Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Rebecca Solnit discusses the importance of accurately describing Donald Trump's attempted coup, rather than euphemizing a violent attack against democracy. Enzo DiMatteo highlights the similarities between Trump's playbook and that of the federal Cons. Murray Mandryk writes that the U.S.' experience with authoritarian demagoguery should result in our recognizing the need to strengthen our own political systems against similar threats, while David Climenhaga warns conservatives that de-Trumpification is coming to Canada. And Christina Warner notes that part of the process of strengthening our defence against political violence is to use our collective power and wealth to ensure nobody is left out from the essentials of social and political life. 

- Arthur White-Crummey exposes how the Sask Party was fully aware of the imminent risk of a COVID spike even as it hemmed and hawed about new public health measures following last fall's election. Bruce Arthur points out the need for something far more than desperation to lead a province to safer terrain. And Andrew Nikiforuk examines Yaneer Bar-Yam's work trying to get us to aim for zero COVID, rather than accepting needless sickness and death.

- Michael Johansson, Talia M. Quandelacy, Sarah Kada et al. study how much COVID transmission has been asymptomatic - concluding that over half of spread is from people who aren't yet experiencing, or never will experience, symptoms to provide any warning. And Amanda Follett Hosgood reports on the justified concerns that limitations on industrial work camps fall short of what's needed to avoid spread through particularly vulnerable northern communities. 

- Elizabeth Payne reports on the risks posed by personal support workers who are so underpaid in their high-risk jobs as to have to rely on homeless shelters to sleep at night. And Christopher Curtis writes about the crisis in Montreal's homeless shelters as a curfew decrees that people stay at home whether or not they actually have one.

- Finally, PressProgress talks to health care workers about their reaction to the politicians who have seen a pandemic as an opportunity for a beach vacation, rather than a time to share in sacrifices for the common good. And Elizabeth Thompson points out how Conservative Senator Don Plett ranks high on the list of offenders after signing a directive barring international travel and admonishing people to stay home - only to take his own personal jaunt to Mexico.