News roundup, 28 Aug 2025

- Someone opened fire on parishioners at a Catholic church attached to a school in Minneapolis Wednesday morning; the attacker died of a self-inflicted gunshot. The incident is being investigated by the FBI as an anti-Catholic hate crime; the shooter appears to have been a transwoman. Given the church's hardline stance on LGBT* issues, being angry is quite understandable, though I have to say that shooting kids is not a good way of expressing one's grievance with the institution. This, by the way, is apparently unrelated to another incident in the same city the previous day when a man opened fire on a group people on a sidewalk in front of a school, killing one.

- The legality of Donald Trump's sacking of Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook is almost certain to be decided by the Supreme Court sooner or later. I don't think I'd bet money on Cook winning her case. So far markets seem surprisingly unperturbed by the matter; presumably no investor wants to sell off too soon, for fear of sparking a downturn that causes securities to devalue faster than they can sell them off.

- At least 12 people have died in Kiev in the latest barrage launched by Russia against Ukraine. Despite this, Ukraine is understandably not willing to reward the Russians with land in order to end the war; unfortunately by the time this is all over there probably won't be much left of the country.

- Canadian Union of Postal Workers Local 856, which represents letter carriers in Winnipeg, is calling for Canada Post to provide self-defense training for its employees after a drastic spike in attacks on carriers. In the last 12 months there have been an average of one attack per month on carriers; most recently an unprovoked one in Waverley Heights. This is compared to one or two per year before now. 

-  East St. Paul mayor Carla Devlin had a "hot mic" incident in a council meeting in which people were raising objections to a proposal to allow multi-family housing in a neighbourhood just outside the Perimeter. She suggested that people "don't want to hear the truth"; my first reaction to this was "she's not wrong, even if it was a bad idea to say that where the public can hear you". After all, more dense housing is exactly what is needed. Reading the associated Reddit thread forces me to reconsider; folks there pointed out that sewer infrastructure in the municipality might not be up to snuff. Conceivably, such a development might need to be served by Winnipeg's sewer system, adding to infrastructure costs while not paying city taxes; in any case it's not served by transit, so pretty near everyone commuting into the city from this development would be driving. Throw in the fact that Devlin is the founder and president of a company that builds exactly that kind of housing, and things do start to look a bit dubious. 

- The Lunenburg Marine Museum Society, owners of the famous Bluenose II schooner, have withdrawn the vessel from the upcoming Gloucester Schooner Festival in Massachusetts, saying that "plans involving cross-border travel come with more uncertainties this year". Yeah, you don't want your volunteers getting hauled off to El Salvador over something they posted about Trump on social media. Heck, I wouldn't put it past Trump to find some pretext to seize the ship itself, to be redecorated in his distinctive style much like he's doing with the White House.

News roundup, 26 Aug 2025

- At least 20 people, including 5 journalists, were killed when the Israelis bombed one of Gaza's main hospitals. Two separate strikes occurred, the second as staff were preparing to evacuate from the first.

- The Trump regime is trying to fire a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. One of Trump's appointees, Bill Pulte, who is involved in regulating mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, alleges that Lisa Cook committed mortgage fraud; Cook has not been charged with a crime, though. Investors are concerned about the implications for the central bank's independence; stock futures and the US dollar have declined since the story broke.

- A Norwegian hiker who had gone missing in the wilderness of northern Manitoba has been found dead. Steffen Skjottelvik had been trying to reach York Factory from Fort Severn First Nation in northern Ontario and almost made it, but his body was found along the Hayes River, only a short distance from his destination. 

- Steinbach city council has rejected a bid to hold a referendum on allowing cannabis stores in Manitoba's third largest city. Activists are now gathering signatures in the hope of getting 20% of registered voters in the city to approve, which would force a referendum whether council wants it or not.

- A parking enforcement officer in Ottawa was attacked after ticketing a vehicle parked outside City Hall. Another city employee intervened, and police captured a suspect. The same thing happened in Toronto last month; it appears that being a parking officer (and most likely also an animal services officer or other bylaw officer) is not a risk-free job.

- British musician Paul Weller is suing his former accounting firm, after the firm dropped him as a client over his use of the G word to describe what Israel is doing to Palestine.

- Dylan Desclos, a French Justin Bieber impersonator, managed to convince the staff at a Las Vegas nightclub that he was the real deal; he not only performed a number of Bieber's hits but racked up a $10,000 tab before the ruse was discovered.