rfmcdonald | Entries tagged with puerto rico

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shows four different images of nearby stellar nursery NGC 1333.

Centauri Dreams looks at the hot Saturn TOI-197, and the way it was detected.

D-Brief notes how galaxy NGC-1052 DF2 has been confirmed as the second galaxy apparently lacking in dark matter.

Gizmodo notes new confirmation, from an orbiting probe, that Curiosity detected methane emanating from Mars back in 2013.

Hornet Stories tries to correct some misconceptions about the Burning Man festival.

The Island Review links to a New York Times profile of post-Maria Puerto Rico.

Joe. My. God. notes that Martin Shkreli has been tossed into solitary confinement.

JSTOR Daily notes the work of psychologists in the 1930s US who profiled individuals who did not fit the gender binary. Would these people have identified themselves as trans or non-binary now?

The LRB Blog notes the fondness of Jacob Rees-Mogg for extreme-right German politicians from the AfD.

Language Log shares a written ad in Cantonese from Hong Kong.

Lawyers, Guns and Money compares China now to the Untied States of the past, and finds interesting correspondences.

Marginal Revolution notes the deep and significant commitment of China under Mao to providing foreign aid.

The NYR Daily looks at the complex, once-overlooked, life and career of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, writer of "The Yellow Wallpaper".

Out There notes that, while dark matter is certainly real, "dark matter" is a poor name for this mysterious substance.

Jason Davis at the Planetary Society Blog considers the challenges to be faced by Hayabusa 2 when it fires a sampling probe into asteroid Ryugu.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel considers how into the universe a spaceship could travel if it accelerated consistently at one gravity.

Strange Company examines the life and adventures of Jeffrey Hudson, a royal dwarf in 17th century England.

Daniel Little at Understanding Society builds on the work of V.K. Ramachandran in considering the ethics of development ethnography.

Window on Eurasia notes the new identification of Azerbaijanis as victims of genocide by neighbours, and what this means for the relations of Azerbaijan.

Arnold Zwicky has fun, in a NSFW fanfic way, with figures from comics contemporary and old.

MacLean's looks at the long and sorry neglect of the Manitoba Arctic port of Churchill in its time of need by the Canadian federal government.

Wired looks at the "pink tax" in New York City, the extra costs imposed on women who need to take private transit in order to avoid harassment in public spaces.

Eater profiles the efforts of white neighborhoods in the Georgia city of Stockbridge to secede, something ostensibly presented as a desire to attract Cheesecake Factory and other restaurants to these areas.

CityLab reports on a sensitive effort to restore an art deco building in the Puerto Rican city of Ponce.

The Palestinian city of Ramallah, Guardian Cities reports, has its architectural heritage threatened by an unregulated construction boom.

The BBC notes new legislation in Scotland that would prevent mapmakers from displaying the distant Shetland Islands in a box on maps, despite their great distance from the Scottish mainland.

Ecologically sensitive Isle-aux-Grues, in the lower Saint Lawrence east of Québec City, has received protected status. CBC reports.

Bloomberg View notes the obvious fact that Puerto Rico needs a better debt deal if it is to begin to recover.

Chinese immigrants are coming to the islands in the Caribbean in large numbers, providing vital resources for island economies, Ozy reports.

Vice's Motherboard reports that Hong Kong wants to deal with its housing crisis by building new homes for more than a million people on yet-to-be-built artificial islands off of the city-state's south coast.

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.

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.

Kambiz Kamrani at Anthropology.net notes that the more Neanderthal DNA gets sequenced, the more we know of this population's history.

Anthro{dendum} takes a look at anthropologists who use their knowledge and their access to other cultures for purposes of espionage.

Crooked Timber tackles the question of immigration from another angle: do states have the authority to control it, for starters?

Dangerous Minds shares a fun video imagining Netflix as it might have existed in 1995.

The Everyday Sociology Blog considers how the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico is an instance of American state failure.

The Frailest Thing's L.M. Sacasas considers is vows to abandon Facebook are akin to a modern-day vow of poverty.

JSTOR Daily looks at Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and why it still matters.

