oddly Eurocentric view of the world to decide that this is a phenomenon entirely of the west’s creation. Moreover, what might count as western provocation, fuelling jihadism, is not as clear as some might like to think. Many on the left assume it is military intervention that turns young men into jihadis ready to murder pre-teen girls. But I recall my own first encounter with that ideology, back in the 1990s. I was speaking at a student meeting that was disrupted by loud activists from the extremist al-Muhajiroun group. What were they furious about? The west’s failure to take military action over Bosnia. These young men were livid that Britain and the US had not dropped bombs to prevent the massacre at Srebrenica. It proved, they said, that the west held Muslim lives to be cheap... this is an ideology that can rage against western inaction as much as action. When I spoke to Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at King’s College London who studies radicalisation up close, he put the problem concisely: “You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.” Maher suggests that western foreign policy often plays the role of a hook on which jihadis can hang a much larger set of ideological, and theological, motives. In his latest essay for the New Statesman, he quotes one British Isis recruit he interviewed, who told him: “We primarily fight wars due to people being disbelievers. Their drones against us are a secondary issue.” So it’s not clear what a foreign policy designed to soothe rather than inflame jihadi opinion would look like – or that it would get you very far. Staying out of Muslim countries might seem like the obvious answer, but it offers no guarantees. Not against those who can regard an eight-year-old girl and her friends as “crusaders”, worthy of death for the sin of dancing in a “shameless concert arena”."

Global Times asks foreigners living in China if they like being called 'laowai' - "a former dormitory supervisor for international students at the Beijing Language and Culture University said that foreigners often use the term "laowai" familiarly among themselves (along with words like laoban and laoshi), so why shouldn't Chinese?"

Jeremy Corbyn thinks the real evil is Western intervention, not Isil - and Labour wants him in office - "It is the very defining philosophy that has driven the anti-West movement since before the Berlin Wall came down: all terrorism is the cause of the West’s military interventions and foreign policy. It’s always our fault. And we can only be safe by disarming and retreating and allowing the rest of the world – particularly the Middle East – to sort out their own problems. We only ever make things worse. Let’s call it The Corbyn Doctrine. And so, the UN-sanctioned incursion into Afghanistan was a disaster, according to the Corbyn Doctrine. The fact that women there have a historically lower mortality childbirth rates and a record number of girls now attending full time education there is irrelevant, of no importance or interest. If they were given those opportunities only because of US and British military intervention, then such advances are hardly worth it. And, naturally, the same doctrine applies elsewhere. Domestic terrorism, whether the 7/7 attacks in London or this week’s slaughter of young women in Manchester, cannot possibly be the responsibility of the Islamists alone – the West must always take more responsibility than those who built the bombs and pressed the detonating switch."

Girl faces fine for possessing pepper spray in Denmark, after using spray to protect against sexual assault - The Washington Post - "the Copenhagen Post reported that “An increasing number of Danes are travelling to Germany to buy pepper spray.”"

The Parenting Style That Turns Kids Into Narcissists - "Parents who “overvalue” their kids by teaching them that they're unique and extraordinary—which they all are, of course—encourage those kids to have an inflated view of themselves and a less charitable view of others. The kids grow up to expect the world will treat them the way their parents do. Which it inevitably doesn't. That's particularly troubling because the study suggests that narcissism is growing more common. "Narcissism scores have been increasing over the past few decades among university students in the United States," said Eddie Brummelman, lead author of the study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and is the first to measure the emergence of narcissism among kids aged 7-12... The researchers also point to what may be the best parenting strategy for well-adjusted, non-narcissistic kids: a combination of "parental warmth" and realism about children's abilities... Unchecked, the authors posit, narcissistic people can "contribute to societal problems such as aggression and violence.""
Sounds like SJWs

This Perfect Fried Chicken Recipe Took 100 Attempts to Develop - "López-Alt explained he’d soaked the meat in salty, paprika-darkened buttermilk, which tenderized the chicken and helped it retain moisture during cooking. He pulled some marinated pieces from the brine and, to build up the crust, dredged the meat in flour he'd mixed up with a little of the same brine. "Oooooh," an audience member cooed, "that's how you do it!" This created tiny lumps that would later, if all went well in the fryer, offer bonus texture and crunch over the surface of each piece... López-Alt recommends doing an initial fry and finishing up the chicken on a rack in the oven. The secret to extra crunchy chicken, however, is taking it a step farther: Refrigerate the meat overnight and fry it a second time the next day just before serving."
This recipe is so valuable, it "is only available for Bloomberg Professional Service subscribers". But anyway it's on: The Food Lab: The Best Southern Fried Chicken | Serious Eats

