News roundup, 11 Aug 2026

- Water levels in the Danube River are now so low due to drought that the wrecks of warships scuttled by the Nazis during WWII are resurfacing. More seriously, the situation is impacting irrigation as well as power generation.

- The Launchpad, a yacht owned by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, apparently failed to respond to a call for assistance as required by maritime law. A skiff that had run out of fuel had made a mayday call; its occupants were rescued by a cruise ship despite the fact that Zuckerberg's yacht was closer. A representative for Zuckerberg claims that the crew of the Launchpad initially didn't hear the call and that by the time they did, the cruise ship had already responded.

- Leftwing candidates will again be challenging the Democratic establishment in primaries this week. Francesca Hong, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is leading in the polls for the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor against establishment choice David Crowley, while Minnesota's left-leaning lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan is facing the more centrist House member Angie Craig in the primary for the Senate seat vacated by Tina Smith.

- There are now a total of 11 candidates in the running for mayor of Winnipeg in this fall's municipal election. The latest person to enter the race is Brad Gross, a realtor notorious for having the buildings he's listed burn down. These include the Sutherland and Manwin hotels as well as a Main Street apartment building. Some folks on Reddit also think Winnipeg Sun owner and former Tory MLA Kevin Klein is considering a run, based on the fact that they're suddenly getting polled on his potential candidacy.

- Manitoba Hydro CEO Allan Danroth's claim before the Public Utilities Board that new gas turbines are essential to maintain a reliable supply, already disputed by critics, is being further called into question with revelations that the existing Brandon gas plant underperforms during cold weather. As I've indicated before, Danroth previously worked for private energy companies in Alberta, so there's a good chance that he has friends and investments in that province's natural gas industry. I do hope the PUB digs deeper into these matters.

News roundup, 28 July 2026

- For the second time this year, shots were fired at the US Consulate in Toronto on Monday morning. Police are seeking a vehicle with no license plates that fled the scene at speeds of up to 140 km/h; they abandoned the chase due to safety concerns and did not have aerial support at the time. The coverage on the radio seems to be trying to tie this to two attacks on Jewish-owned bakeries; while they acknowledge that no actual evidence has been found to tie these events together, they keep talking about them in the same breath as if to imply otherwise. That's not to say they couldn't be connected, of course. In any case, nobody was injured in any of these events.

- Ukraine's latest efforts in the war against Russia have targeted warehouses owned by the Russian online retailer Wildberries. The company is the largest of its type in the country, described as "the Amazon of Russia" by some. As every real time strategy player knows, targeting civilian infrastructure to damage the enemy's economy can be quite effective, but it's frowned on under the rules of war. However, Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelenskyy argues that the facilities targeted supplied gear to the Russian military, making them legitimate military targets.

- Manitoba Hydro's CEO, Allan Danroth, argued before the Public Utilities Board that three proposed gas turbines that would be built in Brandon are "absolutely necessary" to ensure that there is sufficient supply over the coming years. Danroth says that Hydro doesn't have the time to build enough nuclear capacity to cover the potential shortfall; that much is no doubt true (nuclear takes forever to construct) but he also claims that a combination of wind, solar, and battery storage wouldn't do an adequate job, and that the only alternative to building the turbines is buying electricity from neighbouring jurisdictions, which is expected to become more difficult in the coming years as well (presumably because of crypto and data centres, though he doesn't say that. In any case, some dispute whether he's up to speed on renewables; a lawyer with the Public Interest Law Centre called into question the cost projections used, given that batteries are getting cheaper while turbines are getting more expensive. Given that Danroth's past resume includes working for private energy companies, it's possible that he's not impartial on the matter.

- A vehicle was driven through a park full of pedestrians in the Toronto suburb of Ajax earlier this month. The vehicle fled the scene but later returned to the park and was driven across a pedestrian bridge. Durham Regional Police later found the vehicle and attempted to box it in; the driver fled but collided with another vehicle and was apprehended. Nobody was hurt; a 23 year old man from Aurora was arrested.

- Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke apparently thinks your vote should be weighted based on how much income tax you pay - and that people whose income is below the tax threshold, as well as people on a locked-in pension, shouldn't get to vote at all. Such beliefs are probably fairly common among billionaires like Lütke, but they usually don't say them out loud.