Tuesday, January 9, 2024

News roundup, 9 Jan 2023

- Former Tory MLA Kevin Klein is not happy with the proposed changes to his party's leadership selection process, which among other things will cap the influence of constituencies with a lot of members. The proposal is for a point system whereby each constituency's votes would be weighted based on the number of votes cast in that constituency; the changes will be voted on in the party's convention on Saturday. Klein, who is considering a run for the leadership himself, believes that the new system will "tilt the playing field", however he declined to elaborate when asked.

- The province is planning a redesign of the intersection near Carberry where 17 people were killed in a bus-truck collision last year. One proposed design, known as a "restricted crossing U-turn" (RCUT) or "superstreet" is uncommon in Canada but is used in some places in the US.

- Montreal mayor Valerie Plante has announced that a major street through Mount Royal Park will be closed to non-emergency motor traffic. Expect a lot of screaming and stomping from the "truck go vroom vroom" crowd, but it's a good move.

- The US Supreme Court will hear Donald Trump's appeal of the Colorado court decision barring him from the primary ballot in February. If the "originalists" want to reverse the decision they'll have to do a lot of legal gymnastics to justify such a move, and in any case whichever way they rule will be very divisive, especially given the number of death threats that are already being made by the MAGA crowd.

- Speaking of The Donald's legal troubles, one of his lawyers argued in a federal appeals court that executive immunity is absolute, to the point where even a president who had ordered a rival to be assassinated could not be prosecuted unless convicted in an impeachment. Some have pointed out that if Trump wins this argument, it would essentially give Biden license to have him rubbed out prior to the election. In the words of newspaper editor Mark Jacobs, "Good lord, his lawyer is a dipshit." Nor has this stopped Trump from saying that he would have Biden indicted if he wins.

- Trump himself is demanding that the charges against him be dropped on the grounds that nobody told him that his conduct could be considered criminal; I don't think the argument that ignorance of the law is an excuse holds water in any jurisdiction, though.

- Lauren Boebert is running in a different district to maximize her chances of being reelected. No guarantee that she will succeed, mind you.

- The man who attacked the judge about to sentence him has been returned to court for sentencing... by the same judge. He got four years; he has yet to be tried for attacking the judge though.

- Some American officials are worried about their ability to keep a reign on Benjamin Netanyahu, since he depends on even more extreme politicians than himself to retain his power (and quite possibly his freedom). It's been said in the past that Israel is to the US what the DPRK is to China - that extreme and unstable friend that is a source of trouble and embarrassment but that they feel like they can't afford to drop. That is more true now than ever.

- The Winnipeg Art Gallery is dropping founder Ferdinand Eckhardt's name from its main entrance hall following revelations about his Nazi past.

- A Rebel News personality was arrested following a scuffle with Chrystia Freeland's security detail, however he was released after it was determined that there was "no credible security threat".

- A Republican legislator in Florida has introduced a bill that would make "an allegation that the plaintiff has discriminated against another person or group because of their race, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity constitutes defamation per se". Previous attempts to pass such a law have failed, and if passed it would likely not withstand a court challenge, however that may not be the point.

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