- Marginal Revolution features a critical if friendly review of the new Emmanuel Todd book, Lineages of Modernity.
- Marginal Revolution considers the problems of excessive consumer activism, here.
- Marginal Revolution notes a new book looking at natural gas economics in Europe, here.
- Marginal Revolution notes new evidence that YouTube algorithms do not tend to radicalize users, here.
- Marginal Revolution notes the few countries where the average person was richer in 2009 than in 2019, notably Greece and Venezuela.
[BLOG] Some Monday links
Dec. 23rd, 2019 03:13 pm- Anthropology.net notes a remarkably thorough genetic analysis of a piece of chewing gum 5700 years old that reveals volumes of data about the girl who chew it.
- 'Nathan Burgoine at Apostrophen writes an amazing review of Cats that actually does make me want to see it.
- Bad Astronomy reports on galaxy NGC 6240, a galaxy produced by a collision with three supermassive black holes.
- Caitlin Kelly at the Broadside Blog writes about the mechanics of journalism.
- Centauri Dreams argues that the question of whether humans will walk on exoplanets is ultimately distracting to the study of these worlds.
- Crooked Timber shares a Sunday morning photo of Bristol.
- The Dragon's Tales notes that India has a launch date of December 2021 for its first mission in its Gaganyaan crewed space program.
- Andrew LePage at Drew Ex Machina looks at the Saturn C-1 rocket.
- Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog considers if the vogue for minimalism meets the criteria to be considered a social movement.
- Far Outliers ?notes how, in the War of 1812, some in New England considered the possibility of seceding from the Union.
- Gizmodo looks at evidence of the last populations known of Homo erectus, on Java just over a hundred thousand years ago.
- Mark Graham links to a new paper co-authored by him looking at how African workers deal with the gig economy.
- io9 announces that the Michael Chabon novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, is set to become a television series.
- Joe. My. God. shares a report that Putin gave Trump anti-Ukrainian conspiracy theories.
- JSTOR Daily considers what a world with an economy no longer structured around oil could look like.
- Language Hat takes issue with the latest talk of the Icelandic language facing extinction.
- Language Log shares a multilingual sign photographed in Philadelphia's Chinatown.
- Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the document release revealing the futility of the war in Afghanistan.
- The LRB Blog looks at class identity and mass movements and social democracy.
- Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution suggests that, even if the economy of China is larger than the United States, Chinese per capita poverty means China does not have the leading economy.
- Diane Duane at Out of Ambit writes about how she is writing a gay sex scene.
- Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections reflects on "OK Boomer".
- Roads and Kingdoms interviews Mexican chef Ruffo Ibarra.
- Peter Rukavina shares his list of levees for New Year's Day 2020 on PEI.
- The Russian Demographics Blog shares a map indicating fertility rates in the different regions of the European Union.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains how quantum physics are responsible for vast cosmic structures.
- Charles Soule at Whatever explains his reasoning behind his new body-swap novel.
- Window on Eurasia notes how the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Paris show the lack of meaningful pro-Russian sentiment there.
- Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell talks about his lessons from working in the recent British election.
- Arnold Zwicky looks at a syncretic, Jewish-Jedi, holiday poster.
[NEWS] Fourteen links
Dec. 22nd, 2019 09:42 pm- By at least one metric, New Brunswick now lags economically behind a more dynamic Prince Edward Island. CBC reports.
- NOW Toronto looks at toxic fandoms. ("Stanning" sounds really creepy to me.)
- This CityLab article looks at how the particular characteristics of Japan, including its high population density, helps keep alive there retail chains that have failed in the US.
- MacLean's looks at Kent Monkman, enjoying a new level of success with his diptych Mistikôsiwak at the Met in NYC.
- Can there be something that can be said for the idea of an Internet more strongly pillarized? Wired argues.
- I reject utterly the idea of meaningful similarities between Drake and Leonard Cohen. CBC did it.
- Toronto Life looks at the life of a Hamilton woman hurt badly by the cancellation of the basic income pilot, here.
- Inspired by the death of Gord Downie, Ontario now has the office of poet-laureate. CBC reports.
- Is Canada at risk, like Ireland, of experiencing two-tier health care? CBC considers.
- A French immigrant couple has brought the art of artisanal vinegar to ile d'Orléans. CBC reports.
- Shore erosion is complicating the lives of people along Lake Erie. CBC reports.
- MacLean's notes how Via Rail making it difficult for people without credit cards to buy anything on their trains, hurting many.
- Michelle Legro notes at Gen that the 2010s is the decade where conspiracy culture became mainstream.
