[LINK] Some Friday Links

[rfmcdonald]

• Over at 'Aqoul, evaluna criticizes the United States' stingy record towards Iraqi refugees and tomscud points out a new Iranian law that would institute the death penalty for blogging produce some problems, even if it is supposed to be directed towards rape-porn sites.


• Over at Centauri Dreams, news comes that massive gas giants like Jupiter might actually be quite rare.
• Daniel Drezner points out that if Obama gets elected, some regions of the world will react more positively than others. Surprise!


• At Language Log, Eric Bakovic wonders what positive result would come from the establishment of English as the United States' official language, and Mark Liberman reports on the debate on regional languages in France and the Academy's opposition to recognition of said languages in any form by the French state.


• How do you write about toothless international organizations? Alan Beattie (via Gideon Rachman) helps you out
  
• Normblog links to Samantha Power's suggestion that anti-Mugabe elements of the international community should organize a government in exile around Tsvangirai et al.
  
• Outsourced links to the news that various worthies have claim to have dated Odysseus' return to Penelope as occurring on April 16, 1178 B.C.. No word yet on the hour.


• Strange Maps hosts a map showing rates of obesity (not overweight) in each state in the United States. The South stands out as a region with the highest rates, the northeast, California and the southwest with some of the lowest.


• Surprise! Towleroad, among others, has revealed that yet another vehement homophobe is a closet case!
  
• Tim Harford at the Undercover Economist links to an interesting study suggesting that it really do that much good if one wears a bicycle helmet.