News roundup, 22 April 2026

- The European Union is working on a carbon pricing scheme known as EST2, scheduled to come into effect in 2028. The scheme includes rebates to offset the impact (which will potentially leave lower income households better off); there are concerns, though, that far too little effort is being put into public education, especially regarding the rebates. One of the weaknesses of democracy is that it's not enough to have a good policy, you have to sell that policy to the public - and the more complicated the policy, the harder it is to do that. There's a saying in politics - "if you're explaining, you're losing"; that doesn't mean you should never explain things, but that when your explanation is a response to something that your opponents have already put out there, you have a problem. Given that fact it's especially important to work on educating the public about the tax and the rebates well before the pricing scheme takes effect. Otherwise, opponents of the policy may be able to whip up a populist fury before the actual facts can get out the door.

- Iran fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz today, and has reportedly seized at least two of them.

- The Trump regime is demanding what they call an "entry fee" before reopening talks with Canada on renegotiating the Canada-United States-Mexico Free Trade Agreement (CUSMA). The "fee" would not be monetary, but rather trade concessions; normally one would expect concessions to be made in the course of trade negotiations rather than as a condition of entry into said negotiations, but that's how Trump rolls I guess. For their part, Canadian negotiators say that they've already offered some concessions to no avail. 

- When Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the metro system serving the San Francisco Bay Area, conducted a review that concluded that conventional fare enforcement disproportionately affected ethnic minorities due to the human judgment aspect, they decided instead to upgrade the gates at their stations, replacing the easily-jumped waist-high barriers with metal-framed Plexiglas doors. Besides being more effective and less inequitable than what went before, they found that vandalism dropped dramatically under the new system. Not to say that most fare evaders are vandals, of course, but it seems that a disproportionate number of the vandals are fare evaders.

- A 72 year old Winnipeg man has been arrested after unsigned, threatening letters sent to NDP MLA and cabinet minister Nahanni Fontaine were traced to him. The suspect is facing charges of criminal harassment and uttering threats.

- Chip Roy, a far-right Republican member of Congress from Texas, has introduced a bill which he has dubbed the "Measures Against Marxism’s Dangerous Adherents and Noxious Islamists" (MAMDANI) Act. This bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow for, among other things, stripping the citizenship of any immigrant who is a member of a socialist party or who "advocates" for socialism (as well as communism or Islamic fundamentalism).

- Tucker Carlson has apologized for his past support for Donald Trump, as the consequences of the war in Iran become more apparent. Better late than never I suppose, but he should have seen something like this coming.

News roundup, 19 June 2025

- The Trump regime plans to deploy another 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to anti-ICE protests. Governor Gavin Newsom points out that these troops are being diverted from critical roles in managing wildfires and, ironically enough, patrolling the border; evidently Trump considers sticking it to California to please his base more important though.

- An Iranian missile hit the main hospital in the Israeli city of Beersheba this morning; no deaths are reported but a number of people were injured. The Israelis are outraged; evidently they can dish it out but can't take it themselves (not that anyone should be targeting hospitals, of course). Donald Trump is apparently still not sure whether he wants to join Israel in the war on Iran. I guess Netanyahu is pushing him one way, and Putin is pushing him the other way. Meanwhile Ted Cruz got a grilling from none other than Tucker Carlson over his hawkish stance towards Iran.

- The Trump regime wants Canada to increase its tariffs on China in return for the US lowering its tariffs on Canada. While Melanie Joly was open to this idea earlier this year, a recent poll finds that a plurality of Canadians are opposed.

- Conservative MP Damien Kurek, who represents the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, has resigned his seat to allow Pierre Poilievre to run in the resulting byelection and thus reenter Parliament. This will not stop a leadership review from occurring at the next Conservative Party convention, scheduled to occur in Calgary next January, but he seems unlikely to be removed unless he somehow loses the byelection, which is highly improbable unless an even more extreme candidate (like, say, Maxime Bernier) is able to capture the attention of the voters in that riding.

