rfmcdonald | Entries tagged with sociology

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Marginal Revolution features a critical if friendly review of the new Emmanuel Todd book, Lineages of Modernity.

Marginal Revolution considers the problems of excessive consumer activism, here.

Marginal Revolution notes a new book looking at natural gas economics in Europe, here.

Marginal Revolution notes new evidence that YouTube algorithms do not tend to radicalize users, here.

Marginal Revolution notes the few countries where the average person was richer in 2009 than in 2019, notably Greece and Venezuela.

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.

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.

Charlie Stross at Antipope shares an essay he recently presented on artificial intelligence and its challenges for us.

P. Kerim Friedman writes at {anthro}dendum about the birth of the tea ceremony in the Taiwan of the 1970s.

Anthropology net reports on a cave painting nearly 44 thousand years old in Indonesia depicting a hunting story.

Architectuul looks at some temporary community gardens in London.

Bad Astronomy reports on the weird history of asteroid Ryugu.

The Buzz talks about the most popular titles borrowed from the Toronto Public Library in 2019.

Caitlin Kelly talks at the Broadside Blog about her particular love of radio.

Centauri Dreams talks about the role of amateur astronomers in searching for exoplanets, starting with LHS 1140 b.

John Quiggin at Crooked Timber looks at what is behind the rhetoric of "virtue signalling".

Dangerous Minds shares concert performance from Nirvana filmed the night before the release of Nevermind.

Bruce Dorminey notes new evidence that, even before the Chixculub impact, the late Cretaceous Earth was staggering under environmental pressures.

Myron Strong at the Everyday Sociology Blog writes about how people of African descent in the US deal with the legacies of slavery in higher education.

Far Outliers reports on the plans in 1945 for an invasion of Japan by the US.

L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing gathers together a collection of the author's best writings there.

Gizmodo notes the immensity of the supermassive black hole, some 40 billion solar masses, at the heart of galaxy Holm 15A 700 million light-years away.

Russell Arben Fox at In Media Res writes about the issue of how Wichita is to organize its civic politics.

io9 argues that the 2010s were a decade where the culture of the spoiler became key.

The Island Review points readers to the podcast Mother's Blood, Sister's Songs, an exploration of the links between Ireland and Iceland.

Joe. My. God. reports on the claim of the lawyer of the killer of a mob boss that the QAnon conspiracy inspired his actions. This strikes me as terribly dangerous.

JSTOR Daily looks at a study examining scholarly retractions.

Language Hat shares an amusing cartoon illustrating the relationships of the dialects of Arabic.

Language Log lists ten top new words in the Japanese language.

Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the dissipation of American diplomacy by Trump.

The LRB Blog looks at the many problems in Sparta, Greece, with accommodating refugees, for everyone concerned.

Marginal Revolution links to a paper suggesting the decline of the one-child policy in China has diminished child trafficking, among other crimes.

Sean Marshall, looking at transit in Brampton, argues that transit users need more protection from road traffic.

Russell Darnley shares excerpts from essays he wrote about the involvement of Australia in the Vietnam War.

Peter Watts talks about his recent visit to a con in Sofia, Bulgaria, and about the apocalypse, here.

The NYR Daily looks at the corporatization of the funeral industry, here.

Diane Duane writes, from her own personal history with Star Trek, about how one can be a writer who ends up writing for a media franchise.

Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections considers the job of tasting, and rating, different cuts of lamb.

The Planetary Society Blog looks at a nondescript observatory in the Mojave desert of California that maps the asteroids of the solar system.

Roads and Kingdoms interviews Eduardo Chavarin about, among other things, Tijuana.

Drew Rowsome loves the SpongeBob musical.

Peter Rukavina announces that Charlottetown has its first public fast charger for electric vehicles.

The Russian Demographics Blog considers the impact of space medicine, here.

The Signal reports on how the Library of Congress is making its internet archives more readily available, here.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel considers how the incredibly isolated galaxy MCG+01-02-015 will decay almost to nothing over almost uncountable eons.

Strange Company reports on the trial and execution of Christopher Slaughterford for murder. Was there even a crime?

Strange Maps shares a Coudenhove-Kalergi map imagining the division of the world into five superstates.

