Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Don Moynihan discusses how the systematic erosion of American democracy includes the elimination of the belief among Republicans that the public service should be qualified and non-partisan rather than controlled from on high for political purposes. And Jonathan Last writes about the needed response to a ruling party which has jettisoned morality and ethics in favour of an unfettered will to power. 

- Zain Haq argues that the climate crisis is also a product of moral corruption (encouraged by the people whose wealth and power derives from harming others). Paul Palmer and Liang Feng discuss the record-breaking carbon dioxide readings being delivered by a NASA satellite which may soon succumb to the Trump war on reality. Oliver Milman reports on a new study finding the U.S. suffered record climate damage this year. And James Murray weighs in on the latest State of Climate Action report which shows humanity falling short of combating a climte breakdown by every possible standard. 

- Meanwhile, the State of Global Air 2025 report finds that the death toll from air pollution continues to be in the high seven figures, while over a third of the world's population is exposed to excessive pollution levels. 

- Paul Mozur, Adam Satariano and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega report on the justified public backlash against AI data facilities which are gobbling up desperately-needed water and power supplies at the expense of public health and well-being. And Caroline Haskins reports on some of the complaints people have made to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission about the direct harms caused by AI.

- Finally, Julia Lurie reports on the latest examples of Amazon's abuse of employees - including its driving a pregnant worker to homelessness by refusing to accommodate her with a place to sit. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Leonie Thorne reports on new data showing that COVID-19 was Australia's third-leading cause of death in 2022 even as conventional wisdom decreed that the pandemic in progress be ignored. And Christopher Waddell examines (PDF) the lessons Canada should have recognized for future health emergencies from COVID, while Andre Picard asks whether we've learned anything to prepare for another pandemic even while in the midst of a continuing one. 

- Blair Fix takes a look at the mountain of evidence showing that inequality has been worsening over the past few decades as public policy has catered more and more to corporate interests. Cory Doctorow examines how Amazon has enshittified its services to extract more and more from buyers and sellers alike. And Debbie Cenziper et al. expose how Philips Respironics covered up known dangers of tainted breathing machines, putting hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children at avoidable risk in order to avoid answering for defects in their products. 

- Gordon Laxer discusses how any serious conversation about foreign meddling in Canadian governance needs to start by recognizing the grossly outsized influence of the foreign-owned oil sector. Claire O'Manique writes that we can't afford to keep giving carbon polluters a free pass for the damage they're doing to our living environment. And Michael Mann writes that while we've already failed to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees, we can't give up on the work that can still be done to rein in catastrophic climate change. 

- Finally, John Woodside reports on the warning from numerous nuclear safety experts as to the costs and risks of the small modular reactors being pushed by the Trudeau government (along with several right-wing provincial governments).  

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- David Wallace-Wells writes about the continued excess mortality in the U.S. beyond the million-plus deaths already attributed to COVID-19. Blair Williams calls out the "COVID hegemony" which has seen the wealthy and powerful downplay an ongoing pandemic in order to foist intolerable costs and risks on workers. Ian Welsh writes that we should be nothing but embarrassed at humanity for its collective failure in addressing a widespread and obvious threat to everybody's health. And Umair Haque notes that rather than being back to some pre-pandemic "normal", we've stumbled into the era of the polycrisis, while Zoe Cohen discusses the self-destructiveness of pursuing economic growth at all costs.  

- Julia Doubleday points out how a lack of accurate and updated information about the known effects of COVID has opened the door for misinformation to fill the vacuum. And Jaigris Hodson and Andrea Gazilia offer suggestions as to how to avoid falling prey to misinformation - though as is so often the case, we shouldn't treat individual measures as a full response to a systemic problem. 

- Geordie Dent writes that an influx of foreign money and a failure to build social housing units are primary culprits in the escalation of Canadian housing prices far past what residents can afford. 

- Mitchell Beer discusses the conclusion of the Net Zero Advisory Board that a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas is a must for Canada to meet its 2030 targets. 

