rfmcdonald | Entries tagged with ukraine

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.

Window on Eurasia notes the post-Soviet collapse of the numbers of learners of the Russian language, here.

Window on Eurasia reports the claim of a Russian politician that in 1991, securing the nuclear arsenal of Ukraine was a bigger priority than trying for borders changes, here.

Window on Eurasia notes how Belarus cannot protect itself from Russia, here.

Window on Eurasia explains why the Soviet Union let the Armenians and Georgians keep their alphabets, here.

Window on Eurasia explains how Russia's naval and marine power is not doing well, 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 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.

Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait shares a stunning photo taken by a friend of the Pleiades star cluster.

The Buzz, at the Toronto Public Library, shares a collection of books suitable for World Vegan Month, here.

Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber considers, with an eye towards China and the Uighurs, how panopticon attempts can stray badly on account of--among other things--false assumptions.

Gizmodo considers how antimatter could end up providing interesting information about the unseen universe.

Joe. My. God. reports from New York City, where new HIV cases are dropping sharply on account of PrEP.

JSTOR Daily shares a vintage early review of Darwin's Origin of Species.

Language Hat examines the origins of the semicolon, in Venice in 1494.

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money shares a critical report of the new Jill Lepore book These Truths.

The LRB Blog reports from the Museum of Corruption in Kyiv, devoted to the corruption of the ancient regime in Ukraine.

Marginal Revolution shares a new history of the Lakota.

The NYR Daily looks at the photography of Duane Michals.

The Russian Demographics Blog looks at population trends in Russia, still below 1991 totals in current frontiers.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why some of the lightest elements, like lithium, are so rare.

Window on Eurasia shares the opinion of a Russian historian that Eastern Europe is back as a geopolitical zone.

Arnold Zwicky considers Jacques Transue in the light of other pop culture figures and trends.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait observes that a team may have discovered the elusive neutron star produced by Supernova 1987A, hidden behind a cloud of dust.

Chris Bertram at Crooked Timber shares a photo he made via the time-consuming 19th century wet-plate collodion method.

Drew Ex Machina's Andrew LePage looks at the Apollo 12 visit to the Surveyor 3 site to, among other things, see what it might suggest about future space archeology.

Karen Sternheimer at the Everyday Sociology Blog looks at the story of rural poverty facing a family in Waverly, Ohio, observing how it is a systemic issue.

George Dvorsky at Gizmodo looks at how Mars' Jezero crater seems to have had a past relatively friendly to life, good for the next NASA rover.

Joe. My. God. reports on the latest ignorance displayed by Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter, this time regarding HIV.

JSTOR Daily looks at how Climategate was used to undermine popular opinion on climate change.

Language Hat links to an article explaining why so many works of classical literature were lost, among other things not making it onto school curricula.

Language Log shares a photo of a Muji eraser with an odd English label.

Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money suggests Pete Buttigieg faces a campaign-limiting ceiling to his support among Democrats.

The LRB Blog argues that Macron's blocking of EU membership possibilities for the western Balkans is a terrible mistake.

The Map Room Blog shares a map depicting regional variations in Canada towards anthropogenic climate change. Despite data issues, the overall trend of oil-producing regions being skeptical is clear.

Marginal Revolution links to a paper examining the slowing pace of labour mobility in the US, suggesting that home attachment is a key factor.

Frederic Wehrey at the NYR Daily tells the story of Knud Holmboe, a Danish journalist who came to learn about the Arab world working against Italy in Libya.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why thermodynamics does not explain our perception of time.

Understanding Society's Dan Little looks at Electronic Health Records and how they can lead to medical mistakes.

Whatever's John Scalzi shares a remarkable photo of the night sky he took using the astrophotography mode on his Pixel 4 phone.

Window on Eurasia shares an opinion that the Intermarium countries, between Germany and Russia, can no longer count on the US and need to organize in their self-defense.

Arnold Zwicky shares a photo of his handsome late partner Jacques Transue, taken as a college student.

Architectuul visits the studio of Barbas Lopes Arquitectos in Lisbon, here.

Bad Astronomer takes a look at a new paper examining the effectiveness of different asteroid detection technologies, including nuclear weapons.

