News roundup, 27 Sept 2024

- A new Leger poll raises serious questions about the political judgment of BC voters, giving the extremist BC Conservatives a 45-42 lead over the NDP. Paradoxically, the premier, NDP leader David Eby, still has a higher personal approval rating than Conservative leader John Rustad, further adding to the impression that the people really don't understand what they're doing when they vote. Possibly the greater efficiency of the NDP vote will prevent the worst from happening, but that remains to be seen.

- A global declaration on antibiotic resistance was weakened at the insistence of the US. The reason? The initial draft called for a 30% reduction of the use of antibiotics in agriculture (one of the biggest offenders on this file) by 2030, and the American ag lobby was having none of it. Therefore, the offending section was replaced with the anodyne recommendation to "strive to meaningfully reduce" the use of antibiotics, without specifics.

- Some Silicon Valley techbros aren't prepared to wait for proper research into geoengineering to be done - they're starting to do it themselves. Naturally, the existence of such rogue operators adds urgency to the need for a sensible study of the matter.

- At least three people were killed when Hurricane Helene struck northern Florida, with winds of 225 km/h (120 kt). It has since been downgraded to a tropical storm.

- The assets of Alex Jones' Infowars are being auctioned off following the ruling of a Houston judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Jones and his media empire. Proceeds will be paid to the relatives of Sandy Hook shooting victims who were defamed by Jones when he repeatedly claimed the massacre to be a hoax.

- The woman killed by a runaway pickup truck in Winnipeg's Westwood neighbourhood two weeks ago was a newcomer to Canada, who was going to be married in October. At the time of her death she was a few weeks away from the end of her probation period at her new job and qualifying for benefits, which ironically would have included life insurance.

News roundup, 25 Sept 2024

- An American Airlines flight from Dallas to Seoul earlier this month turned around over the Pacific and went all the way back to Dallas. Passengers say they were not given a clear explanation for the turnaround, nor for why the plane didn't just land somewhere on the west coast so that the next flight wouldn't be so long, though they surmised (probably accurately) that the airline would rather they just went home rather than stay in a hotel at the airline's expense.

- BC Conservative leader John Rustad apparently expressed regret for having taken COVID-19 vaccines. Not because of any side effects (you can be sure that if he experienced any we'd never hear the end of it) but because he thinks it's somehow about "shaping opinion and control on the population". When asked about this by the media at an announcement he was evasive.

- The possibility of a strike by 25,000 healthcare workers in Manitoba is looming; CUPE and MGEU say they will walk out on Oct 8 unless they get a satisfactory contract.

- Montana's electronic absentee ballot system was shut down for troubleshooting after it was discovered that Kamala Harris was not on the ballot. Of course Montana is about as red a state as they come, so it wouldn't affect the outcome of the presidential race even if it weren't fixed (they say it has been), but it might affect some downballot races in relatively sane places like Missoula. Some might wonder if that was the intent.

- The Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, with a mean elevation of only 2 metres above sea level and a maximum of 4.6 m, faces oblivion within decades. They are hoping, however, to retain their status as a sovereign state, and in particular the marine boundaries with associated resource rights.

- Despite fears of unintended consequences, more and more scientists are saying that it's necessary to take geoengineering seriously, not least because it's a virtual certainty that some will try it anyway and it's important to do some research on the possible consequences as well as efficacy of such measures.

News roundup, 23 July 2024

- Kamala Harris has come out swinging in the campaign, having raised a record $81 million in campaign donations in a 24-hour period. This may bode well for her chances in the fall, though even if she gets the votes in the necessary states it remains to be seen if she'll get the electors. The members of the Electoral College, one of the more bizarre things you can find in a modern democracy, are not constitutionally bound to vote the way the citizens want them to. In some states "faithless electors" can be legally punished, but even in that case their votes still count. And nothing will necessarily stop a Trump-friendly state legislature from appointing their own electors in place of the ones chosen by the citizenry, especially with a Trump-friendly Supreme Court waiting to hear any challenges. And whatever else happens, it will be a nasty campaign. The Republicans are trying to argue that Harris is not entitled to money that was donated to the Biden campaign. Most experts argue otherwise, saying that since she was going to be on the same ticket anyway she is entitled to the money. It might be more problematic if someone else is chosen, but that seems to be academic now that Harris has enough delegates to secure the nomination.

- Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign following the failure to stop the attempt on Trump's life. So far she has stood firm, but I suspect her days in the position are numbered.

- Given continued greenhouse gas emissions, many are looking more closely at geoengineering. This is raising considerable alarm, as the possibilities for unintended consequences are significant, and is also a potential distraction from better solutions... but if those better solutions aren't forthcoming for political reasons, it might nonetheless be necessary.

- A wildfire has forced a last-minute evacuation of Jasper National Park in Alberta, including the Jasper townsite.

- The Executive Director of St. Boniface Street Links, Marion Willis, was fined for trespassing after visiting that North End apartment building whose tenants who were evicted en masse last week. Willis, who was working to assist the tenants, says this resulted after her organization's lawyer contacted the landlord's, and the latter attorney responded by saying that all Street Links staff and volunteers were banned from the premises; Willis attended anyway and was fined. She plans to fight the ticket. One would think she has a good case if she was attending as a guest of a tenant. Meanwhile, tenants returning to their units following the province's order are finding almost nothing in the units - in at least one case, even the appliances were removed.

- The City of Winnipeg's recent push to take action against the owners of vacant buildings is not going unopposed. Lawyer John Prystanski, a former city councillor who never met a slumlord he didn't like, is representing three of them, and is demanding that the city cancel invoices issued to his clients for the costs of fighting fires, claiming that the vacant building bylaw is not being properly applied.

- Besides the developing zebra mussel situation at Clear Lake, the invasive molluscs have been found at the St. Malo Reservoir south of Winnipeg.

- Two Alberta men are being charged with uttering death threats against Justin Trudeau; one of them is also accused of similar threats against Jagmeet Singh and Chrystia Freeland.

News roundup, 24 June 2024

- An outbreak of violence in the Russian republic of Dagestan has killed 15 police officers and several civilians. An affiliate of ISIS has claimed responsibility, but that's not stopping the Russians from making oblique references to Ukraine. No question this is good news for Ukraine of course; if anything is going to stop the Russians it's internal divisions.

- Research on geoengineering continues. This is probably necessary, unless we manage to convince millions of people to fly a lot less and billions to eat a lot less meat, but the potential for unintended consequences is great. One recent study concluded that seeding clouds with sea salt could enable them to reflect more sunlight away from the Earth. The problem is, their modelling concluded that while this could be useful to cool the western US, it could have the side effect of causing heat waves elsewhere (Europe in this case) as well as disrupting rainfall in the US as well as in far-flung places such as the Sahel region of Africa. Now imagine a geoengineering project by one country that negatively impacts a hostile country, or is perceived as having done so. Best hope the countries involved aren't nuclear powers.

- A scientist working for the federal government is alleging that the federal government, along with the provincial government of New Brunswick, has shut down an investigation into the cluster of cases of a mysterious degenerative brain disease. This follows similar allegations from another scientist; one has to conclude that the governments are trying to protect someone (one is inclined to suspect that it's a company whose name begins with I).

- An investigation has concluded that Winnipeg councillor Markus Chambers (St. Norbert - Seine River) violated conflict of interest rules by failing to recuse himself on a motion concerning changes to a residential development recommended by city planners. Chambers, who also serves as deputy mayor and chair of the police board, had also failed to reveal his personal connection to one of the owners of the property involved.

- Naheed Nenshi has won the Alberta NDP leadership in a landslide, receiving over 86% of the vote.

