News roundup, 5 Dec 2025

- Waymo, the robotaxi subsidiary of Google's parent company Alphabet, wants to get a foothold in Toronto. They just registered as a lobbyist; caution is definitely recommended here. Fortunately I think Olivia Chow is the sort to be cautious about this sort of thing; unfortunately Doug Ford is not, and it's a safe bet that Waymo is going to be registering as a lobbyist at Queen's Park very soon if they haven't already.

- The UK's harvest of several key staple crops (wheat, barley, oats, and canola) fell by 20% this year compared to the 10-year average due to drought; reported losses by the country's farmers total about £800 million in one of the worst harvests on record. Moreover, three of the five worst harvests on record have occurred since 2020; the other two examples (2020 and 2024) resulted from too much rainfall. The irony, of course, is that many farmers have opposed measures to address climate change.

- The US State Department is ordering staff to deny visa applications for people who have been involved in fact checking and content moderation on social media platforms and the like, which they consider to be "censorship".

- A grand jury has rejected an attempt by the US Department of Justice to have New York Attorney General Letitia James prosecuted for mortgage fraud. The DOJ is expected to try again. And federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, who was involved in the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, has been fired by the DOJ, apparently because she's the daughter of former FBI director James Comey (who the DOJ is also trying to indict).

- Samantha Fulnecky, a psychology student at the University of Oklahoma, was directed to submit an essay, worth 3% of the final grade, responding to an academic study that examined whether conformity with gender norms was associated with popularity or bullying among middle school students. She proceeded to write a screed declaring anything related to trans people to be demonic, citing the Bible as a reference (just the Bible as a whole, mind you, not any specific verse). Unsurprisingly, she received a failing grade on the paper; sadly but also unsurprisingly (given that it's Oklahoma) the instructor (a graduate student, who is trans) was placed on leave and the paper will not be counted against Fulnecky's final grade as she claimed "religious discrimination". Turns out that the student's mother is a lawyer and sometime municipal politician who, among other things, once served as the defense attorney for a Jan 6 putsch suspect. As in the case of Lindsay Shepherd, you have to wonder if the whole thing wasn't intentional.

- Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries is following the lead of Nova Scotia in selling off their existing stock of American liquor and donating the proceeds to charity. The province estimates that this will bring in around $500,000. Charities such as the Christmas Cheer Board are very pleased with the decision.

- The Winnipeg Parking Authority is considering making it possible to ticket vehicles based on photo submissions from the public. Currently, a ticket can't be issued unless a parking officer actually attends. Councillor Janice Lukes is a bit uneasy with the idea, perhaps realizing that it will open the door for a lot of petty vendettas between her suburban constituents. Nonetheless, she raises some real issues here, pointing out that AI-generated photos could be used to frame neighbours, and that this could lead to dangerous confrontations between residents.

- A three year old chess prodigy in India has become the youngest player to obtain an official FIDE rating. Sarwagya Singh Kushwaha obtained a rating of 1,572 in rapid (with short time limits), meaning he would be at least competitive with virtually anyone I know.

News roundup, 4 Dec 2025

- The BC Conservative Party has announced that leader John Rustad has been removed due to "professional incapacitation", to be replaced by Surrey-White Rock MLA Trevor Halford. However, not everyone accepts this, including Rustad himself; he claims this is a violation of the party's constitution. One thing is clear, though - if the party tears itself apart the way it seems to be doing, the fledgling OneBC is the likely beneficiary, as several MLAs who have left the Conservative caucus have joined the new party already. Speaking of OneBC, they just tried to hold an unsanctioned event on the University of Victoria campus on what they call the "reconciliation industry", without bothering to actually get permission from the university to do so; following a confrontation with protesters one person, reportedly the intended speaker at the event, was arrested on trespassing charges. Probably the party is fine with this so that they can play being victims of the "woke mob". Meanwhile another of their MLAs is calling for a statutory holiday in honour of the clownvoy. Now it's easy for those of us on the left to think it's good news when the right goes crazy, but the troubling truth of the matter is that no matter how good a government (and the BC NDP certainly haven't been flawless), sooner or later people will want to vote them out, rightly or wrongly. If there's no non-crazy opposition, people might hold off a bit longer, but sooner or later they're likely to vote in the crazies. Maybe that's why the NDP is open to revisiting the proportional representation question - under PR, there'd be enough room in the centre-right part of the political spectrum to form a coalition that doesn't include OneBC. You'd hope, at least.

