Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Owen Jones discusses how the new outbreak of war-mongering toward Iran is indistinguishable - both in its insistence and its utter lack of connection to reality - from that which led to disastrous results in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

- Stephen Maher writes about the new nationalism which reflects Canada's public mood in the wake of the threats and abuses of the Trump regime. And Justin Ling writes about the folly of trying to make deals with a wholly irrational actor who has proven he has no interest in living up to his agreements - though sadly that recognition doesn't seem to be stopping Mark Carney from wagering Canada's future on tying us even more tightly to the U.S.' economy and defence apparatus. 

- On that front, Benjamin Muller warns that Carney's Bill C-2 sets us up to be used as an extension of the U.S.' anti-immigrant policies. And Kate Robertson examines how it also creates a mechanism for Canadians' sensitive personal data to be shared with the Trump regime - despite the virtual certainty it will then be misused, both through government action and through theft by the Republicans' techbro cronies. 

- Joel Morris writes about the parasite economy turning other people's work in creating content into a source of constant rent. Helena Horton reports on the reality that England is facing foreseeable water shortfalls as data centres plan to soak up massive amounts of water without having to account for it. And Benji Edwards notes that there's now an active movement to try to preserve pre-AI content before all publicly-accessible material turns to artificial slop. 

- Finally, Jim Stanford highlights an expert letter on the value of Canada's public health care system - and the need to strengthen it, rather than accepting the argument of profiteers that we have no choice but to replace it with pay-for-play medicine. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Moira Doneghan discusses what the leaked Signal war crime planning among several top Trump regime officials says about how decisions are being made within the administration. And Alexander Hurst reports on the efforts by universities around the world to offer homes to leading thinkers fleeing the U.S., while Jacek Debiec notes that two prominent experts on tyranny and fascism have accepted Canadian appointments. 

- Justin Ling discusses how to approach the task of decoupling from the U.S., while Jeet Heer writes that the fight against fascism requires far more than the warm-and-fuzzy nostalgia on offer from the Libs. And Jason Markusoff writes that Danielle Smith's message that the Poilievre Cons are fully in sync with Trump has been heard loud and clear in Canada. 

- Code Black offers a comparison of medical practice in the U.S. and Canada, noting in particular how universal medicare ensures care decisions aren't constantly overridden in the name of extracting profit. But Duff Sprague points out that Ontario's health care system (like many others) is falling far short of what it could accomplish due to insufficient funding.  

- Ryan Cooper writes about the existential threat to society posed by the concentration of wealth and power in a few ultra-rich hands. And Owen Jones notes that the demand that the general public accept austerity and decline as the price of catering to the wealthy isn't any more palatable coming from UK Labour than from any other party in power. 

- Finally, Claude Lavoie argues that we won't make needed headway against the housing crisis until we start treating land as a necessary element of the right to housing, rather than a store of value to be walled off for private gain. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Eric Holthaus warns that the escalation of temperatures in 2024 threatens to lay the groundwork for much worse to come. And Virgina Iglesias discusses why the the more intense wildfires we're seeing now are harder to contain than the ones our current firefighting systems were designed for. 

- Nitish Pahwa calls out the right-wing propaganda machine for its conspiracy theories about the source of the ongoing fires in Los Angeles, while Seth Abramson points out Elon Musk's reality-averse attacks on Gavin Newson (coupled with proposterous attempts to change the subject from the actual fires). And Margaret Klein Salamon points out how the corporate media is conspicuously omitting the climate link to the fires and other extreme weather. 

- Carole Cadwalladr warns of the potential for total information collapse based on the combination of increasing concentration of weaponized social media ownership, and its integration with the power of governments. Roy Edroso offers a reminder that the scumbaggery is the point of the alt-right cabal. And Christy Somos discusses how Canada's media is ill equipped to dig into the forces which are actually shaping people's lives due to the constant demand to produce cheap and easy content rather than challenging power. 

- But on a hopeful note, Aisha Malik points out the Free our Feeds initiative working both to protect Bluesky's underlying technology and put it past the reach of would-be manipulators and saboteurs.

