A Bit More Detail

• Bad Astronomer notes the circumstances of the discovery of a low-mass black hole, only 3.3 solar masses.


• Crooked Timber shares a photo of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.


• The Crux looks at Monte Verde, the site in Chile that has the evidence of the oldest human population known to have lived in South America.


• The Dragon's Tales notes that Russia may provide India with help in the design of its Gaganyaan manned capsule.


• L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing talks of his work, including his upcoming conference and his newsletter, The Convivial Society. (Subscribe at the website.)


• Gizmodo shares the Voyager 2 report from the edges of interstellar space.


• JSTOR Daily looks at the East India Company and its corporate lobbying.


• Language Hat shares an account from Ken Liu of the challenges in translating The Three Body Problem, linguistic and otherwise.


• Language Log looks at the problems faced by the word "liberation" in Hong Kong.


• Dan Nexon at Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the implications of the surprising new relationship between Russia and the Philippines.


• Marginal Revolution seems to like Terminator: Dark Fate, as a revisiting of the series' origins, with a Mesoamerican twist.


• Sean Marshall announces his attendance at a transit summit in Guelph on Saturday the 9th.


• Garry Wills writes at the NYR Daily about his experience as a man in the mid-20th century American higher education looking at the rise of women.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at the strangely faint distant young galaxy MACS2129-1.


• Window on Eurasia considers the possibility of Latvia developing a national Eastern Orthodox church of its own.

• 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.)

• This report from the Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso noting the sheer scale of emigration in parts of rural Albania, proceeding to the point of depopulating entire territories, tells a remarkable story.


• This opinion suggesting that, due to the breakdown of the economy of Venezuela, we will soon see a refugee crisis rivaling Syria's seems frighteningly plausible.


• Politico Europe notes that, in the case of Latvia, where emigration has helped bring the country's population down below two million, there are serious concerns.


• OZY tells the unexpected story of hundreds of young Namibian children who, during apartheid, were raised in safety in Communist East Germany.


• Many Chinese are fleeing the pollution of Beijing and other major cities for new lives in the cleaner environments in the southern province of Yunnan. The Guardian reports.

• Bloomberg notes concerns over Northern Ireland's frontiers, looks at how Japanese retailers are hoping to take advantage of Vietnam's young consumers, examines the desperation of Venezuelans shopping in Colombia, looks at Sri Lankan interest in Chinese investment, suggests oil prices need to stay below 40 dollars US a barrel for Russia to reform, observes that Chinese companies are increasingly reluctant to invest, and suggests Frankfurt will gain after Brexit.


• Bloomberg View gives advice for the post-Brexit British economy, looks at how Chinese patterns in migration are harming young Chinese, suggests Hillary should follow Russian-Americans in not making much of Putin's interference, and looks at the Israeli culture wars.


• CBC considers the decolonization of placenames in the Northwest Territories, notes Canada's deployment to Latvia was prompted by French domestic security concerns, and looks at an ad promoting the Albertan oil sands that went badly wrong in trying to be anti-homophobic.


• The Inter Press Service considers the future of Turkey and looks at domestic slavery in Oman.


• MacLean's looks at China's nail house owners, resisting development.


• The National Post reports from the Colombia-Venezuela border.


• Open Democracy considers the nature of work culture in the austerity-era United Kingdom, looks at traditions of migration and slavery in northern Ghana, examines European bigotry against eastern Europeans, and examines the plight of sub-Saharan migrants stuck in Morocco.


• Universe Today notes two nearby potentially habitable rocky worlds, reports that the Moon's Mare Imbrium may have been result of a hit by a dwarf planet, and reports on Ceres' lack of large craters.

• blogTO notes the increasing unaffordability of real estate in Toronto.


• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly is quite right about the restorative power of a walk.


• The Dragon's Tales notes China's plans to launch its space station into orbit.


• The LRB Blog features an essay from a German Jewish cemetery in Berlin, reflecting on past and present migrations and refugees.


• Geocurrents notes the very sharp worldwide drop in fertility rates between 1950 and 2015.


• The NYRB Daily considers controversies over museums in Berlin.


