News roundup, 3 July 2024

- Hurricane Beryl is moving towards Jamaica as a category 4 hurricane, with winds of up to 270 km/h (145 kt). The storm has already killed at least six people and caused widespread devastation on smaller islands.

- Joe Biden's fitness to serve as the Democratic presidential candidate continues to be the subject of intense discussion. A longtime member of the DNC, James Zogby, is calling on the party to establish a process to replace him as candidate in the event that he drops out; Gavin Newsom has hinted that he is "ready to step up". All this, of course, presupposes that Biden is willing to go quietly; unfortunately all evidence suggests otherwise.

- Given the increasing chances of a second Trump presidency, the recent Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity is all the more alarming. Consider this:

The text of the ruling states: "Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority."

So much for checks and balances and all that good stuff.

The ruling goes on to specify that, while a former president is "entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts", there is "no immunity for unofficial acts'. But in distinguishing between "official" and "unofficial" acts, where the hell does one draw the line?

As it turns out, the Supreme Court doesn’t really know either. Several pages down in the ruling, we find the ostensible lead-up to an explanation: "When the President acts pursuant to ‘constitutional and statutory authority,’ he takes official action to perform the functions of his office. … Determining whether an action is covered by immunity thus begins with assessing the President’s authority to take that action."

So far so good. But then some confusion arises because "the breadth of the president’s 'discretionary responsibilities' under the Constitution and laws of the United States frequently makes it 'difficult to determine which of [his] innumerable "functions" encompassed a particular action'".

In other words, because the president is the president, any of his actions can at least to some extent be construed as official. The ruling concludes: "The immunity the Court has recognised therefore extends to the 'outer perimeter' of the President’s official responsibilities, covering actions so long as they are ‘not manifestly or palpably beyond [his] authority'".

Never mind that if you abolish the rule of law, the "outer perimeter" of authority is not exactly, um, palpable.

That has the potential to undermine many of the criminal cases against Trump as well, though that is probably academic if he wins the election anyway. Andrew Coyne goes so far as to say that the decision has "removed the last bar to Trump's dictatorship".

- The news is somewhat more promising in France, as leftist and centrist parties have withdrawn hundreds of candidates from the second round of parliamentary elections, to avoid vote-splitting that could give Marine Le Pen's National Rally a majority. Of course the French have a rather deeper cultural understanding than the Americans do of what it means to live in a fascist state.

- German industry is strongly embracing solar power, as companies generate their own power to minimize costs. In fact, the country plans on meeting 80% of its electricity needs by renewables by 2030. Ambitious, but some much-needed good news.

- The dysfunctional state of American politics is undermining plans for a global minimum corporate tax agreement. Biden is in favour of it but Congress isn't; of course if Trump wins in the fall it's dead for the foreseeable future.

- Oklahoma's Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters, is ordering teachers in the state's public schools to teach the Bible in grades 5-12, and says that teachers who refuse could be stripped of their licenses. The state Attorney General's office says that there is no legal authority for the Superintendent to specifically mandate the content of classes, but Walters is confident that Trump's Supreme Court appointments will solve that problem for him.

- BC's building code has been updated to allow apartment buildings with a single staircase, something common in much of the world but prohibited in new construction in most of North America. At one time there was a good reason for the rule, since it was a fire safety rule, but new building materials mean that this is less relevant today, and it contributes to the shortage of "missing middle" housing. More info on this in this video.

- In what can only be a positive move, another school board has banned cellphones.