- This essay by Robert Greene at his blog talking about what history, and historians, can do in our era is thought-provoking.
[BLOG] Some Friday links
Dec. 22nd, 2019 05:41 am- Charlie Stross at Antipope shares an essay he recently presented on artificial intelligence and its challenges for us.
- P. Kerim Friedman writes at {anthro}dendum about the birth of the tea ceremony in the Taiwan of the 1970s.
- Anthropology net reports on a cave painting nearly 44 thousand years old in Indonesia depicting a hunting story.
- Architectuul looks at some temporary community gardens in London.
- Bad Astronomy reports on the weird history of asteroid Ryugu.
- The Buzz talks about the most popular titles borrowed from the Toronto Public Library in 2019.
- Caitlin Kelly talks at the Broadside Blog about her particular love of radio.
- Centauri Dreams talks about the role of amateur astronomers in searching for exoplanets, starting with LHS 1140 b.
- John Quiggin at Crooked Timber looks at what is behind the rhetoric of "virtue signalling".
- Dangerous Minds shares concert performance from Nirvana filmed the night before the release of Nevermind.
- Bruce Dorminey notes new evidence that, even before the Chixculub impact, the late Cretaceous Earth was staggering under environmental pressures.
- Myron Strong at the Everyday Sociology Blog writes about how people of African descent in the US deal with the legacies of slavery in higher education.
- Far Outliers reports on the plans in 1945 for an invasion of Japan by the US.
- L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing gathers together a collection of the author's best writings there.
- Gizmodo notes the immensity of the supermassive black hole, some 40 billion solar masses, at the heart of galaxy Holm 15A 700 million light-years away.
- Russell Arben Fox at In Media Res writes about the issue of how Wichita is to organize its civic politics.
- io9 argues that the 2010s were a decade where the culture of the spoiler became key.
- The Island Review points readers to the podcast Mother's Blood, Sister's Songs, an exploration of the links between Ireland and Iceland.
- Joe. My. God. reports on the claim of the lawyer of the killer of a mob boss that the QAnon conspiracy inspired his actions. This strikes me as terribly dangerous.
- JSTOR Daily looks at a study examining scholarly retractions.
- Language Hat shares an amusing cartoon illustrating the relationships of the dialects of Arabic.
- Language Log lists ten top new words in the Japanese language.
- Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the dissipation of American diplomacy by Trump.
- The LRB Blog looks at the many problems in Sparta, Greece, with accommodating refugees, for everyone concerned.
- Marginal Revolution links to a paper suggesting the decline of the one-child policy in China has diminished child trafficking, among other crimes.
- Sean Marshall, looking at transit in Brampton, argues that transit users need more protection from road traffic.
- Russell Darnley shares excerpts from essays he wrote about the involvement of Australia in the Vietnam War.
- Peter Watts talks about his recent visit to a con in Sofia, Bulgaria, and about the apocalypse, here.
- The NYR Daily looks at the corporatization of the funeral industry, here.
- Diane Duane writes, from her own personal history with Star Trek, about how one can be a writer who ends up writing for a media franchise.
- Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections considers the job of tasting, and rating, different cuts of lamb.
- The Planetary Society Blog looks at a nondescript observatory in the Mojave desert of California that maps the asteroids of the solar system.
- Roads and Kingdoms interviews Eduardo Chavarin about, among other things, Tijuana.
- Drew Rowsome loves the SpongeBob musical.
- Peter Rukavina announces that Charlottetown has its first public fast charger for electric vehicles.
- The Russian Demographics Blog considers the impact of space medicine, here.
- The Signal reports on how the Library of Congress is making its internet archives more readily available, here.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel considers how the incredibly isolated galaxy MCG+01-02-015 will decay almost to nothing over almost uncountable eons.
- Strange Company reports on the trial and execution of Christopher Slaughterford for murder. Was there even a crime?
- Strange Maps shares a Coudenhove-Kalergi map imagining the division of the world into five superstates.
- Understanding Society considers entertainment as a valuable thing, here.
- Denis Colombi at Une heure de peine announces his new book, Où va l'argent des pauvres?
- John Scalzi at Whatever looks at how some mailed bread triggered a security alert, here.
- Window on Eurasia reports on the massive amount of remittances sent to Tajikistan by migrant workers, here.
- Arnold Zwicky notes a bizarre no-penguins sign for sale on Amazon.
[BLOG] Some Friday links
Dec. 6th, 2019 04:48 pm- Architectuul looks at the Portuguese architectural cooperative Ateliermob, here.
- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at how white dwarf WD J091405.30+191412.25 is literally vapourizing a planet in close orbit.