Language Log considers the naming practices of new elements like Nihonium.

Lawyers, Guns and Money suggests that, based on the stagnation of average incomes in the US as GDP has growth, capitalism can be said to have failed.

Lingua Franca considers the origin of the phrase "bad actor."

Marginal Revolution links to a paper suggesting that the American opioid epidemic is not simply driven by economic factors.

The NYR Daily considers how Poland's new history laws do poor service to a very complicated past.

Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw has an interesting post examining the settlement of Australisa's inland "Channel Country" by cattle stations, chains to allow herds to migrate following the weather.

The Planetary Science Blog's Emily Lakdawalla takes a look at the latest science on famously volcanic Io.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel examines how the Milky Way Galaxy is slowly consuming its neighbours, the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds.

Artsy notes a study looking at the different factors explaining why Iceland's population is so creative. Among other things, an educational system that encourages hands-on learning and experimentation and a relative lack of material insecurity help.

Reddit's mapporn forum shares a map showing where displaced Puerto Ricans are resettling. Florida is emerging as a particularly important destination.

Charlottetown's The Guardian reports on a recent presentation suggesting that, with sea level rise, Prince Edward Island could be divided into three islands. I wonder where the dividing points will be.

Wind turbine construction on Amherst Island, near Kingston, has been delayed by weather and problems with roads. Global News reports.

Ireland is now making a push to attract television stations from the United Kingdom post-Brexit, with the legal position of television networks with EU-wide audiences being uncertain after Brexit. The Guardian reports.

The slow melt of the Greenland icecap will eventually release a Cold War American military base into the open air. VICE reports.

Robert Farley suggests at The National Interest that China's artificial islands in the South China Sea would not be of much use in an actual conflict.

Reuters notes that a mud island in the Bay of Bengal lucky not to be overwhelmed by high tides is being expanded into a compound to hold Rohingya refugees.

A new study suggests that there was some genetic continuing between pre- and post-Columbian populations in the Caribbean, that as family and local histories suggest at least some Taino did survive the catastrophes of colonialism. National Geographic reports.

This account from NACLA of Puerto Rico's perennial problems with the American mainland and the history of migration, culminating in an ongoing disastrous mass emigration after Maria, is pro-independence. Might this viewpoint become more common among Puerto Ricans?

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?

'Nathan Smith at Apostrophen points out that claiming to disagree with homosexuality while respecting gay people is nonsensical. https://apostrophen.wordpress.com/2018/01/11/queer-isnt-an-opinion/

Centauri Dreams notes the innovative cheap PicSat satellite, currently monitoring Beta Pictoris with its known exoplanet. https://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=39109

Corey Robin at Crooked Timber argues that Trump is shaky, weaker than American democracy. (Not that that is going that well, mind.) http://crookedtimber.org/2018/01/13/trumps-power-is-shakier-than-american-democracy/

The Crux points out the sentient, including emotions, of any number of animal species. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2018/01/11/animals-feelings-sentient/

Far Outliers notes some German commanders in western Europe who quickly surrendered to the Allies in the Second World War, and why they did that. http://faroutliers.blogspot.com/2018/01/quick-german-surrenders-in-west.html

Hornet Stories notes how a court decision dealing with a Romanian man and his American husband could lead to European Union-wide recognition of same-sex marriage. https://hornetapp.com/stories/european-union-gay-marriage/

JSTOR Daily notes how air pollution is a human rights issue. https://daily.jstor.org/why-air-pollution-is-a-socioeconomic-issue/

Language Hat notes how the use of the apostrophe in the newly Latin script-using Kazakh language is controversial. http://languagehat.com/apostrophe-catastrophe-in-kazakhstan/

Geoffrey Pullim at Lingua Franca shares a passage from Muriel Spark's fiction depicting students' reactions to learning foreign languages. https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2018/01/11/a-foreign-way-which-never-really-caught-on

The LRB Blog tells the story of Omid, an Iranian who managed to smuggle himself from his home country to a precarious life in the United Kingdom. https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2018/01/15/behzad-yaghmaian/omids-journey/

