- Donald Trump is now threatening to impose a tariff of up to 100% on cars manufactured in Canada. People with actual knowledge of the auto industry are warning that such a move could shut down the entire auto industry in the US as well as Canada. Tesla might be an exception to the rule, which would make such a move that much more explicable.
- China is creating a planetary defense agency in response to the discovery of an asteroid that is thought to pose a risk in 2032. The asteroid is about 100 metres in diameter, and if it were to hit Earth it would be the equivalent of a large nuclear weapon going off - not enough to destroy the biosphere, but definitely enough to destroy a city in a direct hit. The ESA has estimated that the probability of an impact is about 1.2%, which while not high is high enough to worry about. So it's good that China is taking it seriously, especially given that NASA is not likely to be in any condition to properly deal with it given the chaos of the Trump regime.
- Elon Musk is apparently in favour of having former Texas Republican congressman Ron Paul appointed as chair of the Federal Reserve. Given that Paul is the author of a book entitled End The Fed, this has spooked a lot of people; notably, the price of gold as well as bitcoin have spiked dramatically in recent days.
- Germany's federal intelligence service, the BND, fears that climate change could threaten the stability of the European Union due to its likely effects on food prices, migration, and conflict. All of this is, of course, stuff some have been warning about for years. Gwynne Dyer, for instance, predicted almost a decade ago that climate-induced migration could be a threat to the union if its leaders don't prepare for it.
- Cambridge, Massachusetts has eliminated exclusive single-family zoning across the entire city, allowing buildings up to six stories in any neighbourhood. This is expected to create over 4,800 units over the next quarter century. A bold step in the right direction (and a rare one for North America).
- Buyers of new Jeeps are incensed at the fact that the vehicles' infotainment systems are force-feeding ads to the occupants every time the vehicle comes to a stop. So much for your nice uninterrupted stream of music or podcasts. Besides being annoying, this is raising privacy concerns, as the vehicles are also gathering data about drivers' behaviour in order to curate the ads.
