Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Alexander Haro reports on the scientific recognition that 2023 stands to be by far the hottest year in recorded human history (even compared to the elevated temperatures of other recent years). And Kate Aronoff wonders when the general public will start waking up to the glaring climate risks that are rendering massive amounts of land uninsurable. 

- Meanwhile, Nathasha Bulowski discusses how the federal sustainable jobs bill will would give labour some voice in the future of Canadian work - which represents one of the main reasons why the Cons and their provincial allies are determined to block it.

- Katherine Scott and Trish Hennessy examine how the low-barrier income provided through the CERB served not only as a temporary source of income, but also as a means for workers to improve their work circumstances. And Malone Mullin reports on Food First N.L.'s call for people to have the income they need to ensure a reasonable standard of living, rather than being forced to rely on food banks and other charities.

- Finally, Andre Picard discusses how the price of inaction and dithering in Canada's health care system is a deep decay. And the Canadian Health Coalition highlights why the NDP's push for pharmacare legislation is needed to ensure people don't face barriers to access to medicine.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Dr. Christopher Applewhaite, Kerri Coombs, Dr. Susan Kuo and Protect Our Province BC respond to the reckless attempt to declare "back to normal" in the midst of an ongoing pandemic (with other severe illnesses also circulating at dangerous levels). And Lori Culbert reports on the difficulty health providers are having in trying to treat patients' long COVID symptoms, while Qiangru Huang et al. find that long COVID symptoms tend to become an ongoing issue after the first month rather than getting better with time.

- Katherine Scott discusses the crisis in a care economy where workers are facing increasing demands, constant illness and government-imposed wage cuts from what was already a starting point of austerity.  And Peter Friedrichsen writes about the ongoing collapse of Saskatchewan's health care system under a government operating in deliberate ignorance of people's suffering.

- Gregory Beatty discusses how Scott Moe and Danielle Smith are insisting on driving their respective provinces off a cliff. And Don Braid notes that Smith in particular has made it alarmingly clear how she intends to abuse power based on the positions she's promoted when given the platform of a radio show. 

- Finally, Clare Watson writes about the difficulty of calling out greenwashing in a country where giveaways and excuses for fossil fuel barons are taken as normal by those in power.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Eric Topol writes that the only sensible response to the increased death and sickness from COVID-19 is to dedicate our efforts to fully containing it. And Jessica Nelson reports on research from the University of Alberta showing the massive health care costs alone traceable to unvaccinated people, while Enxhi Kondi reminds us that photo ops dedicated to new beds is useless when it's paired with a plan to refuse to respect or support the workers needed to keep hospitals functioning. 

- Meanwhile, Nakia Lee-Foon examines some of the ways in which COVID and our corporate-driven responses exacerbated inequalities. And Katherine Scott finds that the federal government's all-too-temporary willingness to ensure people had some source of income led to a drastic drop in poverty. 

- Clare Coffey writes that people can't be blamed for finding it difficult to cope with a capitalist system designed to extract every possible resource from them. Jim Stewartson discusses the obvious problems with arranging our economy and society so as to systematically treat psychopathic traits as preconditions to positions of power and wealth. Jeff Sommer points out how a growing proportion of the U.S.' economy is devoted to stock buybacks rather than anything which does anything but enrich existing shareholders and corporate insiders. And Jeff Schurhke reports on Starbucks' union-busting crime spree - and the need for unions and workers alike to counter it. 

- Finally, Derek Eaton and Anik Islam write that the U.S.' climate change legislation can help lay the groundwork for a clean transition in Canada. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Nora Loreto discusses the collective trauma which is following from the combination of a pandemic and a determined effort by our ruling class not to limit the harm it causes. And Dan Sinker writes about the impossibility of reaching anything approaching normal when war and disease are the leading factors shaping our lives. 

- Luke Taylor offers a warning to the Americans not to lower their guard against COVID. Brooklyn Neustaedter reports on the recognition that there's no going back to the way things were prior to the pandemic, while Jean Laroche reports on the expert pushback against lifting mask mandates in Nova Scotia. And Maria Godoy writes about the obvious potential for improvement in air quality standards in classrooms and elsewhere.

- Katherine Scott points out how the pandemic has confirmed the need to take profit motives out of long-term care - as the same businesses responsible for tens of thousands of deaths through resident neglect and poor planning managed to keep their profits at entirely typical levels. And Robert Williams reports on the organizing drive to keep Ontario's health care system from being sold off. But the Canadian Press reports that Loblaws is giving effect to the dangers of for-profit care under corporate control by buying up a major provider of uninsured services. 

