Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Joshua Pearce discusses the reality that the climate crisis could carry a ten-figure death toll over the course of this century - which would give rise to an obvious responsibility to act among any but the most inhuman of leaders. Mario Alejandro Ariza reports on the connection between insurance costs rising as a result of the climate breakdown, and a resulting spike in people who can't pay their mortgages. And Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood highlights the need for Alberta and other jurisdictions currently under the thrall of petropolitics to prepare for reduced demand. 

- But Joakim Kulin examines how finger-pointing and blame-shifting have been used to translate nationalism into climate obstruction. Raphael Satter and Christopher Bing reports on the emerging revelations as to how Exxon Mobil and its corporate buddies have sponsored and made use of the hacked e-mails of environmentalists to disrupt climate litigation and activism. And Geoff Dembicki reports on the astroturfing efforts of the fossil gas lobby in its attempt to undercut Vancouver's ban on gas heating - though Seth Klein is relieved to note that attempt to drag the city backwards just barely fell short. 

- Henry Obanya discusses the immense amount of microplastic pollution caused by vehicle tires. 

- Negin Owliaei and Maya Schenway point out that the incoming Trump administration has a detailed and dangerous playbook to shut down progressive civil society. And Robert Reich offers a reminder that an ostensibly populist campaign has given way to a cabinet of plutocrats and their sycophants, while Gil Duran talks to Brooke Harrington about the tech bros' plans to exploit the power of the presidency. 

- Finally, David Moscrop discusses the belated recognition by some commentators that a "liberal" consensus which does nothing to challenge concentrated wealth and power will never earn the support of the working class. And Kim Siever reminds us that billionaires are an economic drain on society - not a goal to be pursued, or even a necessary evil to be accepted.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Fiona Harvey reports on the G20's apparent plans to back away from even the aspiration of transitioning away from fossil fuels to preserve a liveable environment, while Perry Parks writes that journalists have a duty not to pretend that preventable climate catastrophe is a value-neutral issue. 

- Adam Morton reports on the continued disappearance of Antarctic sea ice, while the University of Reading examines how our weather is set to become more extreme over the coming decades. And Ilana Cohen and Thea Sebastian discuss the behavioural consequences of extreme heat, including a foreseeable spike in violence.  

- Luke LeBrun reports on the Russian Canadian Democratic Alliance's call for Canada's parliamentary study into foreign interference to pick up on Russia's sponsorship of the alt-right, while Max Fawcett notes that Vladimir Putin's useful idiots are readily visible and identifiable in Canadian politics and media. And Paul Willcocks takes note of the BC Conservatives' authoritarian attacks on journalists who have the gall to report on public postings and statements from their candidates and core staff. 

- Meanwhile, Maya Oppenheim discusses how misogyny has been deployed as a gateway form of hatred and discrimination to recruit men to the far right.

- Finally, Veronique Sioufi points out that the temporary foreign workers facing modern-day slavery are the victims of Canada's system which deprives them of any meaningful rights. And Kim Siever discusses the need to look beyond unionizing capitalist entities, and instead plan for collective structures to guide our economic and social decisions. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett lament that inequality continues to get worse fifteen years after they warned of its myriad harms. And George Monbiot writes about the deadening effect of extreme wealth, as the people with the most achieve no particular benefit from hoarding and spending ever-more-unconscionable fortunes. 

- Alex Cosh examines new Statistics Canada data showing that the gap between the rich and poor is only widening, while Katia Lo Innes and Martin Lukacs offer a look at just ten of the mansions Pierre Poilievre has used to extract donations from the uber-wealthy to spend on ads pretending to care about the working class. 

- Meanwhile, Alex Hemingway notes that the replacement of right-wing Liberals with an NDP government in British Columbia has at least resulted in some level of tax fairness. And Kim Siever discusses how the proliferation of consumer debt suppresses workers' wages. 

- Adam King offers a reminder that Doug Ford (like other right-wing politicians) is refusing to allow migrant workers any protection against lethal heat in the workplace in order to protect corporate profits. And Allessandro Massazza discusses how extreme heat affects mental as well as physical health. 

- Finally, Jess Cockerill notes that the symptoms of our planetary climate breakdown include the rapid depletion of dissolver oxygen in water.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Christopher Nardi reports on Liam Iliffe's unwitting revelations about how fossil fuel companies regularly thumb their noses at lobbying requirements and other rules while pulling the strings of compliant Canadian governments. Amanda Follett Hosgood discusses the growing push to ban at least blatantly false greenwashing, while John Woodside notes that it's telling that only the oil and gas sector is screaming bloody murder over a standard of accuracy which would apply to all kinds of business.  And Genevieve Guenther examines the new language of climate denial (which will sound painfully familiar in the Canadian political context). 

