Jimmy Thomson

@jameswsthomson.com

16921 Followers 1688 Following

Environment and climate journalist | Editor in Chief at @nationalobserver.com | Work in The Globe and Mail, The Narwhal, The Guardian | www.jameswsthomson.com

“The goal was to remove Mr. Hackl from the residence for arrest, have a lethal confrontation with Mr. Hackl, or have Mr. Hackl perish in the fire.” As the house burned, the suspect eventually walked outside —naked, apart from some body armour—and surrendered while laughing. When CTV News asked how the fire started the following day, RCMP said they were unable to confirm the cause.
Oystercatchers, known for sharp bills and beady eyes, are making a comeback thanks to conservation
“There is a great deal of hubbub about a collective ‘middle powers’ strategy these days,” Mr. Colby wrote. He said the Pentagon is “not concerned that this is a serious possibility,” but worried “a few allies and partners will think it is” and pursue this “distraction.”
Graphic: Bigger blades, taller towers and more power: 30 years of wind turbines Wind turbines have grown in height and blade length, and power output over the last three decades. Here's how they evolved in Alberta.
Chips for $4.49
Table: What kids said they would do with $1 trillion What they can actually do with $1 trillion "A selfish thing I'd do for myself is buy a whole McDonald's just for myself." — Godswill Opera 15-year-old in Toronto, Ontario According to McDonald's, you'd need at least $1M Cdn to even be considered for opening a McDonald's restaurant. But with a trillion dollars, you could open one million McDonald's restaurants. "I'd buy my favourite English Premier League team, Arsenal F.C." — Yasbirra Derege 14-year-old in Toronto, Ontario According to Forbes, the soccer team was worth $5.4B US, or $7.7B Cdn, as of May. That means you can buy about 185 Arsenals, or similarly priced teams, with a trillion dollars. "I would buy the biggest yacht I could find and go to the Bahamas so I could tan." — Madison Perreault 17-year-old in Surrey, British Columbia According to multiple reports, the History Supreme is the most expensive yacht in the world. It's reportedly valued at more than $4B US. With a trillion dollars, you could buy a fleet of about 200 History Supremes.
A male and female long tailed duck flying over water
A pile of fluffy puppies
A hiring poster for an "observer-communicator"
A man driving a skidoo over melting sea ice near Grise Fiord, Nunavut
A sled dog standing on the back of a qammutik, a sled built for sea ice
Two internal awards for the Grise Fiord Lodge — one for largest increase in revenue percentage and one for largest net savings
Sea ice with meltwater reflecting the sky
Rattling off names including Alexander the Great and William the Conqueror, the president noted, “They didn’t have airplanes,” according to the book.
Jacob Wohl
Screengrab from Obsession
Orcas swimming in a sunset
Carney makes the right move by suspending the federal gas tax until Labour Day Toronto, ON: Earlier today, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced plans to suspend the federal gas excise tax, which costs drivers 10 cents per litre, beginning next week until Labour Day. For a family looking to fill up a minivan, that will represent savings of roughly seven dollars each and every time they fill up their vehicle. Jay Goldberg, the Consumer Choice Center’s Canadian Affairs Manager, commented on Carney’s announcement. “Canadian consumers desperately need a break, with gas prices soaring and living costs reaching unprecedented levels. With nearly half of Canadians now saying they’re $200 away from not being able to pay their bills and filling up at the pump a basic necessity for the vast majority of Canadians, this is a clear move in the right direction to address the issue of affordability. Still, the government could have gone further, by scrapping the so-called Clean Fuel Standard and also removing the federal sales tax from gasoline prices. Nonetheless, in an affordability crisis, every little bit helps, and the government is delivering that much-needed assistance by leaving more money in consumers’ pockets, where it belongs,” said Goldberg.
Today we announce that henceforth, Vision Zero Vancouver will be rebranded as Vision Two-Hundred-Ninety-Four Vancouver. While for years our mission has been to reduce the number of people killed on our roads to zero, we’ve come to realize this is simply too hard. It was a noble (if naive) endeavour that many municipalities in BC espoused on paper. However, we now understand that this approach is simply not in line with the desires and actions of our elected officials. In the past 5 years, BC has averaged just over 300 deaths per year, with the lowest being 295 in 2021. With virtually zero effort and zero funding (zero means zero, after all), we believe Vision 294 is a pragmatic solution more in line with the milquetoast political reality. "We would like to thank all our leaders that have helped us realize we don’t need the gold standard of road safety. And if we can’t achieve Vision 294 this year, maybe by 2035." said Margie Sanderson, Director of Organizing. Full statement is available at our website. VZV members are available for comment at media@visionzerovancouver.ca
Prediction markets are rekindling some old debates about trading: The point of this story isn’t to inform you of exciting new ways to lose your shirt. What’s fascinating to us is that there has always been a fuzzy line between investing and gambling, and prediction markets are just making that line blurrier.
A CBC news breaking alert: Celine dion to return to concert stage with Paris residency this fall