[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Centauri Dreams looks at reddish brown dwarfs, objects that may lie just on the cusp of being planets.


• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper analyzing the stellar cycles of Alpha Centauri A and B.


• The Dragon's Tales links to a Singaporean academic's argument that Sino-American misunderstandings (lack of understanding, more precisely) could lead to catastrophe.


• Joe. My. God. shares a Seattle editor's argument that Musab Masmari, charged with trying to burn down a crowded gay bar, should be charged with multiple counts of attempted murder.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money shares more depressing rape rhetoric for right-wingers.


• Marginal Revolution notes that Switzerland's immigration controls are directed against those who are quite like the Swiss--Germans, Italians, French, and so on--rather than outsiders.


• Strange Maps notes the town of Agloe in upstate New York, placed by mapmakers eager to trap thieves of their work.


• Understanding Society shares Theda Skocpol's analysis of the 1979 revolution in Iran, one that differs substantially from her theory.


• Now at the Washington Post, the Volokh Conspiracy's Ilya Somin takes issue with people who would like to abolish early voting. (Among other things, these people are generally more informed about their political choices.)


• Window on Eurasia notes Karelian activists in Russia who want to keep their republic in existence and open to Finland.