- Eric Ralls reports on a new study finding that air pollution is responsible for a nine-figure death toll since 1980, while Joao Medeiros laments the reality that such an ubiquitous killer is barely even recognized. And point out that the damage from forest fires includes multiple harms to lakes and waterways.

- Simon Wren-Lewis discusses the importance of highlighting how right-wing attacks on public revenue are the cause of the crisis in public services - and the reality that more and fairer taxes are a must to build the public institutions people want and need. And Kim Siever points out that strong public-sector jobs are good for the economy - meaning that the perpetual right-wing drive to make them privatized or precarious is all about waging class warfare against workers. 

- Finally, Gabriel Zucman offers a proposal (PDF) for a coordinated wealth tax to ensure the global ultra-rich can't evade any responsibility to the social sources of their profits. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Joëlle Gergis asks what it will take for political leaders to acknowledge and act on the science demonstrating that we're on the precipice of climate disaster. And Fiona Harvey discusses Laurence Tibuania's eminently reasonable take that the people who built wealth through an unsustainable and destructive system will have to contribute to remedying the damage. 

- But Charisma Madarang and Andrew Perez report that the Republicans' big money machine is applying all available pressure to have their partisan majority on the U.S. Supreme Court block any attempt to have polluters pay for the harm they've done. Matthew Rosza notes that the financial sector is pairing extensive greenwashing publicity with continued funding for large-scale carbon pollution. And Nina Lakhani reports on new research showing that many of the credits claimed by large corporations as emission reductions are in fact worthless, double-counted or both. 

- Meanwhile, Fatima Syed reports on the new (or newly-acknowledged) contaminants endangering the Great Lakes region. And Leyland Cecco reports on New Brunswick's decision to suppress any awareness or investigation of a mystery neurological illness which appeared to be based on environmental conditions. 

- Cory Doctorow discusses how Ticketmaster's business model - which is finally being addressed by the U.S. federal government - is just one of many prominent corporate structures based on pure corruption. 

- Finally, Kim Siever exposes how the UCP is normalizing hallway medicine, making the use of hallway beds into a standard operating procedure at Calgary hospitals. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Kate Raworth discusses the need to orient ourselves toward measures of progress based on well-being rather than growth - both due to its being intrinsically more important, and more sustainable under conditions of dwindling environmental resources. And Sonali Kolhatkar laments the U.S.' choice - largely paralleled in Canada - between a party determined to accelerate the climate breakdown and one which promises little improvement beyond a slower death. 

- Laura Cozzi and Apostolos Petropoulos highlight how larger SUVs are one of the major contributors to increases in carbon pollution. Matthew Taylor reports on a new study showing the racial and class dynamics behind greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, with wealthy white men as by far the worst class of polluters. And Karl Bode discusses how the U.S. has passed legislation to close off one of the few tools available to hold the wealthiest few to account for their environmental destruction in the form of emissions from private jets.   

- Katrina Miller and Ryan Romard respond to a typical round of demands for austerity in the name of productivity by pointing out that it's inequality, not fair taxes, which results in stagnation and economic decay. 

- Finally, Kim Siever writes that we can't treat the ability of a worker to quit a single job as a remedy for a system designed for exploitation. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Thom Hartmann discusses how conservative policies and rhetoric both kill people even looking only at  homicides and suicides. Cory Doctorow points out how the conservative impetus to exacerbate inequality has resulted in the housing crisis - including through new means for the wealthy to take homes away from workers. And Jessica Wildfire highlights the inherent unsustainability of any attempt to use wealth or privilege to vanish from a society which is in the midst of breaking down under the logic of extractive capitalism. 

- Meanwhile, Gaye Taylor takes note of the steps Canadian cities are taking to try to reduce the foreseeable number of heat-related deaths which we can expect in the midst of a fossil-fueled climate breakdown. And Annie Nova writes about the immense financial cost of climate change for the people being born today. 

- David Olive writes that there's no valid objection to the Libs' plans to modestly increase the tax inclusion rate on capital gains, while Max Fawcett rightly argues that if anything Canada should be doing far more to ensure the rich pay their fair share. 

- Norm Farrell discusses the propensity of megaprojects to take on a life of their own which results in our missing out on more efficient and effective alternatives. 

