News roundup, 19 Dec 2024

- Following the retirement of Winnipeg police chief Danny Smyth, the city's police board had announced earlier this month that they had a candidate for the new chief and would make an announcement by the end of the year. However, this decision has now been deferred; Coun. Markus Chambers, the chair of the board, says that this is needed in order to "ensure the selection is the best decision" for the force. The Free Press has revealed that the board was planning to appoint the current deputy chief, Gene Bowers, and that the deferral was because of unspecified allegations against Bowers that were emailed to the board.

- Assiniboine College in Brandon is shutting down five programs following the federal government's decision to cap the number of international student visas it issues. This is happening to a number of post-secondary institutions in this country. Some are faring even worse; Oakville-based Sheridan College announced last month that it is suspending 40 programs.

- California has declared a state of emergency as avian influenza spreads through the state's cattle, while in Louisiana officials are reporting the first case of serious illness in the US due to the disease.

- A BC man who suffered from chronic back pain as well as bipolar disorder received approval for medical assistance in dying, however his family claims that he subsequently told them he did not want to go through with the procedure. He appears to have changed his mind; after leaving hospital on a day pass, he went to a MAID clinic and got himself put to sleep. His family is now suing the federal and provincial governments on the grounds that his psychiatric condition rendered him incompetent to make such a decision.

- The Wisconsin teenager who killed two people and wounded six before turning the gun on herself at the ironically named Abundant Life Christian School appears to have had an interest in school shootings and neo-Nazi ideology, based on examination of her internet activity. Apparently her profile picture on Tumblr was a screenshot from a security camera from a previous shooting.

- Three men have been arrested in the UK and are now facing extradition to Canada in the death of Sharif Rahman, a well-loved restaurant owner in Owen Sound, Ontario. Rahman was beaten to death outside his restaurant after confronting dine-and-dash customers over an unpaid $150 tab.

News roundup, 26 Nov 2024

- Donald Trump says that he will impose a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods at the first opportunity, unless the flow of drugs and migrants across the borders is controlled. Whether this is his actual intention, or whether it's just a negotiating tactic, remains to be seen.

- South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is warning US allies that any cooperation with the International Criminal Court on the indictment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cronies will lead to sanctions; even more unhinged is the response of Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, who suggested that the US could invade the Netherlands if Netanyahu is brought to The Hague for trial. Of course in order to actually do that the Americans would likely need the cooperation of other NATO allies, which seems unlikely. There are rather a lot of countries that could potentially arrest Netanyahu; we'll have to see if they get the chance (and if they do, whether they cave to American pressure).

- Denver mayor Mike Johnston suggested that his city would not comply if the incoming Trump administration were to attempt a mass deportation, and drew comparisons to Tiananmen Square in terms of the resistance the federal government could expect from such a move. Subsequently, however, he has backed away from this stance; I think we can unfortunately expect a lot of similar reversals in the near future from Democratic politicians who initially make bold statements against Trump but then are cowed into retracting them.

- Elon Musk has admitted that X (the former Twitter) is deprioritizing tweets that contain links, making it harder to effectively share news stories on the platform.

- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has admitted that his organization Children's Health Defense (CHD) helped to promote and fund the film Plandemic, a widely circulated pseudo-documentary that alleged that COVID-19 was engineered by da gummint and dem big city libtard ay-leets in order to... well I'm not sure what exactly, because I can't be bothered to watch such a piece of garbage. Oh, and he's really big on raw milk too... just as we're finding out that avian influenza (H5N1) can turn up in raw milk. Now I'm not saying he's trying to engineer a new pandemic (I don't think he is) but he could very well end up being partly to blame for one.

- A man was shot to death by Winnipeg police outside Unicity Shopping Centre, apparently after stabbing an officer in the throat.

- A couple in Massachusetts tried to sue the local school district after their son was penalized for the use of AI to do an assignment. The generated text apparently cited non-existent sources. Fortunately, reason and good sense seems to be prevailing.

- A church in Lucerne, Switzerland has placed an AI chatbot in a confessional booth to stand in for Jesus pending his return. They call it an "experimental art installation" and say that it "shouldn’t be considered the Sacrament of Confession", however.

News roundup, 16 May 2024

- Mary Robinson, the former Irish president who has also served as a climate envoy for the UN, warns of the impact of investment treaties such as the Energy Charter Treaty. Like many modern trade agreements, these treaties enable corporations (such as fossil fuel firms) to sue countries that take measures that cost them money. This is a strong deterrent for signatories who want to take meaningful action on climate. The oil barons aren't satisfied with that, though; ExxonMobil launched a lawsuit earlier this year, not against a government but against actual investors who filed shareholder proposals to be voted on at annual general meetings. The shareholder organizations targeted by the company withdrew their proposal, but ExxonMobil is still pursuing the lawsuit. They were also careful to file the lawsuit somewhere where they could count on it being heard by a Trump-appointed judge. And speaking of Trump and the oil companies, concerns are being raised about Trump's promise to gut climate regulations if the companies can raise a billion dollars for his campaign.

- Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, was shot and seriously wounded at a campaign rally in the leadup to EU parliamentary elections. A 71 year old suspect is in custody.

