Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Stelios Giogiades and Ryan Voisin discuss how political choices are a crucial determinant of health for children. Danny Dorling laments that children in the UK are shorter and hungrier now than just a decade ago due to their uncaring Con government, while Buttle UK examines the realities of childhood poverty. And Oshan Jarow reports on research showing that unconditional child benefits produce massive returns on investment with time. 

- Meanwhile, Kiran Stacy discusses a new survey showing that the vast majority of UK voters are favourable toward housing construction as long as it doesn't result overburden local services - signaling that the housing crisis is just another problem which can't be solved without also ensuring people have access to basic services generally.

- Marc Lee makes the case for free public transit, while Luke Bornheimer writes about the harmful effects of making driving children to school the default mode of transportation. Byard Duncan, Ryan Gabrielson and Lucas Waldron report on the use of car loan deferments as just another way financial predators wring money out of consumers. And Andrew Hawkins reports that the US National Highway Safety Administration is only now getting around to setting safety standards for the effects of vehicles on pedestrians. 

- Colin Newlyn asks why so many employers are determined to follow the orthodoxy of dehumanizing employees even when it demonstrably produces worse outcomes. And Heather Stewart examines how workers are getting stuck in precarious work as the unpredictable and excessive demands of a current employer preclude any opportunity to find more stable jobs. 

- Finally, Josh Cohen discusses how to respond to the age of rage on a personal level. A.R. Moxon notes that the proper response to conservative division is to build a generous, caring society that won't sustain irrational anger. And Jason Sattler points out that the only way to put an end to high-stakes battles for democracy every election cycle is to build it up consistently whether or not an election is looming. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Ian Urquhart writes that while it's well and good to insist that the oil and gas industry stop attempting to greenwash its contribution to climate destruction, Canada also needs to reckon with its own unsupported claims to climate progress. Alienor Rougeot and Stephen Thomas discuss how Canada is falling behind the rest of the world in building clean energy capacity (while subsidizing continued fossil fuel emissions). And Marc Lee offers a reminder that British Columbia's carbon tax system is set up to favour polluting businesses over the public.  

- Gabriel Zucman writes that it's both feasible and necessary to make sure the rich pay their fair share. And Linda McQuaig calls out how the Fraser Institute and the Cons are teaming up to misrepresent how Canada's tax system works to ensure that never happens.  

- Gaby Hinsliff discusses how shrunken public services only end up imposing ever-more-unmanageable burdens on people to provide health and social care for relatives and loved ones. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow points out that when private equity sets out to extract wealth from an existing business, its marks include the people who invest their money based on the false promise that there's any plan to operate more efficiently (or at all) in the long term. Danyaal Raza and Karen Palmer write about the particular dangers of letting private equity take over health care services. And Audrey Guay highlights just a few examples of how privatization has undermined the public health care system while doing nothing to sustainably reduce waiting lists. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Madeline Holcomb reports on new research showing that COVID-19 boosters are more effective when delivered to the same arm as previous vaccine doses. 

- Jessica Wildfire highlights how the war on remote work is the result of corporate landlords' determination to sacrifice human health and well-being in order to prop up real estate values. And Nojoud Al Mallees reports on the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's warning that we're actually seeing a reduction in the construction of desperately-needed housing, while Marc Lee points out what we can learn from Singapore about the value of public-sector ownership of the provision of housing.  

- Mitchell Beer rightly warns against taking the word of Suncor's CEO on climate policy as he tries to lock in decades of extreme carbon pollution in order to keep extracting profits. And Geoff Dembicki takes a look at the oil industry-funded death cultists claiming credit for Danielle Smith's ban on clean energy. 

- Finally, Gary Marcus predicts that an already-enshittified Internet stands to get far worse as junk content from large language models crowds out accurate material. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jakub Hlavka and Adam Rose examine the $14 trillion just in direct economic costs of COVID-19 in the U.S. - making clear how much long-term damage is being done even on an economic front in a futile attempt to avoid taking responsible steps to protect public health. And Geoffrey Johnston writes that the resurgence of tuberculosis reflects both structural inequality and a failure to provide targeted resources which could eradicate it altogether.

