[PHOTO] Red and white

[LINK] "Target to close all 133 Canadian stores, gets CCAA protection"

This, reported by the CBC, is a non-trivial catastrophe. Even ignoring the eighteen thousand jobs lost, as noted in the comments at blogTO the loss of so many anchor stores at malls will have a devastating effect on many of the more marginal of these.

Target says it plans to discontinue all operations in Canada and has been granted protection from creditors, less than two years after opening to much fanfare.

In a release early Thursday, the U.S. retail chain said it will close all its locations in Canada. There are 133 stores across the country with about 17,600 employees.

The company launched in Canada in March of 2013, not quite two years ago.

But after high expectations, the chain failed to deliver right out of the gate as customers faced higher-than-expected prices, and empty shelves as the retailer had problems with its distribution chain.

Target lost almost $1 billion in its first year in Canada, and while the losses have shrank since then, the chain is still losing money daily.

Executives repeatedly promised they would get it right and reaffirmed their commitment to Canada as recently as July, but ultimately decided to pull the plug.

"After a thorough review of our Canadian performance and careful consideration of the implications of all options, we were unable to find a realistic scenario that would get Target Canada to profitability until at least 2021," the U.S. parent company's CEO Brian Cornell said in a release Thursday, explaining the justification for the shutdown.

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

• Centauri Dreams looks at the oddly tilted circumstellar disk of HD 142527.


• The Crux notes a study suggesting that, where women are rare, men are less promiscuous.


• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper documenting the Spitzer telescope's deep observations of Vega, Fomalhaut, and Epsilon Eridani, looking for planets and not finding signs of Epsilon Eridani b.


• The Dragon's Tales links to a paper documenting maize consumption in the pre-Hispanic Andes.


• Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw reflects on the economics of Uber.


• The Russian Demographics Blog links to a presentation on demographic data from Crimea.


• Savage Minds looks at the fine balance in ethnographic writing between theory and data.


• Speed River Journal's Van Waffle considers whether there is such a thing as being too clean.


• Strange Maps examines the tutulemma. What is it? Go there to find out.


• Towleroad argues for more sympathy for gay men married to straight women, as in the recent TLC show.


• The Volokh Conspiracy notes that in Canada, terms of religious marriage contracts which violate secular law can't stand.


• Nicholas Whyte has more on the inking of Edward Heath in 1972.


• Window on Eurasia notes that talk of "traditional values" always relates to contemporary issues, argues that Russian propaganda in Belarus is alienating locals, and wonders if the North Caucasus will accept closer rule from Moscow in exchange for economic development.

[ISL] "Fossil found by P.E.I. boy fills gap in reptile evolution"

The Dragon's Tales linked to the charming story of how a boy in western Prince Edward Island found an ancient and apparently important fossil. CBC has more.

A fossil of a lizard-like creature found by a boy on a Prince Edward Island beach is a new species and the only reptile in the world ever found from its time, 300 million years ago, a new study shows.

The fossilized species has been named Erpetonyx arsenaultorum after the family of Michael Arsenault of Prince County, P.E.I., who found the fossil at Cape Egmont, said a study published this week in the Proceedings of Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

"Our animal is the only reptile known from this time period called the Gzhelian," said Sean Modesto, a paleontologist at Cape Breton University who was the lead author of the new paper about the fossil, now in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. He collaborated with researchers at the ROM, University of Toronto at Mississauga, and the Smithsonian Institution.

[. . .]

A couple of decades ago, Michael Arsenault, then 9 years old, was vacationing with his family at a cottage in western P.E.I. owned by the family of his four-year-old friend Alex Lapp.

One day, the two boys were fossil hunting on the beach when Arsenault spotted part of a fossil backbone.

Bette Sheen, a family friend, said the Arsenault family removed the slab of rock containing the fossil, built a box for it, and Michael kept it under his bed for many years.

[LINK] "Commando Theft of Nazi Radar Turned Town Into Cyber Valley"

Bloomberg's Jeremy Hodges and Kit Chellel tell a remarkable story about how a British exploit in the Second World War made a spa town a leading world centre in cybersecurity.

On a winter’s evening in 1942, a daring raid by British commandos to steal a German radar on the French coast set in motion a series of events that would see a small town, nestled in middle England, become a leading cyber-defense hub.

Malvern is home to more than 80 companies dotted among nondescript office parks in the rolling hills of the Worcestershire market town, about 100 miles north west of London. During World War II, Malvern was used as a radar research center, growing to a large scale government operation that spawned defense contractor Qinetiq Group Plc (QQ/) in 2001.

As the rate and sophistication of cyber-attacks has grown, small, specialist businesses in the region are taking on the hackers, winning contracts with governments and businesses around the world.

In Malvern there is a “long-standing pedigree of specialist security research and delivery expertise,” said Robin King, chief executive officer of Deep-Secure, a 25 employee company that develops software to protect sensitive information and counts the U.K. Ministry of Defence as a client.

[. . .]

In the U.K., Malvern is better known for its mineral water. Its reputation as a spa town dates back to the 17th century when tourists traveled to the area to sample the health-giving properties of the water that ran down from the surrounding hills.

[LINK] "Sri Lanka’s Minorities Choose “Unknown Angel” Over “Known Devil”"

Kanya D'Almeida's Inter Press Service report on the demographics of voters in the recent Sri Lankan electorate suggest that turnout among minorities, including Tamils, was key.

It seemed close at first, with the bulk of the Sinhalase masses in the southern and central districts of Hambantota and Ratnapura polling in favour of [President Mahinda] Rajapaksa and his United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

But when newscasters began reading out the final tally of votes from the Tamil and Muslim-majority Northern and Eastern Provinces, it became clear that this was no repeat of the 2010 presidential race.