- Caitlin Kelly at the Broadside Blog
explains - Centauri Dreams looks at the slowing of the solar wind far from the Sun.
- John Holbo at Crooked Timber considers the gap between ideals and actuals in the context of conspiracies and politics.
- The Dragon's Tales reports on how the ESA is trying to solve a problem with the parachutes of the ExoMars probe.
- Far Outliers reports on what Harry Truman thought about politicians.
- Gizmodo reports on a new method for identifying potential Earth-like worlds.
- io9 pays tribute to legendary writer, of Star Trek and much else, D.C. Fontana.
- The Island Review reports on the football team of the Chagos Islands.
- Joe. My. God. reports that gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy will compete for the United Kingdom in 2020.
- JSTOR Daily looks at how early English imperialists saw America and empire through the lens of Ireland.
- Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money does not like Pete Buttigieg.
- The LRB Blog looks at the London Bridge terrorist attack.
- The Map Room Blog shares a map of Prince William Sound, in Alaska, that is already out of date because of global warming.
- Marginal Revolution questions if Cuba, in the Philippines, is the most typical city in the world.
- The NYR Daily looks at gun violence among Arab Israelis.
- The Planetary Society Blog considers what needs to be researched next on Mars.
- Roads and Kingdoms tells the story of Sister Gracy, a Salesian nun at work in South Sudan.
- The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper noting continued population growth expected in much of Europe, and the impact of this growth on the environment.
- Strange Maps shares a map of fried chicken restaurants in London.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why a 70 solar mass black hole is not unexpected.
- John Scalzi at Whatever gives his further thoughts on the Pixel 4.
- Window on Eurasia notes that, last year, 37 thousand Russians died of HIV/AIDS.
- Arnold Zwicky starts from a consideration of the 1948 film Kind Hearts and Coronets.
[BLOG] Some Tuesday links
Dec. 3rd, 2019 12:57 pm- Bad Astronomer considers how a stellar-mass black hole of 70 solar masses got so unaccountably huge.
- Alex Tolley at Centauri Dreams considers the colours of photosynthesis, and how they might reveal the existence of life on exoplanets.
- The Dragon's Tales shares some links on humans in the Paleolithic.
- Jonathan Wynn at the Everyday Sociology Blog considers the scripts of jokes.
- Gizmodo reports on the repurposed China-Netherlands radio telescope operating from an orbit above the far side of the Moon.
- JSTOR Daily considers the political rhetoric of declinism.
- Language Log considers the controversy over the future of the apostrophe.
- James Butler at the LRB Blog notes a YouGov prediction of a Conservative majority in the UK and how this prediction is not value-neutral.
- Marginal Revolution shares a paper from India noting how caste identities do affect the labour supply.
- Ursula Lindsay at the NYR Daily considers if the political crisis in Lebanon, a product of economic pressures and sectarianism, might lead to a revolutionary transformation of the country away from sectarian politics.
- Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections looks at some of the many complicated and intermingled issues of contemporary Australia.
- The Planetary Society Blog reports on the latest projects funded by the ESA.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel shares ten beautiful photos taken in 2019 by the Hubble.
- Strange Company reports on the strange unsolved disappearance of Lillian Richey from her Idaho home in 1964.
- Window on Eurasia shares a Russian criticism of the Ukrainian autocephalous church as a sort of papal Protestantism.
- Arnold Zwicky considers the positive potential of homoeros.
[BLOG] Some Thursday links
Nov. 28th, 2019 02:48 pm- Bad Astronomy notes the very odd structure of galaxy NGC 2775.
- Dangerous Minds reports on the 1987 riot by punks that wrecked a Seattle ferry.
- Bruce Dorminey reports on a new suggestion from NASA that the massive dust towers of Mars have helped dry out that world over eons.
- The Everyday Sociology Blog looks at how changing technologies have led to younger people spending more social capital on maintaining relationships with friends over family.
- This forum hosted at Gizmodo considers the likely future causes of death of people in coming decades.
- In Media Res' Russell Arben Fox reports on the debate in Wichita on what to do with the Century II performance space.
- Joe. My. God. reports on the decision of Hungary to drop out of Eurovision, apparently because of its leaders' homophobia.
- JSTOR Daily reports on the debunking of the odd theory that the animals and people of the Americas were degenerate dwarfs.
- Language Hat reports on how the classics can be served by different sorts of translation.
- Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money considers how Trump's liberation of war criminals relates to folk theories about just wars.
- The LRB Blog reports from the ground in the Scotland riding of East Dunbartonshire.
