[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Centauri Dreams reports on how an ocean impact of an asteroid, even a survivable one, would wreak havoc on the Earth's ozone layer for years, exposing this time areas in a band extending well north and south of the equator.


• The Global Sociology Blog notes from the continued problems faced by women, everything from the misogyny depicted in The Social Network to continued disparities in income and work conditions vis-a-vis men.


• Joe. My. God notes how the Russian government recently arrested a man accused of generating 20% of the world's spam e-mails.


• Language Log links, coincidentally enough, to a XKCD comic speculating on spam. What if it gets so good that it passes the commenter's Turing test.


• Landscape+Urbanism uses a recent Strange Maps post examining plans to expand New York City via landfill to take a look at Boston's own significant history.


• At the Pagan Prattle, feorag takes no truck with the silly claims of pagans.


• People following my Facebook and Twitter feeds may have noticed this news story reported by Slap Upside the Head, about a Prince Edward Island same-sex couple's escape from death after their home was firebombed. Home. Sweet. Home.


• Finally, Window on Eurasia writes about how the Aral Sea-like shrinkage of Kazakhstan's Lake Balkhash is complicated by the fact that its drainage basin includes Chinese territory, and the Chinese aren't likely to help out.