[PHOTO] Rodin, The Thinker, Columbia University, New York City

I think I'll make a few final photo posts from my New York City trip this week.

I would never have known that there was a cast of Rodin's famous The Thinker made by Rodin himself outside of Columbia University's Philosophy Hall had my cousin, Derrick, not shown it to me when he gave me a tour of the campus.

[PHOTO] Me in front of The Thinker, Columbia University

Continuing on a theme, my thanks to Derrick for taking this picture of me in front of Columbia University's cast of The Thinker.

[PHOTO] Me in the Children's Sculpture Garden, Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, NYC

Adjacent to New York City's Episcopalian Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, subject of a general photo essay as well as one concentrating more specifically on the Cathedral's National AIDS Memorial, is a children's sculpture garden. Here's a photo of me, again courtesy of my cousin, posing in front of the central statue.

[BLOG] Some Monday links

• BAG News Notes wonders whether a photo taken in Aleppo showing a group of rebels in the second that a shell explodes among them is good journalism, or if it's exploitative.


• Crooked Timber's Henry Farrell notes that the European Central Bank is going to have to walk a very fine line, trying to prevent Eurozone creditor nation-states like Germany from leaving the common currency even as it tries to keep things from getting too bad for the debtors.


• Eastern Approaches notes that the ongoing problems with the European Union, particularly the meltdown of Greece, is making the long-term goal of including the western Balkans in Europe that much more problematic.
  
• Daniel Drezner suggests that Romney's foreign policy preferences could help him lose the election, drawing on polls suggesting that Americans don't want a confrontational foreign policy.


• Nicholas Baldo at Geocurrents discusses South Sudan's costly decision to shift its capital from the existing city of Juba to the purpose-built capital of Ranciel.


• At the Global Sociology Blog, the case of South African runner Caster Semenya, currently taking hormonal treatments to bring her physiology closer to the female norm, and connects it with Kurt Vonnegut's fictional character of Harrison Bergeron, forced to be average.


• GNXP's Razib Khan discusses the implications of recent DNA studies suggesting ancient and relatively important northeast Asian ancestry in the northern European population, and scenarios for prehistoric migrations.


• A Language Hat post wondering why the Georgian word for "dolphin" comes directly from the Greek leads to fascinating discussion about etymologies of names of marine creatures. (Apparently "sea pig" is used to denote dolphin in any number of Old World languages.


• Towleroad reports that the same-sex marriage ceremonies devised by American Conservative Jews might influence some heterosexual couples, on account of their gender-egalitarianism.


• The Volokh Conspiracy's Todd Zywicki notes that Honduras is set to launch its charter cities, privately-run and largely autonomous communities that--it is supposed--will provide a fertile climate for economic growth in an unstable country. Commenters are skeptical about the idea on many grounds.