rfmcdonald | Entries tagged with polynesia

La Presse notes how Montréal is placing limits on new construction, and why.

JSTOR Daily looks at how Basquiat interacted with his surroundings in New York City, using them for art.

CityLab reports on a study of gentrification and displacement in Philadelphia.

Guardian Cities reports on the remarkable speed with which Turkish Airlines shifted to a new airport in Istanbul.

This article in The Conversation is entirely right about the importance of Indigenous urban reserves: Why cannot First Nations be as urbanized as other Canadians?

Chris Fitch writes at CityLab about how, as part of a new policy, Maori placenames are being introduced (or reintroduced) into the New Zealand capital of Wellington.

Le Devoir took a look at the importance of the seal hunt for the Iles-de-la-Madeleine.

Alex Boyd at The Island Review details, with prose and photos, his visit to the now-deserted island of St. Kilda.

The Economist took a look at the German North Sea island of Heligoland.

Orlando Milesi writes at the Inter Press Service about the threats posed by climate changes to the iconic statues and marine resources of Rapa Nui.

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?

CBC Prince Edward Island reports on a poster showing the hundred largest islands in the world. (PEI is #96.)

A broken undersea cable has disrupted Internet service throughout the Kingdom of Tonga, Motherboard reports.

The melting of ice is southwestern Greenland is accelerating, CBC reports.

CityLab notes controversy in Montréal regarding plans to redesign the insular Parc-Jean-Drapeau.

Al Jazeera looks at the problems facing the inhabitants of the United Kingdom's overseas territories, almost all islands, faced with Brexit.

Representatives of Easter Island, visiting London, plead for the return of a moai statue stolen away in the 1860s. The Guardian reports.

Guardian Cities notes the problems facing Pacific Island migrants in the New Zealand city of Auckland.

Daily Xtra takes a look at Pride on Curaçao.

The Conversation notes how Barbados has demonstrated, and is continuing to demonstrate, remarkable resiliency versus threats both natural and human.

Deb O'Rourke at NOW Toronto writes about how Toronto Islanders and the Mississauga of the New Credit First Nation are moving towards reconciliation.

The Inter Press Service notes that the vulnerable islands of the Caribbean can survive only a modest increase in temperatures.

La Presse reports that the new premier of Québec, François Legault, says he has no plans to open up Anticosti island, in the Guilf of St. Lawrence, to exploration for oil.

VICE interviews some workers on a Greek party island to see what their lives are like. (Rarely does it feel like a vacation.)

The recent Hurricane Walaka has done terrible damage to some of the most remote islands of Hawai'i, destroying low-lying East Island entirely. Global News reports.

CNN notes that although the more remote islands of the Federated States of Micronesia might seem idyllic to tourists, local populations are emigrating from these isolated locations in large numbers.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes the landing of the Franco-German MASCOT probe on asteroid Ryugu from the Japanese Hayabusa-2 probe.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly shares a powerful New York Times article she wrote about her health status.

Centauri Dreams notes the continued fine-tuning of the New Horizons probe as it approaches Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, also known as Ultima Thule.

D-Brief notes how the Gaia satellite has detected hundreds of hypervelocity stars heading towards the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy, perhaps coming from other galactic neighbours like the Large Magellanic Cloud.

At the Everyday Sociology Blog, Karen Sternheimer writes about the possibilities opened up by learning another language.

JSTOR Daily notes that, once, working-class children regularly roamed the night.

Language Hat notes how the Maori remembered in their proverbs the disappearance of the moa, long after that species' extinction in New Zealand.

Lawyers, Guns and Money rejoices at the despair of the alt-right on learning their favourite pop star, Taylor Swift, supports the Democratic Party.

Lingua Franca takes a look at the past usage of the phrase "cold civil war".

The LRB Blog writes about the profoundly disturbing case of the apparent murder, inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution has a critical take on the concept of "Airspace", the sort of shared minimalist public spaces enabled by modern technologies.

Strange Company reports on the mysterious Napoleonic-era haunting of the Upper Silesian castle of Slawensik.

Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps reports on the most common last names in different European countries, finding that local variations on "Smith" are exceptionally common.

blogTO reports on the lovely Dufferin Islands of Niagara Falls, green creations in the river.

Language Hat reports on the mythical island of Antillia, a phantom island reputed in late medieval Europe to lie far to the west of Iberia.

Archeologists are racing to excavate and record and even protect hundreds, if not thousands, of archeological sites in the Orkney Islands ahead of rising sea levels. The National Post reports.

JSTOR Daily takes a look at the factors that drew the 19th century kings of Hawai'i so strongly towards freemasonry.

Janet Wainscott writes at The Island Review about her visit to New Zealand's Stewart Island, searching for the remnants of her family's homes and businesses there.

GQ reports on how Puerto Rico has managed to become a favoured legal home for the super-rich via its tax codes, here.

The example of Palau, hit by a collapse in Chinese tourism after its government displeased Beijing, shows the problems of depending on China. Reuters reports.

The SCMP notes how the prime minister of Tonga has demanded more respect from Chinese for Pacific island nations, especially in connection to debts, here.

This photo essay in The Atlantic shows the impact of sea level change on fragile Tuvalu, barely above sea level even now.

The NYR Daily reports on the experiences and art of Chris Ofili now that he is based in Trinidad.

Reddit's unresolvedmysteries highlights a historical conundrum: Who were these hundreds of people from all over Asia who died in a remote district of the Indian Himalayas centuries ago?

Smithsonian Magazine notes why 18th century Europeans prized even wildly inaccurate maps and images of colonial cities in the Americas.

J.M. Opal's argument at The Conversation that the United States, dominated by a rigid oligarchy, is as unreformable as 18th century Britain is depressing.

The suggestion of Dan Malleck at The Conversation, looking back at the Ontario pre-Prohibition history of unregulated alcohol sales, that the Ford deregulation of marijuana sales might be short-sighted, seems plausible.

George Dvorsky at Gizmodo shares the latest evidence that pre-contact Easter Island did not undergo a great violent collapse, with no signs of a major conflict.

Architectuul reports on how architects, at a time of new environmental pressures on water, how some architects are integrating water into their works.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly talks about what books she is (and is not) reading these days.

D-Brief notes a new study suggesting that the prospects of planet-based life at globular cluster Omega Centauri are low, simply because the tightly-packed stars disrupt each others' planets too often.

Hornet Stories notes how some American conservatives wish to prohibit states from mandating adoption agencies not bar same-sex couples as applicants.

JSTOR Daily notes how the tattooed heads of Maori first became international trade items in the 19th century, then were returned to New Zealand in more recent years.

Language Log's Victor Mair writes about his favourite Nepali expression, "Bāphre bāph!".

The Map Room Blog notes the release of a revised vision of Star Trek: Stellar Cartography, including material from season 1 of Discovery.

Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw explains how, in 1976, he appeared on Australian television talking about the Yowie, the Australian equivalent to a Yeti.

Drew Rowsome reviews Folsom Street Blues, Jim Stewart's memoirs of the leather/SoMA scene in San Francisco in the 1970s.

Peter Rukavina writes about the newly liberal liquor laws of Prince Edward Island, allowing children to be present in environments where liquor is being served.

Window on Eurasia shares suggestions that the government of Ukraine needs to take a much more visible, and active, approach towards protecting its international tourists, for their sake and for the country's.

Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell talks about the redefinition, at least in the United Kingdom, of Euroskepticism into a movement of extreme suburban nationalists, away from rational critiques of the European Union.

JSTOR Daily notes how severe drought in Ireland is revealing, to aerial and other observers, the outlines of ancient ruins.

D-Brief examines how the export from Norse Greenland to Europe of walrus ivory played a key role in these lost settlements' economy.

The people of Rapa Nui, Easter Island, have demanded a return of one of their moai statues from the British Museum, taken at their historical nadir.

Asylum-seekers being held in detention by Australia on the island of Nauru have beseeched Canada, asking for refuge here. CBC reports.

New York Magazine suggests that San Juan, capital of Puerto Rico, is despite recent horrors a good destination for tourists.

