tag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650A Bit More DetailAssorted Personal Notations, Essays, and Other Jottingsrfmcdonald2019-09-20T19:14:10Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5758696[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Montréal, New Orleans, Berlin, Hasankeyf, Hong Kong2019-09-20T19:14:10Z2019-09-20T19:14:10Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Why not build a public beach in the Montréal neighbourhood of Lachine? Global News <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5918179/public-beach-lachine-plan/"><u>considers</u></a>.</li><br /><li>The Vietnamese cuisine of New Orleans does look good. VICE <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vb5gw9/vietnamese-cuisine-in-new-orleans"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/09/berlin-smart-city-siemens-siemensstadt-project-data-privacy/597514/"><u>describes</u></a> an effort to build a smart city in Berlin, in Siemensstadt. I wish Berliners better outcomes than what Toronto seems to be getting in the Port Lands.</li><br /><li>Guardian Cities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/sep/12/they-are-barbaric-turkey-prepares-to-flood-12000-year-old-city-to-build-dam"><u>reports</u></a> on what seems to me to be a terrible plan to flood the ancient settlement of Hasankeyf in Turkey for dams.</li><br /><li>Saša Petricic at CBC <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/petricic-hongkong-100-days-1.5284958"><u>looks</u></a> at how the political consensus in Hong Kong has broken down, perhaps irretrievably.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5758696" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5758048[BLOG] Some Friday links2019-09-20T16:24:15Z2019-09-20T16:24:15Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Architectuul profiles architectural photographer Lorenzo Zandri, <a href="https://blog.architectuul.com/post/187832805467/photographers-lorenzo-zandri"><u>here</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait <a href="https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/red-dwarfs-tiny-faint-and-loaded-with-planets"><u>notes</u></a> a new study suggesting red dwarf stars, by far the most common stars in the universe, have plenty of planets.</li><br /><li>The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly <a href="https://broadsideblog.wordpress.com/2019/09/19/the-art-of-interviewing-11-tips/"><u>shares</u></a> 11 tips for interviewers, reminding me of what I did for anthropology fieldwork.</li><br /><li>Centauri Dreams <a href="https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2019/09/19/enceladus-lights-up-saturns-inner-moons/"><u>notes</u></a> how water ice ejected from Enceladus makes the inner moons of Saturn brilliant.</li><br /><li>The Crux <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2019/09/19/when-did-humans-reach-north-america-the-question-keeps-growing-more-complex/"><u>looks</u></a> at the increasingly complicated question of when the first humans reached North America.</li><br /><li>D-Brief <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/09/19/human-hearts-evolved-for-endurance-and-they-need-it-to-stay-healthy-isns/"><u>notes</u></a> a new discovery suggesting the hearts of humans, unlike the hearts of other closely related primates, evolved to require endurance activities to remain healthy.</li><br /><li>Dangerous Minds <a href="https://dangerousminds.net/comments/putney_swope_this_politically-incorrect_masterpiece_is_the_great_unheralded"><u>shares</u></a> with its readers the overlooked 1969 satire Putney Swope.</li><br /><li>The Dragon's Tales <a href="http://thedragonstales.blogspot.com/2019/09/wfirst-passes-its-preliminary-design.html"><u>notes</u></a> that the WFIRST infrared telescope has passed its first design review.</li><br /><li>Gizmodo <a href="https://gizmodo.com/submerged-for-decades-spanish-stonehenge-reemerges-a-1838254514"><u>notes</u></a> how drought in Spain has revealed the megalithic Dolmen of Guadalperal for the first time in six decades.</li><br /><li>io9 <a href="https://io9.gizmodo.com/this-is-who-the-x-men-really-are-1838227455"><u>looks</u></a> at the amazing Jonathan Hickman run on the X-Men so far, one that has established the mutants as eye-catching and deeply alien.</li><br /><li>Joe. My. God. <a href="https://www.joemygod.com/2019/09/pentagon-admits-2017-ufo-videos-are-authentic/"><u>notes</u></a> that the Pentagon has admitted that 2017 UFO videos do, in fact, depict some unidentified objects in the air.</li><br /><li>JSTOR Daily <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/why-are-cities-filled-with-metal-men-on-horseback/"><u>looks</u></a> at the origin of the equestrian horseback statue in ancient Rome.</li><br /><li>Language Log <a href="https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=44446"><u>shares</u></a> a bilingual English/German pun from Berlin.</li><br /><li>Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money <a href="http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2019/09/erik-visits-an-american-grave-part-549"><u>reflects</u></a> on the legacy of Thomas Jefferson at Jefferson's grave.</li><br /><li>Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution <a href="https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/09/frequency-of-conflict-initiation-worldwide.html"><u>looks</u></a> at a new book arguing, contra Pinker perhaps, that the modern era is one of heightened violence.</li><br /><li>The New APPS Blog <a href="https://www.newappsblog.com/2019/09/hobbes-biopolitics-security.html"><u>seeks</u></a> to reconcile the philosophy of Hobbes with that of Foucault on biopower.</li><br /><li>Strange Company <a href="http://strangeco.blogspot.com/2019/09/newspaper-clipping-of-day_18.html"><u>shares</u></a> news clippings from 1970s Ohio about a pesky UFO.</li><br /><li>Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/09/20/this-is-why-we-dont-shoot-earths-garbage-into-the-sun/"><u>explains</u></a> why the idea of shooting garbage from Earth into the sun does not work.</li><br /><li>Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps <a href="https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/brasilia-mystery-solved"><u>explains</u></a> the appearance of Brasilia on a 1920s German map: It turns out the capital was nearly realized then.</li><br /><li>Towleroad <a href="https://www.towleroad.com/2019/09/pete-buttigieg-lgbtq-media/"><u>notes</u></a> that Pete Buttigieg has taken to avoiding reading LGBTQ media because he dislikes their criticism of his gayness.</li><br /><li>Arnold Zwicky <a href="https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/09/18/the-outrage-of-a-new-menu/"><u>looks</u></a> at diners and changing menus and slavery.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5758048" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5749833[BLOG] Some Saturday links2019-09-14T21:26:37Z2019-09-14T21:27:44Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Architectuul <a href="https://blog.architectuul.com/post/187683689342/urban-symphony"><u>shares</u></a> photos from a bike tour of Berlin.</li><br /><li>Bad Astronomer Phil Plait <a href="https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/exocomets-are-raining-down-on-beta-pictoris"><u>reports</u></a> on new evidence that exocomets are raining on star Beta Pictoris.</li><br /><li>Larry Klaes at Centauri Dreams <a href="https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2019/09/13/the-human-adventure-is-just-beginning-alien-and-star-trek-the-motion-picture-at-40/"><u>reviews</u></a> the two late 1970s SF films Alien and Star Trek I, products of the same era.