[LINK] Some Friday links

[rfmcdonald]

• James Bow argues convincingly why the 2003 defeat of the Progressive Conservatives in the 2003 Ontario provincial elections had everything to do with the polarizing legacy of former premier Mike Harris.


• Far Outliers reports that the economic crisis has cut down on the number of North Korean migrants in China.


• Joe. My. God observes that the organizers of Moscow Pride have timed their event to coincide with the upcoming Eurovision contest, perhaps protecting them from state censure.


• Marginal Revolution wonders if an independent Idaho would have more people than the state of Idaho, if it is in fact true that borders inhibit the mobility of people.


• Passing Strangeness blogs about the Arbre du Ténéré, a tree in Niger--now dead--that by its existence testifies to the fact that the Sahara desert was once much wetter than it is now.


• Torontoist's Matt Kim blogs about Wayne Reuben, the man who handpaints the signs inside Honest Ed's. All of them.


• Window on Eurasia refers to a Russian thinker who argues that the prerequisite of an Orange Revolution-type event in Russia don'[t exist because Russian national identity is too strong.