Entries tagged with estonia

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[BLOG] Some Friday links

(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.

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[NEWS] Ten Window on Eurasia links

What will become of the Azerbaijani language in education in Iran? More here.

Is a Russia-Belarus state union feasible? More here.

Is Estonia, as some would have it, a viable model for the Finnic Mordvin peoples of the Russian interior? More here.

Will Russia be happy with its alliance with China if this makes it a secondary partner, a relatively weaker exporter of resources? More here.

How many Muslims are there in Moscow, and what import does the controversy over their numbers carry? More here.

Is the Russian fertility rate set to stagnate, leading to long-term sharp decline? More here.

If 10% of the Russian working-age population has emigrated, this has serious consequences for the future of Russia. More here.

Irredentism in Kazakhstan, inspired by the example of Crimea, is just starting to be a thing. More here.

The decline of Russian populations in the north of Kazakhstan, and the growth of Uzbeks, is noteworthy. More here.

The different Russian proposals for the future of the Donbas, an analyst notes, are built to keep Ukraine a neutral country. More here.

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[BLOG] Some Sunday links

Adam Fish at anthro{dendum} shares a new take on the atmosphere, as a common good.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares a photo of Earth taken from a hundred million kilometres away by the OSIRIS-REx probe.

The Crux tells the story of how the first exoplanets were found.

D-Brief notes that life could be possible on a planet orbiting a supermassive black hole, assuming it could deal with the blueshifting.

io9 looks at the latest bold move of Archie Comics.

JSTOR Daily explores cleaning stations, where small fish clean larger ones.

Dan Nexon at Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the role China seeks to play in a remade international order.

The Map Room Blog looks at the new upcoming national atlas of Estonia.

Marginal Revolution touches on the great ambition of Louis XIV for a global empire.

Steve Baker of The Numerati shares photos from his recent trip to Spain.

Anya Schiffrin at the NRY Daily explains how American journalist Varian Fry helped her family, and others, escape the Nazis.

Drew Rowsome reviews the classic movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps shares a map looking at the barriers put up by the high-income world to people moving from outside.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel answers the complex question of how, exactly, the density of a black hole can be measured.

John Scalzi at Whatever reviews Gemini Man. Was the high frame rate worth it?

Window on Eurasia notes the deep hostility of Tuvins towards a large Russian population in Tuva.

Arnold Zwicky considers the existential question of self-aware cartoon characters.

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[BLOG] Some Monday links

Bad Astronomy shares Hubble images of asteroid 6478 Gault, seemingly in the process of dissolving.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly writes about the experience of living in a body one knows from hard experience to be fallible.

Gizmodo notes new evidence that environmental stresses pushed at least some Neanderthals to engage in cannibalism.

Hornet Stories notes the 1967 raid by Los Angeles police against the Black Cat nightclub, a pre-Stonewall trigger of LGBTQ organization.

Imageo notes the imperfect deal wrought by Colorado Basin states to minimize the pain felt by drought in that river basin.

JSTOR Daily looks at the cinema of Claire Denis.

Language Log reports on the work of linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann, a man involved in language revival efforts in Australia after work in Israel with Hebrew.

Lawyers, Guns and Money wonders if the Iran-Contra scandal will be a precedent for the Mueller report, with the allegations being buried by studied inattention.

Marginal Revolution makes a case for NIMBYism leading to street urination.

Justin Petrone at North! looks at a theatrical performance of a modern Estonian literary classic, and what it says about gender and national identity.

Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw makes the case for a treaty with Australian Aborigines, to try to settle settler-indigenous relations in Australia.

John Quiggin looks at the factors leading to the extinction of coal as an energy source in the United Kingdom.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes that we are not yet up to the point of being able to detect exomoons of Earth-like planets comparable to our Moon.

Window on Eurasia notes the occasion of the last singer in the Ket language.

Arnold Zwicky shares some cartoon humour, around thought balloons.

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[DM] Some news links: public art, history, marriage, diaspora, assimilation

Some more population-related links popped up over the past week.

CBC Toronto reported on this year’s iteration of Winter Stations. A public art festival held on the Lake Ontario shorefront in the east-end Toronto neighbourhood of The Beaches, Winter Stations this year will be based around the theme of migration.