Symbolised by a swan, the ‘rainbow coalition’ National Democratic Front (NDF) swept the 12 electoral divisions in the northern Jaffna district with 253,574 votes, roughly 74.42 percent of the largely Tamil electorate.

The Tamil-majority northern Vanni district saw a landslide win for the NDF, with majority votes in the Mannar, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya polling divisions bringing in 78.47 percent of that region’s total ballots, while the eastern Batticaloa district also voted overwhelmingly in favour of the opposition, bringing Sirisena 81.62 percent of the total.

[. . .]

“This year the Tamil people seemed to have taken an oath for change,” said Dr. Jeyasingham, a senior lecturer at the Eastern University of Sri Lanka in Batticaloa. “People in the North and East voted early – always a sign that change is in the air.

“Today, one thing is clear,” he told IPS, “and that is: minority votes decided this president. Tamils and Muslims [who account for 15 and nine percent of the population, respectively] are an important part of this democratic system and they had enough grievances to vote against the existing government.”

[LINK] "Post-War Ukraine ‘Natural’ as Warsaw Bourse Looks East"

With Poland's dynamic but stagnant domestic economy, looking east to cultivate Ukraine as an economic partner as described by Bloomberg's Konrad Krasuski and Maciej Martewicz makes perfect sense.

The Warsaw Stock Exchange, home to a dozen traded Ukrainian companies, is betting on more listings from the former Soviet republic once the conflict there recedes and will offer to help develop Kiev’s nascent capital markets.

Growth on the Warsaw bourse, central Europe’s biggest stock market, stalled last year after the government halted sales of new companies to the public and overhauled its pension fund industry.

After merger talks with Vienna failed last year, Warsaw bourse is turning east to help more Ukraine enterprises find funding in a country with 10 mostly illiquid bourses. The Ukraine conflict with pro-Russian rebels has killed more than 4,800 people, pushed Poland’s eastern neighbor into its deepest recession since 2009 and left investors skittish about the country of 43 million people.

“Ukraine is a natural, strategic direction for us,” Chief Executive Officer Pawel Tamborski said in an interview at the Bloomberg News office in Warsaw yesterday. “We understand that now it’s not the priority for the Ukrainian government, but we are ready to help make the market less fragmented.”

Ukrainian companies have sold 2.9 billion zloty ($797 million) of shares in Poland since 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They were lured by the country’s pool of pension and mutual funds and the higher stock-market liquidity than on any of their home country’s 10 stock exchanges.

[URBAN NOTE] On the imminent demise of Xtra! as a print publication

I was shocked to find out yesterday via blogTO that Xtra!, the free biweekly newspaper that has been the dominant feature in Toronto's LGBT media scene--Canada's, even--will be stopping print publication in favour of a wholly online presence. CBC outlines the immediate causes.

Xtra, the iconic gay and lesbian newspaper in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, announced on Wednesday it would be folding its print offerings.

The free weekly paper will transition to an enhanced digital offering, according to its publisher, Pink Triangle Press. It said getting out of the newspaper business is part of a strategic repositioning, which aims at financial stability not found in print publishing.

The paper first hit the streets in February 1984. It highlighted local political issues, celebrated queer art and emphasized a community involvement in the gay, lesbian and trans community.

Its website, DailyXtra.com, and gay adult dating website, Squirt.org, will expand this mission, according to Ken Popert, executive director and president of Pink Triangle Press. The new digital expansion will feature more social networking, including dating technology.

“Most of our revenues already come through digital membership sales in the adult dating space, where we’ve had great success building a growing online community,” he said.

The Winnipeg Free Press, meanwhile, hosts Linda Nguyen's Canadian Press article noting the broader issue of the declining print media scene in Canada.

This isn't the first time Pink Triangle Press has shut down one of its publications. In the spring of 2013, it ceased production of its free, bi-weekly gay magazine, Fab. The closure resulted in the loss of nine jobs in Toronto.

Media companies have been struggling for the past few years to make up for declining ad revenue as more readers go online for their news.

Last November, Torstar Corp. (TSX:TS.B) shuttered the digital operations at its Metro brand in seven cities where it no longer produces free daily newspapers. The closure affected the Metro websites in Hamilton, Kitchener, Windsor and London, Ont., as well as Regina, Saskatoon and Victoria.

In July 2014, Torstar also closed down the award-winning Toronto weekly, The Grid, after three years of publication, blaming low revenue.

First fab then Xtra!? Stating the obvious, this is both sad and not good.

[MUSIC] Todd Terje feat. Bryan Ferry, "Johnny and Mary"

Out a collaboration between Norwegian producer Todd Terje and the legendary Bryan Ferry came a cover of the 1980 Robert Palmer song "Johnny and Mary". The song appeared first on Terje's debut album It's Album Time last year and then on Ferry's fifteenth studio album Avonmore.

"Todd Terje feat. Bryan Ferry - Johnny & Mary [Official Audio]" (Watch on YouTube)

This is a superbly Ferryesque song, stately and full of langour and elegant despair. Sung in Ferry's gently worn voice and against Terje's arrangement, lyrics take on a sadness that I don't pick up in Robert Palmer's performance.

Johnny's always running around
Trying to find certainty
He needs all the world to confirm
That he ain't lonely
Mary counts the walls
Knows he tires easily

Johnny thinks the world would be right
If it could buy truth from him
Mary says he changes his mind
More than a woman
But she made her bed
Even when the chance was slim

[DM] "Humanity’s Future: Below Replacement Fertility?"

I've a brief post up sharing and reacting to Joseph Chamie's essay arguing that the world might yet see global below-replacement fertility in a short time.

What would such a world look like, I wonder?