[BLOG] Some Thursday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Bad Astronomy comments on the Spitzer space telescope's vintage photos in infrared of a young star ejecting mass asymmetrically.


• blogTO has nice pictures of the subway system back when it was new.


• The Burgh Diaspora roundly criticizes Richard Florida for his oversimplification of migration, for noting that the most successful cities are the ones which paradoxically make it easy to leave.


• Centauri Dreams notes new research suggesting that planetary rings like those of Saturn are periodically refreshed by cometary impacts.


• Eastern Approaches takes a look at the Russian-Georgian conflict and finds the conflict resolution stymied by Russia's relationship with South Ossetia and Abkhazia and Georgia's desire to score short-term points.


• Doug Merrill continues his examination of the ultimate borders of the European Union at A Fistful of Euros, arguing that grey zones and countries of ambiguous allegiance should be particularly avoided.


• The Global Sociology Blog shows how ethnic stereotypes remain in Disney films, noting that the tendency for villains to have overemphasized traits means that overemphasized ethnic traits are often used.


• The Intersection's Chris Mooney approves--rightly so, I think--of a George Monbiot article criticizing Helen Caldicott for her less-than-accurate views on radiation.


• Window on Eurasia reports on how Siberian minority districts were created by forced and how Soviet-era immigration reduced the natives to small minorities. With that, what incentive is there to keep them?


• At The Zeds, Michael Steeleworthy comments about how sexism remains a force in his library environment.