It’s a Small World - 5 Tiny Things You Can Find in Japan - "according to a survey, some 40 percent of beer lovers in Japan said that the first sip of beer is the best, because it's cold and fresh. But if you drink a 350ml can and take more than 15 minutes to finish, it gets kind of warm and stale. So after the beer companies heard the feedback, they thought, “Why don't we sell smaller cans of beer? Then they can drink it up quick and enjoy the ice cold goodness until the last sip.”"

Tough Pill to Swallow: Why Singapore’s Healthcare Model Should Not Be Followed - "Singaporeans currently have to contribute a whopping 8 to 10.5 percent of their monthly wages into Medisave. You would imagine that paying a contribution of 8 to 10.5 percent of wages into Medisave would effectively net Singaporeans free healthcare, but this is not the case."

Angela Merkel: German multiculturalism has 'utterly failed' - "The row over foreigners in Germany has shifted since former central banker Thilo Sarrazin published a highly-controversial book in which he accused Muslim immigrants of lowering the intelligence of German society. Sarrazin was censured for his views and dismissed from the Bundesbank, but his book proved popular and polls showed Germans were sympathetic with the thrust of his arguments. One recent poll showed one-third of Germans believed the country was "overrun by foreigners". It also found 55% of Germans believed that Arabs are "unpleasant people", compared with the 44% who held the opinion seven years ago."
And this was in 2010

KASSAM: A Very Real War on Women Arrived in Manchester Last Night - "For news sources like the Independent, the ostensible fight in defence of multiculturalism is even more important than the news story itself, let alone pro-security positions. Over the past 16 hours, the Independent has published and promoted at least seven separate articles targeting the critics of mass migration or lax security. I cannot for one second imagine being that editor and having the callousness to shout across the newsroom: “Let’s hammer Nigel Farage for what he said on Fox!” while young girls are still bleeding in hospitals in England. I encourage you to read their article, by the way, and find anything wrong in what Mr. Farage told Tucker Carlson last night. This is their new normal. Terror attacks are now political footballs for the left, while they, without a scintilla of self-awareness or irony, accuse the right of using these events for partisan gain... while the political left hurls accusations of a “war on women” at the right, for refusing to accept taxpayer subsidy of contraception or abortion, the real war on women is taking place in British towns and cities, conducted by fellow travellers of the high chiefs of multiculturalism."

Leftists Bemoan 'Islamophobia' Backlash on Social Media Following Manchester Terrorist Attack - "Some immediately jumped to blaming President Donald Trump"

Breathtaking image of futsal court in remote Sabah goes viral - "A teacher from SK Logongon in Nabawan, Sabah, sent the remarkable drone image of the creeper-covered court, and Malaysians responded with awe and amazement. Although the surroundings appear to be teeming with foliage, the court itself, which lies in the centre of a "green lake" of leaves, was kept neat and clean."

In the cut - ""Many maternity clinic midwives have begun to market female cutting (FC) as part of a birth delivery package with the service being offered to the parents right after the delivery of a baby girl"... While circumcision is widespread in Indonesia, it is very different to the female genital mutilation (FGC) common in parts of Africa, which often severely damages almost all genital parts... symbolic circumcision involved local healers cutting a tumeric root and rubbing it on the baby's clitoris while those attending chanted and prayed. "This was very much women's business, and even if the fathers of the girls were there they would not understand what was done," he says. In the cities, where Islamic influence was stronger, Hull found that circumcision involved drawing blood, usually by putting a pin in the clitoris... the USAid-funded study by the Population Council surveyed 1694 households in eight regions and found all the boys and 97.5 per cent of girls had been circumcised. Although many questions remain unanswered, the study concluded circumcision in Indonesia at present "did not reveal any clear, immediate or long-term physical or psychological complications ... for girls or women". It listed the most common forms of circumcision as "rubbing and scraping; stretching, pricking and piercing; incision; and excision", and the cutting instruments used as "penknife; scissors; bamboo knife/razor blade and needles"... SEVERAL hours out of Jakarta, in Bandung, the Assalaam Foundation has held free mass circumcisions for males and females for almost 50 years. As many as 400 people turn up. Syarief Hamid, treasurer of the foundation, which also runs several schools, says the circumcisions were timed to honour the Prophet's birthday and were growing in popularity each year. While religion was the main reason for circumcisions, he says there are also health reasons. "I understand that a girl who is not circumcised would not have clean genitals after she urinates and sometimes that can cause cervical cancer," he says. "The religious view is, if you are not circumcised you won't have clean genitals after you urinate. If then you pray, your prayer won't be legal"... The Department of Health had come to observe, with representatives of the World Health Organisation, and had left satisfied. "What they saw here was different to what they imagined; it was different to what they saw in Africa"... more than 90 per cent of mothers questioned supported the practice continuing. And one in five mothers even suggested social sanctions should be imposed on girls who were uncircumcised."
Not that this will convince those who claim female circumcision in Indonesia is about cutting out the clitoris (even though that is impossible) and Infibulation

