- JSTOR Daily provides advice for users of Zotero and Scrivener, here.
- JSTOR Daily looks at instances where product placement in pop culture went badly, here.
- JSTOR Daily considers the import of a pioneering study of vulgar language in the context of popular culture studies, here.
- JSTOR Daily looks at the--frankly terrible--policies of managing rival heirs in the Ottoman dynasty, here.
- JSTOR Daily looks at generational divides on religion in the England of the early Protestant Reformation, here.
[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.
[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] Five NYR Daily links (@nyrdaily)
Dec. 22nd, 2019 01:25 pm- Claire Messud writes at the NYR Daily about two art exhibits concerned with borders.
- Caitlin Chandler writes at the NYR Daily about the state of the experiment of Germany with mass reception and integration of refugees.
- The NYR Daily explores the modern Russian history of state-sponsored murder outside of its frontiers.
- Moroccan writer Hisham Aldi writes at NYR Daily about his relationship with Paul Bowles.
- The NYR Daily reports on a remarkable exhibit at the Barbican in London of notable nightclubs in 20th century culture.
- Bad Astronomy notes the remarkable burst of starbirth at the core of our galaxy one billion years ago, here.
- Bad Astronomy shares a flyby video of the Mars moon of Phobos.
- Bad Astronomer reports on a strange storm around the south pole of Jupiter, here.
- Bad Astronomer reports on an outburst following a debris impact seen by TESS on comet 47P/Wirtanen.
- Bad Astronomer notes the continuing debate over the dynamic nature of the spiral arms of galaxies.
- 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.
- A new storyboard in Niagara Falls displays the importance of railways to the city. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Niagara Falls city council is considering the idea of linking casinos by aerial car. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Global News reports on a drug bust that saw two people arrested in Niagara Falls.
- The Niagara Falls Review reports the number of reported homicides in Niagara Region tripled in 2019, to six.
- The immersive live nativity hosted by a Niagara Falls church sounds interesting. More is here.
- A recent discussion at Niagara Falls city council was dominated by discussion of housing issues and of homelessness. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Most revenues from the casinos of Niagara Falls have been directed to the infrastructure of the city. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- City council in Niagara Falls has approved the construction of a 72-storey hotel. Construct Connect reports.
- In November, the mayor announced the old city hall and courthouse in the downtown of Niagara Falls was scheduled to be demolished. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- The Bath House Hotel once was intended to be a centrepiece of local tourism. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Carrie Bosco writes about the experience of a customer service associate working at the Niagara Falls Public Library, over at the Niagara Falls Review.
- The Niagara Falls Public Library in winter is a happening place for locals. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- A Chinese developer hopes that a proposed $C 1.5 billion dollar project in south Niagara Falls will still go forward. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Niagara Falls is going to have a hard time replacing city historian Sherman Zavitz. The Niagaa Falls Review reports.
- Niagara News reports on the Winter Festival of Lights in Niagara Falls.
[URBAN NOTE] Ten Montréal links
Dec. 4th, 2019 12:26 pm- The Map Room Blog links to some old maps of Montréal.
- Major English-language newspapers in Montréal, including the Montreal Gazette, are no longer being distributed to Québec City clients. CBC reports.
- Radio-Canada employees' union is concerned over cost overruns in the construction of a new headquarters for the French-language chain. CTV NEws reports.
- La Presse notes how the to-be-demolished Champlain Bridge is a home for, among others, falcons.
- The Bibliothèque Saint-Sulpice, after the latest delay, will have been closed for nearly two decades. La Presse reports.
- The Montreal Children's Library is celebrating its 90th anniversary with a fundraiser. CBC reports.
- CBC Montreal looks at how, even without a stadium, legendary mayor Jean Drapeau brought major league baseball to his city.
- The anti-gentrification University of the Streets group has some interesting ideas. CBC reports.
- The city government of Montréal is looking into the issue of the high retail vacancy rates in parts of the city. CBC reports.
- At CBC Montreal, Ontario-born Jessica Brown writes about her struggles with employment in her adopted city.
[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.
[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.
[NEWS] Seven science links
Nov. 27th, 2019 10:08 pm- Climate change is playing a major role in the wildfires of California. Are we now in the Fire Age? Global News considers.
- The new normal of the Arctic Ocean is to be ice-free. Global News reports.
- Plants first reached land through unexpected horizontal gene transfers. CBC reports.
