News roundup, 6 Feb 2026

- The New START treaty, which capped the numbers of launch-ready nuclear weapons that the two largest nuclear powers could have, has just expired, leading to fears of an escalating arms race.

- A Minneapolis activist has been arrested on cyberstalking charges by federal officers after allegedly doxxing a "pro-ICE individual" in Michigan. Kyle Wagner is said to have posted the person's address, phone number, and birth date to social media. The complaint against him also cited posts such as "Get your [expletive] guns and stop these [expletive] people".

- A Russian general survived getting shot 7 times in Moscow. Lt Gen Vladimir Alexeyev was attacked in an apartment building in the northwestern part of the city. The shooters remain at large.

- French prosecutors are seeking "voluntary interviews" with Elon Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino following the raid on X's offices in the country related to deepfakes and child pornography. Of course Musk and X are claiming this is "politically motivated" and "threatens our users’ rights to privacy and free speech". I have to say that while this may not be politically motivated, it could well have a political impact - most likely a positive one - if X is pushed out of Europe. That might be to much to hope for, but we'll have to see.

- Seven Toronto police officers have been arrested on corruption charges related to organized crime. Charges include accepting bribes, leaking confidential information, and drug trafficking.

- A 20 year old woman was abducted from her home in Pimicikamak Cree Nation, Manitoba on Thursday morning by a man who also attacked another resident of the home with a hammer. Police are still searching for the victim as well as the suspect in what appears to be a case of "intimate partner violence".

- The Catalina Island Conservatory, which owns most of the land on the island, is moving ahead with plans to exterminate the deer population. Deer are not native to Catalina, having been introduced about a century ago, and the conservancy wants to restore the old ecosystem as best they can. Not surprisingly this is a controversial move; an earlier plan to shoot deer from helicopters was shot down after a public outcry.

News roundup, 23 May 2025

- A new study suggests that even if the increase in global temperatures is limited to 1.5°C (which seems increasingly unlikely), it's not going to be enough to prevent sea levels from rising by a centimetre per year by the end of the century. If the present course is maintained, it will be far worse - an eventual rise of up to 12 metres. For perspective, about 230 million people live no more than a metre above the current sea level, and a billion are within 10 metres. This would lead to a lot of migration, and the brutal truth of the matter is that if this migration can't be prevented by cutting emissions, it will be stopped with guns. That said, every fraction of a degree still matters, not least because it will mean fewer people getting shot at borders than there otherwise would be.

- On a somewhat more positive note, the deforestation rate in Brazil dropped by over 30% in 2024 compared to the previous year. Note, however, this only factors in intentional deforestation; losses due to wildfires reached record levels last year.

- The Trump regime is prohibiting international students from enrolling at Harvard University because the institution refuses to hand over information about some current students to the Department of Homeland Security.

- The US Senate's parliamentarian, a nonpartisan staffer tasked with the interpretation of Senate rules, has been overruled after advising that the revocation of California's waiver that gives it the power to regulate vehicle emissions was probably illegal. The last time the parliamentarian has been overruled was in 1975. Now I must admit to be a bit torn here, because the specific decision had to do with the body's filibuster rules, which I've generally thought should be scrapped as they often stop progressive initiatives. And seeing that these rules don't seem to be stopping reactionary initiatives, they should probably still be scrapped (or rather not re-adopted if and when the US becomes a functioning democracy again).

- TD's chief economist, Beata Caranci, is predicting that Canada will go into recession this year, and that some 100,000 jobs could be lost as a result.

- The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has opted for a work-to-rule campaign rather than a strike, for the time being. Significant service disruptions are expected to result simply as a result of workers refusing overtime.

- The Rural Municipality of Prairie Lakes in southern Manitoba has introduced a "one lake, one boat" policy, which will require visitors bringing boats to Pelican Lake to have the boats inspected for zebra mussels for a $40 fee. Naturally businesses are complaining, but such measures are sometimes necessary.

- Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, has started injecting its answers with propaganda about "white genocide" in South Africa - even when the question had nothing to do with South Africa or race. This certainly underscores the need for regulation of AI; unfortunately in the US the prospects for that have dimmed as legislation to prevent the regulation of AI for at least 10 years has cleared the House and moved on to the Senate.