Understanding Society considers entertainment as a valuable thing, here.

Denis Colombi at Une heure de peine announces his new book, Où va l'argent des pauvres?

John Scalzi at Whatever looks at how some mailed bread triggered a security alert, here.

Window on Eurasia reports on the massive amount of remittances sent to Tajikistan by migrant workers, here.

Arnold Zwicky notes a bizarre no-penguins sign for sale on Amazon.

Marginal Revolution considers if the CFA franc system is dying out, here.

Marginal Revolution shares a link to a paper quantifying the effects of the old boys club, here.

Marginal Revolution contrasts and compares the old NAFTA and the new USMCA, here.

Marginal Revolution notes how Germany has access to nuclear weapons, here.

Marginal Revolution looks at the high rate of consainguineous marriage in Saudi Arabia, here.

Bad Astronomer considers how a stellar-mass black hole of 70 solar masses got so unaccountably huge.

Alex Tolley at Centauri Dreams considers the colours of photosynthesis, and how they might reveal the existence of life on exoplanets.

The Dragon's Tales shares some links on humans in the Paleolithic.

Jonathan Wynn at the Everyday Sociology Blog considers the scripts of jokes.

Gizmodo reports on the repurposed China-Netherlands radio telescope operating from an orbit above the far side of the Moon.

JSTOR Daily considers the political rhetoric of declinism.

Language Log considers the controversy over the future of the apostrophe.

James Butler at the LRB Blog notes a YouGov prediction of a Conservative majority in the UK and how this prediction is not value-neutral.

Marginal Revolution shares a paper from India noting how caste identities do affect the labour supply.

Ursula Lindsay at the NYR Daily considers if the political crisis in Lebanon, a product of economic pressures and sectarianism, might lead to a revolutionary transformation of the country away from sectarian politics.

Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections looks at some of the many complicated and intermingled issues of contemporary Australia.

The Planetary Society Blog reports on the latest projects funded by the ESA.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel shares ten beautiful photos taken in 2019 by the Hubble.

Strange Company reports on the strange unsolved disappearance of Lillian Richey from her Idaho home in 1964.

Window on Eurasia shares a Russian criticism of the Ukrainian autocephalous church as a sort of papal Protestantism.

Arnold Zwicky considers the positive potential of homoeros.

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.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes the findings that the LISA Pathfinder satellite was impacted by hypervelocity comet fragments.

Centauri Dreams reports on what we have learned about interstellar comet Borisov.

Bruce Dorminey notes the ESA's Matisse instrument, capable of detecting nanodiamonds orbiting distant stars.

Gizmodo reports a new study of the great auk, now extinct, suggesting that humans were wholly responsible for this extinction with their hunting.

The Island Review links to articles noting the existential vulnerability of islands like Venice and Orkney to climate change.

Joe. My. God. reports on the claim of Tucker Carlson--perhaps not believably retracted by him--to be supporting Russia versus Ukraine.

Language Hat reports on the new Indigemoji, emoji created to reflect the culture and knowledge of Aboriginal groups in Australia.

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes one of the sad consequences of the American president being a liar.

James Butler at the LRB Blog writes about the optimism of the spending plans of Labour in the UK, a revived Keynesianism.

Marginal Revolution notes the exceptional cost of apartments built for homeless people in San Francisco.

Strange Maps looks at some remarkable gravity anomalies in parts of the US Midwest.

Towleroad notes the support of Jamie Lee Curtis for outing LGBTQ people who are homophobic politicians.

Understanding Society looks at organizations from the perspective of them as open systems.

Whatever's John Scalzi gives a generally positive review of the Pixel 4.

Arnold Zwicky notes the irony of sex pills at an outpost of British discount chain Poundland.

(A day late, I know; I crashed after work yesterday.)

Antipope's Charlie Stross has a thought experiment: If you were superwealthy and guaranteed to live a long health life, how would you try to deal with the consequence of economic inequality?

Vikas Charma at Architectuul takes a look at the different factors that go into height in buildings.

Bad Astronomy notes S5-HVS1, a star flung out of the Milky Way Galaxy by Sagittarius A* at 1755 kilometres per second.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly shares photos from two Manhattan walks of hers, taken in non-famous areas.

