Links - 21st November 2019 (2)

Canada humour eh - Posts - "Raccoons wash their food before eating it. So they gave them cotton candy."

A Guide to Traditional Japanese Dishes From All 47 Prefectures of Japan

Bernie Sanders chose Linda Sarsour: Can Jews overlook her views? - "her 2015 speech at Louis Farrakhan’s Million Man March, where she called Zionists white supremacists... A well-known advocate for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, in 2016 she told a large group of Muslims that her movement had no room for Jews who don't share her anti-Israel views. "We have limits to the type of friendships that we're looking for right now," Sarsour told the American Muslims for Palestine conference... In 2017, she literally embraced Rasmea Odeh, a convicted terrorist who in 1970 was sentenced to life in prison for two bombing attacks on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and spent 10 years in prison before being released in a prisoner exchange in 1980.At last year’s convention of the Islamic Society of North America, Sarsour accused the Israeli police and military of training American police to kill blacks and opposed humanizing Israelis."

Seeking relief from nicotine addiction, some e-cigarette users turn to cigarettes
Out of the frying pan and into the fire

Women Aren’t Always Sentenced By The Book. And Maybe They Shouldn’t Be. - "Under the default federal sentencing rules, family considerations are generally considered irrelevant. Ultimately, the judge ignored the prosecutors’ argument and did cite family as a reason for giving James a reduced sentence, in addition to her long record of community service. She still ended up with two years in prison, but that was less than half of the default term recommended under the federal guidelines... Women of all races get shorter sentences than white men... sentences for men are on average 63 percent longer than sentences for women... Legal scholar Dan Markel and his co-authors wrote in a 2009 book that family ties should be considered only with great caution to ensure equal treatment and to avoid continuing patriarchal norms or creating a “class of persons who are immune from incarceration” and therefore desirable hires for criminal outfits."
Of course, liberals pretend that only white women benefit from this sexism

Janice Fiamengo on Twitter - "Feminism 101:
Man wealthier than woman? Oppressor!
Man poorer than woman? Trash!
Man more educated than woman? Privileged!
Man less educated than woman? Loser!
Man's attitude, 'Let me protect you!' Benevolent sexist!
Man's attitude, 'I won't protect you.' Misogynist!"

the masked snooze on Twitter - ""Income inequality is only a priority for white, cis-men. The rest of us have bigger problems." Says Gingrich staffer and mining lobbyist."

The Singapore Daily - Posts - "I shudder at the thought of how lightly some fellow Singaporeans take Singapore's success and how some take for granted our stability and prosperity.A few even think we're making far too big a deal out of a few activists going up north to meet Dr M to ask him to lead the region towards democracy and more human rights, etc. To me, what they did was near treacherous. Don't think all alternative media sites are on the good side. You never know who are the people really running the sites, and you never know who are the people really funding the operations.Say NO to political sites that hire or use Malaysian writers to badmouth our own country, and say NO to activists who compromise our nation's sovereignty.And remember this, Singaporeans should stay united as one. The enemy is on the outside."
"Michael Patraeus describes Kirsten Han as a 'self-professed journalist' when she has actually contributed to major publications....yet he describes himself as an economist when he has no experience in the field. He also sees fit to write an article centred on a topic he has no experience nor training in. I wonder how much this fly-by-night writer is being paid to produce this slanderous piece."
One a Michael Petraeus article

Parliament: Cycling and personal mobility devices essential to country's car-lite drive, says Josephine Teo - "Cycling and the use of personal mobility devices (PMDs) are an "essential part" of Singapore's quest to go car-lite, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo in Parliament"
From 2017. Maybe the plan was to accelerate PMD use by making everyone buy a PMD to ride on walkways, since pedestrians would no longer be safe

65-year-old woman injured in Bedok e-scooter accident dies in hospital - "Police confirmed Madam Ong Bee Eng had died. A 20-year-old man was arrested after the accident, and police said they are investigating the case as one of causing death by a rash act... "She has been cycling in the area for almost 30 years, and has never had an accident before""
Singapore finally had its first fatality in its government's obsession with a 'car-lite' society

Opinion: E-Scooters Are A Menace To Society - "In 2017, there were 49 fires involving e-scooters, according to statistics released by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). This number spiked by more than 50% to 74 in 2018. The spate of fires compelled the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to consider reviewing a deadline for the devices to meet fire safety standards
E-scooter related injuries have been on the rise. According to emergency departments, the number of e-scooter and personal mobility device riders who met with accidents and sustained injuries serious enough to be admitted to hospitals jumped from 10 in 2017 to 23 in 2018...
Germany in May 2019 banned e-scooters from pavements and France will follow suit in September. In the United Kingdom, roads and pavements are off-limits to e-scooters and restricted to private property."
Luckily PMDs don't do something truly horrific and damaging, like sticking MRT doors together

2 in 5 Singaporeans want complete ban on PMDs: survey - "Two in five Singaporeans call for a complete ban on personal mobility devices (PMDs) following the recent spate of related accidents, a survey has found.Findings released on Tuesday (8 October) from a study by UK-based research firm YouGov showed those who disagree with a ban and those who are undecided were almost split evenly at 29 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively... three in five Singaporeans classify PMDs as “dangerous”, with close to half ranking the device as the most dangerous mode of transport among options presented in the survey."