The Map Room Blog shares a newly-updated map of "Trumpworld" the world as seen by Donald Trump. http://www.maproomblog.com/2018/01/trumpworld/

Marginal Revolution notes research indicating that dolphins have a grasp on economics, and what this indicates about their sentience. http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/01/dolphin-capital-theory.html

The Planetary Society Blog notes how the upcoming Europa Clipper probe will be able to analyze Europa's oceans without encountering plumes of water. http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2018/20180111-no-plumes-no-problem.html

The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer suggests that, with the declining import of informal rules in American politics, a future Democratic-majority Congress might be able to sneak through statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. http://noelmaurer.typepad.com/aab/2018/01/breaking-norms-by-adding-states.html

Rocky Planet reports on the disastrous mudflows that have hit southern California after the fires. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/rockyplanet/2018/01/12/mudflows-devastate-parts-of-southern-california/

Drew Rowsome praises new horror from Matt Ruff. http://drewrowsome.blogspot.com/2018/01/lovecraft-country-matt-ruffs-multi.html

Peter Rukavina talks about his positive experiences with a walk-in mental health clinic on the Island. https://ruk.ca/content/i-went-mental-health-walk-clinic-and-so-can-you

Strange Company talks about the bizarre 1982 disappearance of one Donald Kemp. Did he even die? http://strangeco.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-strange-exit-of-donald-kemp.html

Towleroad notes that Peter Thiel is trying to buy Gawker, perhaps to destroy its archives. http://www.towleroad.com/2018/01/gawker-peter-thiel/

New York Magazine carries this article looking at the dreadful aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the lagging response of government (American, mainly). Heads should roll.

Japan Times carries an article looking at the various strategies used by different Japanese islands and archipelagoes to try to resist depopulation. Some work better than others.

Could the outposts of Newfoundland benefit not from consolidation and planned depopulation, but from planned resettlement? The precedents from Ireland and Italy are interesting, at least. CBC reports.

The Inter Press Service notes that climate change, including rising sea levels and growing storms, will hit smart island nations badly.

Morgan Fache at Roads and Kingdoms reports on how Koh Pich, "Diamond Island", offshore of Phmon Penh, has been emptied of its population of fishers to make way for an elite real estate development.

Bad Astronomer reports on Kepler-90, now known to have eight planets.

Centauri Dreams notes a model suggesting low-mass worlds like Mars do not stay very habitable for long at all around red dwarf stars.

Citizen Science Salon notes how Puerto Ricans are monitoring water quality on their own after Hurricane Maria.

The Crux notes how climate change played a role in the fall of Rome. We know more about our environment than the Romans did, but we are not much less vulnerable.

D-Brief notes a feature film that has just been made about Ötzi, the man who body was famously found frozen in the Tyrolean Alps five thousand years ago.

Daily JSTOR notes how a postage stamp featuring an erupting volcano may have kept Nicaragua from hosting an inter-oceanic canal of its own.

Hornet Stories reports on some exciting queer musicians.

Language Hat links to an online dictionary of French slang from the 19th century.

Language Hat has a post dealing with some controversy created on its author's perspective on "they" as a singular pronoun. (Language changes, that's all I have to say on that.)

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes a pretty wrong-headed take from a right-wing news source on sexuality and dating and flirting. Gack.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes how the recent Kepler-90 press release shows how Kepler has reached the limit of the exoplanet science it can do. We need to put better technology at work.

At Whatever, John Scalzi has some interesting non-spoiler thoughts about the direction of The Last Jedi. I must see this, soon.

Window on Eurasia features a blithe dismissal by Putin of the idea that there is language or ethnic conflict at work. Tatars just need to learn Russian, apparently, though they can also keep Tatar as an extra.

DW reports on the profound and apparently irreversible depopulation of rural areas of the former East Germany.

Stephen Leahy at VICE's Motherboard notes that pronounced global cooling may be responsible for the emigration of Donald Trump's grandfather to the United States, that he was a climate refugee.

Christian Odendahl at politico.eu suggests that Brexit, by encouraging skilled immigrants (and others) to leave the United Kingdom, might work to the benefit of a Germany experiencing labour shortages.