- In Alberta, the United Conservative Party held their annual general meeting on the weekend, and elected a new board. Five of the nine members of the new board are separatists. Awkwardly for them, the Forever Canadian petition campaign, initiated by MLA Thomas Lukaszuk (who served as deputy premier under Alison Redford) has just gotten enough signatures to force a vote on the question "Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?" This means that the government will be required to either hold a full vote in the legislature on that question, or hold a plebiscite on the matter. It is widely assumed that the public would vote overwhelmingly yes on the question; then again, it was widely assumed that Brexit wouldn't happen either.

- Donald Trump has told reporters that a land-based attack on Venezuela will be occurring "very soon". A group of senators, including Republican Rand Paul, have filed a resolution that would block such action unless approved by a full vote of Congress. Whether that will matter is another question; assuming Trump isn't able to win the vote, he might well go ahead anyway, asking "what are you going to do about it?"

- The US has proposed a peace plan for Ukraine that would allow Russia to retain captured territory but Ukraine would retain its sovereignty, including the ability to make its own decisions about its military and its alliances. This isn't enough for Putin, who insists that Ukraine's military must be capped in size and that it must be prohibited from joining NATO. He also insists that the entirety of the Donbass, even parts not held by Russian forces, to be turned over to Russia, and that Volodymyr Zelenskyy step down to allow new elections.

- French far-right leader Jordan Bardella was egged while trying to promote his latest book. A 74 year old man was arrested following the incident. This comes just a few days after Bardella had flour thrown at him at another event.

- A City of Winnipeg planning manager believes that the city is not bound by a recent ruling of the Municipal Board that suggests that the Granite Curling Club could have a veto over a proposed affordable housing development. The club's board, of course, is less than impressed with the ruling; Mayor Scott Gillingham says that the city will continue to work with the club on the issue in any case. 

- Animal services officers in Hanover County, Virginia were called to a liquor store in the town of Ashland where a raccoon had gained access, destroyed and/or consumed $250 worth of booze, and passed out in the bathroom. The suspect was apprehended with no difficulty, taken down to the county's shelter to sober up, and then released.

News roundup, 3 Dec 2025

- British researchers warn that shifting rainfall patterns have caused a net loss of fresh water from central and southern Europe, even as the northern part now has more. For a look at what that might mean for the future, Iran is in a severe crisis, with Tehran potentially facing water rationing or even evacuation. Where you would evacuate the 15 million people who live in the metro area to is another question.

- The American real estate listing company Zillow has removed climate risk data from their listings following complaints from sellers and realtors that the data was negatively affecting sale prices. Not sure how that's supposed to make the problem go away.

- The involvement of conservation officers in patrolling the border for potential migrants in response to Trump's claim that has not led to any additional reports of suspicious activity beyond that already found by the RCMP and border agents. Political scientist Christopher Adams figures everyone knew all along that they wouldn't find much (who'd want to sneak into that country right now anyway?) and that it was more about "optics to the Trump administration". If that was all it was, it it would be kind of futile (we all know Trump has annexation on his mind so he's not going to be appeased by this), but I think it's also about optics regarding the regime. Adams says that the provinces and the federal government were trying to say to Trump, "Look, we're doing everything we can and I hope you're happy with that", but I think it's more about telling those affected by the tariffs that.

- The mayor of Winkler, Manitoba gave a very, very mild admonition to his constituents that essentially amounted to "look folks, we've had a lot of cases of measles around here, and people up in Winnipeg talk about it, and it's embarrassing, and you really should do your research about vaccines, OK?", knowing full well that the people he's addressing think they've already done their research. It seems kind of weak and milquetoast, but then again I'm not sure what he could have said that would have made a difference. I think it was more a way of signaling to the rest of the province "hey, I know my constituents are crazy, but I'm not, and we can still do business, OK?"

- Scientists at the Pasteur Institute in Paris warn that a pandemic of one of the H5NX flu strains, while not especially likely, could be far worse than COVID-19 if it did occur. Myself, I think it would be far worse even if the actual virulence and contagiousness were identical to COVID due to the difficulty governments would have in getting people to comply with public health protocols.