JSTOR Daily noted how the interracial marriages of serving members of the US military led to the liberalization of immigration law in the United States in the 1960s. With hundreds of thousands of interracial marriages of serving members of the American military to Asian women, there was simply no domestic constituency in the United States
Ozy reported on how Dayton, Ohio, has managed to thrive in integrating its immigrant populations.

Amro Ali, writing at Open Democracy, makes a case for the emergence of Berlin as a capital for Arab exiles fleeing the Middle East and North America in the aftermath of the failure of the Arab revolutions. The analogy he strikes to Paris in the 1970s, a city that offered similar shelter to Latin American refugees at that time, resonates.

Alex Boyd at The Island Review details, with prose and photos, his visit to the isolated islands of St. Kilda, inhabited from prehistoric times but abandoned in 1930.
VICE looks at the plight of people who, as convicted criminals, were deported to the Tonga where they held citizenship. How do they live in a homeland they may have no experience of? The relative lack of opportunity in Tonga that drove their family's earlier migration in the first place is a major challenge.

Window on Eurasia notes how, in many post-Soviet countries including the Baltic States and Ukraine, ethnic Russians are assimilating into local majority ethnic groups. (The examples of the industrial Donbas and Crimea, I would suggest, are exceptional. In the case of the Donbas, 2014 might well have been the latest point at which a pro-Russian separatist movement was possible.)

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[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Wasaga Beach, Montréal, Barcelona, Narva, Luanda

The question of how to develop, or redevelop, the Georgian Bay resort town of Wasaga Beach is ever-pressing. Global News reports.

Le Devoir enters the discussion over the Royalmount development, arguing that the city of Montréal needs to fight urban sprawl.

Guardian Cities reports on the efforts of Barcelona to keep its street kiosks, home to a thriving culture, alive in the digital age.

The New York Times reports on how the government of Estonia is trying to use pop culture to help bind the Russophone-majority city of Narva into the country.

This Guardian Cities photo essay takes a look at how the Angolan capital of Luanda, after a long economic boom driven by oil, is rich but terribly unequal.

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[BLOG] Some Monday links

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait considers nearby galaxy NGC 6744, a relatively nearby spiral galaxy that may look like the Milky Way.

D-Brief notes the remarkable ceramic spring that gives the mantis shrimp its remarkably powerful punch.

Far Outliers notes how the north Korean port of Hamhung was modernized in the 1930s, but also Japanized, with few legacies of its Korean past remaining.

Joe. My. God. notes how the Trump administration plans to define being transgender out of existence. Appalling.

Alexandra Samuel at JSTOR Daily notes the ways in which the Internet has undermined the traditions which support American political institutions. Can new traditions be made?

Lawyers, Guns, and Money notes how the Trump's withdrawal from the INF treaty with Russia on nuclear weapons harms American security.

Rose Jacobs at Lingua Franca writes about ways in which derision, specifically of other nationalities, enters into English slang.

Marginal Revolution notes that, in an article surveying the Icelandic language, a report that sales of books in Iceland have fallen by nearly half since 2010.

The NYR Daily looks at two recent movies, one autobiographical and one fictional, looking at dads in space.

Jason Perry at the Planetary Society Blog reports on the latest imagery of the volcanoes of Io.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel considers the possibility that time travel might not destroy the universe via paradoxes.

Window on Eurasia suggests that the experience of post-Soviet Estonia with its two Orthodox churches might be a model for Ukraine.

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[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait notes that far-orbiting body 2015 TC387 offers more indirect evidence for Planet Nine, as does D-Brief.
Centauri Dreams notes that data from the Gaia astrometrics satellite finds traces of past collisions between the Milky Way Galaxy and the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy.

The Crux takes a look at the long history of human observation of the Crab Nebula.

Sujata Gupta at JSTOR Daily writes about the struggle of modern agriculture with the pig, balancing off concerns for animal welfare with productivity.

Language Hat shares a defensive of an apparently legendarily awful novel, Marguerite Young's Miss Macintosh, My Darling.

Lingua Franca, at the Chronicle, takes a look at the controversy over the name of the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, going up to the recent referendum on North Macedonia.

The LRB Blog reports on the high rate of fatal car accidents in the unrecognized republic of Abkhazia.

Reddit's mapporn shares an interesting effort to try to determine the boundaries between different regions of Europe, stacking maps from different sources on top of each other.

