[BLOG] Some Friday links

[rfmcdonald]

• 80 Beats observes that scientists found proof that weather affects continental plates. This discovery has implications for the geologies of other planets.


• Andrew Barton at Acts of Minor Treason is displeased with Ontario's left-wing New Democratic Party for its opportunistic misunderstanding of radiation levels in its opposition to nuclear power.


• bitterlawngnome has photos of yesterday's controlled burn in Toronto's High Park. Aiming to simulate the natural wildfires of the ecology, it creates some unearthly beauty.


• blogTO has more on the controlled burn.


• The Burgh Diaspora's Jim Russell notes that the cohorts of young people in both San Francisco and Portland (Oregon) is either static or shrinking.


• demographer links to a map showing the dates the countries of the world adopted their national anthems. The United Kingdom, Argentina, and Peru seem to have some of the oldest.


• Eastern Approaches blogs about the weakness of social capital--and, by extension, civil society--in Georgia.


• Matt Warren at The Long Game acquits George Lucas of misogyny in the Star Wars movies since he can't write realistic characters as a rule.


• At NewAPPS, Caterina Dutilh Novaes writes about how, in the wake of the mass shooting at a Rio de Janeiro school, efforts to reduce the availability of firearms in Brazil are continuing (and may already have reduced the homicide rate substantially).


• pollotenchegg has a Ukrainian-language post here (translated into English here taking a look at different demographic trends in Poland. The division between pre-1939 Poland and the territories annexed in 1945 is notable.


• Quiet Babylon's Tim Maly notes that virtual reality failed as a project, that augmented reality has taken its place instead.


• Slap Upside the Head observes that today is the Day of Silence, a day aiming to publicize and combat the existence of homophobic bullying.


• Window on Eurasia's Paul Goble notes that the recent visit of Abkhazia's president Sergey Bagapsh to Turkey indicates Turkey's desire to establish closer relations with the various parties in the South Caucasus without risking diplomatic issues with the West over recognition or with other diasporas over other territories.