- An outbreak of violence in the Russian republic of Dagestan has killed 15 police officers and several civilians. An affiliate of ISIS has claimed responsibility, but that's not stopping the Russians from making oblique references to Ukraine. No question this is good news for Ukraine of course; if anything is going to stop the Russians it's internal divisions.
- Research on geoengineering continues. This is probably necessary, unless we manage to convince millions of people to fly a lot less and billions to eat a lot less meat, but the potential for unintended consequences is great. One recent study concluded that seeding clouds with sea salt could enable them to reflect more sunlight away from the Earth. The problem is, their modelling concluded that while this could be useful to cool the western US, it could have the side effect of causing heat waves elsewhere (Europe in this case) as well as disrupting rainfall in the US as well as in far-flung places such as the Sahel region of Africa. Now imagine a geoengineering project by one country that negatively impacts a hostile country, or is perceived as having done so. Best hope the countries involved aren't nuclear powers.
- A scientist working for the federal government is alleging that the federal government, along with the provincial government of New Brunswick, has shut down an investigation into the cluster of cases of a mysterious degenerative brain disease. This follows similar allegations from another scientist; one has to conclude that the governments are trying to protect someone (one is inclined to suspect that it's a company whose name begins with I).
- An investigation has concluded that Winnipeg councillor Markus Chambers (St. Norbert - Seine River) violated conflict of interest rules by failing to recuse himself on a motion concerning changes to a residential development recommended by city planners. Chambers, who also serves as deputy mayor and chair of the police board, had also failed to reveal his personal connection to one of the owners of the property involved.
- Naheed Nenshi has won the Alberta NDP leadership in a landslide, receiving over 86% of the vote.
- A byelection in the federal riding of Toronto-St. Paul's is being held today. The riding has been a Liberal stronghold for decades, so if they lose, or even if they win by a narrow margin, the pressure on Justin Trudeau to step down is expected to increase. That would probably be the best outcome actually; a new leader probably won't be enough to save the Liberals, but it might offer some slim hope for a hung parliament rather than a Conservative majority next year.
- Calgary has been having serious problems with its water distribution network for over two weeks. Many are pointing out that this problem is not limited to Calgary; I would add that it's not limited to water distribution either. The approach most North American cities have taken to growth, with low-density suburbs, means that there isn't enough tax base to maintain the infrastructure needed to support said suburbs. Curiously, though, the CBC article avoids using words like "sprawl" and "density", but that's the real issue here and elsewhere.
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