Justin Petrone at North! writes about how the northern wilderness of Estonia sits uncomfortably with his Mediterranean Catholic background.

Peter Watts reports from a book fair he recently attended in Lviv, in the west of Ukraine.

Jason Davis at the Planetary Society Blog notes the new effort being put in by NASA into the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Roads and Kingdoms reports on some beer in a very obscure bar in Shanghai.

Drew Rowsome reports on the performance artist Lukas Avendano, staging a performance in Toronto inspired by the Zapotech concept of the muxe gender.

Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps examines the ocean-centric Spielhaus map projection that has recently gone viral.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel considers the question of whether or not the Big Rip could lead to another Big Bang.

Window on Eurasia notes the harm that global warming will inflict on the infrastructures of northern Siberia.

Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell considers the ecological fallacy in connection with electoral politics. Sometimes there really are not niches for new groups.

Arnold Zwicky takes part in the #BadStockPhotosOfMyJob meme, this time looking at images of linguists.

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[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Winnipeg, Buffalo, Chicago, Tallinn, Duqm

The question of re-opening the storied intersection of Portage and Main, at the heart of Winnipeg, to pedestrian traffic is being hotly debated. The National Post reports.

CityLab describes how the New York city of Buffalo is enjoying a huge boom in the creation of public art.

Wired describes Chicago's Wild Mile, a new riverine habitat ingeniously created for the manmade North Branch Canal.

The World Economic Forum reports that, on the theory that public transit is a public good, Estonia is making public transit free throughout the country, including in the capital of Tallinn.

Guardian Cities notes the energetic effort of Oman to create, where five years ago there was just desert, the new city of Duqm.

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[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes a new image showing the sheer density of events in the core of our galaxy.

Centauri Dreams notes the discovery of 2MASS 0249 c, a planet-like object that distantly orbits a pair of low-mass brown dwarfs.

D-Brief notes the discovery of many new moons of Jupiter, bringing the total up to 79.

Far Outliers looks at the appeasement practiced by the Times of London in the 1930s.

The Frailest Thing's L.M. Sacasas contrasts roots with anchors.

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the controversy surrounding surviving honours paid to Franco in Spain.

The LRB Blog looks at how the question of Macedonia continues to be a threatening issue in the politics of Greece.

The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer suggests the new Mexican president is trying to create a new political machine, one that can only echo the more far-reaching and unrestrained one of PRI.

Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps looks at the shifting alliances of different Asian countries with China and the United States.

Window on Eurasia reports on the Russian reactions to a recent Politico Europe report describing Estonia's strategies for resisting a Russian invasion in depth.

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[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

Bad Astronomy notes the discovery of a distant exoplanet, orbiting subgiant EPIC248847494, with an orbit ten years long.

Centauri Dreams reports on the latest discoveries regarding Ceres' Occator Crater, a place with a cryovolcanic past.

D-Brief notes the discovery of a brilliant early galaxy, the brightest so far found, P352-15.

Dangerous Minds shares an extended interview with Françoise Hardy.

Far Outliers notes how, during the later Cold War, cash-desperate Soviet bloc governments allowed hopeful emigrants for countries in the West to depart only if these governments paid a ransom for them.

Hornet Stories has a nice feature on Enemies of Dorothy, a LGBT sketch comedy group with a political edge. I saw some of their clips; I'm following them.

JSTOR Daily looks at some of the features uniting celebratory music festival Coachella with Saturnalia, fitting the former into an ancient tradition.

Language Hat reports on researchers studying the development of emojis. Are they becoming components of a communications system with stable meanings?

Marginal Revolution reports on how mobile money is becoming a dominant element in the economy of Somaliland.

Justine Petrone at North reports on the things that were, and were not, revealed about his family's ancestry through DNA testing.

Melissa Chadburn writes at the NYR Daily about the food she ate growing up as a poor child, and its meaning for her then and now in a time of growing inequality.

Roads and Kingdoms tells of a woman's experience drinking samsu, a clear rice liqueur, in Malacca.

Drew Rowsome raves over David Kingston Yeh's debut novel, the queer Toronto-themed The Boy at the Edge of the World.

Window on Eurasia quotes a Russian observer who suggests that Trump's attempt to disrupt the European Union, even if successful, might simply help make Germany into a strategic competitor to the United States (with benefits for other powers).

