Links - 24th April 2018 (2)

UK water firms admit using divining rods to find leaks and pipes - "Ten of the 12 water companies in the UK have admitted they are still using the practice of water dowsing despite the lack of scientific evidence for its effectiveness."

Do not refer to female pupils as 'girls' or 'ladies' because it 'reminds them of their gender', headteachers told - "Teachers should not refer to pupils as “girls" or "ladies” because it means they are “constantly reminded of their gender”, the Government’s former mental health tsar has said... Ms Devon said that another reason not to use gendered terms like girls or boys is because there may be transgender people in the room."

Piers Morgan: For God's sake let boys be boys - "what I don't support is the creeping eradication of conventional gender altogether, as if somehow it is a bad thing. This new gender war is being driven by the radical transgender community, which - like radical feminism to non-radical feminism - is a very different, far more aggressive, loud and extreme group to the non-radical transgender community. They basically want anyone, including very young children at school, to be free to identify how the hell they like, and their campaign has been undeniably successful. That's why Facebook currently provides over 70 different gender 'options', from 'two-spirit person' to 'neutrois' and 'transmasculine'. One is simply: 'neither'. Now, I don't care if adults want to identify themselves as giraffes or parrots if it makes them happy. That is their right, so long as they abide by the laws of the land. But I do care when massive pressure is applied on the rest of us to stop using words like 'boys' and 'girls' because it may offend the gender fluid brigade. I also care that kids as young as five are being encouraged to embark on a journey to change their gender and/or sex before they even really know what either of things even mean. Anyone who's had children knows they go through all kinds of confusing emotional turmoil before, during and after puberty. Why add to that confusion by making them think that 'boys' and 'girls' are offensive terms? There are so many obvious unresolved problems with this surging transgender activism. Some schools have begun eliminating gender distinction in their sports programmes, so any boy who feels he's a girl can play on the girls' team. This obviously puts most female athletes at an immediate physical disadvantage. Other schools now allow boys who identify as girls (apologies to anyone offended by those words…obviously) to use the female bathrooms. How can that do anything but create huge unease and discomfort? Companies are being bullied and harangued into converting to non-gender-specific merchandise lest they get branded 'trans bigots' on social media. We see it in our high street stores and on our TV commercials. The problem gets even more acute when we consider sexual offenders in prison. Already, we are getting cases of male rapists identifying as female so they can switch to female prisons. It doesn't take a genius to work out why they may want to do that."
When "respecting" others (as with the Perak Mufti) means you need to re-engineer yourself, one needs to ask whether it's really about respect

Teen Vogue columnist ‘not at all concerned’ about innocent men and false harassment allegations – twitchy.com - "'If some innocent men's reputations have to take a hit in the process of undoing the patriarchy, that is a price I am absolutely willing to pay. '... So much for due process then, at least for men accused of sexual harassment."
We all have enough strength to endure the misfortunes of others
Maybe Emily Lindin will pay the price when she is accused of a crime and no longer can benefit from the presumption of innocence. Or maybe when the "patriarchy" collapses and she no longer gets subsidies
Again, this is another verified Twitter account

Schools are banning best friends to protect students' feelings - "Critics, however, say the approach robs kids of the chance to form valuable coping skills. By grappling with mild social exclusion when they’re young, kids will emerge as more capable, resilient adults, these advocates argue... A wealth of research indicates best friends create value for people throughout their lives. One study recently published in Child Development found people with best friends enjoyed better mental health well into adulthood."

Did Disney push for EA’s Battlefront microtransaction decision? - "Disney executives were "upset at how online outrage over the costs of gaining access to popular characters such as Luke Skywalker reflected on their marquee property.""

Belgium says loot boxes are gambling, wants them banned in Europe

How Pixar’s Coco Honors Mexico—and Defies Trump - "Garcia Bernal—who made reference to Trump at the Oscars in February by declaring, “As a Mexican, as a Latin-American, as a migrant worker, as a human being, I’m against any form of wall that separates us”—refused to even acknowledge Trump and his politics."
So Mexicans are all illegal immgirants?