</li><br /><li>D-Brief <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/09/13/large-magellanic-cloud-hubble/"><u>reports</u></a> on Hubble studies of the star clusters of the Large Magellanic Cloud.</li><br /><li>Bruce Dorminey <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucedorminey/2019/09/13/gemini-telescope-captures-multicolor-image-of-visiting-interstellar-comet/"><u>shares</u></a> Gemini telescope images of interstellar comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov).</li><br /><li>The Dragon's Tales <a href="http://thedragonstales.blogspot.com/2019/09/spacexs-starhopper-flight.html"><u>shares</u></a> video of Space X's Starhopper test flight.</li><br /><li>Far Outliers <a href="http://faroutliers.blogspot.com/2019/09/norman-king-picks-saxon-name-1239.html"><u>notes</u></a> the import of the 13th century Norman king of England calling himself Edward after an Anglo-Saxon king.</li><br /><li>Gizmodo <a href="https://gizmodo.com/scientists-taught-rats-to-play-hide-and-seek-and-theyr-1838069088"><u>notes</u></a> that not only can rats learn to play hide and seek, they seem to enjoy it.</li><br /><li>io9 <a href="https://io9.gizmodo.com/mr-sinisters-high-camp-perfectly-cuts-through-the-dram-1838106926"><u>notes</u></a> the fantastic high camp of Mister Sinister in the new Jonathan Hickman X-Men run, borrowing a note from Kieron Gillen's portrayal of the character.</li><br /><li>Joe. My. God. <a href="https://www.joemygod.com/2019/09/giulianis-wife-the-hero-of-9-11-has-become-a-liar/"><u>notes</u></a> that Guiliani's soon-to-be ex-wife says he has descended from 911 hero to a liar.</li><br /><li>Language Log <a href="https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=44389"><u>looks</u></a> at the recent ridiculous suggestion that English, among other languages, descends from Chinese.</li><br /><li>The LRB Blog <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2019/september/a-sharp-crack-and-a-heavy-explosion"><u>looks</u></a> at the brief history of commemorating the V2 attacks on London.</li><br /><li>Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money <a href="http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2019/09/making-eugenics-great-again"><u>looks</u></a> at the practice in Saskatchewan of sterilizing First Nations women against their consent.</li><br /><li>Marginal Revolution <a href="https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/09/brazil-is-not-entirely-an-environmental-villain.html"><u>suggests</u></a> that farmers in Brazil might be getting a partly unfair treatment. (Partly.)</li><br /><li>The Planetary Society Blog <a href="http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/why-the-interstellar-comet-matters.html"><u>explains</u></a> why C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) matters.</li><br /><li>Window on Eurasia <a href="http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/09/turkmen-immigrants-into-belarus-now.html"><u>notes</u></a> that, for the first time, immigrants from Turkmenistan in Belarus outnumber immigrants from Ukraine.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5749833" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5738716[BLOG] Some Thursday links2019-08-29T14:26:51Z2019-08-29T14:26:51Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>The Buzz shares a TIFF reading list, <a href="https://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/bookbuzz/2019/08/tiff-2019-a-reading-list.html"><u>here</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Centauri Dreams notes the growing sensitivity of radial velocity techniques in finding weird exoplanet HR 5183 b, <a href="https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2019/08/28/hr-5183-b-pushing-radial-velocity-techniques-deeper-into-a-stellar-system/"><u>here</u></a>.</li><br /><li>The Crux <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2019/08/28/gas-galaxies-circumgalactic-medium/"><u>reports</u></a> on circumgalactic gas and the death of galaxies.</li><br /><li>Dead Things <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/deadthings/2019/08/28/oldest-australopith-skull/"><u>notes</u></a> the import of the discovery of the oldest known Australopithecine skull.</li><br /><li>Dangerous Minds <a href="https://dangerousminds.net/comments/beware_beware_we_are_not_to_be_trifled_with_the_work_of_pioneering_genderqu"><u>reports</u></a> on pioneering 1930s queer artist Hannah Gluckstein, also known as Gluck.</li><br /><li>Gizmodo <a href="https://gizmodo.com/why-does-darpa-need-a-huge-underground-facility-by-frid-1837668478"><u>notes</u></a> that, for an unnamed reason, DARPA needs a large secure underground testing facility for tomorrow.</li><br /><li>JSTOR Daily <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/jim-crow-affected-mexican-immigrants-too/"><u>looks</u></a> at how Jim Crow laws affected Mexican immigrants in the early 20th century US.</li><br /><li>Language Hat <a href="http://languagehat.com/focloir-stairiuil-na-gaeilge/"><u>looks</u></a> at a new project to study Irish texts and language over centuries.</li><br /><li>Language Log <a href="https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=44192"><u>shares</u></a> some Chinglish signs from a top university in China.</li><br /><li>Lawyers, Guns and Money <a href="http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2019/08/manson-was-just-that-a-convenient-spontaneously-appearing-boogeyman-a-discussion-with-historian-jeffrey-melnick-about-his-book-charles-mansons-creepy-crawl-the-many-lives-of-americ"><u>shares</u></a> an interview with Jeffrey Melnick suggesting Charles Manson was substantially a convenient boogeyman.</li><br /><li>Marginal Revolution <a href="https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/08/marijuana-complacency-sentences-to-ponder.html"><u>shares</u></a> a paper suggesting marijuana legalization is linked to declining crime rates.</li><br /><li>Susan Neiman at the NYR Daily <a href="https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/08/26/working-off-the-past-from-atlanta-to-berlin/"><u>tells</u></a> how she began her life as a white woman in Atlanta and is ending it as a Jewish woman in Berlin.</li><br /><li>The Planetary Society Blog <a href="http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/hayabusa2-lander-mania.html"><u>looks</u></a> at Hayabusa2 at Ryugu.</li><br /><li>Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/08/28/happy-230th-birthday-enceladus-our-solar-systems-greatest-hope-for-life-beyond-earth/"><u>celebrated</u></a> the 230th anniversary of Enceladus, the Saturn moon that might harbour life.</li><br /><li>Window on Eurasia <a href="http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/08/global-warming-drought-drying-up.html"><u>notes</u></a> how global warming is harming the rivers of Siberia, causing many to run short.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5738716" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5699818[BLOG] Some Sunday links2019-06-02T17:13:19Z2019-06-02T17:31:49Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>D-Brief <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/05/16/plastic-trash-debris-beaches-buried/"><u>reports</u></a> on the abundance of plastic waste found buried in the beaches of the Cocos Islands.</li><br /><li>Joe. My. God. <a href="https://www.joemygod.com/2019/06/trump-administration-strips-india-of-tariffs-exemption/"><u>notes</u></a> that the US has imposed tariffs against India.</li><br /><li>JSTOR Daily <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/walt-whitman-americas-phrenologist/"><u>looks</u></a> at the strange history of phrenology.</li><br /><li>Lawyers, Guns and Money <a href="http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2019/06/trump-honors-junk-scientist-who-helped-motivate-his-own-massively-failed-policies"><u>takes note</u></a> of the Trump Administration's honouring of Arthur Laffer.