News roundup, 11 Oct 2024

- The captain of a Turkish Airlines A350 flying from Seattle to Istanbul died mid-flight. The aircraft was successfully landed in New York by the first officer and a relief pilot.

- Despite the ravages of hurricanes like Milton, there is skepticism in some circles about the idea that the rich will abandon the state. Contrary to the view that the rich will take advantage of their superior mobility and leave while the poor will have no choice but to stay, the argument is that the rich are the only ones who will be able to afford to stay as insurance becomes more expensive. Of course, as some here point out, there are limits to this, not least the fact that if the poor are forced out, there'll be no one to serve the rich their iced coffees.

- The Manitoba government seems to be making substantial progress in improving access to physicians. There has been a net gain of 133 doctors between April and August of this year; there's still a long way to go, though, as nearly three times that number are still needed in order to reach the national per capita average.

- Cleanup is finally underway at the location where three businesses were destroyed by fire early last year. Some of the delay resulted when the owner of one of the buildings tried to challenge findings by the government that there was asbestos at the location, which requires additional expenditures in order to clean up safely. In related news, a report presented to the city on the policy of billing owners of vacant properties for the cost of firefighting claims the measure may have done more harm than good; the city has been paid less that $79,000 out of $1.15 million billed to property owners last year and has apparently been forced to dedicate resources to deal with appeals by the owners. Given how early it is in the game, it seems premature to declare the policy a failure, though - and as numerous folks in this Reddit thread are arguing, maybe the city should just move along with seizing properties from delinquent owners and use the properties to build affordable housing.

- BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad recently claimed that foot traffic in downtown Victoria has declined 60% in the last couple of years. Thing is, like a lot of things rightwing politicians say, it simply isn't true. There was a slight increase from 2022 to 2023; data from this year is not yet available. As regards Rustad's motives for making up such nonsense, it may be partly just an attempt to create a general impression of failure on the part of the incumbent NDP government. It may also be a way of signalling to people who are resentful of WFH that he's their guy. Or maybe, as some folks on Reddit think, as a rightwing politician he just lies by default. Who knows?

- An in-service held by the Winnipeg School Division at the Canada Life Centre on Wednesday created a stir when, during a speech by an American educator about matters related to indigenous education, the slogan "Resistance to colonialism is not terrorism" was displayed on a screen. This immediately raised the hackles of some members of the Jewish community, and the school division promptly apologized for this. You could argue that the slogan is over the top, but it's kind of telling that members of that community felt singled out by it notwithstanding that it makes no mention of Israel or Palestine and was displayed during a speech related to actual consequences of colonialism.

- A Nebraska woman is attempting to sue every gay person on the planet for breaking "religious and moral laws". She claims to be acting as the "ambassador" for the true plaintiffs, "God and His Son, Jesus Christ". That may be a bit much even for Nebraska; a statement from the court indicated that no summons will be issued to the defendants.

News roundup, 11 June 2024

- Climate scientist Susan Solomon is somewhat optimistic that the worst of climate change can be prevented, though she acknowledges that the situation is still scary. Gwynne Dyer also has some optimism based on the potential technological solutions.

- Student editors at the Columbia Law Review were apparently pressured to halt publication of an article written by a Palestinian human rights lawyer. When they refused, the publication's website abruptly went offline with a notice that it was down for "maintenance", although it came back online after an uproar about potential censorship.

- The Public Service Alliance of Canada held a seminar yesterday evening on antisemitism and Islamophobia. One of the panelists is Avi Lewis of Independent Jewish Voices, and some Jewish members of the union are incensed that the wrong kind of Jew was selected for the panel.

- Ontario is cancelling their wastewater surveillance program that had made the province a world leader in tracking of infectious diseases, including but not limited to COVID-19. The province says this is to "avoid duplication" because the federal government has a program in place, however the move will drastically reduce the number of sites being monitored. It's almost as if the government wanted to avoid knowing in advance about future infections that might compel them to take action that might be unpopular with the masses.

- Charges against a man accused of uttering death threats against NDP MP Charlie Angus and his staff have been stayed... because the police "lost" the evidence. Not sure if the police are actually that incompetent or if they are actually complicit, but either way it's not a good look. For his part Angus says that the threats were not the reason for his decision not to run again in the next election, but it probably made the decision easier. 

- In Alberta, documents have come out suggesting that Alberta police chiefs actively campaigned for the UCP. 

- A neo-Nazi organization, Blood Tribe, waved Nazi flags at a demonstration at the South Dakota legislature. Apparently that was too extreme even for Gov. Kristi Noem.

- Ian Walker has won a convincing victory in the byelection to replace trustee Francine Champagne, who resigned after being suspended three times for hateful behaviour. Walker received 1,554 votes; the second place contender, far-right candidate Sandra Saint-Cyr, received only 430. Definitely good news, but the turnout in a school board byelection is usually pretty low, and there's no question that the hillbillies will be back for another try at the first opportunity.

- A City of Winnipeg bylaw allows the city to seize derelict vacant buildings under some circumstances, but it hasn't been used since 2016 and only sporadically before that. When Winnipeg Free Press reporter Tom Brodbeck inquired about this, city officials responded with the bland and unsatisfactory statement that "the landscape of vacant building enforcement has changed over that time". If anything, though, there's a lot more need for enforcement now than there was eight years ago.

- Three food truck operators that had been booked for the Pembina Valley Pride event in Altona, Manitoba have pulled out, citing threats to vandalize their vehicles. Organizers cite the local MLA's refusal to support a bill recognizing Two-Spirit and Transgender Day of Visibility as encouraging others who might have kept quiet to become more aggressive.

- A post on the satirical Facebook group "The City of Winnipeg Complaints Department" claimed that AI-equipped cameras would be used to enforce seatbelt use and ensure people weren't using their phones while driving. The masses being what they are, though, a lot of them thought it was real.