Musical interlude

Dayseeker - Homesick

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Damian Carrington reports on a "scientific health check" showing that Earth's life support systems are well outside what's safe for humanity. But Jonathan Cook discusses how an obsession with growth over health and well-being is preventing us from taking any meaningful steps to reverse the damage. 

- Of course, it doesn't help that a secretive but massively-funded campaign by a shadowy network of conservatives is vilifying climate activists - as Amy Westeveldt and Geoff Dembicki report. 

- Drew Anderson writes about the fallout from the Danielle Smith UCP's decision to ban renewable development in order to keep Alberta's energy system hooked on dirty fossil fuels. And Isaac Phan Nay reports on the B.C. communities working on building a case against the oil industry for its contribution to the climate breakdown. 

- Gary Fuller discusses how the trend toward increasingly large vehicles is exacerbating pollution and other risks to health and safety. 

- Finally, Joshua Hill writes about the reality that the wealthiest few are willing (if not eager) to make life miserable for the majority of the population to enable them to consolidate wealth and control - as a property developer let slip in the course of a public appearance. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Mary Van Beusekom discusses new research showing that a quarter of COVID-19 survivors are still facing impaired lung function (among other health problems) a year after infection. And Prakash Nagarkatti and Mitzi Nagarkatti write about the CDC's approval of new vaccines better targeted toward current variants, while Beth Mole reports on its concurrent recommendation that everybody get a booster this fall. 

- Scott Denning makes the point that we shouldn't call a broken climate a "new normal" when we have no idea how to navigate it, while Al Jazeera reports on Volker Turk's warning that a dystopian future is already here. And Thora Tenbrink discusses how perceptions of the climate threat vary from place to place - particularly in a rural-urban divide. 

- Meanwhile, Michael Keller reports on a new research tool showing the consistent acidification of oceans as another example of the degradation of vital environmental systems. 

- Penny Daflos exposes the parasitic extraction of health funding by private staffing agencies. And Dayne Patterson reports on the Moe government's refusal to accept a donation of money to buy an MRI machine to operate in Estevan - presumably in large part because resources allowing essential services to be publicly performed would limit the ability of Sask Party donors to profit from them. 

- Finally, Doug Cuthand calls out the Moe government for trying to reduce access to sex education and inclusive learning in a province which desperately needs to work on improving both. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Surfaced cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- John Woodside weighs in on the UN's recognition of the need to stop our dependence on dirty energy. And Jillian Ambrose reports on the International Energy Agency's projections which foresee the beginning of the end of fossil fuel use. 

- Leo Collis points out how steps to disincentivize combustion commuter vehicles produce safer communities on multiple levels. And Kevin Krizek writes that ever-larger vehicles are creating readily-avoidable safety hazards for pedestrians and road users. 

-  Lauren Kirschman interviews Allison Russell about the connection between the climate crisis and the information crisis - and Markham Hislop discusses how the UCP is directing tens of millions more public dollars toward polluting minds in order to enable further carbon pollution. Amanda Follett Hosgood exposes how the RCMP is burning millions of dollars protecting pipelines at the expense of people. And Natalie Alcoba reports on the massive amounts of money being poured into expanding greenhouse gas emissions compared to the pittance going to mitigation and transition measures. 

- Meanwhile, Nick Gottlieb discusses how the mining industry generally is exploiting legal loopholes in order to avoid cleaning up its toxic messes. 

- Finally, Andre Picard highlights how the poisoning of hundreds of Calgary children due to corporatized food supplies reflects the breakdown of public health as a priority in Canada. And Martin Lukacs notes that the takeover of the Cons' internal party apparatus by corporate lobbyists signals the intention to exploit the public and disregard people's well-being even more. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- The Star's editorial board writes that there's still every reason to take precautions to avoid the spread of COVID-19, while Frances Ryan points out how disabled and vulnerable people haven't been so privileged as to be able to pretend it's ever gone away. And Marija Lugar et al. study the connection between COVID and the development of type 1 diabetes in children, while Abhimanyu Agarwal et al. review the extensive research showing how COVID can harm the heart and the brain.  

- Rebecca Leber and Umain Irfan discuss the UN's first global stocktake on the climate crisis, including its recognition that continued fossil fuel development is utterly incompatible with a liveable environment. David Spratt highlights the folly of risking the future of humanity in order to avoid meaningful emission reductions today.  And Tatyana Woodall writes about new research showing that existing assumptions may have vastly overestimated the thickness and stability of the Antarctic ice shelf - raising yet another risk of a climate breakdown producing a more severe cycle of harm than previously anticipated. 

- Alex Cosh calls out the capital-serving politicians looking to blame a shortage of student housing on a small number of international students, rather than governments refusing to address either the quantity or affordability of available homes. And Noah Fry points out how trade agreements are preventing governments from using public dollars to accomplish anything for anybody other than foreign shareholders. 

- Meanwhile, Nora Loreto writes that the Poilievre Cons' aversion to social policy means they aren't offering any answers to the financial insecurity they're using as the centerpiece of their spin. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow is hopeful that tech workers are organizing and bringing collective action into some of the key workplaces for future development.