David Roberts at Vox talks about the many reasons why, as an environmental journalist, he does not talk about overpopulation as a problem.

National Geographic reports on another massacre of indigenous peoples in the Brazilian Amazon by goldminers.

Phys.org warns that, at the current rate of deaths, the right whales of the North Atlantic might face extinction. Gack. (Sometimes I think we deserve a visit from the whale probe.)

This heartbreaking story co-authored by Ted Chiang takes the Arecibo radio telescope and the Puerto Rican parrot, the iguaca, and does something terribly beautiful and sad with the confluence of the two. Go, read.

The New York Times suggests that the proper death toll from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico alone may be more than a thousand, not the official toll of 62.

Mary Fitzgerald at Open Democracy looks at how Ireland, North and South, may have fatally undermined the May government and the Brexit project.

Tamara Khandaker at VICE reports the predictable news that Prince Edward Island plans to permit the legal sale of marijuana through stores run by the monopolistic liquor corporation, like the larger Ontario.

Jonathan Kaiman reports on Okinoshima, a sacred island in Japan whose keepers fear increased attention will threaten the location's very nature.

Jessica Leeder reports on how, with the fragile recovery of the Newfoundland cod fisheries, Fogo Island is investigating the fisheries' new potential, over at The Globe and Mail.

This Atlas Obscura feature takes a look at the endangered Puerto Rico parrot, the iguaca, facing dire conditions after Hurricane Maria.

Gerry Lynch makes the argument that, by torpedoing the Brexit agreement, the DUP and the Unionists have set the stage for eventual Irish reunification, over at Slugger O'Toole.

Atlas Obscura takes a quick look at Just Enough Island, one of the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence between Ontario and New York literally just big enough to support a cottage and two chairs in the front.

Éric Grenier suggests that, after the Green Party's Hannah Bell won a byelection in Charlottetown, the Green Party should look to Atlantic Canada for breakthroughs, over at CBC.

I found, from somewhere in the blogosphere, a 1982 essay by June Jordan, "Report from the Bahamas." How can solidarity and identity be established across great distances, geographic and otherwise, in a globalized world?

This analysis by Lyman Stone of the impact of Hurricane Maria on the already dire demographics of Puerto Rico is worth reading. Population decline will be at least as sharp as in Ireland and Corsica.

Will making Cape Breton a province separate from Nova Scotia, as suggested by independent senator Dan Christmas, do anything to stop the island's sharp decline? The Cape Breton Post reports.

Climate change and sea level rise may effectively make mainland Nova Scotia an island, cutting the dike-protected roads on the Isthmus of Chignecto. VICE reports.

Fiji is preparing for an influx of climate change refugees from other, lower-lying and poorer, island nations in the Pacific. Bloomberg reports.

blogTO shares a raft of photos from Toronto in the 1910s.

Daily JSTOR notes the profound democratic symbolism of the doughnut. Seriously.

D-Brief notes a contentious argument that organic agriculture could, if well-managed, be productive enough to feed the population of the world.

The Dragon's Gaze links to a study of the complex environment of dust and debris around young protostar L1527.

Far Outliers notes the central role of Hitler in avoiding the crushing of the BEF at Dunkirk. Apparently the British Empire and the Catholic Church were the two world forces he did not wish to crush.

Hornet Stories makes the perfectly obvious point that websites which collect photos of attractive guys taken without their consent are actually sketchy, legally and ethically. Why it has to be made, I don't know.

Lawyers, Guns and Money takes time from providing political coverage to share a recipe for a delicious-sounding slow-cooker corn/salmon/bacon chowder.

The Map Room Blog notes the updated looks of Google Maps.

The NYR Daily examines the ad hoc and DIY nature of disaster relief on Puerto Rico post-Maria.

Seriously Science notes a paper suggesting that bearded men tend to be more sexist than non-bearded men.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel cautions against a tendency to pick up on astronomical mysteries as proof of dark matter's existence.

Window on Eurasia suggests that wealthy Russians are quietly shifting their wealth and investing in property in Europe.

Arnold Zwicky notes a new effort to employ the principles of Basic English, conveying as much meaning as possible with as few worlds as imaginable.

