Links - 3rd August 2017 (1)

Lisa Wade, PhD - Posts - "I was once called out in class by a student, a veteran, who objected to my using the phrase "militarization of police."... He argued that soldiers would never be allowed to behave the way some police behave, that the phrase was a misunderstanding of both military training and comportment, and that it was unfair and insulting to the people who served"

10 ways to offend the French and how to avoid it - "If you are invited to eat in the home of a French person, it is considered insulting if you do not invite them back in the following months. Of course, there is no need for the invitation to be returned immediately, but if you are invited more than once and have not yet hosted a meal in your own home, you may find yourself left out of the next round of invitations."

The Unspoken Rules of Gift Giving - "The truth is, buying presents for friends effectively forces us to rank and prioritise them according to how much they mean to us. It’s not so much that the truth hurts, but that it’s inconvenient."

“The Essence of the Hard On”Men and Masculinities - ANNIE POTTS, 2000 - "The condition known as “impotence” demonstrates the inscription on individual male bodies of a coital imperative: the surface of the male body interfuses with culture to produce the “fiction” of a dysfunctional nonpenetrative male (hetero)sexuality. The impotent man embodies this cultural narrative; his perceived failure to erect his penis and perform (with it) according to dominant phallocratic notions of healthy male heterosexuality infiltrates his flesh, actions, and thoughts. This article employs feminist poststructuralist discursive analysis to investigate the effect of the metonymic relationship between the penis and the phallus on the cultural construction of male “sexual dysfunctions.” It explores the medicalization of male sexuality, focusing on the impact of so-called “erectile dysfunction” on male bodies and lives; in particular, the use of intrapenile injections as a medical intervention for this “disorder.” It is argued that by relinquishing the penis's executive position in sex, male bodies might become differently inscribed, and coded for diverse pleasures beyond the phallus/penis."

What Does The Acronym PWPGSJSISIACWPB Stand For? - "In the face of rationing and controls during WWII there were a series of commissions that oversaw the regulating of many parts of society. Many of these efforts had acronyms, the longest of these being PWPGSJSISIACWPB. It stood for Pipe, Wire Product and Galvanized Steel Jobbers Subcommittee of the Iron and Steel Industry Advisory Committee of the War Production Board. It needs mentioning too—just for the fact you have read this far that also in existence was the Biscuit, Cracker and Pretzel Subcommittee of the Baking Industry of the Division of Industry Operation, War Production Board."

The One Thing That (Sadly) Most Women Agree Makes A Man Undateable - "While 63 percent of those surveyed said they’d opt out of traditional labels like “homosexual,” “heterosexual” and “bisexual,” the same percentage also said they wouldn’t date a man who has slept with another man... only 3 percent ranked sex as the most important aspect of a relationship... The Glamour survey results are in line with the general perception of women as somehow “more fluid“ in their sexualities than men"

The politics of heterosexuality—a missing discourse in cancer nursing literature on sexuality: A discussion paper - "there has largely been an uncritical endorsement of biomedical constructions of sexuality, rooted in orthodox sexology, with a dominant focus on sexual functioning and on sexual rehabilitation for women with cancer. Moreover, in this knowledge base, phallocentric heterosexuality over and above other forms of sexual expression is privileged, and the socio-political context of unequal gender power relations is largely excluded. References to the social sphere as a dimension of nursing care are focused almost exclusively on maintaining normality, and reflect the emphasis on functional restoration. The largely individualistic, uncritical and biocentric emphasis in this literature may serve inadvertently to reinforce and maintain existing gender inequalities in heterosexual relationships"
New Real Peer Review summary: "Gender scholar wonders why cancer nursing focuses on biology rather than gender theory "

Let's Be Careful With the "White Supremacy" Label - "Bernie Sanders has taken some heat recently for his remarks to a woman who said she hoped to someday become the second Latina senator and asked him for some tips about getting into politics. His reply, essentially, was that being Latina wasn't enough... someone asked how and when it became fashionable to use the term "white supremacy" as a substitute for ordinary racism... For what it's worth, this is a terrible fad. With the exception of actual neo-Nazis and a few others, there isn't anyone in America who's trying to promote the idea that whites are inherently superior to blacks or Latinos... This isn't just pedantic. It matters. It's bad enough that liberals toss around charges of racism with more abandon than we should, but it's far worse if we start calling every sign of racial animus—big or small, accidental or deliberate—white supremacy. I can hardly imagine a better way of proving to the non-liberal community that we're all a bunch of out-of-touch nutbars who are going to label everyone and everything we don't like as racist."

