[LINK] Some Friday links

[rfmcdonald]

• blogTO's Rick McGinnis writes about a changing Little Italy that, despite what many commenters are saying, really does look rather bad.


• Centauri Dreams blogs about the wonders and perils of nuclear fusion-using starships.


• Co-blogger Claus Vistesen at Demography Matters blogs about the declining mobility of the famously mobile American population.


• Daniel Drezner has some interesting speculation about the dynamics behind the Russian-Iranian relationship.


• A Fistful of Euros' Edward Hugh observes that the French economy seems to be doing very well indeed, with stable and sustainable domestic consumption and the possibility of financial outlays being under control in the long run.


• The Invisible College's Tobias Thienel examines the mechanics behind Honduras' lawsuit against Brazil in the International Court on Justice based on the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa's hosting of ousted president Manuel Zelaya.


• Mark MacKinnon blogs about how the Berlin Twitter Wall, put in place by the city of Berlin to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, was taken over by Chinese internet users protesting firewalls in their country.


• Slap Upside the Head reports that anti-queer sentiments are fast becoming minority opinions in the Canadian populace and notes that the Canadian military has allowed non-heterosexuals in its ranks for 17 years without problems.


• Steve Munro links to a report examining the idea of extending the Yonge subway line north into the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill.


• Strange Maps reproduces an interesting map of an empire based on pan-Turkish and pan-Islamic ideals at the same time.


• Over at Torontoist, Quin Parker highlights the intruiging prelmiinary design plans for the Steeles West subway, the first TTC station to be built at least partly outside of Toronto.


• The Volokh Conspiracy's Eugene Volokh examines the interesting question of whether or not a same-sex married couple in Iowa benefits or not from the spousal right not to testify in a federal lawsuit.