- Kathleen Dean Moore discusses how the fossil fuel industry has manipulated public opinion about climate change, while Jessica Scott-Reid reports that industrial meat producers are following the same playbook. But Emily Lowan reports on new polling showing that the Canadian public isn't buying the oil industry's demand to expand carbon pollution - meaning that the main effect of its lobbying has been to pressure governments to act contrary to both the interests and wishes of their citizens. 

- Marc Lee examines British Columbia's new housing plan - including some steps toward availability and affordability, but also a continued failure to build non-market housing at the necessary scale. And Cory Doctorow points out the ample evidence that rent control is both viable and essential to ensure people have homes. 

- David Climenhaga discusses the Parkland Institute's new study showing that the UCP's privatization of surgical procedures has actually reduced Alberta's surgical capacity at massive expense (while doing nothing to improve wait times).

- Finally, David Macdonald and Martha Friendly point out that the promise of $10 per day child care remains an illusion for many parents in child care deserts. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Anne Sosin and Martha Lincoln discuss the war on empathy embodied by the flurry of media attacks against anybody with the temerity to point out we're still in the middle of a pandemic where a lack of care for others is directly responsible for widespread illness and disability. And Pam Belluck reports on the large numbers of people whose affliction with long COVID has kept them from working for extended periods of time. 

- Damian Carrington reports on Mark Jacobson's work showing how a world fully powered by renewable energy is well within reach if we make it a priority, while Angele Alook, Emily Eaton, David Gray-Donald, Joël Laforest, Crystal Lameman and Bronwen Tucker note that Canada isn't lacking for viable options to fund a just transition. Marc Lee calls out the Trudeau Libs for instead throwing billions of federal dollars into pipeline expansion with the effect of gratuitously subsidizing pollution from the oil sector at the expense of Canadian society at large. And Carla Delgado discusses how corporations are greenwashing their plastic pollution. 

- Katelyn Burns reports on the influx of legislative attacks against trans people in the U.S., as the first approaches based on participation in sports have given way to full denial of health care and dehumanization. 

- Finally, Charles Rusnell reports on the Calgary Police Service's willingness to pay a con man for easy but wrong answers in dealing with PTSD even in the face of direct warnings. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Richard Smith highlights how there's no general connection between the cost of health care and patient incomes across different models of funding and delivery, but an obvious connection between profit motives and increased expenses which don't produce improved outcomes. 

- Meanwhile, K.J. Aiello discusses how increased discussion about the importance of mental health has all too often excluded the people facing the most severe illnesses.

- Jason Warick reports that the Moe government has chosen a program with a 26% graduation rate as the basis for online instruction across the province, signaling once again that it's more interested in promoting cronies' failures than anybody's successes. Jeremy Simes reports on the reality that a provincial tax agency will create increased costs for businesses and the province alike, with little apparent purpose other than to ensure that giveaways to the fossil fuel sector aren't rolled back through federal action. And Martin Been writes about the folly of eliminating both jobs and profits from public liquor stores in the name of an ideological crusade against non-corporate economic activity.

- Marc Lee discusses how the combination of higher consumer prices and higher interest rates is creating devastating effects on household finances (while capital takes advantage of both phenomena to goose its own returns).

- Finally, Emily Leedham exposes how the Globe and Mail's "top employer" awards represent little other than pay-to-play self-promotion which overlooks workplace abuse and even death to reward corporate sponsors. And it should be no surprise that the most notorious examples are found in the fossil fuel sector given its pattern of disinformation and deception in the name of preserving profits.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- CBC reports that Ontario transit is the latest major public service being paralyzed by the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19. And Ishani Desai reports on research showing the exacerbating effect of air pollution on the severity of COVID infections. 

- Meanwhile, Angely Mercado discusses the unprecedented heat faced by the U.S. in July, while David Baker et al. examine the tens of millions of lives threatened by the loss of western U.S. snowpack and associated droughts. And Rosie Frost reports on research showing that ubiquitous "forever chemicals" have rendered rainwater unsafe for drinking around the globe. 

