A hodge-podge of different stuff

The oil row between Russia and Belarus is beginning to effect the EU, as supply to Poland and Germany drops by 20%. Meanwhile, Georgian fruit-farmers are fighting back, blocking the main route between North Ossetia and South Ossetia in protest of the Russian ban on imports that were imposed a year ago. This all comes during an 10-day holiday period in Russia during the first week of the new year, where the leisure time increases the crime rate dramatically and points out the increasing economic disparity between the poor and the well-off. Another story illustrates the increasing discrimination and ethnic tension Muslims are facing in Russia.

In astronomy, scientists have constructed a hypothetical 3D map of dark matter using observations made by the Hubble space telescope. On the flip side, a Washington State University professor claims that the initial searches for life on Mars may have inadvertently killed the life they were looking for. Despite the amount of research done on using genes to cure diseases, other scientists are now looking for sequences of DNA that ensure that life will not happen. Since I'm studying international politics, massive fights over methodology (and epistemology) are nothing new to me, and this paper talking about some of the methodological Balkanisation in the biological sciences with regards to new techniques at least makes me feel like we're not the only ones.


In other news:
- The top 10 foreign policy stories you might have missed in 2006, according to Foreign Policy.
- Far-right MEPs in the European Parliament are joining together to increase their political power, as a German town successfully banded together to drive out neo-Nazi extremists.
- Leaked documents state that Israel planned to bomb Iranian nuclear sites with nuclear weapons - or did they?
- The New Yorker looks at the rhetoric versus the reality of Chávez's Venezuela.
- A Guardian piece about Afghan families who sell their pre-pubescent daughters as brides in order to feel the family.
- If you were lucky enough to make over $1 million this year, you also were lucky enough to gain the most from the Bush tax cuts.
- China is flying high economically, but high levels of corruption may take the shine out of the growth.
- After the resignation of an archbishop for Communist spying, Der Spiegel takes a look at the changing relationship of Poles to the Catholic Church.
- Slate examines the issue of cloned food.
- The American Dialectical Society claims that 'plutoed,' or to to demote or devalue
someone or something, is the word of the year. (pdf)
- Thanks to the Wii, video games might now actually be good for you.