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- CBC reports on how Ottawa is storing its ever-growing mountain of snow removed from its streets.
- The city of Kingston, Ontario, is facing a growing shortage of family doctors despite it being a regional hub. Global News reports.
- The centenary of anti-Chinese riots in Halifax has just passed. (Would you believe I never learned of these at school?) Global News reports.
- VICE tells the story of how most people can, or cannot, afford to live in an ever-pricier city of Chicago.
- The SCMP reports on the "Greater Bay Area" plan just announced by China, an integration of the Pearl River area into a single global powerhouse. How will Hong Kong fit into this?
Over the past week, I've come across some interesting news reports about different trends in different parts of the world. I have assembled them in a links post at Demography Matters.
- The Independent noted that the length and severity of the Greek economic crisis means that, for many younger Greeks, the chance to have a family the size they wanted--or the chance to have a family at all--is passing. The Korea Herald, meanwhile, noted that the fertility rate in South Korea likely dipped below 1 child per woman, surely a record low for any nation-state (although some Chinese provinces, to be fair, have seen similar dips).
- The South China Morning Post argued that Hong Kong, facing rapid population aging, should try to keep its elderly employed. Similar arguments were made over at Bloomberg with regards to the United States, although the American demographic situation is rather less dramatic than Hong Kong's.
- Canadian news source Global News noted that, thanks to international migration, the population of the Atlantic Canadian province of Nova Scotia actually experienced net growth. OBC Transeuropa, meanwhile, observed that despite growing emigration from Croatia to richer European Union member-states like Germany and Ireland, labour shortages are drawing substantial numbers of workers not only from the former Yugoslavia but from further afield.
- At Open Democracy, Oliver Haynes speaking about Brexit argued strongly against assuming simple demographic change will lead to shifts of political opinion. People still need to be convinced.
- Open Democracy's Carmen Aguilera, meanwhile, noted that far-right Spanish political party Vox is now making Eurabian arguments, suggesting that Muslim immigrants are but the vanguard of a broader Muslim invasion.
[BLOG] Some Wednesday links
Jan. 2nd, 2019 02:59 pm- Centauri Dreams celebrates the arrival, and successful data collection, of New Horizons at Ultima Thule, as does Joe. My. God., as does
Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society Blog. Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explained, before the New Horizons flyby of Ultima Thule, why that Kuiper Belt object was so important for planetary science. - In advance of the New Year's, Charlie Stross at Antipope asked his readers to let him know what good came in 2018.
- Chris Bertram at Crooked Timber makes the argument that, in the event of a Brexit bitterly resented by many Labour supporters, the odds that they will support a post-Brexit redistributionist program that would aid predominantly pro-Brexit voters are low.
- Bruce Dorminey notes that many Earth-like worlds might be made uninhabitable over eons by the steady warming of their stars, perhaps dooming any hypothetical extraterrestrial civilizations on these planets.
- Far Outliers looks at the patterns of early Meiji Japan relations with Korea, noting an 1873 invasion scare.
- L.M. Sacasas writes at The Frailest Thing, inspired by the skepticism of Jacques Ellul, about a book published in 1968 containing predictions about the technological world of 2018. Motives matter.
- Imageo looks at the evidence from probes and confirms that, yes, it does in fact snow (water) on Mars.
- The Island Review interviews author Adam Nicolson about his family's ownership of the Hebridean Shiant Isles. What do they mean for him, as an author and as someone experience with the sea?
- JSTOR Daily looks at the long history of the human relationship with leather, as a pliable material for clothing of all kinds.
- Language Hat considers the possibility that the New Year's greeting "bistraynte", used in Lebanon and by Christians in neighbouring countries, might come from the Latin "strenae".
- Language Log notes the pressure being applied against the use of Cantonese as a medium of instruction in Hong Kong.
- Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the many reasons why a considerable number of Latinos support Donald Trump.
- Bernard Porter at the LRB Blog comes up with an explanation as to Corbyn's refusal to oppose Brexit.
- Marginal Revolution notes the many problems involved with the formation of supply chains in Africa, including sheer distance.
