Links - 10th October 2019 (2)

I haven't used shampoo in years. My hair has never looked better - "Gary Barlow, who admitted yesterday that he had not washed his hair for 14 years. While social media users were quick to criticise his shampoo-free decade-and-a-half, the singer and former X Factor judge's locks are far from the greasy mass people often associate with unwashed hair... The ‘no-poo’ method involves using natural substitutes or just water in place of shampoo and conditioner, and has credibility within several circles.Beauty insiders, including writers for women’s magazines and professional hairdressers, rave about how hair becomes thicker, fuller and more lustrous. While thrifty environmentalists rejoice at the lack of chemicals in and on their bodies - not to mention the impact on their budgets... Paradoxically, it’s greasy hair that could benefit the most from giving up shampoo. The theory behind the ‘no-poo’ method is that shampoo strips the hair of its natural oils, which prompts the scalp to generate more oils to replace them. This results in oil overload – greasy hair – which we then attempt to ‘fix’ with more shampoo. It’s a vicious circle and quite a brilliant coup for the shampoo industry, because the more shampoo you use, the more you need to use and the more frequently you need to use it. Left to its own devices or washed with natural substitutes, the scalp eventually theoretically returns to its natural balance, producing enough oil to keep hair soft and smooth without the associated grease-slick. The oils produced by the scalp – notably sebum – keep the shaft of the hair clean, smooth and protected, performing the role of ‘shampoo and conditioner’ far more effectively than the manufactured alternatives. The upshot should be healthier hair that is stronger, thicker and fuller as it is less damaged than shampooed hair. But until this happy state is reached there is what Aitken Read calls ‘the tricky transition period’ in which the scalp continues to over-produce oils. This doesn’t sound great. Without shampoo to strip them away, there is a risk of greasy hair for a few weeks... Most ‘no-pooers’ use alternatives to shampoo and Aitken Read’s book contains 30 different shampoo, conditioner and styling alternatives. Put together, they read like a cake recipe – bicarbonate of soda, flour, egg, honey, lemon juice. But after a period of time most find just plain old water does the job fine."

Soap free for seven years - "an informal survey of my coworkers and friends found that I don’t smell awful, or much at all. My boyfriend even says I smell nice — value that as you will. My skin isn’t greasy. I haven’t developed any strange conditions or infections. I’m not forgoing bathing completely; I still shower daily, just with water and nothing else, and still wash my hands with soap... “If you go to work and you dress in a long-sleeve shirt and pants and you’re in your office all day and you go home, there’s no reason for you to use soap,” said Dr. Sandy Skotnicki, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Division of Dermatology who’s writing a book on the topic. “Even if you’ve been at the gym, you don’t necessarily need soap … water is more than enough to clean off.” In fact, Skotnicki said, using too much soap can be a bad thing... “I like to use the example of a brick wall, so the mortar in between the bricks is the fat in the outer barrier of our skin,” she said. “Soap’s going to remove it more, because it’s quite harsh, and detergents are going to remove it less … I’m forever telling people to stop cleaning so much, stop using so many products. I see itchy, dry people all day and I’m always saying, ‘Why are you washing if you’re not dirty? Stop washing if you’re not dirty.’” Skotnicki calls the association between soap, cleanliness and health a psychological hangover from the days before indoor plumbing, when diseases were rampant and bathing a luxury reserved for the wealthy.“The cleaner that you were, way back in the early days when we didn’t have showers in every home, you were more healthy,” she said. “Nowadays, it’s not necessary. It’s gone overboard and it’s really to sell product.” Jack Gilbert, a professor at the University of Chicago’s Department of Surgery and faculty director of the MicroBiome Center says thanks to vaccines, and other public health works, most dangerous pathogenic microorganisms have been eradicated from society.So the chance any nasty germs are hanging out on your skin are next to none, although you should still wash your hands with warm, soapy water to prevent the spread of things like colds and flu. In fact, coming into contact with raw sewage now is relatively safe."