- Emma Thompson highlights how greenwashing serves as an obstacle to the steps we need to take to avert climate breakdown - and how government action is needed to prevent carbon polluters from controlling our political spaces. And Marc Lee offers a reminder that reduced fossil fuel production is a needed element of any effective transition to a clean energy economy. 

- Grace Blakeley is the latest to point out how the wealthiest few have seized on inflation as an excuse to inflict unemployment and artificially limited wages on workers, while rejecting any action which would limit or tax their own profiteering. 

- Finally, Jessie Anton reports that the abuses of power at the Christian Centre Academy (which the Saskatchewan Party government continues to fund and support) included mandatory student participation in right-wing politicians' campaigns. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Nadine Yousif writes about the growing frustration people are experiencing as they're told to manage their own risks in the midst of a pandemic with obvious social dimensions, and all while being denied the information needed to do so. Dylan Scott similarly laments being stuck in the choose-your-own-adventure phase of the pandemic. Aaron Carroll writes about some of the options to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 which should still be on the table even if protective masking is (needlessly) ruled out. And Maija Kappler reports on the shortest known interval between COVID infections in an individual at 20 days - signaling that the people getting infected now won't have any reason for confidence they'll avoid further harm within a matter of weeks. 

- Clarrie Feinstein and Rosa Saba discuss the need for wages to catch up to inflation - not be pushed down in an effort to ensure only the wealthy benefit from price increases. Josh Bivens points out how the U.S.' inflation has been disproportionately the result of profiteering - with supply chain issues as the other substantial contributing factor, and wages playing hardly any role. And Dean Baker calls out the corporate spokesflacks trying to ignore that reality in seeking to suppress workers' income. 

- Meanwhile, Bert Blundon notes that the Libs' budget offers minimal (and less-than-promised) improvement in securing revenue from the people with the most, while also imposing Harper-style attacks on the public sector. 

- Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood and Marc Lee discuss the continued confusion in the Libs' climate policy, with loud declarations of climate leadership paired with free money and regulatory approvals for major sources of additional emissions which our planet can't afford. And Shawn McCarthy notes that Canada's history of climate policy under the Trudeau government has been one of the worst among developed countries.  

- Finally, David Sirota discusses how U.S. Democrats devoting their time and effort to declaring that government is powerless to do anything but continue catering to the wealthiest few are Jokerfying a generation of voters who saw the 2020 election as the last best hope for better. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Andre Picard recognizes that stoking sentiment about being "done with COVID" only increases the likelihood of further transmission and mutation, while Gail Bowen writes about the need to cultivate the strength to push back rather than succumbing to a sense of futility. Gwynne Dyer discusses the far more justifiable fatigue with anti-vaxxers and deniers who are making the pandemic worse for everybody. The Canadian Press reports on Statistics Canada's finding that life expectancies saw their most severe drop in nearly a century as the pandemic began in 2020, while Phil Tank reports on the stark gap between what's been reported in Saskatchewan and the far higher number of deaths likely attributable to the coronavirus. 

- Katie Hyslop talks to young British Columbians about their eagerness to get fully vaccinated. Leana Wen discusses the need to update vaccine policies to account for the importance of third (and additional) doses in maintaining continued protection. And Katherine Wu is hopeful that a three-dose vaccine will eventually help to protect children under 5 - though the prospect of that development in the near future makes it all the more senseless that kids are currently being sent into viral incubators. 

- Saleemul Huq writes about the need for any effective climate action plan to address the loss and damage a deteriorating climate imposes on the people who can least afford it, while Oliver Milman notes that the rarely-recognized consequences of the climate crisis include massive interference with insect populations. 

- Fatima Syed highlights how businesses are cashing in on the Ford PCs' cancellation of a previous provincial climate policy - signaling how destructive climate policy represents a corporate giveaway as well as environmental negligence. And Michelle Gamage reports on the latest example of the polluting fossil fuel sector being put in charge of deciding what to bother fixing and cleaning up - this time being site contamination in British Columbia. 