- Finally, Sindhu Sundar and Katherine Long discuss the findings of the U.S. Department of Labor that Amazon's "gamification" of its warehouses serves to make work even more dangerous than it would otherwise be.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Ed Yong writes about the need for people to keep caring for and protecting each other to make up for being abandoned by business-driven politicians in the middle of a deadly and debilitating pandemic. Olivia Bowden discusses the considerations surrounding booster vaccine doses which do require government involvement. And Victor Castro-Gutierrez et al. study the connection between school infections and community spread (showing a clear pattern of the former driving the latter), while Sandra Lopez-Leon et al. examine (PDF) the long COVID symptoms suffered by children. 

- Stephanie Kelton writes that interest rate hikes and austerity are the hydroxychloroquine cure for inflation (i.e. quackery being pushed by the right as a substitute for viable measures which don't suit their political purposes), while the effective medicine of taxing windfall profits is being conspicuously left off the table. And TVO interviews Mike Moffatt about the glaring need for action to make housing remotely affordable for the people who need it most. 

- Jeremy Appel exposes how Amazon is trying to intimidate its workers in Quebec - but notes that it's also finding more resistance there than in some places. 

- Malcolm James, Jane Kenway and Rebecca Boden highlight how private schools in the UK use public money to create educational and social inequality. 

- Finally, David Fraser reports on the launch of the Ottawa People's Commission to report on the city's occupation. Jonathan Montpetit reports on the threats being made against libraries by convoy-affiliated bigots attempting to silence any voices which don't share their hostility to LGBTQ+ people. And Robert Reich writes about the roots of the U.S. Trumpism which is bleeding into Canada. 

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Mary Ziegler and Scott Lemieux both warn of the many other rights in imminent danger due to both the fact of the elimination of abortion rights by the Republican-dominated U.S. Supreme Court, and the excuses made for it.

- Dylan Scott discusses how the decision will lead to increase in child poverty. And Cassandra Szklarski reports on the growing reality of child hunger in Canada - as well as the need for a fundamentally more equitable policies to ameliorate it, rather that short-term band-aids. 

- Meanwhile, Erika Ibrahim reports on the Libs' choice to keep delaying even a framework bill for a national disability benefit. And Sid Frankel, John Stapleton and Shalini Konanur discuss how the demand that people repay the CERB benefits which they were told to apply for is further squeezing people already living in poverty.  

- Emily Leedham calls out Pierre Poilievre's designs on using the threat of withholding federal funding to dictate the lines of academic freedom. 

- Raymond Zhong writes about the proliferation of extreme heat around the globe. 

- Finally, Adam King discusses how Amazon is continuing to violate labour standards in an effort to prevent employees from exercising any collective bargaining power. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Thomas Walkom points out that most Canadians have far more reason to fear an austerity-fuelled recession than any foreseeable level of inflation. J.W. Mason points out that the U.S. Fed is similarly looking to squeeze workers over inflation that has nothing to do with wages. And Jason Del Rey reports on leaked internal Amazon research finding that one of the most notorious abusers of labour may run out of workers to exploit as soon as 2024. 

- Edward Helmore reviews Bob Keefe's Climatenomics, including its analysis of how the climate breakdown is causing the supply chain disruptions which (along with corporate profiteering) represent the actual reasons for soaring prices. Matthew Rosza offers a warning as to how the 1930s dust bowl caused by a familiar disregard for sustainable development may offer a look at our future. And Fiona Harvey, Ashifa Kassam, Nina Lakhani and Amrit Dhillon discuss why extreme heat is only getting more severe.

- Emma McIntosh reports that Doug Ford's planned Highway 413 will do far more environmental damage than he has been prepared to admit. And Jesse Cnockaert reports on the warning from renewable energy experts at that the small nuclear reactors being pushed by petropoliticians as an alternative to wind and solar represent a delay tactic with dubious supposed benefits. 

- But then, Max Fawcett observes (with reference to Pierre Poilievre's attempt to hawk cryptocurrency) that the arsonist right is perfectly happy to be wrong - and indeed to cause massive damage to anybody foolish enough to believe them - as long as it serves their political ends.

