Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Ian Welsh discusses the attitude of meanness underlying so much of the U.S.' political and cultural scene.

- Ryan Meili and Adrienne Silnicki write about the dangers of relying on paid plasma donations. And Alexa Huffman and Whitney Stinson report that the Sask Party's obsession with cutting public services has pushed Regina's hospital system beyond its capacity.

- On the bright side, Carol Goar observes that the Cons' lack of compassion toward refugees led some in the medical profession to take on a more activist role than they'd done previously - which could produce lasting benefits even as the Harper cuts are reversed. But Catherine Rolfsen notes that there's still a long way to go in meeting the needs of the new refugees arriving in Canada.

- Debra McAuslan talks to Roderick Benns about the social benefits of a basic income. And Teuila Fuatai points out that employers can benefit significantly from a living wage.

- Finally, Peter Zimonjoc reports on some of the "disruption" CSIS has already started to engage in since Bill C-51 was passed. And Ian MacLeod highlights a decade of illegal sharing of metadata by the Communications Security Establishment - which we should see as an entirely expected outcome when a secretive security apparatus has substantial power and no effective accountability.