Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Matthew Cunningham-Cook and Andrew Perez highlight how Suncor and other dirty energy giants have poured loads of windfall profits into stock buybacks while simultaneously repudiating their environmental promises and obligations.

- Jonathan Barrett discusses how Australia has seen the same spate of "shrinkflation" that's similarly resulted in the corporate sector goosing its profits at consumer expense elsewhere. And Paul Krugman points out how a focus on current measures of core inflation results in a misleading picture of household expenses.

- Meanwhile, Michelle Cyca discusses how Canadian public policy has gone astray due to the impossible promise that homeownership can paper over growing structural inequality. 

- Finally, Luke LeBrun reports on the bigoted right's attempts to take over Canada's schools and public spaces. And Jeremy Appel discusses how the Alberta NDP unfortunately kept that mindset in power by seeking to placate a right-wing view assumed to be shared by persuadable voters while offering only to be less hateful and corrupt in implementing it.

Sunday Evening Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- David Cox talks to Akiko Iwasaki about the reality that we're still far from being done with major harm from COVID-19. Keith Muziguchi discusses the stories of some of the people living with long COVID and finding few receptive listeners for either their experiences or their warnings. And Dylan Lubao points out the connection between the removal of mask mandates in health care facilities, and another fully-preventable COVID surge. 

- Ian Austen discusses the choices facing voters in Alberta's election - though the apparent belief of people who recognize the dangers of the UCP that they can accomplish as much by destroying a ballot as by voting for a viable alternative bodes poorly for the province's prospects. 

- Meanwhile, Jim Stanford highlights how the UCP's corporate tax giveaway (which Danielle Smith is pushing to lock in) was utterly counterproductive, gutting public revenues while showing no evidence of encouraging investment or economic development. And Nojoud Al Mallees reports on new data from Statistics Canada which suggests that any business complaints about a labour shortage are both overblown, and based primarily on their own refusal to provide decent work. 

- Tom Sanzillo writes about a new study showing how what little major oil companies are doing to claim to reduce emissions often involves selling high-emitting assets to others to continue operations.. 

- Finally, John Cartwright and Bianca Mugyenyi make the case for investing our public resources in butter rather than guns - particularly as the greatest threats we face involve social and environmental needs rather than plausible military confrontations. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Gil McGowan highlights how the UCP's intolerable plans for Alberta include another four years of systematic wage suppression in order to further enrich the donor class.

- Cory Doctorow writes about the importance of having "ideas lying around" to respond to an obviously unacceptable status quo - though it's worth noting that the neoliberal exploitation of that principle has been paired with consistent corporate funding to keep ever more extreme ideas front and centre while shouting down any alternatives. And Manuela Fernandez Pinto and Daniel Fernandez Pinto explore how corporate funding distorts scientific research.

- Nikolaos Christidis, Dann Mitchell and Peter Stott study the rapidly increasing risk of extreme heat in Europe and the Middle East due to climate breakdown. And Leslie Scism reports that the combination of escalating wildfire risks and increasing construction costs has led a major insurer to stop offering home insurance in California.

- Bethany Lindsay and Christine Birak report on new research showing that access to free prescription medication more than pays for itself as a public investment. And the Canadian Press reports on the call for free school meals as a similar investment in health and well-being which would be more than worth funding even based on calculable financial returns (to say nothing of the importance of children being fed).

- Finally, Heather Mallick offers her account of life with long COVID (in case anybody was lacking for examples as to why it's to be avoided).

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Emmett Macfarlane discusses how the stakes in Alberta's election are no less than democracy and the rule of law - as Danielle Smith has made her contempt for both abundantly clear. But Andrew Nikiforuk points out that nothing in the current campaign holds any prospect of loosening the hold of petropolitics on the province.  

- Jennifer Lee reports on an open letter from 200 emergency room physicians pleading for recognition that hospitals are collapsing for lack of resources, while Taylor Lambert discusses Red Deer's overloaded facilities and exhausted providers as being emblematic of the province's health care system as a whole. And Annie Waldman's report on privatized vascular services in the U.S. offers a reminder of what happens when politicians choose treat the medical system primarily as a source of profit rather than a means of caring for people. 

- Nina Lakhani reports on new research from Corporate Accountability showing that most of the carbon offset credits claimed by Chevron as its excuse to keep pollution are worthless (if not actively destructive). And Patrick Greenfield reports on the resignation of the CEO of the world's largest provider of carbon credits Verra as its business model was shown to be a sham. 

- Finally, Emily Peck writes about the belated recognition by the economic powers that be that inflation rooted in price gouging is the main reason people are struggling with affordability - no matter how antithetical the very concept is to free-market idolatry. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Antoine Flahault et al. offer a reminder that we can't afford to be complacent about an ongoing COVID pandemic which continues to cause serious and sustained harm on a mass basis. And in case we needed another reminder of the aftereffects of infection, Andreas Weiss et al. study the connection between COVID-19 infection and the development of type 1 diabetes in children. 