- Finally, Lucette Cysique et al. study the ongoing cognitive impairment being discovered even in people who have only mild to moderate cases of COVID-19.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Lauren Pelley reports on the strain Canada's children's hospitals in particular are facing in the midst of COVID-19's sixth wave. David Axe discusses the most important risk factors in the potential emergence of new global waves, while Smitri Mallapaty offers a reminder that the coronavirus can spread and mutate in deer and other animal populations. Sun Yoo et al. study the prevalence of the development of long COVID (being about 30% of all people treated) while Antonios Koutalos et al. find that long COVID's effects include harm to the musculoskeletal system. And Gili Regev-Yochay et al. study the effectiveness of a fourth vaccine dose. 

- Kim Siever highlights how Canadian grocery stores have raked in windfall profits during the course of the pandemic while pointing the finger elsewhere for the higher prices they're charging to people trying to buy the necessities of life.  

- Meanwhile, Geraint Harvey points out that businesses are predictably responding to the slightest upward wage pressure with a round of automation to eliminate jobs which might otherwise have to pay a living wage. And Paul Christopher Gray and Jordan House compare the successful Amazon organizing drive in Staten Island to previous attempts in Alberta and elsewhere. 

- Finally, Umair Haque holds out the prospect that the future will eventually get better - but only well into the future, and based on the hope that younger generations will prove far more successful than the ones now in power at defining and working toward the common good. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Tim Requarth writes about the U.S.' appalling number of COVID orphans who have lost caregivers due to failures in public health policy - and the fact that they're now being left without alternative social supports as well. And the Decent Work & Health Network points out Ontario's worsening lack of protections for workers generally, while Alex Cosh asks why British Columbia has ended measures which are vital to alleviating spread and illness among migrant workers. 

- The Canadian Press reports that British Columbia is moving toward restoring card-check certification which will make it easier for workers to take collective action. But Catherine McInyre exposes how Amazon has skirted labour and employment laws to avoid collective bargaining with the workers who allow it to function. 

- Conor Curtis and Tzeporah Berman rightly ask why the Trudeau Libs would even consider allowing massive new offshore drilling while pretending to care about averting a climate breakdown, while Elaine Anselmi takes a closer look at how the Bay du Nord project came to be approved yesterday. Kate Aronoff similarly points out the folly of the U.S. Democrats' focus on pushing oil companies to drill more. Don Pittis is rightly appalled at the spate of fuel tax breaks which are serving as a carbon pollution subsidy and handout to a fossil fuel sector already swimming in windfall profits. And Emily Chung reports that researchers learning the effects of natural gas stoves in the home are shifting away from them as quickly as possible. 

- Meanwhile, Damian Carrington reports that microplastic pollution is beginning to be found even in people's lungs. 

- Finally, Sharon Blady discusses how investments in preventative medicine - including pharmacare and dental care - produces fiscal benefits as well as improved health. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Stephanie Carvin, Kurt Phillips and Amarnath Amarasingam discuss how anti-vaxx themes in Canada are being pushed and used by the fascist right. Alex Boutilier and Rachel Gilmore highlight how the convoy supported by Scott Moe, Jason Kenney, and so many other right-wing politicians is explicitly seeking to create its own January 6th riot and overthrow the federal government. Emily Leedham exposes the conspiracy theories and racism of Moe's new friend Nadine Ness. And a medical officer of health offers some needed tips in responding to targeted harassment by the anti-vaxx cult. 

- Kate Aronoff writes that a return to meaningful public planning is a must to deal with climate change (among other problems which can't be solved by hand-waving in the general direction of "market forces"). And Stephen Leahy discusses the counterproductive realities of tax giveaways to the fossil fuel sector for promised carbon capture and storage. 

- Lisa Friedman reports on new research showing the health consequences of even small levels of soot pollution. And Raymond Zhong reports on research revealing that gas stoves and other appliances may be leaking methane even when not turned on. 