- Recycling collection in Winnipeg was disrupted yesterday due to an unexpected closure of the material recovery facility where recyclables are taken. The plant was closed for a police investigation after plant staff found a dead guy on the premises.

News roundup, 23 Dec 2024

- Justin Trudeau's new cabinet includes eight MPs who have never served in cabinet before. Given that Jagmeet Singh has decided that enough is enough and that the NDP is ready to vote non-confidence at the first opportunity, they may have little more to show for it than the right to say that they were once a cabinet minister.

- Manitoba's government hopes to have some movement on the homelessness file in the near future; they plan to have people moving from encampments into more stable housing within the first few months of 2025.

- The US narrowly averted a government shutdown after passing a budget at the last minute in the wee hours of Saturday morning with some provisions sought by the Democrats removed.

- Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates so as to deprive Trump of the pleasure of kicking off his second term with an orgy of executions.

- Ukraine's prosecution service says that at least 147 Ukrainian POWs have been executed by Russian forces since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Of those, 127 occurred just this year.

- In a rare bit of good news on the invasive species front, a population of the Asian Giant Hornet (often known as the "murder hornet") that got established in Washington State a few years ago has apparently been eradicated, as has another population in BC. Across the Atlantic, a population in England seems to have been contained as well. Of course, it's a lot easier to locate nests to eradicate when the target is a spectacular orange and black wasp that grows up to 5 cm long and is active out in the open during the daytime than it is with many invasive animals.

- A 31 year old employee of a manufacturer in Michigan is accused of stabbing his boss at a staff meeting.

News roundup, 23 July 2024

- Kamala Harris has come out swinging in the campaign, having raised a record $81 million in campaign donations in a 24-hour period. This may bode well for her chances in the fall, though even if she gets the votes in the necessary states it remains to be seen if she'll get the electors. The members of the Electoral College, one of the more bizarre things you can find in a modern democracy, are not constitutionally bound to vote the way the citizens want them to. In some states "faithless electors" can be legally punished, but even in that case their votes still count. And nothing will necessarily stop a Trump-friendly state legislature from appointing their own electors in place of the ones chosen by the citizenry, especially with a Trump-friendly Supreme Court waiting to hear any challenges. And whatever else happens, it will be a nasty campaign. The Republicans are trying to argue that Harris is not entitled to money that was donated to the Biden campaign. Most experts argue otherwise, saying that since she was going to be on the same ticket anyway she is entitled to the money. It might be more problematic if someone else is chosen, but that seems to be academic now that Harris has enough delegates to secure the nomination.

- Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign following the failure to stop the attempt on Trump's life. So far she has stood firm, but I suspect her days in the position are numbered.

- Given continued greenhouse gas emissions, many are looking more closely at geoengineering. This is raising considerable alarm, as the possibilities for unintended consequences are significant, and is also a potential distraction from better solutions... but if those better solutions aren't forthcoming for political reasons, it might nonetheless be necessary.

- A wildfire has forced a last-minute evacuation of Jasper National Park in Alberta, including the Jasper townsite.

- The Executive Director of St. Boniface Street Links, Marion Willis, was fined for trespassing after visiting that North End apartment building whose tenants who were evicted en masse last week. Willis, who was working to assist the tenants, says this resulted after her organization's lawyer contacted the landlord's, and the latter attorney responded by saying that all Street Links staff and volunteers were banned from the premises; Willis attended anyway and was fined. She plans to fight the ticket. One would think she has a good case if she was attending as a guest of a tenant. Meanwhile, tenants returning to their units following the province's order are finding almost nothing in the units - in at least one case, even the appliances were removed.

- The City of Winnipeg's recent push to take action against the owners of vacant buildings is not going unopposed. Lawyer John Prystanski, a former city councillor who never met a slumlord he didn't like, is representing three of them, and is demanding that the city cancel invoices issued to his clients for the costs of fighting fires, claiming that the vacant building bylaw is not being properly applied.

- Besides the developing zebra mussel situation at Clear Lake, the invasive molluscs have been found at the St. Malo Reservoir south of Winnipeg.