- The Manitoba government is changing the school tax rebate system. Starting next year, the existing rebate and credit will be replaced with a flat credit of $1,500 applied towards school taxes, but only for your primary residence. So people with expensive houses (over about $400,000) will pay more, as will people who own multiple properties, while those with less expensive houses as their primary residence will pay less. Seems more equitable, but of course that's not stopping the Tories from whining about "the middle class".

- The University of Winnipeg has closed its doors to the general public over perceived "safety concerns" stemming from the protest encampment on the front lawn, despite the fact that no violent incidents or threats have been reported so far.

- The Food Fare grocery store on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg had another incident on Tuesday evening; apparently a teen who had been kicked out of the store earlier in the day came back with brass knuckles and attacked three staff. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, who had cut ties with the chain following the earlier incident when a staff member apparently assaulted someone he suspected of shoplifting, announced a joint press conference with store owner Munther Zeid, but then cancelled it; neither the AMC nor Zeid has commented on the reason for the cancellation. Meanwhile, a Shoppers Drug Mart location in Steinbach say they've been able to greatly reduce shoplifting by prohibiting unaccompanied minors from entering the store.

- Following reports of high levels of H5N1 in unpasteurized milk, there has been a dramatic increase in the sale of said milk, as people have been buying the stuff in the hope of giving themselves immunity. One would be tempted to say, "so a bunch of Trump supporting morons will get sick and die. Where's the problem?" except that every human that gets infected is a potential "patient zero" for a new variant that spreads from person to person more easily than avian influenza currently does.

News roundup, 15 May 2024

- The gag order that's supposed to prevent Trump from attacking jurors, witnesses, and the judge's family does not apply to his supporters, who have been loudly shouting what their hero isn't allowed to say. The judge, however, plans to look into whether any of this behaviour was instigated by Trump himself, something which might well constitute a violation of the order. In other Trump news, following rumours that Trump has to wear adult diapers, some of his supporters have taken it upon themselves to declare that "real men wear diapers". No, you really can't make this shit up.

- Israeli settlers in the West Bank attacked an aid convoy bound for Gaza, destroying and scattering the food. The White House has condemned the attack, and even some Israelis say that this is "not in line with our movement", though the military seems to hit aid convoys and buildings far more than they have any excuse to do. Meanwhile, in Paris, some overly enthusiastic pro-Palestinian protesters thought it would be a good idea to vandalize a Holocaust memorial with red handprints, which cannot be reasonably called a legitimate target and only adds to the impression that antisemitism is part of their motivation.

- The Free Press and Brandon Sun columnist Deveryn Ross thinks that the NDP actually has a good chance of taking Tuxedo when the byelection to replace Heather Stefanson occurs. Given what I've seen of Ross' opinion pieces, I don't think this is wishful thinking either, though it could still be wrong.

- A patient who had been taken to Health Sciences Centre's mental health crisis response centre appears to have killed himself while awaiting treatment.

- United Food and Commercial Workers Local 832, which represents the workers at the No Frills store on Notre Dame Avenue, has filed a grievance following the stabbing of an employee, saying that the store has not provided a safe workplace as required in their collective agreement. A valid complaint, but it's an interesting question how to resolve this. Should the store do what the Liquor Marts do and require ID to enter? For the safety of the workers, maybe - but food is a necessity in a way that liquor isn't, and this will inevitably mean that some people who don't have ID won't be able to shop there. Of course, they can always go elsewhere, at least until other stores do the same thing - but I could see this becoming a human rights issue of its own.

- The cost to Canadian taxpayers for the protection of MPs has skyrocketed since the pandemic and convoy protest. At current rates, costs for the RCMP alone for protecting MPs could hit $3.4 million by the end of this fiscal year - and that doesn't include the protection of the prime minister, which has hit over $30 million a year.

- The head of personnel at Russia's defense ministry has been arrested on suspicion of taking bribes, following the discovery of over a million dollars' worth of cash and valuables in his home. Unfortunately stuff like this hasn't stopped Russia from making substantial gains in Ukraine; I'm not sure that the conquest of that unfortunate country can be prevented at this point. Perhaps the best hope is that any conquest will be incomplete and will lead to a drawn-out guerilla campaign that will wear away at Russia over the years, much like Afghanistan did in the 1980s; this will at least keep Russia from attacking anyone else. Certainly Ukraine deserves better than to serve as Europe's sacrificial anode, but that's the world we live in I guess.

- Georgia's much reviled "foreign agents" legislation has been passed, though not before one of their traditional parliament brawls occurred.

- Wastewater surveillance has been extremely useful in tracking the spread of several diseases, including COVID-19, mpox, and polio - yet the US Centers for Disease Control have apparently discouraged its use for tracking avian influenza, much to the consternation of many experts. One researcher says he was told not to use a virus assay he'd developed specifically for that purpose - ostensibly because it would "add to the confusion". One can't help but wonder if the real reason is that factory farming is a big factor in the spread of the disease, and that if the extent of the disease in livestock were known, it would force the government to take measures to control it. And as we know, such measures would infuriate the farmers who are so good at milking populist rage - and in an election year.

- A two-way video portal between public spaces in New York and Dublin has been temporarily shut down following reports of "inappropriate behaviour". This apparently included "flashing body parts" and "displaying images of 9/11 and swear words on phone screens" as well as one woman who was escorted away by Dublin police after being seen "grinding" against the portal.