</li><br /><li>The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer <a href="https://noelmaurer.typepad.com/aab/2019/05/observatorio-argentino-41-ven%C3%ADamos-bien-pero-pasaron-cosas.html"><u>looks</u></a> at the electricity price crisis that might determine who gets to be elected president of Argentina.</li><br /><li>Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel <a href="Https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/05/28/this-little-known-quantum-rule-makes-our-existence-possible/"><u>explains</u></a> how the Pauli Exclusion Principle makes matter possible.</li><br /><li>Ilya Somin at the Volokh Conspiracy <a href="Https://reason.com/2019/06/01/trumps-plan-to-force-mexico-to-lock-in-its-own-people/"><u>argues</u></a> against importing the principles of the Berlin Wall to the US-Mexico border.</li><br /><li>Window on Eurasia <a href="https://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/06/moscow-expanding-its-influence-in.html"><u>shares</u></a> concerns that Russia is trying to expand its influence in the east of Belarus.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5699818" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5685436[URBAN NOTE] Ten city links: Hamilton, Ottawa, Montréal, Kingston, Vancouver, Toledo, NYC, Bodie ...2019-05-12T16:15:01Z2019-05-12T16:15:01Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>CBC Hamilton <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/a-former-white-supremacist-group-leader-is-working-for-hamilton-what-can-the-city-do-1.5130802"><u>reports</u></a> on the options of the City of Hamilton faced with its having hired a prominent former white supremacist.</li><br /><li>CBC Ottawa <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-flood-levels-may-11-1.5130813"><u>reports</u></a> that flood levels on the Ottawa River have reached record highs.</li><br /><li>The Montreal Gazette <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/analysis-solutions-for-montreals-sardine-class-commuters"><u>considers</u></a> possible solutions to crowding on the Montréal subway, including new cars and special buses.</li><br /><li>Kingston is preparing for flooding, the city seeing a threat only in certain waterfront districts. Global News <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5265215/city-of-kingston-possible-flooding/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Vancouver is applying a zoning freeze in a future mass transit corridor. Global News <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5197669/vancouver-west-side-zoning-freeze/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/design/2019/05/toledo-history-riverfront-train-station-norman-bel-geddes/589105/"><u>looks</u></a> at how the post-war dream of mass transit and densification for the Ohio city of Toledo never came about, and how it might now.</li><br /><li>Guardian Cities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/may/10/a-totem-in-times-square-new-york-as-it-might-have-looked-in-pictures"><u>looks</u></a> at construction proposals for New York City that never were.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/05/california-ghost-town-bodie-state-park-historic-preservation/588457/"><u>looks</u></a> at how the California ghost town of Bodie is kept in good shape for tourists.</li><br /><li>Vox <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/5/9/18537122/billionaire-study-wealthx-san-francisco"><u>notes</u></a> that just over one in ten thousand people in San Francisco is a billionaire.</li><br /><li>Leonid Bershidsky at Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-05-11/eu-study-says-berlin-is-lagging-in-productivity-but-why"><u>considers</u></a> why productivity in Berlin lags behind that in other European capital cities. Could it be that the young workers of Berlin are not devoted to earning income?</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5685436" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5682524[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Montréal, Hobart, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Wroclaw2019-05-10T22:23:09Z2019-05-10T22:23:09Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>La Presse <a href="https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/grand-montreal/201905/06/01-5224935-dix-scenarios-pour-sauver-la-rue-saint-denis.php"><u>considers</u></a> some different strategies to keep rue Saint-Denis in Montréal a healthy thoroughfare and neighbourhood.</li><br /><li>Atlas Obscura <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hobart-book-village"><u>explains</u></a> how the upstate New York town of Hobart made itself as a home for a used book store cluster.</li><br /><li>Guardian Cities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/may/09/berlin-anti-gentrification-activists-fight-to-keep-the-local-aldi"><u>explains</u></a> why anti-gentrirfication activists in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin are fighting to keep their local Aldi, to continue to have low-cost food locally.</li><br /><li>Window on Eurasia <a href="http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/05/immigrant-workers-in-st-petersburg-have.html"><u>notes</u></a> a poll of immigrant workers in St. Petersburg that finds most quite like their new home.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/design/2019/04/jadwiga-grabowska-hawrylak-woman-architect-poland-brutalism/587848/"><u>looks</u></a> at Polish architect Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak, whose brutalism played a key role in the reconstruction of the Poland city of Wroclaw from the ruins of old German Breslau.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5682524" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5677490[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Ottawa, Montréal, Miami, Mexico City, Berlin2019-05-07T18:44:51Z2019-05-07T18:44:51Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>CBC Ottawa <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/condo-owner-violated-airbnb-ghost-hotel-1.5122219"><u>reports</u></a> on the complaint of an Ottawa condo-owner that his tenant is renting the unit out via Airbnb.</li><br /><li>CBC Montreal <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/popir-rent-saint-henri-gentrification-1.5121624"><u>notes</u></a> that a rent advocacy agency in the neighbourhood of Saint-Henri is being driven out of its offices by rent increases.</li><br /><li>VICE <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xwnygk/luxury-housing-is-threatening-to-wipe-out-miamis-trailer-parks"><u>reports</u></a> on how a Miami trailer park and its residents are set to be driven out of their home by luxury housing.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/05/sonora-market-religious-worship-witchcraft-herbs-mexico-city/588532/"><u>reports</u></a> on a Mexico City market, the Sonora Market, specializing in goods for religious believers.</li><br /><li>Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-housing/berlin-activists-march-to-demand-city-seize-housing-from-landlords-idUSKCN1RI0EG"><u>notes</u></a> a street protest by rent activists in Berlin calling for the nationalizing of the housing stock.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5677490" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5633973[BLOG] Some Saturday links2019-03-30T17:03:57Z2019-03-30T17:03:57Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Architectuul <a href="http://blog.architectuul.com/post/183788563867/mies-in-berlin"><u>profiles</u></a> the construction of the Modern Berlin Temple built to a design by Mies van der Rohe in 1968.