News roundup, 17 Sept 2026

- European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says she would like Canada to become an "associate member" of the European Union. This is not currently a formal status that a country can have, however. Mark Carney says that he doesn't want to formally join the bloc but is calling for a "deeper partnership" between Canada and the EU, saying "We are not fair-weather allies. We do not pursue zero-sum deals". No prize for guessing who he's contrasting himself with. This is alarming to Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, saying that it "doesn't help rebuild the good relationship" that Canada and the US once had. Trump is, of course, more blunt, saying that such a move could be considered a "hostile act" and has threatened to stop trading with the EU if that happens.

- The threats against the Israeli directors of the film NAZA have escalated. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will introduce new legislation to facilitate stripping citizenship from people who "smear" Israeli soldiers. Meanwhile rightwing mobs are threatening the families of directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. A large crowd of these brownshirts gathered outside the home of Szor's parents, with one speaker calling for Szor and Abraham to be executed and for their families' homes to be demolished.

- Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, sometimes called the "Godfather of AI", is expressing some optimism that the uproar over the technology will lead to restraints. He notes that at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments that weren't normally inclined to take the kind of action that was needed did so when the need became obvious. Several leaders in the industry have also admitted that a "slowdown" might be needed; some observers are skeptical, however, suspecting that if the companies do allow regulation it will be done in such a way as to keep new startups from entering the industry, effectively pulling up the ladder behind them. Even if that's true, though, it might still be preferable to no regulation at all.

- A news helicopter crashed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, killing the pilot and camera operator as well as a pedestrian on the ground. The crew were covering a fatal crash involving a transit bus. The driver who had crashed her SUV into the bus has been charged with murder; this seems excessive but manslaughter would seem an appropriate charge given the degree of negligence that appears to have been involved in that crash.

- A 44 year old North Dakota man attempting to cross the border at the Emerson-Pembina crossing fled at high speed after being directed into secondary screening. He then attempted to evade the RCMP, damaging a police vehicle in the process, but was captured and found to be carrying a loaded handgun. He faces numerous charges.

News roundup, 21 Jan 2026

- Mark Carney, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday, warned that "the old order is not coming back" and that mid-range powers such as Canada need to adapt and cooperate rather than competing with each other for the crumbs from the US and China. His full speech may be found here. Meanwhile EU leader Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at the same conference, vowed that if Donald Trump follows through with his latest tariff threats, the federation's response will be "unflinching" and "united". Some European leaders, including French president Emmanuel Macron, are calling for the union to enact a never-before-used regulation known as the Anti-Coercion Instrument, which could be used to impose measures such as tariffs, trade and foreign investment restrictions, and measures affecting the intellectual property rights of the target country. A potential spanner in the works is the European far right, who are polling a little too well for elections that are due over the next few years. And you can be sure that the Trump regime will pull out all the stops to maximize the chance of those parties taking over. For his part, Trump himself is scheduled to address the WEF today, and continues to be as belligerent as ever. Perhaps the most ridiculous part is the fact that Trump is actually saying that he's pushing ahead with this in response to not winning the Nobel Peace Prize. He's not so much a Bond villain as a Maxwell Smart or Austin Powers villain.

- Alex Karp, the CEO of Palantir, also spoke at the WEF, and claimed that AI will create so many jobs that immigration won't be a problem anymore. Whether anyone actually believed him is another question.

- Doug Ford claims that Chinese cars are a security risk, saying that "when you get on your cellphone, it’s the Chinese that are going to be listening to your … telephone conversation". Now to be fair, there might be a kernel of truth to that - but given the way the US is going I'm not sure that the risk is any lower with American cars. In any case, the risk probably isn't as big as Ford thinks; BYD sells a lot of cars in Europe, where they have significantly better privacy protections than we do. The fact that they're allowed to do that suggests that Ford is wrong. In taking this position he's also doing the bidding of the US, but don't tell him that.

- A Danish pension fund, AkademikerPension, is selling off its entire holdings of US Treasuries, worth approximately $100 million. They cite concerns about the financial stability of the country under Trump.