"The Scourge of the Left": Too Much Stigma, Not Enough Persuasion - "The coalition that opposes Donald Trump needs to get better at persuading fellow citizens and winning converts, rather than leaning so heavily on stigmatizing those who disagree with them. Chief among the problems with stigma as a political weapon? It doesn’t work... any intellectual community that wants to retain any stigma––anyone who believes that a stigma against a given concept has value is invested in guarding against concept creep that would inevitably erode the attendant stigma...
[On slamming Kevin Drum for having the common understanding of 'white supremacy' rather than an academic one] It is awful to stigmatize people as cringeworthy for failing to speak in the vernacular of a tiny, insular subculture. Neither journalists nor academics speaking to a general audience can insist a term’s only meaning is a contested usage so little known that it confounds a longtime employee of Mother Jones and many residents of the Upper West Side. And it is deeply counterproductive to stigmatize those who use the common meaning of a well-known term with words like “embarrassing,” and “mortifying.” The insularity and biases at work here are a significant reason that the academy, and growing parts of the press who mistake its subculture for conventional wisdom, are increasingly unable to reach anyone that doesn’t share an educational background many intellectuals now think of as normal but that is, in fact, unusual even among college students in the U.S., never mind the rest of the world... Insofar as the definition of “white supremacist” includes Bernie Sanders, the term is not going to retain significant stigma, or even be understood by most of America"
Academic doublespeak, like with the redefinition of "racism", at play

Seven Surprises for New CEOs - "Bearing full responsibility for a company’s success or failure, but being unable to control most of what will determine it. Having more authority than anyone else in the organization, but being unable to wield it without unhappy consequences. Sound like a tough job? It is—ask a CEO. Surprised by the description? So are CEOs who are new to the role. Just when an executive feels he has reached the pinnacle of his career, capturing the coveted goal for which he has so long been striving, he begins to realize that the CEO’s job is different and more complicated than he imagined... Actions and strategies favored by shareholders (and analysts) may not benefit the ultimate competitive position of the company. Shareholders come and go—the average share of stock in the United States is held for less than a year—and they care only about what happens to the stock during the period they expect to own it. Analysts are naturally concerned with moving in and out of a stock, not holding it. They tend to reinforce trends—and love deals—rather than reward a long-term focus. In fact, both shareholders and analysts are prone to take a short-term view. CEOs, however, need to concern themselves with creating sustainable economic value."

Why every Hong Kong MTR station is a different colour – the reason may surprise you | South China Morning Post - "The main reason bright colours were adopted when the first line opened in the 1970s was to lighten up the subway system... an important factor in picking different colours was function. Underground, where there are no landmarks to look out for like when you’re travelling by bus or car, colour helped differentiate the MTR stations, and gave each their own identity. That was important, Mead says, because “back in the 1970s, there was still a high level of illiteracy” in the city. It was not until 1971 that Hong Kong launched a programme of free compulsory education... For key stations, Mead says, different shades of red were used. The bold red in the Tsuen Wan, Mong Kok and Central stations was intended to alert passengers that they had arrived at an interchange or terminus."

