Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web.
Kirk LaPointe, editor-in-chief:
Environmentalist Bill McKibben examines the quandary facing the planet as it shifts from fossil fuels, and whether the weakening of traditional energy firms portends an opportunity or a loss. - The New York Review of Books
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/04/04/future-without-fossil-fuels/
David Frum is one of Canada’s most prominent expatriate political writers. His conservative influence on America as an anti-Trump commentator is considerable. Here he takes on the difficulties of Justin Trudeau. - The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/snc-lavalin-justin-trudeaus-fall-grace/586645/
Bret Easton Ellis produced some of the most intriguing literature of the last 30 years. He remains a baffling figure, much against the societal grain, as this interview suggests. - The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/bret-easton-ellis-thinks-youre-overreacting-to-donald-trump
Timothy Renshaw, managing editor:
Hemp to the rescue again, this time as a prescription for weaning the world from its debilitating petrochemical dependency. - Forbes
Climate change now disrupting global container ship traffic and set to add to the cost of importing and exporting goods all over the planet. - Splash 24/7
https://splash247.com/liners-blown-off-schedule-by-global-warming-jeremy-nixon/
Book now for your trip to Mars before Russian billionaire Boris Vasiliev and other high-rollers snap up all the best seats available in the US$68 billion mission to the Red Planet. - New York Shipping Exchange Inc.
https://blog.nyshex.com/mars-ex-collaboration
Mark Falkenberg, deputy managing editor:
The B.C. government’s move to improve transparency in real estate ownership might provide an interesting glimpse into who’s behind the anonymous shell companies buying up units in the Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver. - ThinkProgress
https://thinkprogress.org/identity-shell-companies-trumps-vancouver-hotel-65a0fdf5f5f6/
Writer David Dayen has a dystopian vision of future Big Tech tyranny:
“Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google are waging a war of all against all—a war for all of your time, all of your money, all of your worldly interactions and desires. They want to be your one indispensable partner for navigating life, and to get there, they must destroy one another. If the government doesn’t step in, the American public will become collateral damage.” - New Republic
https://newrepublic.com/article/153515/final-battle-big-techs-war-dominate-world
Nelson Bennett, reporter:
For the first time ever, we are able to see a black hole, thanks to the Event Horizon Telescope and an algorithm developed at MIT. As this NPR piece explains, the image we are seeing isn’t an actual photo taken with an optical telescope, but an image made from numerous readings from eight radio telescopes and rendered into an image using an algorithm. - NPR
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/10/711723383/watch-earth-gets-its-first-look-at-a-black-hole
Tyler Orton, reporter:
In-depth breakdown of how a big Me Too story is handled, or perhaps mishandled, and what it means for a reporter to get scooped over something that was within their grasp. - New York Magazine
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/what-was-the-washington-post-afraid-of.html
Peter German's second report into money laundering in B.C. has more than a few head-shakers to share. - B.C. government
https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/An_Independent_Review_of_Money_Laundering_in_BC.pdf
