- As Israel expands their invasion, the near complete communications blackout in Gaza is raising concerns among journalists and human rights activists about what kinds of atrocities may go undocumented. Meanwhile, questions are being asked in Israel about what Netanyahu did to empower Hamas over the years; Likud and Hamas may not agree on much, but they both very much oppose a two state solution. Unfortunately, they are almost certain to get their wish, at least for the near and middling future. It may still cost Netanyahu though; apparently 80% of Israelis blame him for the attack, and over half want him to step down.
- In Canada, the decision by Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles to expel Hamilton Centre MPP Sarah Jama from caucus over her stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict is dividing the party. The executive of the Kitchener Centre constituency association has drafted a letter calling for Stiles to resign. One person who's probably quite pleased with all this is Doug Ford.
- The Trudeau government is exempting home heating oil from the carbon tax for a three year period, ostensibly to give users the time to use opportunities to switch to heat pumps. Not surprisingly, since oil heating is mostly used in Atlantic Canada, the premiers of Saskatchewan and Alberta are outraged (but then, they're always outraged). The question of whether this was a good move remains; the one thing that's clear is that improvements to the carbon pricing regime are sorely needed. If they asked me (though why should they; I'm not a Liberal) I'd say make the tax higher and more comprehensive, but offset it by cutting the GST an equivalent amount. Presto - revenue neutrality, no net increase in the regressiveness of the tax regime and, most important, stronger incentives to reduce emissions.
- The lawyers who hired a private investigator to spy on a judge presiding over a case in which they were challenging COVID-19 restrictions in a fishing expedition hoping to find evidence of hypocrisy (not that it would have been a real argument if they'd found it, but it would have had great propaganda value for the convoy clowns) have been barred from practising law anywhere in Canada for three years. For their part, the lawyers say it was an "error in judgment".
- The CBC investigation into Buffy Sainte-Marie's identity has sparked considerable debate and soul searching. Some on social media have questioned whether it was appropriate for the CBC to be the outlet to break the story rather than, say, APTN. I kind of get that; maybe it should have been left to the community to figure out what to do with this information, though I can certainly understand that a scoop like this would be hard for any journalist to resist.
- The suspect in the mass shooting in Maine has been found dead, having apparently given himself a taste of his own medicine. Presumably Americans will bravely pick themselves up and go back to normal, at least until the next massacre in a day or two.
- In Germany, Daniel Halemba, a far-right politician recently elected to Bavaria's state parliament under the AfD banner, is being sought by police for reasons that have not yet been made public.
- With another time change looming, the discussions over the pros and cons of daylight saving time are ramping up again. This article makes an interesting point about which clock setting to use if time changes end; while year round standard time might be better for sleep (with associated health implications), year round DST might offset this by encouraging people to get out in the evenings and thus exercise something other than the hand that holds the remote.
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