[PHOTO] "Boring", Dupont and Dovercourt

"Boring", Dupont and Dovercourt
Originally uploaded by randyfmcdonald

Beneath the railway bridge at Dupont and Dovercourt, and facing "Hello Kitty", is this sketch in yellow. Its caption strikes me as a contradiction.

[LINK] "A Renewed Concern: Flares and Astrobiology"

Centauri Dreams' Paul Gilster shared the news that red dwarfs--the most common stars in the galaxy, dim stars with only a small fraction of the mass of our dear old Sol--are more prone to dangerous flares

M-dwarfs are by far the most common type of star in the Milky Way, and therefore have major implications for the search for extraterrestrial life. We now know from SWEEPS data that these small stars are given to stellar flares that can have major effects on a planetary atmosphere. Flares have often been mentioned as a serious problem for the development of life on M-dwarf planets, but the new data tell us they may be more dangerous than we had thought, occurring on a regular and frequent basis.

[. . .]

The threat, vividly portrayed in the results presented by Adam Kowalski (University of Washington) at the conference, involves an eruption of hot plasma that happens when magnetic field lines in a stellar atmosphere reconnect and release an amount of energy that can surpass that of 100 million atomic bombs. From the perspective of life on a planet orbiting an M-dwarf, the planetary surface is blasted with ultraviolet light and a bath of X-rays, along with the charged particles of the stellar wind. The SWEEPS study, with observations over a seven-day period, found 100 stellar flares in this largest continuous monitoring of red dwarfs ever undertaken.

[. . . I]t’s not just young, active stars that pose the threat, according to Osten:

“We know that hyperactive young stars produce flares, but this study shows that even in fairly old stars that are several billion years old, flares are a fact of life. Life could be rough for any planets orbiting close enough to these flaring stars. Their heated atmospheres could puff up and might get stripped away.”

Earlier models of planets orbiting red dwarfs I'm familiar with suggested that habitable planets with Earth-like environments could survive, especially given sufficiently strong magnetic fields to deflect charged particles. Anyway, go read, and hope that the red dwarfs' flares aren't that bad.

[LINK] "The Ghost Rockets'

pauldrye's latest Passing Strangeness post, "The Ghost Rockets", examines the phenomenon of what the people of Norden--especially Swedes--thought were captured Nazi rockets being test-fired by the Soviet Union over their territory.

It was May of 1946 and Europe had finally reached the end of World War II. Even so, its effects were still reverberating around the continent and disturbing the new peace. Greece had descended into civil war a few months earlier, and the Soviet Union was lowering the Iron Curtain—as was famously pointed out by Winston Churchill in March of that year. Sweden had managed to avoid the conflict by maintaining neutrality where they could and occasionally favoring the Nazis or the Allies as necessary. With the fall of Germany, though, the government of Per Albin Hansson was looking nervously at the Soviet Union. Sweden and Russia had been traditional enemies through the 1700s, culminating in the conquest of Finland by the Russians at the end of the Napoleonic Wars and its transfer from Swedish sovereignty. Now after three decades of independence Finland was back under the informal control of Moscow (leading to the new word “finlandization“) and the Swedes were concerned that they were next.

[. . .]

Flying missiles were first reported over southern Sweden in late May 1946 by the press, which gave the missiles the name of ‘Ghost Rockets.’ In June, these missiles also had been reported over Finland and Denmark. By July, the number of sightings over Sweden had greatly increased, and several also had been reported over Norway. The great majority of these reports were made by untrained observers and, as would be expected, vary widely in the description of the actual missiles as well as, of their course, altitude and speed.…The two most common descriptions of the missiles were ‘a ball of fire with a tail’ and a ‘shiny cigar-shaped object.’ The reported direction of flight covered all points of the compass, with a northerly direction being slightly predominant. Variations in altitude ranged from treetop height to 160,000 feet, the higher altitudes almost exclusively being reported from Finland. Speeds reported were from 65 m.p.h. to ‘lightning fast,’ with the majority described as having great or very great speed. The missiles generally have been reported as diving into the ground or into lakes, or exploding in the air.

One was even photographed by a young Swedish couple, Erik and Åsa Reuterswärd, during the day on July 9th. After hearing an appeal from the Swedish Ministry of Defense for any evidence of the rockets they sent in their photo, which was eventually published by the Swedish press. In all there were over 2,000 reported sightings, with the last only coming in December, 1946.

What happened next? What was going on? That would be telling. Go, read.

[LINK] "The Phasing out of Chinese 'Dialects'"

Language Log's Victor Mair reports on news that the Chinese government plans to phase out broadcasting in dialects--Cantonese and Shanghainese, for instance, which stand as languages in their own right but for politics.

[I]n a report circulated by China Daily / ANN and carried in The Straits Times, we learn: "Dialects to be phased out of China's prime time TV"

TV PROGRAMS with local dialects will be gradually phased out of prime time, Huang Sheng, vice governor of East China's Shandong province, said on Thursday at a provincial meeting to promote putonghua, or mandarin - the main spoken language in China - Shandong Commercial Times reported.

Ten years ago, China enacted the Law on Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language.

Mr Huang said media plays a leading role in promoting Putonghua; TV programs with local dialects need to be moved out of prime time. 'It may take time to finally achieve that goal,' said Mr Huang.

But some linguistic experts are worried the rapid development of putonghua will lead to the disappearance of some dialects. Some have suggested setting up dialect TV channels and holding dialect speech competitions among primary and middle school students.

