A Bit More Detail

• blogTO notes that Disney forced a Toronto lightsaber event to change its name.


• The Dragon's Tales examines cryolava on Titan.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes a new book examining sexuality in the United States during the Second World War.


• The Map Room Blog links to a map of Edmonton by building age.


• The Power and the Money's Douglas Muir argues that nothing has changed to make him think that the Syrian civil war will end earlier.


• Savage Minds notes some Israeli anthropologists who support the idea of a boycott.


• Torontoist hosts a debate about the LCBO's future.


• Window on Eurasia notes Russian criticism of Western suspicion of Putin.

Stocking weed alongside wine at the LCBO is the best way to protect public health, say addiction experts. But for marijuana advocates it’s more of the same prohibition.

In a statement released Monday, the union representing LCBO workers said the provincially owned stores are the ideal place to sell marijuana, should the federal government legalize it.

“If they do legalize it, then it’s a drug,” Warren (Smokey) Thomas told the Star. “So we think that, like alcohol, it should be controlled.”

Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said secure warehouses and staff trained to check ages are some of the reasons the LCBO should be the sole source of legal pot in the province, as it is with most alcohol.

The scheme would also generate revenue for the government to combat the potential social costs. But marijuana advocates say those social costs and the spectre of public danger are overblown, and government-run sales would continue a prohibitionist regulatory approach.

• Antipope Charlie Stross announces his support of Scottish independence on political grounds. Marginal Revolution's Tyler Cowen takes issue with him.


• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly writes movingly about self-critical voices.


• The Cranky Sociologists' SocProf shares sociology-related World Cup infographics.


• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper examining the effects of tides on worlds with multiple layers.


• The Dragon's Tales notes that Homo erectus picked up the herpes virus from chimps.


• The Financial Times' The World blog notes that German attitudes towards the United States and the United Kingdom have cooled in recent years.


• Joe. My. God. notes the election of out lesbian Kathleen Wynne as premier of Ontario.


• Language Hat notes the increasing prominence of languages other than English in India, particularly in mass media.


• Marginal Revolution suggests that the economic effects of recessions make people in recessionary economies more inclined towards racism.


• Torontoist notes that many employees of the provincially-owned Beer Store chain have been active on social media in arguing against allowing convenience stores to sell beer.