- The rescue of cats from the Newfoundland outport of Little Bay Islands, now abandoned, was a success. Global News reports.
- Cats in Australia may be in a position to ravage vulnerable survivors of the wildfires. Wired reports.
- The Purrsong Pendant is a new fitness tracker for cats. CNET reports.
- Humans do need to be able to read the body language of cats, and not only to figure out when they are in pain. CP24 reports.
- Is anyone surprised cats might eat human corpses? Newsweek reports.
[BLOG] Some Thursday links
Dec. 26th, 2019 11:51 am- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes that Betelgeuse is very likely not on the verge of a supernova, here.
- Centauri Dreams looks at the mapping of asteroid Bennu.
- Chris Bertram at Crooked Timber reposted, after the election, a 2013 essay looking at the changes in British society from the 1970s on.
- The Dragon's Tales shares a collection of links about the Precambrian Earth, here.
- Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog writes about fear in the context of natural disasters, here.
- Far Outliers reports on the problems of privateers versus regular naval units.
- Gizmodo looks at galaxy MAMBO-9, which formed a billion years after the Big Bang.
- io9 writes about the alternate history space race show For All Mankind.
- JSTOR Daily looks at the posters used in Ghana in the 1980s to help promote Hollywood movies.
- Language Hat links to a new book that examines obscenity and gender in 1920s Britain.
- Language Log looks at the terms used for the national language in Xinjiang.
- Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money takes issue with Jeff Jacoby's lack of sympathy towards people who suffer from growing inequality.
- Marginal Revolution suggests that urbanists should have an appreciation for Robert Moses.
- Sean Marshall writes, with photos, about his experiences riding a new Bolton bus.
- Caryl Philips at the NYR Daily writes about Rachmanism, a term wrongly applied to the idea of avaricious landlords like Peter Rachman, an immigrant who was a victim of the Profumo scandal.
- The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper looking at the experience of aging among people without families.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why the empty space in an atom can never be removed.
- Strange Maps shares a festive map of London, a reindeer, biked by a cyclist.
- Window on Eurasia notes how Mongolia twice tried to become a Soviet republic.
- Arnold Zwicky considers different birds with names starting with x.
[NEWS] Twenty news links
Dec. 23rd, 2019 09:43 pm- NOW Toronto looks at the Pickering nuclear plant and its role in providing fuel for space travel.
- In some places like California, traffic is so bad that airlines actually play a role for high-end commuters. CBC reports.
- Goldfish released into the wild are a major issue for the environment in Québec, too. CTV News reports.
- China's investments in Jamaica have good sides and bad sides. CBC reports.
- A potato museum in Peru might help solve world hunger. The Guardian reports.
- Is the Alberta-Saskatchewan alliance going to be a lasting one? Maclean's considers.
- Is the fossil fuel industry collapsing? The Tyee makes the case.
- Should Japan and Europe co-finance a EUrasia trade initiative to rival China's? Bloomberg argues.
- Should websites receive protection as historically significant? VICE reports.
- Food tourism in the Maritimes is a very good idea. Global News reports.
- Atlantic Canada lobster exports to China thrive as New England gets hit by the trade war. CBC reports.
- The Bloc Québécois experienced its revival by drawing on the same demographics as the provincial CAQ. Maclean's reports.
- Population density is a factor that, in Canada, determines political issues, splitting urban and rural voters. The National Observer observes.
- US border policies aimed against migration from Mexico have been harming businesses on the border with Canada. The National Post reports.
- The warming of the ocean is changing the relationship of coastal communities with their seas. The Conversation looks.
- Archival research in the digital age differs from what occurred in previous eras. The Conversation explains.
- The Persian-language Wikipedia is an actively contested space. Open Democracy reports.
- Vox notes how the US labour shortage has been driven partly by workers quitting the labour force, here.
- Laurie Penny at WIRED has a stirring essay about hope, about the belief in some sort of future.
[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.
- JSTOR Daily considers whether koalas are actually going extinct, here.
- JSTOR Daily looks at the life and accomplishments of Alexander Von Humboldt, here.
- JSTOR Daily looks at how a move to California doomed the Oneida Community, here.
