News roundup, 25 March 2024

- The US actually abstained in a UN Security Council vote on a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for the duration of Ramadan. Since no other permanent member exercised their veto power either, the resolution passed; naturally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threw a huge hissy fit. But it makes it seem like Israel's recent conduct is too much even for the Americans; whether this is for principled reasons (i.e. seeing the ongoing devastation of Gaza as beyond the pale) or pragmatic ones (i.e. seeing Israel becoming a foreign policy liability for the US) is for the reader to decide.

- An appeals court in New York State has given Donald Trump a huge break, lowering the amount he must post as bond in the civil fraud case to $175 million and giving him another 10 days to come up with the money. Meanwhile Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, is going public tomorrow, potentially providing Trump with a huge cash injection just when he needs it. It's almost as if the rich are governed by different rules than you or I.

- Four Tajik citizens have been arrested for the concert hall attack outside Moscow. The Russians are doubling down on their claim that the suspects were trying to escape to Ukraine through a "window" prepared for them on the Ukrainian side; how the Ukrainians are supposed to have done this in a war zone where much of their border territory is occupied by Russian troops and local allies has not been explained. Given that the suspects had reportedly undergone some in-depth interrogation, we might not be able to rely on what they might have said about Ukrainian involvement (or their own involvement, for that matter). As to the potential impact on Putin, well, potentially not much.

- Houston's approach to managing homelessness, which they call "The Way Home", has won much praise as one of the most successful in North America. Both Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham are taking notes; hopefully this can be implemented here, since we have a very serious problem here.

- Elon Musk's defamation suit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, who critically examined X/Twitter's moderation policies with regard to hate speech, has been dismissed by a federal court.

- Churches, and American Baptist churches in particular, sometimes get a bad rap (not without cause). Gethsemani Baptist Church in San Luis, though, has made it their mission to feed anyone, without question. Sounds like the kind of thing Jesus would approve of, right? Perhaps, but apparently it isn't something that the City of San Luis approves of; the church is suing the city for harassing them by what they say are misuse of zoning laws.

- American TV actor Forrie J. Smith apparently got kicked off a plane after refusing to sit next to someone who was wearing a mask. Exactly how someone else exercising their freedom to wear a mask is supposed to harm him is anybody's guess; perhaps it's more that it's a perverse form of "virtue signalling" on his part (for those who think that refusing to wear a mask is a virtue, at least).

News roundup, 24 March 2024

- A total of 137 people have been confirmed dead in the mass shooting in a Moscow suburb the other day. The Islamic State/ISIS/Daesh/whatever has claimed responsibility, though Putin apparently did not mention this fact in his video address in response to the attack. He did apparently claim that the suspects in the attack tried to flee to Ukraine.

- The US Congress has kicked the can down the road once again, averting a government shutdown until September at least (which will be an interesting time for brinksmanship, incidentally). Even though the bill had been negotiated by Republicans, many of the more hardline folks in that party voted against it; it only passed with Democratic support.

- Sixteen American states are suing the federal government for its moratorium on export permits for liquefied natural gas.

- The federal and provincial governments have each promised $20 million for a search of the Prairie Green Landfill north of Winnipeg.

- Two adults have been charged for a shoplifting spree; what is notable is that they're accused of having brought a child with them for some of their activities. The child is apparently not theirs; in any case, I don't think they're setting a good example.

- Some travellers are cancelling or rebooking flights to avoid having to ride on a Boeing airplane. It's worth noting that after a disaster in 1979 there were a bunch of people wanting to avoid the DC-10; here, though, the unease is not about a specific aircraft type but an entire company. I still can't help but wonder if Boeing is fated to join Lockheed-Martin, Convair, etc. on the list of "military contractors that used to make airliners" and leave the commercial industry to Airbus and Embraer.

- The Tennessee state senate has passed a bill banning "chemtrails" (it has yet to pass in the lower house):

The bill claims it is "documented the federal government or other entities acting on the federal government's behalf or at the federal government's request may conduct geoengineering experiments by intentionally dispersing chemicals into the atmosphere, and those activities may occur within the State of Tennessee," according to the bill.

The legislation would ban the practice in Tennessee.

"The intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight is prohibited," the bill reads.

The funny thing is, jet contrails do contain chemicals that affect temperature - specifically carbon dioxide and water vapour. And yet the people who believe in the "chemtrails" conspiracy theory tend not to believe that - go figure. They have, however, been careful enough to include the phrase "with the express purpose", to make sure their bill couldn't be weaponized against carbon emitters.