Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Toby Buckle writes about the role of reactionary centrists in greasing the skids toward fascism, while Owen Jones discusses how that process is playing out in the UK as a nominally centre-left government uses every available opportunity to spread reactionary themes and talking points. And the Canadian Anti-Hate Network points out how white supremacist demands around "remigration" are being smuggled into Canada's political conversation. 

- Meanwhile, Scott Martin rightly questions why Mark Carney appears eager to give the architects of Donald Trump's regime direct access to his government. And Christopher Holcroft argues that Canadians should have a say in any major deal with the U.S. - assuming Carney is foolish enough to think such a thing is worth negotiating.  

- Matthew Hughes is rightly exasperated by the absence of consequences for tech giants' gross abuses of law and public trust. And David Dayen discusses the glaring gap between a court's findings of illegal monopoly activity by Google, and its failure to so much as require it to stop. 

- Daniel Eisenkraft Klein and Arianna Schouten discuss how Canada's position on access to medicine has tended to use the language of equity as a means of allowing big pharma to profiteer off of vital medications. 

- Finally, Bethany Hastie and Keegan Nicol write about the Libs' arbitrary nullification of the right to strike. Isaac Phan Nay reports on the NDP's work to stop the suppression of collective action through ministerial order, while Marina von Stackelberg reports on the determination of unions and workers to fight for their rights. And Saumya Kalia discusses how the gig economy has largely suppressed organizational activity. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Sean Boynton reports on new research showing that the deadline 2021 heat dome was significantly exacerbated by the climate crisis. And William Boos discusses modeling showing a strong likelihood that we'll see another record-breaking summer for heat and humidity in the tropics. 

- Meanwhile, Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood notes that even as the Cons shriek about even the slightest policy aimed at alleviating the climate breakdown, the Libs' budget is pushing action down the road (and in some cases even reducing previously-planned funding over the next few years). 

- Amanda Chu and Jamie Smyth report on the predictable role of Exxon and other fossil fuel conglomerates in trying to stall progress on a global plastics treaty. And Craig Hodge, Christina Seidel & Natasha Tucker discuss the need to take a full life-cycle view in managing plastic pollution. 

- Luke Savage takes note of the push to boycott the Loblaws empire, while lamenting the futility of trying to withhold business from an oligopoly. 

- Finally, Martin Lukacs discusses how Pierre Poilievre is parroting big pharma's talking points in seeking to prevent Canadians from having access to needed medications. Luke LeBrun reports on Poilievre's latest meet-and-greet with Diagolon extremists and other rebranded arms of the Flu Trux Klan. And Steve Buist makes a valiant if futile appeal for Poilievre to stop trafficking in cynical fearmogering and general madness. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Kate Irwin reports on new research showing that dozens of the U.S.' largest corporations are doling out more money to their five top executives than they paid in total federal income tax. And Robert Renger makes the case that windfall gains in British Columbia property values should be taxed to ensure the benefits aren't limited to those already wealthy enough to own land.  

- Seth Borenstein reports on yet another month of record-high temperatures, while Thor Benson notes that the fossil fuel sector's claim to be limiting methane emissions is proving as disingenuous as its other climate messaging. 

- Phillip Meintzer and Alienor Rougeot point out that if the UCP were actually interested in limiting the environmental impact of energy production, it would be focusing on the tar sands rather than selectively undermining renewables, while Jordan Kanygin reports on the lack of any return on massive public giveaways to major oil companies to clean up their own industry's messes. Bob Weber reports on the Alberta Energy Regulator's findings that there's no air of reality to Danielle Smith's attempt to paint renewables as a threat to agriculture or the environment. And Norm Farrell highlights how British Columbia is belatedly recognizing the value of investing in distributed clean energy rather than falling for the promises surrounding megaprojects. 

