News roundup, 6 Aug 2026

- Much of the UK, including over half of England and all of Wales, is officially in a state of drought. England received only 7% of its average July rainfall last month.

- Even if the war in Iran were to end immediately, experts think that it is unlikely that fuel prices will drop significantly before this fall's midterm elections in the US. That might be a problem for the Trump regime given that much of the public seems to actually recognize the president's role in the recent price spike. Whether this will impact the outcome of the elections remains to be seen, though; it's safe to assume that the regime will do their darnedest to suppress the Democratic vote.

- Abdul El-Sayed has won the Democratic primary for the Michigan Senate seat up for grabs this fall, defeating his AIPAC-backed opponent Haley Stevens by a narrow margin. El-Sayed is actually moderate compared to some of the people who backed him; he does not identify as a socialist, though he supports many policies favoured by those who do and was backed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Also in Michigan, Donavan McKinney (who does call himself a democratic socialist) won the primary for the state's 13th congressional district, defeating incumbent Shri Thanedar. While Thanedar was considered something of a progressive himself on many issues, they strongly differed on the Israel question. How they will fare in November remains to be seen, of course; McKinney probably won't have a problem, but El-Sayed will face a tough fight. Notably, polling predicted a considerably higher margin of victory than he actually got, and some think this may reflect rural voters being less willing to participate in opinion polls. And should he win, he'll probably need an extra security detail any time he leaves the Detroit/Dearborn area.

- The Republican-led Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will vote today on whether Anthony Fauci is in contempt of Congress after he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights to avoid answering questions in a hearing last week. Fauci believes that the hearing was a setup, intended to trick him into saying something false so that he could be found guilty of lying under oath, hence his refusal/

- Manitoba's Hanover School Division, which serves the city of Steinbach and surrounding areas, attempted to introduce a policy ordering staff to ignore a longstanding provincial law that entitles "mature minors" to confidential healthcare. Education Minister Tracy Schmidt has overruled the board, and has warned that she is willing to dissolve the board and appoint a provincial trustee to oversee the division if they continue to flout the law.

News roundup, 18 March 2026

- Pete Hegseth, in a press briefing, made the flippant remark "We will keep pushing, keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemies". The thing is, the very act of someone near the top of the chain of command saying this may be a violation of American law going back to the Civil War, not to mention international law. 

- Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center in the US, has resigned, saying that he "cannot in good conscience" back the war on Iran.

- The partial government shutdown in the US and resulting shortage of TSA security screeners means that some smaller airports may have to close, just in time for Spring Break. That could get interesting for Florida businesspeople who gleefully supported Trump until now.

- The Israel question is starting to become an issue in Democratic primaries. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is spending huge amounts of money on primary campaigns, but there seems to be a generational shift that has caught AIPAC off guard.

- New polling from Leger suggests that 60% of the electorate says that the province is on the wrong track, but a strong plurality (48%) would still vote for the UCP if an election were held now. I guess as long as being on the wrong track is worse for women, ethnic minorities and LGBT* folks than it is for straight white dudes, Albertans are fine with it.

- Speaking of the UCP, their former candidate Caylan Ford, who had to exit the race after some of her comments came to light, is trying to sue the news outlets that reported on said comments, including the CBC, the Toronto Star, and Press Progress. A lawyer for the Broadbent Institute, which operates Press Progress, has pointed out that "you cannot be defamed by your own words". I should hope the courts will agree, but don't worry about Ford, she should be fine; all she needs is a GiveSendGo campaign to raise enough money from the rubes to more than cover her legal bills.

News roundup, 27 June 2024

- The  American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spent nearly $15 million to ensure that New York Democratic member of Congress Jamaal Bowman was defeated in a primary. They succeeded.

- Denmark may become the first country in the world to apply carbon taxes to livestock emissions, beginning in 2030. By way of compensation, farmers will be able to an income tax deduction and will be able to access funding to change their operations to reduce their emissions. New Zealand had similar plans, but the new rightwing government there scrapped them earlier this month.

- Climate activists in Germany are taking the government to court for failing to take adequate action on climate change, after one of the coalition partners, the neoliberal Free Democrats, managed to get proposed legislation watered down.

- A wax sculpture of Abraham Lincoln in Washington, DC has partially melted due to the ongoing heatwave. Given that many of the people who fiercely resist climate action also would probably like to undo Lincoln's signature achievement, there's something symbolic about this.

- North Carolina's Democratic governor Roy Cooper has vetoed a bill that would outlaw wearing a mask in public in most cases; unfortunately the Republicans will probably be able to override the veto. The ostensible justification for the bill is as an anti-crime measure; Cooper says he vetoed the bill partly because of insufficient protection for medical users, but mostly because of a campaign finance provision tacked onto it. More alarming is that relatively liberal New York State is considering similar legislation, largely because of allegations that over-zealous pro-Palestinian protesters are using them. Even without actual bans, many people across the US report harassment and discrimination over mask wearing.

- The first ever sample return mission from the far side of the Moon has been successful as China's Chang’e 6 spacecraft landed successfully in Inner Mongolia.

- Prosecutors have recommended against charging the bus driver in last year's disastrous crash near Carberry, Manitoba that killed 17 people. Apparently the driver suffered a severe brain injury in the accident and is likely never going to be in any condition to be interviewed by police. I guess the survivors, and families of the dead, can take comfort in the fact that he's already effectively serving a life sentence.

- A house in Transcona was destroyed in an explosion yesterday that also severely damaged neighbouring homes; however nobody appears to have been injured; neighbours believe the sole resident of the house was not home at the time.