- A byelection in the federal riding of Toronto-St. Paul's is being held today. The riding has been a Liberal stronghold for decades, so if they lose, or even if they win by a narrow margin, the pressure on Justin Trudeau to step down is expected to increase. That would probably be the best outcome actually; a new leader probably won't be enough to save the Liberals, but it might offer some slim hope for a hung parliament rather than a Conservative majority next year.

- Calgary has been having serious problems with its water distribution network for over two weeks. Many are pointing out that this problem is not limited to Calgary; I would add that it's not limited to water distribution either. The approach most North American cities have taken to growth, with low-density suburbs, means that there isn't enough tax base to maintain the infrastructure needed to support said suburbs. Curiously, though, the CBC article avoids using words like "sprawl" and "density", but that's the real issue here and elsewhere.

News roundup, 4 April 2024

- Apparently Donald Trump, having managed to get the $454 million bond for his appeal of the civil fraud trial in New York reduced to $175 million, has not yet provided a current financial statement as required. Some discussion of this here; whether this will be sorted out in time to prevent asset seizures remains to be seen. In other Trump-related news, he seems to be testing the limits of the gag order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan.

- Joe Biden has called for an "immediate ceasefire" following the deaths of seven aid workers in Gaza, saying that US policy "will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps". He's been careful, of course, not to threaten anything specific; AIPAC is always watching.

- There have been substantial reductions in deforestation in Brazil and Columbia, but unfortunately this is offset by losses elsewhere in the tropics.

- Geoengineering, which is increasingly looking like it may be necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change, has some serious issues of its own. Perhaps the biggest risk is that geoengineering activity in one country could potentially affect its neighbours, possibly in ways that are harmful to them and thus increasing the risk of armed conflict. Or, a natural disaster could be mistakenly attributed to geoengineering, with the same result.

- In northern Manitoba, leaders are trying to prepare for what could potentially be a very bad wildfire season due to the dry winter.

- A Hamilton man has been jailed after livestreaming himself assaulting someone and unleashing a vicious transphobic rant on a city bus. You'd think anyone with an IQ above room temperature would know better than to record their crimes, but there you go.

News roundup, 2 April 2024

- A bill recently passed by Florida's legislature, and now awaiting Governor Ron DeSantis' signature, will ban offshore wind turbines in state waters, and will furthermore purge virtually all references to climate change from existing legislation. On the other coast, the city of Berkeley, California has agreed to repeal its recent ban on natural gas for new builds, following a court decision. Oh, and despite their constant bleating about "freedom" and "liberty", Republicans in numerous states want to take away people's freedom to buy and sell lab-grown meat. There has been the odd bit of good news too (such as the closure of the last two coal plants in the New England states) but on balance the situation is not looking good, and Gwynne Dyer is probably right in saying that we will need to resort to geoengineering, with all the risks that entails, in order to keep temperatures within acceptable limits. Or maybe someone should just release Captain Trips and hope that the survivors build a better civilization than the one we have now.

- A federal appeal court has cancelled a ban on takeout containers contaminated with PFAS (the so-called "forever chemicals"). Interestingly, the court did not deny the health concerns about these chemicals, but ruled that the EPA did not have the authority to use the legislation they did.

- The European Union subsidizes farms based on area cultivated, which means that livestock farms get far more subsidies than crop farms do. More than 80% of the subsidies in the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) program went to make meat cheaper.

- Judge Aileen Cannon, who is scheduled to hear Trump's criminal trial for retaining classified national security documents, has apparently still not decided when the hearing will happen, almost certainly meaning that he will not be tried in this case before this fall's election. According to Wikipedia this judge was appointed in 2020 by Trump, but I guess we're supposed to assume that this is a coincidence.

- The lower house of France's parliament has passed a bill that imposes penalties on the manufacturers of "fast fashion".

- Doctors working in Gaza are accusing Israeli snipers of deliberately targeting young children.