HSBC's rainbow lions: Can we have our homophobia back please? - "In 1967, homosexual acts were decriminalized in the UK. This led the subject to be discussed all over the British empire, including in Hong Kong. At the time, in the mid-1960s, members of the Anglican Church and the theatre community in the then British Crown Colony of Hong Kong urged the local government to make the same change here. The Hong Kong government declined, on the basis that all research had shown that local populace, who were more than 90 per cent ethnically Chinese and non-Christian, had “strong feelings of disgust” for homosexuality, which was seen as “the white man’s disease.” Calls for change were politely rebuffed because the representatives of the locals were unshakably opposed to it. Get that? – Yes, the main bastion of the Christian church was pushing for decriminalization of homosexual acts, while the local populace, who were technically atheists (most had non-theistic beliefs), stood powerfully against repealing the laws. The Christians lost, the atheists won, and the push to decriminalize homosexuality failed... formal legislation against homosexuality was introduced by Westerners. But so were laws against bank robbery, and it’s idiotic to conclude that it was fine to rob banks before that. And yes, China had no laws against homosexuality – but that was because the official line was that gay people did not exist. And the Cut Sleeve story? Most communities around the world have ancient stories which include non-heterosexual characters: their existence doesn’t make the world free of prejudice against LGBT people."

Canadian claims Halal sign is proof of division in S’pore, S’poreans politely disagree - "Basically claiming that a Halal only microwave was proof of Muslims “taking over”."
The Chinese privilege squad must be upset by the anger at Tarek Fatah
At the same time there were so many ignorant Singaporeans bashing him on Facebook, e.g. saying he didn't know what Halal was (when he's Muslim), calling him a troll, saying he should learn from Justin Trudeau (maybe we should also learn from his endorsing gender segregation), saying liberal Muslims aren't real Muslims, calling him Islamophobic etc
Luckily there were many Muslims saying they had no issues if people ate even pork in front of them during Ramadan, Muslims pointing out that there's no such thing as Halal microwaves and people asking if there should be no-beef or vegetarian/vegan microwaves too. No one mentioned Halal fridges or sinks (though they did on EDMW)

Experts on Why Police Aren't Trained to Shoot to Wound - "Anytime a firearm is discharged, it's considered deadly force, said David Klinger, professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Shooting to injure or maim someone wouldn't stop an aggressive subject, Klinger said, and officers are trying to stop the threat to their life, or the life of their partner or a citizen. "Why would we want to injure or maim people?" he said. "It doesn't stop them." Because of the potential risks, it would be "very difficult" to train officers to shoot to wound instead, Kelly said. If someone's life is in jeopardy, shooting to maim or injure will have little effect on the actions of the individual who is trying to kill, Klinger added. Additionally, if an officer aims at anything other than the torso area, the odds that he or she will miss increase greatly, Klinger said. But aiming for the chest means that the type of wounds suspects usually sustain are likely to be fatal, he added. Officers are trained to shoot with the understanding that one shot may not stop an aggressive subject, Klinger said... Even after Klinger shot the suspect and the bullet pierced his left lung, aorta and right lung, the suspect still continued to fight for at least another 30 seconds, Klinger said. It took a total of six officers to subdue him and get him to drop the knife. If the man were armed with a gun instead of a knife, Klinger would have had to keep shooting because "he would have continued to be a threat"... Tasers are not foolproof. The probes that generate the electric shock can miss, get caught in clothing or may simply not affect the suspect. Klinger called it "unreasonable" for police to gamble with their lives or the life of a third party by using a taser when deadly force is necessary"
On why allegations of police brutality based on police shooting aggressive people multiple times are hollow

Pigs To The Rescue: How Salt Pork Stops Nose Bleeds - "It turns out this isn’t the first time salt pork has been used to control a nosebleed. “It’s a traditional therapy for hard to treat bleeding disorders,” Jackler told me. “When I was a resident in the 1980s, we would buy a lump of salt pork to use.” The salt-packed pork is thought to work by inducing swelling, thereby blocking the bleeding blood vessel."