- The NYR Daily has a much-needed reevaluation of the Jonestown horror as not simply a mass suicide.
- Author Peter Watts writes about a recent trip to Tel Aviv.
- At Out There, Corey Powell writes about how planetary scientists over the decades have approached their discipline, expecting to be surprised.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel shared some top images collected by Hubble in 2018.
- Strange Company looks at the strange 1953 death of young Roman woman Wilma Montesi. How did she die, leaving her body to be found on a beach?
- Window on Eurasia notes how Circassian refugees in Syria are asking for the same expedited status that Ukrainian refugees have received.
- Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell takes an extended look at the politics of 4G and Huawei and the United Kingdom and transatlantic relations over the past decade.
- Arnold Zwicky takes a look, in language and cartoons, at "Jesus fuck".
Tags:
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- The TVO show The Life-Sized City is spotlighting the revival of the binational conurbation of Detroit and Windsor. The Windsor Star reports.
- Owners of a house that is a rare survival of Africville, currently in Lower Sackville, are seeking heritage status for this building. CBC reports.
- VICE reports on how New York City is preparing for the L train shutdown.
- Students seeking to set up Gay-Straight Alliances in Calgary Catholic schools are reportedly being hindered, even harassed, by hostile administrators despite provincial policy. Global News reports.
- This SCMP article suggests Shenzhen is a popular destination for daytrippers from Hong Kong, for people who seek a Hong Kong experience at affordable prices.
- A new neighbourhood in Markham is going to make use of geothermal energy to heat hundreds of homes. CBC reports.
- CityLab reports on how a census of the giant Pacific octopus in the waters of Seattle is going to be conducted.
- Some residents of Tijuana are protesting against the thousands of Central American refugees now sheltering in their city. Global News reports.
- A new exhibit at the 9/11 Museum in New York City tells of the contribution of Mohawk steelworkers to the construction of the megalopolis' skyline. CBC Indigenous reports.
- Officials in Hong Kong and Shenzhen are having problems drawing a boundary through a garden plot on their mutual border. The SCMP reports.
- Vice shares the photographs taken by Cheyenne Jackson of the declining, aging, northern Ontario town of Wawa. What future does it have?
- At MacLean's, Jason Markusoff looks at the diminishing support for the 2026 Olympics in Calgary. Is there any case for this?
- Guardian Cities reports on the Via Verde, the vertical gardens attached to the pillars of the Mexico City freeway system. Are they merely cosmetic?
- The continued efforts of the civic authorities in the Albanian capital of Tirana to improve life in this growing city are the subject of this Guardian Cities article.
- This SCMP article makes a compelling argument that the distinctiveness of Hong Kong, as a city not wholly of China, is inexorably declining.
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- Québec premier François Legault might well be convinced to support the Pink Line subway route favoured by Montréal mayor Valérie Plante. Global News reports.
- Guardian Cities reports on the popularity of the new soccer team of Atlanta in this perhaps unlikely locale.
- The North Carolina city of Greenville is trying to work towards settling its racist past with a new park, CityLab reports.
- Lorenzo Tondo at The Guardian reports on how new immigrants might save his father's native village of Sutera in Sicily, but only if they are allowed to.
- Bloomberg View notes that a bridge alone will not be enough to bind Hong Kong to the emergent Pearl River megalopolis.
Tags:
- Derek Thompson at CityLab writes about how, despite or even because it is so wealthy, real estate costs in Manhattan are so high as to drive out the sorts of mixed and eclectic neighbourhoods that Jane Jacobs loved.
- The town of La Tabatière, on the fisheries-dependent Lower North Shore of Québec, has transitioned to the growing of honeyberries after the local fish plant closed down. CBC reports.
- Guardian Cities notes how free local transport in the French city of Dunkirk has had a major effect on locals' lives.
- CityLab takes a look at the stunning black-and-white photographs taken by Pascal Greco of the concrete towers of Hong Kong.
- Slate responds to the new plan of the Australian federal government to limit inflows of immigrants to Sydney and Melbourne, instead trying to distribute them more evenly around the country.