- Finally, Owen Jones discusses the despair faced by young voters, while pointing out the need to provide alternatives other than fascist dictatorship. Jonathan Chait comments on the reality that a focus on corporate-friendly economic development did nothing to win over the U.S. working-class voters. And The Guardian's editorial board points out the importance of focusing on social and climate priorities rather than treating markets as the sole interest to be pursued. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Maura Hohman discusses how the U.S. is going through one of its most severe waves of COVID-19 (with very little attention), while Henna Saeed points out the spate of respiratory illnesses in Alberta. And Ashleigh Furlong reports that an attempt to work out a World Health Organization treaty on pandemics is stalling out as COVID minimizers and profiteers hijack any attempt to keep people healthy. 

- Les Leopold highlights how U.S. health care is increasingly being shaped to serve the interests of capital rather than the health of patients. And Susan Zielinski's report on Red Deer's patchwork ERs and Patrick Swadden's report on an Ontario newborn waiting 5 hours to be seen by a doctor serve as appalling examples of how Canada's public health care system is being grossly neglected to allow corporate operators to move in. 

- Graham Readfearn points out how the same types of "cranky uncles" who believe their ignorance to trump scientific fact (generally with prompting from businesses who profit as a result) have been major forces in spreading misinformation about COVID and the climate crisis. 

- Gregor MacDonald discusses how merely adding clean energy on top of continuing fossil fuel operations will fall far short of averting climate disaster. And Owen Jones calls out governments for responding to a climate breakdown in progress by persecuting the activists calling for desperately-needed action. 

- Finally, Mehdi Rizvi writes about the need for policy aimed at building social connections to counter an increasingly atomized and lonely world.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Lisa Schnirring reports on new research showing how infection with COVID-19 tends to lead to extended sick leave, while Helen Twohig et al. survey the prevalance and effects of long COVID among children. And Alec Salloum reports that workers and experts alike are rightly appalled at the Moe government's political order to expose patients and staff to needless risk by removing masking requirements. 

- Justin Chandler interviews Marilyn Struthers about the role municipalities and non-profit organizations can play in ensuring people have homes. Ximena Gonzalez reports on the UCP's choice to make matters worse by paying to privatize existing housing and enrich landlords. And Annette Desmarais and Andre Magnan report on the takeover of prairie farmland by institutional investors, squeezing out anybody who doesn't have multi-billion-dollar pools of capital to to throw around. 

- David Ho highlights why we can't accept the theoretical possibility of future carbon dioxide removal as an answer to the urgent need to reduce emissions now. Damian Carrington reports on new research suggesting that ice sheets may be collapsing far faster than expected. 

- Meanwhile, Rob Miller calls out Danielle Smith for deliberately blocking any transition to cleaner and cheaper renewable energy in order to serve her party's fossil fuel donors. And Alex Robinson writes about the corporate lobbying aimed at undermining any international effort to reduce plastic pollution. 

- Finally, Owen Jones writes that there's ample reason to fear the decline of the West - not because of trumped-up claims about morality, but because of real losses in health, well-being and equality. And Michael Harris discusses how Pierre Poilievre has bet his leadership and his party on MAGA politics - even in the absence of much reason to think Canadians are willing to let them carry the day.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Andrew Nikiforuk examines what we know about - and what we should be doing in response to - the Kraken COVID-19 variant which is running amok in parts of the US and beginning to spread in Canada. 

- Whizy Kim writes about the worsening race to the bottom among U.S. states in allowing the wealthiest few to avoid paying taxes (forcing people with less resources to foot the bill for whatever public services remain available). And Romain Schue and Thomas Gerbet report on the escalating amount of money being paid to McKinsey & Company as a substitute for a functional civil service at all levels of government in Canada. 

- hopebuilding discusses how Housing First policy is ultimately about valuing the people otherwise lacking one of the essentials of life. And Patrick Condon points out the glaring lack of evidence that funneling large amounts of money into private housing produces measurable improvements in making units available and reducing homelessness. 

