A Bit More Detail

[AH] Five r/imaginarymaps #alternatehistory maps: Turks, Prussia, Prussia-Poland, Austria, Bavaria

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 01:59:15 GMT

This r/imaginarymaps map imagines the creation, via migration in the 13th century, of a Turkic Christian minority akin to the Gagauz concentrated in northwestern Germany. Nice map, if questionable borders.

What would have happened if, as nearly occurred in 1762, Prussia was crushed by its neighbours and divided? r/imaginarymaps shows the outcome.

Could there ever have emerged, after the partitions of Poland, a dual-nation kingdom of Prussia-Poland? r/imaginarymaps shows this country.

This r/imaginarymaps map imagines a southern Germany unified under Austria, separate from the sphere of Prussia in the north.

Could a union of Bavaria with the German-speaking lands of Austria after 1919 have worked? r/imaginarymaps shows it.

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[NEWS] Five cultural links: Hitler, Internet, Nova Scotia roads, BC gangs, Pontic Greek

Tue, 27 Aug 2019 21:55:19 GMT

The BBC takes a look at Pontic Greek, a Greek dialect that survives precariously in exile from its homeland in Anatolia.

Klaus Meyer writes at The Conversation about how Hitler, in his rise to power, became a German citizen.

Low-income families in the Toronto area face serious challenges in getting affordable Internet access. CBC reports.

Jeremy Keefe at Global News takes a look at Steve Skafte, an explorer of abandoned roads in Nova Scotia.

In some communities in British Columbia, middle-class people have joined criminal gangs for social reasons. CBC reports.

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[AH] Five #alternatehistory maps from r/imaginarymaps: Germany, Britain, Africa, Japan, Iran

Wed, 15 May 2019 03:19:32 GMT

r/imaginarymaps imagines a Germany united along religious lines, Protestant areas falling under Prussia and Catholic ones under Austria.

Reddit's imaginarymaps imagines a republican Great Britain. When could republicanism have taken off in the British Isles as a whole?

Reddit's imaginarymaps shares a map of a former Portuguese colony of Zambezia, a Lusophone nation stretching from the Atlantic at Namibia east through to Mozambique.

This r/imaginarymaps map, imagining a Japan (and northeast Asia generally) split into sheres of influence by rival European powers, treaty ports and all, surely describes a worst-case scenario for 19th century Japan. How likely was this?

This r/imaginarymaps map imagines an Iran that, following a 9/11-style attack by Lebanese terrorists in Moscow, ends up partitioned between Soviet and US-Arab spheres of influence.

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[AH] Five #alternatehistory maps from r/imaginarymaps: France, Austria, Slovenia, Japanese Empire

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 20:07:03 GMT

This r/imaginarymaps map imagines an early medieval France that became not a notional kingdom but rather a decentralized empire, a Holy Roman Empire of the French Nation.

This r/imaginarymaps map imagines a greater Austria that includes Slovenia.

A Greater Slovenia, encompassing lands from Austria, Italy, and even Hungary, is the subject of this r/imaginarymaps map.

Could an Austria divided in the Cold War be divided like this r/imaginarymaps map?
This r/imaginarymaps map shows a Japanese Empire that survived until 1956, encompassing much of the Russian Far East as well as Manchuria and Korea.

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[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: TTC, Vienna, Zed 80, Toronto of the Future

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 17:52:12 GMT

Cameron MacLeod at Spacing considers the poor record of the province of Ontario with supporting the TTC.

Steve Munro, writing at NOW Toronto, looks at how the cost of the TTC to the provincial government is inevitably set to climb hugely.

blogTO shares a list of five things Toronto can learn from Vienna.

A second arcade bar is set to open in Toronto, Zed 80 on the Danforth. blogTO reports.

Urban Toronto notes that the latest iteration of the Toronto of the Future conference is set for the end of June.