- Zebra mussels have made it to the Lake of the Woods. Global News reports.
- An artificial leaf that turns carbon dioxide into usable fuel is a remarkable technology. Universe Today reports.
- Earth once hosted nine human species; now it has one. What happened? National Pot considers.
- Thanks to better medical care and preventative measures, people have longer healthy lifespans than ever before. Global News reports.
[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links
Nov. 27th, 2019 02:17 pm- A beautiful Toronto would be nice, but this goal will take planning. The Toronto Star reports.
- Sean Marshall writes about the sad ironies of suburban neighbourhoods in Toronto unsafe for pedestrians.
- Jamie Bradburn takes a look at Davenport Road in the past, here.
- Transit Toronto notes the arrival tomorrow in the GTA of the Holiday Trains of the CPR, part of a fundraising campaign for foodbanks.
- Spacing shares an essay considering the idea of a map of Toronto according to runnability.
- Sidekick West, a new comic shop in the Junction Triangle, has unfortunately closed down. blogTO reports.
- Toronto Life breaks down the references in the massive 10-story mural painted by BirdO at Yonge and St. Clair.
[BLOG] Some Tuesday links
Nov. 26th, 2019 05:57 pm- Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait shares a stunning photo taken by a friend of the Pleiades star cluster.
- The Buzz, at the Toronto Public Library, shares a collection of books suitable for World Vegan Month, here.
- Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber considers, with an eye towards China and the Uighurs, how panopticon attempts can stray badly on account of--among other things--false assumptions.
- Gizmodo considers how antimatter could end up providing interesting information about the unseen universe.
- Joe. My. God. reports from New York City, where new HIV cases are dropping sharply on account of PrEP.
- JSTOR Daily shares a vintage early review of Darwin's Origin of Species.
- Language Hat examines the origins of the semicolon, in Venice in 1494.
- Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money shares a critical report of the new Jill Lepore book These Truths.
- The LRB Blog reports from the Museum of Corruption in Kyiv, devoted to the corruption of the ancient regime in Ukraine.
- Marginal Revolution shares a new history of the Lakota.
- The NYR Daily looks at the photography of Duane Michals.
- The Russian Demographics Blog looks at population trends in Russia, still below 1991 totals in current frontiers.
- Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why some of the lightest elements, like lithium, are so rare.
- Window on Eurasia shares the opinion of a Russian historian that Eastern Europe is back as a geopolitical zone.
- Arnold Zwicky considers Jacques Transue in the light of other pop culture figures and trends.
[URBAN NOTE] Nine Toronto links
Nov. 25th, 2019 05:56 pm- Metrolinx using paid influencers to promote the Ontario Line is certainly a choice. The Toronto Star reports.
- Union Station retiring an old mechanical system 90 years old used to control TTC vehicles is a landmark event. The Metrolinx blog reports.
- Jamie Bradburn looks at the birth of the Gardiner Expressway, here.
- Alok Mukherjee at Spacing questions why police in Toronto have stopped enforcing traffic regulations.
- Protesters charged with blocking the Bloor Viaduct during the Extinction Rebellion have had the charges dropped. Global News reports.
- Sean Marshall shared his account of his address to the Toronto Police Services board, here.
- Jamie Bradburn looks at the history behind the mid-20th century expansion of Church Street.
- NOW Toronto notes that workers at the Broadview Hotel have become unionized.
- Samantha Lui writes at NOW Toronto against the false negative stereotypes applied by so many--even briefly by Google--to Scarborough.
- CBC notes that a lawsuit surrounding benefits fraud by TTC employees has been settled, expensively.
[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.
- Victor Mair at Language Log takes a look at the many and varied colloquialisms in the different varieties of Chinese.
- Robert Hymes writes a guest post at Language Log examining the word "mare" and its relatives across language families.
- Mark Liberman at Language Log considers how the name of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is to be pronounced.
- Victor Mair at Language Log takes a look at the English dialect of Yorkshire.
- JSTOR Daily examines ch'arki, an Andean food like jerky.
- JSTOR Daily reports on how Peru and Chile contest claims to being the origins of pisco.
- JSTOR Daily explores the X-ray craze of 1896, here.
- JSTOR Daily explores the "lavender scare" of the 1950s that saw dozens of queer men purged from the American government.
- JSTOR Daily looks at how linguists are using Urban Dictionary to study the evolution of language.
[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.