[NEWS] Ten Window on Eurasia links

• What will become of the Azerbaijani language in education in Iran? More here.
• Is a Russia-Belarus state union feasible? More here.
• Is Estonia, as some would have it, a viable model for the Finnic Mordvin peoples of the Russian interior? More here.
• Will Russia be happy with its alliance with China if this makes it a secondary partner, a relatively weaker exporter of resources? More here.
• How many Muslims are there in Moscow, and what import does the controversy over their numbers carry? More here.
• Is the Russian fertility rate set to stagnate, leading to long-term sharp decline? More here.
• If 10% of the Russian working-age population has emigrated, this has serious consequences for the future of Russia. More here.
• Irredentism in Kazakhstan, inspired by the example of Crimea, is just starting to be a thing. More here.
• The decline of Russian populations in the north of Kazakhstan, and the growth of Uzbeks, is noteworthy. More here.
• The different Russian proposals for the future of the Donbas, an analyst notes, are built to keep Ukraine a neutral country. More here.

[BLOG] Some Friday links

• Shir Lerman Ginzburg at anthro{dendum} writes about kintsugi in her own life.
• Bad Astronomy’s Phil Plait looks at the massive black hole, massing two billion suns, measured in the heart of NGC 3258.
• The Broadside Blog’s Caitlin Kelly shares some photos from her Hudson River life.
• D-Brief notes how astronomers may be able to detect the radio signals emitted from the cores of planets orbiting dead stars.
• The Everyday Sociology Blog looks at the sociology of religion.
• JSTOR Daily looks at how Ferdinand Magellan acted in many ways like a pirate.
• Language Hat reports on the remarkable differences between the two dubbed French versions of The Simpsons, one in France and one in Québec.
• Language Log reports on the Chinese placename “Xinjiang Uygur.”
• Lawyers, Guns and Money makes the point that Joe Biden is too old, too set in his ways, to be president.
• Molly Crabapple writes at the NYR Daily about the nature and goals of the massive protest movement in Puerto Rico.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel looks even-handedly at the controversy surrounding the idea of building the Thirty Metre Telescope on top of sacred Mauna Kea.
• Window on Eurasia looks at controversy in Russia over the representation of different Tatar populations on the Russian 2020 census.
• Stephen Gordon at Worthwhile Canadian Initiative wonders why it was 1953 that, in Canada, saw the growth in women on the job market.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Charlie Stross at Antipope has an open thread regarding Brexit.
• Centauri Dreams considers the dust lanes of the solar system.
• D-Brief reports on the discovery of the first confirmed skull piece of a Denisovan.
• Dangerous Minds considers the filmic history of Baron Munchausen.
• JSTOR Daily considers the past of the Monroe Doctrine, as a marker of American power over the Western Hemisphere.
• Language Log notes that “frequency illusion”, a 2005 coinage of Arnold Zwicky on that blog, has made it to the Oxford English Dictionary. Congratulations!
• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the talents of Pete Buttigieg, someone who (among other things) is fluent in the Norwegian language. Could he be a serious challenger?
• Oliver Miles at the LRB Blog notes the threat of new locust swarms across the Sahara and into the Middle East.
• Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution highlights a new paper aiming to predict the future, one that argues that the greatest economic gains will eventually accrue to the densest populations.
• The NYR Daily reports from the scene in a fragmented Libya.
• The Planetary Society Blog reports that the OSIRIS-REx probe has detected asteroid Bennu ejecting material into space.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains the import of having a supermoon occur on the Equinox this year.
• Strange Maps’ Frank Jacobs reports a new finding that Mercury actually tends to be the closest planet in the Solar System to Earth.
• Window on Eurasia notes that fewer Russians than before think highly of the annexation of Crimea.

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

• Centauri Dreams notes the hope of the controllers of Hayabusa2 to collect samples from asteroid Ryugu.
• D-Brief takes a look at how ecologists in Hawaii are using bird song to encourage invasive species of birds to eat local plants.
• Bruce Dorminey notes preliminary findings of astronomers suggesting that stars with relatively low amounts of metals might be more likely to produce potentially habitable Earth-size worlds.
• The Frailest Thing’s L.M. Sacasas considers what, exactly, it means for a technology to be considered “neutral”.
• At JSTOR Daily, Hope Reese interviews historian Jill Lepore about the crisis facing American institutions in the 21st century. Is there a way forward?
• Lawyers, Guns and Money considers the ongoing catastrophe in Yemen, aggravated terribly by Saudi intervention and supported by the West.
• Andrew Brownie at the LRB Blog notes how soccer in Brazil, producing stars against dictatorship like Sócrates in the early 1980s, now produces pro-Bolsonario figures.
• The NYR Daily notes the resistance of the Bedouin of al-Khan al-Ahmar to resist their displacement by Israeli bulldozers.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel notes how, among other things, extreme temperature swings make the Moon an unsuitable host for most observatories apart from radio telescopes.
• Window on Eurasia notes the sheer scale of Russian immigration to Crimea after 2014, the number of migrants amounting to a fifth of the peninsula’s population.