Donald Trump: 'I love Mexican people' - "Donald Trump visited the US Border with Mexico and declared that he "loves" Hispanic people despite recent controversial comments in which he called illegal immigrants "criminals" and rapists"... "I employ thousands and thousands of Hispanics. I love the people. They're great workers. They're fantastic people and they want legal immigration.""

Toronto school board hiring push a setback for white women - "Ontario school boards are struggling to hire enough male and minority teachers to reflect the diversity of their student body, making it harder for young white female teachers to find jobs. Educators and parents were shocked at a memo circulated earlier this month from the Toronto District School Board that suggested candidates should be male, from visible minorities or aboriginal to get an interview for a full-time teaching position"

WATCH: A North Korean defector makes a daring escape under heavy gunfire - "one North Korean soldier appeared to cross the MDL for a few seconds, and then run back towards the northern side of the line. A multinational UNC commission reportedly conducted a “thorough investigation,” in which it found North Korea and breached the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War conflict. “The [Korean People’s Army] violated the armistice agreement by one, firing weapons across the MDL, and two, and by actually crossing the MDL,” a spokesman said during a news conference Tuesday... During multiple surgical procedures, doctors found dozens of parasites in his digestive tract, shedding light on the humanitarian crisis in North Korea, even for its soldiers... Upon his recovery, the defector was reportedly not entirely convinced he was in South Korea: “Is this South Korea,” the defector asked, according to sources from the South Korean newspaper Dong-a Ilbo. After he received confirmation that he was in fact in South Korea, he reportedly said he would “like to listen to South Korean songs”"

Leftist Writer: I Hate White People; Let's Not Pretend The U.S. Is Better Than North Korea - "A white writer named Kate Morgan, who seems monumentally concerned about environmental issues, decided to attack the idea of being white on Wednesday, going so far as to say that she hated white culture, didn't like labeling people white, and thought the United States was not much better than North Korea"
And she has the verified tag on Twitter

Sarah Silverman Flips: 'I Fell In Love' With Trump Supporters - ""When you're one-on-one with someone who doesn't agree with you, or whose ideology is different than yours, when you’re face to face, your porcupine needles go down"... "The surprise was," she said, "I fell in love with them. I had a great time with them and I felt comfortable."... Earlier this month, Silverman attempted to convey her connection to conservatives by revealing that she suffered from "survival-based fear" when Trump took office and became a "doomsday" liberal. "In an instant, I basically became a liberal doomsday prepper," she said. "And for the first time, I felt an actual kinship to the far-right militia person who thought Obama would end the world"... Of course, as noted by Daily Wire's Emily Zanotti, conservatives didn't react exactly like liberals; they didn't scream at the sky and smash the windows of their local Starbucks, they won back both houses of Congress and then the White House without the "crippling fear and total lack of sanity that's gripped outspoken Democrats.""

Singapore's 'silver tsunami': how the city-state depends on its elderly workforce - "Her son William has told her not to work like this: 28 days a month, S$1,600 (£900) in total, no overtime. She should be watching TV at home, he says. But she is grateful for the job; it staves off the desolation of empty afternoons, helps put away a little every month in case her leg gives trouble, and eases the financial pressure on her son... every one of the half-dozen pioneers I talk to says they are happy to still be working and earning. As an outsider, this can be hard to understand: at the end of a lifetime of working, why would anybody want to undertake work that involves hard, physical labour at the bottom of the chain of command? But many Singaporeans believe this is the reasonable culmination of an ageing society. Indeed, once you get past the unsettling image of frail people doing manual labour, they believe this is the more dignified option – keeping the elderly active and giving them an independent income. “There is plenty of help available to those who need it, but nobody goes to you offering handouts,” says Alan John, a former deputy editor of The Straits Times. “People have to seek help themselves and it can be hard to navigate the system; to know who to ask, where to go, what forms to fill out.” When I relay this comment to Kuan Ying, she motions urgently to our translator. “Tell her,” she says, “I’ve had my fill of [those forms]. I applied for help after my amputation – nothing. I made 10 applications to get this flat.” “But,” she adds after a few moments, “I am glad they have realised there are poor people in Singapore now. Two years ago, they did not. You tell them, I am glad.”"