- Katharine Hayhoe writes about the twin crises of the climate breakdown and plummeting biodiversity - with both reflecting the desperate need to plan based on environmental well-being rather than profit motives. But Julia Steinberger's discussion of the important work being done at Beyond Growth 2023 (h/t Alison) includes recognition the near-total media blackout on the idea that our society could be shaped by anything but the ideology of the cancer cell. 

- Therese Raphale reports on the exodus of doctors fleeing the UK Cons' deliberate destruction of public health care - and their arrival instead in Australia where they're being promised that their work will be valued. 

- Finally, Naama Weingarten reports on the flood of false information in Alberta, as both the public safety emergency created by wildfires and the ongoing provincial election have been turned into opportunities for propaganda and disinformation. And Trevor Harrison writes that Danielle Smith's laughable denials shouldn't persuade Alberta voters that a UCP win will result in anything but the destruction of national institutions and benefits based on the whims of the fanatical fringe. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Karl Nerenberg writes about the Parkland Institute's research showing how privatization has undermined  Alberta's health care system. And Mitchell Thompson warns that the UCP has a similar plan to turn what's already a housing crisis into a profit extraction extravaganza at the expense of the people living in what little public housing already exists.

- Meanwhile, Brandon Drenon reports on the disastrous wildfires sweeping across Alberta, while Ian Austen points out the provincial election campaign's glaring lack of discussion of the climate breakdown which is causing them. And John Vaillant writes that there's no excuse for feigning surprise that a refusal to rein in global warming is producing exactly the effects which have been predicted for decades. 

- Julia Simon reports on the damage caused by a ruptured CO2 pipeline in Satartia, Mississippi. And Mark Olalde notes that taking into account only site cleanup (and thus excluding air pollution and climate damage), the liabilities created by California's oil industry far exceed its profits - meaning that the perception of economic value is purely the result of failing to account for real costs. 

- Jonathan Barrett reports on new research showing how Australia's grocery giants have used the pandemic and associated inflation to goose their profit margins. And Delphine Strauss points out a similar story in the UK's milk market, which has seen an unprecedented gap between retail prices and the amount paid to producers.

- Finally, Cory Doctorow discusses how any reasonable utilitarian evaluation of well-being would focus far more on how policies affect a wider range of people, rather than treating the accumulation of extreme wealth by sociopaths (disguised as "GDP" or other cumulative wealth measures) as the most important consideration.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Omar Mosleh discusses the growing damage being caused by repeated wildfires in Canada, while David Wallace-Wells writes that there's no escape from the air pollution being spread across the continent. And Don Pittis points out how public accounts which don't assess the non-pecuniary costs of climate change have resulted in a grossly distorted framework for discussion of climate policy.  

- Meanwhile, Frank Corini discusses Rhode Island's version of secretly-funded fossil fuel lobby groups who are polluting any effort to move to clean energy. 

- Angela Symons reports on a new UN Environmental Programme report showing how an 80% cut in plastic waste is entirely feasible by 2040 - though again getting there will require pushing back against the self-serving spin of the pollution industry. 

- Charles Rusnell offers a reminder that the UCP's history of bullying and dehumanization dates back to its founding and entire time in office. And Joel Dryden reports that even a normally-placid ethics commissioner accepting the UCP's preferred version of events without question has found Danielle Smith to have violated conflict of interest legislation by attempting to interfere in the prosecution of anti-public health extremists. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow discusses how the U.S. has eventually reached the point of providing a free tax filing service (over the furious objection of the corporate monopolist which was otherwise taking a massive tithe on mandatory tax returns). And Tom Malleson writes that Canada has the ability to ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes - as long as we don't accept the excuse that it's not worth the political will to make it happen. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Lisa Young writes about the stark difference in how Alberta's main party leaders approach the role of women in politics and society. But Drew Anderson laments the lack of a meaningful willingness on the part of any substantial party to engage in an adult conversation on the climate crisis.

- On that front, Clifford Krauss reports on the fossil governments who are standing in the way of a needed clean energy transition, and in fact using their power and the public's money to keep pollution spewing.

- Damian Carrington reports on the IPCC's affordable and achievable path to meeting the promise to limit climate change to 1.5 C - with a shift to less expensive clean energy as the core task. And Nathasha Bulowski reports on the Canadian Labour Congress' push for an ambitious climate plan. 

- John Burn-Murdoch notes that while the pervasiveness presence of guns explains the difference in gun suicides between U.S. states, the rate of homicides also reflects differences in the social trust which Republicans have been working feverishly to destroy.

- Finally, Krista Hessey reports on the benefits of a right to repair - while noting that it's manufacturers who are standing in the way of ensuring products can be maintained and restored to use.

