Saturday, April 2, 2016

Link roundup

1. "An Oklahoma man who has gained national exposure for his 'video vigilante' campaign to expose street prostitution in his hometown was arrested yesterday for allegedly paying hookers to ensure that they serviced customers in an area where he could easily film the illicit trysts."

2. "Looking to cash in on a booming real estate market, Los Angeles property owners are demolishing an increasing number of rent-controlled buildings to build pricey McMansions, condos and new rentals, leading to hundreds of evictions across the city."
More than 1,000 rent-controlled apartments were taken off the market last year — a nearly threefold increase since 2013
3. "Five years after an earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, Japanese authorities say a long-planned 'ice wall' around the leaking facility can be turned on."
The underground refrigeration system that should create the frozen barrier was completed last month — more than a year behind schedule
4. "Climate Change Opens Up the First Luxury Cruise Route in the Arctic"
coast guard officials from the US and Canada will train for a cruise ship catastrophe: a mass rescue from a luxury liner on its maiden voyage through the remote and deathly cold waters between the Northwest Passage and the Bering Strait.

The prospect of just such a disaster occurring amid the uncharted waters and capricious weather of the Arctic is becoming all too real.