- JSTOR Daily considers how the genetically diverse wild relatives of current crops could help our agriculture, here.
- JSTOR Daily looks at the devastating flood of Florence in 1966, here.
- JSTOR Daily points out there is no template for emotional intelligence, here.
- JSTOR Daily explores some remarkable lumpy pearls,
here. - JSTOR Daily notes an 1870 scare over the future of men, here.
- JSTOR Daily reports on the staging of war scenes for the 1945 documentary The Battle of San Pietro, here.
- JSTOR Daily considers the bioethics of growing human brains in a petri dish, here.
[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.
[NEWS] Six cetacean links
Dec. 4th, 2019 11:38 pm- Apparently upwards of 95% of dolphins are right-handed. Global News reports.
- A dead sperm whale has been found in Scotland, choked on a hundred kilograms of plastic waste. CBC reports.
- Tracking the heart rate of a blue whale is something that we can do. CBC reports.
- Nearly a hundred cetaceans held in a Russian facility seem to be doing well after being released to their ocean home. CBC reports.
- The policies of Elizabeth Warren could, if she was elected, impact the seafood industry of Atlantic Canada. (As, I think, they should.) CBC reports.
- Whale populations can, if we treat them well, help save the climate from catastrophe. VICE makes the case.
[URBAN NOTE] Eight Toronto links
Dec. 2nd, 2019 07:51 pm- blogTO notes the strange house, a fantasia inspired by Greece, at 1016 Shaw Street.
- blogTO shares photos from inside Paradise Theatre on Bloor, reopened after 13 years.
- blogTO notes that GO Transit will now be offering customers unlimited rides on Sundays for just $C 10.
- Photos of infamous Toronto chair girl Marcella Zoia celebrating her 20th birthday are up at blogTO, here.
- Many residents displaced by the Gosford fire in North York have been moved to hotels. Global News reports.
- A TTC worker has launched a court case against the TTC and city of Toronto over issues of air quality. Global News reports.
- Jamie Bradburn reports on how the Toronto press covered the opening of the Suez Canal, here.
- Transit Toronto explains what, exactly, workers are building at Eglinton station and Yonge and Eglinton more generally.
- Guelph will be holding an open house to see what development will replace the Dolime Quarry. Global News reports.
- The town of Innisfil has extended its Uber subsidy program for people in need of transit. Global News reports
- Archeologists in Montréal have found a mass grave of Irish famine victims. CTV reports.
- The Québec town of Asbestos is changing its name so as to avoid the link, in English, with the toxic mineral. CTV reports.
- A subway, alas, would be too big for Québec City. Streetcars would work better. Le Devoir reports.
- Can a hyperloop be built to plug Edmonton together with Calgary? Global News considers.
- Richmond, British Columbia, has unveiled a cultural harmony strategy to help its diverse population get along. The National Post reports.
[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.
- Ending free coffee for municipal employees in the Québec community of Pierrefonds created massive controversy. CBC reports.
- The mayor of the Francophone city of Edmundston in New Brunswick has encouraged immigrant Québec students hurt by immigration changes to come to his community. CTV News reports.
- The price of crystal meth in Saskatoon is apparently as low as $3 a bag. Global News reports.
- Guardian Cities notes how Louisville, low on trees, is trying to regreen the city as a way to deal with rising temperatures.
- Open Democracy considers if the DUP is about to lose its strongholds in Belfast.
- Guardian Cities looks at the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Kafr Aqab, a place where Palestinians can access their metropolis (and their partners).
- CityLab shares photos of the wonderful new public library of Helsinki.
[BLOG] Some Monday links
Nov. 25th, 2019 05:51 pm- 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.
[BLOG] Some Wednesday links
Nov. 13th, 2019 01:35 pm- Bad Astronomer notes a new study explaining how climate change makes hurricanes more destructive.
- Centauri Dreams shares a mosaic photo of the sky with Alpha Centauri highlighted.
- The Crux shares a paper explaining why the bubonic plague rarely becomes mass epidemics like the Black Death of the 14th century.
- D-Brief notes the new ESA satellite ARIEL, which will be capable of determining of exoplanet skies are clear or not.
- Gizmodo consults different experts on the subject of smart drugs. Do they work?