The Arecibo radio observatory of Puerto Rico, famous for (among other things) the first effort at communicating with extraterrestrial civilizations, has been saved from demolition. National Geographic reports.

Wired looks at how the Sonar music festival got music to be transmitted and eventually decoded by a hypothetical civilization at Luyten's Star, on GJ 273b.

George Dvorsky at io9 shares convincing arguments that the Luyten's Star transmission is not likely to cause harm--among other things, advanced extraterrestrial civilizations are likely to know we are here. And, hey, if they like our techno, maybe good things can come of this.

Can a new film help preserve the English Creole spoken on the Colombian Caribbean islands of San Andres and Old Providence? The Guardian reports.

Using film to help preserve an indigenous language is also a strategy being used by the Haida of Haida Gwaii, in British Columbia. CBC reports.

Fredreka Schouten's account of visiting her native Virgin Islands to see the continued devastation is heart-rending, featured in USA Today.

The recovery of agriculture in Puerto Rico is a hopeful sign, but will it be enough? National Geographic reports.

Things do not look very good in Sicily. Spiegel reports.

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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[BLOG] Some Wednesday links
[URBAN NOTE] Five city notes: Churchill, New York City, Stockbridge, Ponce, Ramallah
[ISL] Five islands links: Shetlands, Isle-aux-Grues, Puerto Rico, Caribbean, Hong Kong
[ISL] Five islands links: Puerto Rico, Palau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Trinidad
[ISL] Five island links: Ireland, Norse Greenland, Rapa Nui/Easter Island, Nauru, Puerto Rico
[BLOG] Some Wednesday links
[ISL] Five notes on islands: Iceland, Puerto Rico, Prince Edward Island, Amherst Island, Ireland
[ISL] Five notes about islands: Greenland, South China Sea, Bangladesh, Caribbean, Puerto Rico
[ISL] Four islands links: Hawaii, British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Tuanaki
[BLOG] Some Wednesday links
[ISL] Five links on islands: Puerto Rico, Japan, Newfoundland, climate change, Koh Pich
[BLOG] Some Saturday links
[NEWS] Seven population links: Germany, climate, Brexit, overpopulation, Amazon, whales, parrots
[ISL] Four islands links: Puerto Rico, Ireland, Prince Edward Island, Okinoshima
[NEWS] Five notes from islands: Fogo and Newfoundland, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Just Enough Island, PEI
[ISL] Five islands links: Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Fiji
[BLOG] Some Sunday links
[NEWS] Three links about interstellar communication: Arecibo, Sonar Festival, Luyten's Star, GJ 273b
[ISL] Five Islands links: English in Colombia, Haida, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Sicily
[ISL] Six island links: Easter Island, Iceland, Vieques, Dominica, Saint Helena

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Assorted Personal Notations, Essays, and Other Jottings

Entries tagged with puerto rico

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

[URBAN NOTE] Five city notes: Churchill, New York City, Stockbridge, Ponce, Ramallah

[ISL] Five islands links: Shetlands, Isle-aux-Grues, Puerto Rico, Caribbean, Hong Kong

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

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

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

[ISL] Five notes on islands: Iceland, Puerto Rico, Prince Edward Island, Amherst Island, Ireland

[ISL] Five notes about islands: Greenland, South China Sea, Bangladesh, Caribbean, Puerto Rico

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

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

[ISL] Five links on islands: Puerto Rico, Japan, Newfoundland, climate change, Koh Pich

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

[NEWS] Seven population links: Germany, climate, Brexit, overpopulation, Amazon, whales, parrots

[ISL] Four islands links: Puerto Rico, Ireland, Prince Edward Island, Okinoshima

[NEWS] Five notes from islands: Fogo and Newfoundland, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Just Enough Island, PEI

[ISL] Five islands links: Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Fiji

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

[NEWS] Three links about interstellar communication: Arecibo, Sonar Festival, Luyten's Star, GJ 273b

[ISL] Five Islands links: English in Colombia, Haida, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Sicily

[ISL] Six island links: Easter Island, Iceland, Vieques, Dominica, Saint Helena

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