• Peter Rukavina notes the very odd weather projected Thursday for Charlottetown.


• Torontoist examines how Ontario's proposal for free tuition for student from low-income families would work.


• Window on Eurasia notes Russian interest in triggering Latgalian separatism to try to control Latvia.


• Arnold Zwicky considers the idea of the "greater West Coast."

• blogTO notes that Toronto will be holding a public meeting on ways to host the city's music scene.


• Centauri Dreams looks at a recent transit study of Alpha Centauri B that hints at the existence fo a second close-orbiting planet.


• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper on rogue exoplanets.


• The Dragon's Tales looks at Korean military aircraft procurement.


• Steve Munro writes at length about the minutiae of TTC signaling contracts.


• Torontoist notes that most people in a recent Forum Research poll want alcoholic beverages to be available in grocery stores.


• Towleroad argues that the show Looking could have benefitted from a mote interesting take on sex.


• The Volokh Conspiracy suggests the Indiana religious freedom law isn't as bad as described.


• Window on Eurasia suggests Russians are misled about their relationship with China, notes the relative decline of the arms industry vis-a-vis more advanced competitors, looks at the impact on Crimean mass media of Russian annexation, and examines problematic links between Russia and Latvian Russophones.


• The Yorkshire Ranter continues to write (1, 2, 3) about the ill-thought Biryani Project.

The Latvian capital is an hour and a half’s flight from Moscow. The majority of the people speak Russian. But the main attraction for Latvia’s “residency for property” program was, until recently, its relative cheapness compared with similar “golden visa” programs in Europe. For an investment as small as 70,000 euros, foreigners could obtain a five-year Latvian residence permit, enabling free travel throughout most of the European Union.

During the five years of the program’s existence, 13,518 foreigners have obtained residence permits. Unlike similar programs in other European countries, 90 percent of Latvia’s applications have come from citizens of the former Soviet Union, mainly Russia. Over 10,000 Russians have obtained Latvian residency under the program.

For almost a year Re:Baltica, in collaboration with EurasiaNet.org and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, collected and cross-matched information from Land, Property and Business Registries in Latvia and analyzed the 315 most expensive real estate deals in Riga and Jūrmala involving foreign investment. The purpose was to obtain a full picture of the people who, during turbulent times in Ukraine and the growing standoff between the West and Russia, have opted for Latvia’s ultra-cheap “golden visa” program. The investigation also strived to determine the origin of the money used to buy properties.

The investigation revealed that over the past year, a majority of buyers of real estate came from Russia’s middle class. The number of applications grew rapidly after the start of the pro-European protests in Ukraine and Russia’s subsequent annexation of Crimea. Twice as many people from Ukraine applied in 2014 as had in the previous year. The wave from Russia picked up after Putin was re-elected president in 2012, and continued at almost the same level last year.

[. . .]

Officials in Riga have a hard time determining the extent to which dark money is used to purchase property in Latvia, a country with a banking sector that has a reputation for being a gateway to the EU for oligarchs from the former Soviet Union. Money laundering has been an issue in the past. In 2013, Latvian regulators fined an undisclosed bank for laundering money in a case connected to Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, who died in official custody in 2009.

• blogTO notes a Toronto vigil for the Jordanian pilot murdered by ISIS.


• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly talks about friends and age gaps.


• Centauri Dreams draws from Poul Anderson
  
• Crooked Timber considers trolling.


• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper wondering why circumbinary exoplanets are so detectable.


• The Dragon's Tales looks at robots: robots which put out fires on American navy ships, robots in China which do deliveries for Alibaba, robots which smuggle drugs.


• Far Outliers notes Singapore's pragmatism and its strong military.


• Language Log notes the language of language diversity.


• Marginal Revolution wonders about the prospects of the Euro-tied Danish crown.


• The Planetary Society Blog notes the approach of Ceres.


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer considers scenarios for a profitable Nicaragua Canal and notes the oddities of Argentina.


• Registan looks at Mongolian investment in Tuva, and other adjacent Mongolian-influence Russian regions.