Architectuul has an extended long interview with architect Dragoljub Bakić, talking about the innovative architecture of Tito's Yugoslavia and his experiences abroad.

Centauri Dreams remarks on how the new maps of Pluto can evoke the worlds of Ray Bradbury.

The Crux answers an interesting question: What, exactly, is a blazar?

D-Brief links to a study suggesting that conditions on Ross 128 b, the second-nearest potentially habitable planet, are potentially (very broadly) Earth-like.

Dangerous Minds shows how John Mellencamp was, in the 1970s, once a glam rocker.

The Finger Post shares photos from a recent visit to Naypyidaw, the very new capital of Myanmar.

Gizmodo explains how the detection of an energetic neutrino led to the detection of a distant blazar, marking yet another step forward for multi-messenger astronomy.

JSTOR Daily reports on the now-overlooked writer of supernatural fiction Vernon Lee.

Language Log makes an argument that acquiring fluency in Chinese language, including Chinese writing, is difficult, so difficult perhaps as to displace other cultures. Thoughts?

Lawyers, Guns and Money suggests that the decline of the neo-liberal world order is needed. My main concern is that neo-liberalism may well be the least bad of the potential world orders out there.

Lingua Franca takes a look at how Hindi and Urdu, technically separate languages, actually form two poles of a Hindustani language continuum.

The Map Room Blog links to a unique map of the London Underground that shows the elevation of each station.

Rocky Planet notes that the continuing eruption of Kilauea is going to permanently shape the lives of the people of the Big Island of Hawai'i.

Window on Eurasia notes that the Buddhists of Kalmykia want the Russian government to permit a visit by the Dalai Lama to their republic.

Writing at Worthwhile Canadian Initiative, Livio Di Matteo notes that the Trump demand NATO governments spend 4% of their GDP on defense would involve unprecedented levels of spending in Canada.

D-Brief notes that global climate change seems already to have altered the flow of the ocean current system including the Gulf Stream.

JSTOR Daily takes a look at the dialect, and cultural forms, of American loggers.

Taika Waititi, director of (among other movies) Thor: Ragnarok, has created controversy by talking about racism in his native New Zealand. (Good for him, I'd say.) Lawyers, Guns and Money reports.

Marginal Revolution takes a look at a strange public apology by a Chinese company, and what this says about Chinese politics.

Strange Maps' Frank Jacobs shared this map depicting the many ephemeral states that appeared in the former Russian Empire after the October Revolution.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel makes the point that there are very good reasons to believe in dark matter and dark energy, that these concepts are not just a latter-day version of the aether.

Window on Eurasia looks at the many ways in which the Siberian republic of Tuva is a political anomaly in Russia.

At Worthwhile Canadian Initiative, Frances Woolley uses data from the National Graduates Survey to take a look at student regret in Canadian universities. To what extent does it exist? What disciplines is it concentrated in?

The suggestion of Maltese academic Godfrey Baldacchino that Malta relieve its overcrowding by buying the nearby Italian island of Pantelleria has the advantage of being attention-catching. Malta Today has it.

I wish the lawsuit of American Samoans seeking full citizenship in the United States all possible success. NBC News reports.

Atlas Obscura takes a look at the distinctive history and culture of the Moriori of the Chatham Islands.

Tasmania turns out to be a hugely popular destination for tourists from China. Bloomberg reports.

The Newfoundland government's program of relocating marginal settlements remains hugely controversial. CBC reports.

anthro{dendum} hosts Alexia Maddox's essay on her experience doing ethnographic work on Darknet drug markets.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly writes about how the creative life, contrary to some imaginings, is not self-sustaining. It desperately needs external support--an outside job, perhaps.

Bruce Dorminey writes about how the climate of Chile, especially the Atacama, is perfect for astronomy.

JSTOR Daily shares a paper talking about how Alexander Pushkin, the 19th century Russian author, was demonstrably proud of his African ancestry.

Language Hat links to a new article on rongorongo, the mysterious and undeciphered script of the Rapa Nui of Polynesian Easter Island.

