Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Lesley Clark reports on the emergence of documents tying Exxon and its lobbying firm to the hacking of climate activists for the purpose of perpetuating decades of fraud on the public. Keith Stewart discusses the role Donald Trump, Pierre Poilievre and other petropoliticians play as enforcers for fossil fuel tycoons. And Brett McKay examines the timeline as to how coal lobbyists have controlled Alberta resource management policy in the face of consistent public and scientific opposition. 

- Meanwhile, David Climenhaga highlights how Danielle Smith is refusing to allow housing to be built in Jasper as anything other than a suburb which requires paving over part of a national park. And Lois Parshley notes that Donald Trump's obsession with Greenland fits with the apparent plans of his billionaire cronies to take over its natural resources. 

- Tax Justice UK argues that the threat billionaires pose to democracy and freedom can only be met by taxing them to ensure they can't exert financial dominance over the general public. And Seth Abramson discusses two recently-revealed letters which offer disturbing insight into Elon Musk's accumulation of both power and villainy. 

- Sarah Kendzior notes that while she and others have been warning of the corruption and disintegration of the U.S.' political and economic system, what ultimately matters most is taking action to change that course of events. Wajahat Ali discusses the need for a true political resistance to reinforce and focus the passion people have to preserve their country from an authoritarian regime. And Bruce McKenna and Jill O'Reilly point out that the most effective organizing needs to actually engage with people rather than merely marketing a political brand to them, while Will Stancil observes that U.S. Democrats have largely allowed a consultant class (relying on assumptions from a previous era) to purge that type of work from their party.  

- Finally, Cory Doctorow discusses the connection between monopoly positioning and the enshittification of social media services. And Ian Welsh notes that the degeneration of AI can be predicted based on the similar path followed by Google as a "state of nature" gave way to a system designed to manipulate users. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- David Macdonald offers this year's report on CEO compensation in Canada - showing how company men are being handed obscene pay packages while workers on the ground are left to toil away for hundreds of times less. Paul Krugman points out the connection between enhanced worker power and reduced inequality which led to the U.S.' economic success after World War II - even as Donald Trump seeks to drag the country back to a gilded age which was far poorer for all but the wealthiest few. 

- Guglielmo Briscese and Maddalena Grignani study (PDF) the importance of public trust in public institutions - and the potential to substantially increase it by making useful information readily available. Don Moynihan writes that the Trump administration's plans are to make the federal government a toxic employer - and that there's precedent from his first term to see how that will play out. Jason Linkins discusses how the enshittification of the U.S.' civil service will harm the general public. And Jill Lawrence notes that the Republicans' determination to defund the IRS is the ultimate indicator of their phony populism - as the result is both to direct more tax enforcement toward those least able to pay, and to starve the government of resources as the wealthy humb their noses at their tax obligations. 

- Vijay Vaitheeswaran highlights how grid-scale storage is becoming readily affordable and feasible - making renewable energy into by far the most efficient option in places where governments aren't actively distorting power production to favour fossil fuels and other extractive industries. Holly Caggiano, Emily Grubert and Mark Paul discuss the strong U.S. public support to end dirty energy subsidies. And Eric Holthaus makes the case that the most meaningful climate action at the individual level is to opt out of the system that's superheating our planet to the extent possible. 

- Alexa Phillips reports that the fallout from Brexit includes the dumping of garbage ans sewage on UK beaches as the abandonment of EU standards led to a polluter free-for-all. And Walker Bragman points out how the alt-right is already seeking to politicize the avian flu - even as public health authorities shy away from both substantive action and public communication based on the contrived backlash to any and all responses to COVID-19. 

- Julia Metraux interviews Anita Say Chan on how techbros have become the new eugenecists. 

- Finally, The Groundbreaker makes the case for local-level organization as the necessary core of a progressive political movement. 

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.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Rong-Gong Lin Il and Luke Money report on CDC findings showing that U.S. infants under 6 months had hospitalization rates as high as seniors during the summer 2022 wave of COVID. And Emer O'Toole writes about her nightmare with an asthmatic child at a backlogged children's emergency room, while Padraig Maron discusses the pattern of cancelled children's surgeries as health care facilities try to manage intolerable acute care loads. 

- Meanwhile, Amudalat Ajasa reports on new findings showing how breathing polluted air can harm children's academic development (even after controlling for the other aspects of environmental inequality). And Marc Lee and Ben Parfitt highlight the massive cost of failing to deal with carbon pollution in British Columbia. 

- Sophie Aubrey writes that a focus on the number of jobs held may mask the obvious stresses people face when required to hold more than one job to make a living. And Brett Wilkins discusses the needed push to rein in corporate profiteering at the expense of workers and consumers alike. 