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[BLOG] Some Sunday links

Many things accumulated after a pause of a couple of months. Here are some of the best links to come about in this time.

Anthrodendum considers the issue of the security, or not, of cloud data storage used by anthropologists.

Architectuul takes a look at the very complex history of urban planning and architecture in the city of Skopje, linked to issues of disaster and identity.

Centauri Dreams features an essay by Ioannis Kokkidinis, examining the nature of the lunar settlement of Artemis in Andy Weir's novel of the same. What is it?

Crux notes the possibility that human organs for transplant might one day soon be grown to order.

D-Brief notes evidence that extrasolar visitor 'Oumuamua is actually more like a comet than an asteroid.

Bruce Dorminey makes the sensible argument that plans for colonizing Mars have to wait until we save Earth. (I myself have always thought the sort of environmental engineering necessary for Mars would be developed from techniques used on Earth.)

The Everyday Sociology Blog took an interesting look at the relationship between hobbies and work.

Far Outliers looks at how, in the belle époque, different European empires took different attitudes towards the emigration of their subjects depending on their ethnicity. (Russia was happy to be rid of Jews, while Hungary encouraged non-Magyars to leave.)

The Finger Post shares some photos taken by the author on a trip to the city of Granada, in Nicaragua.

The Frailest Thing's L.M. Sacasas makes an interesting argument as to the extent to which modern technology creates a new sense of self-consciousness in individuals.

Inkfish suggests that the bowhead whale has a more impressive repertoire of music--of song, at least--than the fabled humpback.

Information is Beautiful has a wonderful illustration of the Drake Equation.

JSTOR Daily takes a look at the American women who tried to prevent the Trail of Tears.

Language Hat takes a look at the diversity of Slovene dialects, this diversity perhaps reflecting the stability of the Slovene-inhabited territories over centuries.

Language Log considers the future of the Cantonese language in Hong Kong, faced with pressure from China.

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how negatively disruptive a withdrawal of American forces from Germany would be for the United States and its position in the world.

Lingua Franca, at the Chronicle, notes the usefulness of the term "Latinx".

The LRB Blog reports on the restoration of a late 19th century Japanese-style garden in Britain.

The New APPS Blog considers the ways in which Facebook, through the power of big data, can help commodify personal likes.

Neuroskeptic reports on the use of ayahusasca as an anti-depressant. Can it work?

Justin Petrone, attending a Nordic scientific conference in Iceland to which Estonia was invited, talks about the frontiers of Nordic identity.

Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw writes about what it is to be a literary historian.

Drew Rowsome praises Dylan Jones' new biographical collection of interviews with the intimates of David Bowie.

Peter Rukavina shares an old Guardian article from 1993, describing and showing the first webserver on Prince Edward Island.

Seriously Science notes the potential contagiousness of parrot laughter.

Understanding Society's Daniel Little t.com/2018/06/shakespeare-on-tyranny.htmltakes a look at the new Stephen Greenblatt book, Shakespeare on Power, about Shakespeare's perspectives on tyranny.

Window on Eurasia shares speculation as to what might happen if relations between Russia and Kazakhstan broke down.

Worthwhile Canadian Initiative noticed, before the election, the serious fiscal challenges facing Ontario.

Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell points out that creating a national ID database in the UK without issuing actual cards would be a nightmare.

Arnold Zwicky reports on a strand of his Swiss family's history found in a Paris building.

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[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Edmonton, Vancouver, St. George, Kanepi, Moscow

The City of Edmonton is considering the idea of intentionally creating a beach for sun-seekers on the North Saskatchewan River after last year's happy accident. Global News reports.

There is controversy in Vancouver over the idea of investor immigrants gaining voting rights in the city. Global News reports.

The Utah conurbation of St. George faces real problems of water scarcity. CityLab reports.

The Estonian municipality of Kanepi has made the leaf of the cannabis plant its logo. CityLab reports.

JSTOR Daily looks at the symbolism behind the vast and impressive Moscow subway system, here.

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[BLOG] Some Saturday links

Anthrodendum recommends design researcher Jan Chipchase's Field Study Handbook for anthropologists interested in field practice.

Architectuul investigates strange similarities between buildings built in far-removed parts of the world.

Centauri Dreams takes a look at TESS, the next generation of exoplanet-hunting satellite.