- Donald Trump has reposted private texts from Emmanuel Macron, apparently under the impression that what he posted would make Macron look bad. Macron stands by his words (and why shouldn't he?) Then again, why would you expect Trump to understand the concept of a rhetorical question?

News roundup, 11 Sept 2025

- American far-right commentator/activist Charlie Kirk was killed in spectacular fashion at a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University in Orem. A man was detained, then released without charges; the suspect remains at large. Many have remarked on the fact that Kirk once said that his country's enormous number of gun-related deaths (such as the school shooting in Colorado that happened on the same day as Kirk's death) are "worth it" to ensure that people (well, his kind of people at least) have unfettered access to firearms. The far right, of course, is screaming for vengeance. One thing seems clear - political violence is now firmly embedded in the culture of present-day America and isn't going away any time soon.

- An Ottawa man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for promoting antisemitic violence and helping to recruit members for the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division (AWD).

- European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is calling for suspension of trade between the EU and Israel in response to the catastrophe in Gaza. Whether such a move will win enough support from EU member states to pass is another question.

- A security guard at Winnipeg City Hall was attacked with pepper spray on Monday afternoon. The assailant allegedly made "racial comments" about city hall security in the course of the attack.

- A private contractor providing security at aid distribution sites in Gaza appears to have hired a lot of members of the Infidels, a motorcycle gang formed by veterans of the Iraq war that is overtly hostile to Islam.

- A Grade 9 student at Winnipeg's College Jeanne-Sauve was assaulted on Tuesday while participating in an outdoor gym class. The class had been taken from the school to the nearby Dakota Park; when a group of students walked by a tent, the resident of the tent apparently ran out and attacked the group, causing minor injuries to the student. At least, that's how it was reported in the article; in the related Reddit thread several people reported that the students had been harassing the homeless guy for some time, and throwing stuff at him. Nonetheless, this will doubtless add ammunition to arguments in favour of restricting where homeless encampments will be allowed, even as housing advocates question whether the city's proposal is such a good idea.

- An Oregon man who won what he was led to believe would be "$5,000 a week for life" back in 2012 got a nasty surprise when the cheques suddenly stopped. Turns out Publishers Clearing House, the company that ran the contest, had declared bankruptcy. It doesn't help his situation that he hasn't worked since the win and thus is not a prime candidate for employment now.

News roundup, 14 May 2024

- The wildfire situation is not improving. The entire population of Cranberry Portage, a community of about 600 people, have been evacuated; the fire in the area could take weeks to put out. In BC the fire threatening Fort Nelson is getting closer to the town and adjacent reserve, forcing more evacuations, while in Alberta the entire municipality of Wood Buffalo, which includes Fort McMurray, remains on evacuation alert.

- BC's measures restricting short term rentals like Airbnb are upsetting people who hoped to make money renting out their properties. A new organization, calling itself the "West Coast Association for Property Rights", has formed to fight this; of course their executive director declares that restricting short term rentals won't solve the problem, but then he would say that, wouldn't he. The organization is seeking an injunction to stop the enforcement of the law.

- Teresa Ribera, Spain's deputy prime minister, is hoping to be appointed the EU's commissioner for the Green Deal. She is not pulling her punches in criticizing EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for her deference to the far right and the rural dinosaurs in particular.

- In recent years many corporations have at least gone through the motions of being concerned about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) matters. However, corporations aren't generally a reliable ally on such matters, especially when there's a very aggressive push in the other direction from the far right. Even companies that remain (somewhat) forward thinking on these matters are a lot quieter about it than they were a few years ago.

- David DePape, the man who showed up at Nancy Pelosi's home with a hammer in 2022 and then beat her husband with it upon finding that she wasn't there, is set to be sentenced on Friday. Prosecutors are asking for a 40 year sentence.

- Deomcratic Senator Bob Menendez goes on trial on Monday for accepting large amounts of money in bribes. Of course, he represents New Jersey, a place whose corruption makes Quebec seem like Norway in comparison; he's just one of the unlucky ones to get caught.

- An 8 month old child in the UK, who was born deaf, is now able to hear without any assistance, thanks to gene therapy. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the folks who call themselves Deaf with a capital D and who have at times characterized cochlear implants as genocide.