The crazy life and crazier death of Tycho Brahe, history's strangest astronomer - "In 1566 at the age of 20, he lost part of his nose in a duel with another Danish nobleman named Manderup Parsbjerg. The duel is said to have started over a disagreement about a mathematical formula. Because 16th century Denmark didn't have resources like the internet to figure out who was right, the only solution was to try to kill each other. For the rest of his life, Brahe wore a prosthetic nose. His fake nose was likely made of copper, although he probably also had gold and silver noses around for special occasions... He employed a little person called Jepp, who Brahe believed possessed psychic powers. Jepp was his court jester, and spent most dinners under the table. It's probably best not to speculate on just why Brahe preferred that arrangement. Then there was Brahe's elk, a tame beast that Brahe kept as a prized pet. The elk met a rather bizarre end, reportedly drinking a lot of beer while visiting a nobleman on Brahe's behalf, after which it fell down the stairs and died. Yes, that entire sentence was about an elk."

Schoolboy ‘believes he’s a girl’ - "According to the NHS, an estimated one in 4 000 people is receiving medical help for gender dysphoria. On average, men are five times more likely to be diagnosed with the condition than women"
More data on the relative prevalence of MTF vs FTM transsexuals

Industrial Cybersecurity: Return of the Air Gap? - "What’s the safest state for a plant? When it’s shut down and not producing... Companies that persist in air gapping may well find the economics of that choice bearing down on them at some point, says Albert Rooyakkers, founder, CTO and vice president of engineering for Bedrock Automation. “They will miss the predictive analytics, causing them to blow a bearing on a turbine that costs $150 million,” for example... Most cyber incidents originate from inside the system, Lund says; in that case, air gaps do not help... Air gaps can also introduce errors, warns Gregory Wilcox, global technology and business development manager for Rockwell Automation. “Employees may write down data on clipboards and then manually key it in, but then you have increased the risk of errors.”"

Air Gap or Not, Why ICS/SCADA Networks Are at Risk - "Even in air gapped OT environments, files must be exchanged with the outside world. Some examples include software patches, and files from third parties like system integrators, contractors, etc. An adversary can take advantage of this by tricking employees into installing fake software updates and patches, or transferring files that will introduce malware into industrial networks"

Goodbye Air Gaps, Hello Improved ICS Security - "In today’s competitive world, the demand for real-time data and continuous improvement has meant that links between control networks and business networks are inevitable... 90% of industrial cyber security is not about blocking hackers – it’s about ensuring high availability and reliability through hardened, resilient systems."

BBC World Service - The Documentary, It's a Dog's Life - "Women and children would take wolf cubs and start to hand raise them and that may have been the moment of separation, that hand raised wolves would not be so good at rejoining their counterparts in the wild and so became a separate genetic line of dogs...
[On military deployment in Iraq] 'On stressful days I would let the guys play with Cena. You know, throw a tennis ball, forget where you are for ten seconds. Try to scratch a dog's ear and it's just, it's truly amazing what that little bit of normalcy can do in a chaotic world and he's like: hey I've got this.'
'Dogs they have a really unique and special ability to be social outside of their species'"

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Reflections on Terror: 50 Years Behind the Headlines - "In Northern Ireland even some of the most brutal and apparently senseless murders have a savage logic behind them. Loyalist killers who wanted to keep Northern Ireland under British rule had a grim rationale for slaying innocent Catholics. IRA members were drawn from the Catholic community and the killings were to get that community to put pressure on the IRA to stop...
Although the IRA killed many civilians it was, with notable exceptions, seldom part of a deliberate policy to target civilians, unlike that of the loyalist paramilitaries Al-Qaeda and IS...
The detention center at Camp Booker became the birthplace of the so-called Islamic state. The fusion of Al-Qaeda insurgents with Sunni veterans of Saddam's armed forces...
'These extremists were basically running a terrorist training University or at least a radicalization school in our own detention facilities. In fact I'd stopped release of detainees because I felt that we were actually releasing individuals that were more radical than they were when they entered'...
[On the IRA] 'Prisoners in the compound see themselves as people who have been fighting a war and therefore are not criminals but prisoners of war. Inside the compound they have their own command structure, inside the compound they organise their own leisure activities and inside the compound they do drill'"