Crooked Timber investigates the connections between the spiritualism of the 19th century and the fiction of the uncanny.

D-Brief notes the many names, often delightful, that newly-discovered locations on Mercury and Charon have received.

Cody Delistraty investigates two exhibitions of French satirists, including Charlie Hedo's Georges Wolinski, to examine the nature of satire.

The Dragon's Tales considers the possibility of cryomagna leaving marks on the surface of Europa.

Drew Ex Machina takes a look at the strangely alien skies of TRAPPIST-1e. What would its sun look like? How would the other planets appear?

The Everyday Sociology Blog takes a look at the new prominence of multigenerational households in the United States. While a response to economic strains, it also looks back to past traditions.

Hornet Stories notes how, on RuPaul's Drag Race, Monet X Change gave a decent explanation behind the surprisingly recent birth of the modern British accent.

Imageo notes how a massive blob of warm water is rising to the surface of the Pacific.

At In A State of Migration, Lyman Stone explores the unique population history of Maine, to my eyes easily the most Atlantic Canadian of the fifty American states.

JSTOR Daily links to a paper exploring why modern video games can produce such rewarding experiences for players. (We can get meaning from many places.)

Language Log takes a look at the complexity of Chinese language classifications with a song by Yishi Band. What exactly is Yibin Sichuanese?

Lawyers, Guns and Money takes a look at an interesting question: When did Jews in the United States become white?

The LRB Blog takes a look at the baffling reasons behind the poisoning of the Skribins with Novichok, and the science behind it.

Marginal Revolution notes that this year, GDP per capita measured at PPP in Spain is higher than in Italy. (This probably says more about the disarray in Italy.)

The NYR Daily shares an interesting interview with cartoonist Art Spiegelman.

Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw tells of his experiences on a trip to the small Australian city of Armidale, in the region of New England.

Justin Petrone reflects on the tidy and clean, minimalist even, rural landscape of Estonia.

Progressive Download's John Farrell notes brain scans that provide evidence of consciousness even in very young infants.

Drew Rowsome praises the Toronto production of the musical Fun Home, based on the Alison Bechdel graphic novel. I, for one, can't wait to see it.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes that, although Proxima Centauri is far too active a star for Proxima Centauri b to be Earth-like, that world could still plausibly host life-supporting environments.

Ilya Somin at the Volokh Conspiracy suggests a recent deal at the federal level in the US between Trump and Cory Gardner has created space for states to legalize marijuana without fear of federal intervention.

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[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: New York City, Montréal, Hong Kong, Paris, Narva

Hornet Stories has a list of some of the key LGBTQ destinations in New York City. This is something for my next trip, I think.

Robert Everett-Green writes about the transformation of Montréal's Viauville, once a model neighbourhood funded by 19th century cookie magnate Charles-Théodore Viau, over at The Globe and Mail.

Hong Kong is exceptionally pressed for space for housing, making land for commerce all the more difficult to come by. Bloomberg reports.

France is planning to make a suburban wasteland in the northeast of the conurbation of Paris over into a vast forest. CityLab reports.

DW reports on how, one hundred years after Estonia first became independent, the country's Russophones, particularly concentrated in the northeastern city of Narva, are now engaging with (and being engaged by) the wider country.

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[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes that the measured rate of the expansion of the universe depends on the method used to track this rate, and that this is a problem.

On Sunday, Caitlin Kelly celebrated receiving her annual cheque from Canada's Public Lending Program, which gives authors royalties based on how often their book has been borrowed in our public libraries.

In The Buzz, the Toronto Public Library identified five books in its collection particularly prone to be challenged by would-be censors.

D-Brief suggests that, if bacteria managed to survive and adapt in the Atacama desert as it became hostile to life, like life might have done the same on Mars.

Far Outliers notes the crushing defeat, and extensive looting of, the Moghul empire by the Persia of Nader Shah.

Hornet Stories looks at the medal hauls of out Olympic athletes this year in Pyeongchang.

Imageo notes satellite imagery indicating that fisheries occupy four times the footprint of agriculture. Aquaculture is starting to look like a necessary idea, I think.

At In Media Res, Russell Arben Fox praises Porch Fires, a new biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser, for its insights on Wilder and on the moment of the settlement of the American West.

JSTOR Daily notes how, in the 19th century after the development of anesthesia, the ability to relieve people of pain was a political controversy. Shouldn't it be felt, wasn't it natural?