- Meanwhile, John di Nino writes about the pattern of privatization of public transit, while Natasha Bulowski reports on the Libs' choice to continue that trend for a major VIA Rail corridor. 

- Finally, Jake Johnson observes that a massive majority of Americans wants to see corporations pay windfall taxes based on their jacking up prices and profits in the midst of a crisis. And John Nichols makes the case to apply that principle to the fossil fuel sector in particular. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Michaeleen Doucleff offers an FAQ on the causes and consequences of long COVID in its various forms. Guy Quenneville reports on the need for COVID cases to keep declining just to get Saskatchewan's health care system back to its already-precarious state from the summer. And CBC News reports on the Moe government's choice to block SGI from protecting its workers and customers with a mask mandate.  

- Katherine Scott offers some lessons in income security from the pandemic, while Daphne Bramham laments that we don't seem to be learning anything about disaster prevention or response despite the constant opportunities to do so. And Gregory Beatty discusses how both low-income Saskatchewan residents and community organizations are paying the price for the Moe government's decision to deprive people of any housing security. 

- Marc Lee takes a look at what the Libs have promised on the housing front - and how their choice in which options to pursue may make all the difference between partially relieving the housing crisis and exacerbating it. And Farrah Merali points out the growing share of Ontario's homes held by investors rather than residents who are making living unaffordable for the province's citizens. 

- James Rowe, Jessica Dempsey and James Mager discuss how pension funds are being hijacked by oil lobbyists and petropoliticians to force continued production in a dying industry. 

- Finally, Ken Boessenkool and Mike Moffatt write that the proper response to inflation driven largely by supply bottlenecks is to communicate why an austerity playbook will do nothing to help. And Faiz Shakir highlights how the one source of inflation which could be controlled through public policy is corporate profiteering.  

#Elxn44 Roundup

Assorted content from Canada's federal election campaign.

- Mitchell Thompson offers a reminder as to why voters can't trust Justin Trudeau's election promises based on both his party's track record of austerity, and his suspicious insistence on precipitating an election rather than supporting Canadians through a pandemic with  the NDP backing that effort in Parliament.

- Marc Goldgrub highlights the flaring flaws with the Cons' convoluted and warped carbon emission scheme. And Markham Hislop examines how the Cons' supposed climate change plan fails to account for increase fossil fuel production:

And it's worth noting that the same problem applies to the Libs' insistence on subsidizing fossil fuel exports, rather than working toward the transition we need to a clean economy.

- Katherine Scott examines the health care proposals on offer, with the NDP's plan for head-to-toe health care representing an importance contrast against the "more of the same" plans of the Libs and Cons. 

- Sara Mojtehedzadeh examines what the parties are offering to essential workers. And the Canadian Press reports on Jagmeet Singh's new commitment to protect health care workers from violence and intimidation.

- Finally, Avneet Dhillon writes about the ongoing popular demand for electoral reform - even as the Libs and Cons go out of their way to try to take it off the table as an option.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Aaron Wherry discusses the dramatically different effects of the COVID-19 pandemic based on inequalities in income and privilege. And Katherine Scott draws on Canada's most recent monthly jobs report to highlight the need for a recovery centered on women.

- Meanwhile, Heather Scoffield points out the tone-deaf whining about deficits from Cons who are happy to see people suffer in order to clear government balance sheets for corporate tax cuts.

- Jonathon Gatehouse reports on Doug Ford's refusal to identify the experts who are supposed to be behind his government's ineffective response to the coronavirus. And Kim Siever reports on the UCP's choice to throw millions of dollars at McKinsey to provide cover to attack and privatize Alberta's postsecondary education system.

- Carl Meyer writes about the connection between Canada's subsidies to the fossil fuel sector, and the gap between promises and reality when it comes to climate change.

- Finally, Doug Cuthand writes about the racism embedded in Canada's justice system as it stands. Crawford Kilian examines what might come next after defunding and dismantling existing police institutions, including the prospect of ensuring that our safety is protected by genuine peace officers. Michelle Stewart discusses some of the functions currently in police hands which would be ripe for rethinking. And Wesley Lowery notes how the institutional power of existing police remains largely undisturbed even as the public has reached its breaking point.