News roundup, 11 Feb 2025

- The unleashing of the Muskrats on government IT systems has resulted in several secure networks being exposed to the public internet, meaning that top-secret information may be vulnerable to hackers. Besides the Treasury department, this also involves things like nuclear research, something that you might not want just any run of the mill terrorist or hostile power to gain access to.

- One of Trump's executive orders was to stop work on a project called the National Nature Assessment, which was almost ready for publication in draft form. Researchers working on the project are trying to find a way to get it published outside of government; how the administration will respond to resistance of this sort remains to be seen.

- The Environmental Protection Agency has notified about 1,100 "probationary" employees that they could be terminated at any time, and has placed 160 staffers working on environmental justice related matters on administrative leave. Because of course any viewing of environmental issues that takes race and class into account in terms of their effects is "woke".

- The US Travel Association is freaking out over the prospect of Canadians boycotting travel in the US. Thousands of Canadians have already cancelled travel plans in that country, and there's no sign of the goodwill returning any time soon.

- A study by First Street Foundation concluded that some $1.47 trillion in property values in the US could evaporate over the next 30 years due to climate change and the resulting disasters and insurance rate hikes. The biggest declines are expected in Sunbelt states, but significant declines are expected in much of the country. Not everywhere, mind you; in parts of the Midwest and some eastern states, properties in more resilient areas are expected to increase significantly in value.

- A poll in the UK, conducted by YouGov on behalf of the nonprofit Control AI, has found that 87% of respondents would like AI developers to be required to prove the safety of their products before release, and 60% want an outright ban on any AI that is more intelligent than humans (though the criteria for the latter might be difficult to write into law). 75% want a ban on the development of AI systems that can escape their environments, while 63% want a ban on systems that can improve their own intelligence. Despite their nominally social democratic stance, the incumbent Labour government seems to have little interest in proceeding with such regulation, despite their pre-election promises.

- Evidence presented at a class action against Facebook parent company Meta indicates that staff pirated nearly 82 terabytes of books in order to train AI. Because under the Silicon Valley "move fast, break things" philosophy, following the rules is for wimps.

- Israel's defense minister is trying to argue that countries such as Ireland that criticized their actions in Gaza are "legally obligated" to accept Palestinians who become refugees as a result of Trump's plans for the territory. I don't think that's correct, and in any case I'm pretty sure Israel and the US are legally obligated not to ethnically cleanse the territory, but that's just me.

- A resolution before the North Dakota legislature calls for "a recognition of Almighty God as the source of authority" and "of the Lord Jesus Christ as the rightful ruler of nations". Some of the same legislators are also behind a bill calling on the Supreme Court to reverse its 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage; worth mentioning is the fact that one of the people behind these resolutions, Nico Rios, made a social media post last week calling on the CIA to "overthrow and kick this Jew [Claudia Sheinbaum] out of power in Mexico".

News roundup, 6 Feb 2025

- Donald Trump has declared, in a joint press conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the US will take over the Gaza Strip, with American troops if necessary. He gently suggested that some other Middle Eastern country should just take the inhabitants off his hands. I believe that there's a term for that sort of thing...

- The Trump administration is effectively shutting down the US Agency for International Development. The agency is not without its critics (some say, for instance, its relationship with the CIA has at times been a bit too close for comfort) but a complete shutdown might not be such a good idea. I'm sure the fact that it was investigating the behaviour of Elon Musk's Starlink is purely coincidental.

- The huge wildfires that swept through parts of greater Los Angeles have now been fully contained after nearly a month. The costs, though, are just beginning - while the impact on the greater economy so far hasn't been too severe, a lot of people are probably already underwater on their mortgages as a result of these fires; another disaster or two like that could change things as losses pile up, potentially causing a financial crisis as severe as the subprime crisis of 2007-2008 if not worse. Already, some people think that housing prices have peaked in areas most vulnerable to such disasters, partly driven by skyrocketing insurance rates.

- During the COVID-19 lockdowns, most Canadian provinces treated their liquor stores as an essential service. At the time, this was justified on the grounds that for people with severe alcoholism, sudden withdrawal can be life-threatening and those who don't die would add to the burden on the healthcare system. Now, however, many are wondering whether that hypothetical would be enough to outweigh the impact of increased consumption on public well-being. An inconvenient truth is that South Africa banned alcohol sales during the lockdowns, so that people would have less incentive to gather in violation of the lockdowns, and immediately experienced a huge decrease in violence as a result.

- Apparently some activist investors in Tesla are starting to sour on Elon Musk. Whether a bunch of Redditors are going to be enough to fire the CEO is another question, of course - at least unless and until the stock starts to tank.

- Greenland's parliament passed a bill banning foreign political donations, for reasons that will no doubt be obvious. The bill also prohibits donations over 20,000 kroner (about $2,500) from any individual, and no party may receive over 200,000 kroner in total from all donors.

- Knox United Church in Brandon, Manitoba is being forced to increase security following harassment and vandalism over their support for the LGBT* community. To his credit, the church's minister refuses to tone down his messaging on the matter; then again he has the support of his congregation and the church hierarchy. Less fortunate is a Baptist minister in Charlotte, NC who has been ousted for being too progressive.