- The BBC notes new legislation in Scotland that would prevent mapmakers from displaying the distant Shetland Islands in a box on maps, despite their great distance from the Scottish mainland.
- Ecologically sensitive Isle-aux-Grues, in the lower Saint Lawrence east of Québec City, has received protected status. CBC reports.
- Bloomberg View notes the obvious fact that Puerto Rico needs a better debt deal if it is to begin to recover.
- Chinese immigrants are coming to the islands in the Caribbean in large numbers, providing vital resources for island economies, Ozy reports.
- Vice's Motherboard reports that Hong Kong wants to deal with its housing crisis by building new homes for more than a million people on yet-to-be-built artificial islands off of the city-state's south coast.
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[BLOG] Some Tuesday links
Aug. 28th, 2018 01:15 pm- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares the latest from exoplanet PDS 70b, which has a gain in mass that has actually been detected by astronomers.
- The Crux considers what information, exactly, hypothetical extraterrestrials could extract from the Golden Record of Voyager. Are the messages decipherable?
- D-Brief shares the most detailed map yet assembled of Comet 67P, compiled from images taken by the Rosetta probe.
- Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog writes about the way changing shopping malls reflect, and influence, changes in the broader culture.
- Hornet Stories notes that, while Pope Francis may not want parents of gay children to cut their ties, he does think the parents should look into conversion therapy.
- JSTOR Daily links to a paper examining how beekeeping in early modern England led to the creation of a broader pattern of communications and discourse on the subject.
- Language Hat shares the story of an American diplomat in 1960s Argentina, and his experiences learning Spanish (after having spoken Portuguese) and travelling in the provinces.
- Language Log shares a biscriptal ad from Hong Kong.
- The LRB Blog shares a story told by Harry Stopes about a maritime trip with harbour pilots from Cornwall.
- Roads and Kingdoms shares an anecdote of a family meal of empanadas in the Argentine city of Cordoba during the world cup.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why, in the early universe, the most massive stars massed the equivalent of a thousand suns, much larger than any star known now.
- Towleroad shares Karl Schmid's appearance on NBC Today, where he talked with Megyn Kelly about HIV in the era of undetectability.
- Window on Eurasia notes the many obstacles placed by the Russian government in the way of Circassian refugees from Syria seeking refuge in their ancestral North Caucasus homeland.
Tags:
- argentina,
- astronomy,
- blogs,
- chinese language,
- christianity,
- cornwall,
- diaspora,
- extraterrestrial intelligence,
- food,
- former soviet union,
- glbt issues,
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- hiv/aids,
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- refugees,
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- Hornet Stories looks at the gay nightlife in Reykjavik, capital of Iceland.
- Writer Anna Mazzola writes at The Island Review about the factors behind her selection of the Scottish island of Skye as the environment for her new novel, the gothic The Story Keeper.
- VICE reports on how, on the French overseas department and island of Mayotte, massive immigration from the non-French remainder of the Comoros archipelago is a real problem.
- The SCMP, based in Hong Kong, introduces its readers to the sights of Wailingding island just a couple dozen kilometres away from their city.
- For Politico, Earl Swift revisits Tangier Island, an island in Virginia's Chesapeake Bay famous not only for its steady erosion under rising sea levels but for its profoundly pro-Trump attitudes.
- Noor Javed notes that, if belatedly, people actually have signed up to run as mayor in Markham in Vaughan. The Toronto Star has it.
- Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger strongly disagrees with Doug Ford's reduction of the size of Toronto City Council, hoping this does not speak to a future deterioration of province-municipal relations generally. Global News reports.
- CityLab notes that a Los Angeles subsidy to urban farmers has gone almost entirely unused.
- Noise complaints, CityLab reports, have led to the closure of the pedestrian mall in Hong Kong's Mong Kok neighbourhood.
- Open Democracy reports on what sounds like an almost literally criminally planned program of chopping down much-needed urban tree coverage in the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek.
- Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps takes a look at the regularity, and otherwise, of different cities' street grids.
- CityLab notes how the city of Baltimore is suing Big Oil over the effects of climate change, including flooding.