- Marginal Revolution shares a paper suggesting that, contrary to much opinion, social media might actually hinder the spread of right-wing populism.
- The NYR Daily looks at the nature of the proxy fighters in Syria of Turkey. Who are they?
- Drew Rowsome interviews Sensational Sugarbum, star of--among other things--the latest Ross Petty holiday farce.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why we still need to be able to conduct astronomy from the Earth.
- Strange Maps explains the odd division of Europe between east and west, as defined by different subspecies of mice.
- Window on Eurasia notes how Chinese apparently group Uighurs in together with other Central Asians of similar language and religion.
- Arnold Zwicky explores the concept of onomatomania.
[BLOG] Some Wednesday links
Nov. 27th, 2019 02:06 pm- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes the findings that the LISA Pathfinder satellite was impacted by hypervelocity comet fragments.
- Centauri Dreams reports on what we have learned about interstellar comet Borisov.
- Bruce Dorminey notes the ESA's Matisse instrument, capable of detecting nanodiamonds orbiting distant stars.
- Gizmodo reports a new study of the great auk, now extinct, suggesting that humans were wholly responsible for this extinction with their hunting.
- The Island Review links to articles noting the existential vulnerability of islands like Venice and Orkney to climate change.
- Joe. My. God. reports on the claim of Tucker Carlson--perhaps not believably retracted by him--to be supporting Russia versus Ukraine.
- Language Hat reports on the new Indigemoji, emoji created to reflect the culture and knowledge of Aboriginal groups in Australia.
- Lawyers, Guns and Money notes one of the sad consequences of the American president being a liar.
- James Butler at the LRB Blog writes about the optimism of the spending plans of Labour in the UK, a revived Keynesianism.
- Marginal Revolution notes the exceptional cost of apartments built for homeless people in San Francisco.
- Strange Maps looks at some remarkable gravity anomalies in parts of the US Midwest.
- Towleroad notes the support of Jamie Lee Curtis for outing LGBTQ people who are homophobic politicians.
- Understanding Society looks at organizations from the perspective of them as open systems.
- Whatever's John Scalzi gives a generally positive review of the Pixel 4.
- Arnold Zwicky notes the irony of sex pills at an outpost of British discount chain Poundland.
[BLOG] Some Sunday links
Nov. 24th, 2019 06:39 pm- Architectuul visits the studio of Barbas Lopes Arquitectos in Lisbon, here.
- Bad Astronomer takes a look at a new paper examining the effectiveness of different asteroid detection technologies, including nuclear weapons.
- Centauri Dreams reports on a new study suggesting potentially habitable planets orbiting Alpha Centauri B, smaller of the two stars, could suffer from rapid shifts of their axes.
- John Quiggin at Crooked Timber argues some polls suggest some American conservatives really would prefer Russia as a model to California.
- Bruce Dorminey notes the discovery, by the Murchison Widefield Array in Australia, of 27 supernova remnants in our galaxy.
- The Dragon's Tales shares a collection of links about stealth aircraft, here.
- Gizmodo notes a new study suggesting that DNA is but one of very very many potential genetic molecules.
- Language Hat shares a reevaluation of the Richard Stanyhurst translation of the Aeneid, with its manufactured words. Why mightn't this have been not mockable but rather creative?
- Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money celebrated the 50th anniversary of the takeover of Alcatraz Island by Native American activists.
- Chris Bertram writes at the LRB Blog, after the catastrophe of the Essex van filled with dozens of dead migrants, about the architecture of exclusion that keeps out migrants.
- Marginal Revolution shares a comment looking at the fentanyl crisis from a new angle.
- Jenny Uglow writes at the NYR Daily about a Science Museum exhibit highlighting the dynamic joys of science and its progress over the centuries.
- Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw takes a look at the question of how to prevent the wildfires currently raging in Australia. What could have been done, what should be done?
- The Planetary Society Blog reports on proposals from China for two long-range probe missions to interstellar space, including a Neptune flyby.
- Drew Rowsome reviews the wonderfully innocent Pinocchio currently playing at the Young People's Theatre.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at the evidence for the universe, maybe, being closed.
- Window on Eurasia notes that the Alexandria Patriarchate is the next Orthodox body to recognize the Ukrainian church.
- Arnold Zwicky looks at irregular versus regular, as a queer word too.
[BLOG] Some Friday links
Nov. 22nd, 2019 06:45 pm(A day late, I know; I crashed after work yesterday.)
- Antipope's Charlie Stross has a thought experiment: If you were superwealthy and guaranteed to live a long health life, how would you try to deal with the consequence of economic inequality?
