Links - 26th September 2017

30 Supernatural Memes That Prove We All Watch Too Much TV - "It’s pretty obvious after 12 seasons that the TV show Supernatural is a hit with a massive fan base. They take charge of events like the Comic-Con in San Diego just to have a chance to meet the stars Jensen Ackles, Jared Padelecki and Misha Collins. These Supernatural memes also prove the huge fan base have a sense of humor and can make fun of the show and themselves."

BBC Radio 4 - Moral Maze, Historical Sex Abuse - "You have to be safe from criminal justice if you're dead because you can't get a fair trial because you can't be cross examined and therefore the criminal justice system has to keep out of it. But I've got a greater sort of squeamishness about this. I just feel there's so much kind of easy moral certainty in denouncing pedophiles and child abuse and you just think yes there's hardly anyone going to support it. That to bandy it round and then to mean that anyone who challenges it can be accused of being an apologist is a morally reprehensible atmosphere at the moment. I'm very nervous about it...
Things have changed very recently you know. Operation Yewtree document giving victims a voice actually changed the terms that we use. I mean you might not like victim but they said we should say victims not accusers, that's what they said. They said we should call unproven allegations and change that to evidence. So is there not a danger of an undermining of undue process due to a kind of politicization of guilt that the CPS and the police didn't zealously do their job in the past?"

Horror of ISIS sex slave app: Virgins put on sale by twisted jihadis - "“They were sharing photos of the sex slaves with the best make-up and clothes, and asking $2,000 for this one, $3,000 for that one. A virgin cost $10,000.” Some said the sex slaves were lavished with gifts including expensive lipstick and clothes - a far cry from the tales told by those captured by ISIS who are often shared between men, beaten and raped. The brides of ISIS told their tales to reporter Jenan Moussa, claiming jealousy was rife. An ISIS bride originally from Lebannon said: “There was a lot of tension between the wives and the sex slaves. “Some of the wives even divorced their husbands because of that. They were spending too much on the sex slaves, buying them the best make-up, clothes and accessories.”"
According to From Our Own Correspondent, a virgin could go for $30,000

issa sage on Twitter: "If this nigga wanna destroy the Earth what makes you think he won't choke a bitch? Lmao https://t.co/jDshUDsnJC" - Salon on X-Men Apocalypse poster: "“X-Men” is shamefully glamorizing violence against women to sell tickets"
"If this nigga wanna destroy the Earth what makes you think he won't choke a bitch? Lmao"

The Israeli Approach to Women in Combat - "Recently, the IDF decided to fully rationalize the process of training and staffing these units based on lessons learned over the years, and one of those lessons is that for all their spirit and willingness to serve, female troops are not capable of functioning as regular combat infantry. Admitting that women are different allows the IDF to better equip and staff these units to maximize their effectiveness. So for example, mixed gender infantry battalions will no longer carry the FN MAG 7.62 mm machinegun (in U.S. service the M-240.) The weapon and ammo are too heavy for female troops, so instead these units will rely exclusively on the Negev light machinegun (the IDF equivalent of the American SAW.) Likewise, these units will only carry American M-4 carbines, which weigh less than the Israeli Tavor. Female troops also wear special flak jackets and load bearing gear to better accommodate ammo and equipment. These changes are designed largely to reduce the disproportionately large number of stress injuries suffered by female soldiers. Another disproportionately large cause of attrition is the often harsh and demanding nature of infantry officers. In the IDF many infantry officers emerge from the elite paratroop and Golani brigades and are then distributed around other units. Such officers proved a poor fit for female infantry, and as a result the IDF redesigned its assignment policies to have more sensitive officers lead the mixed gender units."

Women's combat roles in Israel Defense Forces exaggerated, military traditionalists say - "Israeli women are not in direct combat special operations such as the Green Berets. Nor are they in front-line combat brigades mobilized to engage in direct heavy combat. In the infantry, virtually all of Israel’s female combat soldiers are confined to two light battalions — the Caracal and the Lions of Jordan — which are assigned to guard the borders with Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab countries that have peace treaties with Israel... Retired Maj. Gen. Yiftach Ron-Tal is one of the IDF’s most prominent figures. He was top commander of all IDF land forces in 2006. He supported moving women into direct land combat but in 2011 announced a change of heart, based partly on increased injury rates. “It turns out that the amount of stress fractures suffered by soldiers is dozens of percentage points higher among women than among men. As a result, the female soldiers are not required to carry as much weight”"