- Kim Siever challenges the claim that business owners are entitled to a disproportionate share of profits based on their being the only parties taking on risk. And David Moscrop interviews Alex Hemingway about the far superior results of worker-owned firms by numerous standards - including the job security and resilience which are normally treated as the main reason for serving the interests of capital. 

- Finally, Jared Wesley discusses how the UCP is a threat to democracy - though it's worth noting that every justified criticism represents an element of the playbook of right-wing parties across the continent. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- David Wallace-Wells examines a few of the false narratives which are limiting our response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Sarah Wulf Hanson and Theo Vos write about new research showing that most cases of long COVID have arisen out of seemingly mild initial infections. And Rich Haridy discusses new revelations from autopsies showing pools of the COVID virus in many parts of the body. 

- John Clarke writes about the need for working people to mobilize and stand up for their own interests, rather than accepting class compromise which serves only to further entrench the power of the rich. Kim Siever examines how the UCP's tax giveaway to business produced absolutely nothing for Alberta's workers. And Jeremy Appel and Mitchell Thompson each discuss the CCPA's report on the gap between CEO and worker compensation. 

- Meanwhile, Noam Scheiber reports on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's move to ban noncompete agreements which prevent workers from seeking improved pay and working conditions with a new employer. 

- Rudy Perez offers a reminder that keeping people homeless costs far more public money than providing shelter. 

- Finally, Karl Nerenberg points out that there's still time to implement a fair and proportional electoral system before Canada's next federal election. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Melissa Lopez-Martinez reports on the belated effort to get Canadians to resume taking precautions against the spread of COVID-19. And the Guardian is telling the stories of people living with long COVID - and what they've lost to a pandemic whose damage could largely have been averted by remotely responsible public policy.

- Jared Wesley offers an important look at Danielle Smith's populist playbook which seeks to simultaneously portray privileged people as victims and as an unstoppable force whose will must be given effect. Brett Dolter and Russell Wangersky both point out how Scott Moe reflexively deceives the public about empirical reality to serve the continued inflation of his own ego. And Mary Elizabeth Williams discusses the connection between conservative politics and lower levels of empathy - though perhaps the most important point to be drawn from recent empathy research is how the right is winning the war to eliminate it in people of all political persuasions.

- Chandler Dandridge interviews Gabor Mate and Daniel Mate about how a capitalist society is harming everybody's mental health and well-being. Kim Siever points out how corporate profits have consistently outpaced any gains in wages for Canadian workers. And Katie Underwood interviews Lana Payne about her efforts to ensure members of the working class are valued by governments and employers alike.

- Finally, Brett Marsh comments on how the effects of a climate breakdown will fall disproportionately on the people least able to bear them. And Andrew Nikiforuk discusses the mounting cost - and lack of benefit - being inflicted on the Canadian public due to the Libs' decision to build the Trans Mountain pipeline at public expense.

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. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content for your Friday reading.

- Emma Buchanan writes about the restrictions on media access that have resulted in people being poorly informed about the damage done by COVID-19. Meredith Wadman reports on new research showing that the increased infectiousness of the Delta variant is the result of its leaving more of its genetic code in host cells. And Matt Gurney discusses the importance of increasing vaccine supply around the globe - though he leaves out the obvious source of the current shortage as wealthy countries continue to prohibit the release of intellectual property over publicly-developed vaccines to let developing countries establish their own supply.  

- Corry Anderson-Fennell writes about the benefits for everybody when workers have access to paid sick leave, rather than being financially compelled to work through illness and pain. And Kim Siever debunks the corporate lobby's rhetoric about Alberta workers choosing federal pandemic benefits over work - as the only sectors seeing less employment are the ones where employers (government or otherwise) have chosen to restrict operations. 

- Meanwhile, Mario Canseco discusses new poll data showing an increasing number of Canadians recognizing the opioid crisis as a major problem and recognizing the need for political leadership. 

- David Suzuki calls out the continued subsidization of fossil fuels even as climate science points to an urgent need to transition away from them. Liang Jing et al. study (PDF) the carbon intensity of oil, and find Canada to be the second-worst polluter on the planet for the amount of crude it produces. And Aaron Wherry makes the seemingly obvious point that the high-pollution, low-efficiency tar sands are logically among the first resources which need to be left unextracted as we work on reducing our fossil fuel dependence. 

