rfmcdonald | [BRIEF NOTE] Elsewhere in the Blogosphere (Reply)

Jonathan Edelstein notes, in discussing the autonomous French Pacific island of New Caledonia's debate on whether to enter regional economic pacts, how well New Caledonia has done in overcoming its many cleavages, particularly compared to French Polynesia. As I wrote last May, the recent experience of the French Pacific colonies demonstrates that integration with a metropole can work out better than independence for a marginal island society. This is contingent, of course, on the island society determining the terms of integration.

Abiola Lapite notes that Hero is a film praising authoritarian approaches to Chinese unification. I disagree with him that these theme is necessarily Communist, but I do agree with him that its political message by no means disqualifies it as a serious work of art.

At GNXP, Razib examines the question of Universal Grammar, and wonders about the degree to which the presentation of this thesis has harmed its acceptance.

zarq observes that Enterprise has been cancelled. If only the show lived up to its vague potential.

Pearsall Helms informs us that Christianity appears to be taking off in North Korea, with interesting consequences for the future of Korea. It's worth noting that Korea is the only Asian country where Christian missionaries have produced massive national conversions, in part because of the role of missionaries in mobilizing Korean anti-colonial nationalism.

William Baird provides a critical review of Jared Diamond's best-seller Collapse. Brief version: Diamond generalizes too much from the particular.

Far Outliers notes that sumo is becoming popular in Brazil, thanks in part to influence from Japanese-Brazilians returning from stays in the Home Islands.