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[BLOG] Some Saturday links

Sat, 28 Jul 2018 21:24:52 GMT

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes evidence that white dwarf Gaia J1738–0826 is eating its planets.

Crux takes a look at the stars closely orbiting Sagittarius A* at the heart of the galaxy like relativity-proving S2.

D-Brief notes a recent proposal for an unmanned probe to Uranus and Neptune.

Dangerous Minds shows the eerily decomposing sculptures of YuIchi Ikehata.

Bruce Dorminey explores the provocative idea of era in the early Moon where it was briefly habitable.

Far Outliers explores the reasons why George Orwell has become so popular lately.

Hornet Stories notes that Tom Daley has recently posed nude for a painting by the celebrated David Hockney.

JSTOR Daily explores the reality behind the imminent arrival of the laser gun into militaries worldwide.

Language Hat notes that the Austrian state of Vorarlberg sponsors an interesting contest, of performances of songs--including pop songs--in local dialect.

The LRB Blog notes the severity of the forest fires in Greece, aggravated by climate change, systematic corruption, and recent austerity.

The Planetary Society Blog shares photos of asteroid Ryugu taken by the Hayabusa2 probe.

Roads and Kingdoms reports on a T-bone steak heavy breakfast lasting twenty hours in Bilbao.
Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps notes a joke political party in Hungary that wants to make the country smaller.

Window on Eurasia notes how the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under Moscow is caught between its Ukrainian goals and its Russian links.

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[NEWS] Five notes about frontiers: South Tyrol, Brexit, Alps, eastern Ukraine, Djibouti

Mon, 22 Jan 2018 20:49:44 GMT

Alessio Colonelli takes issue with the granting of a right to Austrian citizenship to only select residents of South Tyrol, over at Open Democracy.

Immigration to the United Kingdom may be falling, Bloomberg reports, but this is not to the advantage of the British economy.

Migrants trying to travel from Italy to France are unwittingly risking the terrible snow-bound conditions of the Alps. The National Post has the story.

Bloomberg View suggests one way forward for peace in eastern Ukraine. I'm not sure, frankly, that this is a plausible path (that there are any, even).

Politico Europe takes a look at the exceptional strategic importance of Djibouti for militaries around the world, the US and China included.

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[BLOG] Some Monday links

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 17:22:18 GMT

Beyond the Beyond's Bruce Sterling mourns the death of Alvin Toffler.

The Big Picture shares images of the Istanbul airport attack.

blogTO notes Toronto's recent Trans March was the largest in world history.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly interviews memoirist Plum Johnson.

Centauri Dreams considers the determination of distances to dim stars and looks at the total energies likely to be used in interstellar travel and interplanetary colonization.

Crooked Timber notes the ordered recount in Austria's presidential elections and advocates for anti-militarism.

D-Brief notes the exciting discoveries of Ceres, and observes that ancient tombs may have doubled as astronomical observatories.

The Dragon's Gaze considers where warm Jupiters form, considers the stability of complex exoplanet systems, and notes a high-precision analysis of solar twin HIP 100963.

The Dragon's Tales wonders if the shape of Martian sand dunes indicate a denser Martian atmosphere a bit more than four billion years ago.

The Everyday Sociology Blog considers evictions and poverty in the United States.

Inkfish notes that different honeybees seem to have different personalities.

Language Hat notes the import of Maltese in Mediterranean history.

Language Log talks about Sino-Japanese.

Lovesick Cyborg shares the doubts of polled Americans with the viability of virtual lovers.

The LRB Blog shares an article supporting Corbyn.

The Map Room Blog notes that San Francisco was literally built on buried ships.

Marginal Revolution notes the collapse of Greek savings and looks at Euroskepticism's history in the United Kingdom.

Steve Munro updates readers on Union-Pearson Express ridership.

The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer thinks the Netherlands Antilles offer useful models to the United Kingdom, and is confused by a claim that that bias against Mexican immigrants does not exist when the data seems to suggest it does.