Here’s Why Your Skin Looks Better When You Stop Washing Your Face - "Confession time: I don’t wash my face. I mean sure, I splash water on it daily, and of course, I use makeup wipes if I'm wearing foundation or concealer. But facial cleansers? Nope. Soap or masks? Not a chance... To this day I still avoid most cleansers. And recently, I’ve heard a growing number of women say their complexions also look better when they simply rinse as opposed to deep clean... “Cleansers can effectively remove dirt and oil from the skin, but the wrong cleanser can disrupt the outer skin layer leading to inflammation,” said Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of Cosmetic and Clinical Research in Dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. “Unless you've been sweating heavily, have visible dirt on the skin, or have used heavy cosmetics, in some cases washing just with water is adequate.”... “I've visited parts of the world where there is no running water and women never wash their faces. They have no increase in skin infection or other skin conditions, and many have beautiful, soft, moisturized skin.”... The benefit of a water rinse is that your skin won't dry out, and this can help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles... By the time we hit 30, our bodies start producing less oil, says Papantoniou. In turn, you may start noticing that you can’t handle the cleanser you used in your 20s and that “your skin is getting dried out even though you are using the "best" moisturizers.” If you’ve noticed any of these things, it may be time to lay off the cleansers."

ZUBY: on Twitter - "Men are not intimidated by 'strong women'. But far too many women believe that being aggressive, rude and generally unpleasant makes them 'strong'. No. It makes you insufferable. It's not that we 'can't handle you' but that we'd prefer not to, in light of better options. "

Ben Harris-Quinney on Twitter - "@BBC formula:
•Positive story about immigrants
•Positive story about LGBT
•Positive story about women
•Negative story about #Trump
•Negative story about #Brexit
•Negative story about straight white men
Bonus point:Attack customer base (the over 50s) & raise the TV tax"

Katie Hopkins on Twitter - "Birmingham school stops LGBT lessons after parents protest"
"Parents are left furious as Christian pupils aged just 10 are excluded from school for alleged homophobic remarks"
"Muslims speak out against LGBT lessons in schools. Lessons stopped
Christians speak out against LGBT lessons in school Exclude their kids, ban them, slander them.
Where is equality for faith in the U.K.?"

Francis Foster on Twitter - "Identity politics is the most brilliant form of divide & conquer ever created. It pits white against black, gay vs straight and male vs female. Encouraging us not to focus on our humanity but the minute things that are different about us. #IdentityPolitics"

on Twitter - "The term “obese” is:
A slur
Violent
Dehumanizing
It’s anti black"
Is she trying to say that black people are all obese?

National culture distant dream due to Islamisation of Malay literature, says author - "The religionisation of Malay literature over the decades has become a stumbling block to realising the national culture, a concept that was proposed as far back as 50 years ago, said prominent writer Faizal Musa... Islamic literature was only a small part of Malay literature, but has been given so much prominence that it is today synonymous with national literature.He said this is part of a trend of Islamists influencing the culture and identity of the Malays. Faisal shared a story of an ethnic Indian student who told him that he found reading Malay literature uncomfortable as it was replete with religious overtones, as well as themes that are preachy and “laced with Arabic terminology”.“How would Malays feel if they are made to read school textbooks filled with elements of Hinduism?” asked Faisal, whose seven books remain banned by the Malaysian government. He said the phrase “Islamic literature” has also become problematic, and themes close to the religion such as oppression, corruption, feudalism, sectarianism and human rights are never part of it.“Islamic literature still revolves around the theme of love, featuring Muslim couples in skullcap and robe, complete with the salam, Arabic expressions such as astaghfirullah and bismillah, and carefully disguised sexual innuendos,” he said. Faizal said another dilemma of Malay literature has to do with the works of non-Malays in Malaysia.He said although Malay is the national language, there are other widely spoken languages such as the Bumiputera languages, Mandarin and Tamil, as well as writers who are brought up in an English environment.“Literature is the expression of sense, thought, knowledge and culture. If all these come from non-Malay languages, are they not considered part of national literature?”"
Meanwhile you have Malaysian Chinese bashing other Chinese for not using Malay as their daily tongue and telling them to be more Malay