- Norway has introduced new regulations for cruise ships, prohibiting them from coming closer than 500 metres away from polar bears in order to minimize interference with the bears. Predictably, the cruise industry is up in arms, with one expedition leader saying ships are sailing "empty" as a result and calling the policy "conservation fascism". Doesn't really look like fascism to me; I must have missed the part where tour operators get put into concentration camps. The remark seems especially tone-deaf given what looks very much like the rise of actual fascism in places like the US.

- Czech authorities have charged three people with running a fake dental office in which an unqualified, self-taught individual conducted root canals, extracted teeth, and even used anesthesia.

News roundup, 28 Oct 2024

- Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has warned Russia that any attempt to annex his country would lead to war. Belarus has until now been seen as a pretty reliable ally for Russia, but there are suspicions that the annexation of the country is part of Putin's long-term plans. Others scoff at this; some in this Reddit thread think this is just a show for the West, or else Lukashenko trying to keep a door to the West open in case Russia's ambitions in Ukraine are thwarted.

- Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, speaking as the warmup act for a Donald Trump rally in Georgia, gave a rather graphic metaphor for what he hopes a second Trump presidency would mean for America:

“If you allow your hormone-addled 15-year-old daughter to slam the door and give you the finger, you’re going to get more of it,” Carlson said. “There has to be a point at which Dad comes home.” At this point the crowd erupted into raucous cheers.

“Dad comes home and he’s pissed,” Carlson continues. “He’s not vengeful, he loves his children. Disobedient as they may be, he loves them … And when Dad gets home, you know what he says? You’ve been a bad girl. You’ve been a bad little girl and you’re getting a vigorous spanking right now. And no, it’s not going to hurt me more than it hurts you. No, it’s not. I’m not going to lie. It’s going to hurt you a lot more than it hurts me. And you earned this. You’re getting a vigorous spanking because you’ve been a bad girl, and it has to be this way.”

Clearly this struck a chord with the crowd. Later, when Trump came on stage, they screamed “Daddy’s home” and “Daddy Don”. Sigmund Freud almost rose from his grave.

It's becoming more and more apparent that close to half of the American population is, to put it kindly, not of sound mind.

- The Washington Post has announced that they will not endorse any candidate for president this year, for the first time since 1988. Reportedly the editorial page editor, David Shipley, had approved an endorsement of Harris, but it was shot down by "management" (presumably meaning Jeff Bezos). The move sparked resignations from the board; the same thing also happened at the Los Angeles Times. This has led to speculation that management is scared of what Trump might do to them if he does win the presidency - or at least insufficiently scared of what he might do to other people.

- New Flyer Industries is significantly expanding their production of electric transit buses. This will enable some buses to be completely assembled at the Winnipeg plant; until now only the shells of the buses have been manufactured here, while the mechanicals have been added at a plant in Alabama. One hopes that some of these buses can be put to use on our own streets...

- A final seat count for BC's election last week is still pending as some 22,000 absentee ballots await counting.

- The robotics industry is now producing farm equipment that can harvest crops autonomously. This will help deal with the shortage of farm labour; it will probably also hasten the depopulation (and resulting decline in political influence) of rural areas.

- Chris Alexander, who served as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration under Stephen Harper, has accused Postmedia reporter David Pugliese of having been a Russian asset since the 1980s. The allegation was made during Alexander's testimony before the House of Commons standing committee on public safety and national security on Thursday.

- A private member's bill introduced to the Ontario legislature by Liberal MPP Karen McCrimmon aimed to facilitate the conversion of vacant office space into housing. Unfortunately the government has shot the bill down; whether this is just the knee-jerk reaction of a government that doesn't want anything done that they can't take credit for, or whether they have a deeper opposition to the idea, is not clear. I could see Doug Ford not relishing an expansion of housing in the inner city, though, as such housing tends to be occupied by people less inclined to vote for his party. Not to mention, a disproportionate amount of Ford's base comes from people who work jobs that can't be done remotely, and some of those people are downright resentful of people who are able to do so.

