[BLOG] Some Thursday links

• Bad Astronomy notes the very odd structure of galaxy NGC 2775.
• Dangerous Minds reports on the 1987 riot by punks that wrecked a Seattle ferry.
• Bruce Dorminey reports on a new suggestion from NASA that the massive dust towers of Mars have helped dry out that world over eons.
• The Everyday Sociology Blog looks at how changing technologies have led to younger people spending more social capital on maintaining relationships with friends over family.
• This forum hosted at Gizmodo considers the likely future causes of death of people in coming decades.
• In Media Res’ Russell Arben Fox reports on the debate in Wichita on what to do with the Century II performance space.
• Joe. My. God. reports on the decision of Hungary to drop out of Eurovision, apparently because of its leaders’ homophobia.
• JSTOR Daily reports on the debunking of the odd theory that the animals and people of the Americas were degenerate dwarfs.
• Language Hat reports on how the classics can be served by different sorts of translation.
• Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money considers how Trump’s liberation of war criminals relates to folk theories about just wars.
• The LRB Blog reports from the ground in the Scotland riding of East Dunbartonshire.
• Marginal Revolution shares a paper suggesting that, contrary to much opinion, social media might actually hinder the spread of right-wing populism.
• The NYR Daily looks at the nature of the proxy fighters in Syria of Turkey. Who are they?
• Drew Rowsome interviews Sensational Sugarbum, star of–among other things–the latest Ross Petty holiday farce.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains why we still need to be able to conduct astronomy from the Earth.
• Strange Maps explains the odd division of Europe between east and west, as defined by different subspecies of mice.
• Window on Eurasia notes how Chinese apparently group Uighurs in together with other Central Asians of similar language and religion.
• Arnold Zwicky explores the concept of onomatomania.

The mayor of Ottawa is suggesting freezing Confederation Line fare increases in light of the system’s problems. https://globalnews.ca/news/6146499/ottawa-mayor-transit-fare-freeze-lrt/

• The mayor of Ottawa is suggesting freezing Confederation Line fare increases in light of the system’s problems. Global News reports.
• La Presse looks at the problems faced by the Marché Jean-Talon, here.
• Greater Moncton, arguably the leading metropolis of New Brunswick, wants to double its intake of immigrants. Global News reports.
• Jamie Bradburn looks at Lafayette Park in Detroit, designed by Mies van der Rohe.
• Will Vancouver be connected to Washington State by a high-speed train route? Global News reports.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Collingwood, Ottawa, Seattle, Sayatón, Kathmandu

• Quite honestly, this CBC report about pet owners in Collingwood who are complaining that they cannot let their pets roam for fear of coyotes makes me feel sorry for the poor pets.
• CityLab reports on the problems that Ottawa has had in getting its light-rail transit network operational.
• CityLab reports on how Amazon may be distancing itself from Seattle, the better to not get caught up in big-city politics.
• The Guardian reports from the Castilian town of Sayatón, a disappearing town that has become a symbol of depopulating rural Spain. What, if anything, can be done to reverse these trends?
• Ozy reports on how Kathmandu is literally uncovering elements of its past as it continues its post-earthquake reconstruction.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Montréal, New York City, Seattle, Amsterdam, Istanbul

• A statue of Queen Victoria has been vandalized in Montréal, the act claimed by an anti-colonialist coalition. Global News reports.
• Guardian Cities profiled an Instagram account, thedoorsofnyc, concentrating on the unique doors of New York City.
• Billionaire urbanism is identified by this article at The Stranger as the downfall of the waterfront of Seattle.
• CityLab notes that the government of Amsterdam is now requiring owners of new homes to live in their property, limiting the ability to rent them out.
• The Atlantic notes the criticisms of many urbanists in Istanbul that restorations of the city’s ancient heritage are actually destroying them, at least as survivals from the past.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Saint John, Seattle, Hong Kong, Singapore, Angkor

• A community organization in Saint John, New Brunswick, is hoping to try to save some of the many abandoned buildings in that city. Global News reports.
• Wired notes that a proposed Amazon expansion in Seattle has also been abandoned.
• Bloomberg View suggests Hong Kong is being unduly conservative in not investing its budget surpluses.
• Roads and Kingdoms tells the history of Singapore through ten local dishes.
• Ars Technica suggests the medieval city of Angkor, in Cambodia, died slowly as its complex machineries gradually ground to a halt.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Oshawa and Sault Ste Marie, Québec City, Vancouver, Edinburgh, Sydney

• Sault Sainte-Marie hopes to recruit former GM workers from Oshawa to live in that less expensive city, Global News reports.
• Robert Vandenwinkel at HuffPost Quebec makes the case for Québec City not developing a tramway but rather a subway.
• Daily Hive notes that the British Columbia government has increased its funding into research into a high-speed rail link connecting Vancouver to points south.
• CityLab notes that Edinburgh is imposing a tourist tax.
• The Guardian shares images of some of the rejected designs for the famous Sydney Opera House.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Markham, Seattle, Tijuana, New York City, Hong Kong and Shenzhen

• A new neighbourhood in Markham is going to make use of geothermal energy to heat hundreds of homes. CBC reports.
• CityLab reports on how a census of the giant Pacific octopus in the waters of Seattle is going to be conducted.
• Some residents of Tijuana are protesting against the thousands of Central American refugees now sheltering in their city. Global News reports.
• A new exhibit at the 9/11 Museum in New York City tells of the contribution of Mohawk steelworkers to the construction of the megalopolis’ skyline. CBC Indigenous reports.
• Officials in Hong Kong and Shenzhen are having problems drawing a boundary through a garden plot on their mutual border. The SCMP reports.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Detroit, Metropolis, Seattle, Foster City, Kigali

• If ever I make it to Detroit, the John K King bookstore would surely be a must-visit. Atlas Obscura reports.
• Metropolis, Illinois, is celebrating Superman. Where better to do so? Wired reports.
• Seattle, like so many cities around North America, is apparently facing a gentrification that makes it increasingly uncomfortable for too many. Crosscut has it.
• The San Francisco Bay area community of Foster City faces imminent danger from rising sea levels. CBC reports.
• Decades after the horrors of the mid-1990s, dogs in the Rwandan capital of Kigali are starting to be treated as potential pets again. National Geographic reports.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: New York City, Niagara Falls, Seattle, Boston, Toronto vs Montréal

• VICE notes that Airbnb is also having a negative impact on certain neighbourhoods in New York City.
• It may be necessary to put up barricades at Niagara Falls, but it’s still sad. CBC reports</u..
• Is Seattle the latest city at risk of being priced out of range of most locals? This Seattle Times opinion piece makes the case.
• This Toronto Life ad suggesting things to do in a four-day stay in Boston makes that city look wonderful. One day …
• Why not write an opera about the hockey rivalry between Toronto and Montréal? CBC reports.

[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Vaughan, Markham, Hamilton, Vancouver and Seattle, Melbourne

• The cancellation of some condos being built at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre has left their buyers unhappy, and justifiably so. The Toronto Star reports.
• The rapid growth of Vaughan and Markham, to the north of Toronto, is of international note. The Conversation has it.
• Kathleen Wynne is promising to protect (what’s left of) the Hamilton steel industry. CBC reports.
• A direct air shuttle between Vancouver and Seattle is a good thing, but I think that cross-border area would be even better served by some sort of mass transit link. Global News has it.
• Melbourne, that city of Australia, is facing familiar issue of growth and livability. The Guardian has it.