</li><br /><li>Bad Astronomer Phil Plait <a href="https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/facing-the-incomprehensible-beauty-of-m-61"><u>notes</u></a> the beauty of galaxy M61.</li><br /><li>D-Brief <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/03/27/mars-rivers-water-climate/"><u>notes</u></a> new evidence that Mars sustained rivers on its surface at a surprising late date.</li><br /><li>Gizmodo <a href="https://gizmodo.com/saturns-ravioli-shaped-ring-moons-may-have-formed-from-1833637535"><u>notes</u></a> a theory that the oddly shaped ring moons of Saturn might be product of a collision.</li><br /><li>Hornet Stories <a href="https://hornet.com/stories/new-orleans-gay-bar-complaint/"><u>suggests/u></u></a> that recent raids on gay bars in New Orleans might be driven by internecine politics within the LGBTQ community.</li><br /><li>Joe. My. God. <a href="https://www.joemygod.com/2019/03/cayman-islands-court-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/"><u>notes</u></a> that a court in the Cayman Islands has recently legalized same-sex marriage there.</li><br /><li>JSTOR Daily <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/the-tree-huggers-who-saved-indian-forests/"><u>looks</u></a> at the origins of the Chipko activists of 1960s and 1970s India, whose tree-hugging helped save forests there.</li><br /><li>Language Log <a href="http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=42253"><u>notes</u></a> the story of Beau Jessep, who got rich off of a business creating English names for Chinese children.</li><br /><li>Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money, looking at the introduction of public healthcare in Saskatchewan and wider Canada, <a href="http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2019/03/institutions-matter-2"><u>notes</u></a> the great institutional differences that do not make that a close model for public healthcare in the US now.</li><br /><li>Marginal Revolution <a href="https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/03/population-growth-and-technological-change-one-million-b-c-to-1990.html"><u>links</u></a> to a paper examining the close relationship over time between population growth and economic and technological change.</li><br /><li>Roads and Kingdoms <a href="https://roadsandkingdoms.com/2019/silver-water-morocco-qa-nadir-bouhmouch/"><u>interviews</u></a> documentary filmmaker Nadir Bouhmouch about a Amazigh community's resistance to an intrusive mine on their territory.</li><br /><li>The Russian Demographics Blog <a href="https://russiandemographix.blogspot.com/2019/03/osterreichisch-ungarische-monarchie.html"><u>notes</u></a>, correctly, that one reason why Ukrainians are more prone to emigration to Europe and points beyond than Russians is that Ukraine has long been included, in whole or in part, in European states.</li><br /><li>Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/03/29/no-physicists-still-dont-know-why-matter-and-not-antimatter-dominates-our-universe/"><u>notes</u></a> that we still do not know why antimatter does not dominate in our universe.</li><br /><li>Understanding Society <a href="https://understandingsociety.blogspot.com/2019/03/guest-post-vk-ramachandran-on-details.html"><u>features</u></a> a guest post from Indian sociologist V.K. Ramachandran talking about two visits four decades apart to one of his subjects.</li><br /><li>Vintage Space <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/vintagespace/2019/03/29/475/"><u>makes</u></a> a compelling case for people not to be afraid of nuclear rockets in space, like the vintage never-deployed NERVA.</li><br /><li>Window on Eurasia <a href="http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/03/another-way-moscow-undermines-non.html"><u>takes</u></a> issue with the bilingual radio programs aired in Russian republics, which subtly undermine local non-Russian languages.</li><br /><li>Arnold Zwicky <a href="https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/03/29/lilacs-in-california-lavender-lady/"><u>starts</u></a> with lilacs, which include hybrids tolerant of the California climate, and goes on to explore lavender in all of its glories, queer and otherwise.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5633973" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5618706[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Montréal, Lethbridge, Tuktoyaktuk, Hong Kong, Berlin2019-03-18T20:11:16Z2019-03-18T20:11:16Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>MTLBlog <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/news/montreal/heres-what-a-dollar1000month-apartment-looks-like-in-every-montreal-borough"><u>reports</u></a> from each borough of Montréal to see what a monthly rent of $C 1000 can get a hopeful tenant. The results will shock you, especially if you are used to Toronto rents (or higher!).</li><br /><li>The Alberta city of Lethbridge hopes, coming the 2020 census, its population will finally reach the mark of one hundred thousand residents. Global News <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5054052/lethbridge-2019-census-population-milestone/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>The northern Canadian town of Tuktoyaktuk is literally falling into the Arctic Ocean, as the ground crumbles while the sea rises. The National Post <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/eroding-tuktoyaktuk-every-day-homes-in-this-northern-hamlet-are-getting-closer-to-the-sea"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>The aging of the population of taxi drivers of Hong Kong leaves open the question of who, or what, will take their place. Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-03-17/hong-kong-taxi-drivers-are-getting-a-lot-older"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/02/berlin-subway-bus-streetcar-transit-master-plan/583747/"><u>reports</u></a> on the remarkable ambition of the new transit plan of Berlin.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5618706" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5601444[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: GTA, Montréal, Portland, Berlin, Seoul2019-02-27T19:59:01Z2019-02-27T19:59:01Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Sean Marshall at TVO <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/current-affairs/can-an-app-solve-southwestern-ontarios-transit-woes"><u>notes</u></a> the limited, if real, potential of a new ride-sharing app to bridge the transit gap between Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, and Hamilton in the west of the Golden Horseshoe.</li><br /><li>CBC Montreal <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-biod%C3%B4me-renovations-delays-price-increase-1.5031575"><u>notes</u></a> delays in the renovation of the Biodôme.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/perspective/2019/02/public-housing-portland-maine-where-volunteer-afford-rent/583537/"><u>notes</u></a> that in Portland, Maine, volunteering can help one get access to affordable housing, literally.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/02/berlin-germany-housing-rent-how-much-price-landlord-policies/582898/"><u>notes</u></a> how the government of Berlin is set to intervene directly in the housing market to ensure affordability.</li><br /><li>Guardian Cities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/feb/20/end-of-an-era-seoul-prepares-to-rip-out-its-manufacturing-heart"><u>looks</u></a> at how Seoul is set to redevelop the districts once at the heart of the South Korean economic miracle.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5601444" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5595444[DM] Some news links: public art, history, marriage, diaspora, assimilation2019-02-20T17:41:53Z2019-02-20T17:41:53Zpublic0<br>Some more population-related links popped up over the past week.