• blogTO reports on the history of Toronto's Wellington Street.
• Dangerous Minds introduces me to the grim American gothic that is Wisconsin Death Trip. What happened to Black River Falls in the 1890s?
• The Dragon's Gaze links to hypotheses about KIC 8462852, one suggesting KIC 8462852 has four exoplanets, another talking about a planet's disintegration.
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• Bad Astronomy shares a video imagining of how Cassini will meet its end with Saturn.
• Cody Delistraty shares an interview with Rebecca Solnit.
• Far Outliers reports on Margaret Thatcher's unorthodox campaign in 1979.
• Joe. My. God. shares Hillary Clinton's thanks to her 66 million voters.
• Marginal Revolution looks at gender stereotypes among scientists.

• blogTO notes that after the Berlin attack, the Toronto Christmas Market has upped its security.
• D-Brief looks at how roads divide ecosystems.
• The Dragon's Gaze notes that WD 1536+520 apparently has solar levels of rock-forming elements.
• Language Log examines central European metaphors for indecipherable languages.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money is diffident ( Read more... )

Bloomberg View's Leonid Bershidsky argues that, owing to the greater resilience of German politics and a more honest media environment among other things, any Russian involvement in Germany's elections would have more limited results. Here's hoping.

Merkel's Achilles heel in this election is the refugee crisis of 2015. I doubt, however, that much ( Read more... )

Scott Gilmore in MacLean's describes how Americans are starting to respond to confirmation of Russian interference in the recent presidential elections.

Some of the most important moments in history happen fast, like a flash of lightning. A tank crosses a border or a prince is assassinated and everyone knows the world has changed, even before the ( Read more... )

The Guardian of Charlottetown's editorial looking at the recent slide in Liberal numbers, following the government's decision to not be bound by the results of the referendum on proportional representation, is accurate.

The numbers must be alarming for the government. Support for the Liberal Party plummeted from 64 per cent to 46 per cent in the ( Read more... )

• Apostrophen's 'Natha Smith talks about his tradition of the stuffed Christmas stocking.
• Beyond the Beyond's Bruce Sterling talks about the decline of the Pebble wearables.
• blogTO lists some of the hot new bookstores in Toronto.
  
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly talks about some of her family's traditions.
• The Dragon's Tales looks at the ancient ( Read more... )

CBC News' Natalia Goodwin notes a major protest in Charlottetown calling on the Island government to honour the results of the recent referendum on changing the electoral system to one based on proportional representation.

An estimated 300 people gathered in front of the Coles Building in Charlottetown Tuesday night to voice discontent over how ( Read more... )

CBC News' Kerry Campbell reports that the incumbent government is not going to honour the results of the recent referendum on proportional representation, largely on the grounds of low turn-out.

P.E.I. Premier Wade MacLauchlan says a binding referendum he's proposed to be held in conjunction with the next provincial election won't be able to force ( Read more... )

• Crooked Timber looks at how evolutionary psychology can be used to justify monarchy.
• Far Outliers shares an excerpt describing how methamphetamine is used as a secondary currency in North Korea.
• The Frailest Thing shares quotes examining the link between seeing something and liking it.
Language Hat talks about ways of voicing surprise.
• Language Log ( Read more... )