Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Karl Nerenberg writes about the Parkland Institute's research showing how privatization has undermined  Alberta's health care system. And Mitchell Thompson warns that the UCP has a similar plan to turn what's already a housing crisis into a profit extraction extravaganza at the expense of the people living in what little public housing already exists.

- Meanwhile, Brandon Drenon reports on the disastrous wildfires sweeping across Alberta, while Ian Austen points out the provincial election campaign's glaring lack of discussion of the climate breakdown which is causing them. And John Vaillant writes that there's no excuse for feigning surprise that a refusal to rein in global warming is producing exactly the effects which have been predicted for decades. 

- Julia Simon reports on the damage caused by a ruptured CO2 pipeline in Satartia, Mississippi. And Mark Olalde notes that taking into account only site cleanup (and thus excluding air pollution and climate damage), the liabilities created by California's oil industry far exceed its profits - meaning that the perception of economic value is purely the result of failing to account for real costs. 

- Jonathan Barrett reports on new research showing how Australia's grocery giants have used the pandemic and associated inflation to goose their profit margins. And Delphine Strauss points out a similar story in the UK's milk market, which has seen an unprecedented gap between retail prices and the amount paid to producers.

- Finally, Cory Doctorow discusses how any reasonable utilitarian evaluation of well-being would focus far more on how policies affect a wider range of people, rather than treating the accumulation of extreme wealth by sociopaths (disguised as "GDP" or other cumulative wealth measures) as the most important consideration.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Susie Madrak writes about the continued recognition by experts that the COVID pandemic is far from over. Chengliang Yang et al. examine how COVID-19 may be persisting (and causing havoc) in patients' bodies long after it ceases to be detectable through current testing. Libby Smith reports on the challenges facing young people afflicted with long COVID. 

- David Climenhaga points out Danielle Smith's longstanding plans to trash universal public health care in Alberta. And Bethany Lindsey reports on the growing use of exorbitantly-priced private labour suppliers to provide nurses as a result of conservative governments' refusal to fund long-term positions within the public health care system. 

- Meanwhile, David Thurton reports on the continually-growing cost of the Trans Mountain pipeline - and the certainty that the Libs' early promises of it paying for itself are far out of reach, meaning that they've instead chosen to subsidize fossil fuel use. 

- Jamie Bradburn writes about the privatization of Ontario's Highway 407 as a prime example of public resources and assets being turned into a private monopoly to gouge the citizenry. And Henry Belot reports on yet another example of a major accounting firm using its insider knowledge obtained by working for governments to allow private clients to game the system. 

- Finally, Mitchell Thompson discusses why landlords and speculators (and the politicians who put their demand for ever-increasing profits ahead of the right to a home) are to blame for Canada's housing crisis. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Kat Eschner interviews John Peters about the growing inequality in wealth, income and influence. And Scott Martin offers a reminder not to conflate the gross disparity in pay between CEOs and workers with anything that's actually been earned.

- Mitchell Thompson discusses how privatized surgeries are a threat to the fundamentals of Canadian health care. And John Bell writes about the human consequences of putting profits before caring for people.

- Peter Reina's review of a book on project failure includes a handy chart showing the level of cost overruns for different types of infrastructure - with renewable energy ranking as having by far the lowest level of overruns, while nuclear operations are joined only by the Olympic Games as the absolute worst.  And Nojoud Al Mallees reports on the refusal by oilsands giants to spend a nickel of their windfall projects on their much-hyped claim to decarbonization. 

- Jonathan Chait writes about the John Durham investigation as a prime example of the right looking to its own paranoid fantasies about perceived enemies as a model for its own plans. And Asawin Suebsaeng and Patrick Reis offer a look inside Donald Trump's end-of-term killing spree as a particularly cruel and violent example. 

- Finally, Meghan Krausch discusses what's been lost from the ongoing collapse of Twitter, while noting that the ultimate purpose of allowing for connections with other people can be met in new and less-corporatized ways.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Erin Durkin writes about the failure of the U.S.' government to deal with the growing impact of long COVID - and the likelihood that matters will only get worse with Republicans able to unilaterally refuse funding. And Lisa Young wishes that Alberta's government could better be classified as a meerkat which is alter to its surroundings, rather than an ostrich determinedly avoiding information which didn't match its ideology. 

- James Galbraith comments on the difficulty of trying to respond to inflation with interest rate hikes under an ologopolistic economic system. And Robert Reich writes that the response to inflation should involve breaking up corporate behemoths which are extracting windfall profits, not attacking workers in their attempts to tread water. 

- Zoe Williams discusses how body image distress (particularly in young people) can be traced almost entirely to corporations looking to turn self-image problems of their own creation into long-term profit centres. And the Economic recognizes that the generation of young adults in the UK is rightly outraged at having its present and future put at risk in order to extract wealth for older generations.  

- Mitchell Thompson writes about the critical state of Canada's health care system. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow comments on the rise and fall of social media platforms - and how the demise of Facebook and Twitter is a predictable result of their being managed to serve the interests of investors and advertisers rather than users. 

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.