News roundup, 15 Feb 2024

- Donald Trump's threat to NATO members demanding that they pay up or risk being thrown to the wolves (or perhaps bears) has raised eyebrows, but not so much among Republican politicians (with a few exceptions). One of his former advisors is predicting that Trump will pull out of NATO entirely if he wins another term. While many are naturally spooked by this, some are suggesting that this might be a good thing - because it will force the EU to take defense seriously. At least one MEP is calling for Europe to have its own military in response.

- A man was fatally shot by Winnipeg police on Tuesday. The police had attended to apprehend him under the province's Mental Health Act, so you'd hope they'd be prepared to deal with someone who might not be in his right mind. Unfortunately they reverted to type when he became combative.

- A man was stabbed and racially abused on a Winnipeg Transit bus on Tuesday; the suspect remains at large.

- Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, who serves as parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, admitted in a conversation with a constituent that he is extremely frustrated with his government over the handling of the Gaza issue, particularly the suspension of funds for UNRWA. The conversation was apparently recorded without his knowledge. He said that that he has considered quitting his parliamentary secretary's position, but that he'd decided to stay after a staffer told him that "there needs to be a voice on the inside". Now that this has slipped out, though, one wonders if he'll have a choice.

- The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is warning that rabid antifeminist and anti-LGBT* sentiment could lead to serious violence. In fact it already has, but the risk is not expected to abate any time soon.

- The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Belgium's legislation prohibiting kosher and halal slaughter of animals as cruel can stand. I guess that's one issue on which the Jewish and Muslim communities can agree, anyway...

- Apparently even Putin was shocked by the softball questions lobbed at him by Tucker Carlson in the recent interview.

News roundup, 7 Feb 2024

- The City of Winnipeg's budget is expected to be tabled before council's Executive Policy Committee this afternoon. Mayor Scott Gillingham has already vowed that taxes will not increase by more than 3.5%, but given the city's known and expected costs many fear that this will necessitate service cuts.

- Several remote First Nations in northeastern Manitoba have declared a state of emergency because the mild winter has prevented winter roads from being put into operation, leading to shortages of essential supplies.

- Solar and wind produced 27% of all electricity in the European Union last year. Good news for everyone except the fossil fuel fans, though much more is needed to meet emissions targets.

- NDP MP Charlie Angus has introduced a private member's bill that would restrict advertising by the fossil fuel industry in a similar way to what was done with tobacco ads in the 1990s. Given that the two industries have very similar relationships with the truth, this seems like fair game, but no doubt the oil barons will do some extra rabble rousing among the "freedumb" sheeple if this bill looks like it might pass.

- Say what you will about Joe Biden, he's taken a very promising stand against the fossil fuel industry by announcing a halt to new permits for liquefied natural gas export terminals. He's also vowing to veto any Israel aid bill that doesn't also include aid for Ukraine and for the border. These might be signs that he's kinda, sorta developing a backbone, which is sorely needed if he's to move past his mediocre position in the polls.

- Water pollution with nitrogen compounds that cause potentially toxic algal blooms threatens the drinking water of 3 billion people worldwide.

- A California legislator has introduced a bill that would require all new vehicles sold in the state to be equipped with a governor that would use GPS information to determine the speed limit and prevent the car from exceeding the limit by more than 10 mph. Expect a lot of Rams and F-150s to suffer dents to the firewall under the accelerator pedal if this passes.

- Far-right American "journalist" Tucker Carlson conducted an interview with Vladimir Putin; Carlson may face sanctions from the European Union as a result.

- A man has been charged with handing out free samples of cocaine, with a business card attached, to casino patrons in Calgary. The name on the card was fake, and presumably the phone number was a burner, but he was caught anyway.