[PHOTO] Twilight blue above the Galleria Mall

[URBAN NOTE] Some Sunday links

• Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly looks at a new movie and book celebrating the life of brave journalist Marie Colvin.


• Centauri Dreams looks at how the Spitzer telescope was able to constrain the size of 'Oumuamua.


• Crooked Timber asks a question about referenda. What are they good for? How can they be made to work effectively? The Brexit precedent is uncheering.


• The Dragon's Tales notes the delivery, by Europe, of the first service module for the Orion spacecraft.


• The Island Review shares Sylvia Warren's account of her visit to the Frioul archipelago, off the coast of Provence.


• JSTOR Daily reports on the perhaps surprisingly thriving culture of fandom that prevailed in the 19th century, with fans around the world devoting their energies to stars.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money suggests that the Democratic Party is grooming Beto O'Rourke to be a presidential candidate in 2020. Why not?


• Marginal Revolution links to a report suggesting that the pace of scientific advancement is slowing down, with greater investments in scientific research producing increasingly fewer fundamental breakthroughs.


• Carole Cadwalladr argues at the NYR Daily that the United Kingdom needs its own Mueller to get to the bottom of the scandals and mysteries surrounding Brexit.


• Casey Dreier at the Planetary Society Blog notes how the support of Texan Republican Congressman John Culberson for the exploration of Europa was used by his opponents as part of a successful attack.


• Drew Rowsome loves the movie Who Will Save The Roses?, with its story about the love of two older gay men for each other in hard times.


• Ilya Somin at the Volokh Conspiracy argues that the Spiderman Rule--"With great power comes great responsibility"--should be remembered by practitioners of constitutional law.


• Window on Eurasia considers what a proposed Russian sale of some of the Kuril Islands to Japan might imply about official attitudes towards territorial claims.


• Starting from Calvin and Hobbes, Arnold Zwicky considers rattles, death rattles and otherwise.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: 1970s, Ontario Place, Santa Claus, murder, Comedy Bar

• blogTO shares some photos of Toronto in the gritty 1970s, here.


• CBC Toronto confirms that the Doug Ford government is still considering installing a casino at Ontario Place.


• I wish today's Santa Claus parade, the 114th in the city of Toronto, the best of luck. CBC reports.


• As of several days ago, the 89 people who were victims of homicide in the city of Toronto represent the greatest number of murder victims here since 1991. The Globe and Mail reports.


• NOW Toronto has a feature celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Comedy Bar.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Montréal, Iqaluit, Boston and Halifax, Orange County, Rome

• Some tour guides in Montréal think they should receive more training about their city's indigenous history. CBC reports.


• After an arson that destroyed their warehouse, the Northmart grocery store in Iqaluit has reopened. CBC reports.


• Nova Scotia is preparing to send a Christmas tree to Boston, a seasonal tradition that started as a thank-you to New England for help to Halifax after the Halifax Explosion. Global News reports.


• Orange County, the Los Angeles Times has noted, has ended its history as a Republican stronghold. Demographic change has resulted in irreversible political change.


• Guardian Cities reports on the catastrophic state of public transit in Rome. Perhaps privatization might be a solution for this system.