Centauri Dreams reports on a new study suggesting potentially habitable planets orbiting Alpha Centauri B, smaller of the two stars, could suffer from rapid shifts of their axes.

John Quiggin at Crooked Timber argues some polls suggest some American conservatives really would prefer Russia as a model to California.

Bruce Dorminey notes the discovery, by the Murchison Widefield Array in Australia, of 27 supernova remnants in our galaxy.

The Dragon's Tales shares a collection of links about stealth aircraft, here.

Gizmodo notes a new study suggesting that DNA is but one of very very many potential genetic molecules.

Language Hat shares a reevaluation of the Richard Stanyhurst translation of the Aeneid, with its manufactured words. Why mightn't this have been not mockable but rather creative?

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money celebrated the 50th anniversary of the takeover of Alcatraz Island by Native American activists.

Chris Bertram writes at the LRB Blog, after the catastrophe of the Essex van filled with dozens of dead migrants, about the architecture of exclusion that keeps out migrants.

Marginal Revolution shares a comment looking at the fentanyl crisis from a new angle.

Jenny Uglow writes at the NYR Daily about a Science Museum exhibit highlighting the dynamic joys of science and its progress over the centuries.

Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw takes a look at the question of how to prevent the wildfires currently raging in Australia. What could have been done, what should be done?

The Planetary Society Blog reports on proposals from China for two long-range probe missions to interstellar space, including a Neptune flyby.

Drew Rowsome reviews the wonderfully innocent Pinocchio currently playing at the Young People's Theatre.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at the evidence for the universe, maybe, being closed.

Window on Eurasia notes that the Alexandria Patriarchate is the next Orthodox body to recognize the Ukrainian church.

Arnold Zwicky looks at irregular versus regular, as a queer word too.

Victor Mair at Language Log takes a look at the many and varied colloquialisms in the different varieties of Chinese.

Robert Hymes writes a guest post at Language Log examining the word "mare" and its relatives across language families.

Mark Liberman at Language Log considers how the name of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is to be pronounced.

Victor Mair at Language Log takes a look at the English dialect of Yorkshire.

Bad Astronomy notes the mystery of distant active galaxy SDSS J163909+282447.1, with a supermassive black hole but few stars.

Centauri Dreams shares a proposal from Robert Buckalew for craft to engage in planned panspermia, seeding life across the galaxy.

The Crux looks at the theremin and the life of its creator, Leon Theremin.

D-Brief notes that termites cannibalize their dead, for the good of the community.

Dangerous Minds looks at William Burroughs' Blade Runner, an adaptation of a 1979 science fiction novel by Alan Nourse.

Bruce Dorminey notes a new study explaining how the Milky Way Galaxy, and the rest of the Local Group, was heavily influenced by its birth environment.

JSTOR Daily looks at why the Chernobyl control room is now open for tourists.

Dale Campos at Lawyers. Guns and Money looks at the effects of inequality on support for right-wing politics.

James Butler at the LRB Blog looks at the decay and transformation of British politics, with Keith Vaz and Brexit.

Marginal Revolution shares a paper explaining why queens are more warlike than kings.

Omar G. Encarnación at the NYR Daily looks at how Spain has made reparations to LGBTQ people for past homophobia. Why should the United States not do the same?

Corey S. Powell at Out There shares his interview with physicist Sean Carroll on the reality of the Many Worlds Theory. There may be endless copies of each of us out there. (Where?)

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why 5G is almost certainly safe for humans.

Strange Company shares a newspaper clipping reporting on a haunting in Wales' Plas Mawr castle.

Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps looks at all the different names for Africa throughout the years.

The Volokh Conspiracy considers, in the case of the disposal of eastern Oklahoma, whether federal Indian law should be textualist. (They argue against.)

Window on Eurasia notes the interest of the government of Ukraine in supporting Ukrainians and other minorities in Russia.

Arnold Zwicky looks at syntax on signs for Sloppy Joe's.

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.

What will become of the Azerbaijani language in education in Iran? More here.

Is a Russia-Belarus state union feasible? More here.

Is Estonia, as some would have it, a viable model for the Finnic Mordvin peoples of the Russian interior? More here.