- Meanwhile, Marc Lee, Belinda Li, Sue Maxwell and Tamara Shulman point out how a focus on a zero-waste society can create both economic and environmental benefits.

- Finally, Robert Reich argues that corporate sedition is an even greater threat to democracy than the violent political version. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Deborah Gleeson discusses how inequality in vaccine availability is making new variants an inevitability, while Joseph Stiglitz and Lori Wallach write that an intellectual property waiver is a must to ensure vaccines are available around the globe. And Rachel Cohen warns that the same issue looks to be developing when it comes to new COVID treatments. 

- Phil Tank reports on Nazeem Muhajarine's well-placed criticism of the Moe government's incomplete holiday advice. And CBC News reports on the Saskatchewan Party's truly destructive choice to require parents to be present for COVID vaccinations in schools, sending a message to anti-vaxxers that their cultivated distrust is a higher priority than public health. 

- Meanwhile, Anna Salleh writes that the pandemic has exposed the importance of ensuring improved indoor air quality at all times - while noting the reluctance of governments to actually make the effort to do so. 

- Marc Lee notes that even if the pollution caused by the burning of natural gas is offshored, fossil fuel production is the main obstacle to British Columbia meeting its emission reduction targets.

- Claudia Horn and Isadoro Cardoso write about the climate justice movement which is trying to push for progress even as corporate-influenced governments fail miserably. Mitchell Beer notes that a majority of oil industry workers would be happy to transition out of the sector. And Stephen Maher writes that any meaningful fight over the existence of carbon pricing in Canada should finally be over. 

- Meanwhile, Drew Anderson exposes the pitiful attempt of Alberta's tar sands operators to brand their environmental devastation and carbon pollution as "beautiful". And Mark Kaufman discusses the history of the industry's PR efforts to block any systemic progress against climate change - including the sham of substituting individual carbon footprints for discussion of industrial pollution. 

- Finally, Robert Kuttner makes the case that the excesses of corporate control have left us with a choice between capitalism which subjugates the population as a whole, and individual liberty protected by a social-democratic economy which limits corporate power. 

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.  

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Yasmine Ghania interviews Nazeem Muhajarine about the Saskatchewan Party's choice to produce misleadingly low COVID-19 case numbers by stifling testing. And Kelly Provost reports on one of the families facing potentially dangerous delays in necessary medical care due to Scott Moe's fourth wave, as a patient awaiting a kidney transplant has been put on hold indefinitely.  

- Andrew Coyne writes that the Cons have failed in their chance to be a responsible party when it comes to vaccines in Canada. And Wyatt Schierman discusses how the failure of Canada and other wealthy countries to ensure equitable vaccine access means that the world's poorest countries could be without vaccines for decades.  

- Fiona Harvey reports on the UN's warnings that current emission targets would produce a calamitous 2.7 degrees of global warming - and the reality that we've already failed to build back better as part of our pandemic recovery. Damian Carrington reports on Nicholas Stern's warning that existing climate plans are based on the devaluation of the lives of young people and future generations. And Emily Atkin and Molly Taft expose how fossil fuel giants are using a new round of deceptive media tactics to try to avoid accountability for their history of climate fraud.  

- Meanwhile, Emily Eaton examines how Saskatchewan can transition to a clean and prosperous future without tying our economy to the development of fossil fuels. 

- Finally, Marc Lee et al. discuss how to build a zero-waste economy by 2040 both by reducing the production of avoidable waste, and by prioritizing repair and maintenance options to ensure that consumer goods are able to last. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Thomas Saunders discusses how COVID-19 transmission through schools is resulting in effectively a separate epidemic among children and parents. Kathy Eagar offers a reminder of the dangers of recklessly discarding public health measures rather than taking care to make sure that reopening is sustainable. Erin Anderssen takes a look at the long-term difficulties facing people who have suffered from long COVID. And Scott Larson reports on the recognition by the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses that shuffling health care workers around is no answer to the demands placed on them by a pandemic that's been allowed to run out of control. 