Centauri Dreams looks at habitability for red dwarf exoplanets. Stellar activity matters.

Maria Farrell at Crooked Timber shares words from a manifesto about data protection in the EU.

Dangerous Minds shares photos from Los Angeles punks and mods and others in the 1980s.

Bruce Dorminey notes a ESA report suggesting crew hibernation could make trips to Mars easier.

Gizmodo notes that the Hayabusa2 probe of Japan is returning from asteroid Ryugu with a sample.

Imageo shares photos of the disastrous fires in Australia from space.

Information is Beautiful reports on winners of the Information is Beautiful Awards for 2019, for good infographics.

JSTOR Daily explains how local television stations made the ironic viewing of bad movies a thing.

Kotaku reports on the last days of Kawasaki Warehouse, an arcade in Japan patterned on the demolished Walled City of Kowloon.

Language Hat notes how translation mistakes led to the star Beta Cygni gaining the Arabic name Albireo.

Language Log reports on a unique Cantonese name of a restaurant in Hong Kong.

Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money links to an analysis of his suggesting the military of India is increasingly hard-pressed to counterbalance China.

The LRB Blog notes the catastrophe of Venice.

Marginal Revolution notes a paper suggesting states would do well not to place their capitals too far away from major population centres.

Justin Petrone at North! remarks on a set of old apple preserves.

The NYR Daily looks at how the west and the east of the European Union are divided by different conceptions of national identity.

Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections reports from his town of Armidale as the smoke from the Australian wildfires surrounds all. The photos are shocking.

Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society Blog lists some books about space suitable for children.

Drew Rowsome reviews the Canadian film music stand, inspired by the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.

The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper noting that, in Switzerland, parenthood does not make people happy.

The Signal notes that 1.7 million phone book pages have been scanned into the records of the Library of Congress.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains the concept of multi-messenger astronomy and why it points the way forward for studies of astrophysics.

Strange Maps looks at how a majority of students in the United States attend diverse schools, and where.

Strange Company explores the mysterious death of Marc-Antoine Calas, whose death triggered the persecution of Huguenots and resulted in the mobilization of Enlightenment figures like Voltaire against the state. What happened?

Towleroad hosts a critical, perhaps disappointed, review of the major gay play The Inheritance.

Understanding Society's Daniel Little looks at the power of individual people in political hierarchies.

Window on Eurasia shares an opinion piece noting how many threats to the Russian language have come from its association with unpopular actions by Russia.

Arnold Zwicky explores queens as various as Elizabeth I and Adore Delano.

Centauri Dreams notes how gas giants on eccentric orbits can easily disrupt bodies on orbits inwards.

Maria Farrell at Crooked Timber suggests that the political culture of England has been deformed by the trauma experienced by young children of the elites at boarding schools.

Dangerous Minds looks at the haunting art of Paul Delvaux.

The Everyday Sociology Blog looks at the work of Tressie McMillan Cottom in investigating for-profit higher education.

Far Outliers looks at Tripoli in 1801.

Gizmodo shares the Boeing design for the moon lander it proposes for NASA in 2024.

io9 shares words from cast of Terminator: Dark Fate about the importance of the Mexican-American frontier.

JSTOR Daily makes a case against killing spiders trapped in one's home.

Language Hat notes a recovered 17th century translation of a Dutch bible into the Austronesian language of Siraya, spoken in Taiwan.

Language Log looks at the origin of the word "brogue".

Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the payday lender industry.

Marginal Revolution notes a new biography of Walter Raleigh, a maker of empire indeed.

The NYR Daily looks at a new dance show using the rhythms of the words of writer Robert Walser.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at how, in a quantum universe, time and space could still be continuous not discrete.

Strange Company looks at a court case from 1910s Brooklyn, about a parrot that swore.

The Volokh Conspiracy notes an affirmative action court case in which it was ruled that someone from Gibraltar did not count as Hispanic.

Window on Eurasia notes rhetoric claiming that Russians are the largest divided people on the Earth.

Arnold Zwicky looks at lizards and at California's legendary Highway 101.

{anthro}dendum features a post by Kimberly J. Lewis about stategies for anthropologists to write, and be human, after trauma.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait reports on exoplanet LHC 3844b, a world that had its atmosphere burned away by its parent star.