Will Russia be happy with its alliance with China if this makes it a secondary partner, a relatively weaker exporter of resources? More here.

How many Muslims are there in Moscow, and what import does the controversy over their numbers carry? More here.

Is the Russian fertility rate set to stagnate, leading to long-term sharp decline? More here.

If 10% of the Russian working-age population has emigrated, this has serious consequences for the future of Russia. More here.

Irredentism in Kazakhstan, inspired by the example of Crimea, is just starting to be a thing. More here.

The decline of Russian populations in the north of Kazakhstan, and the growth of Uzbeks, is noteworthy. More here.

The different Russian proposals for the future of the Donbas, an analyst notes, are built to keep Ukraine a neutral country. More here.

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes a study suggesting the Milky Way Galaxy took many of its current satellite galaxies from another, smaller one.

The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly talks of the importance of having dreams.

Centauri Dreams shares a study explaining how the debris polluting the atmospheres of white dwarfs reveals much about exoplanet chemistry.

D-Brief notes that the intense radiation of Jupiter would not destroy potential traces of subsurface life on the surface of Europa.

Dangerous Minds looks at the strange musical career of Vader Abraham, fan of the Smurfs and of the Weepuls.

Aneesa Bodiat at JSTOR Daily writes about how the early Muslim woman of Haajar inspires her as a Muslim.

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how an influx of American guns destabilizes Mexico.

The LRB Blog looks at the American abandonment of the Kurds of Syria.

Marginal Revolution notes how many mass protests are driven by consumer complaints.

The NYR Daily has an interview with EU chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, on the future of sovereignty.

Strange Company looks at the Dead Pig War between the US and the UK on San Juan Island in 1859.

Towleroad features the defense of Frank Ocean of his PrEP+ club night and the release of his new music.

Understanding Society looks at the sociology of norms.

Window on Eurasia suggests Russia and Ukraine each have an interest in the Donbass being a frozen conflict.

Arnold Zwicky looks at the weird masculinity of the pink jock.

Drew Rowsome reviews the offerings at the Toronto Queer Theatre Festival, here.

blogTO notes the displeasure of the Junction at the removal of a wooden train platform, become a community hub, for condo construction.

Bloor West Village, blogTO notes, hosts a museum--newly reopened in a new location--devoted to the poetry of Taras Shevchenko.

Jamie Bradburn looks at vintage Toronto ads, these from the parties contending 1926 federal election.

In this long-form CBC feature, Ioanna Roumeliotis writes about the new things the TTC is doing to try to prevent suicides on the subway tracks.

Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait shares images of Jupiter, imaged in infrared by ALMA.

Centauri Dreams looks at ocean upwelling on one class of super-habitable exoplanet.

D-Brief looks at how the Komodo dragon survived the threat of extinction.

Far Outliers reports on a mid-19th century slave raid in the Sahel.

Gizmodo notes that the secret US Air Force spaceplane, the X-37B, has spent two years in orbit. (Doing what?)

JSTOR Daily looks at the economic underpinnings of medieval convents.

Dave Brockington writes at Lawyers, Guns and Money about the continuing meltdown of the British political system in the era of Brexit, perhaps even of British democracy.

The LRB Blog looks at the impact of Brexit on the Common Travel Area.

Marginal Revolution reports on how Poland has tried to deter emigration by removing income taxes on young workers.

Carole Naggar writes at the NYR Daily about the photography of women photographers working for LIFE, sharing examples of their work.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why time has to be a dimension of the universe, alongside the three of space.

Frank Jacobs of Strange Maps shares NASA images of the forest fires of Amazonia.

Window on Eurasia notes that many Russophones of Ukraine are actually strongly opposed to Russia, contrary Russian stereotypes of language determining politics.

Centauri Dreams reports on how dataset mining of K2 data revealed 18 more Earth-sized planets.

Crooked Timber speculates on how Clarence Thomas might rule on abortion given his public rulings.

D-Brief observes that some corals in Hawaii appear to thrive in acidic waters. Is there hope yet for coral reefs?

Karen Sternheimer writes at the Everyday Sociology Blog about how sociology and history overlap, in their subjects and in their methods.

