[PHOTO] Toronto skyline as seen from the Prince Edward Viaduct

[PHOTO] Three sculptures by Rodin at the Met (@metmuseum)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection of Rodin is superb.



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[BLOG] Some Thursday links

• Centauri Dreams shares a proposal for unmanned probe missions to future incoming extrasolar asteroids like 'Oumuamua.


• The Crux considers, in the context of recent (perhaps surprising) context, how scientists will one day record dreams.


• Hornet Stories shares the report on a poll of younger gay people about the idea of monogamous relations versus open ones, suggesting there are signs a strong preference for monogamy isn't well thought out.


• Imageo notes that global warming, by leading to the breakup of icecaps, will worsen the sea ice hazard to maritime shipping.


• JSTOR Daily notes how social workers are called to support serious social reform.


• Language Hat notes a monument to the Cyrillic alphabet erected in Antarctica by Bulgarians.


• In the era of Trump, Lingua Franca takes a look at the origin of the phrase "useful idiots".


• Marginal Revolution notes a recent article observing the decline of German cuisine in the United States. Who, or what, will save it?


• At the Planetary Society Blog, Emily Lakdawalla talks about the latest exciting discoveries from Titan, including the odd distribution of nitrogen in its atmosphere and surface.


• Towleroad notes how the discomfort of Ben Carson with transgender people leads him to consider the needs of homeless transgender people as secondary to this discomfort.


• Window on Eurasia suggests that Cossacks in Russia are close to gaining recognition as a separate people.


• Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell suggests--jokes?--that intellectual history from 1900 can be explained substantially in terms of the uncritical adoption of a nomad science, starting from race science and continuing to today with Harry Potter.


• Arnold Zwicky <a href="https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/03/22/the-sociolinguistics-of-chicano-english-sh-ch-in-el-barrio/><U>shares</u></a> a post reporting on a PhD student's thesis, studying features of Chicano English.</li> </ul>

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: U Pass, #ossingtonbae, Hotel X, marijuana, TTC fraud

• A poster put up by a man who wanted to reconnect with another guy he saw at Ossington station has gone viral. This has the potential to be quite a cute story, I'd say. blogTO reports.


• The TTC has approved the creation of a new monthly pass program for post-secondary students, subject to approval at different universities and colleges in the city. The Toronto Star reports.


• Hotel X, at Exhibition Place, is now open for business. Good news that it's finally open, but bad news that such an ugly tower still mars the area's skyline. blogTO reports.


• NOW Toronto's Samantha Edwards notes the strong possibility that marijuana smoking will be prohibited in condos come legalization. This makes sense: why wouldn't marijuana smoking be treated like tobacco smoking?


• Toronto Life reports on a massive fraud case involving TTC workers submitting fraudulent claims for orthotics. As described, I can almost believe that some of the hundreds of workers who fired did not quite know that what they were doing was fraud.

[NEWS] Five Ontario politics links: media, Doug Ford, Kathleen Wynne, progressives, real estate

• What should Ontario's media take from the rise of Donald Trump in the United States? How should it deal with populists? The Toronto Star reports.


• Enzo DiMatteo at NOW Toronto looks at the plausibility of Doug Ford's eventual election as premier of Ontario. Full circle, indeed.


• Éric Grenier makes the point that the odds in favour of Kathleen Wynne pulling off a Liberal victory are substantially worse now than in 2014, over at CBC.


• Bob Hepburn makes the argument that, faced with splitting the progressive vote and allowing a PC victory, the Liberals and NDP and Greens should start thinking hard. Metro Toronto has it.


• MacLean's notes how Doug Ford's plans for taxation and real estate could unleash a housing bubble in Ontario, here.

[URBAN NOTE] Five cities links: Hamilton, Detroit, Luxembourg, Lisbon, Comrat

• Mark McNeil at the Hamilton Spectator notes that real estate prices in Hamilton, often thought of as Toronto's less expensive bedroom community, are also rising very quickly.


• The VICE article takes a look at the man who created Detroit's African Bead Museum.


• The former red-light district of Luxembourg City is also maneuvering to take advantage of the post-Brexit resettlement of Europeans financiers. Bloomberg reports.


• Architectuul looks at how architects in Lisbon are trying to take advantage of their changing city, to help make it more accessible to all.


• The Guardian has a photo essay focusing on Comrat, a decidedly Soviet-influenced city that is the capital of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, in Moldova.

[MUSIC] Five music links: #toronto100, Depeche Mode, Giampiero Riggio, old iPods, pop vs rock

• We've got 15 more notable Toronto-related songs that did not quite make the shortlist for the #toronto100, over at the Toronto Star.


• This article on a dad who has a Depeche Mode covers band with his children is adorable. VICE reports.


• What happened to Giampiero Riggio, Italy's answer to Bon Iver? Vice reports.


• This James Bareham article at The Verge about how, rediscovering his 2002-era iPoD, he reacquainted himself with his preferred music of the period, is very readable.


• Alan Cross writes at Global News about the idea of a thirteen-year cycle, in which pop alternates with rock. Are we up for a rock-heavy moment?