- The 71 year old driver of a charter bus full of junior high students was pulled over reentering Saskatoon following a field trip after multiple reports of erratic driving from the public. He was found to be under the influence of alcohol, fentanyl, and hydromorphone. Certainly not a good career move; for his part, he attributes his poor decision to severe back pain.

- A Brantford, Ontario resident who lived along the route of the city's Santa Claus parade evidently was not in a festive mood about the matter. They posted signs in their windows saying such things as "Santa isn't real", "Your parents are Santa", etc. Several outraged neighbours called the police about the matter, and apparently an officer spoke to the person and convinced them to remove the signs; they clarified later that they couldn't actually force their removal. Left unspoken is how they persuaded the person to take them down.

News roundup, 2 Dec 2025

- The Kinew government's plans for a 72 hour detox facility in Winnipeg are a a source of concern for Ontario senator Kim Pate. While she believes the government has good intentions, she believes it to be an "ill-considered" response that will further traumatize already troubled people, and moreover believes that it might be open to a Charter challenge. On the other hand, some parents in BC want this sort of thing to enable their own addicted children to be treated.

- The Ontario coroner's office is calling for the legal definition of an e-bike to be tightened in the wake of several fatalities. Under current law, to be considered an e-bike a vehicle has to be speed limited to 32 km/h but can weigh up to 120 kg; the coroner is proposing that the weight limit be reduced to 55 kg. This would mean that many e-bikes, such as the ones that look like a Vespa with a couple of useless pedals added, would be considered motorcycles or mopeds and would require licensing. This would doubtless come as a shock to people who bought such e-bikes after losing their drivers' licenses.

- Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man suspected of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members in Washington, had worked with CIA-backed units in Afghanistan before being brought to the US. Unfortunately upon arrival his mental health began to unravel and even Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem admitted that he appears to have been radicalized after his arrival.

- US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly ordered a second strike on a Venezuelan vessel that was suspected of smuggling narcotics. Hegseth allegedly wanted to ensure that there were no survivors.

- Sales of electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles exceeded those of conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles in Europe in October. The devil in the details is the non-plug-in hybrids, whose emissions really aren't that much lower than non-hybrid gas cars.

- Australian children's entertainers The Wiggles were alarmed to find a song making reference to ecstasy (MDMA) played over one of their clips on TikTok. The group has made it clear that they do not condone drug use.

News roundup, 1 Dec 2025

- The fire in Hong Kong, which is now known to have killed at least 151 people, is now being attributed to the use of substandard netting by construction crews.

- Apparently the folks at Time magazine don't realize that The Onion isn't the only satire game in town. The magazine recently cited a Beaverton article which has US ambassador Pete Hoekstra threatening to fire a Patriot missile at Parliament Hill.

- A botched launch at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan has damaged the only launch pad suitable for launching crewed spacecraft. This renders Russia unable to launch crewed missions for the first time since the early 1960s; repairs are expected to start shortly but there is no timeline for completion.

- American liquor that was removed from Manitoba shelves is being repurposed for a "managed alcohol program" to gradually wean addicts off the stuff. Nova Scotia, on the other hand, plans to sell it off and donate the proceeds to charity.

- Two men were arrested following a brawl over Pokémon cards at a Costco in Ottawa. Police were called to the store at around 7:15 last Monday after several people started fighting over a "high-demand item". Two people suffered minor injuries; video can be found here.

- A church in Winnipeg's North End requested a zoning variance to allow them to surround their facility with a 9 ft high barbed wire fence in order to keep the poors out. One wonders what Jesus would have thought of that. In any case, the city had qualms about this and denied the request, though as a compromise they're allowing the church to build fences along the sides and rear of the property higher than the usual standard - they just can't use barbed wire.

News roundup, 28 Nov 2025

- Steven Guilbeault has resigned from Mark Carney's cabinet in protest over a memorandum of understanding the government signed with Alberta that essentially gives Danielle Smith whatever she wants in terms of getting a pipeline through BC. For Guilbeault, a lifelong environmentalist, this was a pipeline too far.

- One of the West Virginia National Guard members shot on Wednesday has died. Donald Trump is vowing to "permanently pause migration" from poorer countries in response. Meanwhile Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered diplomats in Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia, and New Zealand to press those countries to restrict immigration, and to report if the governments appear to be "overly supportive" of immigrants. Canadian Immigration Minister Lena Diab has denied knowledge of the order but says that she will continue to consult with the provinces and territories, not the Americans, over such matters. It's kind of interesting that Rubio cares so much about other countries' immigration policies; you'd think he'd be glad about anything that takes pressure off the US. Maybe he's worried about too many skilled Americans leaving and doesn't want it to be too easy for them to do so. 