Armed Police To Escort Joggers In Swedish City For Protection - "The police inspector’s comments mirror a report from 2016 which stated that close to half of women in Sweden felt “very unsafe” at night alone in Swedish cities. According to the report, conducted by newspaper Aftonbladet, a further 43 per cent felt uncomfortable in Swedish cities even in the daytime. The issue is particularly bad in troubled heavily migrant-populated suburbs which are often labelled no-go zones. A survey conducted by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) claimed that around half of the residents of problem areas were too afraid to leave their homes in the evenings... Karlsson said the officers will be carrying handcuffs as well as weapons as they jog with residents. “We have tried and found a vest that we can fix the equipment to and that works to run in,” he said. As Sweden’s violent crime rate has increasingly become the centre of national attention, more and more unorthodox solutions to the problems have been proposed. Last month, members of the Moderate Party even proposed deploying the military in no-go areas to aid police."

Britain's Christmas markets surrounded by ring of steel - "There will be concrete barriers, stop and search checks and officers on the ground at the popular festive events in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Bath in the run up to Christmas. The precautions are being taken after the Local Government Association warned councils to be vigilant this year with the terror threat level to the UK currently at 'severe' - meaning an incident is 'highly likely'."
"When you don't build walls on your border, you build them in your cities."

The Bad American Habits I Kicked in Finland - "1. I don’t fear awkward silences.
2. I don’t say things I don’t mean.
3. I don’t leave food on my plate.
4. I don’t take coffee to go.
5. I don’t feel uncomfortable in my own skin."

What Hong Kong has to learn from the rise and fall of Manila - "Founded by Spanish conquistadors in 1571, the outpost quickly became a major metropolis that linked Asia with America. Manila hit the jackpot of history, so to speak, as the world was just about to witness the first wave of global trade."
Basically it's not your fault if you decline - it's larger global patterns

Filmmaker Visits UC Berkeley With Huge American And ISIS Flags. Guess The Students' Reaction. - "In a disturbing video which he made on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, filmmaker Ami Horowitz reveals how sick the leftists are on the campus with their fervent anti-Americanism. Horowitz stood on the campus holding a huge American flag while calling out paeans to American greatness. That elicited some shocking responses from some of the students, including: “The opposite. The complete opposite.” “Uh, Canada’s pretty great.” “The one imperial power in the world.” “It signifies military rule.” “God is not proud of us.” “Your flag sucks, fool.” “F*** America.” “God f*** this country.” And one charming anti-Semite who snapped, “I seen you walking around here with your little Star of David, you s**thead.” Horowitz then tested the temperature of anti-Americanism by brandishing a huge ISIS flag, all the while singing the praises of ISIS. These were some of the responses he received: “Good for you, man. Good for you.” “I love that you’re saying that.” Horowitz later noted that he waved the ISIS flag for hours and elicited only one negative reaction. Three years ago, Horowitz visited UC Berkeley and performed a similar experiment using the Israeli flag and the flag of ISIS. Sure enough, some students accused the Israelis of being “killers,” tyrannical and guilty of genocide.
I'm sure under some tortured logic, if you say "God fuck this country" it doesn't mean that you hate your country but that you love it

South Korea students forced to date in attempt to lift birth rate - "Professor Jang Jae-sook, who founded a “Marriage and Family” course at Dongguk University, said students were being taught how to find the right partner and sustain healthy relationships... The crude marriage rate - the annual number of marriages per 1,000 people - was 5.5 last year, compared with 295.1 when statistics began in 1970."