- Meanwhile, Tosin Thompson writes about new research showing how air filters can remove viral particles from the air. 

- Christine Fernando reports on the likelihood that climate-related disasters will be the norm for today's younger generations. And Andrew Gregory discusses the growing recognition that a degraded natural environment will place young people under a lifetime of avoidable stress and anxiety. 

- Jaela Bernstein offers her take on what Canada needs to do to contribute its fair share to global emission reductions. And Marc Lee chimes in with some necessary lessons from British Columbia's unprecedented wildfire season. 

- But in case anybody thought the industries who have profited off of destroying the climate would be willing to contribute to solutions, Rod Nickel reports on the demands of tar sands operators who want the government to pay 75% of the bill to greenwash their continued extraction of dirty energy. And Frank Duffy writes about the UK auto industry's refusal to consider workers' attempts to transition toward non-emitting vehicles. 

- Finally, Yakov Feigin discusses how the right's obsession with inflation as an excuse for cruelty and austerity neglects the fact that the ultimate source of that inflation is the stagnation of productive capacity due to underinvestment. And Ian Welsh points out our glaring inability or refusal to do anything substantial without some entrenched corporate oligarch taking the resulting profit. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Umair Haque discusses how the UK is headed for yet another avoidable wave of COVID-19 disaster. Sarah Rieger reports on the rising spread of COVID-19 in Alberta, while James Keller reports that Jason Kenney's declaration of surrender has predictably convinced people not to bother getting vaccinated. Martin Finucane reports on the dozens of COVID deaths and hundreds of hospitalizations even among fully vaccinated people in Massachusetts. 

- David Tynar and Matthew Johnson study how actual methane emissions from fossil fuel facilities are far higher than assumed in British Columbia's regulations and climate plans. 

- Dharna Noor discusses how extreme temperatures have a disproportionate effect on poorer communities and populations. But lest anybody take that as a basis to think Western Canada won't be affected, Olivia Condon reports on warnings from climatologists that extreme heat and desertification are coming Alberta's way, while Kevin Ma writes about the crops already scorched by the recent heat dome (to say nothing of the high temperatures yet to come). And Tez Dhalizal reports on the dangers posed by exceptionally high temperatures and numerous wildfires in Saskatchewan, while Kathryn Blaze Baum and Ivan Semeniuk point out the damage caused by wildfires goes far beyond what actually gets burned. 

- All of which is to say that there's plenty of force behind a new call for Canada to invest in protecting people from pandemics, the climate crisis and other real problems, rather than burning tens of billions of dollars on fighter jets which serve little practical purpose. 

- John Michael McGrath calls out the misguided push against rooming houses in Toronto which only figures to make housing availability even worse. Marc Lee discusses both the positive ideas and the limited scope of options presented by the Canada-British Columbia Expert Panel on the Future of Housing Supply and Affordability. And Charlotte Dalwood makes the case for a more ambitious plan to provide universal public housing. 

- Finally, Anne Levesque highlights how Indigenous children still facing systemic discrimination need action rather than another round of empty thoughts and prayers. And PressProgress takes note of the failure of the prairie provinces to address systemic racism in the criminal justice system. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- CBC News reports on the expert response to deaths caused by the spread of the Delta COVID-19 variant in a Calgary hospital - including needed warnings that vaccinations aren't a bulletproof line of defence against it. And Mary Van Beukesom discusses how the combination of the Delta variant and increased spread among younger demographics is driving a new surge in the UK. 

- Jeremy Corbyn and Niki Ashton question the G7's willingness to prolong the COVID-19 pandemic in order to preserve the pharmaceutical industry's plans to turn the coronavirus into a long-term profit centre. And Grant Robertson reports on the data gaps which have reduced the effectiveness of Canada's vaccination efforts. 

- Kerry Campbell reports on the conclusions of the House of Commons' standing committee on human resources that Canada's EI system needs to be reworked to ensuring benefits are available for all types of workers. 