[NEWS] Four links from the former Soviet Union: Donbas, Crimean Tatars, Russian nationalism, Yandex

• Open Democracy reports on what appears to be a coup waged in the Luhansk republic by the forces of Donetsk. What is going on in the twin Donbas republics, anyway?
• Maxim Edwards reports from the Ukrainian border with Crimea, from Crimean Tatars rebuilding their communities in exile (again), over at Open Democracy.
• Leonid Bershidsky suggests that the Russian ultranationalism promoted by Putin will remain virulent long after the man is gone, over at Bloomberg.
• VICE reports on the quietly effective censorship that Russian-language search engine Yandex is forced to employ, here.

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

• 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.”

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• The Dragon’s Gaze links to a paper suggesting exoplanet transits could start a galactic communications network.
• The Everyday Sociology Blog looks at the connections between eating and identity.
• The Frailest Thing’s Michael Sacasas looks at the need for a critical study of the relationship between technology and democracy.
• Language Hat notes how nationalism split Hindustani into separate Hindi and Urdu languages.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money reflects on the grim outlook in Somalia after the terrible recent Mogadishu bombing.
• Marginal Revolution’s Tyler Cowen thinks Trump’s decertification of the Iran deal is a bad idea.
• The Map Room Blog links to an article imagining a counter-mapping of the Amazon by indigenous peoples.
• Neuroskeptic considers the possibility of Parkinson’s being a prion disease, somewhat like mad cow disease.
• The NYR Daily notes that a Brexit driven by a perceived need to take back control will not meet that need, at all.
• Personal Reflections’ Jim Belshaw looks at the problem Sydney faces as it booms.
• The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer looks at the extent to which an independent Catalonia would be ravaged economically by a non-negotiated secession.
• Peter Watts tells the sad story of an encounter between Toronto police and a homeless man he knows.
• Window on Eurasia notes a Sakhalin bridge, like a Crimea bridge, may not come off because of Russian weakness.

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• Anthrodendum offers resources for understanding race in the US post-Charlottesville.
• D-Brief notes that exoplanet WASP-12b is a hot Jupiter that is both super-hot and pitch-black.
• The Dragon’s Gaze links to a paper examining various models of ice-covered worlds and their oceans’ habitability.
• The Everyday Sociology Blog takes a look at the value placed by society on different methods of transport.
• Far Outliers looks at how Chinese migrants were recruited in the 19th century.
• Hornet Stories notes that the authorship of famously bad fanfic, “My Immortal”, has been claimed, by one Rose Christo.
• Marginal Revolution notes one explanation for why men are not earning more. (Bad beginnings matter.)
• Peter Watts has it with facile (and statistically ill-grounded) rhetoric about punching Nazis.
• At the NYR Daily, Masha Gessen is worried by signs of degeneration in the American body politic.
• Livejournal’s pollotenchegg maps the strength of Ukrainian political divisions in 2006 and 2010.
• The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer is afraid what AI-enabled propaganda might do to American democracy in the foreseeable future.
• Roads and Kingdoms notes an enjoyable bagel breakfast at Pondichéry’s Auroville Café.
• Drew Rowsome celebrates the introduction of ultra-low-cost carriers for flyers in Canada.
• Strange Company notes the 19th century haunting of an English mill.
• Window on Eurasia notes that Crimean Tatars, and Muslims in Crimea, are facing more repression.

[BLOG] Some Monday links

• Centauri Dreams reports on asteroid P/2016 G1, a world that, after splitting, is now showing signs of a cometary tail.
• The Everyday Sociology Blog considers outrage as a sociological phenomenon. What, exactly, does it do? What does it change?
• Joe. My. God. reports on a new push for same-sex marriage in Germany, coming from the SPD.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money examines the Alabama government’s disinterest in commemorating the Selma march for freedom.
• Marginal Revolution looks at Oxford University’s attempt to recruit white British male students.
• At the NYRB Daily, Masha Gessen warns against falling too readily into the trap of identifying conspiracies in dealing with Trump.
• pollotenchegg maps the distribution of Muslims in Crimea according to the 1897 Russian census.
• Savage Minds takes a brief look at ayahuasca, a ritual beverage of Andean indigenous peoples, and looks at how its legality in the United States remains complicated.
• Elf Sternberg considers the problems of straight men with sex, and argues they might be especially trapped by a culture that makes it difficult for straight men to consider sex as anything but a birthright and an obligation.
• The Volokh Conspiracy considers how the complexities of eminent domain might complicate the US-Mexican border wall.
• Window on Eurasia reports on protests in Russia and argues Belarus is on the verge of something.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Dead Things looks at the health issues of a hadrosaur.
• The Dragon’s Gaze notes close binary systems may not support planets very well.
• Joe. My. God. notes Trump’s reaction to Obama’s statement that he was unfit.
• The Map Room Blog notes Russia’s issues with Google over the non-recognition of Crimea’s annexation.
• Marginal Revolution notes that driverless taxis are coming to Singapore.
• The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer disproves arguments claiming that Pennsylvania is uniquely suited for Trump.
• Peter Rukavina shares his schedule for the Island Fringe.
• Spacing Toronto notes the problem of distracted cycling.
• Window on Eurasia looks at language death in the North Caucasus.