Endangered species condoms and other news and views for the day

12-07-2014 condoms
  • Endangered species condoms: ‘Safe intercourse saves the dwarf seahorse’ – “Protection for endangered wildlife can sometimes be a tough sell, especially when it’s the ever-expanding footprint of us callous humans that’s the problem. But when you can gently raise both health and environmental issues, throw in a little sex and have a bit of fun all at the same time, well, you’ve got a public relations hat trick.”
  • Sex, drugs, and the proper measurement of economic activity
  • Unions and productivity – ‘if unions are good for productivity, why have bosses traditionally been opposed to them? The answer, I suspect, lies in this paper, which finds that unionization “is significantly associated with lower levels of total CEO compensation.” ‘
  • Climate Politics Are Stranger Than Fiction In Australia
  • Financial Scandals Tarnish Spanish Soccer Glory – “This spring, FC Barcelona was indicted for tax fraud. Prosecutors say the team didn’t declare the full amount it paid — believed to be around $120 million — to sign the Brazilian superstar Neymar last year. The team is accused of underestimating that figure by some $50 million, in order to pay less tax.”
  • Why they went to war – “Why did the soldiers join up and go to be slaughtered in France, Belgium or Gallipoli? Sometimes because the misery of their lives made them think that anything would be better.”
  • News Corp. rumored to be putting together a new bid for Tribune newspapers – “Rumor has it that News Corp — with a $2.5 billion cash kitty for acquisitions — may be mounting a new bid for the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the six other Tribune newspapers.”
  • Institutionalised Disregard for Palestinian Life – “One either rejects the killing of non-combatants on principle or takes a more tribal approach to such matters. In the case of Israel and the Palestinians, the global outpouring of grief and condemnation over the killing of three Israeli youths in the occupied West Bank is the moral equivalent of Rolf Harris denouncing Jimmy Savile.”

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