Links - 17th May 2018 (3)

Thin people don’t understand why others struggle to lose weight - "Nicky thinks she’s thin because of the way she eats, but actually, genetics play a huge role in making her thin. Nicky gets all the credit though, because people see the way she eats and they can’t see her genes. Many heavy people wouldn’t be lean like Nicky even if they ate the same foods in the same quantities. Their bodies are able to run on fewer calories than Nicky’s, which sounds like a good thing (and would be great if you found yourself in a famine). However, it actually means that after eating the same foods and using that energy to run the systems of their body, they have more calories left over to store as fat than Nicky does. So to actually lose weight, they have to eat less food than Nicky. And then, once they’ve been dieting a while, their metabolism changes so that they need to eat even less than that to keep losing weight... Dieting causes neurological changes that make you more likely to notice food than before dieting, and once you notice it, these changes make it hard to stop thinking about it"

Delivery Drivers Reveal London 'No-Go Zones' Made 'Too Dangerous to Work' by Acid Attacks and Knife Crimes - "The frequency of assaults using corrosive liquid in the city — officially the world capital of reported acid attacks — has left drivers choosing to take a big pay cut rather than braving dangerous areas of London at night. “We used to work till 2am – now people are stopping before 10pm,” one moped driver revealed to The Sun.“After 8pm or 9pm, we’re not going to those dangerous places.” Places named by delivery men as areas of the UK capital which are too dangerous to work include Hackney and Stoke Newington — boroughs which local MP Diane Abbott boasts are “ethnically diverse”, noting just 36 per cent of residents describe themselves as white British. Another area described as one to avoid by the drivers is Bethnal Green, a part of London which lies in the corruption-plagued, Islamist-connected borough of Tower Hamlets. Also named by drivers were “regenerated” regions such as Elephant & Castle and Stratford, the latter of which police say is hit by child sex grooming gangs, despite the Olympic Park home having been the recipient of £12.5 billion investment in recent years, which marked the largest urban regeneration programme in Europe... even MPs from the mayor’s own political party are now sounding the alarm on crime in the capital, with former Labour minister Stephen Timms demanding “serious action” on areas of London rendered “no-go zones” by acid attacks."

Household final consumption as a % of GDP - Singapore vs other High Income countries
i.e. why economic growth doesn't benefit Singaporeans as much as you might think

Cyberbullying: More teens anonymously bullying themselves online - "About 6% of kids from the ages of 12 through 17 have bullied themselves digitally... Teens who identified as non-heterosexual were three times more likely to bully themselves online, while victims of cyberbullying were 12 times more likely to cyberbully themselves... When asked why they engaged in digital self-harm, boys were more likely to say they did it as a joke or to get attention, while girls often said they did it because they were struggling with depression... There is a growing body of evidence that suggests social media plays a role in increasing mental health issues among young people
This suggests that victim culture can lead to a death spiral of victimisation, and that tumblr encourages mental problems

The Madness of Airline Élite Status - "One friend of mine always seemed to be dedicating two per cent of his mind to strategies to maintain his Global Services status. When, as a peer, I finally mentioned this to him, he corrected me: ninety-eight per cent of his mind was occupied with Global Services, with only two per cent left for everything else. Every November, he and a band of fellow-GS-MAD sufferers compare dollars spent and miles flown, speculating, like hard cases leaning on the rail of a horse track, on whose status will be renewed the following year. Another acquaintance, in danger of losing her status, appealed to United for mercy, writing to the airline that she deserved a break because she had had a baby mid-year. United granted her an exception"

Duisburg anti-litter campaign accused of racism over use of Turkish names - "The western German city of Duisburg launched a campaign about a month ago to encourage people to throw away their trash, posting motivational slogans on around 6,000 bins with sayings like “Come here, Kevin” and “Clean, Steffi”. Some also include Turkish names, with phrases like “There you go, Gülcan” and “Do it, Mehmet”... “The names were absolutely randomly selected and there was no intention to insult anyone,” she said, adding that they also wanted to be inclusive of the Turkish community. “If we have not done that, it would certainly also have been wrong.”"
So much for diversity and representation

Germany Takes Steps To Guard Women Against Sexual Assault As They Ring In New Year - "female revelers attending the open air event will also be able to access a women-only safety zone staffed by the German Red Cross. The measures are being introduced by the police for the first time in Berlin because of concerns about sexual assaults... many of the victims described the perpetrators as looking North African or Middle Eastern"

North African teenager stabs Swedish transvestite to death in Bergsjön - "A 16-year-old boy from North Africa has been charged with the murder of a man in Sweden who was found beaten and stabbed to death with a snake around his neck, dressed in women's clothing. The victim, a 54-year-old homosexual man, was found dead in the flat he shared with his partner in Bergsjön, east Gothenburg in June this year. A video recovered from the teen's own mobile sees him stand over the victim's body, swearing and shouting profanities, including insults referring to the 54-year-old's sexuality... The 16-year-old arrived in Sweden as an unaccompanied minor after living on the streets in several European countries."

