rfmcdonald | [BLOG] Some Tuesday links (Reply)

At Acts of Minor Treason, Andrew Barton argues that the very low-density city of Phoenix, existing in the desert with very problematic water supplies, is going to become the 21st century Detroit.

Richard at Castrovalva considers the field of literary criticism, noting its recent tendency to be isolated from literature and populated by people speaking to a limited number of others, and praising Morgan Meis' suggestion that critics shouldn't judge so much as enable enjoyment.

In an extended GNXP piece, Razib examines the history of the Assyrians--a Christian population in the Levant and Iraq--and suggests that their history of relative isolation and endogamy in a Muslim region not only compares with that of the Mizrachi Jews of the same area but are actually relatively closely related from the genetic point of view, perhaps reflecting the population movements of Semites in the Middle East in the first millennium before the common era.

At the Invisible College, Dov Jacobs is somewhat skeptical about the special tribunal investigating the assassination of Lebanon's Rafiq Hariri, noting the general opposition in Lebanon to its work and with (as Jacobs says) ill-defined jurisdiction and powers, suggesting that its ability to conduct trials in absentia may be important.

At Lawyers, Guns, and Money, Paul Campos observes that blogger Matthew Yglesias--Jewish, of Cuban-Spanish descent--wouldn't have been considered white in the not-too-distant future. As the category "white" expands, it seems that the Republicans may continue to do well notwithstanding their weakness with non-whites: how long will Hispanics stay non-white?

Marginal Revolution's Tyler Cowen writes of Haiti that the relative youth of the population means that many people won't have memories of the Duvalierist dictatorship.

At Nissology PEI, Hans Connor quotes folklorist David Weale as arguing that global popular culture is lazy, an unwillingness to engage with local culture. Oh, he is so wrong. I didn't make an extended post on this because blogging when angry is usually a bad idea.

The Planetary Society's Emily Lakdawalla corrects a recent post suggesting that the Kuiper Belt binary pair of Orcus and Vanth were close to the same mass; math error in the original paper.

At The Power and the Money, Noel Maurer points to the spread of "No Pants" subway rides to Mexico City as an example of that city's radical social liberalization.

Sublime Oblivion's Anatoly Karlin ranks the ten most powerful countries on Earth. It's interesting, though I think the role of soft power--cultural influence, for instance--is underestimated.