- Vladimir Putin is doubling down on his demand that Ukraine let Russia have the Donbas region as a condition of ending the war. This is naturally unacceptable to Volodymyr Zelensky. Meanwhile Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies are now investigating Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Zelensky. This raises unfortunate questions about how long Ukraine is going to be able to hold on.

- At least 128 people are now known to have died and 79 have been injured in the fire in Hong Kong. 200 still remain unaccounted for in the city's worst fire in decades.

- The UK's Ministry of Justice plans to limit the use of jury trials to the most serious crimes. Courts minister Sarah Sackman says that the time taken to select juries slows the court system to a crawl. The measures are opposed by 90% of the Criminal Bar Association (understandable, since the slower the process the more lawyers tend to get paid). Whether it's actually a good idea is a matter of debate, even among Guardian columnists. Simon Jenkins is in favour, pointing out that European countries that seldom use juries actually imprison far fewer people than the UK (much less the US, which also is all-in on jury trials). On the other hand, Gaby Hinsliff thinks that juries are not the main factor in delaying trials. She also argues that they may be a defense against racism (definitely debatable given the quirks of jury selection, but I see her point) and moreover thinks that in the event that extremists take control of the government, they will have an easier time persecuting people without juries than with. I'm not sure she's right about that; future extremist governments could quite easily abolish juries entirely if they want anyway. I also can't help but think think that while jury trials make sense in a simple, homogeneous society like medieval England, modern societies are not simple and homogeneous and juries may not be well adapted to the modern reality. Maybe Hinsliff's best point is that doing away with juries will tend to further alienate the public from the justice system, which would not be a good thing.

- Apparently the folks at CNBC are freaking out about the fact that people aren't upgrading their cellphones as often as the manufacturers would like. I dunno, why would I waste money on a new one when my current one still works? I'd rather emulate the Dutch octogenarian who still runs errands on the same bike her parents gave her when she was 13.

 

- An Auckland man has been charged with aggravated robbery after allegedly using a spear gun to carjack an elderly man. 

- A Singapore toy manufacturer has pulled one of its products, a teddy bear which uses ChatGPT to interact with kids, from the market after reports that the bear was discussing matters with the kids that weren't age-appropriate, including sadomasochistic sex, where to find knives, and how to light a match.

News roundup, 27 Nov 2025

- Two members of the West Virginia National Guard who were stationed in DC, ostensibly to address Donald Trump's concerns about the city's crime rate, found out the hard way that occupying forces are frequently not welcomed. The suspect, who was also wounded, is in custody; the suspect is an Afghan national who was admitted to the country under the Biden administration. Trump plans to milk this for all it's worth; he has suspended all processing of immigration requests from Afghanistan and will be reviewing the immigration status of everyone who was brought in during the withdrawal from the country. He is also sending an additional 500 National Guard troops to the city.

- The death toll in the Hong Kong highrise fire has jumped to 55 after numerous bodies were found in the ruins of the complex, with many others still unaccounted for. Three people, including two directors of a company as well as an engineering consultant, have been charged with manslaughter.

- A snowplow operator with one of Toronto's main plowing contractors drove a plow through a crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators last week. Nobody was injured; video of the incident may be found here. Police investigated and rather quickly declared that they saw no sign of criminal intent; others are questioning this, however, especially given that the driver's social media accounts were full of Islamophobic content. Her Facebook profile is here, for the curious. Her employer says that she was issued a one day suspension for the incident.

- The Rural Municipality of Alexander in eastern Manitoba is concerned about the safety of its staff after multiple incidents, the most serious of which involves a grader that was hit with a high power rifle bullet in a residential area where no hunting is allowed. Other incidents include a crosshair spraypainted on a municipal employee's personal vehicle and a resident being removed from a council meeting after harassing staff.

- A rubber duck museum in the town of Point Roberts, Washington, which is not directly connected to the US mainland, is moving to Delta, BC in order to survive as the trade war slashes visits to the town.

- A 65 year old woman in Thailand woke up in a coffin after being mistakenly declared dead. Fortunately people heard her knocking on the inside as she was being taken for cremation.