Tuesday, September 10, 2024

News roundup, 10 Sept 2024

- Ukraine has upped the ante in the war, sending numerous drones into the Moscow area. At least one person was killed and dozens of flights were forced to divert. Russia accuses Ukraine of targeting residential neighbourhoods, which even if true is a wee bit hypocritical.

- With the NDP and Conservatives essentially tied in the polls following the Conservatives' de facto absorption of BC United, one political scientist thinks that the Cons are seeking to present a moderate image by getting former BC United candidates to represent them in the suburbs. He think the NDP still has a slight edge, though, due to their votes being more "efficient" (one of those quirks of the first-past-the-post electoral system). Meanwhile, despite their leader's move to merge with the Cons, some candidates will apparently still be running under the BC United banner, which is also potentially good news for the government.

- Federally, the byelection being held next week in the Quebec riding of Lasalle—Émard—Verdun is turning out to be a much bigger fight for the Liberals than they've generally faced there. The Bloc Québécois is within striking distance of winning. Meanwhile the NDP faces a similar fight in Elmwood-Transcona.

- A plan to open an addiction rehabilitation home in Winnipeg's suburban Lindenwoods neighbourhood is getting a lot of pushback from locals, who expressed concern that it will attract drug dealers and violence. The neighbourhood is one of the wealthier and more socially conservative ones in the city, so that's to be expected. Hopefully good sense will prevail, but you can never be sure.

- A 65 year old man has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for the death of a 38 year old man in Hartland, Wisconsin. He had apparently confronted the younger man about his tattoos, saying that "marking up God's work is a sin", then punched him, causing him to fall and strike his head on the sidewalk. Now I'm no expert on religious matters, but I'm pretty sure that killing someone because you don't like his looks would be considered a sin by most faiths.

- A Delta Air Lines A350 got a little too close to a CRJ owned by a subsidiary of the same airline, and knocked off the entire empennage. Nobody was hurt, but I suspect that at least one of the captains is going to have some 'splainin to do.

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