- Finally, Aaron Gordon and Lauren Kaori Gurley report on Amazon-funded high school courses intended to indoctrinate students into an exploitative corporate mindset. And Michael Smart and Sobia Hasan Jafry ask why Canada isn't applying reasonable inclusion rates to capital gains to ensure the rich pay their fair share. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Eric Topol writes that we have the public health tools at our disposal to overcome the Omicron COVID variant if our leaders are responsible enough to use them, though Susan Delacourt notes that repeated messages about the pandemic being over have created avoidable fatigue about the need for more. John Michael McGrath writes that our health care system can't bear another mismanaged COVID wave. And Tara Deschamps reports on a new survey showing a massive supermajority of Canadian workers facing burnout over the past two years. 

- Luke Savage highlights how the pharmaceutical companies peddling COVID vaccines developed through public research now stand to profit by denying inoculations to large swaths of the planet and extending the pandemic. And the Strategic Organizing Centre exposes how Amazon concealed tens of thousands of COVID cases among its workers from occupational health and safety authorities. 

- John Clarke writes that British Columbia's recent floods offer an indication both of the consequences of a climate breakdown, and our lack of preparation to meet them. Gerald Kutney observes that "natural" disasters are increasingly the result of human intervention and neglect. And Alex Cosh discusses how migrant workers have been put at particular risk. 

- Max Fawcett examines the actual causes of inflation in Canada - in contrast to the Cons' attempt to blame the existence of any social benefits whatsoever. And Justin Chandler asks why social assistance rates aren't keeping pace with any level of inflation, while Kristin Rushowy reports on the Ontario NDP's plan to at least ensure the province's minimum wage increases to something closer to the cost of living. 

- Finally, Armine Yalnizyan discusses the new fiscal federalism which is seeing at least some federal investments tied to policy improvements rather than being dumped into a black hole (as requested by far too many premiers).

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jill Filipovic discusses how the mounting toll in human lives and health from COVID should leave no room for controversy about modest responses such as vaccine mandates. Andre Picard writes that there's no prospect of moving from a pandemic to an endemic state without active intervention to control the spread that's now being allowed to run wild. And in case there's any doubt that vaccinated people have plenty to lose from avoidable community transmission, Will Stone writes about the realities of even a mild "breakthrough" case of COVID. 

- Meanwhile, James Keller and Carrie Tait report on warnings from Alberta's doctors about the imminent collapse of their health care system, while Leyland Cecco connects that reality to Jason Kenney's deliberate choice not to apply public health restrictions. 

- Jillian Horton expresses rightful frustration at "kindness gaslighting" intended to allow for bad actors to engage in wanton destruction in the name of kindness and civility.  

- Brady Dennis and Adam Taylor report on new polling showing strong recognition of the need to combat a climate breakdown through global action. And it's well worth noting that the resulting demand that the world's largest economies take the lead in that effort has major consequences for any plan to export fossil fuels to the U.S. and China for any sustained period of time. 

- Finally, Sara Mojtehedzadeh and Omar Mosleh report on the certification application at Amazon's Nisku warehouse which may create an important precedent for the prospects of bringing collective bargaining to new types of jobs. 

On priorities

For all the commentary Marco Rubio has managed to generate with his threat that Republicans may hate Amazon more than the workers seeking to organize it, nothing reflects the warped priorities of his party (and their Canadian cousins) than this passage:

It is no fault of Amazon’s workers if they feel the only option available to protect themselves against bad faith is to form a union. Today it might be workplace conditions, but tomorrow it might be a requirement that the workers embrace management’s latest “woke” human resources fad.

That's right: the Republican idea of motivating workers is to say that if they don't respond to the imminent risk of injury, disease or even death at the hands of a notoriously callous employer, they could someday face the apparently far more compelling danger of...being held to account for racism.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Andre Noel reports on the growing push among medical professionals for a COVID-zero strategy, while Zach Goudie points out how people can reduce their own contribution to potential spread with improved masking. And Avis Favaro and Elizabeth St. Philip report on research showing that a substantial number of infected health care workers never show immediate symptoms, while David Nauen, Jody Hooper, C. Matthew Stewart et al. examine the impact COVID-19 has on the brain. 

