[PHOTO] Nice on my screen in Toronto

[PHOTO] Brasilia on my screen in Toronto

[PHOTO] Chicago on my screen in Toronto

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

• 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.

[URBAN NOTE] Seven city links: Mississauga, Oshawa, Hamilton, London, Kingston, Montréal, Québec

• A historic bridge over the Credit River in Mississauga, happily, will not be demolished but instead will be repaired. CBC reports.
• Now that automobile production has stopped at the Oshawa General Motors plant, what will become of that city? CBC reports.
• The auditor-general of Ontario will investigate the claimed costs that led to the cancellation of the Hamilton LRT. Global News reports.
• A new bus route now connects London, Ontario, to Sarnia. Global News reports.
• Kingstonist reports that filming for the season finale of Star Trek: Discovery has just finished up in Kingston, at the pen.
• Joe Buongiorno writes at CBC Montreal at his, specifically Italian Canadian, experiences with the Jean Talon Market in Montréal.
• Le Devoir notes that many radio stations in Québec City are leading opposition to the proposed streetcar system.

[URBAN NOTE] Ten Montréal links

• MTL Blog shares this map of the Greater Montréal mass transit network, with a uniform design for all its networks, here.
• Exo commuters in Montréal are decidedly unhappy with the Exo chairperson for the unhelpful tips they gave. CTV News reports.
• Montréal has bought 140 acres of land in the West Island for its planned great park there. CTV News reports.
• Notre Dame East is set to be revamped as an urban boulevard. CTV News reports.
• Controversy over the Royalmount shopping complex grows. CBC reports.
• Montréal is reckoned by a Google team to be a major centre for game development. CTV News reports.
• A new fund seeks to increase the diversity of artists whose works are displayed in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. CTV News reports.
• Montréal mayor Valérie Plante promises to help out record stores fined for being opened past 5 on a weekend. CTV News reports.
• Royal LePage suggests that home values in Montréal will grow sharply in 2020, more than in any other major Canadian city. CTV News reports.

[URBAN NOTE] Seven city links: Innisfil, Buffalo, Ottawa, Montréal, Winnipeg, Amsterdam, Singapore

• The town of Innisfil is looking forward to some very futuristic developments. Global News reports.
• Jeremy Deaton at CityLab reports on how, buffered by the Great Lakes, Buffalo NY may end gaining from climate change.
• The Ottawa chain Bridgehead Coffee has been sold to national chain Second Cup. Global News reports.
• Many of the more eye-raising installations in the Gay Village of Montréal have since been removed. CTV News reports.
• Warming huts for homeless people in Winnipeg were torn down because the builders did not follow procedures. Global News reports.
• Open Democracy looks at innovative new public governance of the city budget in Amsterdam, here.
• Singapore, located in a well-positioned Southeast Asia and with working government, may take over from Hong Kong. Bloomberg View makes the case.

[URBAN NOTE] Ten city links: Laval, Calgary, Vancouver, Cleveland, Machu Picchu, London, Görlitz …

• The Québec city of Laval now has a cemetery where pets can be buried alongside their owners. CBC reports.
• Talk of Alberta separatism has already cost Calgary at least one high-profile non-oil investment, it seems. Global News reports.
• A new piece of public art in Vancouver, a spinning chandelier, has proven to be a lightning rod for controversy. CBC reports.
• Guardian Cities looks at the continuing fight against lead contamination in Cleveland.
• Machu Picchu was built in a high remote corner of the Andes for good reasons, it is being argued. The National Post reports.
• Wired looks at how rivals to Uber are currently fighting for dominance in London, here.
• Guardian Cities shares a cartoon history of the birth of Nairobi, here.
• The east German city of Gorlitz offered interested people one month’s free residence. The Guardian reports.
• JSTOR Daily notes that Hong Kong was born as a city from refugee migrations.
• Is Tokyo, despite tis size and wealth, too detached from Asia to take over from Hong Kong as a regional financial centre? Bloomberg View is not encouraging.

[URBAN NOTE] Seven city links: Guelph, Innisfil, Montréal, Asbestos, Québec City, Alberta, Richmond

• Guelph will be holding an open house to see what development will replace the Dolime Quarry. Global News reports.
• The town of Innisfil has extended its Uber subsidy program for people in need of transit. Global News reports</u.
• Archeologists in Montréal have found a mass grave of Irish famine victims. CTV reports.
• The Québec town of Asbestos is changing its name so as to avoid the link, in English, with the toxic mineral. CTV reports.
• A subway, alas, would be too big for Québec City. Streetcars would work better. Le Devoir reports.
• Can a hyperloop be built to plug Edmonton together with Calgary? Global News considers.
• Richmond, British Columbia, has unveiled a cultural harmony strategy to help its diverse population get along. The National Post reports.

[URBAN NOTE] Seven city links: Gatineau, Montréal, Halifax, wild turkeys and monk parakeets, Venice, Kamza

• The city of Gatineau is going to take land with constructions devastated by flooding and make it into a buffer zone. CBC reports.
• There is controversy around the idea of naming a REM station in Montréal’s Griffintown neighbourhood after Bernard Landry. Global News reports.
• Halifax has a third heritage district. Global News reports.
• The wild turkey is now thriving in many American cities, in New Jersey’s Toms River and even in Washington D.C. CityLab reports.
• The monk parakeet is thriving in European cities like Madrid and London. CityLab reports.
• The Conversation suggests that Venice may yet benefit from the attention brought to its problems by the recent flooding.
• Guardian Cities looks at the remarkably rapid construction of the city in Albania of Kamza, driven by (among other factors) remittances from emigrants.