- Finally, Joel Lexchin highlights the dangers of an opaque financial relationship between big pharma and the health-care providers who can be induced to push its products. And Nicole Brockbank, Angelina King and Lori Ward report on the growing pile of documentation refuting Shoppers Drug Mart's claim not to have a plan to exploit public funding for medication reviews. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Kevin Jiang reports on the results of the largest-ever study into the effects of COVID-19 vaccines - which concludes they've been extremely safe (while serving to prevent far worse outcomes). But Gregg Gonsalves laments that public health authorities are under attack by the forces of ignorance - and taking a dangerously defensive posture as a result. And sadly, Patrick Butler's summary of issues facing children in England reinforces the false and anti-health message that the effects of a pandemic on child development should be blamed solely on public health measures to control the spread of COVID, rather than the dangers and effects of the disease itself. 

- Leigh Phillips discusses how wealthy countries are sabotaging work on a global pandemic treaty by insisting that drug manufacturers' profits take precedence over people's health. And Helen Santoro reports on new research showing that big pharma has made over $70 billions in profits off of $11 billion in public research expenditures to develop ten drugs - and has the gall to be demanding that it be entitled to avoid negotiating those drugs' prices to make them remotely affordable to patients. 

- Mark Olalde and Nick Bowlin examine how the oil industry's profits are similarly based entirely on extracting subsidies from, and dumping environmental costs on, the general public. 

- Matthew Rosza weighs in on the need to stop treating ineffective recycling programs as an excuse for permitting the mass pollution generated by plastics. And Gerry McGovern notes that the default assumption that we should accept waste in the name of convenience serves as a source of easily-avoidable energy use. 

- Gil McGowan writes that the UCP's corporatist zealotry represents a grave threat to basic public services. And Joan Westenberg calls out "side hustle" culture for seeking to squeeze even more out of workers while the rich accumulate more and more unconscionable fortunes. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow offers a much-needed response to the establishmentarians who spout "horseshoe theory" to falsely equate work at building equality with its polar opposite. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Crawford Kilian discusses what Canada's long-term climate policy needs to look like as it becomes abundantly clear that relying primarily on consumer-based carbon pricing has failed both as a means of reducing carbon pollution, and as a political calculation. Celeste Young and Roger Jones discuss the reality that providing people with accurate information about the climate crisis has done little to spur any systemic change. And Graham Readfearn talks to Lesley Hughes about the importance of maintaining hope even while recognizing the immense work ahead of us to avert a full climate breakdown. 

- John Gibbons highlights the dangers of allowing the imperative of maintaining a survivable environment to be subordinated to the capital class' demand for perpetually growing wealth extraction. And Fiona Harvey discusses Thomas Piketty's ideas which can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and inequality together. 

- Amber Bracken and Drew Anderson offer a reminder of the carnage being wrought in the Alberta tar sands - even as the perpetrators greenwash themselves and their destruction. And Matthew Taylor reports on new estimates showing that even based on its own spin, the fossil fuel sector is centuries away from zeroing out its emissions with carbon capture. 

- Beth Mole reports on big pharma's massive dark money donations being used to try to avoid any steps to make needed medications more affordable in the U.S. 

- And finally, Arman Hamidian discusses the need to tackle our common challenges with a whole-of-society approach, rather than an assumption that individual incentives and choices are our only options. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Somasetty Suresh examines the symptoms associated with long COVID, while Elizabeth Cooney reports on new research hinting at the depletion of peripheral serotonin as one of its causes. And Jamie Ducharme points out that the CDC (and other public health authorities) still has much-needed recommendations as to isolation in place - even if few organizations are bothering to allow people to abide by them. 

- Meanwhile, Peter Simons discusses how apparent "patient advocacy organizations" are often funded and controlled by pharmaceutical and medical supply companies seeking to goose their own sales. 

- Seth Borenstein reports that even in the wake of multiple catastrophes caused by a climate breakdown in progress, the U.S. is producing more carbon-polluting oil than ever before. And Capital & Main highlights the inability of tree-planting to actually counter the harms from continued carbon pollution. 

