[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 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 Tuesday links

• Bad Astronomy shares a video imagining of how Cassini will meet its end with Saturn.
• Cody Delistraty shares an interview with Rebecca Solnit.
• Far Outliers reports on Margaret Thatcher’s unorthodox campaign in 1979.
• Joe. My. God. shares Hillary Clinton’s thanks to her 66 million voters.
• Marginal Revolution looks at gender stereotypes among scientists.
• The NYRB Daily talks about the visual art of Pipilotti Rist.
• Otto Pohl commemorates the 73rd anniversary of the deportation of the Kalmyks.
• Window on Eurasia suggests China might follow Russia’s Crimea strategy in invading Taiwan, and looks at the latest on controversies about Tatar identity and genetics.

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

• Bad Astronomy reports on the astounding scientific illiteracy of Trump advisor Anthony Scaramucci.
• blogTO compiles a list of the best tobagganing hills in Toronto.
• Citizen Science Salon looks at what we can do in the redwood forests.
• The Dragon’s Gaze notes a gap in the disk of TW Hydrae.
• Imageo notes that 2016 is the warmest year in the records.
• Joe. My. God. notes that a pride parade protected by police went off in Montenegro.
• Language Hat shares the story of Lazer Lederhendler, a son of Holocaust survivors in Montréal who became one of the leading translators into English of Québec literature.
• Language Log looks at the distant origins of Japanese terms for “dog.”
• Marginal Revolution notes the rising popularity of Vladimir Putin on the American right.
• The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer looks at the links between Russia and the “Calexit” movement.
• The Volokh Conspiracy celebrates Saturnalia.
• Window on Eurasia looks at Russia’s use of genetics to disentangle the Tatar peoples and argues that the definition of Russians and Ukrainians as fraternal is dangerous to the latter.

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

• Antipope’s Charlie Stross fears the arrival of fascism in Britain after the murder of Jo Cox.
• Centauri Dreams reports on SDSSJ1043+0855, a white dwarf apparently consuming a rocky planet.
• The Crux notes discussion of terraforming Mars.
• The Dragon’s Tales notes the revealing result of a study of the crops that ancient Indonesians brought to Madagascar.
• The Everyday Sociology Blog considers hierarchy has manifested in a dance competition being filmed for television.
• The LRB Blog considers the state of Algerian and Arab-language literature.
• The Map Room Blog maps migrant deaths in the Mediterranean.
• Marginal Revolution notes the collapse of coal companies in the United States.
• The Power and the Money notes that Puerto Rico is not a colony of the United States.
• Savage Minds considers at length the situation of Crimea and of Crimean Tatars.
• Window on Eurasia wonders if the West is forgetting about Ukraine.

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

• Beyond the Beyond considers the floating mountains of Pluto.
• The Boston Globe‘s Big Picture notes the story of a church that transitioned from an old-style church building to a storefront.
• blogTO shares a photo of the Gardiner Expressway, closed for construction.
• Centauri Dreams considers the search for life around red giant stars.
• Crooked Timber criticizes left-wing Brexit proponents for the contradictions in their politics.
• The Dragon’s Tales looks at mountain-building on Io.
• The Frailest Thing’s Michael Sacasas wonders if the kids are all right in an age of ubiquitous technology.
• The LRB Blog notes Trump’s acceptance by Fox.
• Otto Pohl shares a list of his articles dealing with the Crimean Tatars.
• The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer examines air pollution and car traffic in Mexico City.
• Window on Eurasia notes the political popularity of Sufis in Dagestan.
• Arnold Zwicky celebrates actor Joe Dallesandro.

[BLOG] Some Monday links

• Charlie Stross at Antipope wonders what subtle techniques could be used to sabotage a modern technology firm.
• Bad Astronomy notes the work that went into determining the origins of a high-energy neutrino.
• blogTO praises the Toronto Islands.
• Imageo shares this unsettling graphic depicting rising global temperatures over time.
• The Map Room notes, using Amazon’s controversy over same-day delivery being coincidentally limited largely to areas with non-black populations, the problems involved with being blind about data.
• Marginal Revolution’s Tyler Cowen makes the case for Britain staying in the imperfect European Union.
• The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer notes that the new Brazilian government’s all-male cabinet required some work, given the presence of women in Brazil’s business life.
• Transit Toronto looks at plans for new GO Station construction in the GTA.
• Window on Eurasia looks at Russian coverage of Crimean Tatar Jamala’s song “1944” and her victory for Ukraine at Eurovision.

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• blogTO notes that April has been the snowiest month this year.
• D-Brief notes that we are on the verge of a literal explosion in gravitational wave astronomy detection.
• The Dragon’s Tales examines Maya water management.
• Far Outliers notes the 1709 rescue of Alexander Selkirk from a desert island, one of the inspirations behind Robinson Crusoe.
• Geocurrents speculates that Crimean Tatars may follow North Caucasians in supporting radical Islam.
• Joe. My. God. notes that a Republican co-sponsor of an anti-trans law has been quarantined as a danger to female co-workers.
• Language Hat examines how one language deals with the representation of time.
• The Map Room Blog links to a beautiful topographic map of Mars.
• Marginal Revolution links to a new book by Joel Kotkin that seems somewhat anti-cities.
• The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer wonders if Irish independence could have been avoided.
• Peter Rukavina contrasts and compares public spending and revenues on Prince Edward Island in 1915 versus 2015. The changes–particularly the increases–are notable.
• Une heure de peine looks at the idea of the insider, in French.
• Window on Eurasia notes that Eastern religions are now seen as threatening by some Russians and looks at the construction of Russian influence networks in France.

[LINK] “Why Russia Stopped at Crimea”

Bloomberg View’s Leonid Bershidsky notes why Ukrainian leaders in early 2014 chose not to respond militarily to the Russian invasion of Crimea, and why Russia did what it did.

The news site Pravda.com.ua has published the transcript of a meeting of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council that took place Feb. 28, 2014. The previous day, Russian troops without identifying insignia helped pro-Moscow activists take over Crimea’s parliament and government. The following day, the Russian parliament authorized Putin to start military operations in Ukraine.

The meeting’s attendees, officials swept into power by Ukraine’s “Revolution of Dignity,” vainly sought to prevent the loss of Crimea to Russia, but effectively decided to give up the peninsula, believing the alternative would be worse.

Oleksandr Turchynov, the acting president and parliament speaker, raised the possibility of fighting back. Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk — who still is in office, unlike many others who came to power directly after the February 2014 revolution — opposed a counteroffensive.

“We’re talking about declaring war on Russia,” he said, according to the transcript. “Right after we do this, there will be a Russian statement ‘On defending Russian citizens and Russian speakers who have ethnic ties with Russia.’ That is the script the Russians have written, and we’re playing to that script.”

Yatsenyuk pointed out that the Finance Ministry’s bank account was empty and that, according to the Defense Ministry, Ukraine had no military resources to defend Kiev if Russia invaded. Besides, Yatsenyuk said that there would be “an acute ethnic conflict” in Crimea and that the Ukrainian government would be blamed for failing to prevent it. He called for political negotiations through foreign intermediaries to grant Crimea more autonomy and in the meantime to try to rebuild the military.

Other attendees who spoke up against fighting back were acting National Bank Chairman Stepan Kubiv and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who had been freed from prison in the final days of the revolution. Tymoshenko argued that Putin wanted to play out the same scenario that unfolded during the 2008 Russian-Georgian war: Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili attacked pro-Russian forces that held the rebellious region of South Ossetia, but Russia intervened and steamrolled the Georgian army[.]