The Guardian: US anti-extremism group asks Israel to curb rightwing Jewish activist

A US-based organisation that campaigns against antisemitism has taken the unusual step of calling on the Israeli government to act against an extreme rightwing Jewish activist with “abusive, racist, inflammatory and violent” opinions. [...]

Both the ADL and the IRAC say Gopstein and Lehava have encouraged “price tag” attacks on Palestinians and their property in response to moves by the Israeli authorities which the perpetrators view as hostile to settlers. [...]

In April, Gopstein was acquitted of assaulting two leftwing activists after a judge said he could have mistaken them for Palestinians.

Lehava was launched in 2009 with the aim of preventing relationships between Jewish women and Arab men.

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The Guardian: The rise of vegan teenagers: 'More people are into it because of Instagram'

Veganism is on the rise. In 2006, 150,000 people in the UK opted for a plant-based diet. Today, 542,000 do. That’s a 350% increase.

The movement is driven by the young – close to half of all vegans are aged 15-34 (42%), compared with just 14% who are over 65. When the Guardian asked people about being vegan, 67% of the 474 who replied were under 34, and more than one-sixth were teenagers. We heard from people as young as 14 espousing the purported virtues of quitting meat and dairy. [...]

So why are so many teens ditching meat and dairy? Here’s what they said.

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The Guardian: Scotland has taken in more than a third of all UK's Syrian refugees

Scotland has welcomed more Syrian refugees than any other part of the UK since David Cameron said Britain would resettle 20,000 people, while only 33 people have been accepted by London local authorities, figures show. [...]

No refugees were accepted by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in which the constituency of the home secretary, Theresa May, is located, or by Watford borough council, home to the constituency of the Home Office minister responsible for resettling refugees, Richard Harrington. [...]

The Guardian has been trying since September to gain access to the figures. The Home Office refused a freedom of information (FoI) request asking to be told which local authorities had accepted Syrians on the VPR. Officials decided the information was exempt from disclosure under section(s) 36(2)c of the Freedom of Information Act. This provides that information can be withheld “where disclosure would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs”.

AdvertisementThe Guardian had challenged the refusal but had yet to hear back when the government released the information. The release came after the home affairs select committee submitted its own FoI asking for the statistics. After the Home Office missed a 20-day deadline to respond, the information commissioner’s office ordered it to release the information as soon as possible.

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The Guardian: Swapping spit: what saliva can reveal about your romantic relationship

Instant Chemistry works like so: you and your partner sign up to receive a “relationship kit” containing two saliva receptacles, which you spit into and send back to the company. Instant Chemistry then extracts certain genetic information from the samples and, based on what they term “bio- and neuro-compatibility”, score how compatible you are. Seabrooke and Gonzalez, for example, ring in at a cool 86%. [...]

If you think this sounds bananas, you’re not alone. I emailed a few geneticists for commentary on the veracity of Instant Chemistry’s science, and received the following response: “I spent three minutes reading what this company is offering, and my impression is it is total delusion. I really cannot waste more time on this.” But Seabrooke and Gonzalez aren’t hacks – they met as medical students studying neuroscience and genetics. They were both fascinated by the science of compatibility and spent years trying to figure out why some people work well together, and other just don’t.

After you take Instant Chemistry’s test, you and your partner will receive a booklet explaining the findings. You’ll learn how likely it is that you and your partner will remain physically attracted to each other over time and you’ll get feedback from the resident good doctors on how to be a better listener. The total cost for the test and subsequent “love manual” is $199.

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The Atlantic: What Is It Like When the President Becomes a Surrogate?

In fact, a case in which a president could campaign for his successor is extremely rare. There haven’t been that many two-term presidents over the last century, and they have tended to be so unpopular as to not be much use. What makes Obama unusual is that his popularity is relatively high, and on the rise. 

The 1988 election was one such case. President Ronald Reagan did campaign for Vice President George W. Bush, vouching for him with key groups. But it was a complicated relationship: Bush was eager to show that he could get out from under Reagan’s wing and prove he was not a wimp. Reagan was somewhat tarnished by the Iran-Contra scandal, and the Gipper was already aged and likely suffering from symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Meanwhile, Reagan—like Obama with his former secretary of state this year—waited until well into the spring to formally endorse his former VP, rather than meddle in the GOP primary.

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