[LINK] Some Friday links

[rfmcdonald]

• 3 Quarks Daily reports that a writer for L'Osservatore Romano praised Oscar Wilde for his take on the problems of the modern world. Also, it observes that Hemingway's grandson is trying to edit A Moveable Feast into a book that's kinder to his mother and representative of what Hemingway meant to write.


• Centauri Dreams notes that existing technology can detect "exomoons," moons orbiting planets in other planetary systems, including potentially habitable ones.


• Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber wonders if a WTO ruling against the European Union's ban on seal products might jump-start anti-globalization sentiment.


• Daniel Drezner notes anti-Russian and anti-Chinese sentiment among the pro-democracy protesters in Iran and wonders if that country is going to become a focus for international rivalries. He also notes how Obama's election has improved the United States' image abroad.


• Torontoist profiles an early 20th century artist, Charles William Jeffreys, whose sketchings provided an invaluable native perspective on the scenes of Canada's history and landscape.


• Noel Maurer challenges his readers to pick out the abandoned house. Also, he wonders why Canada no longer calls itself a dominion.


• pauldrye at Passing Strangeness introduces his readers to sangaku, the indigenous Japanese tradition of scientific research and innovation that existed throughout the self-imposed isolation of the Tokugawa period.


• Spacing Toronto has a poll asking its readers whether they think that some streetcar stops should be eliminated to boost the overall efficiency of the service.


• Will Baird at The Dragon's Tales introduces his reader to a scientist, Peter Ward, who argues that far from creating a self-sustaining biosphere life is actually quite unstable.


• The Volokh Conspiracy, sadly, confirms that the North Korean Twitter feed is not legitimate.


• Window on Eurasia suggests that Russian federalism, as it is currently constituted, isn't so much about decentralizing power as it is about assimilating neighbouring territories.