IDF rejects female integration in Armored Corps - ""Medical Corps officials examined the workloads and noted that integrating female soldiers into tanks was harmful," a senior Army officer told Ynet. The physiological trials included a test of the abilities of an average female young adult inside the combat compartment of the Merkava tank, specifically in fulfilling the two duties which require significant physical effort – the "loader," tasked with carrying the hefty artillery shells, and the "driver," who must press down on the heavy peddle with considerable strength. Another element in the Armored Corps' lifestyle which the trials took into consideration was the intimacy and harmony among the soldiers, who are often forced to spend several days locked into a small cabin while on operational duty – which may hurt the privacy of the female trooper"

Real men don't look down on women in the SAF
When one understands that NS is sold as a male duty to protect helpless women, a male rite of passage and bonding ritual and a (re)affirmation of masculinity, one understands many of the comments one sees from Singaporean men about this issue

'Flawed' study casts doubts on mixed-gender units in US marine corps - "other pages from the report, seen by the Guardian, indicate that women were not expected to pose problems for ground-combat units, so long as clear standards, diligent screening of candidates and good training and leadership were in place. According to the data shared with the Guardian, the study also showed that some women excelled during tests such as hiking quickly with heavy loads and firing artillery under simulated enemy attack, while mixed marine units showed superior morale and problem-solving and better discipline than units composed only of male marines... all-male units were better at hiking, shooting, gorge-crossing and cliff-climbing, and males suffered fewer injuries"
Even the Guardian admits that it's not all sunshine and sparkles

Modern - Marine Corps releases results of 9-month gender integration study. - "No other military service conducted a similar research experiment...
All-male squads and teams outperformed those that included women on 69 percent of the 134 ground combat tasks evaluated.
All-male teams were outperformed by mixed-gender teams on two tasks: accuracy in firing the 50-caliber machine gun in traditional rifleman units and the same skill in provisional units. Researchers did not know why gender-mixed teams did better on these skills, but said the advantage did not persist when the teams continued on to movement-under-load exercises.
All-male squads in every infantry job were faster than mixed-gender squads in each tactical movement evaluated. The differences between the teams were most pronounced in crew-served weapons teams. Those teams had to carry weapons and ammunition in addition to their individual combat loads.
Male-only rifleman squads were more accurate than gender-integrated counterparts on each individual weapons system, including the M4 carbine, the M27 infantry automatic rifle and the M203 grenade launcher.
Male Marines with no formal infantry training outperformed infantry-trained women on each weapons system, at levels ranging from 11 to 16 percentage points.
In a findings briefing sheet, officials also noted that there were tasks female Marines routinely struggled with that posed no similar challenge to their male counterparts."
The thread has people actually analysing data from the Marines study (which is linked)

Grunt life: Marines dish on the Corps' women in combat experiment - "She watched as the number of women involved in the experiment dwindled by the day."I was stressing out because all my girlfriends started getting hurt," Brown told Marine Corps Times. "They're all getting this common injury from hips. I was waiting to feel something in my hips and I never did."... some volunteers reported perceived unequal treatment that broke down unit cohesion and fostered resentment between male and female counterparts... Lance Cpl. Chris Augello arrived at the integrated task force believing that women should get a shot at service in the infantry as long as they could meet existing standards. It was a perspective that made him different from most male Marines, he said, and he'd argued with his unit members for hours on the point. When Augello checked out of the task force months later, however, he submitted a 13-page essay to unit officials explaining exactly why the experience had made him change his mind."