Nearly 50% of Japan's singles have no dating prospects: gov't survey - "Almost half of singles in Japan who wish to get married are unable to find a suitable partner, with 61.4 percent of the group stating they are not doing anything to change the situation... A lack of opportunity to meet an appropriate partner, or not having enough financial resources or ability to get along with the opposite sex are cited as major reasons in the outcome of the survey included in its annual report on Japan's declining birthrate that was approved by the Cabinet"

About 1,200 Singaporeans renounce citizenship annually in last five years - CNA - "An average of 1,200 Singaporeans renounced their citizenship every year between 2007 and 2011. Of these, 300 were naturalised citizens... "Every application for permanent residence or Singapore citizenship is evaluated holistically on a range of criteria, including economic contributions, qualifications, age, family profile, and length of stay in Singapore.""
In the absence of transparent criteria at least this gives some insight into what gets you Singapore citizenship

Facebook's New Community Standards Has Exceptions For Death Threats - "[Update 7/10/2019:] Facebook has updated its Community Standards, and have removed the section that granted exceptions for death threats...
what they’re saying is that if the news media has classified a group or organization as being “dangerous”, then the death threats and calls to incite violence is okay. So when the Southern Poverty Law Center claimed the Proud Boys were connected with “white supremacists”, is Facebook giving people the go-ahead to use death threats?When the Anti-Defamation League labeled Pepe The Frog as a “hate symbol”, and the media claimed that the people who use Pepe memes are “Nazis”, is Facebook saying it’s okay to to use death threats and incite violence against these people because they’ve been labeled as “dangerous”?Anyone with common sense knows exactly how dangerous this is given that the media and Left-wing groups basically label anyone who is a political dissident as a “Nazi”, and usually encourages or passively advocates their deplatforming. In this case, however, Facebook is literally saying that they’re making exceptions to death threats and incitement for violence if it’s against “dangerous” groups or organizations.Keep in mind that Facebook also banned Laura Loomer, Milo Yiannopoulos, Alex Jones, and Paul Joseph Watson for having “dangerous” ideas... So basically, anyone can be considered a “hate organization” if at least three people agree with you on an idea or statements you made that Facebook feels “attack” anyone for the aforementioned reasons. Basically, it’s ill-defined enough to allow them to redefine the rules as they see fit, which is typically oriented around protecting Left-wing ideology."

Angry customer makes cendol seller even richer" - "He put two quintessential Malaysian delights together. And since then, his cendol served with dollops of Musang King has made him a very happy man.Cendol seller Muhammad Ariff Qayyum Mohd Zamri, 25, ventured into the business two years ago just to pass time.Little did he expect his cendol stall here to eventually generate an average monthly income of RM90,000.This would swell to RM150,000 a month during the school holidays.In fact, sales soared even further after an angry customer posted on Facebook a receipt showing RM114 for three bowls of cendol served with Musang King.Ariff Qayyum, who is the owner of Raja Cendol Taming Sari, said: “I’m so thankful the matter went viral. Now more people know about my stall and I’ve many more customers. My workers and I have never been busier.” He said durian lovers did not mind paying RM38 for a bowl of Musang King cendol, as they were well aware of the market price for the premium fruit"

Wikipedia Editors Attempt To Delete Sci-Fi Author Pages They Deem Right-Wing - "Various sci-fi authors are facing page deletions on Wikipedia after various Left-wing editors nominated the pages for deletion on the grounds of the authors not being notable, or for their fanbase being “bigoted”, and “racist”, and filled with “hatred”. There’s currently a battleground on the author pages of Wikipedia where certain editors are attempting to erase an internet checkpoint for the authors due to disliking what little they’ve gleaned of their politics. There’s a current vote taking place over on the Wikipedia page for military veteran and sci-fi fiction author, Michael Z. Williamson. Various editors are claiming that Williamson isn’t notable, and that there’s nothing notable about his Wikipedia page despite being a Hugo nominated author and having various best-selling books... Hoyt has written dozens of stories and is considered a notable author in the genre, many believe that Wikipedia editors targeted her entry on the site due to her involvement with the Sad Puppies"