- In a worrying sign, fighting on the Israel-Lebanon border has escalated, as Hezbollah attacked several Israeli military targets and Israel retaliated. Things aren't looking too good in the West Bank either. Bahrain has recalled their ambassador from Israel. Some optimistic folks, such as Tony Klug, are pointing out that every move towards peace has followed some sort of dramatic event, but it's hard not to notice that those moves towards peace haven't gone anywhere. And in the US, students who sympathize with the Palestinians are clamming up about it, to avoid jeopardizing future career prospects. I can't say I blame them, especially given how little has been accomplished by people speaking out so far. In a world where, realistically speaking, not everyone's going to make it even with the best actions from here on in, you have to choose your battles. Israelis who speak out often have a hard time too.
- The Manitoba Nurses' Union has filed a grievance against Shared Health about the failure to ensure the safety of its members. Our biggest hospital, HSC, is in a rough neighbourhood; vehicle break-ins are common, as are violent attacks against staff.
- Winnipeg mayor Scott Gillingham is looking seriously at ending exclusionary zoning in order to get federal funding. Which would be a very good thing, but NIMBYs will go absolutely apeshit. I can't seem to find where I saw this (I think it was in a Facebook discussion a couple of years ago) but I've seen it claimed that in the older neighbourhoods of St Vital, it's gotten to the point where people who buy infill houses get the cold shoulder from their new neighbours. And you can be sure that these people (and their councillor, who despite his left-leaning background is all too receptive to their bleatings) will fight tooth and nail to stop it even if it means forgoing millions of federal dollars that the city badly needs.
- Years ago, when Culex quinquefasciatus (the mosquito species that transmits avian malaria) was introduced to Hawaii, an endemic group of songbirds, the Hawaiian honeycreepers, was decimated. Many species in the group were driven to extinction by this as well as other factors, while some survived by retreating farther up mountains where that mosquito can't survive. Unfortunately, thanks to climate change, the exclusion zone for the mosquitoes is shrinking, and this bodes ill for most of the surviving honeycreeper species. A couple of species seem to have developed a resistance to the disease, but they seem to be in the minority.
- Mark Carney says he hasn't ruled out running for the leadership of the federal Liberals. He hasn't committed to it either, of course; presumably he's waiting for Trudeau to crash and burn so he can swoop in as the saviour of the party.
- The thing about THC is that it stays detectable in your system far longer than the actual high. Happily, some progress is being made in detecting recent cannabis use, which is what would be the relevant factor for safety-related things such as driving.
- The city of Bunbury, Western Australia has been using children's music to discourage residentially challenged folks from hanging around some places. Some of the performers whose songs are being used this way are less than impressed.
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