- Cory Doctorow writes about the long-awaited declaration of invalidity of Landmark Technology's patent which claimed exclusive rights over virtually every aspect of online business operations - while also pointing out the absurdity of allowing such grossly unproductive rentier capitalism to be as profitable as it's been for decades.  

- Finally, Elijah Anderson discusses how any success and prosperity among Black Americans has been used to stoke white backlash. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- IOS Press discusses new research showing that COVID-19 accelerates the cognitive decline in people already living with dementia. F. Perry Wilson examines how COVID has both directly exacerbated the U.S.' fatality rate, and further exposed existing deficiencies in public health. And John Klein is duly scathing in responding to the Moe government's decision to eliminate masking protections in Saskatchewan health facilities (particularly just in time for a holiday in the midst of a wave to maximize the resulting damage). 

- Meanwhile, Andrew Nikiforuk examines how Danielle Smith and the UCP are doing their utmost to systematically any expectation that elected officials will operate with even a modicum of honesty or public concern, rather than exploiting every available weakness in order to funnel goodies to supporters.  

- Dylan Scott discusses how the development of limited private-sector competition has barely made a dent in price-gouging for EpiPens in the U.S. And Nicholas Frew reports on the growing recognition that work as a firefighter should be treated as a risk factor for cancer. 

- Molly Crabapple reports on the growth of a tenants' movement in New York to counteract the abuses of greedy landlords, while Jen St. Denis exposes the brazenness of one Vancouver landlord which attempted to use its own failure to comply with building codes as an excuse to declare a building "decommissioned" in order to clear out tenants. And Jeral Poskey examines how the U.S.' focus on parking over all other planning considerations has led to immense costs in health and well-being. 

- Finally, Andrew MacLeod reports on a new study showing the connection between children facing preventable risk factors at age 10, and a lifetime of social issues. (Though it's worth noting that the case for providing support to children at risk shouldn't be taken as an argument against universal or broad-based programs which aren't designed to devote resources to exclusion.)

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Linda McQuaig discusses how the Biden administration is providing the Trudeau Libs with an example to follow in ensuring that the ultra-wealthy contribute something closer to their fair share of the cost of a functional society. And Alexandria Nassopoulos highlights the realities facing Canadians trying to survive on grossly insufficient social supports, while Steve Paikin writes about the absurdity of the Ford PCs pouring more money into subsidizing electricity use than major public priorities including long-term care. 

- Kelly Crowe exposes how Statistics Canada took funding from big pharma to produce a propaganda piece under the control of industry representatives.  

- Rebecca Solnit discusses the urgent need to start reducing fossil fuel use immediately, rather than kicking the can down the road based on implausible and self-serving claims about geoengineering and carbon capture as an excuse to keep burning oil and gas. Ayesha Tandon reports on new research showing a surge in methane emissions from wetlands as yet another feedback loop which is leading to an even faster breakdown than anticipated. And Paul Abela warns about the disastrous consequences of approaching the climate crisis with an optimism bias.    

- Finally, Andrew Nikiforuk reports on the Alberta's belated recognition - following a previous denial - of the reality that the province's largest earthquake ever was likely caused by tar sands wastewater disposal. And Charles Rusnell reports that Laurie Pushor is giving his previous high-water mark for villainy of "ripping off nuns" a run for its money by covering up a toxic leak into drinking water at the behest of the UCP's fossil fuel paymasters. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Camille Bains reports on Dr. Mona Nemer's warning that long COVID represents a mass disabling event with potentially devastating social and economic consequences. And Zeynep Tufecki examines the evidence showing the importance of masking in reducing the spread and severity of COVID-19. 

- Natasha Bulowski reports on DT Cochrane's rightful concerns that the spin from grocery magnates summoned to testify before Parliament didn't accurately reflect the reality of how prices have been inflated to generate windfall profits. And Linda McQuaig calls out the Libs for meekly letting big pharma dictate that needed medicines will continue to be subject to inflated prices as well. 