- Izzie Ramirez writes about the trend toward perpetually inferior consumer products as businesses optimize a system based on constant replacement rather than the provision of what people actually want. And Leslie Kaufman highlights the damage we're doing to our climate through an addiction to cheap plastics (which petropoliticians are only looking to worsen). 

- Neal Lawson discusses how UK Labour can't credibly claim to be offering change from the Cons without committing to a fair electoral system - a point which applies equally to other parties claiming to be a progressive alternative to top-down, corporate cronyist governments. 

- Finally, Owen Jones writes that the younger generations which have been made the object of conservative scorn and spite are unlikely to reward that enmity with future support. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Umair Haque discusses how the UK has become a failing state which lacks the capacity to provide either basic public services or a functional economy of any kind. Adam Bychawski wonders whether any of the corporate-sponsored "think tanks" which pushed for the most destructive policy choices will ever be treated as discredited. And Owen Jones calls out the Cons' typical choice to distract from their own failings by demonizing refugees. 

- Meanwhile, Berenice de Suzanne writes that more and more Canadian corporate money is being stashed in tax havens to avoid funding a functional society. 

- Isabella Simonetti and Julia Creswell note that U.S. consumer prices are continuing to increase far past the point necessary to cover retailers' costs - confirming that much of the inflation people are facing is the result of corporate profiteering. And Kelly Geraldine Malone reports on the large number of people having to turn to food banks or skipping meals as a result of inflated food prices. 

- Daniel Drache and Mark Froese ask whether authoritarian populism will self-destruct. But Mitchell Anderson notes that hate is being cultivated by several interconnected forces which demand far more of a response than Canada has yet been able to muster. And Susan Delacourt writes that Pierre Poilievre is avoiding answering for his own support for the #FluTruxKlan. 

- Finally, Katherine Wu discusses both how COVID-19 is evolving far too quickly for much-hyped monoclonal antibodies to keep up, and how U.S. pediatric care is facing its worst crisis in decades as the coronavirus is allowed to spread unabated. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Rachel Aiello reports on Health Canada's approval of COVID booster vaccines targeted at the Omicron variants. And Andrew Romano discusses the hope that the updated vaccines will result in a turning point in combating COVID - though getting enough people vaccinated to limit further spread and variation looks to be a serious challenge after months of messaging that people could move on from taking any precautions. 

- Owen Jones discusses how UK Con leadership frontrunner Liz Truss is one of the appalling number of right-wing politicians who values fossil fuel profits over human life, while Trevor Herriot calls out the Moe government's attack on the very concept of enforcing environmental laws. Geoff Leo exposes the case of a 14-year-old who died while under the "care" of social services. And Brody Langager reports on the work being done to push the Sask Party to fund harm reduction, while Zak Vescera offers a reminder that nobody can avoid the devastating effects of the drug poisoning crisis.  

- Alice Lee et al. study the increase in fuel poverty in the UK, while noting that a transition to clean energy would also reduce inequality of access and ensure a more stable supply. Mia Rabson reports on new research showing the particular ubiquity of toxic chemicals in dollar store products. And Damien Gayle reports on a new study showing how carbon capture and storage isn't part of the solution in trying to avert a climate breakdown. 

- Paul Prescod writes about the importance of unions in fighting for the rights and interests of minority workers. And Molly Smith reports on new research showing that single women without children are managing to accumulate more wealth than men in the same cohort - but those with children lag far behind other groups. 

- Finally, James McCarten reports on new opinion polling as to the main concerns of Canadians - with climate change and misinformation ranking as major public concerns even as so many right-wing politicians dedicate themselves fully to preventing any action on them. Aaron Wherry writes that political leaders need to part of the solution in ending rage farming as a political strategy - though there's plenty of reason for concern that the Cons and their allies only plan to keep pushing the envelope in lying to stoke anger, rather than taking anybody's advice to do what they can to avoid having people get hurt. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Jason Gale reports on new research showing how COVID-19 can cause impacts on the brain for a period of years (with no apparent end in sight). And Saima May Sidik discusses the long-lasting cardiovascular problems which may also follow from an infection. But Sean Boynton reports that the choice to "let 'er rip" is resulting in even the acute measures of hospitalizations and deaths being higher than in the previous two years of the pandemic - while Isaac Callan and Colin D'Mello expose how the Ford PCs (presumably not alone among their right-wing cousins) were more interested in slashing costs and services than ensuring people had the tools to deal with COVID.