<br><br /><br /><ul><br /><li>CBC Toronto <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/winter-stations-celebrating-winter-1.5023943"><u>reported</u></a> on this year’s iteration of Winter Stations. A public art festival held on the Lake Ontario shorefront in the east-end Toronto neighbourhood of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beaches"><u>The Beaches</u></a>, Winter Stations this year will be based around the theme of migration.</li><br /><li>JSTOR Daily <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/how-love-transformed-american-immigration-law/"><u>noted</u></a> how the interracial marriages of serving members of the US military led to the liberalization of immigration law in the United States in the 1960s. With hundreds of thousands of interracial marriages of serving members of the American military to Asian women, there was simply no domestic constituency in the United States<br /><li>Ozy <a href="https://www.ozy.com/acumen/the-surprisingly-inclusive-economy-of-americas-opioid-capital/85357"><u>reported</u></a> on how Dayton, Ohio, has managed to thrive in integrating its immigrant populations.</li><br /><li>Amro Ali, <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/north-africa-west-asia/amro-ali/on-need-to-shape-arab-exile-body-in-berlin"><u>writing</u></a> at Open Democracy, makes a case for the emergence of Berlin as a capital for Arab exiles fleeing the Middle East and North America in the aftermath of the failure of the Arab revolutions. The analogy he strikes to Paris in the 1970s, a city that offered similar shelter to Latin American refugees at that time, resonates.</li><br /><li>Alex Boyd at The Island Review <a href="http://theislandreview.com/content/stkilda-boyd"><u>details</u></a>, with prose and photos, his visit to the isolated islands of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Kilda,_Scotland"><u>St. Kilda</u></a>, inhabited from prehistoric times but abandoned in 1930.<br /><li>VICE <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/evezba/the-fate-of-tongas-criminal-returnees"><u>looks</u></a> at the plight of people who, as convicted criminals, were deported to the Tonga where they held citizenship. How do they live in a homeland they may have no experience of? The relative lack of opportunity in Tonga that drove their family's earlier migration in the first place is a major challenge.</li><br /><li>Window on Eurasia <a href="http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/02/in-many-non-russian-countries-ethnic.html"><u>notes</u></a> how, in many post-Soviet countries including the Baltic States and Ukraine, ethnic Russians are assimilating into local majority ethnic groups. (The examples of the industrial Donbas and Crimea, I would suggest, are exceptional. In the case of the Donbas, 2014 might well have been the latest point at which a pro-Russian separatist movement was possible.)</li><br /></li></li></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5595444" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5592107[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Montréal, Dayton, London, Singapore, Berlin2019-02-18T19:12:24Z2019-02-18T19:12:24Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>CBC Montreal <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-church-circus-1.5022352"><u>reports</u></a> on how, and why, an Anglican church in Montréal will be hosting a circus.</li><br /><li>Ozy <a href="https://www.ozy.com/acumen/the-surprisingly-inclusive-economy-of-americas-opioid-capital/85357"><u>reports</u></a> on how Dayton, Ohio, has managed to thrive in integrating its immigrant populations.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/design/2019/02/london-tate-modern-wins-privacy-case-neo-bankside-court-ruling/582694/"><u>notes</u></a> how the Tate Modern gallery in London won a lawsuit against neighbours who complained gallery-goers could see inside their homes.</li><br /><li>Linda Lim at Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-02-13/post-brexit-u-k-can-t-turn-itself-into-singapore-on-thames"><u>explains</u></a> why Singapore is not a useful model for the post-Brexit United Kingdom.</li><br /><li>Amro Ali, <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/north-africa-west-asia/amro-ali/on-need-to-shape-arab-exile-body-in-berlin"><u>writing</u></a> at Open Democracy, makes a case for the emergence of Berlin as a capital for Arab exiles.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5592107" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5572695[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Hamilton, Montréal, Queens, Berlin, Vancouver2019-02-06T18:39:08Z2019-02-06T18:39:08Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>CBC Hamilton recently <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/gta-to-hamilton-facebook-group-1.4961945"><u>reported</u></a> on a new Facebook group intended to help Torontonians find their footing in neighbouring Hamilton.</li><br /><li>Will the new designs of the Montreal Alouettes be enough to reverse the CFL team's dwindling fanbase? Global News <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4922544/rick-zamperin-montreal-alouettes-hope-new-look-will-inspire-dwindling-fanbase/"><u>considers</u></a>.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/design/2019/02/queens-modern-new-york-architecture-history-frampton-tolbert/581761/"><u>points</u></a> to the overlooked architectural heritage of Queens, in New York City.</li><br /><li>Guardian Cities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/dec/20/from-autobahn-anomaly-to-motorway-marvel-berlin-roadside-grandstands"><u>reports</u></a> on plans to rehabilitate roadside grandstands in Berlin abandoned for nearly a century.</li><br /><li>Georgia Straight <a href="https://www.straight.com/news/1195301/starting-rents-range-1646-3702-proposed-affordable-vancouver-housing"><u>reports</u></a> on a proposal for supposedly affordable rental housing in Vancouver that is no such thing. Below-market rates are not enough when prices are so high already.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5572695" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5554099[NEWS] Five LGBTQ links: gay and Catholic, 1970s Moscow, Australia beaches, Paradise Garage, bars2019-01-21T23:34:37Z2019-01-21T23:34:37Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>The Conversation <a href="https://theconversation.com/homophobia-in-the-hallways-lgbtq-people-at-risk-in-catholic-schools-109023"><u>notes</u></a> the dangers facing LGBTQ students and staff in Catholic schools in Canada.</li><br /><li>Deutsche Welle <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/how-gay-activists-from-berlin-visited-the-1970s-ussr/a-46757232"><u>shares</u></a> the story of how the Soviet Union in the 1970s hosted a delegation of visiting gay activists from Berlin.</li><br /><li>The Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/18/australia-has-long-had-a-gay-beach-subculture-but-they-havent-always-been-safe-spaces"><u>reports</u></a> on how LGBTQ people in Australia have found it difficult, even unsafe, to enjoy that country's beach culture.</li><br /><li>VICE <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wj37x4/lost-photographs-of-an-iconic-queer-discotheque"><u>shares</u></a> photos from New York City's Paradise Garage, taken in the 1970s.</li><br /><li>Hornet Stories <a href="https://hornet.com/stories/gay-bar-decline-apps/"><u>takes</u></a> an extended look at the reasons, good and bad, for the decline of gay bars.