• Savage Minds looks at Iroquois linguistic J.N.B. Hewitt.


• Seriously Science notes how immigrant chimpanzees adapt tothe vocalizations of native chimps.


• Spacing Toronto talks about the need for an activist mayor in Toronto.


• Torontoist examines the history of important black bookstore Third World Books and Crafts.


• Towleroad notes many young gay/bi students are looking for sugar daddies, and notes the failure of Slovakia's anti-gay referendum.


• The Volokh Conspiracy notes a new Bosnian Serb law strictly regulating offensive speech online.


• Window on Eurasia notes the collapse of the Russian world, suggests Russia should not be allowed a role in Donbas, argues that a Ukrainian scenario is unlikely in the Latvian region of Latgale and in the Baltics more broadly, and looks at the growth of fascism in Russia.

• blogTO's Chris Bateman notes that Yonge and Eglinton is set to boom in coming years, between condo and mass transit construction.


• Centauri Dreams looks at the second stage of the Kepler mission.


• The Dragon's Gaze notes the redetection of exoplanets WASP 39b and WASP 43b, and links to a study of proto-Kuiper belts in young planetary systems.


• The Dragon's Tales notes Russian air deployments to Belarus.


• The Everyday Sociology Blog considers the concept of "kung fu" sociology, used to undermine false claims.


• Geocurrents considers the environmental implications of marijuana cultivation.


• Language Log notes a paper mapping language diversity onto geographic complexity, regions more difficult to traverse being more linguistically diverse.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money is very critical of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.


• Marginal Revolution notes that the Moroccan occupation of the Western Sahara is enormously costly.


• Otto Pohl commemorates the 71st anniversary of the deportation of the Kalmyks, while Window on Eurasia notes the high degree of assimilation of Kalmyks.


• The Planetary Society Blog provides an overview of the observational history of Ceres.


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer takes issue with a review of his new book, The Empire Trap.


• Window on Eurasia notes Ukrainian support for NATO and Ukrainian opposition to giving up the Donbas, notes Tsarist emigrés' support for Russia in Crimea, argues that Russia really hasn't incorporated Crimea, and notes Latvian interest in launching a Russian-language television channel.

• Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait notes that claims Arctic ice cover is recovering are ill-founded.


• blogTO shares some of the most notable catastrophes from Rob Ford's days coaching high school football.


• Centauri Dreams shares a new map of Triton, Neptune's moon.


• The Cranky Sociologists map the distribution of different religions and the unaffiliated around the world.


• Crooked Timber has at the old canard about Silent Spring's DDT ban killing millions with malaria.


• Discover's Crux notes how GPS location services owe their existence to relativity.


• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper examining how rocky asteroids can be detected around white dwarfs.


• The Dragon's Tales note that tuberculosis was in the Americas before Columbus.


• Eastern Approaches notes an appeal by Polish intellectuals to support Ukraine.


• The Frailest Thing's Michael Sacasas wonders what if, instead of imagining worst-case scenarios for new technologies, we imagine positive things.


• Language Hat comments on a new book on Russia in the Napoleonic Wars that mentions how Latvian was used as a code.


• Language Log notes that technology is not dehumanizing us.


• Marginal Revolution notes that the biggest split in Ukraine is between supporters of European and Eurasian integration, and notes that Putin's Russia has kickstarted a new era of global politics.


• James Nicoll reviews Heinlein's juveniles.


• Otto Pohl notes that modern Kazakhstan can trace its history directly only to the Soviet era, not to earlier states.


• Registan looks at the Chinese geopolitical concept of continentalism.


• Towleroad looks at a controversial gay club poster featuring two notable male writers kissing.


• The Volokh Conspiracy reminds readers of the Crimean annexation and doesn't think eastern Ukraine has a compelling moral case at all for secession.


• Window on Eurasia notes the economic costs to Tatarstan of remaining Russian, reports that Russian neo-Nazis are fighting in Ukraine, looks at how past actions are being seen in a more biased light, and quotes Vladimir Lukin to the effect that Russia wants Donbas to stay in Ukraine so as to prevent the country from looking to NATO.