- Meanwhile, Brady Bouchard warns that family physicians won't be able to paper over the destruction of other elements of the health care system for long. And Jeremy Simes reports on the plight of one Regina patient wrestling with the possibility of seeking an MRI at his own expense, while CKOM reports on the Moe government's explicit choice to start diverting surgical patients to Alberta based on their ability to pay for their own travel. 

- Don Pittis discusses how workers shouldn't see an eventual drop in inflation as much of a win if it means their real income has been eroded by a combination of corporate-driven price increases and artificially suppressed wages. And Greg Jericho highlights how wages are falling far short of keeping up with theoretical labour demand in Australia. 

- Owen Jones writes about a rare but welcome step in unionizing a London nightclub - offering an example for all kinds of workers in precarious service jobs.  

- Finally, Erika Shaker offers a primer on student debt in Canada - and the value of removing the limitations faced by young workers as they complete their education with massive debt burdens. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Eric Topol discusses the ominous rise of the Omicron BA.5 COVID-19 subvariant. Katelyn Thomas reports that Quebec has joined the jurisdictions demanding that people manage their own risk while depriving them of the information needed to properly evaluate it. Nick Natale, John Lukens and William Petri Jr. review the effects of COVID on the nervous system. Andre Picard writes about the imminent rollout of another round of vaccines. And for those inclined to pretend there's nothing that can be done to stop the spread, Shane Landry et al. find that the combination of fit-tested N95 masks and air filtration is sufficient to protect even against high viral loads over prolonged periods at close range. 

- Sharon Eubanks writes that oil and gas giants can rightly expect to face the same fate as tobacco companies in having to make reparations for their prolonged dishonesty and harm to the public, while Camilla Hodgson reports on litigation in Peru which is leading the way. And Kate Ravilious highlights how the effect of methane in contributing to climate breakdown is even worse than previously anticipated. 

- Owen Jones discusses how the sudden and vicious attacks on LGBTQ rights in the name of a violent patriarchy represent a threat to women as well. 

- Finally, James Hutt reports from the Labor Notes conference, including a surge in organizing which offers hope for the future of organized labour and workers generally. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Doug Cuthand discusses how everybody is worse off as a result of the combination of government negligence and individual vaccine hesitancy. And Liam Harrap tells the story of a cancer patient struggling to get access to needed care due to the pandemic which has been allowed to burn out of control. 

- Meanwhile, Amanda Sealy reports on the prospect of vaccines being available for ages 5-11 within a matter of weeks - making it all the more galling that conservative governments have facilitated a fourth wave by eliminating public health rules too soon then taking too long to revisit their talking points.  

- Jonathan Tirone discusses how the "locked-in" emissions even from existing refineries will lead to climate catastrophe if they're spewed out as planned.

- Rosie Collington and Mariana Mazzucato comment on the disastrous results of replacing knowledgeable and effective government with reliance on expensive and self-interested corporate consultants. 

- Finally, Owen Jones comments on the widespread dissatisfaction with capitalism among young adults who see their futures being mortgaged for the sake of making the obscenely rich even wealthier. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- The Economist charts how face mask use helps to slow the spread of COVID generally. And Supriya Dwivedi writes that the Conservative approach treating vaccination as a purely personal decision rather than one embedded in communal needs and obligations is only extending the pandemic.

- Brittany Gervais reports that Alberta's contact tracers are warning that their province is now flying blind into a storm. And Brian Goldman interviews public health experts about the risk that we'll face lockdowns again this fall as the price of failing to do anything to control the spread of the Delta variant.

