[LINK] Some Friday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Phil Hunt at Amused Cynicism wonders if the European Union, free from the United States' baggage and much closer than China, could give a post-Castro Cuba some sort of protectorate status.


• The Lounsbury at 'Aqoul observes that al-Jazeerah's coverage of the Kosovo independence celebrations included more than a few pairings of Kosovar and American flags. Good public relations?


• At Crooked Timber, Christ Bertram's celebratory post on Castro and John Quiggin's more measured consideration of dictatorship might both have generated more heat than light, but there's still enough of the latter there. If you page past the flamewars, that is.


• Ken MacLeod speculates that Technocracy and science fiction are too close for comfort.


• Joel at Far Outliers has had a few good Timothy Garton Ash excerpts, including one on Belgrade in 1997, one in Sarajevo in 1995, and one in Kosovo in 1998, one on Bosnia in 1998, and finally, a personal view of Yugoslavia's murder.


• At Joe. My. God, Rupert Everett is quoted as saying that pride marches have become depoliticized. The blogger and many commenters disagree.


• In the aftermath of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to Australian Aborigines, Language Log has its own take on the situation, touching upon Australian Aborigine languages.


• normblog blogs about Castro's unsurprisingly long period in office and his appropriation of the word "amor."


• Strange Maps describes the Republic of New Netherlands, population 31.2 million.