A Bit More Detail

[BLOG] Some Monday links

2019-11-25T22:53:49Z

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait observes that a team may have discovered the elusive neutron star produced by Supernova 1987A, hidden behind a cloud of dust.

Chris Bertram at Crooked Timber shares a photo he made via the time-consuming 19th century wet-plate collodion method.

Drew Ex Machina's Andrew LePage looks at the Apollo 12 visit to the Surveyor 3 site to, among other things, see what it might suggest about future space archeology.

Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog looks at the story of rural poverty facing a family in Waverly, Ohio, observing how it is a systemic issue.

George Dvorsky at Gizmodo looks at how Mars' Jezero crater seems to have had a past relatively friendly to life, good for the next NASA rover.

Joe. My. God. reports on the latest ignorance displayed by Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter, this time regarding HIV.

JSTOR Daily looks at how Climategate was used to undermine popular opinion on climate change.

Language Hat links to an article explaining why so many works of classical literature were lost, among other things not making it onto school curricula.

Language Log shares a photo of a Muji eraser with an odd English label.

Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money suggests Pete Buttigieg faces a campaign-limiting ceiling to his support among Democrats.

The LRB Blog argues that Macron's blocking of EU membership possibilities for the western Balkans is a terrible mistake.

The Map Room Blog shares a map depicting regional variations in Canada towards anthropogenic climate change. Despite data issues, the overall trend of oil-producing regions being skeptical is clear.

Marginal Revolution links to a paper examining the slowing pace of labour mobility in the US, suggesting that home attachment is a key factor.

Frederic Wehrey at the NYR Daily tells the story of Knud Holmboe, a Danish journalist who came to learn about the Arab world working against Italy in Libya.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why thermodynamics does not explain our perception of time.

Understanding Society's Dan Little looks at Electronic Health Records and how they can lead to medical mistakes.

Whatever's John Scalzi shares a remarkable photo of the night sky he took using the astrophotography mode on his Pixel 4 phone.

Window on Eurasia shares an opinion that the Intermarium countries, between Germany and Russia, can no longer count on the US and need to organize in their self-defense.

Arnold Zwicky shares a photo of his handsome late partner Jacques Transue, taken as a college student.

comments

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

2019-11-12T22:31:21Z

Centauri Dreams notes how gas giants on eccentric orbits can easily disrupt bodies on orbits inwards.

Maria Farrell at Crooked Timber suggests that the political culture of England has been deformed by the trauma experienced by young children of the elites at boarding schools.

Dangerous Minds looks at the haunting art of Paul Delvaux.

The Everyday Sociology Blog looks at the work of Tressie McMillan Cottom in investigating for-profit higher education.

Far Outliers looks at Tripoli in 1801.

Gizmodo shares the Boeing design for the moon lander it proposes for NASA in 2024.

io9 shares words from cast of Terminator: Dark Fate about the importance of the Mexican-American frontier.

JSTOR Daily makes a case against killing spiders trapped in one's home.

Language Hat notes a recovered 17th century translation of a Dutch bible into the Austronesian language of Siraya, spoken in Taiwan.

Language Log looks at the origin of the word "brogue".

Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the payday lender industry.

Marginal Revolution notes a new biography of Walter Raleigh, a maker of empire indeed.

The NYR Daily looks at a new dance show using the rhythms of the words of writer Robert Walser.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at how, in a quantum universe, time and space could still be continuous not discrete.

Strange Company looks at a court case from 1910s Brooklyn, about a parrot that swore.

The Volokh Conspiracy notes an affirmative action court case in which it was ruled that someone from Gibraltar did not count as Hispanic.

Window on Eurasia notes rhetoric claiming that Russians are the largest divided people on the Earth.

Arnold Zwicky looks at lizards and at California's legendary Highway 101.

comments

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

2019-03-20T17:38:57Z

Charlie Stross at Antipope has an open thread regarding Brexit.

Centauri Dreams considers the dust lanes of the solar system.

D-Brief reports on the discovery of the first confirmed skull piece of a Denisovan.

Dangerous Minds considers the filmic history of Baron Munchausen.

JSTOR Daily considers the past of the Monroe Doctrine, as a marker of American power over the Western Hemisphere.

