News roundup, 2 July 2026

- Russia, despite being one of the world's largest oil producers, is experiencing fuel supply issues as a result of the latest wave of Ukrainian strikes on refineries. The Putin regime has outlawed the export of gasoline and jet fuel and is considering importing these products from elsewhere. The impact on public opinion in Russia may be significant, but the extent to which this will matter is unclear. Even many critics of the regime remain in favour of the war, they just don't think Putin is doing a good enough job fighting it. Russia has, of course, retaliated on a large scale for the latest intrusions, killing 18 people and causing widespread damage in Kyiv.

- Still on the subject of great powers getting in over their heads, the US attack on Iran has led many of America's allies to question whether it's such a great idea to host bases that might become targets of counterattacks. This could significantly impact their ability to "project power".

- A tornado struck in the Rural Municipality of Rossburn in western Manitoba on Sunday night, destroying a house. The next day, another tornado struck in the affluent suburban Winnipeg neighbourhood of Whyte Ridge on Monday evening, also destroying one house and damaging several others. Torrential rain also caused some flooding in Brandon and Dauphin; the latter city has declared a state of emergency, as has the town of Swan River. No injuries have been reported, however.

- Brian Mayes, who has represented St. Vital on Winnipeg's city council since 2011, has announced that he is not running again this fall. He leaves behind a mixed legacy; he was progressive in some ways, and definitely very responsive to his constituents' wants, but that latter point is also part of what was wrong with him; whenever there was a tension between the desires of his NIMBY constituents and the needs of the city as a whole (e.g. on infill housing), the NIMBYs tended to win out.

- Establishment Democrats are less than pleased with the recent success of leftwingers in Democratic primaries. Letitia James, the attorney general of New York State, went so far as to claim that some of the candidates endorsed by NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani "do not understand the politics of New York City"; if that were true, though, you wouldn't expect them to have been as successful as they in fact have. Meanwhile Democratic House member Greg Meeks said that "if you’re a socialist, you’re not a Democrat". Ironically, people like James and Meeks are the first to get angry at third party campaigns (not without some cause given how badly locked in the two-party system is in that country), but in their mind such people should only work within the party so long as they don't actually succeed there. The most charitable interpretation of these bleatings is that they're scared that leftwing Democrats might gain a national profile that will scare off swing voters, but that seems like a stretch. More likely they're scared of what will become of AIPAC funds.

News roundup, 9 Feb 2026

- A bill before the New York state legislature would impose a moratorium on new data centres in the state for three years, making the state the largest to impose such restrictions. The moratorium will hopefully give them the chance to look seriously at what kind of effect those data centres have on things like grid stability. 

- This year's Ag Days, an annual agricultural trade show in Brandon, could turn out to be Plague Days, as it was an exposure site for measles. Anyone who attended the event or visited hotels, restaurants, or shops in the city that weekend is being asked to monitor for symptoms. That means much of the city's population could be at risk.

- A Manitoba Court of King's Bench judge has certified a class action lawsuit against Revera, the former owner of the Maples Personal Care Home, as well as against the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, regarding a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility that killed 56 people.

- Elon Musk is calling Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez a "tyrant" after his government introduced strict regulations on social media, which not only follow Australia's lead by prohibiting those under 16 from using it but which can hold executives criminally liable for illegal content published on their platforms.

- King Cobras are turning up in parts of India where they don't occur naturally. Researchers believe the snakes may be catching rides on trains.

- The woman who was abducted in Pimicikimak Cree Nation on Thursday has been rescued, having sustained only minor injuries. The suspect was also captured alive and is in custody. I have to say, I wasn't expecting a happy ending to this story.

Organic waste collection comes to Manitoba

Centralized composting is quite common in Ontario (including much of the GTA as well as Hamilton and Guelph) but it hasn't taken hold in Manitoba until now. Happily, though, a pilot project has started in Brandon, with the help of the provincial government. Funny thing is, Brandon is much more progressive on environmental issues than Winnipeg. I wonder why that is?

The convention

As noted previously, I spent the weekend at Provincial Convention in Brandon. The general vibe was positive, and it was pretty productive as far as getting resolutions past goes. In fact, virtually all of the resolutions regarding the environment were debated (on Friday night), and most of them passed. Some highlights included support for centralized composting programs like those found in many cities in Ontario (using the methane produced to generate electricity), a resolution urging the government to legalize low speed electric vehicles like the ZENN, and support for First Nation partnerships for Hydro projects. One rather curious resolution was one advocating an active program to reintroduce species extirpated from Manitoba; while I sympathize with the idea, it seems to me that the cost would be high for the environmental benefit (as compared with, say, putting more natural areas under protection).

Many other subjects were dealt with too of course, though not quite as efficiently as environmental issues were. The most interesting and contentious debate centred around whether or not to continue the tuition freeze that has been in place since 2000 (it was eventually decided that continuing the freeze would be unrealistic, something the government has already accepted anyhow). Nothing else was as controversial as that; some standouts, though, include support for a civilian police commission (something this province badly needs) and a resolution advocating free dental care for children under 18 (ambitious, but also badly needed). Of course, resolutions at Convention are not actually binding on the government, but I'm optimistic that a fair amount of this will become government policy (actually, much of it already is).

Of course there were also the obligatory speeches. Doer and Layton both spoke on Saturday afternoon; curiously both speeches were introduced with a Damhnait Doyle song.

All told, the most important effect of the convention was to rally the troops (not that there's anything wrong with that). Everyone I talked to came away with a positive feeling about things (and with byelections around the corner, that's a good thing).