Friday, December 15, 2023

News roundup, 15 Dec 2023

- Greta Thunberg is the latest person to condemn the results of COP28, calling it a "stab in the back" for the countries who will be most affected by climate change. Meanwhile the likes of Danielle Smith are having a full-on freakout at the slightest suggestion that emissions caps are necessary. The folks at PBS have a few ideas about how to slash emissions, but strangely they say next to nothing about air travel or meat production, two of the worst sources of emissions.

- Hawaii has experienced more extinctions since humans first showed up there than anywhere else on Earth.

- The Kinew government is moving ahead with plans to apply school tax rebates as credits to property taxes instead of mailing cheques. Unfortunately a more significant part of their agenda, namely an end to rebates for out-of-province billionaires, is proving harder to implement and is being deferred until later. Meanwhile unions and columnists are calling on the government to cancel the tax cuts brought in by the Tories; I'd have to agree.

- Former NDP cabinet minister Tim Sale reports that Manitoba Hydro executives "fought tooth and nail" against attempts by the Doer government to build a couple of wind farms, which would have been an excellent backstop against the low water levels due to drought, and suggests that the new Hydro board of directors needs to be more forceful. I don't think Sale is wrong (although one of the aforementioned executives claims he is) but I wish he'd pushed harder himself when he was minister rather than just telling the current government to do so.

- At the municipal level, Winnipeg is expecting a big hit due to increased costs at Winnipeg Transit, and Brandon is facing substantial tax increases to make up for keeping taxes low for too long.

- Some unsavoury individuals are apparently using AI to make fake porn of real teenagers at a Winnipeg high school.

- The Satanic display at the Iowa legislature has been vandalized, and a former candidate for the Mississippi legislature has been charged with causing the damage. His GiveSendGo legal defense begging website has already received over $40,000 in donations.

- A school in New York State requires students to check their cellphones at the door. The effect on mental health of students has apparently been so positive that even the students recognize it.

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