- Carl Meyer reports on the anticipated effects if banks actually comply with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions ' plan to include the cost of a climate breakdown in disclosures about their lending portfolios. Alex Panetta interviews Drew Anderson about the fallout from Alberta and Imperial Oil's joint cover-up of massive tailings ponds leaks. And Helena Horton reports on the BBC's decision to squelch David Attenborough's show on the destruction of nature based on the fear of retaliation from a fossil-backed government. 

- Finally, Andy Kroll, Andrea Bernstein and Nick Surgey examine the billions of dollars being funneled into smashing solidarity and entrenched corporate control over the U.S. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Dyani Lewis writes that we know enough to ensure clean indoor air if we care enough to work on limiting the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses. 

- Jane Philpott and Danyaal Raza observe that the Libs are endangering both the short-term affordability of needed medication and the long-term development of a national pharmacare plan by giving in to lobbying from big pharma. And Euan Thomson writes about the need to fight against a right-wing model which treats puritanical and profit-driven "recovery" schemes as the only response to the crisis of drug poisonings. 

- Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington warn against relying on corporate consultancies as a substitute for a functional and well-resourced public service. 

- Steven Greenhouse points out that major businesses are engaged in old-school union-busting to prevent workers from having a voice in their pay and working conditions. And CBC News reports on a massive human trafficking ring which shows there's no limit to the depravity of employers seeking to trap and exploit workers. 

- Finally, Max Fawcett writes about the dangers of Pierre Poilievre's aggressive know-nothingism. And Marc Fawcett-Atkinson rightly calls out the spread of anti-science hokum among white males in particular. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- David Wallace-Wells discusses how the U.S. is woefully unprepared to deal with the real prospect of another pandemic (particularly on top of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which is the subject of a policy of denial). 

- Peter Frankopan writes that climate is a crucial aspect of history which we ignore at our own peril both in assessing past events, and planning for our own futures. Tessa Koumoundouros reports on new modeling showing that the melting of large ice sheets may result in a far more rapid climate breakdown feedback loop than already anticipated. And Jamey Keaten reports on Antonio Guterres' rightful opprobrium toward climate-wrecking corporations.

 

- Meanwhile, Susan O'Donnell and M.V. Ramana write that New Brunswick (and other governments) shouldn't give in to the demands of nuclear operators seeking to lock down massive funding for projects which will almost certainly fall short of being worth their immense cost.  

- Joel Lexchin offers a reminder of the cozy relationship between the Canadian government and big pharma which has once again been leveraged to prevent any action to make needed medications more affordable. And Lyndsay Armstrong reports on the concern by Nova Scotia social workers that one-time access to for-profit counselling represents more of a corporate recruitment strategy than a plan to help citizens. 

- Finally, Trish Hennessy introduces the latest issue of Monitor Mag with a reminder as to the importance of income inequality and the options available to tackle it. And D.T. Cochrane makes the case for a minimum tax on corporate book profits to limit corporate tax avoidance and fund social priorities. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Eric Reinhart discusses the importance of approaching public health from a collective perspective, rather than presuming health is simply a matter of individual-level choices. And Michael Hiltzik highlights the usual combination of dishonesty and ignorance behind yet another set of talking points intended to undermine masking as a protection against COVID-19 and other communicable diseases.

- Daphne Bramham writes about the dangers of allowing the corporate sector to take over health care, while Alex Ballingall and Raisa Patel report on the apparent big pharma takeover of Canadian prescription drug policy. And Ryan Gabrielson and J. David McSwane offer an appalling look at what happens when for-profit healthcare meets a religious-based immunity from regulation. 

