[BLOG] Some Saturday links

[rfmcdonald]

• Centauri Dreams considers, in the context of 'Oumuamua, the import of shads and axis ratios. What does it suggest about the processes by which planetary systems form?


• The Dragon's Tales notes a report suggesting that Russia is not at all likely to legalize bitcoins.


• At A Fistful of Euros, Alex Harrowell takes a look at Article 63, the German constitutional article that governs the selection of the Chancellor.


• The Frailest Thing quotes a passage from Jacques Ellul about the adaptation of humans to a mechanized world.


• Hornet Stories notes that out actor Russell Tovey is set to play the (also out) Ray in the Arrowverse, an anti-Nazi superhero from an alternate Earth.


• Language Hat tells the story of Lin Shu, an early 20th century translator of European fiction into Chinese whose works were remarkably influential.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money is amused by the story of a young university student who has used basic knowledge of Foucault to play with his family's household rules.


• The LRB Blog notes the very awkward, and potentially fatal, position of the Rohingya, caught between Burma and Bangladesh.


• The Map Room Blog links to a talk recently given on fake maps, on maps used to lie and misrepresent and propagandize.


• The NYR Daily meditates on the precocity and the homoeroticism inherent in the Hart Crane poem "The Bridge."


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes that we can see, so far, only a surprisingly small fraction of the observable universe. (So far.)


• The Volokh Conspiracy celebrates the many defeats of Trump as he fights against sanctuary cities as a victory for federalism and against executive power.


• Window on Eurasia notes a poll suggesting that, after 2014, while Crimeans may feel less Ukrainian they do not necessarily feel more Russian.


• Arnold Zwicky takes a look, linguistically, at an Ian Frazier phrase: "That is aliens for you."