[BLOG] Some Monday links

[rfmcdonald]

• 3 Quarks Daily checks with a collection of writers as to their thoughts on the outcome of Egypt. Cautiousness is common.


• Anthropology.net reports on Saudi Arabia's exceptionally hostile approach to archeological ruins, pointing out that artifacts predating Islam aren't favoured at all.


• Arctic Progress observes that, as northernmost Europe becomes more integrated, Norway and Finland are taking up the study of the Russian language.


• The Burgh Diaspora observes that New Urbanist haven Portland, Oregon, isn't doing well at all.


• Daniel Drezner is somewhat critical of those who criticize political scientists for not predicting the Egyptian revolution.


• Extraordinary Observations' Rob Pitingolo makes the excellent point that assuming badly-hit cities like Detroit to be without any redeeming value, and talking about them that way without having been there, is lazy. Touché, here.


• Language Hat notes a study suggesting regional dialects as demonstrated in Twitter posts.


• At Lawyers, Guns, and Money, Charli Carpenter wonders why the Egyptian military hasn't intervened bloodily. She suggests that the training of Egyptian officers in Western militaries which emphasize good conduct had an effect; others, and I, think that the origins of the military among conscripts is at least as important.


• The Numerati posts a review of a book (In the Deep, Reed and Fitzgerald) that examines British Petroleum's catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico from the perspective of a corporate culture that cared as little for safety as much as it did for profits.


• Nissology PEI has the cool coat of arms of the South Atlantic British island of Tristan da Cunha.


• The Pagan Prattle features a character who's trying to auction off an umbrella with a picture of Jesus on it.


• Registan points out that the revolutions in Tunisia are hardly likely to be repeated in totalitarian Uzbekistan.


• Slap Upside the Head notes that Charles McVety, a man whose show on a religious channel was sanctioned by the federal comunications watchdog for its regurgitation of the same old anti-gay bigotry, has had his show dropped because he refused to stop.


• The Yorkshire Ranter, Alexander Harrowell, takes a look at the trope of Egypt's being a Twitter revolution.