- Vikas Charma at Architectuul takes a look at the different factors that go into height in buildings.
- Bad Astronomy notes S5-HVS1, a star flung out of the Milky Way Galaxy by Sagittarius A* at 1755 kilometres per second.
- The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly shares photos from two Manhattan walks of hers, taken in non-famous areas.
- Centauri Dreams looks at habitability for red dwarf exoplanets. Stellar activity matters.
- Maria Farrell at Crooked Timber shares words from a manifesto about data protection in the EU.
- Dangerous Minds shares photos from Los Angeles punks and mods and others in the 1980s.
- Bruce Dorminey notes a ESA report suggesting crew hibernation could make trips to Mars easier.
- Gizmodo notes that the Hayabusa2 probe of Japan is returning from asteroid Ryugu with a sample.
- Imageo shares photos of the disastrous fires in Australia from space.
- Information is Beautiful reports on winners of the Information is Beautiful Awards for 2019, for good infographics.
- JSTOR Daily explains how local television stations made the ironic viewing of bad movies a thing.
- Kotaku reports on the last days of Kawasaki Warehouse, an arcade in Japan patterned on the demolished Walled City of Kowloon.
- Language Hat notes how translation mistakes led to the star Beta Cygni gaining the Arabic name Albireo.
- Language Log reports on a unique Cantonese name of a restaurant in Hong Kong.
- Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money links to an analysis of his suggesting the military of India is increasingly hard-pressed to counterbalance China.
- The LRB Blog notes the catastrophe of Venice.
- Marginal Revolution notes a paper suggesting states would do well not to place their capitals too far away from major population centres.
- Justin Petrone at North! remarks on a set of old apple preserves.
- The NYR Daily looks at how the west and the east of the European Union are divided by different conceptions of national identity.
- Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections reports from his town of Armidale as the smoke from the Australian wildfires surrounds all. The photos are shocking.
- Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society Blog lists some books about space suitable for children.
- Drew Rowsome reviews the Canadian film music stand, inspired by the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.
- The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper noting that, in Switzerland, parenthood does not make people happy.
- The Signal notes that 1.7 million phone book pages have been scanned into the records of the Library of Congress.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains the concept of multi-messenger astronomy and why it points the way forward for studies of astrophysics.
- Strange Maps looks at how a majority of students in the United States attend diverse schools, and where.
- Strange Company explores the mysterious death of Marc-Antoine Calas, whose death triggered the persecution of Huguenots and resulted in the mobilization of Enlightenment figures like Voltaire against the state. What happened?
- Towleroad hosts a critical, perhaps disappointed, review of the major gay play The Inheritance.
- Understanding Society's Daniel Little looks at the power of individual people in political hierarchies.
- Window on Eurasia shares an opinion piece noting how many threats to the Russian language have come from its association with unpopular actions by Russia.
- Arnold Zwicky explores queens as various as Elizabeth I and Adore Delano.
[BLOG] Some Wednesday links
Nov. 6th, 2019 05:20 pm- {anthro}dendum features a post by Kimberly J. Lewis about stategies for anthropologists to write, and be human, after trauma.
- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait reports on exoplanet LHC 3844b, a world that had its atmosphere burned away by its parent star.
- Centauri Dreams looks at Neptune from the perspective of exoplanets discovered near snow lines.
- D-Brief reports on the new Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, installed at Kitt Peak to help map galaxies and dark energy.
- Gizmodo
- looks at how Airbnb is dealing with party houses after a fatal mass shooting.
- The Island Review shares some drawings by Charlotte Watson, inspired by the subantarctic Auckland Islands.
- JSTOR Daily looks at the late 19th century hit novel Ramona, written by Helen Hunt Jackson to try to change American policy towards indigenous peoples.
- Language Hat looks at how, until recently, the Faroese language had taboos requiring certain words not to be used at sea.
- Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at a proposal to partially privatize American national parks.
- The LRB Blog looks at what Nigel Farage will be doing next.
- Marginal Revolution looks at a speculative theory on the origins of American individualism in agrarian diversity.
- The NYR Daily looks at an exhibition of the artwork of John Ruskin.
- Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw remarks on a connection between Arthur Ransome and his region of New England.
- Drew Rowsome shares an interview with folk musician Michelle Shocked.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel emphasizes the importance of the dark energy mystery.
- Towleroad notes a posthumous single release by George Michael.
- Daniel Little at Understanding Society celebrates the 12th anniversary of his blog, and looks back at its history.
- Window on Eurasia looks at Ingushetia after 1991.
- Arnold Zwicky looks at All Saints Day.
