Interesting links

1. Tarzan and the collapse of Communism in the USSR. One story here is that engineers build, while sociologists and lawyers merely manage decline and decay. Another story is that we can look forward to the late 2030s for improved Sino-US relations. (On a related note, I have it on good authority that the USSR permitted the Fry & Laurie version of Jeeves & Wooster to be broadcast, in the vain hope that it would show the ridiculous nature of the British class system to the masses. It seems instead to have encouraged rich Russians to want to live in English country houses. A PhD thesis for someone.)

2. (History repeats itself) Third Time as Larp. Review of Bruno Maçães' book, History Has Begun.

3. Following on from Maçães's observations, at some point, of course, reality is not optional. But we're not there yet! Medicine can be taught without reference to biological sex.

4. Still on men and women: rather catty from Mary Harrington here? Purportedly an esoteric reading of Srinivasan's The Right to Sex.

5. So maybe Fidel Castro is not Justin Trudeau's father? I just teach the controversy on this one.

6. Do you want to see a class on conceptual art given by a British woman to Afghans? Of course you do! Here it is, just 40-odd seconds of R Mutt and the urinal. Your tax dollars at work, as they say in America. (From here, which has more to say in a similar vein.)

7. China’s Hottest New Rental Service: Men Who Actually Listen. Women can pay to hang out with men who are nice to them. An import from Japan.

8. Talking of men, have a look at this, about Nike, men, adverts and all sorts of things. And do look at the videos - the one directed by Ritchie is really quite good.

9. An interview with ADS. I found this quite fun. This, for example: "a globalized world benefits from variance. So as an individual person, if you go and experiment with some new thing, maybe you create a new style of music, or a new culinary dish, that innovation can be spread really really widely, the potential benefits are huge. Whereas the cost, if it doesn't work, is mostly limited to your own personal downside. // In that view, a willingness to be weird, or experimental or whatever, is really a tremendous social good." Quite right: weird is good. The right note on which to end.

10. Interesting claims about obesity.