- Chen Zhou highlights how wealthy countries are trying to shift the goalposts to avoid meeting existing commitments to fund climate finance. Phoebe Weston reports on new research showing the grossly disproportionate share of emissions attributable to luxury carbon consumption. And Andrew Nikiforuk writes about the need to reduce our energy use in order to rein in the climate crisis.

- Finally, Susan Ferguson discusses how the systemic violence of capitalism has dictated a woefully insufficient response to COVID-19 (and to other crises). And Alex Steffen calls out the plutocrats who are using the spoils of existing wealth inequality to corner the market on the necessities for survival in a foreseeable climate apocalypse. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Monique Beals reports on Anthony Fauci's recognition that attacks directed against him are based solely on denialists' hostility toward the truth, while Mike Baker and Danielle Ivory discuss the U.S.' public health crisis. And Zak Vescera examines why Saskatchewan's vaccination rate is so low (notwithstanding Scott Moe's failed attempt to make it into the province's only ongoing response to a pandemic in progress). 

- Meanwhile, Marianne Cooper discusses how women have borne the brunt of additional "invisible work" trying to ensure colleagues' well-being during the course of the pandemic. 

- John Woodside reports on polling showing that a strong majority of Canadians want to see our governments invest in a just transition, and not in new fossil fuel infrastructure. Bill McKibben writes that the effort to avert a climate breakdown has two major strengths in its corner in a massive activist base and readily-available technological solutions. And Kim Siever reports on TransAlta's move from fossil fuels to renewables even under a government desperate to stand in the way of any transition. 

- Christopher Lyon et al. examine models showing the dire future which awaits - including centuries of continually increasing temperatures and drastic environmental changes - if we don't rein in the climate crisis. 

- Finally, Justin Fisher reviews Divided (ed. by JoAnn Jaffe, Patricia Elliot, and Cora Sellers) as to the social harm Saskatchewan is suffering as a result of the Sask Party's neoliberal economic and political model. And Susan Ferguson discusses how the violence and devaluation of life inherent in capitalist decision-making have constrained the responses to COVID-19 and other crises. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Carrie Tait reports on the spate of readmissions of COVID-19 patients to Alberta hospitals, while Zak Vescera points out the large number of Saskatchewan diagnoses happening only in hospital as infected people fail to get tested until their symptoms are severe. And Arthur White-Crummey reports that the Moe government still hasn't gotten around to making a request for federal assistance. 

- Neal Marquez et al. study the greater severity of COVID infections in prisons. And the Center for Health Security discusses the need for higher-quality masks and respirators than are currently in widespread use. 

- Haozhe Yang and Sangowh Suh examine the generational implications of the climate crisis - with younger people standing to benefit substantially from climate change mitigation. And Rebecca Leber highlights how the reconciliation bill currently stalled in Congress represents the U.S.' last and best chance to make a constructive contribution toward averting climate breakdown.

- But in case there was any doubt whether the interests of older and wealthier people are being favoured, Damian Carrington reports on the massive amounts of money being poured into fossil fuel subsidies. And Kim Siever reports on the oil and gas industry's negative contribution to Alberta's corporate tax revenues in 2020. 

- Meanwhile, William Gillies discusses what an actual national energy program could achieve if given a chance to operate. 

- Finally, George Monbiot offers a reminder that trashing the planet and making off with the spoils isn't a distortion of capitalism, but the essence of a system designed to reward individual greed and temporary exploitation. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Paul Nuki, Jennifer Rigby and Anne Gulland write about the refusal to acknowledge the airborne spread of COVID-19 which led to a continuing failure to put basic precautions in place - though part of the problem is noted to involve the match between droplet spread and conservative governments' ideological preferences:

Policymakers and politicians also have a natural bias against the idea that diseases may be airborne, says Professor Jimenez. 

“Droplets and surfaces are very convenient for people in power - all of the responsibility is on the individual,” he said. “On the other hand, if you admit it is airborne, institutions, governments and companies have to do something.”

- And Zak Vescera reports on Scott Moe's continued insistence on pushing already-failed U.S. fads as a substitute for preventative measures, this time in demanding monoclonal antibodies while his public health half-measures fail to make up for a summer of complete neglect. 

- Heather Mallick challenges the attempt to spin any oil as ethical or friendly in the face of a climate crisis along with the well-document historical impact of extractive industries. And Halena Seiferling argues that the new Parliament needs to put climate considerations at the centre of every issue it addresses. 