Lookout Falls From Tree - "Police caught two of the men in Franklin Park “after an unsuccessful attempt to pose as shrubbery.”"

A question of ethnics - "Since the Race Relations (Amendment) Act of 2000, bodies like national parks have been compelled to ensure that they discriminate against no one. And so, in 2001, the Council for National Parks formed the Mosaic Project to organise ethnic minority outings into the hills and dales. The Lake District National Park even announced it would axe its free guided walks because they seemed to attract only white hikers, although this decision was later rescinded. But these steps were deemed insufficient by the government’s rural watchdog, the Countryside Agency... there was a ‘passive apartheid’ in the countryside. Country pursuits were targeted at ‘white, middle-aged, middle-class people’, the review said. Minority groups were not ‘comfortable’ when visiting the countryside; it was not a ‘welcome’ place for them... The writer Hanif Kureishi has said that his family would never have gone walking in the countryside when they moved from Bombay to Bromley, because they considered it demeaning for middle-class Indians to traipse about like peasants... Many of them grew up in steamy South Asia and East Africa and dislike the English weather... ‘It’s superficial nonsense and won’t change anything. It looks like taking busloads of prisoners to the countryside,’ says Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, a Cornish farmer. His view is pertinent, because Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is Britain’s only black farmer... He believes that declaring the countryside unwelcome to ethnic minorities helps no one. ‘There’s the black intellectual set, making a living out of making the host community feel guilty,’ he says, arguing that white liberals should not let themselves be manipulated. ‘We’ve got to stop having these woolly schemes — so much money goes into them.’ Black people too often forget, he says, that their parents and grandparents were pioneers who created Britain’s first ethnic communities in overwhelmingly white cities. ‘But the second and third generations seem to feel that they are stuck in those ghettos,’ he says. ‘They need to take some responsibility for themselves, and stop feeling like victims.’ Mr Emmanuel-Jones believes that the only way for ethnic minorities to become attuned to the countryside is for them to live and work in it. He has set up a scheme whereby black urban teenagers work on his farm for weeks at a time. ‘I was amazed by their prejudice at first,’ he says. ‘They come expecting racism and see it every time someone looks at them. They were used to manipulating white liberals, but they couldn’t manipulate me.’"

» Is the Countryside Racist? - "here, perhaps, is one reason why you don’t see many Punjabis trekking over England’s green and pleasant land: they have a fundamentally utilitarian view of the environment... The sight of one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom prompts the question, “Why haven’t they farmed the land?” “They want to keep it nice,” I say. “For people to visit.” “But there’s no one around.”... it’s necessary to acknowledge the most popular hypothesis on why we don’t visit the countryside: because the countryside is racist. It’s a proposition that was put forward in 2007 by Liverpool University’s Professor Ann Jacoby, whose research condemned village communities for “harbouring discrimination and hostility”; in 2005 by the Countryside Agency, which complained the countryside is not seen as a “welcoming place by ethnic minorities”; and in 2004 by Trevor Phillips, who sparked a storm when he talked of “passive apartheid”, and argued “the low number of black and Asian people living in rural areas” meant there was a danger that the countryside could become a “no-go area” for ethnic minorities... “One lady in Widecombe said she was fed up with all the foreigners moving in… But she didn’t mean people from different ethnic backgrounds, she meant people from Newton Abbot.” Indeed, it is significant that, of the people with whom I raise the issue during the slowest walk in human history, not one cites racism. And the complexity of the issue is demonstrated by the variety of alternative explanations. “Our communities have a culture of visiting each other and shopping,” argues one Community Champion. “There’s a perception that the country is for the retired and well-off,” says another. “There’s confusion between the National Trust and National Parks… People think they have to pay,” says yet another... the Campaign for National Parks describes itself as a charity that exists “to protect and promote National Parks for the benefit and quiet enjoyment of all”. We Punjabis are incapable of doing anything quietly."