Posts Tagged ‘ireland’
[BLOG] Some Friday links
- Architectuul looks at the Portuguese architectural cooperative Ateliermob, here.
- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at how white dwarf WD J091405.30+191412.25 is literally vapourizing a planet in close orbit.
- Caitlin Kelly at the Broadside Blog explains</a< to readers why you really do not want to have to look for parking in New York City.
- Centauri Dreams looks at the slowing of the solar wind far from the Sun.
- John Holbo at Crooked Timber considers the gap between ideals and actuals in the context of conspiracies and politics.
- The Dragon’s Tales reports on how the ESA is trying to solve a problem with the parachutes of the ExoMars probe.
- Far Outliers reports on what Harry Truman thought about politicians.
- Gizmodo reports on a new method for identifying potential Earth-like worlds.
- io9 pays tribute to legendary writer, of Star Trek and much else, D.C. Fontana.
- The Island Review reports on the football team of the Chagos Islands.
- Joe. My. God. reports that gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy will compete for the United Kingdom in 2020.
- JSTOR Daily looks at how early English imperialists saw America and empire through the lens of Ireland.
- Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money does not like Pete Buttigieg.
- The LRB Blog looks at the London Bridge terrorist attack.
- The Map Room Blog shares a map of Prince William Sound, in Alaska, that is already out of date because of global warming.
- Marginal Revolution questions if Cebu, in the Philippines, is the most typical city in the world.
- The NYR Daily looks at gun violence among Arab Israelis.
- The Planetary Society Blog considers what needs to be researched next on Mars.
- Roads and Kingdoms tells the story of Sister Gracy, a Salesian nun at work in South Sudan.
- The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper noting continued population growth expected in much of Europe, and the impact of this growth on the environment.
- Strange Maps shares a map of fried chicken restaurants in London.
- Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains why a 70 solar mass black hole is not unexpected.
- John Scalzi at Whatever gives</a his further thoughts on the Pixel 4.
- Window on Eurasia notes that, last year, 37 thousand Russians died of HIV/AIDS.
- Arnold Zwicky starts from a consideration of the 1948 film Kind Hearts and Coronets.
Written by Randy McDonald
December 6, 2019 at 6:30 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Science, Social Sciences
Tagged with africa, alaska, architecture, astronomy, blogs, british empire, cebu, chagos, clash of ideologies, conspiracies, crime, d.c. fontana, Demographics, environment, european union, exoplanets, futurology, google, hiv/aids, in memoriam, ireland, islands, israel, links, london, mars, middle east, new york, new york city, north america, palestinians, parking lot, pete buttigieg, philippines, politics, popular culture, portugal, religion, restaurants, russia, science fiction, solar system, south sudan, southeast asia, space science, space travel, sports, star trek, technology, television, terrorism, united states, WD J091405.30+191412.25, white dwarfs
[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.
Written by Randy McDonald
November 28, 2019 at 8:00 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences, Urban Note
Tagged with alberta, asbestos, british columbia, calgary, canada, cemetaries, cities, Demographics, diaspora, edmonton, environment, guelph, innisfil, ireland, mass transit, migration, montréal, neighbourhoods, ontario, québec, québec city, richmond, technology, Urban Note
[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.
Written by Randy McDonald
November 27, 2019 at 8:30 pm
Posted in Assorted, Demographics, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Urban Note
Tagged with albania, atlantic canada, birds, canada, cities, diaspora, disasters, european union, gatineau, griffintown, halifax, ireland, italy, kamza, mass transit, migration, monk parakeet, montréal, neighbourhoods, nova scotia, québec, united states, Urban Note, venice, wild turkey
[URBAN NOTE] Seven city links: Pierrefonds, Edmundston, Saskatoon, Louisville, Belfast, Jerusalem …
- Ending free coffee for municipal employees in the Québec community of Pierrefonds created massive controversy. CBC reports.
- The mayor of the Francophone city of Edmundston in New Brunswick has encouraged immigrant Québec students hurt by immigration changes to come to his community. CTV News reports.
- The price of crystal meth in Saskatoon is apparently as low as $3 a bag. Global News reports.
- Guardian Cities notes how Louisville, low on trees, is trying to regreen the city as a way to deal with rising temperatures.
- Open Democracy considers if the DUP is about to lose its strongholds in Belfast.
- Guardian Cities looks at the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Kafr Aqab, a place where Palestinians can access their metropolis (and their partners).
- CityLab shares photos of the wonderful new public library of Helsinki.
Written by Randy McDonald
November 26, 2019 at 11:30 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, Economics, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences, Urban Note
Tagged with architecture, belfast, canada, cities, coffee, drugs, edmundston, education, environment, finland, health, helsinki, ireland, israel, kentucky, libraries, louisville, migration, neighbourhoods, new brunswick, norden, northern ireland, palestinians, pierrefonds, québec, saskatchewan, saskatoon, tree, united kingdom, united states, Urban Note
[BLOG] Some Tuesday links
- 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.