- The Lake Huron resort community of Wasaga Beach turns out to have strong connections with the Lithuanian-Canadian community.
- CityLab takes a look at the love food critic Jonathan Gold expressed for the city of Los Angeles in his writing.
- CBC reports on a terrible incident of racist harassment at a London, Ontario Sobeys grocery store, where one man tried to detain someone non-white as a supposed "illegal."
- Global News reports on a scandal in Halifax's growing Buddhist community, of sexual improprieties by a leader, here.
- Ozy reports on how Fidel Castro helped the Madrid suburb of Cerro Belmonte fight off an expropriation bid, here.
- Citylab discusses the proposal for an aerial gondola in Munich, as part of that city's mass transit system.
- Matthew Keegan at Guardian Cities describes how feng shui remains a central feature of design and architecture in Hong Kong.
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[BLOG] Some Sunday links
Jul. 1st, 2018 11:48 pmMany things accumulated after a pause of a couple of months. Here are some of the best links to come about in this time.
- Anthrodendum considers the issue of the security, or not, of cloud data storage used by anthropologists.
- Architectuul takes a look at the very complex history of urban planning and architecture in the city of Skopje, linked to issues of disaster and identity.
- Centauri Dreams features an essay by Ioannis Kokkidinis, examining the nature of the lunar settlement of Artemis in Andy Weir's novel of the same. What is it?
- Crux notes the possibility that human organs for transplant might one day soon be grown to order.
- D-Brief notes evidence that extrasolar visitor 'Oumuamua is actually more like a comet than an asteroid.
- Bruce Dorminey makes the sensible argument that plans for colonizing Mars have to wait until we save Earth. (I myself have always thought the sort of environmental engineering necessary for Mars would be developed from techniques used on Earth.)
- The Everyday Sociology Blog took an interesting look at the relationship between hobbies and work.
- Far Outliers looks at how, in the belle époque, different European empires took different attitudes towards the emigration of their subjects depending on their ethnicity. (Russia was happy to be rid of Jews, while Hungary encouraged non-Magyars to leave.)
- The Finger Post shares some photos taken by the author on a trip to the city of Granada, in Nicaragua.
- The Frailest Thing's L.M. Sacasas makes an interesting argument as to the extent to which modern technology creates a new sense of self-consciousness in individuals.
- Inkfish suggests that the bowhead whale has a more impressive repertoire of music--of song, at least--than the fabled humpback.
- Information is Beautiful has a wonderful illustration of the Drake Equation.
- JSTOR Daily takes a look at the American women who tried to prevent the Trail of Tears.
- Language Hat takes a look at the diversity of Slovene dialects, this diversity perhaps reflecting the stability of the Slovene-inhabited territories over centuries.
- Language Log considers the future of the Cantonese language in Hong Kong, faced with pressure from China.
- Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how negatively disruptive a withdrawal of American forces from Germany would be for the United States and its position in the world.
- Lingua Franca, at the Chronicle, notes the usefulness of the term "Latinx".
- The LRB Blog reports on the restoration of a late 19th century Japanese-style garden in Britain.
- The New APPS Blog considers the ways in which Facebook, through the power of big data, can help commodify personal likes.
- Neuroskeptic reports on the use of ayahusasca as an anti-depressant. Can it work?
- Justin Petrone, attending a Nordic scientific conference in Iceland to which Estonia was invited, talks about the frontiers of Nordic identity.
- Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw writes about what it is to be a literary historian.
- Drew Rowsome praises Dylan Jones' new biographical collection of interviews with the intimates of David Bowie.
- Peter Rukavina shares an old Guardian article from 1993, describing and showing the first webserver on Prince Edward Island.
- Seriously Science notes the potential contagiousness of parrot laughter.
- Understanding Society's Daniel Little t.com/2018/06/shakespeare-on-tyranny.htmltakes a look at the new Stephen Greenblatt book, Shakespeare on Power, about Shakespeare's perspectives on tyranny.
- Window on Eurasia shares speculation as to what might happen if relations between Russia and Kazakhstan broke down.