[BLOG] Some Wednesday links
Oct. 30th, 2019 12:34 pm- Bad Astronomy looks at ALMA's observations of the birth of binary star system, here.
- The Buzz, at the Toronto Public Library, announces the Governor-General's Literary Awards from 2019, here.
- Centauri Dreams notes how we might be able to find a wormhole at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy.
- The Crux commemorates the enormously successful and long-lasting Voyager missions.
- D-Brief notes a self-tending swarm search and rescue drones.
- Bruce Dorminey notes how the first discoveries of exoplanets were a consequence of innovative technology and thinking.
- Steve Attewell at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes that he is talking about the new idea in X-Men of a mutant nation-state over at Graphic Policy Radio.
- The LRB Blog notes Manif pour Tous mobilizing against new human reproduction laws in France.
- Marginal Revolution looks at how the drug war in Mexico has been getting worse.
- Neuroskeptic considers: What traits would a human population adapted to contemporary environmental pressures exhibit?
- The NYR Daily looks at a new exhibition of critical Internet-related art by Meriam Bennani.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at a remarkable double gravitational lens, and what it reveals about the universe.
- Window on Eurasia notes that although half of working-age people in Uzbekistan have been educated in the Latin script, many remain fluent in Cyrillic.
- Arnold Zwicky considers the many implications of fried pickles with ranch dressing.
NEWS] Eighteen #cdnpoli and #exln43 links
Oct. 23rd, 2019 03:03 pm- MacLean's looks at how Justin Trudeau and the Liberals survived #elxn43, here.
- Ajay Parasram at The Conversation looks at the new complications faced by Justin Trudeau.
- Daily Xtra looks at the record of the Liberals on LGBTQ2 issues, here.
- Daily Xtra looks at the four out LGBTQ2 MPs elected to Parliament, here.
- Philippe Fournier at MacLean's argues that 338Canada stands vindicated in its predictions, with some 90% of the people it predicted would be elected being elected.
- What will become of Conservative leader Andrew Scheer? The National Post considers.
- Strategic voting and Doug Ford, Mark Gollom notes, kept the Conservatives from making a breakthrough in Ontario.
- Robyn Urback at CBC notes that the narrow conservatism of Scheer kept the Conservatives from victory in a wary Canada.
- Stephen Maher at MacLean's questions if the Bloc Québécois victory has much to do with separatism, per se.
- Voters in Québec seem to be fine with election results, with a strong Bloc presence to keep the Liberals on notice. CBC has it.
- Talk of separatism has taken off in Alberta following the #elxn43 results. Global News has it.
- The premier of Saskatchewan has also talked of his province's alienation after #elxn43, here in the National Post.
- CBC's As It Happens carries an interview with former Conservative MP Jay Hill, now an advocate for western Canadian separatism.
- Atlantic Canada may provide new members for the cabinet of Justin Trudeau. The Toronto Star reports.
- Jaime Battiste, Liberal, has been elected as the first Mi'kmaq MP from Nova Scotia. Global News has it.
- The Green Party did not make its hoped-for breakthrough on Vancouver Island, but it will struggle on. Global News has it.
- Did, as Politico suggested, Canada sleepwalk into the future with #elxn43?
- We should be glad, Scott Gilmore argues in MacLean's, that given the global challenges to democracy #elxn43 in Canada was relatively boring.
- CTV News notes that election day is here in Canada.
- CTV News shares a list of answers to frequently asked questions about #elxn43 requirements.
- Philippe Fournier at MacLean's notes that #elxn43 is shaping to be perhaps the most uncertain federal election in Canada since 1979, at least.
- Kai Cheng Thom at Daily Xtra addresses the despair of a voter wondering if they should vote at all. Even in dark times, there must be some room for hope, for creative responses.
- Andrew Coyne at the National Post points out the obvious, that Canadians should not feel smug about dysfunction in the US and Britain.
- Chris Selley at the National Post argues against electoral reform.
- CBC shares stories of Syrian refugees, now citizens, voting for the first time in #elxn43.
- The diffusion of extremist sentiments in Canada in the past few years is a real concern. NOW Toronto has it.
- This CBC opinion suggests that expatriates from Canada, non-resident in the country, should not have a right to vote.
- Andrew Scheer, once notable for his vocal support for Brexit, is now much quieter about the issue. CBC reports.
- Peter Henderson at NOW Toronto argues that Ed the Sock has become the voice of a responsible conservatism.
- The claims of Andrew Scheer that the political party that wins the most seats gets to form the government in the Canadian system are obviously wrong. Global News has it.
- Who, exactly, forms the middle class in Canada, that demographic that Trudeau and Scheer have been claiming to address? CBC reports.