- Marc Lee discusses how spin about distant and selective "net zero" emission targets serves only to distract us from the need to actually reduce carbon pollution as soon as possible. 

- Finally, Tristin Hopper discusses a few of the systemic choices which have resulted in decent housing being unaffordable for far too many Canadians. And Martine August points out the rise of institutional landlords (driven by preferential tax treatment) which is driving up the cost of rental housing. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Michael Atkinson and Haizhen Mou discuss their new polling showing that Canadians are particularly concerned with climate change and good jobs as part of our recovery from the pandemic - making a Green New Deal an obvious win-win. And Seth Klein writes about both the opportunity for the Alberta NDP and other parties to offer a clear path toward a just transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, and the risks in both political outcomes and policy results if they fail to do so.

- Peter Hotez writes about the damage being done to people's lives by the anti-science movement and its right-wing adherents and enablers around the globe. And PressProgress reports on the social conservative takeover of the Cons' national council as a vivid example of organized ignorance translating into substantial power. 

- Marc Lee writes about some of the ancillary policy changes which may help public and non-profit housing developments to succeed. And Kate Bezanson, Andrew Bevan and Monica Lysack note that when it comes to child care, funding is the primary hurdle standing in the way of a national system.

- The New York Times' editorial board points out how third-party verification of business income could go a long way toward ensuring that corporations and wealthy individuals pay their fair share of taxes. 

- Finally, Andrew Jackson reviews Mark Carney's new book - and highlights how it only confirms the strict limits of neoliberal politics in which the role of elected governments is merely to shape the distribution of private capital:

It is refreshing to see recognition of the limits of private ownership and markets by such a prominent establishment figure, especially when it comes to dealing with financial excess, the climate crisis and rising economic inequality. However, Carney, while recognizing the need for government regulation and a non market sphere, emphasizes most the need to shift to stakeholder capitalism and socially responsible investment. Indeed he does so to the point of naivete.

...

Realists will doubt with good reason that stakeholder capitalism and social investment amount to much more than corporate PR. One can readily point to manifestly predatory corporate behaviour when it comes to price gouging monopolies, speculative finance, corporations undermining health and safety standards and promoting dangerous goods and practices (as in the opioid crisis), or profiting from intellectual property ownership of medically necessary vaccines and drugs, denial of labour rights and standards and resistance to unions, wilful denial of climate change by large energy companies over many years, pervasive corporate tax evasion, systemic discrimination in employment, and so on.

In fairness, Carney does not deny the need for government supervision and regulation to balance corporate capitalism with broader social goals. But his faith in socially responsible capitalism is excessive.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jim Stanford weighs in on the need for increased worker input into economic decision-making - particularly as change is otherwise imposed by management with little regard for the people most affected.

- Nathaniel Erskine-Smith makes the case for a wealth tax to recoup some of the windfall the wealthiest few have received during the coronavirus pandemic - though it's of course worth noting that more substantial policy would be even better, and that he and his party have voted against the NDP's efforts to pursue anything of the sort. And Umair Haque rightly questions the U.S.' idolization of the people who extract the most from their communities for their own personal gain. 

- Joe Roberts offers a reminder that poverty is the result of policy decisions which can easily be changed if we care enough to ensure people have a secure income. And Marc Lee pushes for British Columbia to adopt the poverty reduction proposals - including both improved income supports and social infrastructure - proposed by that province's basic income panel.

- Max Fawcett writes about the developing conflict between an oil and gas industry seeking to keep wringing profits out of dirty energy regardless of the impact on anybody else, and a financial sector coming to terms with the broader costs of carbon pollution. And Nicholas Rivers, Kathryn Harrison and Marc Jaccard discuss the problems with relying on offset credits rather than real emission reductions in trying to avert a climate breakdown, while Alexander Quon reports on the foolishness of Scott Moe's plan to turn carbon pricing into a fossil fuel subsidy in order to avoid any emission reductions.

