[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

The Buzz at the Toronto Public Library bids farewell to V.S. Naipaul.

• Centauri Dreams takes a look at ultra-hot Jupiters, gas giants orbiting close enough to their star that water in their atmosphere breaks down and rubies rain down from their skies.


• The Crux explores the pathways among neurons that transform experiences into memories.


• D-Brief notes that, according to a study of mice, the more fit a person is the better they will shiver.


• Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog notes how the shift to a cashless economy leaves people who don't have access to good-quality financial services marginalized. How can they function if they lack access to a bank account?


• The Finger Post praises Tokyo's Narita airport, among other things for offering excellent Japanese food.


• Russell Arben Fox at In Media Res considers the evolution of the Mormons of the American West as a distinctive voting bloc.


• Lucy Ferris at Lingua Franca talks about language learning, in the light of an American state governor's campaign against French language instruction, as something that can open up new possibilities and perspectives.


• Bill McKibben at the NYR Daily argues that the best political response of Americans to Trumpism and its environmental outrages is to vote Democratic in the upcoming midterms.


• The Planetary Society Blog's Emily Lakdawalla notes the postponement of the launch of the Indian Chandrayaan-2 Moon probe to the start of January 2019, for technical reasons with the probe and its launcher.


• Drew Rowsome notes the homophobic censorship by Facebook of non-explicit LGBTQ content like his.


• Peter Rukavina flowcharts the evolution of different Charlottetown coffeeshops, by location and by owners, over the past few years.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes evidence that the first stars in the early universe formed around 250 million years after the Big Bang.


• Window on Eurasia notes that Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have just engaged in a swap of territories, the better to create a coherent frontier between the two neighbours.

[PHOTO] "We've got balls", rue Sainte-Catherine at Wellesley

The Fierté Montréal Pride advertising at Wellesley station, cheekily playing on Claude Cormier's iconic work draped across rue Sainte-Catherine est, never fails to make me smile.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Quayside, CNE strike, City Council, soil, The Discourse

• Sidewalk Labs is unveiling impressive plans for the design of Quayside, but not offering much details on data collection in this smart neighbourhood. The Toronto Star reports.


• Apparently the CNE is making use of out-of-province workers faced with a strike for its long-time staff. If this is true, I will not be going to the Ex this year, I'm afraid. Global News reports.


• A court date has been set to hear a challenge against Doug Ford's unilateral reduction in the size of Toronto City Council, Jennifer Pagliaro reports at the Toronto Star.


• The illegal dumping of soil excavated from Toronto construction sites, deposited in rural areas without regard to environmental never mind legal concerns, is a growing plague in the Toronto hinterland. CBC reports.


• The Discourse has announced that they are searching for a journalist well-versed in Scarborough, extending their coverage into central Canada.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Acadians, Montréal, The Bronx, Riga, Kyiv

• Le Devoir shares a suggestion that the Acadian Peninsula's municipalities merge into a single city, the better to improve the profile of Acadians.


• Montréal's Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, based in downtown's Grande Bibliothèque, has been on strike. Ici Radio-Canada reports.


• CityLab reports on the revival of the Bronx, led by this New York City borough's residents.


• CityLab takes a look at how the microrayons of Riga, built during the Soviet occupation of Latvia and facing disuse with population decline, are being repurposed by local activists.


• Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution shares his reflections on Kyiv.

[ISL] Five Prince Edward Island notes: polling, obituaries, UPEI, Charlottetown, Victoria-by-the-Sea

• The Guardian reports that polling reveals the three leading parties of Prince Edward Island--the Liberals, the NDP, and the Greens--are too close to call.


• CBC's As It Happens reports on the confusion caused readers by the fact that, one day, the Journal-Pioneer of Summerside had no obituaries.


• More international students studying at UPEI have stayed and found jobs locally on the Island, CBC reports.


• Vacation rentals seem to be cutting significantly into the stock of housing in Charlottetown. CBC reports.


• The small community of Victoria-by-the-Sea has apparently passed effective legislation to discourage vacation rentals and encourage year-round settlement in its housing stock. CBC reports.

[NEWS] FIve Canada politics links: Ontario, Québec, Supreme Court

• Despite minimum wage increases, the Ontario labour market has remained strong, with employment growing sharply in low-wage areas of the economy despite increased costs. The Globe and Mail reports.


• Toronto Life interviews Jayne Cardno, one of the four thousand beneficiaries of the guaranteed minimum income experiment who had been starting to move forward before the project's cancellation by the Tories.


• Chris Selley at the National Post notes the extent to which the Ontario Tories' mismanagement of sex education has created a new crisis with teachers.


• Alex Boissoneault at Ici Radio-Canada talks about the "Canadianization" of Québec elections, as separatism recedes as a noteworthy issue.


• Adam Goldenberg at MacLean's explains why the partisanship of the American Supreme Court has only pale echoes in Canada.