- Meanwhile, Luke Savage highlights how the executive class was able to raise its own income while most people were struggling even more through the pandemic.

- Finally, Owen Jones writes about the growing number of homophobic and transphobic hate crimes in the UK - due largely to the normalization of continued bigotry against trans people in particular.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Mariana Mazzucato responds to Boris Johnson by recognizing that capitalism has no viable answers for collective action problems such as the ones posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

- Scott Schmidt discusses how the familiar right-wing attempt to squeeze the wages and working conditions of public servants does nothing but harm to both the services we need, and the economy as a whole. And Fife Ogunde argues that the people providing services that we treat as essential deserve to be paid accordingly. 

- Owen Jones warns that our living environment can't survive the single-minded pursuit of immediate profit over the well-being of its inhabitants. Tariq Fancy discusses how sustainable investing in its current form falls far short of the mark in averting a climate breakdown. And Andrew Leach wonders whether the Supreme Court's decision upholding federal carbon pricing in Canada will represent the end of a loud and scientifically-illiterate resistance to climate policy.

- Adam Morton reports on a new study showing how Australia could reach net-zero emissions by 2040 with a transition to wind and solar power. And Dirk Meissner reports on British Columbia's steps to set emissions targets for industries and communities.

- Angus Reid's latest polling finds large numbers of Canadians facing financial insecurity both in general, and particularly in light of the coronavirus pandemic. 

- Finally, Lee Stevens examines the glaring gap between the social programs available in Alberta and the support needed to lift people out of poverty. And Jason Hickel highlights why there's reason to be skeptical of claims about the elimination of extreme poverty which depend on both questionable assumptions about past standards of living, and an an exceedingly low standard to define the term today.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Owen Jones points out how attempts to primarily blame the public for the spread of COVID serve primarily to distract from unsafe workplace and other systemic risks which have been left in place to serve corporate interests. And Jolson Lim reports on the increasing push for provincial sick leave policies - which are particularly necessary due to the federal Libs' decision that it was more important to cut off the CERB program than to ensure people have the support they need to survive the pandemic.

- Randy Robinson discusses how the pandemic has made it all the more painfully obvious how Doug Ford's hatred of government makes him unable to lead one. Sarmishta Subramanian rightly notes that empty "stay at home" messaging was doomed to fail when it was accompanied by an insistence that business be able to carry on as usual. And Rick Salutin calls out the Ford PCs' choice to claim that the only form of COVID control they'll ultimately accept is a vaccine - no matter how much avoidable sickness and death results from a lack of responsible action in the meantime. 

- Murray Mandryk offers a periodic reminder that more of the same shouldn't be acceptable for Saskatchewan - which of course doesn't mean we can expect anything different from Scott Moe. And Laura Woodward interviews Kyle Anderson about the prospect that nothing short of a full lockdown will be enough to get the virus under something resembling control.

- Meanwhile, Brian Platt highlights how Nova Scotia has succeeded in using rapid testing to get a handle on community spread.

- Finally, Linda McQuaig discusses how the trend toward privatized long-term care has exacerbated the crisis for residents in Ontario. And Amy Dempsey reports on the for-profit care nursing home operators who have pocketed money explicitly targeted for personal care workers.

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to start your year.

- Shawn Micallef highlights how the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the refusal by far too many people to follow a social contract - including anti-social leaders elected to shape and apply it.

- Owen Jones writes about the dangerous disinformation - spread with far too little thought within the media - that COVID-19 doesn't need to be taken seriously. And Niall McGee reports on the rise in stock promotion scams since the pandemic started.

- James Keller and Jaren Kerr note that hospitals which are already operating beyond their capacity are facing impending disaster as patient numbers rise, while James Keller and Stefanie Marotta point out the further strain on a health care system which will need to work out how to rapidly deliver a vaccine. Lawrence Wright goes into detail about the U.S.' utterly failed response, while Robson Fletcher looks at the causes of Alberta's December spike in COVID-19 deaths. And Moira Wyton discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that while nobody is immune from a public health disaster, the harm falls disproportionately on people already facing severe disadvantages.