Far Outliers examines how the last remnants of Soviet power faded quickly around the world in 1991.

Gizmodo looks at how an image of a rare albino panda has just been captured.

Joe. My. God. notes how Christian fundamentalists want to make the east of Washington State into a 51st state run by Biblical law.

JSTOR Daily notes how trees can minimize algae blooms in nearby water systems.

Victor Mair at Language Log takes issue with problematic pop psychology regarding bilingualism in Singapore.

Lawyers, Guns, and Money takes issue with trying to minimize court decisions like (for instance) a hypothetical overthrow of Miranda v. Arizona. (Roe v. Wade is what they are concerned with.)

The NYR Daily looks at the short storied life of avant-garde filmmaker Barbara Rubin.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel explains why we can never learn everything about our universe.

Towleroad notes that downloads of the relationship app Hinge have surged after Pete Buttigieg said he met his now-husband there.

Window on Eurasia notes that Ukraine is seeking to have the Kerch Strait separating Crimea from adjacent Russia declared an international body of water.

Arnold Zwicky takes a look at what famed gay writer John Rechy is doing these days.

Architectuul writes about the exciting possibility of using living organisms, like fungi, as custom-designed construction materials.

Bad Astronomy looks at first-generation stars, the first stars in the universe which exploded and scattered heavy elements into the wider universe.

Caitlin Kelly writes at the Broadside Blog, as an outsider and an observer, about the American fascination with guns.

The Toronto Public Library's Buzz lists some top memoirs.

Centauri Dreams considers the vexed issue of oxygen in the oceans of Europa. There may well not be enough oxygen to sustain complex life, though perhaps life imported from Earth might be able to thrive with suitable preparation.

The Crux looks at the well-established practice, not only among humans but other animals, of using natural substances as medicines.

D-Brief looks at the NASA Dart mission, which will try to deflect the tiny moon of asteroid Didymos in an effort to test asteroid-diversion techniques.

io9 reports George R.R. Martin's belief that Gandalf could beat Dumbledore. I can buy that, actually.

JSTOR Daily takes a look at the local reactions to Woodstock.

Language Hat looks at the language in a 19th century short story by Nikolai Leskov, concerned with the difficulties of religious conversion for a people whose language does not encompass the concepts of Christianity.

Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money links to a book review of his examining the Marshall mission to Nationalist China after the Second World War.

Marginal Revolution links to survey results suggesting that, contrary to the Brexit narratives, Britons have actually been getting happier over the past two decades.

The NYR Daily reports on an exhibition of the universe of transgressive writer Kathy Acker in London.

Drew Rowsome reviews the innovative new staging of the queer Canadian classic Lilies at Buddies in Bad Times.

Towleroad reports on the progress of Pete Buttigieg.

Window on Eurasia notes that Russia and Ukraine are becoming increasingly separated by their very different approaches to their shared Soviet past.

Arnold Zwicky looks at the latest evolutions of English.

Another links post is up over at Demography Matters!

Skepticism about immigration in many traditional receiving countries appeared. Frances Woolley at the Worthwhile Canadian Initiative took issue with the argument of Andray Domise after an EKOS poll, that Canadians would not know much about the nature of migration flows. The Conversation observed how the rise of Vox in Spain means that country’s language on immigration is set to change towards greater skepticism. Elsewhere, the SCMP called on South Korea, facing pronounced population aging and workforce shrinkages, to become more open to immigrants and minorities.

Cities facing challenges were a recurring theme. This Irish Examiner article, part of a series, considers how the Republic of Ireland’s second city of Cork can best break free from the dominance of Dublin to develop its own potential. Also on Ireland, the NYR Daily looked at how Brexit and a hardened border will hit the Northern Ireland city of Derry, with its Catholic majority and its location neighbouring the Republic. CityLab reported on black migration patterns in different American cities, noting gains in the South, is fascinating. As for the threat of Donald Trump to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities in the United States has widely noted., at least one observer noted that sending undocumented immigrants to cities where they could connect with fellow diasporids and build secure lives might actually be a good solution.