- Worthwhile Canadian Initiative noticed, before the election, the serious fiscal challenges facing Ontario.
- Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell points out that creating a national ID database in the UK without issuing actual cards would be a nightmare.
- Arnold Zwicky reports on a strand of his Swiss family's history found in a Paris building.
Tags:
- anthropology,
- architecture,
- astronomy,
- atlantic canada,
- baltic states,
- blogs,
- canada,
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- united states
- Despite Brexit, the English language is continuing to make inroads against French in the halls of the European Union. Politico Europe reports.
- The State of Louisiana has made a formal application to join the Organisation international de la francophonie.
- This article in The Scotsman noting how some African slaves taken to plantations in the Carolinas came to use Gaelic, not English, as their common language is fascinating. What other influences came unexpectedly from Gaelic Scotland to African America?
- Can Hong Kong use the Cantonese language to extend its influence deeper into China and elsewhere? The SCMP considers.
- This article/a> in New Eastern Europe makes interesting arguments about how, in the post-Soviet world, the Russian language now has multiple centres and multiple standards. I'm unconvinced about the political arguments, though.
- Hornet Stories has a list of some of the key LGBTQ destinations in New York City. This is something for my next trip, I think.
- Robert Everett-Green writes about the transformation of Montréal's Viauville, once a model neighbourhood funded by 19th century cookie magnate Charles-Théodore Viau, over at The Globe and Mail.
- Hong Kong is exceptionally pressed for space for housing, making land for commerce all the more difficult to come by. Bloomberg reports.
- France is planning to make a suburban wasteland in the northeast of the conurbation of Paris over into a vast forest. CityLab reports.
- DW reports on how, one hundred years after Estonia first became independent, the country's Russophones, particularly concentrated in the northeastern city of Narva, are now engaging with (and being engaged by) the wider country.
- What does the impending demolition of the venerable Union Carbide tower, at 270 Park Avenue, to make way for a new ultratall skyscraper say about changing New York City? New York reports.
- The South China Morning Post observes how the cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, though still behind Hong Kong, are starting to advance past it as a result of these cities' sustained investment in innovative technologies.
- Aldi in Berlin will apparently build affordable student housing on top of at least some of its new discount food stores in Berlin. Bloomberg reports.
- This VICE article looking at the lives of lonely people in Amsterdam, many newcomers, is affecting.
- The Crisis Group looks at how Syrian refugees, of diverse ethnicities and religions, are finding a new home in the multiethnic Istanbul neighbourhood of Sultangazi.
- For well-off Chinese, Singapore has overtaken Hong Kong as their preferred offshore destination. Bloomberg reports.
- Residents on Amherst Island, near Kingston, complain about the effects of windfarm construction. Global News reports.
- This depressing Vice opinion piece argues that Newfoundland is on the verge of complete economic collapse and radical depopulation.
- The private island of James Island, off Vancouver Island in British Columbia, is subject to a First Nations land claim. Global News reports.
- An Italian island community, desperate to avert depopulation, is offering houses for sale at ridiculously low prices. Will there be takers? (And will they stay?) The National Post reports.
- Towleroad reports</> on the plight of a young gay man in a Shetlands community who finds himself the only out person there.
[BLOG] Some Sunday links
Jan. 28th, 2018 02:05 pm- Crooked Timber seeks advice for academics trying to publish general-interest books.
- The Frailest Thing's Michael Sacasas considers the extent, and the way, in which technological change can outstrip the ability of cultures and institutions to manage this change.
- Hornet Stories notes the many ways in which the Trump Presidency is proving to be terrible for HIV-positive people around the world.
- Sara Jaffe at JSTOR Daily explores the concept of queer time. What is time like for queer people if the traditional markers of adulthood--marriage, children, and so on--are unavailable? How do they think of life stages?
- Language Log looks at the complexities of language in Hong Kong under Chinese rule.
- Drew Rowsome reports on the latest theatre piece of Jordan Tannahill, Declarations.
- Window on Eurasia reports on declining flows of migrants from elsewhere in the former Soviet Union to Russia.