- JSTOR Daily explains why Native Americans are so prominent in firefighting in the US Southwest.
- Language Log looks at evidence for the diffusion of "horse master" between speakers of ancient Indo-European and Sinitic languages.
- Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the election of Chesa Boudin as San Francisco District Attorney.
- The LRB Blog considers the apparent pact between Farage and Johnson on Brexit.
- Marginal Revolution looks at a paper examining longer-run effects of the integration of the US military on racial lines in the Korean War.
- The NYR Daily looks at how Big Pharma in the US is trying to deal with the opioid epidemic.
- The Signal explains how the Library of Congress is expanding its collections of digital material.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains how future generations of telescopes will be able to directly measure the expansion of the universe.
- The Volokh Conspiracy explains why DACA, giving succor to Dreamers, is legal.
- Window on Eurasia notes that, after a century of tumult, the economy of Russia is back at the same relative ranking that it enjoyed a century ago.
- Arnold Zwicky reports on an old butch cookbook.
[BLOG] Some Tuesday links
Nov. 12th, 2019 05:23 pm- 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.
- D-Brief looks at how the Nile River has kept its current course for 30 million years, here.
- D-Brief notes a study suggesting modern apartments are filled with fungi.
- House plants do not purify the air, D-Brief reports.
- D-Brief notes that 0.2% of the methane emitters in California release a third of the methane released in the entire state.
- A rocky planet in the right orbit in the HR5183 system, with a gas giant in a very eccentric orbit, could have a spectacular sky, D-Brief notes.
[BLOG] Some Sunday links
Nov. 3rd, 2019 12:50 pm- Anthrodendum features a guest post from editors introducing a series on fieldwork and trauma.
- Crooked Timber's John Quiggin takes a stab at trying to define neoliberalism as an ideology, not just a catch-all phrase.
- The Crux looks at desalination, a difficult process that we may need to use regardless of its difficulty.
- D-Brief notes that narcissism is linked to lower levels of stress and depression.
- Jezebel notes the return and legacy of Bratz dolls.
- Joe. My. God. shares the Sam Smith cover of the Donna Summer classic "I Feel Love", along with other versions of that song.
- JSTOR Daily considers if graphene will ever become commercially usable.
- Dan Nexon at Lawyers, Guns and Money links to an analysis warning about commercial debt. Another 2008?
- Marginal Revolution points to some papers suggesting that cannabis usage does not harm cognition, that the relationship is if anything reversed.
- Daphne Merkin at the NYR Daily looks back at her literary life, noting people now gone.
- Drew Rowsome reviews the new Daniel MacIvor play Let's Run Away.
- The Volokh Conspiracy looks at how the Trump Administration lost two cases against sanctuary cities.
- Window on Eurasia considers, briefly, the idea of Gorbachev giving to Germany Kaliningrad, last remnant of East Prussia.
- Worthwhile Canadian Initiative looks at the rises in health spending directed towards young people. Is this a warning sign of poor health?
- Arnold Zwicky looks at Gaysper, and then at other queer ghosts.
[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links
Oct. 29th, 2019 05:28 pm- I do hope Toronto does something with the abandoned foot court on Queen West and John. blogTO reports.
- blogTO looks at the new Villiers Island set to occupy the mouth of the Don River in the Port Lands.
- An Ossington laneway is going to be repainted after a botched improvement project destroyed its public art. The Toronto Star reports.
- Steve Munro fisks a defense by the Toronto Board of Trade of the proposed Ontario Line, here.
- Andrew Cash, sadly not elected in my riding of Davenport, writes in the Toronto Star about the importance of Toronto having active local MPs.
- National Observer looks at how the City of Toronto is encouraging residents grow gardens for pollinators.
- Samantha Edwards writes at NOW Toronto about how the long-closed Paradise on Bloor theatre is set to reopen in December.
[BLOG] Some Tuesday links
Oct. 29th, 2019 05:10 pm- Bad Astronomy notes a new detailed study suggesting that asteroid Hygeia is round. Does this mean it is a dwarf planet?
- The Buzz notes that the Toronto Public Library has a free booklet on the birds of Toronto available at its branches.