Language Hat links to an article taking a look behind the scenes at the Oxford English Dictionary. How does it work? What are its challenges?

At Lingua Franca, Roger Shuy distinguishes between different kinds of speech events and explains why they are so important in the context of bribery trials.

The LRB Blog shares some advice on ethics in statecraft from the 2nd century CE Chinese writer Liu An.

J. Hoberman at the NYR Daily reviews an exhibit of the work of Bauhaus artist Jozef Albers at the Guggenheim.

Roads and Kingdoms shares an anecdote of travellers drinking homemade wine in Montenegro.

Drew Rowsome interviews Native American drag queen and up-and-coming music star Vizin.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains how star S0-2, orbiting so close to the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy, will help prove Einsteinian relativity.

Vintage Space explains, for the record, how rockets can work in a vacuum. (This did baffle some people this time last century.)

Window on Eurasia suggests that, on its 100th anniversary, Estonia has succeeded in integrating most of its Russophones.

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[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly talks about two days recently spent in Washington D.C. I would like to go there myself, I think, and for more than a quick bus transfer in the night.

Crooked Timber considers what the upper classes of the United States are getting from the new tax cuts.

Daily JSTOR considers the ethics of having the art of Banksy displayed in the occupied West Bank. Is it ethical?

Far Outliers notes the impact of missionary organizations on the US Peace Corps.

The Frailest Thing's Michael Sacasas notes that the "we" used in talk about technology does not include everyone, that it is a selective "we."

Imageo shares satellite imagery of the Arctic suggesting this winter in North America will be a harsh one.

Language Hat links to an article noting the dialect of English that refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos have developed.

The LRB Blog shares a report of a visit to the Estonian National Museum, and a reflection on the mythology of nationhood.

Marginal Revolution links to a paper claiming legalized abortion, not birth control, played the leading role in the emancipation of American women.

The NYR Daily notes the cult of personality surrounding Obama.

The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer wonders what happened to the Afro-Argentines, numerous until the 19th century.

Drew Rowsome notes a reading of the classic gay Canadian play Fortune and Men's Eyes, scheduled for the 11th at Buddies in Bad Times.

Window on Eurasia links to a scholarly examination of the Soviet annexation of once-independent Tannu Tuva, back in 1944.

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[BLOG] Some Sunday links

Crooked Timber takes a quick look at the role of the shadow in art, here.

Daily JSTOR notes that, in the 18th century, the punch favoured by partiers was often put up against the tea favoured by the more civilized.

Language Hat notes that the British Library has preserved the only surviving copy of Il Kaulata Maltia, the first Maltese-language journal.

Marginal Revolution notes a new study examining if easier divorce leads to assortative mating.

Justin Petrone at north! celebrates his life in November in Estonia.

Rocky Planet notes that Indonesia's Mount Agung is experiencing volcanic eruptions of lava.

Window on Eurasia suggests that Putin's Russia is trying to get Ukraine to take over Donbas on disadvantageous terms.

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[URBAN NOTE] Three links about cities and borders: Dover, Narva, Detroit

Anything but the softest of Brexits is going to leave Dover, port of entry into the UK, with massive traffic jams. Bloomberg reports.

The people of the largely Russian city of Narva, in Estonia, occupy an awkward but viable position. (For now.) Open Democracy reports.

Detroit is making a come-back, but many of its long-time inhabitants are not enjoying the revival. VICE reports.

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[BLOG] Some Sunday links

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at the discovery of rings around Kuiper belt dwarf planet Haumea, as does the Planetary Society Blog's Jason Davis.

The Big Picture, from the Boston Globe, shares photos of the devastation of Puerto Rico by Maria.

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the strong support of many--most?--on the American right for apartheid.

The LRB Blog shares an article by Mike Davis looking at the vulnerability of California, especially Napa, to wildfires.

The Map Room Blog links to a beautiful detailed map of the French railway network.

The NYR Daily reports from Catalonia on the edge of a meltdown.

North's Justin Petrone writes about going hunting for mushroooms in Estonia.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel shares five especially noteworthy photos provided by NASA. (What, no Pale Blue Dot?)

Window on Eurasia suggests Russians in Tatarstan, unlike other groups, are unique in not wanting to learn Tatar.