- Meanwhile, Henry Paulson highlights how we're in the middle of an extreme extinction event for large numbers of species. And Nathanael Johnson notes that the severe wildfires across much of North America this summer were far from the worst on the planet due to Russia's unprecedented blazes.

- Finally, Kim Siever writes that Alberta saw a huge drop in payday loans in the early stages of the COVID pandemic - confirming once again how even a modicum of social support can alleviate the extreme precarity and stress we've been conditioned to think of as normal. Umair Haque laments the Biden administration's failure to work on improving citizens' lives on the scale obviously necessary. And Phillip Inman reports on Antonio Guterres' warnings about the urgent need to reduce inequalities around the globe. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- John Michael McGrath makes the case for optimism about our potential to avoid further waves of COVID as long as COVID-19 vaccinations overtake the risk of community spread. Brian Platt reports on Nova Scotia's use of rapid testing to catch a substantial number of cases in its third wave (while far too many provinces continue to let rapid tests languish). And Kim Siever notes that Alberta's headline numbers primarily reflect a worrisome drop in testing overall. 

- David Moscrop notes that the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the problems with a first-past-the-post political system which doesn't require majority governments to be even remotely responsive to citizens between elections. Duncan Cameron writes that electing good people then failing to put pressure on them once in power is nowhere enough to ensure the kind of action we need to avert a climate breakdown. And Mitchell Thompson interviews Svend Robinson about the importance of the NDP providing a transformational option for voters and activists alike.

- The CCPA's presentation to the federal finance committee highlights the importance of collecting more revenue from the rich to ensure needed services are available to everybody. 

-  Pat Armstrong, Hugh Armstrong, Dan Buchanan, Tony Dean, Gail Donner, Arthur Donner, Sharon Sholzberg-Gray, Alex Himelfarb and Steven Shrybman point out the importance of investing in long-term care for people rather than profits for donors. And Karl Nerenberg discusses how corporate landlords - with the active participation of far too many governments - are putting the price of housing far out of the reach of the people who need it.

- Finally, Christine Ro discusses how overwork is killing many people (even as many others are told there's no work available for them).

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Matt Gurney discusses the need for public health planning to reflect the predictable reactions of people whose compliance affects the viability of any rules. Guy Quenneville reports on the federal government's justified skepticism of Scott Moe's plan to focus on vaccinations alone, rather than actual viral spread. Kenyon Wallace notes that a euphemistic focus on geographic "hot spots" misses the social inequity which has resulted in disadvantaged groups bearing the brunt of COVID-19. And Robert Nam writes about Ontario's freeze on cancer care as one of the side effects of a mismanaged pandemic.

- Amber Cortes and Carl Nelson offer a graphic portrayal as to how COVID-19 has only further exposed and exacerbated the U.S.' homelessness crisis. And Doug Nesbitt discusses how the pandemic has strengthened the case to put an end to profiteering long-term care. 

- Robert Hiltz calls out Jason Kenney and the UCP for prioritizing corporate revenue over people's lives. And in a stark example of that calculus, Wallis Snowdon reports on the massive outbreak at CNRL's Horizon oilsands mine - accompanied by the argument that the public should be entirely satisfied with protocols argued to have met minimum standards even if thousands of people were infected at CNRL sites.

- Meanwhile, Kim Siever points out that record oil production in Alberta isn't translating into a return to past employment levels. And Sarah Anderson weighs in on the gap between soaring CEO pay and stagnating wages even at a time when workers are being praised for being essential. 

- Finally, Paul Krugman offers a reminder that while Republicans may occasionally try to use worker-friendly rhetoric, their actions are aimed at nothing but fighting a brutal class war on behalf of the rich.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Matt Karp writes about the connection between heavily polarized politics, and the concentration of wealth in the hands of people whose interests are served by voters rooting for laundry rather than holding meaningful input into policy choices.

- May Warren reports on the reality that the faster-spreading B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus is likely to become dominant in Canada over the next few weeks. Lauren Pelley reports that even if the COVID-19 pandemic is reined in, we can likely expect to see forms of the virus become a regular part of our lives for years to come. Sophia Harris notes that any new measures to identify and contain COVID-19 and its variants have been conspicuously designed to ignore the truckers who represents the largest source of cross-border contact between Canada and the U.S. And the Star's editorial board warns that Doug Ford is once again refusing to learn from history in refusing to apply appropriate public health measures in the face of a newer and more severe threat.

