Smithsonian.com's Ross Kenneth Urken writes about the vestiges of a golden age of Jewish piracy, and also community, on Jamaica.

I was in Kingston’s spooky Hunts Bay Cemetery, located in a shantytown near the Red Stripe brewery, tramping through high grass with a dozen fellow travelers. We passed a herd of cattle that was being pecked by white ( Read more... )

• Africa is a Country looks at how Ethiopians interpret the 1966 visit of Haile Selassie to Jamaica.
• The Building Blog depicts how a California town is literally being visibly distorted by seismic forces.
• Bloomberg considers the import of Beyoncé's debut of Lemonade on Tidal.
• Bloomberg View notes how the China-Venezuela money-for-oil pact is failing and ( Read more... )

The Inter Press Service's Zadie Neufville notes one tool used by Jamaica to help its citizens and economy adapt to climate change.

On a very dry November 2013, Jamaica’s Meteorological Service made its first official drought forecast when the newly developed Climate Predictability Tool (CPT) was used to predict a high probability of below average ( Read more... )

Reporting from Jamaica, the Inter Press Service's Zadie Neufville notes the increased flooding caused by climate change and sea level rise in the Caribbean.

Residents of Rocky Point, a sleepy fishing village on Jamaica’s south coast, woke up one July morning this year to flooded streets and yards. The sea had washed some 200 metres inland, ( Read more... )

• Claus Vistesen of Alpha Sources notes that though the stock market might be peaking, we don't know when.
• blogTO warns that Toronto might consider a bid for the 2024 Olympics.
• James Bow thinks about Ex Machina.
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly looks forward to her impending visit to Maine.
• Centauri Dreams features an essay by Michael A.G. Michaud ( Read more... )

• Alpha Sources' Claus Vistesen argues that as a result of various factors including shrinking populations, economic bubbles are going to be quite likely.
• blogTO argues that Toronto's strip clubs are in trouble.
• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly wonders who is going to pay for journalism in the future.
• Centauri Dreams looks at ringed Centaur objects.
• ( Read more... )

Inter Press Service's Zadie Neufville had an interesting article about a controversial effort to try to save Jamaica's tourist-famous Negril beach from erosion.

Work is set to begin in March, but some in the tourist town continue to resist the planned construction of two breakwaters, which experts say is one of a series of actions aimed at ( Read more... )

Via Towleroad, I learned of the Pink Press article describing a former notorious homophobe who really is trying to make up for past sins.

A former member of the notoriously homophobic Westboro Baptist Church is reaching out to Jamaica’s oppressed gay community ( Read more... )

• Antipope Charlie Stross describes why he's shifting from science fiction to fantasy: the latter better fits the black-box technological zeitgeist.
• blogTO recommends thinks to do in Kensington Market and Chinatown.
• Centauri Dreams looks at some proposals for interstellar drives.
• The Dragon's Tales notes Indonesia's participation in a South Korean ( Read more... )

• BlogTO highlights a new photography exhibition at Ryerson University that I really should see.
• Centauri Dreams takes a look at the idea of subsurface biospheres on exoplanets.
• Crooked Timber's Belle Waring shares pictures from the ongoing protests in Ukraine and starts a debate.
• The Dragon's Tales notes a new model of the evolutions of the Sun and the ( Read more... )