[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Centauri Dreams looks at two brown dwarf pairs, nearby Luhman 16 and eclipsing binary WD1202-024.
• D-Brief notes a study suggesting panspermia would be easy in the compact TRAPPIST-1 system.
• Far Outliers notes the shouted and remarkably long-range vocal telegraph of early 20th century Albania.
• Language Hat links to a fascinating blog post noting the survival of African Latin in late medieval Tunisia.
• The LRB Blog notes the observations of an Englishman in Northern Ireland that, after the DUP’s rise, locals are glad other Britons are paying attention.
• Marginal Revolution notes a study suggesting that refugees in the US end up paying more in taxes than they receive in benefits.
• Spacing reviews a fascinating-sounding new book on the politics and architecture of new libraries.
• Understanding Society examines the mechanisms through which organizations can learn.
• Window on Eurasia talks about the progressive detachment of the east of the North Caucasus, at least, from wider Russia.

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

• The Big Picture shares photos of the South Sudanese refugee exodus into Uganda.
• blogTO shares an ad for a condo rental on Dovercourt Road near me, only $1800 a month.
• Centauri Dreams reports on the idea of using waste heat to detect extraterrestrial civilizations.
• Crooked Timber uses the paradigm of Jane Jacobs’ challenge to expert in the context of Brexit.
• The LRB Blog reports on the fishers of Senegal and their involvement in that country’s history of emigration.
• The Planetary Society Blog shares an image comparing Saturn’s smaller moons.
• The Volokh Conspiracy comes out in support of taking down Confederate monuments.
• Window on Eurasia suggests Chechens are coming out ahead of Daghestanis in the North Caucasus’ religious hierarchies, and argues that Putin cannot risk letting Ukraine become a model for Russia.
• Arnold Zwicky looks at various bowdlerizations of Philip Larkin’s famous quote about what parents do to their children.

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

• Language Hat reports on the Wenzhounese of Italy.
• Language Log writes about the tones of Cantonese.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money writes about the costs of law school. (They are significant, and escalating hugely.)
• Marginal Revolution reports on the problems facing the Brazilian pension system, perhaps overgenerous for a relatively poor country facing rapid aging.
• Neuroskeptic reports on the latest re: the crisis of scientists not being able to replicate evidence, now even their own work being problematic.
• Personal Reflections considers the questions of how to preserve the dignity of people facing Alzheimer’s.
• The Russian Demographics Blog notes a Financial Times article looking at the impact of aging on global real estate.
• Spacing Toronto talks about the campaign to name a school after Jean Earle Geeson, a teacher and activist who helped save Fort York.
• At Wave Without A Shore, C.J. Cherryh shares photos of her goldfish.
• Window on Eurasia notes growing instability in Daghestan, looks at the latest in Georgian historical memory, and shares an article arguing that Putin’s actions have worsened Russia’s reputation catastrophically.

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

• Centauri Dreams looks at the SPECULOOS red dwarf observation program.
• The Crux examines VX nerve agent, the chemical apparently used to assassinate the half-brother of North Korea’s ruler.
• Dangerous Minds shares photos of the inhabitants of the Tokyo night, like gangsters and prostitutes and drag queens.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money examines Donald Trump’s tepid and belated denunciation of anti-Semitism.
• Language Log looks at the story of the Wenzhounese, a Chinese group notable for its diaspora in Italy.
• The LRB Blog looks at the by-elections in the British ridings of Stoke and Copeland and notes the problems of labour.
• The Map Room Blog shares a post-Brexit map of the European Union with an independent Scotland.
• Marginal Revolution reports that a border tax would be a poor idea for the United States and Mexico.
• The NYRB Daily looks at the art of the medieval Tibetan kingdom of Guge.
• Otto Pohl notes the 73rd anniversary of Stalin’s deportation of the Chechens and the Ingush.
• Supernova Condensate points out that Venus is actually the most Earth-like planet we know of. Why do we not explore it more?
• Towleroad notes Depeche Mode’s denunciation of the alt-right and Richard Spencer.
• Whatever’s John Scalzi considers the question of feeling empathy for horrible people.
• Window on Eurasia notes the thousands of Russian citizens involved with ISIS and examines the militarization of Kaliningrad.

[BLOG] Some Friday links

• At Antipope, Charlie Stross wonders–among other things–what the Trump Administration is getting done behind its public scandals.
• blogTO notes a protest in Toronto aiming to get the HBC to drop Ivanka Trump’s line of fashion.
• Dangerous Minds reflects on a Talking Heads video compilation from the 1980s.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money reflects on a murderous attack against Indian immigrants in Kansas.
• The LRB Blog looks at “post-Internet art”.
• Lovesick Cyborg notes an attack by a suicide robot against a Saudi warship.
• Strange Maps links to a map of corruption reports in France.
• Torontoist reports on Winter Stations.
• Understanding Society engages in a sociological examination of American polarization, tracing it to divides in race and income.
• The Volokh Conspiracy notes the many good reasons behind the reluctance of cities around the world to host the Olympics.
• Window on Eurasia notes that where the Ingush have mourned their deportation under Stalin the unfree Chechens have not, reports that Latvians report their willingness to fight for their country, looks at what the spouses of the presidents of post-Soviet states are doing, and notes the widespread opposition in Belarus to paying a tax on “vagrancy.”
• Arnold Zwicky looks at the linguistic markers of the British class system.

[BLOG] Some Friday links

• Bad Astronomy shares photos of the ripple made by moon Daphnis in the rings of Saturn, as does the Planetary Society Blog.
• The Broadside Blog questions whether readers actually like their work.
• Centauri Dreams notes evidence for the discovery of a Jupiter-mass planet in the protoplanetary disk of TW Hydrae.
• Dangerous Minds links to the 1980s work of Lydia Lunch.
• Far Outliers reports on how the Afghanistan war against the Soviets acted as a university for jihadists from around the world.
• Kieran Healy looks at some failures of Google Scholar.
• Language Hat reports on a fascinating crowdsourced program involving the transcription of manuscripts from Shakespeare’s era, and what elements of pop history and language have been discovered.
• The LRB Blog compares Trump’s inauguration to those of Ronald Reagan.
• The Map Room Blog links to an exhibition of the maps of Utah.
• Understanding Society reports on a grand sociological research project in Europe that has found out interesting things about the factors contributing to young people’s support for the far right.
• Window on Eurasia reports on instability in the binational North Caucasian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, describes the spectre of pan-Mongolism, and looks at the politicization of biker gangs in Russia.

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• Centauri Dreams considers the potentially habitability of planets made mostly of garnet.
• D-Brief notes a new technique that can use stem cells to regenerate teeth.
• Dangerous Minds shares photos of a man who makes sweaters of place and takes photos of himself wearing the sweater at these places.
• The Everyday Sociology Blog considers the hookup culture of universities.
• Language Hat looks at how different languages name different colours over time.
• Language Log looks at teachers of Cantonese who teach it using Mandarin grammar rules.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money examines the fake news of Muslims destroying an old church in Germany.
• The NYRB Daily makes the case for the importance of Black Mirror.
• Personal Reflections’ Jim Belshaw shares a photo and a story from his holiday trip to Denmark.
• The Russian Demographics Blog charts birth and fertility rates in the United States over the past hundred years.
• The Volokh Conspiracy takes issue with the idea that Chicago’s rate is record-setting.
• Window on Eurasia warns of potential instability in Russia’s Caucasian republic of Dagestan.