[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[rfmcdonald]

Dying Japanese mountain towns, American conservatives' success in Russia, the normative panopticon, and more!

• At 3 Quarks Daily, Namit Arora describes at length the Indian diaspora in Trinidad, describing how the community evolved from poverty and stigmatization to one of prominence.


• 80 Beats notes that American crows can, in fact, pass on warnings about people to other crows, this message persisting for years.


• At Acts of Minor Treason, Andrew Barton disagrees with the proposed remedies for solving Greek debt. How can the Greek government raise money if it sells off its profitable businesses?


• blogTO announces the sad news that Sonic Boom, an iconic record shop at Bloor and Bathurst, is moving across the street to Honest Ed's to make space for a dollar store.


• demographer observes that conservative American "pro-family" groups are making headway in Russia, finding allies with that country's Orthodox Church.


• Eastern Approaches is decidedly unimpressed with the plans of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán to boost labour participation by creating mandatory workfare programs and cutting the school-leaving age. Isn't Hungary trying to become, well, modern and wealthy?


• The Global Sociology Blog refers to sociologist Zygmunt Bauman in his argument that the surveillance society is normative.


• GNXP's Razib Khan describes how hominin fossils--including the remains of Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, Homo erectus, Denisovans, and who knows what else--helps describe the history of this group, and hints that greater regional coverage is essential--what of East Asia, for instance?


• io9 notes the unsurprising news that, in fact, captivity in zoos seem to be driving chimpanzees insane.


• Spike Japan describes a visit to the fast-aging and dissolving Japanese mountain town of Shimo Nita.


• Torontoist's Patrick Metzger observes that the Ontario New Democratic Party seems to be following the lead of the very successful federal party in moving towards the center and leaving the Liberals cut out.


• Towleroad reports that the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church was recruited by the FBI to train officers in dealings with morally objectionable people. The idea works, at least.