Good morning,
Texas
Winter weather has reached deep into the heart of the US, causing several deaths and knocking out power for about 5 million people. Oklahoma and Arkansas, while many people in Texas have been left stranded and cold, amid unsafe travel conditions, in homes with no electricity. Flights are cancelled and ‘warming centres’ are being opened for families to take children to survive the temperatures.
https://www.dallasnews.com
It’s not just a blast of cold but a sign the arctic ice is melting at frightening speed and cold air is pushing further south as the atmosphere is disrupted.
The Guardian has a good piece on how it’s linked to climate change and that it may become worse. Cold air is normally concentrated around the north pole in the polar vortex, an area of low pressure that circulates in a tight formation in the stratosphere during winter. This rotation is likened by scientists to a spinning top, one that can meander if it is interfered with.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/feb/17/arctic-heating-winter-storms-climate-change
We are living in a climate emergency that has been pushed aside by the like’s of the last U.S. President and this will get worse.
Canada's Gun Laws
A shooting in Nova Scotia in April that left 22 dead has lead to sweeping gun control laws by the Gov’t of Prime Minister Trudeau. New legislation will allow police to seize weapons from people’s homes from anyone subject of a legal complaint for up to 30 days without a warrant. This is added onto a gun law in May which banned many assault style weapons. And now the new laws will allow local authorities to ban the transport of hand guns. Australia and New Zealand made buyback gun programs mandatory. Canada is making buyback’s voluntary which has drawn criticism from gun violence victim groups.
The idea of this legislation is a family member can complain to police about a loved one or neighbour displaying dangerous aggressive behaviour and without warrants the police can take weapons away pending a court case. There is all sorts of room for legal abuse say critics, but obviously the greater issue is protecting the public and removing weapons from someone who may be unstable, is key to pubic safety.
This is not America, with it’s unending gun freedoms and horrible violence, so as a former crime reporter, I am shocked the Gov’t of Canada hasn’t/didn’t ban assault weapons much earlier than it did, and while these measures will need some fine tuning, they are sensible and late coming.
At a press conference, Mr Trudeau said: "We are not targeting law-abiding citizens who own guns to go hunting or for sport shooting. The measures we're proposing are concrete and practical. And they have one goal and one goal only, protecting you, your family and your community. Because the victims are real. The pain of their families is real."
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/gun-owners-facing-legal-complaints-can-have-firearms-seized-without-warrant-under-new-liberal-law
Dubai
The BBC has been carrying a series of story’s on Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoumand his daughter Princess Latifa. The Princess was purportedly kidnapped off a ship 2 years ago attempting to flee The Emirates, and has since then been imprisoned in a home in Dubai. She was silenced after she made video’s of her plight on a secret cell phone and sent them to a friend who has not gone public with the drama.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-56085369
Covid
In Britain the lockdown is now almost 2 months old, which means shops and gyms and salons, and mixing with families and visiting the elderly seems a distant memory while kids are still at home studying on line and not seeing friends.
Now the Govt. is rapidly debating how to open society again, but claiming this is the last lock down so it has to be done slowly or they risk all this progress in reducing the virus spread. The P.M. Boris Johnson is supposed to announce a roadmap for the future on Feb, 22 but it will likely be condition based on the numbers of covid cases and vaccine rollout which has now topped 15 million people and is the one thing going well here. A target of the end of April for vaccinating the top nine priority groups, is achievable and all adults in the UK will be offered the first dose of vaccines by autumn.
The reopening of hotels, restaurants, pubs and shops will be phased in gradually from Easter through June with the goal of being fully ‘back to normal’ by July. The ‘phased in’ approach will begin with rules of only 2 families allowed to mix, and then slowly all rules on social mixing being lifted completely. The virus has not been consulted of course, and as it rapidly races vaccines with new variants, Covid may shove all of these plans into the ditch if we’re not careful. And many virus experts think the Gov’t should completely reduce the numbers of daily cases to zero before opening anything.
I will have more on this tomorrow including the debate over schools. British schools are still closed until a target date of March 8.
And in Europe, ski resorts for example, remain closed with France not even discussing a date to reopen it’s tourist industry and likely now will not do so this winter! Italy tried to reopen ski resorts this week, and had to delay it at the last minute because of the virus and the new variant from England spreading rapidly in Europe. The loss from the ski industry shut-down in Italy alone will be 10 billion dollars say experts. And the same is being felt in France, Germany, and to some degree in Switzerland and Austria which have opened ski resorts but restricted foreign travel.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/postponement-of-ski-resort-reopenings-prompts-anger-in-italy/ar-BB1dHtbh
Have a good day everyone.
I will be publishing a new podcast today on Back Story with Dana Lewis, on a new book about James Baker, ‘The Man Who Ran Washington’ and written by Peter Baker (no relation) about whats wrong in American politics and inside the Republican party.
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