Saturday, November 4, 2023

News roundup, 4 Nov 2023

- The Israelis are learning the same lesson as the Russians in Ukraine or the Americans in numerous countries around the world, namely that you can't always just march into a place and expect to be able to conquer it. Meanwhile, Rashida Tlaib, the only actual Palestinian in the US Congress, is accusing Biden of supporting genocide with his staunch backing of Israel.

- The Kinew government is moving forward with plans to open a safe consumption site in downtown Winnipeg, much to the relief of people who actually work with addiction issues. Some will no doubt be skeptical, but to those people my question is - how do you figure the hard drug situation downtown can get any worse than it already is?

- In Ontario, the auditor general is moving on from the probe of the Greenbelt scandal to the equally suspect plans to redevelop Ontario Place. Whether it will be enough to stop the scheme remains to be seen.

- It's well known that policing is the biggest single item in the budget of most municipalities in Canada or the US. The police don't like it when you point this out, though.

- The pilot study that Ontario conducted with basic income back in 2017, much like the Mincome study conducted in Manitoba in the 1970s, seems to have brought real benefits to its participants. Whether the political will is there to roll out a full universal basic income program, as well as how this would impact inflation if applied to everybody, remain unanswered questions at this time.

- Police in Dallas were in a drawn out standoff at an apartment. After six hours without a response from the occupants, they forced their way in only to find that nobody was there.

- When someone says "I'm not racist/homophobic/transphobic but..." it's usually a sign that they are that. This person does not appear to be an exception to that rule.

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