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5554099" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5340903[URBAN NOTE] Five cities links: Humboldt, Hamilton, Kingston, Berlin, Sidangkou2018-04-09T21:14:57Z2018-04-09T21:14:57Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>At <i>MacLean's</i>, Meaghan Campbell <a href="http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/its-not-about-the-hockey-anymore-how-the-humboldt-bronco-bus-crash-changes-a-hockey-town/"><u>reports</u></a> on how the devastating crash of the Humboldt Broncos has hit that small Saskatchewan farm town.</li><br /><li>Hamilton police announces the arrest of local anarchist Peter Hopperton in connection with the actions of a crowd bent on vandalism on that city's Locke Street. CBC <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/locke-street-vandalism-update-1.4607858"><u>has it</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Queen's University is participating in a summit with the city of Kingston on how students and long-term residents can be accommodated in the changing city. Global News <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4130449/ams-summit-kingston-urban-development/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Attacks by right-wing groups in the Berlin district of Neukölln make many locals worried. DW <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/in-berlins-trendy-neukölln-right-wing-attacks-rattle-activists/a-43276545"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>The small Chinese centre of Sidangkou, in the area of Tianjin, has become a world centre of saxophone production. <i>The New York Times</i> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/world/asia/china-sidangkou-saxophone.html"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><ul></ul></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5340903" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5303031[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: New York City, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, Berlin, Amsterdam, Istanbul2018-02-23T23:49:49Z2018-02-23T23:50:50Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>What does the impending demolition of the venerable Union Carbide tower, at 270 Park Avenue, to make way for a new ultratall skyscraper say about changing New York City? <i>New York</i> <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/the-death-of-a-skyscraper.html"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>The <i>South China Morning Post</i> <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2130909/shenzhen-and-guangzhou-power-ahead-can-hong-kong-leapfrog"><u>observes</u></a> how the cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, though still behind Hong Kong, are starting to advance past it as a result of these cities' sustained investment in innovative technologies.</li><br /><li>Aldi in Berlin will apparently build affordable student housing on top of at least some of its new discount food stores in Berlin. Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-31/aldi-to-offer-berlin-students-flats-on-top-of-discount-food"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>This VICE article <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3k5meb/hoe-het-is-als-je-jong-en-verschrikkelijk-eenzaam-bent"><u>looking</u></a> at the lives of lonely people in Amsterdam, many newcomers, is affecting.</li><br /><li>The Crisis Group <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/western-europemediterranean/turkey/integrating-syrian-refugees-istanbuls-district-victimhood"><u>looks</u></a> at how Syrian refugees, of diverse ethnicities and religions, are finding a new home in the multiethnic Istanbul neighbourhood of Sultangazi.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5303031" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5245292[NEWS] Five LGBTQ links: Leo Koury, cruising, Man's Country, Mike Balaban, instagays2018-01-11T00:53:48Z2018-01-11T00:53:48Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Hornet Stories <a href="https://hornetapp.com/stories/leo-koury-richmond-mobster/"><u>tells</u></a> of Leo Koury, a mobster who apparently kickstarted gay nigthclub life in the Virginia city of Richmond.</li><br /><li>VICE <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xw4ze3/how-queer-people-found-freedom-by-cruising-restrooms"><u>shares</u></a> an article on an exhibit at a Berlin museum looking at the history and sociology of cruising in public washrooms.</li><br /><li>VICE <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wjpzg5/taking-the-last-tour-of-chicagos-most-historic-gay-bathhouse"><u>features</u></a> a tour of Man's Country, a long-established Chicago bathhouse now closing after four decades.</li><br /><li>Hornet Stories <a href="https://hornetapp.com/stories/gay-history-lesson-instagram/"><u>points</u></a> to the Instagram account of Mike Balaban, "bammer47", whose account is full of LGBTQ-relevant photos of personal and general relevance.</li><br /><li>Khaleb El Khatib at VICE <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/59wye5/instagays-unfiltered"><u>interviews</u></a> some "instagays", gay (or bi, or queer) Instagram users whose photos (including selfies) attract huge followings. What do we get out of them? What do they get out of it?</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5245292" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5244885[BLOG] Some Wednesday links2018-01-10T18:26:07Z2018-01-10T18:29:02Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Bad Astronomer Phil Plait <a href="http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/did-our-first-known-interstellar-visitor-come-from-a-dead-star"><u>considers</u></a> the real possibility that extrasolar visitor 'Oumuamua may have been ejected from the system of a dying star.</li><br /><li>Centauri Dreams <a href="https://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=39090"><u>notes</u></a> new efforts to determine brown dwarf demographics.</li><br /><li>Crooked Timber <a href="http://crookedtimber.org/2018/01/08/the-rise-and-fall-of-keynesianism-after-the-gfc/"><u>shares</u></a> some research on the rise and fall of Keynesianism after the financial crisis.</li><br /><li>Hornet Stories <a href="https://hornetapp.com/stories/sex-in-berlin/"><u>shares</u></a> a decidedly NSFW article about gay sex in Berlin. </li><br /><li>JSTOR Daily <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/the-surprising-frequency-of-interspecies-mating/"><u>notes</u></a> the surprisingly high frequency of interspecies sex in the wild.</li><br /><li>Language Hat <a href="http://languagehat.com/luxembourgish/"><u>notes</u></a> new efforts to promote the status of the Luxembourgish language in the grand duchy.</li><br /><li>The LRB Blog <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2018/01/05/justin-horton/bad-moves/"><u>notes</u></a> how a chess tournament hosted in Saudi Arabia has failed badly from the PR perspective.</li><br /><li>What role does the novelist have in a world where the television serial is moving in on the territory of literature? The NYR Daily <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/01/05/the-novelists-complicity/"><u>considers</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw <a href="http://belshaw.blogspot.ca/2018/01/train-reading-reflections-on.html"><u>reflects</u></a> on John Lyons' book Balcony over Jerusalem, the controversy over the book, and the Middle East generally.</li><br /><li>The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer <a href="http://noelmaurer.typepad.com/aab/2018/01/attack-of-the-drones.html"><u>notes</u></a> the ominous import of the decent drone attack in Syria against Russian forces.</li><br /><li>Drew Rowsome <a href="http://drewrowsome.blogspot.ca/2018/01/mustard-revisited-when-does-play-become.html"><u>praises</u></a> the 2016 play Mustard, currently playing again at the Tarragon, as a modern-day classic.