- Winnipeg Transit is looking to hire a team of safety officers for buses. As I've said before, I expect that some in the community will oppose this on the grounds that it will be alienating to vulnerable people. They are probably not wrong that it will be alienating to some, but nonetheless this is a necessary evil if we want people who actually have a choice in the matter to take the bus rather than drive.
- The ceasefire in Gaza ended Friday morning. A cynic would say that the Israelis were just waiting for some new weapons from the Americans.
- Two Tory MLAs have apologized for coming to the defense of Arij Al Khafagi, the nursing student suspended by the U of M over her social media posts. I hate having to actually defend Tories, but in this case I don't think the MLAs did anything wrong. Nothing in the story indicates who pressured them into apologizing; if I had to guess I'd say it was their own party.
- In the case of the vandalism by protesters at an Indigo Books location in Toronto last month, several protesters have been charged with mischief that police called "hate-motivated", implying that the store was targeted specifically because Heather Reisman is Jewish. Others, however, argue that the store was targeted not because of Reisman's identity but because of her support of an organization that provides recruits IDF soldiers among the diaspora. Three employees of York University, including a professor, have been suspended for their involvement in the protest.
- A movie theatre in Hamilton made a move to cancel a showing of the documentary Israelism, which is about the disillusionment of two American Jews upon seeing Israel up close, after some members of the local Jewish community claimed that it would "spread more hate" and "inflame" the situation (notwithstanding the fact that it was also a Jewish organization, Independent Jewish Voices, that was working to get the movie shown). They reversed the decision following pressure from other sectors of the Jewish community.
- George Santos has now officially been expelled from Congress. He says he's going to file ethics complaints against the representatives who voted to kick him out.
- Some positive news - if the price of meat rises sufficiently, people will switch to other protein sources. Of course, making actual policy moves to raise the price of meat would be politically very difficult.
- In the latest labour unrest, employees at Winnipeg's casinos have voted in favour of a strike. If the strike goes ahead, expect to see a lot of seniors wandering around with a vacant look in their eyes, their entire purpose in life stripped from them.
- In Las Vegas, police are searching for a single suspect in the shootings of five homeless people, one of whom died.
- New Zealand's new government, in keeping with the classic rightwing "international is a four-letter word" philosophy, is lodging a "reservation" against adopting recommendations from the World Health Organization, a policy that former PM Helen Clark calls "cringeworthy".
No comments:
Post a Comment