• blogTO notes concerns in Church and Wellesley about a spike of reported anti-gay violence.
• Crooked Timber looks at the shambolic mess that is the Republican healthcare plan.
• Language Hat links to an article concerned with the question of how to try cracking the Indus Valley script.
• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes that the malevolence and incompetence of ( Read more... )

• blogTO notes the rapid expansion of A&Ws across Toronto's neighbourhoods.
• Centauri Dreams reports that none of the exoplanets of nearby Wolf 1061 are likely to support Earth-like environments, owing to their eccentric and occasionally overclose orbits.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper looking at high-temperature condensate clouds in hot Jupiter ( Read more... )

CBC News' Katharine Starr and Tyler Buist report on the warnings of former Mexican congressman that Trump is bound to turn on Canada, and that Canada and Mexico should not allow themselves to be divided in maintaining a common front. His rationale makes sense, but I fear the ensuing trade war.

A former Mexican congressman and founding member of ( Read more... )

The Los Angeles Times' Don Lee is one of the many, many sources to note the potential for a complete implosion of the Mexican-American economic relationship. What else can be said but that this risks the long-term economic future of North America?

"I think it's very dangerous -- dangerous economically and dangerous politically," said Timothy Wise ( Read more... )

At MacLean's, John Geddes writes about the implications for Canada of "Buy American" provisions under Donald Trump. There are grounds for very serious concern, along with grounds for complete uncertainty as to what Trump might want to do.

First came the jolt-not unexpected, yet still jarring-of the bluntly protectionist rhetoric of Donald Trump’s ( Read more... )

CBC News' Pete Evans reports on this deeply symbolic move by President Trump, marking the end of an effort to build a US-centered trade network in the Pacific and the beginning of a new threat to North American integration.

The new U.S. president made good on one of his campaign promises Monday, formally withdrawing the United States from the ( Read more... )

CBC News' Don Pittis warns that in a scenario where Donald Trump is likely to turn on Canada, Canada in turn must look to various partners and allies outside of North America in order to defend its interests.

The new anti-free-trade administration of Donald Trump hasn't even taken over the White House and it appears incoming secretary of commerce ( Read more... )

The Toronto Star's Maria Jimenez interviews former Mexican congressman Agustin Barrios Gomez on the subject of how Mexico should deal with President Trump.

How are Mexicans reacting to Trump’s threatening carmakers not to open plants in Mexico?Mexicans are still shell-shocked. The idea that the U.S. is now a mercantilist predator is taking a long ( Read more... )

The Guardian's David Agren describes how Donald Trump's opposition to American trade with Mexico is likely to hurt this smaller but quickly developing country's industrial sector.

[E]conomists and Mexican politicians have warned that Trump’s tantrums portend further economic problems as companies shy away from the public shaming that could come ( Read more... )

The Toronto Star's Ben Spurr writes about the claim by TTC chief Andy Byford that the TTC is set to become a top transit system in North America. This claim--also shared by blogTO--is not intrinsically implausible, although I have to say that much depends on Byford's frame of reference. Mass transit in North America is not mass transit in Europe, ( Read more... )