</li><br /><li>Spacing <a href="http://spacing.ca/national/2018/01/09/book-review-the-strip-las-vegas-and-the-architecture-of-the-american-dream/"><u>features</u></a> a review of a fantastic-sounding book about the architecture of Las Vegas.</li><br /><li>Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/01/06/ask-ethan-how-does-spinning-affect-the-shape-of-pulsars/""><u>considers</u></a> the impact of the very rapid rotation of pulsars about their very shape.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5244885" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5229786[MUSIC] Five notes about music: Sam the Record Man, Berlin techno, Morrissey, Björk, Canada2017-12-14T22:43:28Z2017-12-14T22:43:28Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Max Mertens at NOW Toronto <a href="https://nowtoronto.com/music/features/a-brief-history-of-the-sam-the-record-man-sign/"><u>takes</u></a> a look at the storied history of the Sam the Record Man sign.</li><br /><li>The Local Germany K<a href="https://www.thelocal.de/20171214/the-night-economy-how-even-conservatives-are-trying-to-protect-berlin-techno"><u>reports</u></a> on how the fate of Berlin's techno nightclubs is a matter of general concern across the political spectrum.</li><br /><li>Der Spiegel has <a href="https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/xwvgaa/sorry-morrissey-der-spiegel-has-audio-proof-youre-still-an-asshole"><u>released</u></a> audiotapes of that paper's interview with Morrissey, revealing his denials of racism and victim-blaming to be false.</li><br /><li>Bjork's new album <i>Utopia</i>, that artist's reaction to the Anthropocene, <a href="https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/xwvypq/bjorks-beautiful-utopia-is-hopeful-in-the-face-of-decay"><u>sounds</u></a> like it will be fantastic.</li><br /><li>Carl Wilson's examination of the stylistic and musical evolution of the indie scene in Canada over the past decade, from the collective towards Soundcloud, is fascinating. <i>The Globe and Mail</i> <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/with-indie-rock-cooling-off-canada-stages-its-next-musicinvasion/article37205865/"><u>has it</u></a>.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5229786" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5214223[BLOG] Some Wednesday links2017-11-29T21:26:51Z2017-11-29T21:36:28Zpublic3<ul><br /><li>At Antipope, Charlie Stross <a href="http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2017/11/unforseen-consequences-and-tha.html"><u>examines</u></a> the connections between bitcoin production and the alt-right. Could cryptocurrency have seriously bad political linkages?</li><br /><li>Bad Astronomer Phil Plait <a href="http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/ho-hum-just-another-black-hole-merger-that-blasted-out-soul-crushing-amounts-of-energy-and"><u>notes</u></a> GW170680, a recent gravitational wave detection that is both immense in its effect and surprising for its detection being normal.</li><br /><li>Centauri Dreams <a href="https://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=38876"><u>reports</u></a> on a new study suggesting hot Jupiters are so large because they are heated by their local star.</li><br /><li>Crooked Timber <a href="http://crookedtimber.org/2017/11/26/no-true-scotsman-generation-game-edition/"><u>counsels</u></a> against an easy condemnation of baby boomers as uniquely politically malign.</li><br /><li>Daily JSTOR <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/how-the-age-of-the-bed-changed-the-way-we-sleep/"><u>notes</u></a> one paper that takes a look at how the surprisingly late introduction of the bed, as a piece of household technology, changed the way we sleep.</li><br /><li>Dangerous Minds <a href="https://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_inhibition_the_frozen_dance_charles_manson_taught_beach_boy_dennis_wils"><u>shares</u></a> a 1968 newspaper interview with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, talking about Charlie Manson and his family and their influence on him.</li><br /><li>The Everyday Sociology Blog <a href="http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2017/11/opioids-and-the-social-construction-of-social-problems.html"><u>takes</u></a> a look at the opioid epidemic and the way that it is perceived.</li><br /><li>At A Fistful of Euros, Alex Harrowell <a href="http://fistfulofeuros.net/afoe/when-you-have-eliminated-the-impossible/"><u>suggests</u></a> that the unsolvable complexities of Northern Ireland may be enough to avoid a hard Brexit after all.</li><br /><li>The LRB Blog <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2017/11/27/kit-harding/among-sea-turtles/"><u>describes</u></a> a visit to a seaside village in Costa Rica where locals and visitors try to save sea turtles.</li><br /><li>Lingua Franca <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2017/11/26/an-orgy-in-iceland"><u>reflects</u></a> on the beauty of the Icelandic language.</li><br /><li>The Map Room Blog <a href="http://www.maproomblog.com/2017/11/a-map-of-stellar-systems-with-exoplanets/"><u>shares</u></a> an awesome map depicting the locations of the stars around which we have detected exoplanets.</li><br /><li>Marginal Revolution <a href="http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2017/11/north-korean-defector.html"><u>notes</u></a> the ill health of North Korean defectors, infected with parasites now unseen in South Korea.</li><br /><li>Roads and Kingdoms <a href="http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2017/the-fonio-revival/"><u>reports</u></a> on the revival of fonio, a West African grain that is now starting to see successful marketing in Senegal.</li><br /><li>Spacing <a href="http://spacing.ca/national/2017/11/28/book-review-villages-in-the-city-a-guide-to-south-chinas-informal-settlements/"><u>reviews</u></a> a fascinating book examining the functioning of urban villages embedded in the metropoli of south China.</li><br /><li>Strange Company <a href="http://strangeco.blogspot.ca/2017/11/the-bridge-king-gets-bad-hand.html"><u>reports</u></a> on the mysterious 1920 murder of famous bridge player Joseph Bowne Elwell.</li><br /><li>Towleroad <a href="http://www.towleroad.com/2017/11/meghan-markle-gay-friend/"><u>reports</u></a> on Larnelle Foster, a gay black man who was a close friend of Meghan Markle in their college years.</li><br /><li>Window on Eurasia <a href="http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.ca/2017/11/ukraine-suffered-most-deaths-in.html"><u>notes</u></a> that, although Ukraine suffered the largest number of premature dead in the Stalinist famines of the 1930s, Kazakhstan suffered the greatest proportion of dead.</li><br /><li>Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell has a <a href="http://www.harrowell.org.uk/blog/2017/11/26/what-if-reality-was-more-like-software-visit-to-a-failed-smart-city/"><u>photo essay</u></a> looking at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport, still years away from completion and beset by many complex failures of its advanced systems. What does the failure of this complex system say about others we may wish to build?</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5214223" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5174605[BLOG] Some Wednesday links2017-10-25T16:25:31Z2017-10-25T16:25:31Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Anthropology.net <a href="https://anthropology.net/2017/10/24/neanderthal-got-by-with-a-little-help-from-friends/"><u>notes</u></a> evidence that injured Neanderthals were cared for by their kin.</li><br /><li>James Bow <a href="http://bowjamesbow.ca/2017/10/22/ottawa-at-night.shtml"><u>shares</u></a> a photo of Ottawa at night and considers the growing city with its greenbelt.