Centauri Dreams looks at Neptune from the perspective of exoplanets discovered near snow lines.

D-Brief reports on the new Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, installed at Kitt Peak to help map galaxies and dark energy.

Gizmodo
looks at how Airbnb is dealing with party houses after a fatal mass shooting.

The Island Review shares some drawings by Charlotte Watson, inspired by the subantarctic Auckland Islands.

JSTOR Daily looks at the late 19th century hit novel Ramona, written by Helen Hunt Jackson to try to change American policy towards indigenous peoples.

Language Hat looks at how, until recently, the Faroese language had taboos requiring certain words not to be used at sea.

Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at a proposal to partially privatize American national parks.

The LRB Blog looks at what Nigel Farage will be doing next.

Marginal Revolution looks at a speculative theory on the origins of American individualism in agrarian diversity.

The NYR Daily looks at an exhibition of the artwork of John Ruskin.

Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw remarks on a connection between Arthur Ransome and his region of New England.

Drew Rowsome shares an interview with folk musician Michelle Shocked.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel emphasizes the importance of the dark energy mystery.

Towleroad notes a posthumous single release by George Michael.

Daniel Little at Understanding Society celebrates the 12th anniversary of his blog, and looks back at its history.

Window on Eurasia looks at Ingushetia after 1991.

Arnold Zwicky looks at All Saints Day.

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.

People in Montréal will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to walk over the Champlain Bridge, scheduled for demolition in the near future. Global News reports.

The Conversation looks at the mass tourism, after Joker, directed towards a flight of stairs in The Bronx, and what this means for cities.

CityLab notes the deep upset of the numerous and influential Kurds of Nashville with Trump.

CityLab looks at how a Chicago magazine reflects the gentrification of large parts of that metropolis.

Guardian Cities takes a look at what maps of Victorian London, mapping disparities of wealth and social dysfunction, reveal about the city now.

Bad Astronomy notes a new detailed study suggesting that asteroid Hygeia is round. Does this mean it is a dwarf planet?

The Buzz notes that the Toronto Public Library has a free booklet on the birds of Toronto available at its branches.

Crooked Timber looks forward to a future, thanks to Trump, without the World Trade Organization.

D-Brief notes how the kelp forests off California were hurt by unseasonal heat and disease.

Bruce Dorminey notes an impending collision of supergalactic clusters.

Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog looks at how judgement can complicate collective action.

Language Hat looks at the different definitions of the word "mobile".

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=44807

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how, if anything, climate scientists make conservative claims about their predictions.

Marginal Revolution wonders if planned power outages are a good way to deal with the threat of wildfires in California.

The NYR Daily looks at the ethnic cleansing being enabled by Turkey in Kurdish Syria.

Corey S. Powell at Out There interviews archeologist Arthur Lin about his use of space-based technologies to discovery traces of the past.

The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer looks at the staggering inequality in Chile, driver of the recent protests.

At Roads and Kingdoms, Anthony Elghossain reports from the scene of the mass protests in Lebanon.

Drew Rowsome tells how his balcony garden fared this year.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at stellar generations in the universe. (Our sun is a third-generation star.)

Strange Company looks at the murder of a girl five years old in Indiana in 1898. Was the neighbor boy twelve years old accused of the crime the culprit?

Denis Colombi at Une heure de peine takes a look at social mobility in France.

Understanding Society's Daniel Little considers economic historians and their study of capitalism.

Window on Eurasia looks at the pro-Russian policies of the Moldova enclave of Gagauzia, and draws recommendations for Ukraine re: the Donbas.

CTV News notes that election day is here in Canada.

CTV News shares a list of answers to frequently asked questions about #elxn43 requirements.

Philippe Fournier at MacLean's notes that #elxn43 is shaping to be perhaps the most uncertain federal election in Canada since 1979, at least.

Kai Cheng Thom at Daily Xtra addresses the despair of a voter wondering if they should vote at all. Even in dark times, there must be some room for hope, for creative responses.

Andrew Coyne at the National Post points out the obvious, that Canadians should not feel smug about dysfunction in the US and Britain.

Chris Selley at the National Post argues against electoral reform.

CBC shares stories of Syrian refugees, now citizens, voting for the first time in #elxn43.

