- Donald Trump has signed an executive order raising tariffs on Canadian goods to 35%, continuing to beat the fentanyl drum as an explanation. Mexico has been given a 30 day reprieve but could still face tariff hikes in another month. Both Doug Ford and Unifor president Lana Payne are calling for 50% tariffs on American steel and aluminum in retaliation.
- Trump suddenly finds himself on Joe Rogan's bad side over the failure to release the Epstein files, and Rogan isn't letting this one slide. This is a problem for Trump, given how big the overlap between Rogan fans and prospective Trump supporters. Of course, this is doubtless more of a cynical move than a principled one on Rogan's part, but if his buyer's remorse does Trump some damage, I'm not complaining. I'm not convinced it's enough to bring him down, though. His supporters seem willing to give him a pass on all manner of other awfulness; why should the sexual abuse of children be any different?
- A bill before the US Senate would, if passed, ban the ownership of individual stocks by members of either house of Congress. Interestingly, Republican senator Josh Hawley voted with the Democrats to get the bill through committee and potentially get it to the floor for a full vote. Naturally this drew the ire of Trump, who called Hawley a "pawn"; another Republican senator, Rick Scott, isn't too happy either. Of course, the bill has little chance of becoming law; for starters, Senate Majority Leader John Thune can stop it from going to a full vote (and probably will).
- A recent survey conducted by the Canadian Automobile Association has found that 65% of Manitobans polled are in favour of photo radar; evidently the loudmouths who bleat "Cash grab! Cash grab!" every time this is suggested are just a noisy minority. Of course polls can be biased, but if a CAA-sponsored poll was biased I'd expect the bias to be in the other direction. And despite what the freedumb crowd will tell you, there's evidence that it actually does reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents. All that said, designing the roads so that people adapt to lower speeds unconsciously is a far better way to slow traffic. Still, in places where traffic calming is difficult due to existing legislation, photo radar is the way to go.
- A fourth candidate has entered the race for the byelection to replace deceased Winnipeg city councillor Jason Schreyer. Abel Gutierrez seems to have his heart in the right place, but I can't help but think that a civic employee and labour leader like Carmen Prefontaine or an urbanist like Emma Durand-Wood probably have a better understanding of the big picture than a construction manager would.
- An extradition hearing in Edinburgh is deciding whether three men will face extradition to Canada to face charges related to the beating death of an Owen Sound restaurant owner in 2023.
- Several business owners in Winnipeg have been subjected to extortion recently, with threats of arson or violence. Two restaurants owned by the same family were hit in July; one of them suffered relatively minor damage but the other was destroyed by fire. Convenience stores have also been hit; many of the victims believe the same people are behind the attacks.
- A Winnipeg tattoo artist is offering a service where she'll mix the cremated remains of a loved one into tattoo ink so you can carry a bit of them around with you forever.