The Navy Has A Pregnancy Problem & It's Getting Worse - "A record 16 out of 100 Navy women are reassigned from ships to shore duty due to pregnancy, according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act... That number is up 2 percent from 2015, representing hundreds more who have to cut their deployments short, taxing both their unit’s manpower, military budgets and combat readiness... Overall, women unexpectedly leave their stations on Navy ships as much as 50% more frequently to return to land duty... The evacuation of pregnant women is costly for the Navy. Jude Eden, a nationally known author about women in the military who served in 2004 as a Marine deployed to Iraq said a single transfer can cost the Navy up to $30,000 for each woman trained for a specific task, then evacuated from an active duty ship and sent to land. That figure translates into $115 million in expenses for 2016 alone... “A pregnancy takes you out of action for about two years. And there’s no replacement,” said Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, a nonpartisan public policy organization. “So everybody else has to work all that harder,” adding that on small ships and on submarines, “you really have a potential crew disaster”... The Obama administration understated the pregnancy problem throughout its eight years and even suppressed some data about the impact of its “gender-neutral” policies on the Navy... with the introduction of the all-volunteer military, the Navy provided many lucrative incentives to men and women — including free housing, medical care, recreation and educational opportunities. But women got additional benefits, including free prenatal care, daycare, counseling, and special education for toddlers and children with disabilities or for other “special needs.” “Since benefits offered to recruits who are women are so very generous, it almost becomes an incentive,” said Donnelly. “One feminist advocate many years ago referred to the military as a ‘Mecca for single moms'”... In May 2015, Admiral Michelle Howard announced a quota of 25% women on all ships"
This suggests that NS for women will raise the birth rate

Women in war: operational issues of menstruation and unintended pregnancy. - "With rapid and frequent deployments around the world, the current high level of military operations demands combat readiness of every military member. In the U.S. Armed Forces, women represent 15% of active duty troops and 17% of reserve and Guard troops and are a critical component for mission accomplishment. The operational issues of menstruation and unintended pregnancy, unique to this population, can decrease a female member's military readiness and affect her ability to deploy. Strategies to mitigate and even eliminate these concerns include the optional use of hormonal medications to induce reversible menstrual cycle suppression. These medications, traditionally indicated for contraception, should be considered essential for female troops during training and deployment. This article, tailored specifically for military women, provides valuable information regarding the risks and benefits, as well as the various options available for menstrual cycle suppression."
Feminists would say forcing women to regulate their menstrual cycles and fertility is an invasion of privacy

Rich women like rich men, and rich men like slender women - "Men with higher incomes showed stronger preferences for women with slender bodies, while women with higher incomes preferred men who had a steady income or made similar money, according to a new survey of 28,000 heterosexual men and women aged between 18 and 75... Women felt it was more important that their partner made at least as much money as they did (46% versus 24% of men) and had a successful career (61% versus 33% of men), while men favored a slender body (80% versus 58% of women). And men with more education also had stronger preferences for female partners who were “good looking” and slender, whereas this was not a concern for women. Some 95% of men with an advanced degree said it was “essential” that their partner was “good looking” versus 77% of those with a high school education or less, and 84% of those men said it was essential that their partner was slender versus just 12% of those with a high school education or less... “I don’t think this is superficial at all,” says Jacqueline Whitmore, the founder of The Protocol School of Palm Beach. “Speaking as a woman, most women of a certain age want security, but we also want someone who doesn’t look, act and dress like a troll. A woman must uphold her standards”... The study may help people understand why the advertising industry (and society) puts so much emphasis on women being thin, “part of which is driven by pressure to attract a partner,” Frederick says. And it may also throw light on why men strive so aggressively for higher income and assertively negotiate for raises... Older people care less about physical attraction, professional success or the potential to make a lot of money, the study found
Women like rich men. Rich women like even richer men
This shows one downside of eliminating the raw gender pay gap
Evolutionary theory explains all of this perfectly - including why older people don't care as much about these things
A man who said men had to uphold their standards would be slammed as a misogynist

What do men and women want in a partner? Are educated partners always more desirable? - "Results consistently demonstrated that male participants preferred women with lower SES. Female participants, in contrast, preferred men with higher SES. These sex differences were more pronounced when a long-term romantic relationship rather than a one-night stand was being considered. In addition, men’s lower reported likelihood of romantic contact with a woman with high SES was due to her high educational level rather than her high income. Mediational analyses showed that men perceived a potential partner with high educational level as less likeable and less faithful, and thus reported less likelihood of romantic contact."

Age and Gender Differences in Mate Selection Criteria for Various Involvement Levels - "The present study investigated mate preferences for five different levels of relationship involvement—marriage, serious relationship, falling in love, casual sex, and sexual fantasies–among individuals of 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 years of age. Consistent with an evolutionary perspective, men preferred mates who were higher in physical attractiveness than themselves, whereas women preferred mates who were higher in income, education, self–confidence, intelligence, dominance, and social position than themselves"