“Paying Money to Murder: Russian Luxury Yachts Offer Pirate Hunting Cruises” and other links…
matadorpulse.com: “The yachts trawl at a deliberately slow speed, hoping to attract pirates. If attacked, the cruise passengers are ready to respond with heavy machinery: machine guns and grenade and rocket launchers. And if they want to tack on an extra $8.00 a day, passengers can hoist their very own AK-47. Ammo, though, costs an extra $11.50.”
“Social trends: The decline of the English divorce”
The Economist: “It is true that marriage is a declining institution. Marriage rates are at their lowest since 1895. But, curiously, those who do marry now stay together for longer. Divorce rates are falling, not rising, and have been for several years. In 2007 11.9 married couples per thousand untied the knot, down from 12.2 the year before and the lowest since 1981. The time that divorcing couples endure each other before flinging back the rings has lengthened too, from 10.1 years in 1981 to 11.7 in 2007. Indifference towards the sacrament of marriage appears strongest among the elderly, not the feckless young. Since 2004, when the overall divorce rate peaked at 14.1 per thousand, over-60s have been the only part of the population whose rates have continued to rise.”
“Poorly Made in China by Paul Midler”
Muhammad Cohen: “Chinese manufacturers are dismal at marketing their products but are masters at winning deals then playing their importer customers. King Chemical's initial ruse illustrates the lengths that Chinese factories go to capture business. Even Bernie found himself wondering how King Chemicals could make money selling him a bottle of shampoo for US$0.30, including the pump, label and contents. …One answer emerged when Midler accidentally heard about King’s ‘other factory’. That facility was making Bernie’s products but for an Australia importer paying a higher price than Bernie. The practice was common; factories took on clients for little or no profit to learn product formulas and designs that they could recycle into ‘second markets’ such as Africa at higher margins. This model helps explain why many products cost less in rich countries where people can afford to pay more, and why Africans find bargains shopping in New York and London.”
“Asian men seek brides from poor nations”
asiansexgazette.com: “Instead, the men increasingly seek women from countries such as China, Vietnam and the Philippines, where income levels are much lower. The practice has led to some complaints of abuse and exploitation, particularly when the unions are arranged by third-party brokers, although some couples say their marriages are as happy as any other. …The men ‘have more bargaining power’ when they travel to poorer countries, says Gavin Jones, a sociologist at the National University of Singapore’s Asia Research Institute. "Some of these men are looking for the sorts of women they can't find (in their own countries)—women to wash their clothes, submissive women.”
“Stopping sexual abuse of Russian kids ”
asiansexgazette.com: “According to experts, almost a quarter of the pornography on global Internet sites contains child pornography. Among these, almost 50 percent include child pornography from Russia. Nowadays, it is possible to buy videocassettes of child pornography at any railway station or in several stores in these cities. …St. Petersburg and the northwest region of Russia report a high incidence of sex tourism, which is widely advertised on the Internet and aimed at people from neighboring Scandinavian countries. Prostitution is the most common form of child exploitation in the region.”