- Two Alberta men are being charged with uttering death threats against Justin Trudeau; one of them is also accused of similar threats against Jagmeet Singh and Chrystia Freeland.

News roundup, 22 July 2024

- Joe Biden has abandoned his bid for reelection and endorsed Kamala Harris. European leaders are praising him for his decision (even if it comes a bit late in the game) as well as for his actions as President. One thing is clear - you likely won't see much talk about the candidates' ages coming from the Republicans anymore.

- Many Republican strategists fear that their legislative agenda will alienate women. Many Democrats hope for that very thing; certainly if Harris becomes the candidate as expected she is expected to put this front and centre. And there are promising signs that the Republicans may have peaked too early; hopefully a relatively fresh and young candidate will be able to take advantage of this.

- While OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly made statements about the need for caution with AI, whistleblowers from his company say that in actual practice he is using the traditional Silicon Valley "move fast and break things" approach.

- Over half of Turkey's power grid is now supplied by renewables, though they have a long way to go to catch up with places like the EU. The shift has been recent, and seems to be primarily motivated by a desire to reduce dependence on Russia, who supplies most of their fossil fuels.

- The zebra mussel situation at Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park is not looking good. Parks Canada is still looking at what measures they can take, but this ship may well have sailed. In other invasive species-related news, some lakes in Manitoba seem to have been illegally stocked with largemouth bass (a popular species with sport anglers). This is a potential problem for native trout and pickerel species.

- Manitoba's Residential Tenancies Branch has ordered the owners of that North End apartment block to reverse the eviction of all their tenants. Still not a good look, especially given that the landlord threw out some tenants' possessions without warning. The province warns that additional orders, and charges, may be pending. In other somewhat promising Winnipeg housing news, a long-vacant block in the Riverview neighbourhood has been purchased by Fisher River Cree Nation and may well be up and running by next year.

- CO₂ levels are now comparable to what they are thought to have been in the middle of the Pliocene epoch, around 3 million years ago. At that time the mean global temperature is estimated to have been about 3°C above present levels; this can be expected to happen over the next few decades unless dramatic changes are made right quick (and possibly even then). Much of Greenland was ice-free at the time; sea level may have been close to 10 metres above current levels. For an idea of what that might look like, check out this site.

- It's so hot in parts of the US that pop cans are under significantly more pressure than usual. When carried in airplanes, they're sometimes bursting as a result. In 20 cases, injuries have resulted.

- A former Ukrainian MP was fatally shot on Friday. She had been a member of an ultranationalist party and had drawn criticism for not considering Russian-speaking Ukrainians to be properly Ukrainian; nonetheless, this is not the optimal way of dealing with people with problematic views.

- Thefts of catalytic converters have dropped significantly in the past year. Some of this may be attributable to legislation that makes it harder for thieves to sell them, but a big part of it is simply that the precious metals in them aren't worth as much as they were before.

- At least 12 Russian soldiers died after eating poisoned watermelons in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

News roundup, 28 May 2024

- The IDF bombed a refugee camp in Rafah, killing at least 45 people. They then followed it up by hitting the city's hospitals. The camp was not in one of the places where civilians had been ordered to evacuate, and was full of people who had been forced out of other parts of Gaza. One has to say that when you herd people into a small part of their homeland, and then bomb that area, the optics are very bad.

- The US House of Representatives committee on energy and commerce has requested a briefing from their National Intelligence Director Avril Haines regarding the firing of two Chinese-born scientists from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

- Parks Canada is sticking to their guns regarding the recreational watercraft ban at Clear Lake in the hope of nipping an outbreak of zebra mussels in the bud. I have to respectfully disagree with the provincial government here; while a unilateral decision might seem heavy handed, you need to be heavy handed when dealing with something like this if you want any chance of stopping the spread. I do agree that measures should be taken to help businesses harmed by the decision, though.

- A Canadian senator has introduced a bill, known as the Climate-Aligned Finance Act, which would force financial institutions as well as pension funds to move their investments out of emissions-intensive sectors of the economy. In addition it would require lending to fossil fuel companies to be treated as higher risk. The bill is not expected to pass; nonetheless, the mere fact that it's being discussed is sending the likes of the Canadian Bankers' Association into conniptions. Now what did Ken Livingstone say about bankers again?