Language Log notes that "frequency illusion", a 2005 coinage of Arnold Zwicky on that blog, has made it to the Oxford English Dictionary. Congratulations!

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the talents of Pete Buttigieg, someone who (among other things) is fluent in the Norwegian language. Could he be a serious challenger?

Oliver Miles at the LRB Blog notes the threat of new locust swarms across the Sahara and into the Middle East.

Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution highlights a new paper aiming to predict the future, one that argues that the greatest economic gains will eventually accrue to the densest populations.

The NYR Daily reports from the scene in a fragmented Libya.

The Planetary Society Blog reports that the OSIRIS-REx probe has detected asteroid Bennu ejecting material into space.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains the import of having a supermoon occur on the Equinox this year.

Strange Maps' Frank Jacobs reports a new finding that Mercury actually tends to be the closest planet in the Solar System to Earth.

Window on Eurasia notes that fewer Russians than before think highly of the annexation of Crimea.

comments

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Kingston, Montréal, Québec City, Tripoli, Tashkent

2019-01-08T20:02:59Z

Kingston is expanding and modernizing its docks to accommodate cruise ships, Global News reports.

Le Devoir reports on how gentrification in Montréal is pushing artists out of the once-inexpensive Mile-Ex neighbourhood.

In an era where Québec City is pushing for more mass transit, the idea of building a third bridge across the St. Lawrence to relieve car congestion is controversial. CTV reports.

Guardian Cities reports on how a fairground built in Tripoli by Oscar Neimeyer is falling into, perhaps irreparable, disrepair.

Open Democracy reports on how new urban development is pushing out many people from old Tashkent.

comments

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

2018-07-29T16:37:04Z

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly talks about her experience at the NY Daily News after that newspaper halved its staff.

Hornet Stories talks about US Navy drag queen Harper Daniels.

io9 notes that Chelsea Cain is returning to Marvel to write for a new mini-series featuring the Vision.

JSTOR Daily

( Error: Irreparable invalid markup in entry. Raw contents behind the cut. )

comments

[NEWS] Some Thursday links

2016-07-07T19:37:16Z

Bloomberg notes the decline of Japan's solar energy boom with falling subsidies, suggests 1970s-style stagflation will be back, looks at how an urban area in Japan is dealing with overcrowding, looks at Russia-NATO tensions, and examines how Ireland is welcoming British bankers.

Bloomberg View looks at the return of Russian tourists to Turkey, notes Russia is not suffering from a brain drain, looks at the Brexit vote as examining the power of the old, and argues the Chilcot report defends Blair from accusations of lying.

CBC reports on the end of Blackberry's manufacturing of the Classic.

The Globe and Mail notes that, once, gay white men were on the outside.

The Independent describes claims that refugees in Libya who cannot pay their brokers risk being rendered into organs.

The Inter Press Service describes the horrors of Sudan and looks at how Russia will use Brexit to fight sanctions in the European Union.

MacLean's reports on the opening up of the Arctic Ocean to fishing and looks at Winnipeg support for Pride in Steinbach.

The National Post reports on the plague of Pablo Escobar's hippos in Colombia, looks at Vietnam's protests of Chinese military maneuvers, and examines Turkey's foreign policy catastrophes.

Open Democracy notes the desperate need for stability in Libya.

The Smithsonian reports on how video games are becoming the stuff of history.

comments

[NEWS] Some Wednesday links

2016-06-15T17:36:34Z

Astronomy Now notes a white dwarf star that is consuming what looks to be limestone debris from one of its planets. Is this a sign of marine life?

Bloomberg notes Rolls-Royce's opposition to Brexit, notes how international sanctions are hurting Hezbollah, looks at China's massive spending on infrastructure, notes how Donald Trump has barred the Washington Post from covering his campaign, reports that Sydney and Melbourne have applied extra fees for foreig home-buyers, and notes how a China-funded push to expand sugar production in Ethiopia has hit snags.

Bloomberg View looks at the extent to which Germany does not dominate the European Union.

CBC notes how anti-gay bigotry is connected to the Orlando shooting, and reports on Peter Mackay's regrets that Canada did not buy new fighter jets.

The Inter Press Service notes that the world's nuclear arsenal has become smaller but is undergoing modernization.