[BLOG] Some Saturday links
Oct. 12th, 2019 04:59 pm- Adam Fish at anthro{dendum} compares different sorts of public bathing around the world, from Native America to Norden to Japan.
- Charlie Stross at Antipope is unimpressed by the person writing the script for our timeline.
- Architectuul reports on an architectural conference in Lisbon.
- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares stunning photos of the eruption of the Raikoke volcano in Kamchatka.
- Centauri Dreams looks at what the Voyager spacecraft have returned about the edge of the solar system.
- John Quiggin at Crooked Timber takes issue with the idea of bipartisanship if it means compromising on reality, allegorically.
- The Crux counts the number of people who have died in outer space.
- D-Brief notes that the Andromeda Galaxy has swallowed up multiple dwarf galaxies over the eons.
- Dead Things notes the identification of the first raptor species from Southeast Asia, Siamraptor suwati.
- The Dragon's Tales notes a paper tracing the origins of interstellar comet 2/Borisov from the general area of Kruger 60.
- Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog writes about the privilege allowing people access to affordable dental care.
- Gizmodo tells how Alexei Leonov survived the first spacewalk.
- io9 looks at the remarkable new status quo for the X-Men created by Jonathan Hickman.
- Selma Franssen at the Island Review writes about the threats facing the seabirds of the Shetlands.
- JSTOR Daily looks at what led Richard Nixon to make so many breaks from the American consensus on China in the Cold War.
- Language Log notes an undergraduate course at Yale using the Voynich Manuscript as an aid in the study of language.
- Abigail Nussbaum at Lawyers, Guns and Money explains her recent experience of the socialized health care system of Israel for Americans.
- The LRB Blog looks at how badly the Fukuyama prediction of an end to history has aged.
- The Map Room Blog shares a few maps of the new Ottawa LRT route.
- Marginal Revolution notes a paper establishing a link between Chinese industries undermining their counterparts in Mexico and Mexican social ills including crime.
- Sean Marshall reports from Ottawa about what the Confederation Line looks like.
- Adam Shatz at the NYR Daily looks at the power of improvisation in music.
- Roads and Kingdoms looks at South Williamsburg Jewish deli Gottlieb's.
- Drew Rowsome reviews the new Patti Smith book, Year of the Monkey.
- The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper looking as the factors leading into transnational movements.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel considers the question of the direction(s) in which order in the universe was generated.
- Window on Eurasia shares a report noting the very minor flows of migration from China to Russia.
- Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell looks at the politics in the British riding of Keighley.
- Arnold Zwicky looks at some penguin socks.
[BLOG] Some Thursday links
Sep. 19th, 2019 10:56 am- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait reports suggestions the bizarre happenings at Boyajian's Star could be explained by an evaporating exomoon.
- Centauri Dreams looks at how the crowdsourced evScope telescope is being used to support the Lucy mission to the Jupiter Trojans.
- The Crux explains the phenomenon of misophobia.
- D-Brief shares suggestions that an asteroid collision a half-billion years ago released clouds of dust that, reaching Earth, triggered the mid-Ordovician ice age.
- Dangerous Minds shares video of a perhaps underwhelming meeting of William Burroughs with Francis Bacon.
- io9 makes the case for more near-future space exploration movies like Ad Astra.
- Joe. My. God. notes a Trump retweeting of the lie that Ilham Omar celebrated on 9/11.
- JSTOR Daily notes how fire could destroy the stressed rainforest of the Amazon.
- Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how few judges in the US have been impeached.
- The LRB Blog looks at how the already tenuous position of Haitians in the Bahamas has been worsened by Dorian.
- The Map Room Blog looks at the importance of the integrity of official maps in the era of Trump.
- Marginal Revolution looks at the political importance of marriage ceremonies in Lebanon and Gaza.
- Drew Rowsome interviews the Zakar Twins on the occasion of their new play Pray the Gay Away, playing in Toronto in October.
- The Russian Demographic Blog shares statistics on birthrates in the different provinces of the Russian Empire circa 1906.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel reports on the first experiment done on the photoelectric effect, revealing quantum mechanics.
- Window on Eurasia looks at growing anti-Chinese sentiments in Central Asia.
- Arnold Zwicky looks at "The Hurtful Dog", a Cyanide and Happiness cartoon.
[BLOG] Some Wednesday links
Sep. 18th, 2019 08:09 pm- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes that mysterious Boyajian's Star has nearly two dozen identified analogues, like HD 139139.
- James Bow reports from his con trip to Portland.