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Dave Davies interviews Jason C. Jackson about the widespread damage from long COVID - and the lack of remotely sufficient efforts either to prevent its spread, or respond to its effects. And Crawford Kilian weighs in on what we've failed to learn while normalizing avoidable harm to large numbers of people.  

- Manpreet Gill discusses how hallway medicine dehumanizes patients - and how the UCP has chosen to force health care workers to make it the norm. And the Canadian Press reports on the Ford PCs' legislated push to divert public health care resources toward private surgical providers. 

- Jeff Lagerquist reports on Suncor's plans to slash its workforce no matter how many policy concessions it takes or how much windfall profit it accumulates. Diane Orihel, Chloe Robinson and Chris Elvidge report on the harm caused by Imperial Oil's hidden tailings pond leaks - along with the virtual certainty that there are many more similar incidents that have remained concealed from public view. And Emma Jackson writes about the desperate need for political vision to put an end to the damage caused by dirty energy operators, even as Alberta goes through a provincial election where the spectrum of positions on the wanton destruction of our planet ranges from "friendly acquiescence" to "championing with religious zeal".  

- Finally, Andrew Perez exposes how pension fund money is being used to buy and operate facilities using child labour. And Anjeanette Damon, Byard Duncan and Mollie Simon report on the manipulative and deceptive business model used by home flippers to exploit seniors. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Alex Hemingway offers a reminder of the urgent need for a wealth tax - and the opportunity to fund important social priorities by implementing one. But Cory Doctorow points out how our economic system is structured to favour people seeking to get rich off of avoiding responsibility - including through the same firms being responsible for performing audits as for advising corporations on how to beat them. 

- Gwynne Dyer writes about the threat to our living environment posed by warming oceans, while Isla Myers-Smith notes that the release of greenhouse gases from permafrost stands to accelerate the cycle of warming and extreme weather. 

- But while the world burns, Carl Meyer reports on how the UCP has allowed oil lobbyists to take any discussion of even distant and loophole-riddled net-zero emission targets off of their policy agenda. And Trina Moyles reports on the direct connection between the UCP's cuts to firefighting and the calamitous wildfires which struck last week.

- Meanwhile, Jason Markusoff discusses how the UCP under Danielle Smith is now controlled by Take Back Alberta, which is pushing the limits of anti-science and authoritarianism even compared to both the UCP and the past Wildrose party. 

- Finally, Emma Bowman comments on how the dehumanization of homeless people results in many avoidable deaths - even if few receive as much publicity as Jordan Neely's.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Alec Connon discusses how anger is an entirely appropriate response to the capitalist imperative to impose constant costs and burdens on people and the planet. And Alexandra Digby, Dollie Davis and Robson Hiroshi Hatsukami Morgan write that the collapse of First Republic Bank and other financial institutions can be traced directly to an incentive structure which rewards reckless risk-taking rather than responsible management and long-term planning. 

- Alex Lawson reports on yet another quarter of obscene windfall profits for BP, while Reuters reports on similar results for ExxonMobil and Chevron. And Geoff Dembicki exposes an Alberta group - known for shilling for the oil industry with false accusations against pipeline activists - is itself funded with hundreds of thousands of dollars of secret contributions from CNRL. 

- Lisa Young writes about the choice facing Alberta voters in the election campaign which began this week - with the oil-funded good ol' boy network being challenged in its assertion of perpetual dominance by a coalition seeking to at least expand the range of voices involved in shaping the province's future.  

- Finally, Cory Doctorow writes about the bondage fees used to keep workers from pursuing anything better than exploitative current jobs. And Bob Egelko reports on a court's determination that a single Marriott hotel stole over $9 million in tips from its banquet workers - with the typical consequence being nothing more than a belated requirement to pay it back. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Ed Yong discusses how the brutal realities of long COVID are being systematically erased from the public eye. And Josh Lynn reports on the state of crisis in a Saskatchewan hospital - even as the Moe government's top priority is to squelch any public awareness of the desperate circumstances facing patients and health care workers alike. 

- Ian Urquhart contrasts the self-congratulatory spin of the federal Libs against Canada's already-miserable track record of failing to even approach any of our climate change targets. And Steve Lorteau writes about the harm being done by state-owned polluters, while Troy Farah discusses the role of the rich in exacerbating both a climate breakdown and the harm it does to the rest of humanity. 

- Cory Doctorow discusses the cruelty behind the Republicans' constant attacks on people's access to the necessities of life. Umair Haque writes about the social collapse evidenced by the fear and violence that's led to a spate of shootings at doorsteps and in public places. And Robert Reich points out that Fox News' settlement with Dominion Voting Systems is designed to turn the consequences of deliberate lies about electoral outcomes into a readily-affordable cost of engaging in the fearmongering business.  

- Finally, Jared Wesley writes that Alberta's impending election reflects a referendum on democracy itself, as the rule of law figures to have little chance to survive another term of UCP government.