[PHOTO] Ossington just north of Dupont, under perfect blue

[PHOTO] Twin towers, Fuse Condos

[PHOTO] Blue into green, Dupont west of Dufferin

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

• Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait notes the first time that an exoplanet, HR 8799e, has been directly observed using optical interferometry.


• Centauri Dreams notes the possibility, demonstrated by the glimpsing of a circumplanetary disc around exoplanet PDS 70b, that we might be seeing a moon system in formation.


• The Citizen Science Salon looks what observers in Antarctica are contributing to our wealth of scientific knowledge.


• The Dragon's Tales shares links to articles looking at the latest findings on the Precambrian Earth.


• The Frailest Thing's L.M. Sacasas writes about his ambivalent response to a Twitter that, by its popularity, undermines the open web.


• Gizmodo notes that NASA is going to open up the International Space Station to tourists.


• JSTOR Daily looks at how croquet, upon its introduction in the 19th century United States, was seen as scandalous for the way it allowed men and women to mix freely.


• Shakezula at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the unaccountable fondness of at least two Maine Republican legislators for the Confederacy.


• Marginal Revolution suggests that the economic success of Israel in recent decades is a triumph of neoliberalism.


• Stephen Ellis at the NYR Daily writes about the gymnastics of Willem de Kooning.


• Drew Rowsome profiles out comic Brendan D'Souza.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at the still strange galaxy NGC 1052-DF2, apparently devoid of dark matter.


• John Scalzi at Whatever shares his theory about a fixed quantity of flavor in strawberries of different sizes.


• Window on Eurasia looks at a contentious plan for a territorial swap between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: D-Day, pot shops, YouTube, Toronto Dance Theatre, Crossways

• Jamie Bradburn looks at how, 75 years ago, the media of Toronto responded to D-Day.


• Illegal marijuana shops in Toronto are being literally closed to the public, by the city putting large concrete blocks in their front doorways. blogTO reports.


• YouTube shutting down its space for creators in Toronto is not good news for aspiring local video stars. blogTO reports.


• Christopher House, long-time director of the Toronto Dance Theatre, is leaving his position. NOW Toronto reports.


• Amy Carlberg writes at blogTO about how the Crossways, the giant brutalist apartment towers at Dundas and Bloor, are becoming trendy, with a line of merchandise and the hashtag #crosswayswednesdays on Instagram.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Fredericton, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Riga

• The city of Fredericton hopes a new strategy to attracting international migration to the New Brunswick capital will help its grow its population by 25 thousand. Global News reports.


• Guardian Cities notes the controversy in Amsterdam as users of moped find themselves being pushed from using bike lanes.


• Guardian Cities looks at how many in Athens think the city might do well to unbury the rivers covered under concrete and construction in the second half of the 20th century.


• The Sagrada Familia, after more than 130 years of construction, has finally received a permit for construction from Barcelona city authorities. Global News reports.


• Evan Gershkovich at the Moscow Times reports on how the recent ousting of the mayor of the Latvian capital of Riga for corruption is also seem through a lens of ethnic conflict.

[NEWS] 15 links about Canada and Canadian politics (#cdnpoli)

• Scott Gilmore at MacLean's notes how, in the United States, Canada as a model is a common idea among Democrats.


• David Camfield argues at The Conversation that the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike offers lessons for Canadians now.


• Le Devoir notes the recent argument of now-Québec premier François Legault that a Québec that was, like Ontario, a relatively wealthy province would be a Québec that would have fewer tensions with the rest of Canada. Is this plausible?


• Éric Grenier notes at CBC that, in Ontario, Andrew Scheer's federal conservatives will need to draw voters from beyond Ford Nation.


• MacLean's hosts the arguments of Frank Graves and Michael Valpy that Canadian politicians are not paying nearly the amount of attention to economic inequality that Canadians think they should.


• MacLean's makes the point that Conrad Black seems to see much to like in Donald Trump.


• Ontario and the Canadian government are fighting over funding for the proposed Ontario Line, the Canadian government insisting it needs more information about the route. The Toronto Star reports.


• Facebook, it turns out, chose not to pay proper attention to sending officials to testify at a Canada government inquiry into fake news. Maclean's reports.


• Justin Trudeau, speaking recently in Toronto, credited immigration for the success of the tech sector of Canada. CBC reports.


• Foreign workers turn out to play a critical role in staffing the lobster plants in the Acadian fishing village of Meteghan, in Nova Scotia. CBC reports.


• Canada and the United States are again disputing the claims of Canada to sovereignty over the Northwest Passage. Global News reports.


• MacLean's interviews Northwest Territories premier Bob McLeod, who dreams of a massive development of Arctic Canada, including a goal of a million residents for his territory.


• Enzo DiMatteo suggests at NOW Toronto that the growing unpopularity of Doing Ford in Ontario might hurt the federal Conservatives badly.


• Could the Green Party go mainstream across Canada? The Conversation considers.


• The Conversation reports on what the national fervour over the Toronto Raptors represents, including the growing diversity of the population of Canada and the global spread of basketball.