A Bit More Detail

• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes that methane hydrates on the ocean floor will only pose a catastrophic risk of climate change if we do nothing about climate change generally.


• Centauri Dreams reports on the massive flare detected on L-dwarf ULAS J224940.13-011236.9.


• Crooked Timber considers a philosophical conundrum: What should individuals do to combat climate change? What are they responsible for?


• The Crux considers a few solar system locations that future generations of hikers might well want to explore on foot.


• Joe. My. God. notes that Pete Buttigieg is becoming a big star in his father's homeland of Malta.


• Language Log considers the idea of learning Cantonese as a second language.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money considers the policy innovations of Elizabeth Warren.


• The Map Room Blog looks at how the Russian government is apparently spoofing GPS signals.


• Marginal Revolution reports a claim by Peter Thiel that the institutionalization of science since the Manhattan Project is slowing down technological advances. Is this plausible?


• Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society Blog notes that the Mars InSight probe has detected marsquakes.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel notes that, finally, astronomers have found the first cold gas giants among the exoplanets, worlds in wide orbits like Jupiter and Saturn.


• Ilya Somin at the Volokh Conspiracy notes how some of the praise for Daenerys Targaryen by Elizabeth Warren reveals interesting and worrisome blind spots. (Myself, I fear a "Dark Dany" scenario.)


• Window on Eurasia suggests that Russia is not over the fact that Ukraine is moving on.


• Frances Woolley at the Worthwhile Canadian Initiative takes issue with the argument of Andray Domise after an EKOS poll, that Canadians would not know much about the nature of migration flows.


• For Easter, Arnold Zwicky considered red and white flowers, bearing the colours of the season.

• Tory MEP Charles Tannock notes how Brexiteers' disregards for the special interests of Northern Ireland threaten to un-do the United Kingdom. He writes in the New Statesman.


• Can Malta become a world centre for blockchain production? CBB reports.


• Anti-tourism protests in the Balearic island of Mallorca are gaining strength. Condé Nast reports


• The conditions facing refugees detained by the Australian government on the island of Nauru are horrific. The Guardian reports.


• Yemeni refugees residing on the South Korean island of Jeju, known for its tourist industry, are encountering mixed reactions. The South China Morning Post reports.

• The suggestion of Maltese academic Godfrey Baldacchino that Malta relieve its overcrowding by buying the nearby Italian island of Pantelleria has the advantage of being attention-catching. Malta Today has it.


• I wish the lawsuit of American Samoans seeking full citizenship in the United States all possible success. NBC News reports.


• Atlas Obscura takes a look at the distinctive history and culture of the Moriori of the Chatham Islands.


• Tasmania turns out to be a hugely popular destination for tourists from China. Bloomberg reports.


• The Newfoundland government's program of relocating marginal settlements remains hugely controversial. CBC reports.

• Crooked Timber takes a quick look at the role of the shadow in art, here.


• Daily JSTOR notes that, in the 18th century, the punch favoured by partiers was often put up against the tea favoured by the more civilized.


• Language Hat notes that the British Library has preserved the only surviving copy of Il Kaulata Maltia, the first Maltese-language journal.


• Marginal Revolution notes a new study examining if easier divorce leads to assortative mating.


• Justin Petrone at north! celebrates his life in November in Estonia.


• Rocky Planet notes that Indonesia's Mount Agung is experiencing volcanic eruptions of lava.


• Window on Eurasia suggests that Putin's Russia is trying to get Ukraine to take over Donbas on disadvantageous terms.

After three centuries, the Lloyds of London will no longer be “of London.” The company is moving its headquarters, its CEO Inga Beale confirmed on Friday.

Talking to Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Beale confirmed that following Prime Minister May’s announcement last Tuesday, Lloyds was going ahead with its contingency plan.

Many insurance companies will be moving a big part of their operations, since passporting rights and licensing are key to the sectors’ business in Europe. Lloyds stands to lose as much as 11% of its premiums that come from Europe or little under 1bn Euros.

Lloyd’s was founded three centuries ago in London and is moving ahead because a licensing process could take more than a year. What Lloyd’s want to avoid is what the industry calls “cliff’s edge trap,” in which the service provider cannot move soon enough to ensure continuity of service.

Malta is positioning itself as an alternative for companies willing to enter the EU market, and plans to use the EU Presidency, which passes to Malta for the first time in January 2017, to promote itself to UK-based international banks.

A recent visit to the island’s highly competitive, English-speaking (yes, we are not the only ones touting this advantage after Britain exits) and onshore EU jurisdiction allowing “passporting” and “re-domiciliation” of funds, with an efficient fiscal regime, a balmy Mediterranean climate and an ethical and professional workforce, left me with the impression that we will need to put our best foot forward to attract financial services from London as the Brexit talks get underway next year.

[. . .]

Malta, in a Trojan-horse-like-strategy, is focusing on maintaining the harmonious relationship it has with the UK.

“We see ourselves partnering with UK operators to provide solutions to help them sustain their business models; we’re not looking to try and take business away from the UK,” said Kenneth Farrugia , chairman of Finance Malta, which promotes Malta’s fund management industry overseas, as well as its insurance sector, trust and foundations and wealth management.

Financial and insurance activities contributed €149bn or almost 98% of all foreign direct investment in Malta last year. It is obviously an important industry for Malta.

From a regulatory and legal perspective it is difficult to differentiate Malta from other jurisdictions such as London, Paris, Frankfort, Rome or Dublin.

Joe Scerri used to tease Mary Borg about her boyfriend, a handsome young buck with a motorcycle. But what, Joe would ask, was a motorcycle in comparison to what he and Mary could be as a couple if she would just do what her heart was truly telling her to do and pick him instead?

Then, one day, she did.

“I picked a good one,” says Mary, patting Joe’s arm.

They were married in September 1958 near their family homes in Rabat, Malta. Two months later, they were on a boat to Canada. Joe’s older brother, Paul, was living in Toronto, three blocks from where Joe and Mary live now on Clendenan Avenue, in the neighbourhood around Dundas Street West known as The Junction.

[. . . Their house, bought in 1963,] cost $17,000, a sum the couple recently recouped many times over when they sold the four-bedroom property for $870,000. Moving day is Aug. 27.

• James Bow celebrates his fourth published novel.


• blogTO celebrates WiFi in Bay station and shares old pictures of the Junction.


• Speed River Journal's Van Waffle examines the question of what caused new pollution in Lake Erie.


• Spacing Toronto examines again the controversy over a billboard apparently unauthorized at Bathuest and Davenport.


• Torontoist links to a project mapping specific songs to specific places on the map of Toronto, observes after Cheri DiNovo turmoil in the post-election Ontario NDP, and notes Dr. Barnardo's Home Children as well as the complex life of possibly-lesbian Mazo de la Roche.


• Transit Toronto's James Bow approves of Steve Munro's post suggesting that underfunding and neglect will soon cause serious harm to the TTC and its riders.