News roundup, 2 April 2025

 - A wide range of tariffs are set to be announced today by the Trump regime, taking effect immediately. Trump is calling this "Liberation Day". Some background info here. A resolution before the US Senate from Virginia senator Tim Kaine is expected to make things awkward for Republicans representing states expected to take a hit from the tariffs, but won't have a real impact even if it passes, since it is nonbinding.

- Mark Carney plans to carve out an exemption for New Flyer in the countertariffs imposed on US manufacturing; meanwhile the company is working towards all buses for the Canadian market being assembled here.

- Former parliamentary reporter Rachel Gilmore had been asked by CTV to do an election-related fact-checking segment on their morning show, but the network cancelled the segment after a single episode following pressure from the Conservatives and their fellow travellers.

- The cancellation of the carbon tax took effect yesterday. This is expected to bring some savings to consumers, but preventing backsliding on emissions will require measures that may well cost more overall in terms of public funds. The question I've never been able to find a clear answer to, though, is this: If tax relief is politically necessary, why not provide said relief by reducing or eliminating the GST (or PST for provinces) rather than the carbon tax? That way everyone sees relief, not just those who drive. I guess they're afraid of worsening the urban-rural divide, but I think that divide is basically beyond healing at this point anyway.

- The Trump regime has admitted that they shipped an innocent man to their contracted prison in El Salvador due to what they call an "administrative error". They say it's now out of their hands, though, as he's no longer in US custody.

- Wisconsin held an election for a vacant seat on the state supreme court yesterday. A liberal judge squeaked a victory despite Elon Musk having spent millions of dollars on her opponent's campaign.

- Western Australia's police force has repurposed a Maserati seized from a repeat driving offender into a publicity device to warn people not to drive like idiots.

News roundup, 10 Feb 2025

- The fact that a bunch of Musk-rats straight out of high school have been given access to the crown jewels of the US Treasury's IT systems has many tech professionals shaking in their boots at what kind of damage they could do, either intentionally or otherwise. Administration officials tried to claim that there's nothing to worry about because they only have read access to the systems, but this appears not to be true. Moreover, many of the systems these lads have been given access to are running code that's decades old and which they probably didn't learn about in high school computing class, and which furthermore is highly integrated with other systems. All it could take is for one of these kids to break something and you could have a situation where the US government's ability to make a payment could be compromised. And that's not even considering the possibility of intentional harms that could be done, say by feeding big databases about millions of people into an AI that's been trained to spot signs that someone could be an enemy of Musk or Trump.

- Justin Trudeau thinks that Donald Trump is entirely serious in his desire to annex Canada. Apparently in a recent phone call between the two leaders Trump spewed a litany of grievances against Canada, including actual policies (e.g. supply management) as well as imagined ones (e.g. Trump's belief that American banks are prohibited from operating in Canada). Trudeau thinks the most likely motive is US access to critical minerals. Meanwhile the US has imposed 25% tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum, and Trump continues to make declarations about how Canada is "not viable as a country".

- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced an agreement with El Salvador that would effectively allow the US to use the troubled Central American country as a penal colony, sending not only deportees of any nationality but also American criminals to be housed in prisons there. I guess that will suffice until Musk can set one up on Mars, as seen in D. G. Compton's novel Farewell, Earth's Bliss.

- BC Conservative leader John Rustad is coming under fire for a social media post in which he falsely accused former provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry of "promoting fentanyl use" due to her harm reduction advocacy. There are obvious fears that this could lead to threats to her safety; then again, she's lived with threats against her life for several years simply for being a voice of reason on COVID-19.

- Last year, Minneapolis City Council approved a pilot project where food deliveries to students living in residence on the University of Minnesota campus are done by robots. Now, halfway through the study, the city is considering whether it's necessary to regulate them in some way, in order to ensure safety as well as to protect jobs. On cue, the techbros on r/Futurology are in a tizzy at the mere thought of regulation.

- Someone has been putting copies of a far-right book into "Little Free Libraries" around Ottawa. The title of the book in question has not been made public.

Victory in El Salvador

The FMLN has taken the presidency:

El Salvador's former rebel group-turned-political party has claimed victory in the country's presidential election.

Jubilant supporters of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) poured into the streets of San Salvador in the early hours of Monday, after Mauricio Funes, the FMLN leader, declared that he had won.

"This is the happiest night of my life, and I want it to be the night of El Salvador's greatest hope," Funes said, with results showing he had 51.3 per cent of the vote, with over 90 per cent of returns counted.

Soon afterwards, Rodrigo Avila, the conservative candidate, conceded defeat, vowing to lead a formidable opposition.

"I want to make it known to Mauricio Funes from the FMLN that in this close battle the margin of difference has given him the advantage," Avila said, recognising the end of two decades of rule by his party.

From Al Jazeera. From what they were saying on the radio this morning, Obama is willing to work with Funes, unlike Bush (who reportedly said that throwing ARENA out of power would harm El Salvador's relations with the US). And Funes is willing to reciprocate, apparently. Interesting times.

Let the dominoes fall!

A left-wing wave seems to be sweeping across parts of the Americas. It would be stretching things to say Obama is part of this except in a relative sense (I'd call him a centrist, or even centre right) but consider: Not only do we have Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, and Lula, but it looks like they may soon be joined by Mauricio Funes, the FMLN's candidate for the presidency of El Salvador. Indications are that he's ahead in the polls:

Former leftist rebels in El Salvador appear poised to accomplish at the ballot box what they were unable to accomplish on the battlefield: win power.

In the 1980s, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front drew the U.S. into a bloody Cold War conflict in Central America.

Now, as a political party known by its acronym FMLN, it has been leading in public opinion polls for presidential elections slated for March.

If the party's candidate wins, he would be the first leftist president in El Salvador's history.

At an FMLN rally in the capital, San Salvador, supporters call Mauricio Funes — despite his white skin — "El Salvador's Barack Obama."

A former journalist, Funes once hosted a television talk show for which he had a reputation for holding government officials' feet to the fire. He has electrified the left in El Salvador in a way that previous FMLN candidates haven't.

From NPR. Meanwhile, back in our own country, Gary Doer may soon have some company in Canada again:

Nova Scotia should get ready for an NDP minority government, pollster Don Mills told a business luncheon Tuesday.

"The strength of support for the NDP has been constant and consistent for almost two years, and there seems to be very little that will disturb that in an election," he told reporters after his speech to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.

"Any time in the last year, we would have predicted an NDP government. The reason we are predicting now is because we believe we are close to an election. We’re probably two months away from an election."

Mr. Mills, of Corporate Research Associates in Halifax, said the only thing that could derail an election call in the near future is if the Liberals decide they want to give leader Stephen McNeil, who was chosen in 2007, more time.

The pollster said the most recent survey showed the NDP was the top choice of decided voters with 36 per cent (down from 37 per cent in November), the Liberals were in second with 31 per cent (up from 27 per cent) and the Conservatives were third with 30 per cent (down from 33 per cent). Another three per cent chose the Green party (unchanged from last quarter). Of those surveyed, 37 per cent were undecided.

From the Chronicle Herald. This could get interesting.