• Bad Astronomy notes the literally cosmic homophobia of Louie Gohmert.
• The Big Picture notes a Chinese factory set to make a fortune off of making masks of the American presidential candidates.
• blogTO notes the raising of the Trans and Pride flags at Toronto City Hall, marking the beginning of Pride month.
• Crooked Timber notes the racism that erased ( Read more... )

• Bloomberg looks at Argentina's push for renewable energy, reports on Rosatom's interest in developing South Africa as an entry into the African nuclear market, writes about China's opposition to anything remotely like separatism in Hong Kong, and looks at Poland's demand for an apology for Bill Clinton critical of the new government.
• Bloomberg View ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes that the Canadian government has prevented Conrad Black from selling his Forest Hill mansion on account of taxes.
• Dangerous Minds shares a beautiful 1981 live performance by The Church.
• Language Log notes the inclusion of Singaporean and Hong Kong English words into the OED.
• The Map Room Blog notes the four Italian nuns who helped the ( Read more... )

• blogTO shares the exciting news that the new Star Trek series will be filmed in Toronto.
• James Bow reacts to Bombardier's newest delay in the delivery of streetcars.
• Centauri Dreams considers gravitational lensing.
• D-Brief notes the discovery of a moon for dwarf planet Makemake.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper claiming the Titius-Bode law applies to ( Read more... )

• Bloomberg reports on anti-foreigner rioting in Zambia, looks at the effect of declining Chinese tourist numbers on malls in Hong Kong, and reports on Russia's policies towards Europe.
• MacLean's notes that PEI has raised the HST to 15%.
• Open Democracy explains what it means to say Karabakh rules Armenia.
• Universe Today suggests the sun might have eaten ( Read more... )

• Bloomberg reports on how the weakening yen is hurting some Hong Kong retailers, notes how Chinese are visiting Hong Kong in the search for approved vaccines, and observes Brexit may not change British immigration much.
• MacLean's notes a court ruling which states the Confederate flag is inherently anti-American, and reports on the Swedish Tourist ( Read more... )

• blogTO reports many streetcar and bus users aren't paying fares.
• D-Brief reports on a pressure for a mission to the ice giants of Uranus and Neptune.
• The Dragon's Gaze looks at HD 20782b, an exoplanet with an almost ridiculously eccentrc orbit.
• The Dragon's Tales reports that Russia and China can destroy American satellites.
• Joe. My. God. notes an ( Read more... )

Al Jazeera's Phil Hoad describes the efforts of Hollywood to break into the Chinese market, successfully and otherwise.

The new Crouching Tiger has turned out to be toothless. When the sequel to the 2000 martial arts masterpiece was released in China two weeks ago, even the state media were blunt: "Sword of Destiny is out, but it'll only remind ( Read more... )

• Apostrophen's 'Nathan Smith updates readers on his writing projects and points them to anthologies looking for new submissions.
• blogTO talks about the origins of Bay Street.
• Centauri Dreams notes new discoveries about the origins of mysterious "fast radio bursts".
• The Dragon's Tales notes how a genetic study of Panama's population showed the impact of ( Read more... )

• blogTO looks back to see when Yonge and Dundas was cool.
• James Bow is decidedly unimpressed about Toronto's ever-shifting plans for mass transit.
• Joe. My. God. notes the opposition of Pope Francis to Italy's civil unions bill.
• Language Log notes Hong Kong's mixture of Cantonese and English, and shares a bit of pop music.
• Personal Reflections' Jim ( Read more... )