Link roundup for 14 December 2011

A few stories today:

Dawn has now entered its most exciting phase of its mission around Vesta, as it has just completed its move into LAMO (low altitude mapping orbit). At an altitude of 210, it is closer to Vesta than probes around Earth in LEO.

GOP primaries: Ron Paul has been in second or third place in a lot of recent polls in the first two states (Iowa and New Hampshire), and the questions he has been getting in recent interviews seem to reflect that. A classic Ron Paul interview usually has him fielding a few questions about other candidates (Romney, Gingrich, previously Cain and Perry) plus one on running third party, but none of that here:



A small article here in Portuguese on an event from the 19th to the 21st called Sapatinho de Palavras to promote the teaching of Portuguese to children 6 to 10 in Praia, Cabo Verde.

In French: the Estonian president calling Russian the "language of the occupiers", saying:

"Why should Russian be an official language? As if for example we occupied your country and the declare that Estonian should be a language of the state fifty years later? The occupation authorities take control of the country, deport hundreds of millions of people to Siberia and send their agents here. Now that we have finally gained independents, the language of the occupying authority should be the second official language of the country? Don't ask me ridiculous questions."

This question was asked in response to the upcoming bill in Latvia on the same issue. Note the poll on the right here that I am hoping to get a few hundred responses to.