Swedish 'man-free' festival comes under fire from transgender groups - "She had previously suggested men should be barred from music festivals until they had "learned to behave." But the festival has come under fire from users of Instagram, the photo-sharing social network, who claimed the policy was discriminatory against transgender people. This is because the ban on men only applies to what Ms Knyckare described as "cisgender men", a term for a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. One user angrily asked whether the ban extended to transgender men - people who are biologically female but identify as male. Another wrote: "You have previously argued that transgender men know how it is to be vulnerable and oppressed, just like women, and should therefore be welcomed. What do you do with the rest of the men who are vulnerable and oppressed, then?" The festival has responded by saying that transgender men and cisgender are "equally male" and that it was re-evaluating its gender policy"
Liberal logic - it is better to discriminate against more people than fewer

Drunk driving to be largely decriminalized in Alberta in 2018 - "In Alberta, impaired driving prosecutions take up 40 per cent of trial time in provincial court; cases can be complicated, often involve charter challenges, are defended by specialized lawyers and routinely appealed"

Canada’s drunk-driving death rate worst among wealthy countries, U.S. study finds - "Canada ranks No. 1 among 19 wealthy countries for percentage of roadway deaths linked to alcohol impairment"

Edmonton ranks among highest for impaired driving incidents in Canada: Stats Canada

DISGUSTING: Feminist Groups SILENT As Women Protest Real Oppression In Iran - "American feminist groups are gearing up for a repeat of last year's "Women's March," but as their sisters take to the streets to protest a truly oppressive, fundamentalist government, seeking true equal rights, American feminist organizations are — disgustingly — silent. The symbol of the Iranian freedom protests, this time around, is even a woman who threw off her veil in front of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and stood defiantly as freedom fighters massed around her... Linda Sarsour, one of the Women's March leaders, has spent the last year trying to claim that hijabs are a symbol of "empowerment"; it would be tough for the Marchers to continue to promote their propaganda as women in Iran throw their headscarves off in the streets as a symbol of their own freedom."

NHS apologises after woman is allocated transsexual nurse - "A woman who asked to be seen by a female nurse when she went for a smear test was 'embarrassed' when she was allocated a person with 'stubble and a beard'. Upon being called in for the procedure, the patient said she was 'distressed' to discover that the nurse was biologically male. When she pointed out the mistake, the nurse responded that their gender was not male and that they were transsexual... The patient described the nurse as having an 'obviously male appearance...close-cropped hair, a male facial appearance and voice, large number of tattoos and facial stubble.'... It comes as equalities minister and education secretary Justine Greening said she was considering proposals that would allow people to legally change their gender without being diagnosed by a doctor"

Art teacher in Utah fired after showing students classic paintings containing nudity.

Palestinians Blame Israel For Injuries Sustained in Premature Explodation - "A palestinian woman tries to detonate a car bomb at a checkpoint. Ends up only causing a fire in her car, resulting in her sustaining serious burns on her face, hands, back and chest, and resulting in her hand being amputated. And in typical palestinian style, they have found a way to blame her hand amputation on Israel"

Big elections test for media is coming - "The new team knows what happened to the Editor at that time, Han Fook Kwan. The government was unhappy with a rare display of independence and fairness in how ST reported the election. In an unusual act of wanting to play fair, Han placed equal-sized photographs of DPM Teo Chee Hean and Opposition leader Low Thia Khiang on Page One. Soon after, he was relieved of his job as editor. The coverage returned to ST’s usual standards under its new editor, Warren Fernandez. The spring vanished as fast as it came. With a new election looming and ST under revenue pressure, will the paper continue with its same-old approach? Will the government give it some leeway to report the election more independently? The choice is simple for the paper. Continue on the same path of an overtly pro-government approach and risk losing even more readers."

