News roundup, 14 Aug 2026

- Count Binface came a distant second to Nigel Farage in the byelection held yesterday in the constituency of Clacton. The byelection was necessitated by Farage resigning as a political stunt; due to the boycott by serious parties there were some hopes that the satirical candidate could get enough protest votes to put him over the top, but in the end Farage secured just over 63% of the vote. Binface did get over 22,000 votes, or just under 27%, which is far more than he has received in any other campaign in which he's run. It seems, though, that the people of Clacton are too far gone to understand what they're voting for.

- Several Conservative MPs are apparently privately expressing concerns about holding onto their seats if Pierre Poilievre remains leader. And Larry Brock, the MP for Brantford-Brant South, is resigning, triggering a byelection that will be an interesting test for the party in a riding they've held since 2008.

- The Ford government in Ontario is resisting calls for a moratorium on large data centres. Ford does say that the centres will need to cover the full cost of their electricity usage, but Green Party leader Mike Schreiner is calling for a ban on all AI data centres until more is known about their impact. In contrast, New York State enacted a ban last month on data centres requiring over 50 megawatts of electricity, and will be reviewing tax incentives previously given for such facilities. Maine's legislature also passed such a ban earlier this year but it was vetoed by the governor.

- The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party spent nearly $3,000 to send someone to a resort in Jamaica to keep an eye on Bonnie Crombie, who was the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party at the time. Doug Ford claims to have had no knowledge of the spying when it was occurring.

- Three bouncers have been charged with assault after Winnipeg Sea Bears player Teddy Allen was severely beaten at a nightclub. The police statement doesn't identify the club, saying merely that it was "on Main Street between Portage and William Avenues" but it's generally known to be the Palamino Club. The folks on Reddit say that bouncers there have long had a reputation for excessive force, but it seems beating up a local sports star was going too far.

News roundup, 5 Aug 2026

- Over 80% of the new vehicles registered in Denmark in July were electric. For cars purchased by individuals rather than corporations, this rises to 97%. EVs also account for nearly 25% of new vehicles purchased in Australia in the first half of this year. Doubtless the spike in fuel prices as a result of the US/Israel attack on Iran is a major factor.

- Leftwing candidate Abdul El-Sayed appears to be in the lead in the Democratic primary for a Michigan Senate seat that will be up for grabs this fall. Should he win the primary and the election he will be the first Muslim senator in the US.

- St. Catharines, Ontario was hit by severe flooding after two major storms hit the city within a few days. Thousands of homes were damaged

- A Russian soldier in Crimea reportedly opened fire on his comrades as well as on civilians, killing four people and wounding four others. 

- Both Morocco and Spain are saying that the surge of migrants into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta was not spontaneous, but rather was driven by online misinformation, possibly spread by people in the human smuggling business. This has yet to be confirmed, however.

- The Winnipeg Sea Bears have confirmed suspicions that it was nightclub security who injured star player Teddy Allen on the weekend. Allen's injuries were significant enough that he will be missing Thursday's playoff game; police are investigating the incident.

- A Florida evangelist took advantage of an Alaska Airlines plane whose takeoff was delayed in San Diego last week to stand in the aisle and preach at her captive audience. The airline was less than amused and removed her from the flight.

News roundup, 4 Aug 2026

- A test of GPS jamming techniques by the US military may have contributed to the fatal crash of a Beechcraft King Air medivac aircraft in May. The aircraft was flying to pick up a patient in Ruidoso, New Mexico, but the pilots appear to have become disoriented due to the lack of availability of GPS in the area which forced them to rely on older and less precise technology which modern pilots seldom use in their day-to-day operations, and crashed into a mountainside killing themselves and two nurses on board. While the crew will likely get some of the blame, it will be interesting to see how much the NTSB's final report talks about the reason for GPS not being available.

- Ukraine continues to hit Wildberries warehouses with drones, under the suspicion that they are being used to supply the Russian military (which Russia denies). The latest strike has killed at least five people at a warehouse near Moscow. 

- Hungary was forced to shut down a nuclear power plant after water levels in the Danube River dropped to a point that risked cutting off the plant's access to cooling water. The plant normally supplies 44% of the country's electricity; this comes at a time when temperatures in excess of 40°C are in the forecast.

- A law in California intended to limit the use of the recycling symbol to things that can actually be recycled has run into trouble after a federal judge ruled that the legislation likely violates the free speech rights of food and packaging manufacturers.

- A decorated US Army veteran who was detained by the DC National Guard in her front yard in May is suing for injuries sustained in the attack. The ostensible reason for this was that she was suspected of assaulting a member of the guard a few days previously, but she was never charged with anything, and suspects that the attack was motivated by her public criticism of the deployment of the guard in the city.

- Winnipeg Sea Bears player Teddy Allen was hospitalized after being attacked in downtown Winnipeg on Sunday night. While this fits in with a lot of stereotypes of the city, some folks on this Reddit thread say that footage previously posted on Instagram and subsequently deleted shows a belligerent Allen being ejected from the Palamino Club that night.