- Lauren Boothby reports on Edmonton's needed - if belated - approval of a project to ensure that shelter is available for people who need it through the winter. Adam Toy writes about the work being done in Calgary among non-profits who haven't been supported with a similar investment. And Stefanie Davis reports that Regina will be relying on federal funding to keep one additional shelter open as both the city and province try to avoid taking responsibility for people's welfare. 

- The list of commentators pointing out the absurdity of Danielle Smith's plan to shift law-making authority to the unaccountable whims of cabinet includes Emmett Macfarlane, Lisa Young, Dennis Buchanan, Andrew Coyne and Graham Thomson. 

- Finally, Maurice Mitchell discusses how to build resilient movements (particularly in a time of perpetual crisis). 

Sunday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your Sunday reading.

- Irelyne Lavery reports on the increasing number of Canadians needing medical attention for the flu as COVID-related protections have been scrapped. And Wallace Immen reports on some of the possibilities to try to improve a health care system which has been put under intolerable strain by the pandemic - though it's worth noting the distinction between the people working on improving the system, and those looking to enable the extraction of wealth from it.

- Meanwhile, Ian Tucker interviews Peter Kalmus about the dangers of trying to stay on auto-pilot in a system which is obviously breaking down absent major repair. And Fiona Harvey reports on the first steps being taken toward managing geoengineering as a risky substitute for reducing avoidable carbon pollution.

- Matt Krupnick reports on research showing that thousands of dangerous chemicals can be found in food packaging.

- Kriston Capps and Sarah Holder report on the workplace organizing happening among architects in an occupation where long hours and heavy debt are the norm.

- Finally, Jordan Bollag discusses the need for the left to build capacity as a movement willing to fight for social outcomes, rather than merely as an electoral machine hoping to harvest votes on election day. And Melanie Paradis points out how the anger-driven strategy which has become the norm on the right is ultimately untenable for any party or leader.

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week. 

- Gregg Gonsalves writes about the continued dangers of responding to COVID with wishful thinking rather than realistic public health measures, while Meredith Wadman reports on how the spread of the Omicron BA.2 strain has caught the scientific community off guard. The National Institute for Health Research points out new research showing long-term lung abnormalities resulting even from mild cases. And Zak Vescera reports on the desperate state of Saskatchewan's hospitals as Scott Moe declares it's open season for community transmission, while Scott Larson reports on the continued conversion of testing into a corporate profit centre rather than a public service. 

- Omer Aziz writes about #FluTruxKlan's assault on Canadian democracy. And Emma Jackson writes that the left can learn some lessons about outreach (while of course advancing an equitable vision rather than the destructive one of the right).  

- Grace Blakeley discusses the appalling level of control exercised by the wealthiest few over the economic and social structures that stand in the way of well-being for so many. And John Nichols suggests a 92% pandemic windfall tax to at least ensure that a public emergency doesn't serve to exacerbate the concentration of wealth and power. 

- Peter Nicholson highlights the three tragedies that stand in the way of the action we need to avert climate breakdown. And Georgina Rannard reports on satellite mapping showing that methane leakage is far worse than normally assumed - making the rate of climate destruction even more severe. 

- Finally, Ricardo Tranjan, Tania Oliveira and Randy Robinson discuss the need for new investment to enable schools and students to catch up after two years of near-constant disruption. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Bartley Kives discusses the Pallister PC's failure to respond to warnings about a new COVID wave (which of course reflects a pattern among conservative provincial governments). Julia Wong exposes the Kenney UPC's utter failure to organize the contact tracing needed to avoid additional waves in Alberta. 

- Meanwhile, Damien Gayle reports that the UK is looking at reversing its plans to relax public health restrictions based on the dangers of new variants - even as Luke Savage notes that its conservative elites too were perfectly happy to sacrifice large numbers of lives for their own convenience. 

- David Climenhaga writes that the the mass gravesite revealed at the Kamloops Indian Residential School is the latest evidence of the crimes against humanity at the heart of Canada's policy toward Indigenous peoples, while Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond reminds us that it represents just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the disappearance of Indigenous children. The Canadian Press reports on FSIN's call for immediate steps to investigate undocumented deaths and burials at Saskatchewan residential school sites. And CBC News reports on Cowessess First Nation's plans to use radar to begin the work. 

- Finally, Duncan Cameron discusses the need to work on constant organizing to counter the forces of corporate control - particularly among people now disaffected from political and activist involvement. And the Economist discusses Thomas Piketty's work examining the striking drift in education levels between political orientations over the past half century. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Rick Smith offers some reasons for hope in 2020 even in the face of a grim start to a new year. And Cory Doctorow writes about the need to start dreaming up, and giving effect to, alternatives to a corporate-driven economy and society which are endangering the future of humanity.