Written by Randy McDonald
November 12, 2019 at 6:30 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, Demographics, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Science, Social Sciences
Tagged with animal intelligence, astronomy, austronesian languages, birds, blogs, borders, brooklyn, california, dance, economics, education, england, english language, environment, exoplanets, gibraltar, history, imperialism, ireland, language, libya, links, lizards, mexico, moon, netherlands, parrots, paul delvaux, physics, politics, popular culture, popular literature, public art, reptiles, russia, science fiction, siraya, social sciences, sociology, space science, space travel, spiders, taiwan, tripoli, united kingdom
[AH] Six #alternatehistory maps from Reddit: Irish, Canada, Alaska, Russia, Prairies, South Africa
- This r/mapporn map shows the scale of the collapse of Irish as a spoken language across most of Ireland. Was this avoidable?
- This r/imaginarymaps map shows a Canada where the 1837 rebellions were successful, with an autonomous Upper Canada and a Lower Canada with a Patriote state. Doable?
- This r/imaginarymaps map depicts a common alternate history trope, that of an independent but culturally Russian Alaska. What would it take for this to happen?
- This r/imaginarymaps map depicts a world where Eurasia, from Germany to Korea, was dominated by a successfully industrializing Russian Empire. Was this common fear of the belle époque actually achievable?
- This r/mapporn map shows the different proposals for different territorial configurations of the Canadian Prairies. (I like the ones with north-south divisions.)
- Was a single South Africa covering most of British Southern Africa with relatively liberal racial policies, as Jan Smuts wanted, actually achievable? r/imaginarymaps hosts the map.
Written by Randy McDonald
October 29, 2019 at 11:45 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, Demographics, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences
Tagged with africa, alaska, alberta, alternate history, borders, botswana, british empire, canada, eswatini, geopolitics, imperialism, ireland, irish language, language, lesotho, links, maps, namibia, news, ontario, québec, russia, russian empire, saskatchewan, south africa
[BLOG] Some Sunday links
- Architectuul looks at the Porto architectural project Critical Concrete, here.
- Bad Astronomer Phil Plait shares the evidence for our galaxy having experienced a phase as a quasar a quarter-million years long some 3.5 million years ago.
- Author James Bow celebrates the end of his publicity tour for The Night Girl, including a controversy over cover art featuring the CN Tower.
- Robert Zubrin at Centauri Dreams considers how we could detect energy from artificial singularities used for power and propulsion. (Is this how we find the Romulans?)
- The Crux considers whether or not the new proposals for more powerful supercolliders in China and Europe are likely to produce new discoveries.
- D-Brief explains why older generations so often look down on the young: The elders idealize their younger selves too much.
- Dead Things notes new evidence, in the tracks of trilobites moving in line 480 million years ago, for early life being able to engage in collective behaviour.
- io9 interviews Kami Garcia about her new YA book featuring venerable DC character Raven, remaking her for new readers.
- The Island Review interviews David Gange about The Frayed Atlantic Edge, his book account of his kayak trip down the western coasts of Britain and Ireland.
- JSTOR Daily explains why Martin Luther King Jr. thought so highly of jazz.
- Eleanor Penny argues at the LRB Blog against taking Malthus, with his pessimism trending towards a murderous misanthropy, as a prophet for our times.
- The NYR Daily looks at the play American Moor, which touches on the efforts of black actors to engage with Shakespeare.
- Drew Rowsome reviews the new film The Flick, an old to old-style movies and theatres.
- The Russian Demographics Blog shares a map depicting Hutterite migrations across early modern Europe.
- Starts With A Bang shares new speculation that some evidence for dark matter might actually be a mistake in measurement.
- Strange Maps notes the now mostly submerged continent of Greater Adria.
- Window on Eurasia shares a suggestion that the deep Russophilia of many ordinary people in Belarus might support union with Russia.
- Arnold Zwicky looks at the different meanings of “unaccompanied”.
Written by Randy McDonald
October 20, 2019 at 7:15 pm
Posted in Assorted, Demographics, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Science, Social Sciences
Tagged with african-americans, architecture, astronomy, belarus, black holes, britain, china, dc comics, Demographics, earth, english language, european union, evolution, extraterrestrial intelligence, ireland, islands, jazz, links, malthus. hutterites, maps, migration, national identity, physics, popular culture, popular literature, popular music, portugal, quasars, russia, Sagittarius A*, singularity, social sciences, sociology, space science, technology, theatre, travel, trilobites, united states, william shakespeare