Lingua Franca, at the Chronicle, notes in passing the oddness of restrictions imposed by customs in Chile on taking ordinary books into the country.

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes a bizarrely parochial article from the New York Times talking down to Los Angeles.

The Map Room Blog links to some interesting articles, from The New York Times recently and from the Atlantic in 2012, about the art of gerrymandering.

The NYR Daily looks at the import of the Nunes memo for Trump and Russian-American relations.

Roads and Kingdoms considers the simple pleasures of a snack featuring canned fish by the beach in Mallorca.

Drew Rowsome quite approves of this year's gay romance film Sebastian, set here in Toronto.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes that, contrary to predictions, most satellite galaxies orbit in the same plane as their hosts. This is a problem for dark matter.

notes

Bloomberg describes the FCC report on the Hawaii missile scale earlier this month.

The British Virgin Islands are apparently continuing to undergo their recovery from Hurricane Irma, enough to become tourist attractions again. The Guardian reports.

Jonathan Levin and Yalixa Rivera look at Bloomberg at the astonishing lack of good data on Puerto Rico's demographics after Hurricane Maria. How many have left? Estimates run all the way up to a half-million departures by the end of 2019.

Reddit's unresolvedmysteries shares the story of the supposed Polynesian island of Tuanaki, which went suddenly missing in the 1840s. What happened? Did it ever exist?

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly talks about a week of her life as a freelance writer, highlighting so much of her work relates to social connections as opposed to actual writing.

The Frailest Thing's Michael Sacasas shares an astonishingly prescient take by E.B. White on the power of television from 1938.

Hornet Stories notes the efforts of the Indonesian government to get the Google Play Store there to block 70 apps used by LGBT people.

At In a State of Migration, Lyman Stone looks at demographic trends in Hawaii, the other major insular possession of the United States. Low fertility and a high cost of living may actually lead to population decline there, too, in the foreseeable future.

Joe. My. God. notes the death, at 59, of trailblazing gay comedian Bob Smith.

JSTOR Daily links/u> to a paper noting how Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Uprising played a critical role in shaping post-war Jewish identity.

Towleroad notes the announcement of an astonishingly preserved 1945 film clip showing gay men, out, at a pool party in 1945 Missouri.

Window on Eurasia notes one prominent Donbas separatists' push for an aggressive response to the Ukrainian government over the collapse of Minsk, including an attempt to reclaim the remainder of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts from Kyiv.

JSTOR Daily links to a paper examining how a speculative sugar boom in early modern Madeira was the first of its kind.

Simon Worrall interviews author Malachy Tallack about the latter's book of imaginary places, notably islands.

News that the DNA of a preserved thylacine has been salvaged is fantastic. Besides the scientific interest of this, could this lead to the resurrection of this Tasmanian species?

Elaina Zachos notes the many problems facing the many cute rabbits product of a recent introduction to the Japanese island of Ōkunoshima.

A volcanic island that recently emerged from the sea off of Tonga turns out to be much more durable than scientists had expected.

D-Brief notes that the opioid epidemic seems to be hitting baby boomers and millennials worst, of all major American demographics.

Hornet Stories shares one timetable for new DC films following Justice League.

Joe. My. God. notes a case brought by a Romanian before the European Court of Justice regarding citizenship rights for his American spouse. This could have broad implications for the recognition of same-sex couples across the EU, not just its member-states.

Language Hat reports on a journalist's search for a village in India where Sanskrit, ancient liturgical language of Hinduism, remains the vernacular.

The Map Room Blog links to a review of an intriuging new book, Nowherelands, looking at ephemeral countries in the 1840-1975 era.

The NYR Daily looks at the textile art of Anni Albers.

The Planetary Society Blog explores the navigational skills of the Polynesians, and their reflection in Moana.

Roads and Kingdoms reports on the widespread jubilation in Zimbabwe following the overthrow of Mugabe.

Rocky Planet notes that Öræfajökull, the largest volcano in Iceland if a hidden one, has been showing worrying signs of potential eruption.