- Chris Maisano interviews Jonathan Rodden about the structural disadvantages facing progressive parties under distorted, winner-take-all electoral systems. And Ryan Grim examines how Bernie Sanders' campaign is empowering and supporting volunteers to reach a greater range of voters than traditional political methods.

- Scott Schmidt rightly argues that there's no value in the media reproducing false political talking points as facts in the name of balance - particularly when the UCP's communications strategy depends on it doing exactly that. And Jeremy Klaszus highlights how the UCP's constant attacks are designed to prevent people from seeing how they're being harmed by Jason Kenney and company. And Bob Barnetson writes about Kenney's ongoing war on workers.

- Meanwhile, with the Trump administration desperate to lie its way into a war with Iran, Nathan Robinson offers a handy guide to avoid being duped by pro-war propaganda.

- Finally, Kelsey Piper writes that Bill Gates has joined the ranks of the uber-wealthy who recognize the need to pay a more fair share toward the price of civilization.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Cynthia Kaufman discusses Moses Naim's theory that while a transnational ruling class has managed to exercise almost total control over the functions of government, it's set to lose power over the public at large. And 63Mag interviews Jennifer Hollett about the future of progressive activism and organizing in Canada.

- Sophia Harris reports on yet another round of fee increases from Canadian banks which will do little other than goose their already-massive profits. And Kelly Crowe highlights the pharmaceutical industry's track record of secrecy and falsified test results.

- Jim Bronskill writes that the Canada Border Services Agency's "Border Security" show has at long last been cancelled due to its blatant and inexplicable infringement on privacy rights.

- Tom Parkin calls for the Libs to get moving on ending the Charter abuses imposed under C-51. And Vincent Gogolek worries that Justin Trudeau's promises about improved transparency and access to information are about to be replaced by even more means of suppressing information.

- Finally, Bill Graveland reports on Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond's observation that child protective services need to be able to track at-risk children across provincial borders.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Joseph Stiglitz notes that the recent stock market turmoil may be most important for its effect in highlighting far more important economic weaknesses. And Richard McCormack discusses the link between stock buybacks, inequality and economic stagnation - meaning that a plan to eliminate loopholes for stock options may also have positive spillover effects for the economy as a whole.

- Barry Schwartz writes about the meaning of work, while noting that a focus on theoretical efficiency by eliminating all satisfaction from a work day may be leading to worse results for employers and employees alike:

(W)hen given the chance to make their work meaningful and engaging, employees jump at it, even if it means that they have to work harder. Such cases should serve to remind us there is a human cost to routinizing and depersonalizing work. Too often, instead of being able to take pride in what they do, and derive satisfaction from doing it well, workers have little to show for their efforts aside from their pay.
...
In the face of longstanding evidence that routinization and an overemphasis on pay lead to worse performance in the workplace, why have we continued to tolerate and even embrace that approach to work?

The answer, I think, is that the ideas of Adam Smith have become a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy: They gave rise to a world of work in which his gloomy assumptions about human beings became true. When you take all opportunities for meaning and engagement out of the work that people do, why would they work, except for the wage? What Smith and his descendants failed to realize is that rather than exploiting a fact about human nature, they were creating a fact about human nature.

The transformation I have in mind goes something like this: You enter an occupation with a variety of aspirations aside from receiving your pay. But then you discover that your work is structured so that most of those aspirations will be unmet. Maybe you’re a call center employee who wants to help customers solve their problems — but you find out that all that matters is how quickly you terminate each call. Or you’re a teacher who wants to educate kids — but you discover that only their test scores matter. Or you’re a corporate lawyer who wants to serve his client with care and professionalism — but you learn that racking up billable hours is all that really counts.

Pretty soon, you lose your lofty aspirations. And over time, later generations don’t even develop the lofty aspirations in the first place. Compensation becomes the measure of all that is possible from work. When employees negotiate, they negotiate for improved compensation, since nothing else is on the table. And when this goes on long enough, we become just the kind of creatures that Adam Smith thought we always were.
...
To be sure, people should be adequately compensated for their work. Recent efforts across the country to achieve a significant increase in the minimum wage represent real social progress. But in securing such victories for working people, we should not lose sight of the aspiration to make work the kind of activity people embrace, rather than the kind of activity they shun.

- Tana Ganeva exposes how some of the lucky few most insulated from homelessness and poverty demean the people who struggle to face those obstacles every day. And Jeffrey Simpson theorizes that our politics are lacking for big ideas and generosity.

- Edward Keenan writes that the most disturbing aspect of the G20 police abuses was the eagerness with which the people responsible for maintaining social order abandoned any attempt to preserve democratic rights.

- Finally, Aaron Wherry discusses the "snowflake" organizational model which is developing as the alternative to top-down messaging. And that model may make for an interesting contrast against the Cons' most limited broadcasting structure yet, as candidates are being told not to engage with media, public debates or any other format which could possibly deviate from central messaging.