[CAT] Shakespeare, on his bed

[PHOTO] One Bloor East at night, Toronto

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

• Centauri Dreams notes the exobiological potential of Titamn after the detection of acrylonitrile. Cryogenic life?


• This guest essay at Lawyers, Guns and Money on the existential problems of Brazil, with politics depending on people not institutions, is a must-read.


• The LRB Blog considers, in the context of Brexit, what exactly might count for some as a marker of dictatorship.


• Did the 15th century construction of the Grand Canal in China lead the Ming away from oceanic travel? Marginal Revolution speculates.


• The NYR Daily considers
  
• Out There explores the reasons why the most massive planets all have the same size.


• The Planetary Society Blog notes the 5th anniversary of the arrival of Curiosity on Mars.


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer notes that, with regards to Venezuela, the United States has no good options.


• Roads and Kingdoms considers the febrile political mood of Kenya.


• Window on Eurasia argues that Putin is making the mistake of seeing the United States through the prism of Russia.


• Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell notes a proposal for British mayors to have representation at Brexit talks makes no sense.

[URBANNOTE] Five Toronto links, from the $15 wage to parking lots, cow statues, and Jamaican patois

• Torontoist takes on Galen Weston and the $15 minimum wage and poverty in Toronto (and Loblaw's contribution to said).


• At the Toronto Star, Shawn Micallef describes how high property values in Toronto discourage open-air parking lots.


• Noor Javed looks, in Toronto Star, at the question of who authorized the cathedral elevated cow statue in Cathedraltown, in Markham.


• The Star's Fatima Syed shares some old memories of Torontonians of the Centreville carousel, soon to be sold off.


• At The Globe and Mail, Dakshana Bascaramurty takes a look at Jamaican patois, Toronto black English, and the many complex ways in which this language is received.

[URBAN NOTE] Five links about cities, from past Toronto and Richmond to future NYC and Barcelona

• Scott Wheeler writes about past eminences of Toronto, people like Conn Smythe and Raymond Massey.
• Joanna Slater writes in The Globe and Mail about the symbolism of Confederate--and other--statuary in Richmond, former capital of the South.


• Reuters reports on a Vietnamese businessman abducted by his country from the streets of Berlin. Germany is unhappy.


• Jeremiah Ross argues at VICE that very high levels of tourism in New York City are displacing native-born residents.


• Looking to protests most recently in Barcelona, Elle Hunt in The Guardian looks at ways to make mass tourism more affordable for destinations.