MacLean's considers barriers to interprovincial trade in Canada and reports on the outrage of a juror on the Stanford sex assault case at the light sentence imposed by the judge.

National Geographic looks at the mangrove swamp of Iran's Qeshm Island.

Open Democracy takes issue with the idea that the intervention in Libya was a success, notes reasons for Scotland's relative liking of the European Union, and looks at the Iranian events of June 1981.

Universe Today notes that mammals were flourishing even before the dinosaurs departed.

comments

[NEWS] Some Saturday links

2016-05-07T18:26:09Z

Bloomberg notes California's dependence on oil imports, looks at how Libya's internal divisions limit oil exports, observes the devastation of Fort McMurray, reports on EU-Turkish disputes on visa-free travel, observes the problems of Belarus' banks, and reports on Kenya's closure of Somali refugee camps.

Bloomberg View talks about how the Venezuelan military should be kept out of business.

Daily Xtra notes the internal struggle in the Conservative Party to accept same-sex marriage.

The National Post notes an arson attack against Canada's only sex reassignment clinic.

New Scientist reports on a suggestion that life might have begun on Earth at a very early date.

The New York Times notes the impact that the marriage of the American consul-general in Shanghai to a Taiwanese man has had on China.

Open Democracy describes the worsening situation in Turkish Kurdistan.

Wired notes that Huawei was too eager to copy everything about the iPhone, even screws which aren't very good.

comments

[NEWS] Some Thursday links

2016-04-07T21:12:19Z

Bloomberg notes that Azerbaijan's oil wealth lets it outspend Armenia on military good, looks at a hydropower project in Congo intended to eventually protect mountain gorillas, and notes that spending on solar and wind energy is outpacing fossil fuel spending.

CBC notes the alarming possibility that smart devices could be bricked by their manufacturers.

The Dragon's Tales linked to a Eurekalert press release examining how population levels in the pre-Columbian Southwest were intimately tied to climate.

Fortune reports about the many failures of the F-35 project.

The National Post notes that a gay atheist Malaysian student in Winnipeg has received asylum and looks at the discontent of Jewish groups with an inclusion committee at York University.

Vox suggests

comments

[LINK] "Libya Peace Deal Won't Be Enough to Restore Former Oil Output"

2015-12-23T19:12:30Z

Bloomberg's article about continuing instability in Libya, and its conséquences, is depressing.

Libya’s United-Nations-brokered peace deal may help calm deepening political turmoil, but the North African nation will struggle to restore oil production to levels reached before the Arab Spring five years ago.

Output in the country with Africa’s largest oil reserves has slumped almost 80 percent since Muammar Qaddafi was toppled. Representatives from the two rival factions that emerged after a 2011 rebellion ended the dictator’s 42-year rule -- an Islamist-backed government in Tripoli and an internationally recognized administration operating out of the east -- signed a peace deal on Thursday, paving the way for shuttered oil fields and export terminals to be reopened.

While a lasting peace deal would allow the North African country to ramp up its output from below 400,000 barrels a day last month, the threat from Islamic State in the oil-producing Sirte region means the situation may get worse in the short term, according to Richard Mallinson, a London-based geopolitical analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd.

“There’s no immediate signs that it’s opening up oil facilities,” he said by phone. “The risk is that this expansion of Islamic state into the Sirte basin and some of the producing fields there is a bigger risk than production coming back.”

comments

[DM] "On how the 1991 image of the Vlora and its Albanian refugees is being misrepresented"

2015-11-03T07:01:15Z

I have a post up at Demography Matters looking at how one image, of a ship in 1991 laden with Albanian refugees, is being misrepresented as something else entirely.

Original on the bottom, of course.

comments

[LINK] "The Sahel-Sahara between 'Arab spring' and 'black spring'"

2014-11-26T23:30:42Z

Open Democracy's Richard Reeve writes about increasing political instability in the Sahel, something he associates with--among other things--foreign interventions like the one three years ago in Libya.