- Benjamin Veness writes that the best way to address the dangers of long COVID is to prevent spread of the underlying viruses. And Daniel Bierstone and Monika Dutt write that it's never been important to make sure workers have sick leave available than at a point where health care systems are crumbling under the weight of multiple infectious diseases. 

- Mitchell Thompson points out how the Ford PCs are measuring the results of privatized social programs solely by how many people they force back to work, not by anybody's welfare or escape from poverty. And Simon Woodside observes that the developer-led sprawl being put forward as Ford's excuse for a housing policy will ultimately impose both weaker communities and higher property taxes on the public.

- Emily Baron Cadloff discusses the potential for a retailer code of conduct in response to rising food prices - though the prospect of an unenforceable, industry-led deal among businesses known to have colluded to fix prices for their own benefit hardly inspires confidence.

- Jake Johnson writes about the growing amounts of dark money flooding the American political system.

- Finally, Max Fawcett offers a warning about Pierre Poilievre's simplistic and demonstrably counterproductive "solutions" to problems which deserve to be taken seriously - with his insistence on a drug policy of harm exacerbation once again ranking as a prime example.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Mike Crawley reports on new research showing both the growing number of Canadians suffering from long COVID, and its tendency to result in greater strain on our health care system. And Crawford Kilian writes about the dangers of voting against public health - particularly in the midst of an ongoing pandemic. 

- Ricardo Tranjan discusses the connection between predatory lending and housing insecurity, as people forced into short-term, high-interest loans are increasingly unable to find homes in the fact of soaring rental costs. And Heather Vogell exposes the secretive rent algorithm which is being used to extract every possible dollar from tenants. 

- Dan Cameron examines some of the options available to enhance the voices of workers in shaping their own workplaces. 

- David Climenhaga offers a reminder that the Flu Trux Klan's support was never widespread - even in Alberta where its warped worldview is now reflected by the newly-installed premier. And Charles Breton, Olivier Jacques and Andrew Parking examine the differing levels of resentment between Canadian provinces - with Saskatchewan ranking atop the set of petroprovinces as the most resentful of both Canada as a whole and its other regions. 

- Finally, Mitchell Thompson investigates some of the systematic efforts by racist and anti-LGBTQ forces to take over Canadians school boards to indoctrinate students with their own hate. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Zak Vescera exposes how the Saskatchewan Health Authority warned Scott Moe's government that it was extending a COVID wave, endangering lives and exceeding the capacity of the health care system by eliminating public health protections, only to have Moe barge ahead with his plans for mass spread. Linda McQuaig discusses how Doug Ford has chosen to let the denialist convoy dictate his province's COVID-19 policy at the cost of Ontario's health, while Becky Robertson reports on the locations bringing in their own mandatory masking policies to try to make up for the government's neglect. And Nora Loreto highlights the data deficit which has been an issue throughout the pandemic - even as it's been made worse recently due to the deliberate choice to deprive people of the information needed to assess their own risk. 

- Elizabeth Payne reports on a new study confirming that children are in fact substantial sources of spread within households. And Ashley Okwuosa reports on research showing how migrant agricultural workers were - and remain - particularly vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19 in Ontario. 

- Dru Oja Jay interviews Mostafa Heneway about his experience working at Amazon and the first successful certification vote at its Staten Island warehouse. 

- Jordan Press reports on the Libs' choice to exclude labour from any consultation on an announced skills training program. Clem Nocos examines the federal budget's funding for climate initiatives, while pointing out the folly of making a fossil fuel subsidy its largest payout. Barbara Shecter reports on the modest increases in taxes on the financial sector. But Darren Shore points out how those along with other announcements fall short of both the Libs' promises, and what's needed to ensure that the wealthiest pay their fair share.

- Finally, Mitchell Thompson discusses how what's presented for public consumption as small-government budgeting in fact reflects untrammeled racism. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Bruce Deachman discusses the new "normal" we're approaching in which COVID continues to be a threat to people's health on an ongoing basis. 

- Nancy MacDonald highlights the nonstop catastrophes facing British Columbia as record heat is followed in short order by unprecedented flooding. And Crawford Kilian calls out the political response based on questioning whether anybody could have anticipated exactly the disasters which have long been the subject of warnings by climate scientists. 

- Seth Klein writes about the interregnum between broader recognition of the need to avert a climate breakdown, and the point of actually taking the necessary steps in response. Mario Canseco finds that Canadians are justifiably losing patience with climate change deniers. And Maxine Joselow takes note of one worthwhile development out of the Glasgow climate summit, as the international community is increasingly recognizing the importance of climate change as a public health issue. 

- The Star's editorial board recognizes that while food banks are performing (far too many) important services at the moment, they don't represent a fix for the underlying poverty. And Mitchell Thompson discusses how workers in Atlantic Canada have stared down - and thus far averted - the threat of austerity. 

- Todd Litman writes that the only solution to traffic congestion (along with the other problems generated by excessive reliance on car culture) is to provide alternatives. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow writes about the connection between corporate monopolies and the soaring prices faced by consumers. 

#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.