2017: The Year Where Almost Everything Went Wrong For Marvel Comics | Hollywood Reporter - "An interview with SVP sales David Gabriel, published on the same day as the previous report, provoked an even greater reaction after it appeared to show the exec complaining about characters’ diversity in Marvel’s output. “What we heard was that people didn't want any more diversity,” he said. “They didn't want female characters out there. That's what we heard, whether we believe that or not. I don't know that that's really true, but that's what we saw in sales. We saw the sales of any character that was diverse, any character that was new, our female characters, anything that was not a core Marvel character, people were turning their nose up against.” Response was so vehement that Gabriel was forced to release a statement clarifying his comments... the solicitations for Marvel’s March 2018 releases signals the cancelations of a number of comic series, including Gwenpool, Luke Cage, America, Generation X, Hawkeye, She-Hulk and Iceman. As has become customary, Marvel as a company has yet to comment officially on the cancelations — and declines to comment when specifically asked about them — with confirmations coming directly from the creators behind the comics on social media. That the majority of series confirmed to be ending feature female leads or men of color didn’t escape the notice of many fans, with discussion of a boycott of the publisher soon following"
Marvel Comics is so bigoted that even though they are greedy capitalists, they pull diversity comics even though they have high sales!

Why Facebook is asking for nude photos in order to combat revenge porn - "Facebook says users who are concerned they could be targeted by revenge porn can submit a complaint with the country's eSafety commissioner, then send their nude images to themselves via Messenger. These two actions combined will trigger a Facebook employee to screen the images and make a "digital fingerprint" of them, which will then be used to prevent those same images from showing up elsewhere on the platform."

This is why Saddam Hussein’s fedayeen troops wore Darth Vader helmets - "Their commander, Hussein’s son Uday, was a huge Star Wars fan"

Bestiality brothels are 'spreading through Germany' as campaigner claims abusers see sex with animals as a 'lifestyle choice' - "Bestiality brothels are spreading through Germany faster than ever thanks to a law that makes animal porn illegal but sex with animals legal, a livestock protection officer has warned... 'There are now animal brothels in Germany,' Martin told the paper, adding that people were playing down the issue by by describing it as a 'lifestyle choice'... There are even 'erotic zoos' which people can visit to abuse animals ranging from llamas to goats... German 'zoophile' group ZETA has announced it will mount a legal challenge should a ban on bestiality become law. 'Mere concepts of morality have no business being law,' said ZETA chairman Michael Kiok."

Telegram: Contact @sgmrt - "Get realtime MRT disruption and delay updates, plan alternate routes and minimise inconvenience!"

Betsy DeVos is right about campus sexual assault (opinion) - "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos made a speech announcing the reversal of Obama-era policies on campus sexual assault under Title IX, the federal law on gender equity in education. This was met with a wave of outrage on social media and in progressive publications. There were angry accusations that the move would harm women and protect rapists; a #StopBetsy hashtag sprang up on Twitter. Why the fury? DeVos offered a full-throated defense of due process...
DeVos had harsh words for Barack Obama's administration, charging that it "weaponized the [Department of Education] Office for Civil Rights to work against schools and against students." That was a reference to the administration's 2011 "Dear Colleague" letter to college presidents, which issued directives on Title IX enforcement — later backed by a threat to withhold federal funds from schools found noncompliant... In a 2014 case at Amherst College, another "John Doe," whose lawsuit was recently settled out of court, was branded a perpetrator when he was arguably the victim: The school accepted his claim that he had no memory of the incident due to intoxication, while the female student's text messages appeared to confirm she initiated the sexual contact. DeVos' attention to the wrongly accused rankles advocates who say such cases are incredibly rare. One commonly cited figure, from a 2010 study, is that 2% to 8% of campus rape reports are false. Yet even that small number warrants taking innocence seriously. What's more, it includes only reports proven to be knowingly false; more than half of all complaints in the same study were closed, due to inconclusive evidence or allegations that did not meet the definition of sexual assault. Ultimately, no one knows how many people are wrongfully accused... waking up your partner with a kiss (an offense that, in part, got a gay man expelled from Brandeis University). And she is correct that neither the accused nor victims are well-served by a university justice system in which people with no forensic or legal training play cop, prosecutor and judge... How ironic that some of the same people who accuse the Trump administration of wanting to gut civil rights also excoriate DeVos for wanting more respect for due process"
This suggests that liberals oppose due process when it's convenient

Hillary Clinton backer paid $500G to fund women accusing Trump of sexual misconduct before Election Day, report says - "Former Clinton nemesis turned Clinton operative David Brock also donated $200,000 to the effort through a nonprofit group he founded, the paper reported in an article entitled, “Partisans, Wielding Money, Begin Seeking to Exploit Harassment Claims.”"