[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[rfmcdonald]

• At Acts of Minor Treason, Andrew Barton writes about the "Kessler syndrome," the possibility that chain reaction collisions of debris in Earth orbit could make orbital space unusable, and the possibility that this might make the Moon a good site for backup communications installations.


• Centauri Dreams' Paul Gilster shares the news--probably unsurprising, but still--that it looks like brown dwarfs, just like their star siblings, can form planetary systems.


• Crooked Timber's John Quiggin argues that libertarianism is an ideology that can flourish only when there's an anomalous superabundance of resources (or, at least, resources that can be taken from others without too many complaints).


• Daniel Drezner has no truck with the people who argue that the Park 51 complex in New York City is being built by terrorists or with those who argue that the opponents would let the terrorists win.


• Eastern approaches observes that Slovakia, newest and poorest member of the Eurozone, is most unwilling to help subsidize Greece's bailout package.


• GNXP's Razib Khan argues that genetic testing done on the inhabitants of the Comoros reveals, unlike the absent textual evidence, the history of the islands' settlement from Asia.


• The Grumpy Sociologist sees the recent press coverage of Taliban atrocities in Afghanistan as constituting an example of how to get a population revved up for war.


• Language Hat takes a look at a recent book examining how, in the former Soviet Union, at least at the beginning the Soviet government took great care to ensure that every ethnic groups--every one, even the Swedes of Ukraine--got their own districts.


• Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money is profoundly unconvinced by Jeffrey Goldberg's arguments in favour of a strike on Iranian nuclear installations.


• At the Power and the Money, Noel Maurer wonders why Canadian cities are so much more high-density than their American (and Mexican) counterparts.


• At Itching for Eestimaa, Palun describes his visit to the Setu, a Finnic minority on the Estonian-Russian border.


• The Vanity Press' Chet Scoville makes light of the recent federal government suggestion that high rates of unreported crime mean higher law and order spending is needed since crime is higher.