- Finally, Andrew MacLeod notes that even John Horgan was taken by surprise by the speed and effectiveness of the B.C. civil service's response to the coronavirus - showing that even our leaders most inclined to accept public-sector action are underestimating what it can achieve when given the chance (while concurrently putting too much emphasis on private interests).

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Owen Jones writes that the oft-repeated message that the public is responsible for the control (or spread) of COVID-19 serves mostly to deflect from gross failures of government. Grant Robertson reports on the deterioration of Canada's capacity to respond to a pandemic. Roberto Rocha, Inayat Singh and Julianna Perkins point out that provinces which acted sooner have had far more success in limiting case loads. And Michael Baker, Nick Wilson and Tony Blakely examine the superior outcomes from plans which eliminate viral spread, rather than assuming that some level of community transmission is acceptable and controllable.

- Elayne Hyshka and Hakique Verani note that contrary to Jason Kenney's deflections, the rise of drug overdoses in Alberta is the result of precisely the harm exacerbation strategy his government is determined to inflict on the province. And Danny Kerslake reports on the spread of COVID-19 through the Saskatchewan Penitentiary at a rate even worse than that of other federal penitentiaries.

- Pamela Cowan writes that the tragic loss of life which marked 2020 should push us to take far better care of senior citizens. And Brigitte Pellerin similarly argues that we should use what we've learned to ensure we never again ignore marginalized people.

- Terry Gross discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has turned into a windfall for the people who already had far more than they could possibly need. Noah Smith points out that the growth of inequality isn't limited to the rise of the uber-rich, but also includes increased disparities within the middle class. And Alex Hemingway studies how the underrepresentation of people outside the upper classes in political leadership leads to distorted policy outcomes.

- Finally, Heather McGregor points out how Ontario's most recent anti-poverty plan falls short of offering any useful plans to lift people out of poverty.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Shannon Vanraes reports that Manitoba has become the latest jurisdiction reduced to triaging patients in their cars due to a lack of resources to respond to the coronavirus. Mickey Djuric reports on new modeling showing that Saskatchewan is on the verge of a severe COVID-19 outbreak, even as Paul Merriman plans to do nothing until it's too late to improve matters. But it's worth noting - as already pointed out - that even the best-case scenario (involving cases leveling off at their current number) would need to have involved substantial action a month ago.

- Zak Vescera reports on Alex Wong's observation that we need immediate action to save lives. And the Saskatchewan NDP is calling for a three-week "circuit breaker" of non-essential services to prevent both catastrophic spread and more severe lockdowns later on. 

- Owen Jones argues that since any COVID-19 vaccine will be the result of publicly-funded research for the benefit of all humanity, it makes no sense to hand over patents rights allowing big pharma to limit access to it.

- Janyce McGregor and Peter Zimonjic reports on the federal NDP's push for a national pharmacare program. And while the Cons try to throw out jurisdictional arguments, it's worth noting how private health interests are lining up at the trough to turn health care needs into profits thanks to their Alberta cousins.

- Finally, Hadrian Metrins-Kirkwood writes that the Libs' much-ballyhooed climate change legislation doesn't actually promise to generate much other than a lot of paperwork, while Adam Radwanski likewise finds the bill wanting compared to its international counterparts. And Robert Devine argues that we can't count on the market to save us from the calamitous consequences of an impending climate breakdown.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Thomas Walkom writes about the Libs' dangerous efforts to turn the page on COVID-19 as Canada's primary political concern.

- Murray Mandryk highlights how Scott Moe's budget accomplishes nothing either to address our immediate crisis, or to chart a long-term course for Saskatchewan. And Sareth Pereis writes that a budget intended to paper over severe social, health and economic challenges until after election day only ensures that we'll face far more pain in the future.