Declining rural settlements featured, too. The Guardian reported from the Castilian town of Sayatón, a disappearing town that has become a symbol of depopulating rural Spain. Global News, similarly, noted that the loss by the small Nova Scotia community of Blacks Harbour of its only grocery store presaged perhaps a future of decline. VICE, meanwhile, reported on the very relevant story about how resettled refugees helped revive the Italian town of Sutera, on the island of Sicily. (The Guardian, to its credit, mentioned how immigration played a role in keeping up numbers in Sayatón, though the second generation did not stay.)

The position of Francophone minorities in Canada, meanwhile, also popped up at me.
This TVO article about the forces facing the École secondaire Confédération in the southern Ontario city of Welland is a fascinating study of minority dynamics. A brief article touches on efforts in the Franco-Manitoban community of Winnipeg to provide temporary shelter for new Francophone immigrants. CBC reported, meanwhile, that Francophones in New Brunswick continue to face pressure, with their numbers despite overall population growth and with Francophones being much more likely to be bilingual than Anglophones. This last fact is a particularly notable issue inasmuch as New Brunswick's Francophones constitute the second-largest Francophone community outside of Québec, and have traditionally been more resistant to language shift and assimilation than the more numerous Franco-Ontarians.

The Eurasia-focused links blog Window on Eurasia pointed to some issues. It considered if the new Russian policy of handing out passports to residents of the Donbas republics is related to a policy of trying to bolster the population of Russia, whether fictively or actually. (I'm skeptical there will be much change, myself: There has already been quite a lot of emigration from the Donbas republics to various destinations, and I suspect that more would see the sort of wholesale migration of entire families, even communities, that would add to Russian numbers but not necessarily alter population pyramids.) Migration within Russia was also touched upon, whether on in an attempt to explain the sharp drop in the ethnic Russian population of Tuva in the 1990s or in the argument of one Muslim community leader in the northern boomtown of Norilsk that a quarter of that city's population is of Muslim background.

Eurasian concerns also featured. The Russian Demographics Blog observed, correctly, that one reason why Ukrainians are more prone to emigration to Europe and points beyond than Russians is that Ukraine has long been included, in whole or in part, in various European states. As well, Marginal Revolution linked to a paper that examines the positions of Jews in the economies of eastern Europe as a “rural service minority”, and observed the substantial demographic shifts occurring in Kazakhstan since independence, with Kazakh majorities appearing throughout the country.
JSTOR Daily considered if, between the drop in fertility that developing China was likely to undergo anyway and the continuing resentments of the Chinese, the one-child policy was worth it. I'm inclined to say no, based not least on the evidence of the rapid fall in East Asian fertility outside of China.

What will Britons living in the EU-27 do, faced with Brexit? Bloomberg noted the challenge of British immigrant workers in Luxembourg faced with Brexit, as Politico Europe did their counterparts living in Brussels.

Finally, at the Inter Press Service, A.D. Mackenzie wrote about an interesting exhibit at the Musée de l’histoire de l’immigration in Paris on the contributions made by immigrants to popular music in Britain and France from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Architectuul takes a look at "infrastructural scars", at geopolitically-inspired constructions like border fences and fortifications.

Centauri Dreams notes what we can learn from 99942 Apophis during its 2029 close approach to Earth, just tens of thousands of kilometres away.

D-Brief reports on the reactions of space artists to the photograph of the black hole at the heart of M87.

Dangerous Minds shares the first recording of Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart.

The Dragon's Tales notes that Germany has begun work on drafting laws to cover space mining.

Gizmodo reports on what scientists have learned from the imaging of a very recent impact of an asteroid on the near side of the Moon.

io9 makes the case that Star Trek: Discovery should try to tackle climate change.

Joe. My. God. notes that Verizon is seeking a buyer for Tumblr. (Wouldn't it be funny if it was bought, as other reports suggest might be possible, by Pornhub?)

JSTOR Daily reports on a 1910 examination of medical schools that, among other things, shut down all but two African-American medical schools with lasting consequences for African-American health.

Language Log asks why "Beijing" is commonly pronounced as "Beizhing".

