Links - 31st July 2020 (2)

Breast implants saved Canadian woman shot in chest

London Young Labour on Twitter - "Today we celebrate 150 years since the birth of revolutionary and theorist, Lenin. His legacy and the legacy of the Russian revolution still inspires millions around the world to fight. For peace and socialism!"
"Guys, Lenin was ACTUALLY quite problematic. Like, remember Robin Thicke was quite sexist? Well Lenin killed people in concentration camps."

The reason there’s still a dry yeast shortage. - "Shortages of dry yeast have been a consistent complaint since business shutdowns and stay-at-home orders have kept most Americans eating in—and hoarding many dry and canned goods to prepare. While some supply chains have begun to catch up with demand surges for certain products, yeast has been one area where they’re struggling to keep up. Robb MacKie, president and CEO of the American Bakers Association, said the industry was unprepared for the run on yeast because there’s usually a lull in demand for bread products and ingredients in the first quarter of the year, while the peak typically comes during the November and December holidays. The pandemic has flipped that schedule on its head, he said, with demand surpassing what producers would expect even in the busy season. As with toilet paper and hand sanitizer and pasta, it’s tough for the dry yeast supply chain to accommodate an astronomical surge in demand... demand for fresh yeast, which the company also produces, has been softening during the pandemic, because so many restaurants have either limited their offerings for takeout or have closed down altogether... a major problem seems to be getting all that yeast packaged... The facility in India where the company gets its jars was shuttered, and materials for paper packets have also run low. The extra staff that the plants are recruiting will mostly be aiding this packet packaging effort, as well as drying the yeast... “Yeast takes a certain time to go from one cell to two cells,” says Sudeep Agarwala, a yeast geneticist who works for the biotech firm Ginkgo Bioworks.* “You can do everything you can to speed it up, but there’s a hard limit to how fast they can double.”... If you can’t find yeast at the store, there are DIY options. As Agarwala outlined in a viral Twitter thread, you can grow yeast by placing old flour, water, and dried fruit (or ale) into a jar. Allowing that mixture to ferment in a warm place for 24 to 48 hours should yield yeast that you can use in baking projects. The resulting product won’t act as predictably and consistently as what you’d buy in a store, but it may imbue your baked goods with a certain distinctive character"

Israel’s pork problem and what it means for the country’s Christian Arabs. - "Pork was so controversial not just because its tasty incarnations are forbidden under Jewish law, but because the nature of Israel’s Jewish character was seen as an issue that would define the young state. Politicians and writers all weighed in on the subject. While Orthodox politicians made their case on religious grounds, even Natan Alterman, a secular poet, saw the symbolic importance of a nationwide pork ban. He wrote in a Mapai party newspaper column, “When a Jewish nation makes a pig a sine qua non, its history shudders.” Yet, many socialist Zionists philosophically rejected basing national dietary laws on traditional Judaism. Secular journalist Meir Bareli, who appreciated the gravity of the pork taboo, saw the cheap price of pork during a decadelong meat shortage as a primary reason to keep its production unrestricted. The story of Israel’s contemporary pork industry dates back 50 years, when the Knesset passed a law banning the production of pork in Israel. The law—considered to be one of the most controversial in Israeli history—was designed with a loophole that permitted raising hogs in majority Christian regions in the North as a concession to Israel’s religious minorities and the young democracy. As a result, Christian-Arab towns became hog country"

Court OKs school's ban on U.S. flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo - "The school's approach, according to the appeals court, kept students safe in a climate of racial tension."The controversy and tension remained," a panel of judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said in their opinion, "but the school's actions presciently avoided an altercation."School officials were worried about violence and disruption of school activities "and their response was tailored to the circumstance"... the incident occurred amid "ongoing racial tension and gang violence within the school, and after a near-violent altercation had erupted during the prior Cinco de Mayo over the display of an American flag."The previous year, court documents said, a group of students carrying a Mexican flag had clashed with students who hung an American flag from a tree and chanted "USA" on Cinco de Mayo, a holiday marking a famous Mexican military battle that is often celebrated in the United States"
Imagine hating the country you live in so much, you threaten violence towards people who display its flag. But of course, they are still seen as victimsSWOP Tampa Bay on Twitter - "Tomorrow’s speaker will talk about doing safer sex work during the pandemic. Sex work and disability community unite!"
Comment elsewhere: "What about sex work by non-queer trans whatever-the-fuck folks?Why don’t normal strippers do these talks? Because they’re out there making money doing sex work, not making money talking (read: berating white folk) about it."

Over 500K Zoom Usernames & Passwords Are Being Sold in the Dark Web - "There’s a reason why Zoom has been banned by companies like Google and SpaceX, because of concerns about its privacy and security. Zoom was even banned in Singapore schools after a student’s zoom account was hacked and they were shown obscene images... “Zoom takes user security seriously,” a Zoom spokesperson said in an email.I’d hate to see what happens if they don’t take it seriously."