Drew Rowsome reports on House Guests, an art installation that has taken over an entire house at Dundas and Ossington.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at the story of how the quantum property of spin was discovered.

Window on Eurasia suggests new Russian policies largely excluding non-Russian languages from education are causing significant problems, even ethnic conflict.

Arnold Zwicky considers music as a trigger of emotional memory, generally and in his own life.

Catrine Jarman notes how Easter Island's history has been badly misread. The island was sustainably run, after all.

Dead Things notes how DNA studies of ancient Rapa Nui suggest there was no South American immigration. No contact?

Will the new airport at St. Helena open up new potential for tourism for the South Atlantic island? Global News reports.

Iceland is enthusiastically trying to restore its ancient forests, downed by Vikings, so far with not much success. The New York Times reports.

Ottawa has been urged to give farm workers from Dominica, ravaged by hurricanes, extended work permits. The Toronto Star reports.

The island of Vieques, already hit by American military testing, has been prostrated by Maria. VICE reports.

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[URBAN NOTE] Six city links: Montréal, New York City, Philadelphia, Istanbul, reserves, Wellington
[ISL] Five #islands links: Iles-de-la-Madeleine, St. Kilda, Heligoland, Rapa Nui, Tonga
[ISL] Five islands links: #PEI, Tonga, Greenland, Montréal, Brexit
[ISL] Five #islands links: Easter Island, New Zealand, Curaçao, Barbados, Toronto Islands
[ISL] Five islands notes: Caribbean, Anticosti, Greece, Hawai'i, Micronesia
[BLOG] Some Tuesday links
[ISL] Five islands links: Dufferin Islands, Antillia, Orkneys, Hawai'i, Stewart Island
[ISL] Five islands links: Puerto Rico, Palau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Trinidad
[NEWS] Five history links: Himalayas, bad maps, United States, Ontario Prohibition, Easter Island
[BLOG] Some Tuesday links
[ISL] Five island links: Ireland, Norse Greenland, Rapa Nui/Easter Island, Nauru, Puerto Rico
[BLOG] Some Friday links
[BLOG] Some Thursday links
[ISL] Five islands links: Malta/Pantelleria, American Samoa, Chatham Islands, Tasmania, Newfoundland
[BLOG] Some Friday links
[ISL] Four islands links: Hawaii, British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Tuanaki
[BLOG] Some Sunday links
[ISL] Five notes on Islands: Madeira, imaginary places, thylacine, Ōkunoshima rabbit, volcanic Tonga
[BLOG] Some Thursday links
[ISL] Six island links: Easter Island, Iceland, Vieques, Dominica, Saint Helena

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A Bit More Detail

Assorted Personal Notations, Essays, and Other Jottings

Entries tagged with polynesia

[URBAN NOTE] Six city links: Montréal, New York City, Philadelphia, Istanbul, reserves, Wellington

[ISL] Five #islands links: Iles-de-la-Madeleine, St. Kilda, Heligoland, Rapa Nui, Tonga

[ISL] Five islands links: #PEI, Tonga, Greenland, Montréal, Brexit

[ISL] Five #islands links: Easter Island, New Zealand, Curaçao, Barbados, Toronto Islands

[ISL] Five islands notes: Caribbean, Anticosti, Greece, Hawai'i, Micronesia

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[ISL] Five islands links: Dufferin Islands, Antillia, Orkneys, Hawai'i, Stewart Island

[ISL] Five islands links: Puerto Rico, Palau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Trinidad

[NEWS] Five history links: Himalayas, bad maps, United States, Ontario Prohibition, Easter Island

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[ISL] Five island links: Ireland, Norse Greenland, Rapa Nui/Easter Island, Nauru, Puerto Rico

[BLOG] Some Friday links

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

[ISL] Five islands links: Malta/Pantelleria, American Samoa, Chatham Islands, Tasmania, Newfoundland

[BLOG] Some Friday links

[ISL] Four islands links: Hawaii, British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Tuanaki

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

[ISL] Five notes on Islands: Madeira, imaginary places, thylacine, Ōkunoshima rabbit, volcanic Tonga