- Armine Yalnizyan writes that the most important headwind facing Canada's economy is a lack of affordability, rather than any concern about inflation. But Peter Armstrong reports that the Bank of Canada is bent on hiking interest rates with the theoretical intention of meeting inflation targets - no matter how much damage it does to people, and how little it accomplishes as corporations continue to profiteer.

- Stefan Gossling and Andreas Humpe examine the carbon emissions of the wealthy, and find that millionaires alone stand to eat up over two-thirds of humanity's remaining carbon budget by 2050.

- Finally, Don Braid discusses how Danielle Smith and the UCP are determined to squelch any criticism of their plans to take pensions and policing under politicized provincial control. And Howard Leeson writes that the spin being used to push Scott Moe's plan to expel the RCMP from Saskatchewan (again in favour of a provincially-controlled police service) doesn't hold water.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Kimberly Atkins Stohr discusses her experience with long COVID - along with the reality that others have suffered far worse when they've lost employment as a result of it. Jasleen Gosal writes about the "silent pandemic" on and around Stanford's campus. And CanCOVID examines (PDF) the communications used to inform people about COVID - including the effect of delay and uncertainty in official communication which enabled conspiracy theories to spread. 

- David Suzuki writes that the East Palestine rail disaster offers an important reminder of the risks of valuing profit over human lives and health. Branko Marcetic discusses the connection between corporate and executive windfalls and increased numbers of train derailments. And Topher Sanders and Dan Schwartz report on the Norfolk Southern corporate policy allowing desk workers to tell rail crews to disregard safety alerts. 

- Jenna Benchetrit reports on yet another quarter of blatant profiteering by Loblaws, while Dan Guadagnolo notes that the public isn't buying its attempts to cast blame elsewhere for its inflated prices. And Jon Keegan discusses how beyond price-gouging for the necessities of life, grocery stores are also turning into massive brokerages for personal information about consumers. 

- Greg Jericho highlights how wages are failing to keep up with price increases in Australia (like in many other countries). And Emmanuel Saez finds (PDF) that the income distribution in the U.S. is more top-heavy now than ever before.  

- Finally, Kelly Crowe exposes how the Libs have given in to lobbying by the pharmaceutical sector and put off a process to develop more fair pricing for the medication people need. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Philip Ritchie writes about new research into natural receptors which may help limit infection by COVID-19 and other viruses, while Alice Klein reports on the development of an inhaled powder which could line the respiratory tract to provide an additional layer of protection. But Spencer Kimball's report on Pfizer's windfall profits (racked up as it inflates the cost of vaccines and treatments) serves as a warning as to why the means of protecting public health can't be put into corporate hands.  

- Meanwhile, David Moscrop weighs in on Loblaws' profiteering as it falsely blames others for inflated prices while bringing in obscene profits. 

- Robert Reich points out that the current corporate stranglehold on public policy is the result of the working class losing sight of the importance of class politics during the Keynesian consensus. And Canadians for Tax Fairness examines how corporations exploited that dynamic to turn massive COVID subsidies  into cash cows while public anger was selectively directed at individuals receiving money to survive. 

- Linda McQuaig discusses how private foundations serve to further the power and shelter the assets of the wealthy few while actual charities struggle to stay afloat. And Angella MacEwen offers a warning that the "employee ownership trust" system mentioned in yesterday's post is designed primarily to funnel money to departing capitalists rather than to give workers any meaningful benefit. 

- Finally, Umair Irfan reports on new research showing that even a relatively modest transition to electric vehicles can lead to substantial improvements in respiratory health. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- George Monbiot discusses how everybody is being forced to play COVID roulette due to the choice not to work toward clean and safe air. Sophie Peterson offers a personal perspective on the damage being done by the failure of governments to take long COVID seriously. And Sharon Kirkey reports on the finding by a panel led by Alex Himelfarb that even using conservative assumptions, thousands of deaths in Canada have been caused by COVID disinformation. 

