News roundup, 28 Aug 2026

- Donald Trump has signed an executive order officially renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America". Some folks on social media are suggesting that we should respond by closing the Welland Canal to American vessels, which would create a rather awkward situation for the US Midwest as they depend on the canal to ship their goods overseas. On a related note, Danielle Smith, predictably, continues to be vehemently opposed to using oil and gas exports as a bargaining chip with the US, and her fellow collaborator Scott Moe has similar opinions about potash.

- The investigation into the runway collision between an Air Canada jet and an airport fire truck at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing the pilots and injuring more than 40 other people, has found that two air traffic controllers had clocked out early, leaving the tower seriously understaffed. The FAA is looking to fire the controllers. Other factors in the accident, including the fact that the truck lacked a transponder, are still under investigation.

- Some Republican strategists are sufficiently concerned about Trump's collapsing approval ratings that they favour focusing on specific races. Trump's ego, of course, can't tolerate that, so his PAC, aptly known as MAGA Inc, is reportedly planning to bombard the country with ads making it all about himself.

- The spike in fuel prices resulting from Trump's war in Iran has led to a surge in the popularity of electric vehicles in pretty much every country except the US. This bodes poorly for the long term future of the American auto industry unless something changes soon.

- A civilian professor at the US Military Academy at West Point, NY has been fired for continuing to teach about human-caused climate change. Adam Kalkstein, who taught at the institution for 17 years, compares the prohibition to "trying to teach the law without being able to even mention the Constitution"; he is suing for reinstatement and requesting a jury trial.

- UK prime minister Andy Burnham is facing pressure from his MPs to move ahead with electoral reform. Burnham has advocated doing away with first-past-the-post for quite some time, and now nearly 100 of his MPs are calling on him to create a commission on the subject in his first 100 days in office. This is a refreshing stance for Labour; the party has long benefited from the status quo, but perhaps they're now realizing that this might be the best defense the country has against the rise of Reform UK.

- A car belonging to Salma Zahid, the Liberal MP for Scarborough Centre, was torched early Thursday morning by person or persons unknown; the fire spread to two other vehicles before being extinguished. Toronto police have not yet confirmed that Zahid was the target.

- A security guard at a Dollarama in suburban Winnipeg was stabbed after confronting a shoplifter. The suspect, who has a significant criminal record already, was captured quickly and charged with aggravated assault as well as robbery and failure to comply with a probation order.

News roundup, 8 Sept 2025

- The agriculture sector in both Canada and the US is taking a beating due to the ongoing trade dispute with China. In the US, corn and soybean prices have collapsed; in Canada there's a similar situation with canola. In both countries, governments are trying to pick up the slack by incentivizing more biofuel production. Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe is calling for the removal of tariffs on Chinese EVs as these tariffs are widely seen as being part of the reason China has sanctioned our canola in the first place. I hate to agree with Moe on anything, but he's right about this. Unfortunately there's no way in hell that the federal government will throw auto workers under the bus.

- Suicide is now the number one cause of death in the EU for people between the ages of 15 and 29, accounting for nearly 19% of all deaths in that age group. This represents a reversal of a previous downward trend for suicide.

- Air Canada's flight attendants have rejected the latest wage offer from their employer. The union argues that even with the increase offered, flight attendants would still effectively be making less than the minimum wage for federally regulated industries.

- A consumer advocacy group in Australia has found that 16 out of 20 brands of sunscreen don't provide the level of protection claimed on the label. This in the country with the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world.

- Former Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Willard Reaves is running for the leadership of the Manitoba Liberal Party. I guess he figures that if Obby Khan can lead a party, so can he.

- In France, the government led by prime minister François Bayrou is expected to lose a non-confidence vote. Bayrou had called the vote himself, hoping to "shock" politicians into getting their act together, but it doesn't seem to be working. Meanwhile the bleating masses are lining up behind Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally, because he seems like "someone you could get a drink with". You'd hope that a democracy could choose its leaders based on something more substantial than that, but I guess not.

- Erin Patterson, who poisoned several of her husband's relatives with death cap mushrooms, killing three, has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 33 years.