[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Antipope Charlie Stross examines the myth of heroism and its origins.


• blogTO comes up with ten fun things to do on the Toronto Islands this summer.


• Crooked Timber's Corey Robin doesn't think much of the American tendency towards charging criminal defendants the costs of their case.


• The Dragon's Tales notes that the viral MERS epidemic in Saudi Arabia has killed 173 people and infected more.


• The Financial Times' The World blog doesn't think Russian-Western relations will improve.


• Geocurrents' Martin Lewis notes the extent of the BJP's electoral success across India.


• Language Hat links to a new online archive of Emily Dickinson's manuscripts.


• Steve Munro, again, is unimpressed with the political short-termism in Toronto that keeps sabotaging subway lines.


• Torontoist warned us of the fragility of the cherry blossoms of High Park.


• The Volokh Conspiracy notes that the autonomy of Washington D.C. is limited by Congress in that it can't pass its own budget laws backed by citizen referenda.


• Window on Eurasia links to a Russian writer who suggests that while many on the European right might support Putin opportunistically, few support Russia's ideological vision.