Torontoist goes into the life of conservative Protestant newspaper publishing Black Jack Robinson.

Transit Toronto notes that in a decade, GO Trains will connect Hamilton to Niagara Falls.

The Volokh Conspiracy argues against using the Brexit vote to argue against referenda.

Window on Eurasia notes the Russian deployment of military forces to the Belarus border, looks at Tatarstan's concern for its autonomy, observes the changing demographics of Ukraine, and notes the Russian debate over what sort of European Union collapse they would like.

Arnold Zwicky remembers his father through ephemera.

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[LINK] "Strong Franc Chokes Swiss Manufacturers Fighting for Life"

Mon, 18 Jan 2016 20:26:38 GMT

Bloomberg's Alice Baghdjian writes about how the strength of the Swiuss franc, especially relative to the Euro, has been hurting the Swiss economy.

Nestled on the banks of Lake Zurich, humidifier-maker Condair AG’s factory provided a good living for its 41 workers. Then in November 2014, beset by high manufacturing costs, the company decided to transfer production to Germany. In seven months, Condair’s only Swiss plant will wind down for good.

When the Swiss National Bank a year ago Friday lifted the cap on the franc, allowing the currency to strengthen, it confirmed the company’s decision -- and its view that the Alpine nation can’t compete in manufacturing. In 2012, the most recent year available, Switzerland had the highest labor costs in Europe, at 51.25 euros ($56) per hour, government figures show. In neighbors Austria, Germany and France, the comparable cost was 29.75 euros, 30.50 euros and 34.25 euros respectively.

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[LINK] "Alpine Agitator: Frank Stronach's Crusade to Transform Austria"

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:06:43 GMT

Walter Mayr's Spiegel article about the political ambitions of Austrian-Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach fills me with bemusement. His whole personality-driven political movement reminds me of nothing so much as his daughter Belinda Stronach's flirtations with Canadian political life.

Wiry despite his advanced age, the billionaire is bustling across Austria's political stage, flanked by blondes, as his party's top candidate in the election to Lower Austria's state parliament. Stronach, born in the southeastern state of Steiermark, emigrated to Canada in 1954. Decades later, he has turned his attention back to his native Austria. To the delight of political comedians, he still speaks German with a strong Canadian accent, and he occasionally hurls bilingual insults at the national elites, calling them "bulls without balls."

"I'm establishing a do-tank, because there are already plenty of think-tanks in Austria," Stronach says derisively.

Wherever he looks, from Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann on down, Stronach sees nothing but weaklings "raised on the government's milk," and no one who, as he says, can hold a candle to him, the man "from the real economy." Speaking to a crowd of hooting supporters in Tulln, he says that Lower Austria has been run for more than two decades by a conservative, Christian, "tough-talking braggart," and has practically deteriorated into a dictatorship controlled by small-minded party loyalists.

[. . .]

The fact that Stronach still feels misunderstood by many fellow Austrians has structural reasons. Postwar Austria has a political system deliberately designed for consensus and the accommodation of differing views. It is a place with little room for megalomania and a tradition of wheeling and dealing across political lines. But today's Austria is still foreign to Stronach, who once shipped out in third class on a freighter to work hard and eventually succeed in Canada.

Stronach is about as out of place on this political stage as a jackhammer at a chamber music concert. He threatens the political class merely by being different -- and by calling for the prosecution of those responsible for past bribery scandals. "If you want to drain a swamp, a swamp of corruption," he says, "you shouldn't ask the frogs first."

While one in three Austrians can now "imagine" voting for Stronach, the liberal Vienna coffeehouse crowd is already groaning about the crusade of the unpolished Austro-Canadian politician. Stronach has dismissed Armin Wolf, a popular host with Austrian public broadcaster ORF, as a "schoolboy," saying he knows nothing about the economy. And he has berated the publisher of the newsmagazine profil as "the guy with the purple socks who knows how to ask stupid questions, but not much else."

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