News

A bit late (published Thursday, but I read it last night), but it's astute.

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) and the Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS) are on scene at Parliament Hill for a barricaded man in the area of East Block.

"There is a large police presence in the area. East Block has been evacuated," OPS said in a social media post late Saturday afternoon.

"There are no known injuries and police continue to deal with an individual in this ongoing incident that began just before 3 p.m. [ET]," the police force added.

Members of the public are being asked to avoid the area and follow officers' directions. Road closures remain in place on Wellington Street from Bank Street to Sussex Drive, OPS said.

“Stressed behaviors” is a term applied to lab rats when you manipulate their environment in negative ways. Feel like this was a little bit of a mask slip…

https://www.gbnews.com/news/man-arrested-burning-koran-quran-manchester-anti-islam-activist-shot-dead-sweden-salwan-momika

Nothing else to say, I expect them to take this down.

In 2022, the latest year for which full data are available, the world spent just short of US$10 trillion on health care. The United States was by far the largest single spender, representing 43% of the total. At the other end, around 75 of the poorest countries spent less than 4% of the global total, and many are not allowed to increase this. That’s because they owe huge sums to richer countries — and the lending agreements say that paying off debts has to be prioritized ahead of public spending.

This is just one example of how inequity is baked into the world’s financial system — creditors can dictate lending terms to some of the most vulnerable countries without any oversight. However, in June and July 2025, the international community will have an opportunity to ensure that this situation can be consigned to history.