- A would-be assassin fired shots at Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania. Trump escaped almost unscathed, although one person in addition to the shooter was killed and two were critically wounded. The shooter was a registered Republican, but had also donated to ActBlue, a Democratic PAC. Condemnation of the attack has come from across the political spectrum, including from Biden; the motive for the attack remains under investigation. Disinformation, of course, is spreading wildly, with one expert on the subject calling the attack "an accelerationist's wet dream". The possible consequences remain to be seen but will probably not be positive in this political environment. In the past, similar incidents have boosted the target's popularity.
- Following the attempt on Trump's life, a professor at UBC's medical school tweeted "Damn, so close. Too bad." BC Conservatives are calling for her dismissal; while the government doesn't run the day-to-day operations of the university, the Cons are apparently counting on the masses not to know that and are hoping to use this to score political points.
- Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed the classified documents case against the former president. Ostensibly the reason is the manner in which special counsel Jack Smith was appointed to the case, but I think we all know the real reason. The full ruling can be found here.
- Following an incident in which pro-Palestinian protesters were sprayed with a noxious chemical, Katherine Franke, a law professor at Columbia University, gave an interview with Democracy Now in which she spoke about allegations that the attackers had previously served in the Israeli army (which uses the chemical in question). In the course of the interview she stated that a number of former Israeli soldiers had attended the university and had been known to harass Palestinian and other students. Some interpreted her words as a call for the banning of all Israeli students from campus; this is likely to have negative consequences for her career.
- One of the problems with selling Canada's system of carbon taxes and rebates to the masses is that banks seem to have been concealing the nature of the rebate, giving it a generic label like "federal payment". As a result, many people don't even know that they're getting it You'd almost think the banks had their thumb on the electoral scale. New legislation requires the payments to be identified with standardized labels.
- Doug Ford seriously considered a deposit/return system for pop bottles and cans. The beverage industry was on board, but the grocery chains went ballistic, and the government disbanded the working group studying the matter earlier this month. I guess if nothing else, at least I'm spared having to say something good about Doug Ford.
- The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and several agencies that certify meat as kosher are taking the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to court. Although the kosher slaughter method is not prohibited, the organizations are arguing that the CFIA guidelines, which are designed to limit the suffering of the animals, are onerous enough to cause some slaughterhouses to pull out of the kosher business entirely; the organizations say in their court submission that "Canadian Jews' access to essential kosher meat products is in jeopardy". Well I hate to break it to you, but meat, kosher or otherwise, is not an "essential" part of anyone's diet, Jewish or otherwise. That said, if it can be shown that kosher slaughter without the mandated extra measures involves no more suffering than typical slaughter, then I'd be open to their claim that this is unwarranted discrimination.
- A player was killed in what is believed to have been a targeted shooting at a soccer complex in suburban Winnipeg. The shooting is believed to have been targeted; it happened in the parking lot outside the complex after a game.
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