- The troubles at the Food Fare on Portage Avenue seem to be escalating, as cars belonging to the store's co-owner and a relative were torched in the store parking lot. The people seen lighting the fire in the surveillance video had apparently been kicked out of the store for shoplifting the previous day.

- The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), the provincial police watchdog, recommended that three Lethbridge police officers involved in spying on an NDP MLA should face criminal charges, however provincial prosecutors have declined to take up the case.

- A company run by former Tory cabinet minister Kevin Klein is buying three newspapers, including the Winnipeg Sun, from Postmedia.

- The Beautiful Plains School Division in southwestern Manitoba is suing a Carberry woman for defamation after the woman made multiple allegations on social media about teachers at the schools her children attend.

- Upon seeing a distraught man walking along Highway 407 in Brampton, two drivers for Purolator put on their four-ways and drove slowly behind him to keep him from getting run over. Hopefully he'll eventually be thankful rather than angry that they foiled his apparent suicide attempt. 

News roundup, 7 May 2024

- Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire under a proposal from Egypt and Qatar. Despite some international pressure, including a warning from France that the forced removal of thousands of Palestinians from Rafah (pretty much the last refuge in Gaza for them) could constitute a war crime, the Israelis seem bent on pushing ahead. Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group (who is Israeli, by the way) thinks that "Netanyahu is sensing that this deal could go through, so he’s looking to avert it". One can't help thinking that he fears that being prime minister in wartime might be the only thing standing between him and prison, so he's going to try to maintain a permanent state of war.

- Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was scheduled to give a video address to a conference in Germany on the Israel-Palestine conflict last month, however the event was cancelled by German authorities who claimed that they were trying to prevent "antisemitic and violence-glorifying remarks", despite the fact that one of the organizations behind the conference was Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East. Varoufakis says that in response he recorded the speech and posted it to his blog; he says that the following day German authorities warned pro-Palestinian activists against playing the speech on loudspeakers at any protest.

- Ukrainian men of military age (defined as between 18 and 60) who live abroad face loss of consular services if they don't return home to fight. This applies to those who left before the war as well as during it.

- Donald Trump has been held in contempt of court for the tenth time for violating the order not to speak publicly about witnesses or jurors in his trial regarding the Stormy Daniels hush money. Judge Juan Merchan is warning that he will impose a jail sentence if this keeps up, even while admitting that this is "the last thing" he wants to do. Not sure of the reason for his reluctance.

- A Republican fundraiser in Colorado was cancelled due to "safety concerns". These concerns appear to have arisen because of threats stemming from South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's admission that she shot her dog for being unruly. As an aside, the first article indicates that the chair of the Republican Party's Jefferson County wing is named Nancy Pallozzi; I bet she has to put up with a lot of ribbing about her name from her fellow Republicans.

- Despite all the FUD about how Canada's deficits will scare off investors, Warren Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, is looking north of the border. Buffett himself says "We do not feel uncomfortable in any way, shape or form, putting our money into Canada".

- The Winnipeg Housing Rehabilitation Corporation will redevelop a housing complex closed by Manitoba Housing in 2019, in cooperation with Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the Spence Neighbourhood Association. The province is donating the site; the existing units (which were problematic from the start) will be demolished and a new building constructed.

- Two men in Headingley were arrested for possession of a large amount of explosives as well as firearms. One of them has a significant record already. Meanwhile, police in Winkler arrested another man and seized an enormous arsenal of firearms, including a homemade cannon as well as 21 rifles (two of them were loaded; in addition one was fitted with an over-capacity magazine, and one with a suppressor), 4 shotguns, explosives, body armour, and over 6,500 rounds of ammunition.

- The suspected serial killer being tried in Winnipeg for the deaths of four women has admitted to the killings but is trying to argue that he is not criminally responsible due to mental illness. Following this development the prosecution has agreed to allow the case to be heard by a judge alone, and the jury will be discharged.

- A large species of catfish, indigenous to the American South, has turned up in the Thames River in Ontario. In other invasive species news, several large flatworm species have also been found in the province.