The diffusion of extremist sentiments in Canada in the past few years is a real concern. NOW Toronto has it.

This CBC opinion suggests that expatriates from Canada, non-resident in the country, should not have a right to vote.

Andrew Scheer, once notable for his vocal support for Brexit, is now much quieter about the issue. CBC reports.

Peter Henderson at NOW Toronto argues that Ed the Sock has become the voice of a responsible conservatism.

The claims of Andrew Scheer that the political party that wins the most seats gets to form the government in the Canadian system are obviously wrong. Global News has it.

Who, exactly, forms the middle class in Canada, that demographic that Trudeau and Scheer have been claiming to address? CBC reports.

Adam Fish at anthro{dendum} compares different sorts of public bathing around the world, from Native America to Norden to Japan.

Charlie Stross at Antipope is unimpressed by the person writing the script for our timeline.

Architectuul reports on an architectural conference in Lisbon.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares stunning photos of the eruption of the Raikoke volcano in Kamchatka.

Centauri Dreams looks at what the Voyager spacecraft have returned about the edge of the solar system.

John Quiggin at Crooked Timber takes issue with the idea of bipartisanship if it means compromising on reality, allegorically.

The Crux counts the number of people who have died in outer space.

D-Brief notes that the Andromeda Galaxy has swallowed up multiple dwarf galaxies over the eons.

Dead Things notes the identification of the first raptor species from Southeast Asia, Siamraptor suwati.

The Dragon's Tales notes a paper tracing the origins of interstellar comet 2/Borisov from the general area of Kruger 60.

Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog writes about the privilege allowing people access to affordable dental care.

Gizmodo tells how Alexei Leonov survived the first spacewalk.

io9 looks at the remarkable new status quo for the X-Men created by Jonathan Hickman.

Selma Franssen at the Island Review writes about the threats facing the seabirds of the Shetlands.

JSTOR Daily looks at what led Richard Nixon to make so many breaks from the American consensus on China in the Cold War.

Language Log notes an undergraduate course at Yale using the Voynich Manuscript as an aid in the study of language.

Abigail Nussbaum at Lawyers, Guns and Money explains her recent experience of the socialized health care system of Israel for Americans.

The LRB Blog looks at how badly the Fukuyama prediction of an end to history has aged.

The Map Room Blog shares a few maps of the new Ottawa LRT route.

Marginal Revolution notes a paper establishing a link between Chinese industries undermining their counterparts in Mexico and Mexican social ills including crime.

Sean Marshall reports from Ottawa about what the Confederation Line looks like.

Adam Shatz at the NYR Daily looks at the power of improvisation in music.

Roads and Kingdoms looks at South Williamsburg Jewish deli Gottlieb's.

Drew Rowsome reviews the new Patti Smith book, Year of the Monkey.

The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper looking as the factors leading into transnational movements.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel considers the question of the direction(s) in which order in the universe was generated.

Window on Eurasia shares a report noting the very minor flows of migration from China to Russia.

Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell looks at the politics in the British riding of Keighley.

Arnold Zwicky looks at some penguin socks.

Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait notes new research on where the sun is located within the Milky Way Galaxy.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly considers the value of slow fashion.

Centauri Dreams notes the different gas giants that our early methods have yet to pick up.

Crooked Timber shares a lovely photo looking back at Venice from across its lagoon.

D-Brief notes that upcoming space telescopes might find hundreds of rogue planets thanks to microlensing.

io9 notes that Marvel will soon be producing Warhammer40K comics.

The Island Review shares some poetry and photography by Ken Cockburn inspired by the Isle of Jura.

JSTOR Daily notes that different humpback whale groups have different songs, different cultures.

Language Hat tries to find the meaning of the odd Soviet Yiddish word "kolvirt".

Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the history of Elizabeth Warren as a law teacher.

Map Room Blog shares information from Google Maps about its use of data.

Marginal Revolution notes that in 2016, not a single child born in the United Kingdom was given the name Nigel.

Peter Watts talks about AI and what else he is doing.

The NYR Daily marked the centennial of a horrible massacre of African-Americans centered on the Arkansas community of Elaine.

Emily Margolis at the Planetary Society Blog looks at how the Apollo moon missions helped galvanize tourism in Florida.