- Linda McQuaig writes that Doug Ford owes Ontarians an explanation for his refusal to fund public services (concurrent with his willingness to throw money at private profiteers). Bea Bruske warns that Canadian workers can't be expected to accept an economic system which is rigged against them by allowing for price increases but not corresponding wage boosts. And Christopher Olk, Colleen Schneider and Jason Hickel discuss how universal public services help to protect people against inflation and deprivation alike - while also helping to rein in windfall corporate profits and concentration of wealth.  

- Unfortunately, Anna Clark points out how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is instead treating its mandate as being the protection of corporate profits rather than the public - including in failing to regulate vital screening tests. And Cory Doctorow is rightly outraged that Moderna is planning to gorge itself on obscene markups being applied to vaccines researched and developed through public resources. 

- Finally, David Wallace-Wells writes about the continued fallout from the Brexit debacle which has seen standards of living plummet - even as the alt-right everywhere continues to push blinkered nationalism with no regard for its obvious self-sabotage which results. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Stephanie Desmon interviews Ziyad Al-Aly about the reality that anybody infected with COVID-19 faces a substantial risk of heart problems as a result. And Moira Wyton examines what British Columbia could be doing to limit the spread of the Kraken sub-variant, while Paul Faulkner reports on Ian Watkinson's call for air cleaning units to reduce the transmission of respiratory infections in schools. 

- Meanwhile, F. Douglas Stephenson offers a reminder that the pharmaceutical industry has every incentive to see people get sick and require treatment, rather than acting responsibility to avoid the spread of disease. 

- Ari Natter reports on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's work examining whether gas stoves should be regulated due to their contribution to asthma and other respiratory ailments. And Oliver Milman notes that many U.S. cities are finally pushing back against the spread of parking lots which encourage vehicle use while disincentivizing any other form of transportation - even as Peter Walker observes that policies aimed at reducing avoidable vehicle traffic are met with a particularly virulent strain of conspiracy theory in response.  

- Finally, Vivian Unger discusses how an electoral system which awards absolute power based on a minority of votes can be expected to break down trust between the public and the politicians who are supposed to be serving it. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Tisse Wijeratne et al. discuss what we know - and have yet to discover - about long COVID's effects on our brains three years into a pandemic which is being allowed to run rampant. And Mary Van Beusekom writes about the lengthening list of organs affected (and harms possible) when children get infected.

- Thara Kumar warns about Danielle Smith's plans to put health care behind a paywall. And Julia Rock offers a reminder of big pharma's example as to how corporatized health care profits will be used, with far more of its massive revenue from exclusive control over necessary medications going to shareholder payouts and lobbying than to research and development.

- Justin Ling discusses how McKinsey and Company is operating as a richly-compensated shadow government (thanks in no small part to decades of cutbacks and "efficiencies" which have left the public sector with challenges in trying to plan and strategize for itself). 

- Gabrielle Fonrouge reports on Walgreens' belated admission that its complaints about inventory theft were overblown - which comes far too late (and too quietly) to make up for the disproportionate effect the initial spin had in buttressing tough-on-crime messages in key elections.

- Finally, Trish Hennessy discusses what we can do to avoid being duped by misinformation. An Dan Dunsky reviews two books addressing the deliberate falsehoods spread by the populist right (and the damage they've done to democracy).

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Greg Jericho rightly notes that the COVID pandemic showed beyond doubt that poverty is a policy choice - which makes it all the more maddening that the powers that be are so determined to inflict it on people as part of any new "normal". And Ian Welsh invites us to imagine a world where the violence and need that characterize our political economy are themselves treated as unthinkable.

- Henry Giroux highlights the overlap between neoliberalism and fascism in treating large numbers of people as disposable. And Paul Dechene writes about the choice of Regina's City Council to disclaim any responsibility for, or interest in, ensuring people have homes as one of the aspects of city politics which needs to be burned up. 

- Joe Fish discusses the tragic gap between the Canadian research discovering vaccines which could save countless lives, and the complete lack of interest in developing and producing them due to an insufficiently profitable market. 

