Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jessica Wildfire discusses how the U.S. and Canada are following the UK's healthcare collapse due to a combination of public health negligence and destruction of existing health care institutions. And CBC News reports on how Quebec's already-overburdened emergency rooms are again preparing to face an influx of new illness after the holidays. 

- Meanwhile, Patty Winsa reports that corporate health operators in Ontario are taking the opportunity to shift toward pay-for-play for virtual care. And Janet Conrad and Devon Mitchell recognize the steps British Columbia is taking to push back against paywalled health care. 

- Angella MacEwen charts how workers have been systematically falling behind GDP growth. And Zak Vescera discusses the potential for 2023 to be the year of the union as workers recognize the need to fight back. 

- Robert Saunders points out that even after her speedy departure, Liz Truss's ascent to power reflects the core of the UK Cons and their right-wing media ecosystem rather than a deviation from it. And Murray Brewster reports on a Eurasia Group report documenting how Canada is seeing the spillover effects of the U.S.' march toward disinformation and violence. 

- Finally, Umair Haque writes that the overall impact of the Internet so far has been to destroy our ability to function as a civilization. And Paula Simons discusses her decision to leave Twitter and other social media behind. 

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- David Moscrop hikes how Canada's financial elite is engineering a recession to ensure that workers don't see wage increases to match the price hikes caused by corporate profiteering. And Gaby Hinshiff writes about the UK Cons' plan to blame everybody but themselves (and their disastrous combination of nationalism and trickle-down economics) for what looks to be a particularly desperate winter for the UK's working class.

- The Canadian Press reports on the connection between the ongoing climate breakdown and the extreme weather seen in the course of Hurricane Fiona. And the Morning Star reports on the massive number of lives at stake if we don't work on limiting emissions and transitioning to a clean economy immediately.

- Meanwhile, Steven Donziger discusses the threat to U.S. democracy posed by a an impending case which could see the whims of gerrymandered Republican state legislatures take precedence over any effect of votes cast by the electorate.

- Finally, Pat Van Horne offers a reminder that the development of the universal health care system which we now value so strongly was the result of a determined focus by Tommy Douglas and the CCF - not a philosophy of taking only incremental gains toward no particular end.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Melody Schreiber writes about the perfectly awful timing of Joe Biden's wrong-headed declaration that the COVID-19 pandemic is "over" even as a particularly damaging wave was cresting. And Troy Farah reports on new research showing that the treatments which previously offered some means of mitigating the effects after an individual was infected are no longer helping against the emerging variants. 

- Jim Stanford warns that the Bank of Canada is inflicting an entirely avoidable recession by failing to pay attention to the actual causes of inflated prices. And DT Cochrane studies how corporate Canada has avoided $30 billion in taxes even while profiteering at the expense of the public. 

- Meanwhile, Armine Yalnizyan warns against allowing the corporate powers that be to paint workers as the villains for seeking to have their pay keep up with the cost of living. And Stephen Magusiak points out that the list of disqualifying characteristics of UCP frontrunner Danielle Smith includes absolute contempt for service industry workers. 

- Matthew Cunningham-Cook and Ricardo Gomez discuss how Jackson, Mississippi's water crisis can be traced directly to Wall Street exploitation. And Adam Ramsay points out the predictable harm to the UK's economy and democracy arising from Liz Truss' choice to begin her stay in power with a blizzard of disaster capitalism, while Max Fawcett notes that the Cons are once again stubbornly refusing to learn anything from the damage wrought by their policy choices abroad. 

- Finally, Andrew Coyne writes that Quebec's election results provide one of the most glaring examples yet of the unfairness of a first-past-the-post electoral system. And Fawcett suggests that the federal NDP push Justin Trudeau to keep his long-broken promise of electoral reform as the price of continued support. 

Tuesday Evening Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Marina Hyde laments Liz Truss' decision to hit the gas pedal on free money for the people who need it least while most of the UK struggles to make ends meet due to her party's mismanagement.

- Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Katie Thomas report on the exploitative turn taken by "not-for-profit" U.S. hospitals which are extracting massive profits and failing to treat patients while being managed with a business mindset.

- Alex McCuaig reports on the fossil fuel companies who are still refusing to pay municipal taxes owing even as they're swimming in windfall profits, while Joel Dryden notes that the oil and gas sector is likewise falling far short of its already-insufficient emission reduction targets despite record cash on hand. Bill McKibben calls out the banks which are continuing to finance a climate breakdown and all kinds of pollution. And Britt Wray writes about the industry-funded defeatism being used as the latest prominent strategy to evade any climate action.

- Finally, CBC News offers competing perspectives on the Moe government's obsession with nuclear reactors - with the inescapable conclusion being that there's no point in insisting on an expensive set of vaporware a decade down the road when cheap and plentiful renewables are an option today. And Jeremy Simes reports on the literal downstream consequences of the Saskatchewan Party's neglect of water management and regulation.

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Sarah Zhang discusses the absurdity of treating the COVID pandemic as being over when it's causing more death and illness than ever, while Shanoor Seervai interviews Bob Pratcher about the need for people to keep working on reducing risk even while being told there's nothing left to be done. And Erin Prater talks to experts about the risk that new variants will evade the few protections we still have. 

- Russell Wangersky writes that the reality of a pandemic still in progress applies as much in Saskatchewan as anywhere else - with devastating effects on an already-strained health care system. And John Paul Tasker reports on Alika Lafontaine's recognition that there's a cross-country crisis in medicine which demands immediate responses from the governments who are supposed to ensure our access to the care we need. 

- Phil Tank discusses Scott Moe's choice to be essentially the only politician willing to amplify and echo the nonsensical ravings of Danielle Smith. And Jason Warick reports on the push from former students to ensure that the private religious schools which have covered up child abuse get shut down - even as the Saskatchewan Party bends over backwards to prioritize them over public education. 

- Finally, Linda McQuaig contrasts Pierre Poilievre's performative populism against his consistent track record of attacking the working class on behalf of the wealthy few. Grace Blakeley discusses Liz Truss' embrace of trickle-down economics with no regard for how miserably it's failed even in its own supposed purposes. And as an example of what's possible when governments don't go out of their way to kiss up and kick down, Reuters reports on Spain's implementation of windfall wealth taxes to ensure the cost of inflation isn't borne by the people who can least afford it. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Emily Alpert Reyes and Aida Ylanan discuss COVID's continued toll in lives and health even as the people in power seek to pretend it's over with, while Jamie Ducharme points out the growing spread of long COVID as an unprecedented mass disabling event. And Alex Boyd follows up on Canada's one-time commitment to deliver vaccines to countries which still haven't been able to provide a first set of vaccinations to their populations. 

- Neal MacKay writes about the desperate plight of Scotland's poorest families in which parents are going hungry to ensure their children have something to eat, while George Monbiot warns that Liz Truss' plan is to be even more punitive toward lower-income people in order to squeeze out more profits for the wealthy. 

- Nick Gottlieb traces the many connections between the U.S. Congress' investigation into industry-funded climate deception and denialism, and the Canadian fossil fuel companies blocking climate action. 

- Finally, following up on the work of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network in exposing the concerted effort by the alt-right to take over school boards, subsequent reports about secretive slates include those from Ottawa, Victoria and Kelowna - with Ben Bulmer's report on the latter offering these particularly telling passages on the contrast between the extremists' motivations and their vague oppositional platforms:

Sylvia Herchen is running for a seat in the Vernon school district but largely refused to answer any of our questions.

Herchen said she's running because she wants openness and more input for parents and more accountability.

However, Herchen wouldn't give an opinion on SOGI 123 – the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity guidelines put out by the province.

"We are not discussing that," she said.

She also refused to answer questions about transgender bathrooms simply saying "no comment."

...

Also running in Vernon, Jewlie Milligan said she stood for openness and transparency and parents having a voice in what their children are taught.

However, after saying she stood for openness and transparency, she refused an interview.

"I can't give you any more information," she said.