</li><br /><li>Centauri Dreams <a href="https://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=38621"><u>reacts</u></a> to the immense discoveries surrounding GW170817.</li><br /><li>Crooked Timber <a href="http://crookedtimber.org/2017/10/22/judaeo-christian/"><u>considers</u></a> the vexed nature of the phrase "Judeo-Christian."</li><br /><li>Bruce Dorminey <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucedorminey/2017/10/23/north-korea-emp-attack-would-cause-mass-u-s-starvation-says-congressional-report/"><u>notes</u></a> an American government study suggesting a North Korean EMP attack could cause collapse. </li><br /><li>Hornet Stories <a href="https://hornetapp.com/stories/zelimkhan-bakaev-murdered-chechnya/"><u>reports</u></a> that Russian pop singer Zelimkhan Bakaev has been murdered in Chechnya as part of the anti-gay purges.</li><br /><li>Language Hat <a href="http://languagehat.com/lunfardo/"><u>looks</u></a> at lunfardo, the Italian-inflicted argot of Buenos Aires.</li><br /><li>Lawyers, Guns and Money <a href="http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2017/10/xi-jinpings-china-international-order"><u>notes</u></a> that, with Trump undermining the US, the prospects of China's rise to define the new world order are looking good.</li><br /><li>The NYR Daily <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/10/23/whos-cheating-kenyan-voters/"><u>looks</u></a> at reports of significant electoral fraud in Kenya.</li><br /><li>Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw <a href="http://belshaw.blogspot.ca/2017/10/updating-chinas-belt-and-road-project.html"><u>looks</u></a> at the continuing Australian reaction to China's Belt and Road project. </li><br /><li>Roads and Kingdoms <a href="http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2017/sichuan-peppercorns/"><u>reports</u></a> from Sichuan's peppercorn fields at harvest time.</li><br /><li>Drew Rowsome <a href="http://drewrowsome.blogspot.ca/2017/10/the-only-child-andrew-pyper-pens.html"><u>responds<?u></u></a> to Andrew Pyper's new novel, The Only Child. </li><br /><li>Strange Company <a href="http://strangeco.blogspot.ca/2017/10/the-dead-woman-and-vanished-pears.html"><u>looks</u></a> at the mysterious 1900 murder of New Yorker Kathryn Scharn.</li><br /><li>Strange Maps <a href="http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/what-makes-this-90-year-old-berlin-metro-map-so-appealing"><u>looks</u></a> at an ingenious, if flawed, map of the Berlin metro dating from the 1920s.</li><br /><li>Peter Watts <a href="http://www.rifters.com/crawl/?p=7737"><u>considers</u></a> the question of individual identity over time. What changes, what stays the same?</li><br /><li>Window on Eurasia <a href="http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.ca/2017/10/putins-promotion-of-russian-about-far.html"><u>notes</u></a> that a shift from their native languages to Russian will not end minority ethnic identities.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5174605" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5111434[URBAN NOTE] Five links on cities, from Vancouverites in Port Moody to swimming in Lake Ontario2017-08-21T22:48:30Z2017-08-21T22:48:30Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>I really liked this Kerry Gold <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/vancouver/priced-out-of-downtown-vancouver-millennials-are-building-hipsturbia/article35884038/"><u>article</u></a> in the <i>Globe and Mail</i> showing how the young, priced out of Vancouver, simply went on to remake Port Moody.</li><br /><li>In the <i>Toronto Star</i>, Edward Keenan <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/08/02/small-batch-artisanal-media-coming-to-torontos-west-end-keenan.html"><u>describes</u></a> how the West End Phoenix, a new model of newspaper, is set to develop.</li><br /><li>Also in the <i>Star</i>, Scott Wheeler <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/08/20/meet-the-torontonian-who-literally-helped-tear-down-berlin-wall.html"><u>describes</u></a> how Torontonian John Vyga ended up helping take the Berlin Wall down in 1989.</li><br /><li>Steve Munro <a href="https://stevemunro.ca/2017/08/20/how-clean-is-my-station-2017/"><u>takes a look</u></a> at what the metrics for TTC station cleanliness actually mean. We're doing better than we think.</li><br /><li>Shawn Micallef <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/08/18/wading-in-the-not-so-waning-days-of-summer-micallef.html"><u>wonders</u></a> why so few Torontonians make a habit of swimming in Lake Ontario.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5111434" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5104403[URBAN NOTE] Five links about cities, from past Toronto and Richmond to future NYC and Barcelona2017-08-06T06:01:07Z2017-08-06T06:01:07Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Scott Wheeler <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/07/22/four-toronto-builders-and-how-their-iconic-names-impacted-future-generations.html"><u>writes</u></a> about past eminences of Toronto, people like Conn Smythe and Raymond Massey. <li>Joanna Slater <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/in-the-former-capital-of-the-confederacy-a-struggle-overhistory/article35850381/?cmpid=rss1"><u>writes</u></a> in <i>The Globe and Mail</i> about the symbolism of Confederate--and other--statuary in Richmond, former capital of the South.</li><br /><li>Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-vietnam-idUSKBN1AI1NB"><u>reports</u></a> on a Vietnamese businessman abducted by his country from the streets of Berlin. Germany is unhappy.</li><br /><li>Jeremiah Ross <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d38k4j/tourism-is-eating-new-york-alive"><u>argues</u></a> at VICE that very high levels of tourism in New York City are displacing native-born residents.</li><br /><li>Looking to protests most recently in Barcelona, Elle Hunt in <i>The Guardian</i> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/aug/04/tourism-kills-neighbourhoods-save-city-break/"><u>looks</u></a> at ways to make mass tourism more affordable for destinations.</li><br /></li></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5104403" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5078701[URBAN NOTE] Four notes on changing cities from Germany, from Frankfurt to Hamburg to Berlin2017-07-10T19:58:16Z2017-07-10T19:58:16Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Bloomberg's Steven Arons and Gavin Finch <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-03/brexit-winner-frankfurt-gets-another-shot-at-finance-stardom"><u>observe</u></a> that Brexit may let Frankfurt emerge as a truly global financial centre.</li><br /><li><i>Der Spiegel</i>'s Alexander Smoltczyk <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-cultural-capital-hamburg-struggles-with-new-identity-a-1154509.html"><u>describes</u></a> how north German port Hamburg is starting to inch towards a bigger global role.<br /><li>Deutsche Welle <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/berlins-leftist-scene-under-pressure-after-g20-violence/a-39631452"><u>reports</u></a> on how, after the G20 meeting, far-left and anarchist groups in Berlin are facing a crackdown.</li><br /><li>Global News <a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/3584933/g20-riots-refugees-reaction/"><u>shares</u></a> Joseph Nasr's Reuters article reporting on the incomprehension of Arab refugees in Hamburg at that city's G20 rioters. Why are they doing it?</li><br /></li></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5078701" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments