News roundup, 14 Aug 2024

- The City of Winnipeg is joining with 17 other municipalities in the metro area to come up with a loose plan for what the region will look like in 2050. Of course, whenever you talk about collective planning for a metro area, you trigger something in the reptilian brains of some of the simpler folk out in the sticks, resulting in people showing up at public meetings utterly convinced that they're going to be restricted to their own neighbourhoods because that's what some far-out unbathed basement dwellers have told them in the TikTok videos they make from their cars.

- The former clerk of Mesa County, Colorado, a Republican who claimed that the 2020 election was rigged against Donald Trump, has been found guilty of... trying to rig the election in favour of Donald Trump. It's sometimes said that "every accusation is a confession" with these people; in this case that adage applies perfectly.

- The Israelis bombed another school that was being used as a shelter for displaced people in Gaza, killing over 100 of them. Predictably, they claimed they were after Hamas operatives, but almost as predictably there is nothing to confirm the truth of this claim.

- Earlier this summer, independent videographer Samuel Seligson accompanied a group of pro-Palestinian protesters in New York City and filmed some of their actions. The protesters hurled red paint at the homes of several directors of the Brooklyn Museum as well as some other targets. While targeting their homes does seem to be crossing a line, the fact that Seligson has been accused of complicity with them and charged with felony hate crimes would seem to cross a line of its own.

- Ilhan Omar, the left-leaning member of Congress from Minnesota, has won her primary despite the efforts of the pro-Israel crowd to get rid of her. Two other left-leaning Democrats, Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman, were not so fortunate; both were defeated in their respective primaries after millions of dollars were poured into their opponents' campaigns.

- Ukraine is claiming success in their recent cross-border raid into the Kursk region of Russia. They say they now control over 1,000 km² of territory, though this is viewed with skepticism by some - but if nothing else they seem to be getting a badly needed morale boost as well as causing difficulties for Russia's activities in Ukraine.

- A Ukrainian refugee mother and son were viciously attacked with a baseball bat in an apparent robbery.

- A Texas judge who was set to hear a lawsuit from Elon Musk's X/Twitter against advertisers who pulled out of the platform has recused himself following revelations that he owns stock in Tesla as well as in Unilever, one of the defendants. I guess while having a conflict of interest is no big deal, having a conflict between your conflicts of interest is too much even for a Texas judge.

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.