Noel Maurer at The Power and the Money looks at the constitutional crisis in Peru.

Drew Rowsome takes a look at A Streetcar Named Desire.

Peter Rukavina looks at a spreadsheet revealing the distribution of PEI public servants.

Spacing reviews a book imagining how small communities can rebuild themselves in neoliberalism.

Towleroad shares the criticism of Christine and the Queens of the allegedly opportunistic use of queer culture by Taylor Swift.

Understanding Society considers, sociologically, the way artifacts work.

The Volokh Conspiracy argues that the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the People's Republic of China should be a day of mourning, on account of the high human toll of the PRC.

Window on Eurasia suggests the Russian generation of the 1970s was too small to create lasting change.

Arnold Zwicky looks at how underwear ads can be quite sexualized.

Bad Astronomer notes the latest news on interstellar comet 2/Borisov.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly emphasizes how every writer does need an editor.

Centauri Dreams notes how the gas giant GJ 3512 b, half the mass of Jupiter orbiting a red dwarf star closely, is an oddly massive exoplanet.

Gina Schouten at Crooked Timber looks at inter-generational clashes on parenting styles.

D-Brief looks at the methods of agriculture that could conceivably sustain a populous human colony on Mars.

Bruce Dorminey argues that we on Earth need something like Starfleet Academy, to help us advance into space.

Colby King at the Everyday Sociology Blog looks at how the socio-spatial perspective helps us understand the development of cities.

io9 looks at Proxima, a contemporary spaceflight film starring Eva Green.

JSTOR Daily looks at how the intense relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia began in, and reflected, the era of Jim Crow.

Language Hat notes a report suggesting that multilingualism helps ward off dementia.

Language Log takes issue with the names of the mascots of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the emergence of a ninth woman complaining about being harassed by Al Franken.

Marginal Revolution links to a new paper arguing that the Washington Consensus worked.

The NYR Daily shares an Aubrey Nolan cartoon illustrating the evacuation of war children in the United Kingdom during the Second World War.

At Out of Ambit, Diane Duane shares a nice collection of links for digital mapmakers.

The Planetary Society Blog looks at how the European Space Agency supports the cause of planetary defense.

Roads and Kingdoms interviews Kenyan writer Kevin Mwachiro at length.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel reports on how a mysterious fast radio burst helped illuminate an equally mysterious galactic halo.

Strange Company reports on the mysterious and unsolved death in 1936 of Canadian student Thomas Moss in an Oxfordshire hayrick.

Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps notes how Mount Etna is a surpassingly rare decipoint.

Understanding Society considers the thought of Kojève, after Hegel, on freedom.

Window on Eurasia looks at the falling numbers of Russians, and of state support for Russian language and culture, in independent Central Asia.

Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell looks at how individual consumer responses are much less effective than concerted collective action in triggering change.

Arnold Zwicky reports on some transgender fashion models.

The Crux takes a look at how those people who actually are short sleepers work.

D-Brief looks at a study noting how the moods of people are determined by the strengths of their phones' batteries.

Dan Lainer-Vos at the Everyday Sociology Blog looks at statistical certainty at a time of climate change.

JSTOR Daily looks at how, and why, the New England Puritans believed human bone might have medical power.

Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the press coverage that created the alleged Clinton uranium scandal.

The Map Room Blog shares maps noting that, already, since the late 19th century much of the world has warmed more than 2 degrees Celsius.

Strange Company shares a diverse collection of links.

Daniel Pfau at Towleroad writes about possible deep evolutionary roots of homosexuality.

Window on Eurasia notes how the Russian republic of Karelia, despite its border with Finland, suffers from repression.

Is the argument of Piketty that billionaires should be taxed out of existence for the benefit of all really as bad as this columnist thinks it? Bloomberg has it.

I do agree with this Open Democracy column suggesting a badly-handled guaranteed minimum income scheme could be a disaster.

It is a sad irony that the stresses of poverty have been confirmed to accelerate the aging of poor people. VICE reports.

Exercise plays a key role in helping slow down the aging process. The Conversation reports.

Vox looks at claims of supercentenarians, and finds that poor record-keeping if not outright fraud is responsible for many.

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