Interesting Links for 04-05-2015

• The Dickonomics of Tinder (dick is abundant & low value)
  (tags: relationships sex internet viasupergee )
• Why do bad things happen to good people?
  (tags: people karma morality causality comic philosophy )
• Why Marvel’s Gamora & Black Widow Were Missing From Merchandise, And What We Can Do About It
  (tags: women marvel comics merchandising marketing Disney )
• Every now and then, I like to revisit "the actual grammar nazi"
  (tags: grammar nazis )
• A terrifying discussion of "What's the weirdest rule your parents had?"
  (tags: parenting parents rules terrifying weird )
• New ACLU Cellphone App Automatically Preserves Video of Police Encounters
  (tags: police transparentsociety video )
• Sexual assault in US military plummets (all the way back to 2010 levels)
  (tags: rape assault usa military )
• Shock, as SNP reveal that they would vote in accordance with their policies
  (tags: snp democracy politics UK )
• Solar energy could power all Scottish electricity supplies
  (tags: solarpower Scotland )
• Animal Fat Mayonnaise
  (tags: food cooking animals viafanf )
• The SNP would vote to introduce proportional representation at Westminster
  (tags: proportional_representation voting snp )
• Gravity Data Show That Antarctic Ice Sheet Is Melting Increasingly Faster
  (tags: Antarctic ice globalwarming )
• Nick Clegg reading mean tweets about himself is even funnier than it should be
  (tags: nickclegg libdem video )
• Think tank publishes plan to boost economic growth in a fully fiscally autonomous Scotland
  (tags: Scotland devolution economy )
• Debunking the idea that global warming has slowed down
  (tags: globalwarming statistics viaLProven )
• Why polyamorous marriages are the next step to equality
  (tags: polyamory marriage )

Why Labour are suddenly interested in Constitutional Reform

It occurs to me that the very first thing that any future Conservative government* will do is pass English Votes for English Laws.

And that once that happens, Labour will have much more difficulty passing legislation that affects only England**.

And that therefore it's in Labour's interests to try and deal with that itself, rather than letting the Conservatives do it their own way.

And that the way to do so that gives them the most leeway in the long run is some kind of devolution to regional assemblies, so that (at the least) Labour held areas will have control over their parts of the NHS, some taxes, etc.

And that _this_ is why Labour have said that there will be a constitutional convention. Because the alternative will leave them completely buggered.

I just feel a bit silly for not having realised this sooner.

*There will almost certainly be be one a some point. Betting against this would be foolhardy.
**Not all the time, certainly - they'd have had no issues after 1997 or 2001. But this time around they'd be in serious trouble.