- Emma McIntosh exposes how Ford is trying to dole out fast-tracked project approvals without environmental assessments to deep-pocketed donors while the public is trapped inside by a pandemic. And the Globe and Mail's editorial board rightly slams Ford's plans for another superhighway as a "sprawl accelerator" rather than a solution to problems of housing affordability and transportation infrastructure.

- Finally, Kim Siever points out how the Kenney UCP is barrelling ahead with new coal mining while claiming to have responded to public outcry by temporarily reinstating the policy which barred it. Graham Thomson highlights how the secrecy, deception and cronyism behind the coal mining plans offer a perfect microcosm of the UCP's governing philosophy. And Bob Weber reports on Dennis Lemly's warning about the foreseeable harm that mining will do to the major water sources affected by it

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Andrew Nikiforuk takes a look at two proposals to get to COVID Zero - including one from Canada and one from Germany.

- Mickey Djuric reports on Saskatchewan's deceptive COVID-19 reporting - which results in a public announcement that people have "recovered" no matter how severe their ongoing symptoms (or even when they die of the disease).

- Patrick White and Molly Hayes report on the increased number of calls to police and health providers raising mental health issues during the course of a poorly-managed pandemic. Zak Vescera reports on how COVID-19 is affecting people living in poverty. And Doug Cuthand discusses how COVID-19 has resulted in disproportionate harm to Indigenous people and people of colour.

- Meanwhile, in case there was any doubt that overt prejudice remains just as much an issue as systemic inequality, Jason Warick reports on the interference of a group of racists in a memorial service being held by Muslim students at the University of Saskatchewan. And Laura Sciarpelletti reports on the racist tirade of an anti-masker against workers at a Vietnamese restaurant. 

- But on the bright side, Megan Squire discusses the promising evidence suggesting the deplatforming purveyors of hate can significantly limit the harm done by the people seeking to push it. 

- Finally, Kim Siever writes about the glaring flaws in Jack Mintz' attempt to treat the COVID crash and stagnant incomes as symptoms of insufficient giveaways to the corporate sector. Dan Darrah interviews Greg Meeker about the Kenney UCP's hijacking of workers' pension funds to be used to prop up the fossil fuel sector. And Scott Schmidt discusses how Albertans are paying the price for buying the claim that it doesn't matter if they're governed by monkeys as long as they're from the party preferred by the business class.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Jim Brumby writes about the multiple growing disruptions to economic health and security which could be addressed by a wealth tax.

- Kim Siever highlights how the oil industry continues to scam Alberta while pretending that its interest is that of the province - which of course applies with equal force in Saskatchewan. The Energy Mix points out that the fossil fuel sector is marked by disproportionate returns to capital for the amount paid in wages - making a transition entirely affordable as long as we focus on the public good rather than aiming primarily to enrich the few billionaires who want to add even more to their fortunes. And Cameron Fenton notes that Keystone XL is just the latest example of the Libs refusing to act consistently with their rhetoric about climate change. 

- Peter Giger offers a reminder of the multiple environmental tipping points which could see us fall into irreversible climate breakdown if we don't transition to a clean economy. And Brian Kahn writes that the decisions we make about the oil industry this year will echo long into the future.

- Tom Cardoso reports on analysis showing over a million Canadians engaged in overnight holiday travel in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Globe and Mail's editorial board asks why we're still allowing the coronavirus to spread to Canada on international flights. Laura Woodward reports on Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine's call to finally end the risk of spread through in-person restaurant dining. And the Star's editorial board argues that we should be doing far more to ensure that long-term care homes don't turn into death sentences for the people who raised and nurtured us.

- Finally, Jen Gerson writes that the Cons should be looking to excise the violent alt-right as a matter of self-preservation as well as civic duty. And David Climenhaga notes that the problem runs far deeper than Derek Sloan alone.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Umair Haque warns that we may be approaching the point where the cost of fighting man-made threats to our environment exceeds the resources we have available for the task.

- Andrew Jackson highlights how the people most eager to whinge about deficits are the same ones who will refuse to fund necessary services through readily-available sources of revenue.

- Kim Siever writes that an effective economic strategy should be investing in workers rather than handing out freebies to the corporate sector. But Jordan Press notes that our tax system is instead designed to extract the most marginal revenue from workers with modest incomes.

- Finally, Penny Collenette wonders why so many partisans are trying to attack Jagmeet Singh for having the maturity to avoid plunging the country into an avoidable election. But Karl Nerenberg's report confirms that fair-minded observers - in contrast to the juvenile parties throwing a fit in response to their game of chicken being interrupted - are giving credit where due.