- Crooked Timber looks forward to a future, thanks to Trump, without the World Trade Organization.
- D-Brief notes how the kelp forests off California were hurt by unseasonal heat and disease.
- Bruce Dorminey notes an impending collision of supergalactic clusters.
- Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog looks at how judgement can complicate collective action.
- Language Hat looks at the different definitions of the word "mobile".
- Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how, if anything, climate scientists make conservative claims about their predictions.
- Marginal Revolution wonders if planned power outages are a good way to deal with the threat of wildfires in California.
- The NYR Daily looks at the ethnic cleansing being enabled by Turkey in Kurdish Syria.
- Corey S. Powell at Out There interviews archeologist Arthur Lin about his use of space-based technologies to discovery traces of the past.
- The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer looks at the staggering inequality in Chile, driver of the recent protests.
- At Roads and Kingdoms, Anthony Elghossain reports from the scene of the mass protests in Lebanon.
- Drew Rowsome tells how his balcony garden fared this year.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at stellar generations in the universe. (Our sun is a third-generation star.)
- Strange Company looks at the murder of a girl five years old in Indiana in 1898. Was the neighbor boy twelve years old accused of the crime the culprit?
- Denis Colombi at Une heure de peine takes a look at social mobility in France.
- Understanding Society's Daniel Little considers economic historians and their study of capitalism.
- Window on Eurasia looks at the pro-Russian policies of the Moldova enclave of Gagauzia, and draws recommendations for Ukraine re: the Donbas.
Language Log looks at the deep influence of the Persian language upon Marathi.
https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=44807
[BLOG] Some Friday links
Oct. 18th, 2019 08:09 pm- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes how a photo of the Large Magellanic Cloud makes him recognize it as an irregular spiral, not a blob.
- Centauri Dreams celebrates the life of cosmonaut Alexei Leonov.
- John Quiggin at Crooked Timber takes issue with one particular claim about the benefits of war and empire.
- The Crux looks at fatal familial insomnia, a genetic disease that kills through inflicting sleeplessness on its victims.
- D-Brief looks at suggestions that magnetars are formed by the collisions of stars.
- Dangerous Minds introduces readers to the fantasy art of Arthur Rackham.
- Cody Delistraty considers some evidence suggesting that plants have a particular kind of intelligence.
- The Dragon's Tales notes the expansion by Russia of its airbase in Hneymim, Syria.
- Karen Sternheimer writes at the Everyday Sociology Blog about the critical and changing position of libraries as public spaces in our cities.
- Gizmodo looks at one marvelous way scientists have found to cheat quantum mechanics.
- Information is Beautiful outlines a sensible proposal to state to cultivate seaweed a as source of food and fuel.
- io9 notes that, in the exciting new X-Men relaunch, immortal Moira MacTaggart is getting her own solo book.
- JSTOR Daily notes how the now-defunct Thomas Cook travel agency played a role in supporting British imperialism, back in the day.
- Language Log notes that the Oxford English Dictionary is citing the blog on the use of "their" as a singular.
- Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money considers the grounds for impeaching Donald Trump.
- The LRB Blog looks at the politics of Mozambique at the country approaches dangerous times.
- Sean Marshall notes the southern Ontario roads that run to Paris and to London.
- Neuroskeptic notes a problematic scientific study that tried to use rabbits to study the female human orgasm.
- Steve Baker at The Numerati looks at a new book on journalism by veteran Peter Copeland.
- The NYR Daily makes the point that depending on biomass as a green energy solution is foolish.
- The Planetary Science Blog notes a 1983 letter by then-president Carl Sagan calling for a NASA mission to Saturn and Titan.
- Roads and Kingdoms interviews photojournalist Eduardo Leal on his home city of Porto, particularly as transformed by tourism.
- Drew Rowsome notes the book Dreamland, an examination of the early amusement park.
- The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper considering, in broad detail, how the consequence of population aging could be mitigated in the labour market of the European Union.
- Strange Company reports on a bizarre poltergeist in a British garden shed.
- Window on Eurasia notes the new strength of a civic national identity in Kazakhstan, based on extensive polling.
- Arnold Zwicky, surely as qualified a linguist as any, examines current verb of the American moment, "depose".