While the world’s attention has been focused on the US-led military interventions in Iraq and Syria, a quieter build-up of military assets has been continuing along the newer, western front of the 'war on terror'. The security crises in Libya and north-eastern Nigeria escalate and the conflict in northern Mali is far from over. And, amid revolutionary change in Burkina Faso, the efforts of outsiders to enforce an authoritarian and exclusionary status quo across the Sahel-Sahara look increasingly fragile and misdirected.

In early August, coinciding with the restructuring of French military operations in the Sahel and the US-Africa Leaders Summit, Oxford Research Group and the Remote Control Project published a comprehensive assessment of counter-terrorist operations targeting jihadist groups in the Sahel-Sahara region of north-west Africa. That report found extensive and growing evidence of combat, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), training and equipment, abduction and rendition programmes on this new frontier. While France and the US were easily the most active foreign actors, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands and several other NATO states were also found to be increasingly involved in special forces and ISR operations.

The launch coincided with the onset of air attacks on Islamic State targets, initially by the US in northern Iraq and latterly by a broad coalition of Western and Arab states in Iraq and Syria. In a context of worsening security crises in Libya, Nigeria and northern Mali and Niger since, US and UK ISR activity is increasing, French deployments in Mali have been reinforced, a new configuration of Arab states has provided impetus for foreign intervention in Libya’s civil war and a “black spring” backlash is emerging against the west’s authoritarian allies in the region.

Libya is at the core of the security crisis in the Sahel-Sahara. Since the NATO-led military intervention which overthrew the Qaddafi regime in 2011, Libya has become a security and political vacuum and a major exporter of weapons and insecurity in the region. This has included the return home to the Sahel of hundreds of combatants formerly given refuge or employment by the Libyan state.

comments

[LINK] " The 'Caliphate's' Colonies: Islamic State's Gradual Expansion into North Africa"

2014-11-20T03:35:40Z

Spiegel International describes the steady progress made by the Islamic State in North Africa. Anarchic Libya and Egypt's unstable Sinai peninsula are particular loci for expansion, while Tunisia is a notable source of manpower.

Chaos, disillusionment and oppression provide the perfect conditions for Islamic State. Currently, the Islamist extremists are expanding from Syria and Iraq into North Africa. Several local groups have pledged their allegiance.

The caliphate has a beach. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea around 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of Crete in Darna. The eastern Libya city has a population of around 80,000, a beautiful old town and an 18th century mosque, from which the black flag of the Islamic State flies. The port city is equipped with Sharia courts and an "Islamic Police" force which patrols the streets in all-terrain vehicles. A wall has been built in the university to separate female students from their male counterparts and the disciplines of law, natural sciences and languages have all been abolished. Those who would question the city's new societal order risk death.

Darna has become a colony of terror, and it is the first Islamic State enclave in North Africa. The conditions in Libya are perfect for the radical Islamists: a disintegrating state, a location that is strategically well situated and home to the largest oil reserves on the continent. Should Islamic State (IS) manage to establish control over a significant portion of Libya, it could trigger the destabilization of the entire Arab world.

The IS puts down roots wherever chaos reigns, where governments are weakest and where disillusionment over the Arab Spring is deepest. In recent weeks, terror groups that had thus far operated locally have quickly begun siding with the extremists from IS.

In September, it was the Algerian group Soldiers of the Caliphate that threw in its lot with Islamic State. As though following a script, the group immediately beheaded a French mountaineer and uploaded the video to the Internet. In October, the "caliphate" was proclaimed in Darna. And last week, the strongest Egyptian terrorist group likewise announced its affiliation with IS.

comments

[NEWS] Some Tuesday links

2014-09-03T03:58:40Z

Al Jazeera notes the breakdown of the Libyan state.

Bloomberg mentions Finland's new interest in NATO, notes European Union plans to strengthen sanctions against Russia, takes note of China's vetoing of democracy in Hong Kong and looks at China's strengthening of its South China Sea holdings, and in West Africa notes the unburied bodies in the street in countries hit by Ebola and observes the apparent spread of the epidemic to Senegal.

Bloomberg View observes how the crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong is alienating Taiwan, notes that Scotland may secure its future in the European Union by leaving a United Kingdom hoping to leave, looks at the frightening military theories of Russia, considers whether taxation may spur corporate consumption in Korea, wonders if France's Hollande can pull off Mitterand's turn to the right, examines secular stagnation, considers the issues of Macau, and warns Israel about economic issues ahead.