'We should promote a multi-lingual environment for a more harmonious society,' said Li Lunxin, a researcher. 'Promoting putonghua does not mean we have to forbid using dialects. The two can co-exist and co-develop.'

Various dialects in China, mainly from the south, have been on the decline as people become more educated and are communicating more in mandarin, which is based on northern China's dialects.

Vice Governor Huang Sheng may proclaim the determination of the Chinese government to do away with prime time shows in local languages, but the disappearance of such programming is highly unlikely to be realized. Note that it was ten years ago that China enacted the Law on Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, and they still have a "problem" with so-called dialects. Mr. Sheng admits that "It may take time to finally achieve that goal" of removing TV programs in local "dialects" from prime time. With this open admission that the government cannot succeed immediately, or even quickly, in phasing out prime time programming in "dialects" other than Mandarin, the article then shifts gears.

Mair predicts that this isn't going to work out because of inertia, and that speakers of minority regional languages will react badly to continued official attempts to marginalize their speech forms. Commenters compare the Chinese situation with the catastrophic erosion of minority languages in France, and contrast it to the strength of dialects in Taiwan.

Go, read.

[LINK] "An Act to Provide for the Prohibition of Certain Public Gatherings"

Island blogger Peter Rukavina confirmed the passage of a law, in 1971, that I'd hoped was mythical. Freedom of assembly was annihilated so as to cope with hippies. Author Greg Marquis noted the background.

The event that sparked the national controversy, and prompted a national radio show host to dub Prince Edward Island the “uptight little Island,” was Junction ‘71. Starting in February, two local promoters planned a rock festival at the arena in the village of Parkdale, a Charlottetown suburb that hosted events such as cattle shows and Old Home Week. Given subsequent fears of sex, drugs and rock and roll, the lineup appeared relatively harmless. It consisted of Canadian pop group Edward Bear whose hits included “You, Me and Mexico,” the group Ocean whose song “Put Your Hand in the Hand,” penned by Gene MacLellan, sold two million copies, and folk singer Bruce Cockburn who had performed on the soundtrack of the film Goin’ Down the Road. Also on the bill were Maritime rockers Pepper Tree (“Love Is a Railroad”) and Sam Moon and the Universal Power. The youthful promoters, who thought that they had proceeded through the proper channels, planned to donate 50% of the gate to the Easter Seals Campaign.

And the law?

2. (1) With the approval of the Lieutenant Governor-in-Council the Minister may prohibit any public gathering which in his opinion may contribute to the disruption of public order, or where in his opinion there are insufficient medical services, fire and police protection, sleeping facilities, or other essential services.

(2) Notice of prohibition of a public gathering may be given by the Minister to any person organizing, promoting, participating in or performing in such public gathering by such means as the Minister may in his opinion deem advisable.

3. The Lieutenant Governor-in-Council may pass such regulations as the Minister may deem advisable for the better carrying out of the intention of this Act.

4. Any person who organizes, promotes or advertises a public gathering prohibited pursuant to subsection (1) of section 2, or who performs at such public gathering shall, upon conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding Five Thousand ($5,000) Dollars and in default of payment thereof to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one (1) year or to both a fine not exceeding Five Thousand ($5,000) Dollars and to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year.

The original text, in image format, is available at Rukavina's website.

The law was repealed inasmuch as the destruction of one of the basic rights of common-law countries was bad public relations and possibly unconstitutional. Nevertheless, it's a rather interesting story.

[LINK] "Gay Sports Bars Tap a Growing Market"

The subject of Kurt Soller's article at Bloomberg BusinessWeek is actually starting to interest me.

From the outside, Boxers NYC looks like the kind of sports bar you might find in a suburban strip mall. Large windows reveal 14 flat-screen TVs, two pool tables, and a dartboard. Inside, men in suits sit atop vinyl-covered stools, fidget with their BlackBerrys, and swill pints of beer—served by bartenders dressed in their underwear. After all, Boxers wasn't named for the sweet science, but for the style of skivvies its clients prefer.

Less than a year after opening in Manhattan's Flatiron district, Boxers has become a pioneer of the gay sports bar movement. Equal parts generic pub and gay boîte, it has Lady Gaga on its speakers and Knicks games on its TVs. "The sports theme allows people to be comfortable," says Bob Fluet, a co-owner who met his business partner, Rob Hynds, in a gay softball league. The two realized that while the gay community had plenty of nightlife options, it lacked an old-fashioned watering hole where guys could root for the home team. "I don't want to go to some fancy lounge and drink martinis," says Hynds. "Or end up at a leather bar." So far it's working: Since Boxers opened in April 2010, Hynds says, sales are tracking 45 percent above their initial forecast.

In the past few years, nearly a dozen sports bars catering to a gay clientele have opened around the country, including Crew in Chicago, Fritz in Boston, GYM Sportsbar in Los Angeles, Score Bar in Columbus, Ohio, and Woof's in Madison, Wis.—which bears no official relation to Woofs in Atlanta. The sudden success has even surprised some proprietors. "Quite frankly, we had no idea that gay men and women really loved sports," says Jennifer Morales, the marketing director of SideLines sports bar, outside Fort Lauderdale, which recently reopened after a $20,000 renovation.

The bars are profiting from a rare demographic group with a growing amount of disposable income. Market research firm Witeck-Combs Communications puts the buying power of the adult lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender (LGBT) population at $743 billion, up from $732 billion in 2009. With large populations in metropolitan areas and more households without children, gay sports fans are actually the perfect customers to catch a game on a Wednesday night.</blockquote Go, read.