[LINK] Some Saturday Links

[rfmcdonald]

The first one of the year!

• The Gaza conflict is big. Hunting Monsters pointing out that the terribly high population densities of the Gaza Strip are a direct product of the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to what was once a marginal territory. Gideon Rachman's blog, the Volokh Conspiracy, and 'Aqoul all have comment threads on the topic.


• At Spacing, Dylan Reid wonders in "Losing a 'sense of place'" about the consequences for distinctive urban neighbourhoods of the spread of chain stores. I'm not so worried in that I think that each neighbourhood's particular configurations will be bound to differ, but then, I might be an optimist.


• Slap Upside The Head reports the unsurprising news of a study revealing that GLBT teens whose parents react positively and constructively to their coming out of the closet do much better, psychologically at least, than their less fortunate peers.


• Noel Maurer takes a look ("Taking the 'C' Levels") at the plans for a sea-level Panama Canal and why they never took off. (Hint: Fusion bombs make poor engineering tools.)


• Window on Eurasia reports that Muslim labour migrants from Central Asia in the Russian Urals have formed a trade union, perhaps sigbnalling the growth of a pan-Muslim consciousness in Russia.