CBC looks at how walking bichir fish may explain how vertebrates moved onto the land, notes that Canadian federal government roundtables on the sex trade aren't inviting sex workers, and notes that convicted serial killer Russell Williams has settled lawsuits made by some victims and their families.

Defense One notes that the Islamic State controls mainly areas around roads (but then, the roads are usually the areas that are controlled).

The Inter Press Service examines the settlement of Somalian refugees in Istanbul, considers the future of Ukrainian agriculture, looks at the spread of jihadi sentiments in Tajikistan, points out that the United States and Brazil will soon improve genetically engineered trees, examines anti-gay persecution in Lebanon, and looks at the legacies of the balsero migration from Cuba 20 years later.

National Geographic examines the positions of Yazidis in northern Iraq versus the Islamic State, notes the mobilizatin of Assyrian Christian refugees in the same region, and notes that more trees in the mountains of California means less run-off.

Open Democracy notes the precedents for Russian policy in Ukraine two decades earlier in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and provides a critical tourist's perspective on Belarus.

Universe Today notes an ancient star that preserves legacies of the first generation of stars to form, and observes the preparation for the landing of the Philae probe on the surface of its comet.

Wired examines sriracha and maps where future roads should be placed.

comments

[NEWS] Some Wednesday links

2014-03-19T23:03:54Z

Al Jazeerah observes the existence of regional tensions in Libya and warns that Canadian Inuit women are at risk of sex traficking.

The Atlantic argues that Russia's annexation of Crimea is globally destabilizing and notes that an excess of angry young men also helps destabilize the world.

The BBC notes the important role played by Crimea in the Russian imagination.

BusinessWeek wonders if Malaysia can recover from the blows its image has taken with its mishandling of Malaysian Airlines MH370, and suggests ways to fix high teen unemployment in the United States.

The Inter Press Service notes the devastating impact of imported lionfish on Caribbean ecologies, and the growth of fisheries to literally cull the problem.

IWPR reports on the concern and caution felt in Central Asian countries reacting to the Crimean crisis.

MacLean's reports that slow economic growth is the new normal, stated that so far the Arctic Council's affairs haven't been undermined by the Crimean crisis, and looks at social networking in Burma.

Mother Jones notes that, in drought-stricken northern California, wildcat marijuana plantations actually bring devastating environmental consequences.

National Geographic reports that new data from the Messenger probe to Mercury suggests that planet has shrunk by something like ten kilometres since its foundation.

Reuters notes that Russia is now threatening Estonia.

Universe Today reports on how very bright and massive stars--O-class stars--disrupt their forming planetary systems.

comments

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

2012-12-04T17:33:09Z

At Beyond the Beyond, Bruce Sterling points towards the first step of the exact role that the famed underground tunnels of Gaza have on the political economy of that territory.

Crooked Timber's John Holbo argues that the legacies of coded racism used by many Republicans in the United States continues to make the party not credible among non-whites.

At The Dragon's Tales, Will Baird points to a new study arguing that stars richer in heavy elements than our own (elements like uranium) are likely to have planets that have more heavy elements than our Earth, meaning more geologically active planets on account of the additional energy.

Eastern Approaches notes the ongoing deterioration of Serbian-Croatian relations.

At False Steps, Paul Drye profiles the nearly successful Hermes spaceplane planned by the European Space Agency for the 1990s, undermined by technical challenges and the costs of German reunification.

Far Outliers quotes J.H. Elliott on the Catalonial rebellion of 1640, coinciding at the time with rebellion against Spanish rule in Portugal.

At Normblog, Norman Geras links to a tribunal set up by Iranian exiles to gather evidence about crimes committed by the Islamic Republic.

Registan's Casey Michel wonders if claims that Kazakhstan in 1992 turned down a proposal by Libya's Gaddafi to keep its nuclear weapons are being publicized to distract from Kazakhstan's authoritarian government.

Steve Munro gives a positive review of a TTC-themed play.

The Volokh Conspiracy notes Pat Robertson's statement that young-earth creationism is not biblical. Robertson knows, I suspect, that linking any belief system to something incredible undermines the belief system.

comments