PMDs may be banned if users' behaviour does not improve, says Janil Puthucheary - "If the users of personal mobility devices (PMDs) do not improve their behaviour, the government may have “no choice but to ban their usage completely in Singapore”, said Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Transport"

NEWS: ST poll says 70% of Bedok North residents want ban on pmds - "Nowadays when retiree Tan Hock Suan walks in his Bedok North neighbourhood, he will look over his shoulder every few metres to see if there is any personal mobility device (PMD) speeding down the road behind him.The 73-year-old told The Straits Times that a month ago, he was walking to a nearby hawker centre to meet his friends when he was almost run over by a PMD."I heard the engine from a distance, so I had to move to the side to avoid it. I have also seen people having to jump out of the way, grazing their elbows and knees," Mr Tan said."I think a few small injuries are much better than being hit and seriously injured. We have all seen how PMDs can hit someone with the force of a motorbike."... A straw poll of 150 residents by ST showed that around 70 per cent of residents wanted PMDs to be banned or restricted to those with legitimate mobility issues. About 80 per cent of residents wanted the government to impose strict fines on those who ride recklessly, or help to modify the devices to go at much higher speeds.The residents said the presence of PMDs was a "public nuisance" and "an accident waiting to happen"."

Do not let this plague of electric scooters come to Britain - "In cities all over Europe, in every cafe, people are talking about the same thing. No, not Brexit: it’s those damn electric scooters.The plague started last year and has spread like wildfire: Brussels to Lisbon, Paris to Wroclaw. Silicon Valley start-ups showed up one day with vans full of them... Britain, almost alone, has managed to stay mostly scooter free: saved by its strict road regulations... Could they be tamed and become a useful part of cities’ transport mix? A docking scheme – similar to the one used by Boris Bikes – would solve the biggest issue: the blocking of pavements. But of course, the tech firms pushing them haven’t bothered with that – they would have to apply for planning permission, and buying land in prime city centres would probably render the whole thing unprofitable. Better just to fly-tip their product wherever they fancy: I have seen it in Brussels, at 3am: men silently unloading scooters out of an unmarked van and leaving them on the pavement, like a reverse burglary. There’s also no reason in principle why individuals couldn’t simply buy and own an electric scooter like they own a bike or car. Most of the problems come from the dockless rental system which encourages user to leave them strewn around the place."
Maybe European PMD riders aren't as inconsiderate as Singaporean ones

Electric scooters: France introduces new rules to 'restore tranquillity' - "France is bringing in new rules for the use of electric scooters following hundreds of incidents involving the vehicles, including several deaths.From Saturday, riders will be required to be at least 12 and will not be able to ride their scooter on the pavement.The two-wheeled vehicles' top speed will also be capped by next year."

Commentary: E-scooter ban on footpaths – here’s a list of those who got off scot-free - "Are personal mobility devices (PMDs) really that bad? The numbers tell a terrible story. Six PMD riders dead between January 2017 and September this year reported by Tan Tock Seng Hospital alone... There was a public petition to ban them from public footpaths, with more than 69,000 signatures.So, came new rules. The Active Mobility Act, made effective in May 2018, specified conditions PMDs and bicycles must meet like the maximum speed. And more new rules again in 2019, mandating the registration of e-scooters, electric bikes and compliance with UL2272 certification. Then the rules were changed on Monday (Nov 4) when a ban on e-scooters on footpaths was announced.Yet, all of these, in my mind, are stop-gap measures.The casualties include e-scooter riders themselves. As far back as 2017, the warning signs were already being noticed by trauma doctors at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, who admitted close to four such casualties a month. By September this year, that was nearly nine a month... The fallout from e-scooters is not limited to death and bodily harm. There have been too many fires resulting from the charging of these devices."

SmartPeopleClub - Posts - "My Girlfriend is Not Hungry: Add extra french fries to your entree, and fried chicken wings (2) or fried cheese sticks (3)"

Australian teachers outraged at 'crazy political correctness' and ordered to meet 'praise quotas' - "Teachers are being ordered to reward a minimum number of students for good behaviour as part of a bizarre new 'praise quotas'.Queensland Teachers' Union president Kevin Bates said teachers are being instructed to record positive behaviour reports on a state-wide database.The OneSchool database records cases of injury, bullying or truancy in students, but schools are now urging teachers to record a minimum of 20 positive behaviour reports per week... Child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg slammed the move as being 'political correctness gone crazy'.Mr Carr-Gregg said rewarding children for 'good behaviour' that was otherwise considered normal would breed a generation of 'wusses'. 'It is a reward for behaving like a decent human being, and that is bizarre,' he said.He also said that having to note down every time children do something right or wrong would put an unnecessary load on teachers who already struggle.Mr Bates explained that teachers in Queensland have been directed to report even small incidents between children through OneSchool.While he understands that bullying is a 'pervasive issue', he noted that 'one incident of someone behaving badly does not bullying make'."