- A former Hamilton police officer who was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman he was mentoring has been sentenced to 12 months of house arrest followed by 12 months of probation. What stands out about this story, though, is that the judge had already told him that he wouldn't serve any jail time, two weeks before the actual sentence was issued.

- In Saskatchewan, sexual health education is pretty much banned from all classrooms; this includes such things as educating kids about consent. I guess Saskatchewan Party MLAs don't want their kids' victims to know what their rights are.

News roundup, 5 March 2024

- The anticipated winter storm had relatively little effect in Winnipeg, but 200km to the west, in Brandon, it was a different story, with 29cm of snow. Sucks if you live there, but probably a good thing for the province as a whole given the drought conditions we've been dealing with lately.

- While earthworms are generally a boon to agricultural soil, they are problematic in ecosystems that developed in their absence - such as the forests of northeastern North America. They consume the leaf litter that provides habitat for a lot of arthropods as well as for many plants. To make matters worse, the loss of understory plants often drives deer to consume more seedlings, reducing the prospect of the forest regenerating as it did in the past.

- Climate change doesn't seem to be as big an issue in the US as it ought to be. While polling does show many eligible voters consider climate change to be a top issue, among people who have an actual history of voting it's not so high on their priorities. 

- Donald Trump is saying that a president could be vulnerable to blackmail unless they're immune to prosecution from anything they might have done while in office.

- Winnipeg Transit is planning to replace their current electronic fare system. This may make it possible to pay your fare with a credit or debit card; apparently in other cities this has been possible for quite some time.

- A van used by Winnipeg nonprofit Street Connections to deliver harm reduction services to vulnerable persons was stolen over the weekend.

- A hardware store that has been a fixture of Winnipeg's Corydon Village neighbourhood for decades is closing after a long decline. Big box stores were a part of the problem, but the final nail in the coffin was the pandemic and the resulting surge in online shopping.

The invasive species problem

Although climate change has gotten the lion's share of the attention when dealing with environmental problems (and with good reason), there are other issues that shouldn't be ignored either. I'm reminded of this by a report that garter snakes (Red-sided, judging from the picture that accompanies the article) are now established and breeding in Newfoundland. Odds are, this won't be the end of the world, of course. Garter snakes are no threat to humans, and the smaller ones prey mostly on things like slugs, most of which breed fairly fast. However, larger ones do eat rodents, and this is a very double-edged thing. On the one hand, they might bring down the numbers of the House Mouse, an invasive species whose drawbacks are obvious. On the other hand, there's apparently a distinct subspecies of the Meadow Vole that is endemic to the island and has no evolutionary reason to fear long slithery critters. If I were the type to lay bets on this sort of thing, I'd bet that the voles will survive and the introduction of garter snakes will not lead to disaster... but nonetheless, this sort of thing is best avoided, because sometimes it becomes a major problem. If the "Asian carp" (actually two different species, the Bighead Carp and the Silver Carp) become established in the Great Lakes, they could devastate the entire ecosystem... unless perhaps another invasive species messes things up for them. Unfortunately, if that happens the mussels will probably also mess things up for the native fish of the ecosystem.

This leads to another point. Quite often, an invasive species has no serious enemies in its adopted home, and when it breeds out of control, like the Gypsy Moth has in North America, the temptation is to introduce another species to control it (swallow the spider to catch the fly and all that). In many cases this is the best option available; the preferred approach for invasive insects is to introduce some parasitic wasp or fly that is fairly specific to the pest you want to control. And indeed, a good many parasitic wasps and flies attack only one or a handful of species. It was most unfortunate that the folks who tackled the Gypsy Moth problem selected a parasite that wasn't host-specific - the tachinid fly Compsilura concinnata, which happily attacks and kills the larvae of various giant silkworm moths such as the Cecropia and Luna. A bit of research should have told them that this could happen; it attacks a lot of species in its native Eurasia too.

What is the moral of this story? It's a lot better to prevent the problem in the first place than to try to fix it after the fact. And if you think dealing with invasive species is a hard problem, imagine how complex geo-engineering is likely to be...