- Aaron Saltzman reports on the high-priced and poorly-regulated private COVID testing industry. And in case we need a reminder what's possible when governments take public investment and provision of services seriously, Ed Augustin and Natalie Kitroeff report on Cuba's success in developing its own vaccine - and the prospect that it may be shared with tourists before travelers are able to get vaccinate at home.

- Hassan Yussuff, Doug Roth and Linda Siles discuss how far too many Canadians are struggling to pay for needed medications, signalling the continued need for a national Pharmacare plan.

- Evan Radford is the latest to report on Saskatchewan's devastating opioid crisis, including in smaller cities whose social issues don't often receive much attention.

- Finally, Erika Hayasaki discusses the growing organization among Amazon employees as an example of the COVID pandemic pushing people toward needed collective action.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Michael Fraiman discusses how far too many leaders have failed or refused to live up to the title when their authority was needed to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. And Canada News Central reports on the findings of Ontario's Auditor-General about Doug Ford's failure to fund or listen to public health experts.

- Joe Dangor writes about new research from the Mayo Clinic confirming the role of masks in limiting the spread of COVID-19.

- Sara DiNatale tells the story of Gerardo Gutierrez, a worker who died of COVID-19 after being ordered by his employer not to wear a mask. And Arthur White-Crummey reports on an outbreak at Thunder Creek Pork whose details have been kept under wraps by both the corporate owner, and the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

- Lauren Kaori Gurley reports on Amazon's surveillance of labour and environmental groups (along with its own workers) in order to avoid any challenges to its control. 

- Finally, George Monbiot highlights how the UK's Brexit mess is the result of a war between competing capital factions - with the public interest as the main casualty. And Bernie Sanders comments on the need to win back the support of working class voters - both at the polls and through regular engagement in the political process - in order to counter the trend toward authoritarianism as the perceived alternative to neoliberal corporatism.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Scott Aquanno writes about the role the Bank of Canada has played so far in responding to COVID-19, while also recognizing that a new public bank could and should do far more to ensure we invest in a sustainable economy rather than plunging into austerity.

- Paul Krugman discusses the disconnect between the dire reality facing most of the U.S.' population, and the partial rebound of stock prices based on the expectation that it will still be possible to extract wealth from the general public. Tracey Tully writes about the continued spread of massive food bank queues in states with no lack of overall wealth. And Jonathan Mijs points out some of the lessons about inequality which are highlighted by the coronavirus crisis.

- PressProgress exposes Amazon's lobbying of the federal government before it was handed logistical responsibility which would normally have been kept within the public sector.

- Madeleine Cummings reports on the plight of migrant workers who don't share the access to health care that keeps other Canadians comparatively healthy in the midst of a pandemic.

- Finally, Louise Kyle writes that any vaccine for COVID-19 needs to be treated as a public good available to all, rather than a profit centre meted out only to people who can pay big pharma's prices. And Carl Bergstrom and Natalie Dean explain why a vaccine is ultimately the only viable option to reach herd immunity by pointing out the ramifications of allowing a deadly disease to run rampant. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Stephen Buranyi laments the reality that the public's increased awareness and concern about our ongoing climate breakdown isn't being reflected in political decisions. And Noah Smith writes that while the rapid drop in prices for renewable energy may help us avoid the worst possible climate outcomes, we shouldn't doom ourselves to the massive damage expected from a business-as-usual scenario.

- Erin Baerwald calls out the gross inaccuracy of Doug Ford's anti-wind crusade. Jeremy Klazsuz reviews Jason Kenney's year of attacks, while Scott Schmidt discusses the threat the UCP's war room poses to the public's freedom of expression. And Morgan Modjeski reports on the laughably overwrought shrieks of protest in response to a fairly standard Oxbow Christmas pageant which dared to include environmental themes.

- Eion Higgins reports on the spread of the #wouldyoushootmetoo hashtag in response to the news that the RCMP was prepared to shoot to kill peaceful land defenders.

- Chelsea Whyte discusses the tragic - and entirely avoidable - return of measles to the U.S. as a result of antivaxxers.

- Finally, Heather Mallick points out the economic and environmental damage we do by relying on Amazon. And Brendan Kennedy reports undercover on the working conditions facing Amazon's delivery drivers.