Social scientists v advocates; Europe’s worst lobbyists; GSK’s free pills; China’s rare earths; suffragettes in Ethiopia; thirsty farms; communist facebook; intro to scarcity and resilience: links I liked

Texas in Africa is running a ‘how social scientists think’ week, in particular examining the differences between social scientists and advocates. Part I: what constitutes evidence?

Sylvia Pankhurst, heroine of Ethiopian independence as well as her better known role as leader of the British suffragette movement

Want to help select the worst lobbyist in Europe? This year’s focus is climate and finance – send your nomination to

And just to show I’m not anti-private sector, GSK donates a billion tablets a year for neglected tropical diseases

Paul Krugman is worried by China’s rare earth diplomacy, or the lack of it

Agriculture is pumping groundwater for irrigation at such a rate that the runoff equals the contribution from melting of glaciers and ice caps outside of Greenland and Antarctica, according to a new study. Most water extracted from underground aquifers ends up in the ocean. The ceaseless pumping contributes about 0.8 millimeters of sea-level rise annually, about a quarter of the 3.1 millimeters per year scientists are observing worldwide [h/t John Magrath]

The Facebook revolution:Vietnam’s Communist Party reckons if you can’t beat ‘em…… [h/t Aid Watch]

A remarkably dapper Alex Evans on resilience and scarcity, and what they mean for development. Great summary