- Caitlin Kelly at the Broadside Blog notes the particular pleasure of having old friends, people with long baselines on us.
- Centauri Dreams describes a proposed mission to interstellar comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov).
- The Crux notes how feeding cows seaweed could sharply reduce their methane production.
- D-Brief notes that comet C/2019 Q4 is decidedly red.
- Bruce Dorminey notes a claim that water-rich exoplanet K2-18b might well have more water than Earth.
- Gizmodo reports on a claim that Loki, biggest volcano on Io, is set to explode in a massive eruption.
- io9 notes that Warner Brothers is planning a Funko Pop movie.
- Joe. My. God. notes the claim of Donald Trump that he is ready for war with Iran.
- JSTOR Daily looks at how people in early modern Europe thought they could treat wounds with magic.
- Language Hat considers how "I tip my hat" might, translated, sound funny to a speaker of Canadian French.
- Language Log considers how speakers of Korean, and other languages, can find word spacing a challenge.
- Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the partisan politics of the US Supreme Court.
- At the NYR Daily, Naomi Klein makes a case for the political and environmental necessity of a Green New Deal.
- Peter Watts takes apart a recent argument proclaiming the existence of free will.
- Peter Rukavina tells how travelling by rail or air from Prince Edward Island to points of the mainland can not only be terribly inconvenient, but environmentally worse than car travel. PEI does need better rail connections.
- The Russian Demographics Blog examines how different countries in Europe will conduct their census in 2020.
- Window on Eurasia shares the arguments of a geographer who makes the point that China has a larger effective territory than Russia (or Canada).
- Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell looks at a 1971 prediction by J.G. Ballard about demagoguery and guilt, something that now looks reasonably accurate.
- Arnold Zwicky considers models of segregation of cartoon characters from normal ones in comics.
[BLOG] Some Sunday links
Sep. 15th, 2019 10:10 am- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes how variable gravity is on irregular asteroid Bennu.
- Bruce Dorminey reports on how the European Southern Observatory has charted the Magellanic Clouds in unprecedented detail.
- The Dragon's Tales shares a collection of links looking at the Precambrian Earth.
- Andrew LePage at Drew Ex Machina reports on the late 1950s race to send probes to the Moon.
- Gizmodo shares some stunning astronomy photos.
- JSTOR Daily reports on the saltwater roads, the routes that slaves in Florida used to escape to the free Bahamas.
- Language Log looks at some examples of bad English from Japan. How did they come about?
- Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money rejects the idea of honouring people like Condoleezza Rice.
- Marginal Revolution considers the idea of free will in light of neurology.
- Corey S Powell at Out There interviews James Lovelock on his new book Novacene, in which Lovelock imagines the future world and Gaia taken over by AI.
- Window on Eurasia notes the water shortages faced by downstream countries in Central Asia.
[BLOG] Some Thursday links
Sep. 12th, 2019 07:23 pm- Bad Astronomy notes the remarkably eccentric orbit of gas giant HR 5138b.
- Centauri Dreams notes the impact that large-scale collisions have on the evolution of planets.
- Chris Bertram at Crooked Timber noted yesterday that babies born on September 11th in 2001 are now 18 years old, adults.
- The Crux notes that some of the hominins in the Sima de los Huesos site in Spain, ancestors to Neanderthals, may have been murdered.
- D-Brief reports on the cryodrakon, a pterosaur that roamed the skies above what is now Canada 77 million years ago.
- Dangerous Minds looks at the political artwork of Jan Pötter.
- Gizmodo notes a poll suggesting a majority of Britons would support actively seeking to communicate with extraterrestrial civilizations.
- io9 has a loving critical review of the first Star Trek movie.
- JSTOR Daily shares, from April 1939, an essay by the anonymous head of British intelligence looking at the international context on the eve of the Second World War.
- Language Log notes a recent essay on the mysterious Voynich manuscript, one concluding that it is almost certainly a hoax of some kind.
- Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money considers the future of the labour movement in the United States.
- Marginal Revolution considers what sort of industrial policy would work for the United States.
- Yardena Schwartz writes at NYR Daily about the potential power of Arab voters in Israel.
- Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections explains why, despite interest, Australia did not launch a space program in the 1980s.
- Drew Rowsome provides a queer review of It: Chapter Two.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes how government censorship of science doomed the Soviet Union and could hurt the United States next.
- Window on Eurasia notes how, in the Volga republics, recent educational policy changes have marginalized non-Russian languages.
- Arnold Zwicky shares a glossy, fashion photography-style, reimagining of the central relationship in the James Baldwin classic Giovanni's Room, arranged by Hilton Als.
- 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.