Wednesday, August 7, 2024

News roundup, 7 Aug 2024

- Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Some info about him here; he's apparently fairly well liked by those on the (relative) left. Meanwhile Harris seems to be gaining somewhat in the polls; she's ahead of Trump nationally, though the situation in critical swing states is murkier.

- Apparently Texas and Florida, despite being extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change, are gaining population from migration within the US. That's certainly counterintuitive, but it makes sense if you consider the fact that the kind of people who want to move to those states are more likely to be climate change deniers.

- In parts of rural America, solar energy rollouts are a lifeline to many farmers, but they often have to endure the wrath of their neighbours thanks to the success of the right in making clean energy a culture war issue.

- A new potassium-ion battery has the potential to free the green energy industry from dependence on lithium. Unlike sodium-ion batteries, this design has a similar energy density to lithium and could potentially quite easily replace batteries in existing devices.

- Rightwing American commentator Matt Walsh says he's willing to "fight to the death" to protect the precious freedom of Americans to use plastic cutlery. That's cool, as long as his opponent gets to use a steel knife while he uses a plastic one.

- The family accused of staging an antisemitic attack against their Winnipeg restaurant in 2019 are now in Los Angeles, having been given approval by the court to relocate there while waiting for their trial. The prospects of extradition are slim, though; due to limited resources such measures are usually reserved for the most serious crimes, and I guess crying Focke-Wulf doesn't qualify.

- Elon Musk is trying to sue advertisers for boycotting Twitter/X. Apparently advertisers aren't keen on their ads showing up next to neo-Nazi propaganda, but Musk is accusing them of colluding on this matter, in violation of antitrust laws.

- A cyclist died after rear-ending a stopped semi in south Winnipeg. According to one of the people in this Reddit thread, he was actually riding an e-bike; one wonders if the bike was modified to remove the speed limiter that such vehicles are supposed to have.

- The City of Winnipeg has signed a new contract with Tartan Towing, despite the fact that the city is in the midst of suing that very company for allegedly billing the city for tows that never occurred.

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