- Finally, Andrea Reimer discusses how Canada can keep big money out of politics - while pointing out how Saskatchewan ranks as the worst of the worst in allowing it unfettered influence over the political scene.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Kamran Abbasi makes the case to treat the avoidable deaths resulting from the mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic as a form of social murder. And Jonathan Goodman writes that inequality has spread in tandem with COVID-19 and its variants.

- Gary Mason and Douglas Todd each argue that the findings of British Columbia's expert panel weighs against relying on a basic income as an immediate response to poverty and inequality. But Andrew Coyne notes the conclusion is more nuanced, including the recognition that there are other social goods which need to be addressed first before a basic income will fulfill its intended purposes.

- Bonnie Allan reports on the continued benefits of housing first programs where they're available for people in need of homes. And Marc Lee writes that vacancy control needs to be paired with rent control to keep housing affordable.

- Dylan Scott discusses how even relatively small co-pay requirements lead to the underuse of needed medications. And Graham Isidor makes the case to include dental care among the health care available by right to Canadians. 

- Corey Mintz writes that while the pandemic has alerted more people to the burdens delivery apps impose on restaurants, we should take the opportunity to highlight how they've always been based on imposing unacceptable risks and working conditions on workers. And Erica Johnson reports on the class action lawsuit arising out of TD Bank's pressure on employees to meet sales targets at the expense of honest dealings with customers. 

- Finally, Doug Cuthand points out that the lack of action against people who encouraged further violence following the death of Colten Boushie represents just the latest example of anti-Indigenous racism at work in Saskatchewan.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Roger McNamee argues that online platforms need to be held to account for their role in fomenting political violence. And Rebecca Traister writes about the need for U.S. Democrats to focus on improving people's lives rather than sacrificing the public good in the name of political compromises with hostile Republicans. 

- Meanwhile, PressProgress offers a reminder that the same forces which have let to Donald Trump's violent insurrection can be found in disturbing numbers in Canada as well. And CBC News reports on Ryan Meili's call for a unified message against the conspiracy theories and misinformation which have led to the U.S.' coup.

- Anna McMillan reports on the call by Cindy Blackstock and others for the federal government to stop making excuses as to why it refuses to implement fair access to public services for Indigenous children.

- Jeremy Klaszus examines how Jason Kenney's UCP (at the request of well-connected lobbyists) has conspicuously promoted high-priced travel to Hawaii and elsewhere while demanding anybody who can't afford that type of jaunt stay at home. 

- Finally, Damian Carrington reports that 2020 has officially been measured as the hottest year on record despite reduced activity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. And Marc Lee writes about the need for British Columbia to do far more to chart a path to meeting its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- David Hope and Julian Limberg study (PDF) the effects of tax cuts for the rich  - concluding that they lead to worsened inequality while generating no significant benefits for anybody but the few who are able to hoard wealth as a result. And Danyaal Raza and Edward Xie make the case for a wealth tax to both reduce inequality, and fund needed investments in a healthier society.

- Luke Savage writes about the increasing prevalence of hunger in the U.S. - which has only been exacerbated by a pandemic in which governments have offered little support. The Washington Post examines how the U.S.' largest companies have slashed employment during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic even while continuing to rake in immense profits. And David Doorey offers some suggestions for a substantial rethinking of a labour relations model which has done far too little to empower workers.

- Rosa Saba discusses the state of labour in food and beverage manufacturing - noting that employers' complaints about a lack of workers appear to be based entirely on an expectation that people will take subpar wages to help support their profit margins. And Andrew Lupton reports on the persistently high number of construction workers killed on the job in Ontario.

- Marc Lee and Seth Klein write about the need for a managed wind-down of fossil fuel extraction and just transition to clean energy in British Columbia. And Lee also joins Hadrian Metrins-Kirkwood to point out how the federal Libs' new climate plan rings hollow - and will have less effect than needed - when it's paired with a costly commitment to continuing fossil fuel production. 

- Finally, Robyn Urback argues that we'd be far better off if Scott Moe and his government cared to devote anywhere near the attention and effort to controlling COVID-19 than they've wasted fighting against any carbon tax or price.