[URBAN NOTE] Four Toronto links: waterfront, #worldslargestrubberduck, PATH, rent control

• Spacing’s John Lorinc considers confusion over what the idea of “mixed-use” development on the waterfront is.
• Dave Leblanc looks at the PATH, the underground tunnels in downtown Toronto making up a huge mall. It counts. The Globe and Mail reports.
• It turns out that the #worldslargestrubberduck was actually really good for waterfront businesses. The Toronto Star reports.
• Toronto Life interviews RioCan head Jonathan Gitlin, who thinks rent control will be terrible for renters.

Advertisements

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

Bad Astronomer Phil Plait talks about the discovery that the early Moon had a notable atmosphere. http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/air-de-lune

The Big Picture, from the Boston Globe, shares terrifying pictures from the California wildfires. https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpicture/2017/10/10/raging-wildfires-california/GtkTUeIILcZeqp5jlsLTMI/story.html

The Broadside Blog’s Caitlin Kelly talks about how writers need editing, and editors. https://broadsideblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/14/why-editors-matter-more-than-ever/

D-Brief notes that forming coal beds sucked so much carbon dioxide out of the air that it triggered an ice age.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/10/10/coal-earth-ice/

Dangerous Minds looks at Michael’s Thing, a vintage guide to gay New York dating from the 1970s. http://dangerousminds.net/comments/michaels_thing_new_york_citys_once_essential_queer_city_guide

Cody Delistraty looks at a new Paris exhibition of the works of Paul Gauguin that tries to deal with his moral sketchiness, inspiration of much his work. https://delistraty.com/2017/10/09/paul-gauguins-insurmountable-immorality/

Hornet Stories notes that same same-sex-attracted guys opt to be called not gay but androphiles. (Less baggage, they say.) https://hornetapp.com/stories/men-who-love-men-androphile/

Language Hat notes a claim that the Spanish of Christopher Columbus was marked by Catalan. http://languagehat.com/columbuss-catalan/

Language Log notes that the languages of southern China like Cantonese are actually fully-fledged languages. http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=34933

Lawyers, Guns and Money notes an argument that Chinese companies do not abide by the terms of tech transfer agreements.
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2017/10/tech-transfer

The LRB Blog notes an old Mike Davis article noting how California, at a time of climate change, risks catastrophic wildfires. https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2017/10/10/the-editors/california-burning/

The Map Room Blog is unimpressed by the new book, A History of Canada in Ten Maps. (It needs more maps. Seriously.) https://buff.ly/2gcdLKG

The NYR Daily takes another look at the nature of consciousness.
http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/10/09/consciousness-an-object-lesson/

The Planetary Society Blog shares a scientist’s story about how he stitched together the last mosaic photo of Saturn by Cassini. http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2017/cassinis-last-dance-with-saturn-farewell-mosaic.html

The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer notes that an unnegotiated secession of Catalonia from Spain would be a catastrophe for the new country. http://noelmaurer.typepad.com/aab/2017/10/la-econom%C3%ADa-de-la-secesi%C3%B3n-en-la-madre-patria.html

Roads and Kingdoms considers what is next for Kurdistan after its independence referendum. http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2017/whats-next-for-kurdistan/

Science Sushi considers the sketchy science of studying cetacean sex. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/2017/10/10/dolphin-penis-vagina-simulated-marine-mammal-sex/

Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel notes that exceptionally strong evidence that we do, in fact, exist in a real multiverse. https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/10/12/the-multiverse-is-inevitable-and-were-living-in-it/

Strange Maps looks at rates of reported corruption across Latin America, finding that Mexico fares badly. http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/half-of-all-mexicans-paid-a-bribe-in-the-previous-12-months

Window on Eurasia notes new inflows of migrants to Russia include fewer Europeans and many more Central Asians. http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.ca/2017/10/gastarbeiters-in-russia-from-central.html

[ISL] Four islands links: Beothuk, Newfoundland outports, seasteading, Shetlands

• DNA tests of Beothuk remains reveal that the extinct group was related to neither Mi’kmaq nor Inuit. The Globe and Mail reports.
• Some Newfoundland outports are seeing many young professionals move in, to make homes and businesses. CBC reports.
• Marginal Revolution claims a group wanting to mount a seasteading effort off French Polynesia are getting close to their goals.
• Politico.eu notes that, in the Shetlands, while fishers hope Brexit will lead to the revival of the fisheries others fear a labour shortage without EU-27 migrants.

[URBAN NOTE] Four Toronto links: urban poverty, GO Transit subsidies, 1 Bloor West, environment

• A new report suggests that, in Toronto, you need to learn at least twice minimum wage in order to thrive. The Toronto Star reports.
• GO Transit users will apparently get half-price TTC fares. The Toronto Star reports.
• From the former Stollery’s, at 1 Bloor Street West, will rise Toronto’s tallest condo tower. The Globe and Mail reports.
• Torontoist shares an opinion piece looking at the infrastructure of environmental protection in the GTHA.

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• The Crux considers the idea that lower food consumption can lead to greater longevity.
• D-Brief notes an English field of barley grown entirely by robots.
• Language Hat wonders if Brexit means that EU English will start to diverge from the norms of the United Kingdom.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money shares an article taking issue with sports fans’ treatment of players.
• The LRB Blog notes that Nicaragua has signed up to climate-change accords, leaving only the United States.
• The Map Room Blog links to a new atlas of the Irish Revolution.
• Marginal Revolution notes that the economy of Turkey is doing surprisingly well.
• The Planetary Society Blog takes a look at the sorts of technology needed to survive on Mars.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel notes the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics, for their detection of gravitational waves.
• Towleroad shares Mashrou’ Leila’s condemnation of Egyptian authorities for arresting people waving the rainbow flag.
• Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell notes, in passing, the hard work needed to keep artificial intelligences from being racist.
• Arnold Zwicky links to an interactive map of the bookstores of San Francisco.

[NEWS] Five links about vulnerability: parrots, Uighurs, indigenous peoples, fangsheng, Jones Act

• Hundreds of parrots in a Surrey sanctuary are still waiting for permanent homes. Global News reports.
• NPR reports on how many Uighurs in China find success through their racially mixed appearances, as models.
• The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer explains the rationale behind the Jones Act, with its stiff shipping charges for Puerto Rico.
• The Chinese Buddhist fangsheng ritual, involving the release of captured animals into the wild, has issues. The Guardian reports.
• Tyson Yunkaporta’s essay takes a look at the appeal of SF/F, and post-apocalyptic fiction, for indigenous peoples.

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Videoflicks, ghost service, Rob Ford football, parks, real estate

• blogTO notes that video rental store Videoflicks, on Avenue Road, is set to close down.
• The TTC, blogTO notes, has begun “ghost service” on its half-dozen new subway stations.
• Edward Keenan thinks that we may as well name a football stadium after Rob Ford. Why not? If it makes Ford Nation feel better …
• Spacing Toronto features John Lorinc looking at how community parks organizations, like at Ramsden, can exclude outsiders.
• VICE notes on recent study suggesting the real estate market of Toronto is the most overvalued of world cities.