Simon Balto asks at Lawyers, Guns and Money why the murder of Justine Ruszczyk by a Minneapolis policeman is treated more seriously than other police killings, just because she was white and the cop was black. All victims deserve the same attention.

Russell Darnley at Maximos62 shares a video of the frieze of the Parthenon.

The NYR Daily responds to the 1979 television adaptation of the Primo Levi novel Christ Stopped at Eboli, an examination of (among other things) the problems of development.

Peter Rukavina is entirely right about the practical uselessness of QR codes.

Daniel Little at Understanding Society points readers towards the study of organizations, concentrating on Charles Perrow.

Window on Eurasia notes the argument of one Russian commentator that Russia should offer to extend citizenship en masse not only to Ukrainians but to Belarusians, the better to undermine independent Belarus.

Arnold Zwicky shares photos of some of his flourishing flowers, as his home of Palo Alto enters a California summer.

Michael Cuby at them praises the musicianship of St. Vincent.

Queerty notes that the new Madonna video, for the song "I Rise", will feature multiple drag queens.

The Signal looks at how the Library of Congress is preserving, and indexing, its archives of traditional Irish music.

Zbigniew Wojnowski writes at Open Democracy about how Ukrainian popular music has evolved from the 1980s on, facing all sorts of cultural and political issues as Ukraine itself has changed hugely.

CBC looks at how pop music these days has become increasingly globalized, major hits incorporating languages other than English and stars often initially unknown to North American audiences.

Centauri Dreams notes a strange corridor of ice beneath the surface of Titan, a possible legacy of an active cryovolcanic past.

D-Brief notes one study suggesting that, properly designed, air conditioners could convert carbon dioxide in the air into carbon fuels.

Dead Things reports on the discovery of an unusual human skull three hundred thousand years old in China, at Hualongdong in the southeast.

Gizmodo notes the identification of a jawbone 160 thousand years old, found in Tibet, with the Denisovans. That neatly explains why the Denisovans were adapted to Tibet-like environments.

JSTOR Daily examines Ruth Page, a ballerina who integrated dance with poetry.

Language Hat shares a critique of a John McWhorter comment about kidspeak.

Victor Mair at Language Log shares a well-researched video on the Mongolian language of Genghis Khan.

Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money notes how Donald Trump, in his defiance of investigative findings, is worse than Richard Nixon.

James Butler at the LRB Blog writes about the bombing of London gay bar Admiral Duncan two decades ago, relating it movingly to wider alt-right movements and to his own early coming out.

Marginal Revolution's Tyler Cowen notes a recent review article making the case for open borders, disproving many of the claims made by opponents.

Paul Mason at the NYR Daily explains why the critique by Hannah Arendt of totalitarianism and fascism can fall short, not least in explaining our times.

Corey S. Powell at Out There explains how, and why, the Moon is starting to get serious attention as a place for long-term settlement, even.

Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society Blog explores the fund that she had in helping design a set of scientifically-accurate building blocks inspired by the worlds of our solar system.

Drew Rowsome reports on the new restaging of the classic queer drama Lilies at Buddies in Bad Times by Walter Borden, this one with a new racially sensitive casting.

Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel considers the massive boom of diversity at the time of the Cambrian Explosion.

Towleroad features the remarkable front cover of the new issue of Time, featuring Pete Buttigieg together with his husband Chasten.

Window on Eurasia considers if the new Russian policy of handing out passports to residents of the Donbas republics is related to a policy of trying to bolster the population of Russia, whether fictively or actually.

Arnold Zwicky considers the various flowers of May Day.

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Assorted Personal Notations, Essays, and Other Jottings

Entries tagged with ukraine

[BLOG] Some Monday links

[BLOG] Five Window on Eurasia links

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[BLOG] Some Monday links

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

[NEWS] Four Language Log links: Chinese, mare, Ukrainian, Yorkshire

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[NEWS] Ten Window on Eurasia links

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Toronto Queer Theatre Festival, Junction, Shevchenko, 1926, suicide

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

[DM] Some links: immigration, cities, small towns, French Canada, Eurasia, China, Brexit, music

[BLOG] Some Friday links

[MUSIC] Five music links: St. Vincent, Madonna, Ireland, Ukraine, globalization

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

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February 2021

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