Making Sense of Ho Ching's Facebook Page - "If you follow her, you can learn about China’s expanding naval capabilities, bricklaying robots, Ipoh’s revitalised hipster cafe scene, and even the temperature of Uranus. (This is not a joke.)Despite being named by Forbes as one of the most powerful women in the world (and certainly the most powerful woman in Singapore), we know absolutely nothing about Mdm. Ho Ching beyond the basic facts. No mainstream media outlet has ever profiled her and she is rarely mentioned in news reports except in PM Lee’s company. We do not know what her political opinions are, what her vision for Singapore’s future is, or even her favourite food.After being CEO of Temasek for 14 years, PM Lee’s spouse and the person responsible for everyone’s monies remains a complete mystery. Except on social media, where she shares often and without inhibition... Unlike PM Lee’s highly-curated feed, Ho Ching’s page is untouched by the invisible guiding hand of media relations. I claim this with confidence because no PR professional could endorse her Facebook feed in good faith. A nice person would call it ‘diverse’ while most would probably describe it as ‘completely arbitrary’... It is, at once, both completely pragmatic and yet, the most ‘human’ social media page by any public figure in Singapore.Look at Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong or Minister Chan Chun Sing’s Facebook page. Truth be told, they tell us absolutely nothing about the respective politicians.They are not Facebook profiles, but press releases wearing the skin of a Facebook profile.Nothing resembling authenticity has survived the public relations post-processing."

Meet The Singaporean Woman Who Went From Corporate HR To Selling Sex Toys - "“Since this virus outbreak, I have been so busy,” Janice tells me as we sit down for a chat in her home. Finding the time for the interview amid this pandemic was not easy—she has been getting plenty of new clients looking for new ways to fill their days... the industry is actually led by ex-bankers, ex-IT men, and ex-PR professionals. Most of them stay discreet, having ventured into the sexual wellness industry because it is becoming increasingly lucrative in Asia... “I discovered a different way of living. I saw people around me growing fruits and vegetables, and I saw them spend a lot of time visiting one another’s homes, getting to know each other, cooking, and making sure their friends and family were taken care of,” she said.On learning to grow her own greens, Janice adds that “there was this joy and sense of fulfillment when you see your baby coming to life. I had never experienced that living in Singapore, especially coming from a corporate lifestyle.”... Janice told the company, “I need to try the products. To do this, I need to believe in them. I’m not doing it for the money.”So she got sent over 40 of their toys, and she quite literally got to work... She started as a store assistant selling VēDO toys at Watsons.“What was it like selling sex toys next to the other Watsons aunties?” I ask.“They were so nice and supportive,” Janice replies. “I tried to give them toys to take home but they refused because they were shy. But when I was away, they would always help me sell by giving my catalogue to clients they thought would be interested.”... “Singapore is a very tight market to penetrate … Every pun intended.”"

Samuel Paul - "I came across this on Twitter...stuntmen and women across the country came together online to make this stay-at-home fight scene."
I saw a power rangers actors version but can't find it anymore

Coronavirus pandemic reveals Germans′ poor cooking skills - "The Federation of German Food and Drink Industries (BVE) said the coronavirus pandemic has exposed poor cooking skills among Germans."We've known for years that cooking competence has drastically declined in Germany," BVE General Manager Christoph Minhoff told the DPA news agency.But with social distancing closing restaurants and keeping residents off the streets, Germans have flocked to grocery stores and gotten back in the kitchen."People are rather dramatically forced to rely on their own culinary skills now that the offerings of fast-food restaurants, French fries stands and the Italian restaurant around the corner are not an option"... many people have grown accustomed to eating pre-prepared food, from fast-food restaurants, cafeterias or bakeries, due to Germany's work-intensive society."

East Germans drink more alcohol, eat better - ""Historical differences in alcohol consumption between East and West Germany might explain the east-west gradient for at-risk alcohol consumption," the researchers wrote, pointing to high levels of per capita alcohol consumption in former East Germany and the social role it played. For the difference in at-risk alcohol consumption between north and south Germany, researchers cited more frequent overall consumption of alcohol in the south, as well as the prevalence of alcohol-heavy folks festivals, such as Oktoberfest, and the role of public consumption in spaces such as beer gardens."

Sandy Kendall Dennis - "UPDATE thanks for all the everyone! Who would have thought my determination to find a humane way to solve my problem would be so popular?
Hornet's nests on the outdoor patio were always a problem until 4 years ago when I crocheted and hung my fake one after reading that hornets are territorial. Not a single one since then!"
Animal rights are subject to the slippery slope too - now insects are included. So much for the 'myth' of the slippery slope

Russia Favored Hillary Over Trump, But Brennan Hid the Intelligence - "Did Russia interfere in the 2016 election in order to help Donald Trump defeat Hillary Clinton? Contrary to the left's favorite narrative, the reverse was true — and known to be true among the U.S. Intelligence Community, according to Fred Fleitz, former chief of staff to Trump's National Security Council. Fleitz claimed that then-CIA Director John Brennan suppressed the truth and put forward lower quality intelligence to claim the Russians backed Trump... Brennan directed the CIA to hide most of the documents seized in the Osama bin Laden raid, because that information undermined the Obama administration's narrative of a "decimated" al-Qaeda, a moderate Iran, and success in the war on terror. Brennan's CIA also presented non-disclosure agreements to survivors of the Benghazi terrorist attack at a memorial service for the victims of that attack, in order to silence them while the Obama administration's response to Benghazi was being investigated. In 2015, more than 50 intelligence analysts complained that their reports on ISIS and al-Qaeda had been altered by senior officials to support the Obama administration's line. Brennan purged information about the religious motives of radical Islamic terrorists."