- Finally, Eugene Boisvert and Anisha Pillarisetty write about new modelling showing the risk of cascading extinctions caused by climate change. James Hansen et al. warn that existing greenhouse gas forcing could result in a 10 degree increase in global temperatures - far beyond the scenarios treated as even worst-case results of fossil fuel lock-in. And Dana Drugman reports on a new study showing how the oil industry has poured billions of dollars into preventing any action to ameliorate any climate breakdown.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus examines how long COVID is producing disastrous social and economic effects. Helena Perez Valle interviews Deepti Gurdasani about the lessons we should be learning both to address the continued spread of COVID-19 and to prepare for future pandemics, while David Wallace-Wells discusses the need for more compelling stories about the continued toll of COVID in order to make the case for the public health measures needed to keep people safe. And Nergis Fertina explores how COVID itself may be changing people's personalities to be more aggressive and less engaged. 

- Glorie Dickie reports on new research showing that the Earth's wildlife population has dropped by more than two-thirds in just the last half century. Emily Hofstaeder reports on the grossly one-sided relationship between pharmaceutical manufacturers which have been devastating Puerto Rico's environment by dumping pollutants and using limited water resources, and the public which has subsidized that harm. And Camilla Hodgson discusses how "loss and damage" funding for developing countries looms as the next major issue in global climate talks. 

- Meanwhile, the Alberta Federation of Labour has offered a blueprint (PDF) for economic development which accounts for the need to transition to the economy of the future - rather than continuing to operate in denial as the UCP and Saskatchewan Party are both determined to do. 

- Josh O'Kane reports on a new study showing how Microsoft has evaded even more taxes than previously known by shifting profits between jurisdictions. 

- Finally, Mitchell Thompson highlights how inflation is being used as an excuse to suppress real wages in Canada while big business goes unquestioned about its increased profit share. Robert Reich discusses the need for a bottom-up economy rather than the trickle-down model which benefits only those at the top. And Juliana Kaplan and Madison Hoff report on new research showing that union membership can boost a worker's lifetime income by over a million dollars - offering as much of a boost to earnings as a college degree.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Jacob Stern asks whether the new normal is to blithely accept large numbers of avoidable COVID deaths - and sadly the answer to that question from everybody with the ability to avoid the outcome is a resounding "yes". But for those who haven't given up on the concept of respecting people's health and well-being, the University of Saskatchewan has developed a means of sampling wastewater on a building-level basis to identify outbreaks. And Eric Topol discusses the advantages of getting a booster vaccination in reducing infection and severe outcomes alike. 

- Meanwhile, Dean Baker offers a reminder that there's no need for governments to pay corporations over and over for the same work - including by providing them monopolies and large public payments for medications also researched and developed on the public dime. 

- Oliver Milman reports on the newly-revealed documents showing how the fossil fuel industry has lied to the public about both the climate crisis and its willingness to be anything but an obstacle to a health environment, while Natasha Bulowski exposes yet another "grassroots" campaign being exposed as funded by dirty energy. Nadeen Ebrahim discusses why petrostates can't afford to drink their own Kool-Aid in proclaiming that oil booms are here to stay. And Fiona Harvey reports on Oxfam's research showing how the countries most exposed to a climate breakdown are facing desperate shortages of food due to the carbon pollution we've spewed to date. 

- Gabriel Blanc writes that Pierre Poilievre is looking to undercut collective action against a climate crisis facing humanity as a whole. Leah Gazan points out the many shackles he plans to place on Canadians while claiming to stand for freedom, while Jim Stanford highlights the utter folly of his economic talking points. 

- Finally, the Globe and Mail's editorial board discusses the importance of building more - and more affordable - housing to meet growing needs. And Andy Crosby and Jacqueline Kennily offer a reminder that the roots of soaring rents can be traced to austerity and underinvestment since the 1990s.