[PHOTO] Looking west on Eglinton at Yonge

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Charlie Stross at Antipope notes the many problems appearing already with 2019, starting with Brexit.


• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait examines the mysterious AT2018cow event. What was it?


• blogTO notes that the Ontario government seems to be preparing for a new round of amalgamation, this time involving Toronto neighbours.


• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly writes about her strategies for minimizing her personal waste, including buying expensive durables.


• D-Brief shares Chang'e-4 photos taken on the far side of the Moon.


• Bruce Dorminey notes an innovative design for a steam-powered asteroid hopper.


• Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog writes about verstehen, the process of coming to an understanding of a subject, as demonstrated in the Arlene Stein study Unbound about trans men.


• Gizmodo looks at the remarkably complex nascent planetary system of the quarternary star system HD 98800.


• Imageo shares a visualization of the terrifyingly rapid spread of the Camp Fire.


• JSTOR Daily debunks the myth of Wilson's unconditional support for the Fourteen Points.


• Language Hat notes a new study that claims to provide solid grounds for distinguishing dialects from languages.


• Language Log looks at what David Bowie had to say about the Internet in 1999, and how he said it.


• Christine Gordon Manley writes about her identity as a Newfoundlander.


• Marginal Revolution notes the very variable definitions of urbanization in different states of India as well as nationally.


• Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society Blog shares a few more images of Ultima Thule.


• Drew Rowsome reviews a new Toronto production of Iphegenia and the Furies.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes how a fifth dimension might make the instantaneous spore drive of Discovery possible.


• Window on Eurasia links to an article examining eight misconceptions of Russians about Belarus.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Ontario Place, Scarborough, homelessness, LCBO

• Jennifer Pagliaro at the Toronto Star writes about the history of Ontario Place, intended from the start to be forward-facing.


• The Scarborough subway extension may be delayed by new private funding mandated by the Ontario provincial government, the Toronto Star notes.


• CBC Toronto notes how the City of Toronto has given residents of a homeless encampment under the Gardiner at Spadina the order to vacate.


• Peter Biesterfeld at NOW Toronto reports on how the tragic death of Crystal Papineau in Bloorcourt has encouraged many activists to call for better policies for the homeless, starting with improving the shelter system.


• This r/Toronto thread starts with one poster's observation about a successful raid on the LCBO by two bold thieves.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Montréal, London, Bihac, Rovaniemi, MOscow

• Tenants in a Montréal apartment complex, in Little Burgundy are facing displacement after their home was bought by a company intent on turning their units into short-term rentals. CTV reports.


• Guardian Cities looks at the rising crime rate in London, concentrated among the young of that city.


• Politico Europe looks at how Bihac, in western Bosnia, has become a cul-de-sac trapping migrants seeking the European Union.


• Guardian Cities tells how Rovaniemi in northern Finland recovered from devastation in the Second World war to become a modernist home to Santa Claus.


• Owen Hatherley at Dezeen writes about how the successful new urbanism of the city of Moscow should not be mistaken for liberal politics there.

[NEWS] Five science links: desalination brine, Venezuela glacier, Venus, red dwarf plants, AT2018cow

• Wired asks what is to be done with the toxic brine produced by desalination plants.


• This article from The Atlantic tells the story of the last glacier in Venezuela, disappearing as the climate warns and as the county falls apart.


• Universe Today notes the discovery of a mysterious streak in the upper atmosphere of Venus.


• A new study via Universe Today suggests potentially Earth-like exoplanets orbiting red dwarf stars might not receive enough high-energy photons to support plant life.


• Universe Today suggests that the mysterious AT2018cow event saw the formation of either a black hole or a neutron star.

[NEWS] Five Canada links: populism, Greenbelt, Kim's Convenience, China, the left

• Is the income coming in from Alberta oil the main factor preventing populism from seeing an upsurge in Canada? The National Post reports.


• Michelle Adelman at NOW Toronto notes the threat that the new Bill 66 poses to the Ontario Greenbelt and local agricultural production.


• NPR takes a look at the CBC sitcom Kim's Convenience, entering its third season.


• Paul Wells at MacLean's looks at how the advice lent by old China experts to the Canadian government over the Huawei crisis cannot work now.


• Terry Glavin argues at MacLean's that the left, in Canada and elsewhere, is becoming indistinguishable from the populist right for want of a coherent message.

[PHOTO] Me, 2009/2019

[PHOTO] Three photos of blue evening skies in Toronto, with towers