How The Economist Thinks - "In his deliciously biting 1991 examination of the role of The Economist in shaping American elite opinion, James Fallows tried to figure out exactly what was so repellent about the magazine’s approach to the seeking of truth. Fallows puzzled over the fact that American intellectuals hold a disproportionate amount of respect for The Economist’s judgment and reporting, even though the magazine is produced by imperious 20-something Oxbridge graduates who generally know little about the subjects on which they so confidently opine. Fallows suggested that The Economist’s outsized reputation in the U.S. was partially attributable to Americans’ lingering colonial insecurity, their ongoing belief that despite all evidence to the contrary, British people are inherently intelligent and trustworthy. Fallows even dug up an embarrassingly snooty quote from Robert Reich, boasting about his sensible preference for British news: “I, for one, don’t get my economics news from Newsweek. I rely on The Economist — published in London”... readers are consistently given the impression, regardless of whether it is true, that unrestricted free market capitalism is a Thoroughly Good Thing, and that sensible and pragmatic British intellectuals have vouched for this position. The nuances are erased, reality is fudged, and The Economist helps its American readers pretend to have read books by telling them things that the books don’t actually say"

Fly Burgers! Patties Made of Millions of Mayflies - "The largest swarm of flies in the world hails from Lake Victoria, where trillions of midge flies swarm each month for mating. Local residents didn’t want the easy to catch protein go to waste, so started the tradition of making midge fly BURGERS."
Apparently these aren't flies but midges

WHO spends more on travel costs than fighting AIDS - "other aid agencies manage to fly staff around on much tighter budgets — the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF spends $140 million a year and has twice the staff, while Doctors Without Borders forbids business-class travel and spends on $43 million a year despite having more than five times as many staffers"

UK to censor online videos of 'non-conventional' sex acts - "In order to comply with the censorship rules, many mainstream adult websites would have to render whole sections inaccessible to UK audiences. That is despite the acts shown being legal for consenting over-16s to perform and for adults in almost all other liberal countries to film, distribute and watch... Pictures and videos that show spanking, whipping or caning that leaves marks, and sex acts involving urination, female ejaculation or menstruation as well as sex in public are likely to be caught by the ban – in effect turning back the clock on Britain’s censorship regime to the pre-internet era... “Although it is nominally designed to enforce the [Obscene Publications Act] guidelines of the Crown Prosecution Service, in practice it draws far tighter lines, many of them inexplicable. The ban on female ejaculation is a particularly strange example,” he said. The censorship regime has led to bizarre understandings between the producers and regulators, Barnett said. One is the “four-finger rule”, which limits the number of digits that can be inserted into an orifice for sexual stimulation. Even some who back age verification questioned such strict censorship. “It’s mad that we regulate such material that aren’t even criminal acts,” said Prof Clare McGlynn, an expert on pornography laws at Durham University and co-founder of the Centre for Gender Equal Media."

Secrets of sumo wrestler's diet - "A sumo wrestler's day begins around 5am with morning training. They peel themselves out of bed and go directly to the training room. Working out on an empty stomach has its advantages in the effort to gain weight, Matsuda says, as this helps slow down the body's metabolism and makes burning calories more difficult... By fasting overnight and before morning training, sumo wrestlers switch their bodies to a fat storing mode when all the dishes are served on the table"