- Robyn Urback rightly slams large grocery chains for trying to take back pay increases from their workers while a pandemic continues to put them at risk every day. And Rosa Marchitelli exposes how Colliers is among the employers engaged in systematic wage and time theft from employees - but faces none of the consequences common when the shoe is alleged to be on the other foot. 

- Bryan Labby reports on new polling showing that Albertans are increasingly willing to pay a sales tax in order to properly fund public services. 

- Jennifer Koshan, Lisa Silver, and Jonnette Watson Hamilton challenge the Jason Kenney UCP's attack on peaceful expression and assembly. And Brandi Morin reports on the racial targeting underlying Bill 1.

- Finally, Owen Jones discusses how the toppling of statues is forcing the UK to confront its own ongoing racism.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Through the newly-developed Progressive International, Grace Blakely writes that we don't have any choice as to whether our future will be planned - only as to whose interest are taken into account in the process:

Our choice is not ‘to plan or not to plan?’ but ‘in whose interests should we plan?’

The case for democratic public planning is clear. The inefficiencies, inequities and corruption generated by state-monopoly capitalism do not result from centralisation in itself, but from centralisation absent the centrifugal force of democratic accountability. There is a strong case to be made that, in the wake of this crisis, the resources by then under the command of the state should be allocated by the public, for the public. Absent this plan to democratize the economy, this crisis — and the suffering of so many millions of people it has caused — will have been for nothing but capital itself.

- The Economist highlights the opportunity to flatten the climate curve along the way. And Marc Lee points out some of the options for a low-carbon reboot of Canada's economy, while Adam Radwanski discusses the push to demand that the Libs make use of them.

- Abacus Data offers a detailed look at the progressive plan Canadians support - including both increased taxes on the rich, and investments in social priorities - as we rebuild from the coronavirus pause. Matthew Yglesias notes that even in the U.S., there's plenty of public support for public spending to finance a recovery - particularly if it's paid for by fair taxes on the wealthy. And Brian Jones also notes the importance of finally ensuring the lucky few contribute to the common good.

- But then, Norman Solomon discusses the class war being waged by the privileged in order to exploit the pandemic to further consolidate their control while denying any meaning to what everybody else is losing. Paul Krugman writes about Donald Trump's plan to sacrifice tens of thousands of Americans in the hope of securing temporary gains in the stock market. Owen Jones points out how the well-connected are able to extract preferential treatment from the business sector with reference to Boris Johnson's circle of close associates. And Eduardo Porter and David Yaffe-Bellany highlight how another generation is facing diminished long-term prospects as it emerges into an economy which is both crumbling generally, and top-heavy in its allocation of any gains.

- Finally, the Globe and Mail's editorial board rightly asks why testing and tracing which has long been promised - and which is known to be the only feasible option to increase activity without enabling the spread of COVID-19 - is still lacking in far too much of Canada. And Bruce Arthur writes about the need to make sure our lockdown actually results in the development of an effective public health strategy, rather than merely hitting the snooze button on an even more catastrophic wave of infection.

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Paul Wells highlights the futility in telling people to stay home when they lack a home to stay in. And Robyn Urback discusses the simple test of character involved in the choice of some leaders to abandon people at sea.

- Megan Linton discusses how neoliberal health care treats people as disposable. The Star's editorial board points out how we're currently sending our health care workers to war without adequate equipment, while Catharine Tunney reports on the federal government's recognition only after the fact that it didn't have sufficient personal protective equipment. And Jane Philpott comments on the need to protect the health workers working to care for people through the course of the pandemic.

- Michael Enright interviews Hugh Segal about the prospect of a basic income - and the extra value it would carry in a crisis (particularly as the federal government makes excuses about lacking information to distribute even the barest of benefits to people who need them). And Mark Blyth points out how the U.S.' debt-driven economy with few social supports or shock absorbers makes it particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, while Madison Hoff notes that a shutdown is calling needed attention to the U.S.' obsession with work over welfare.

- Owen Jones writes about the need to fight to ensure the new world which emerges from COVID-19 is actually an improvement on the one that's allowed it to cause so much damage. And Dorothee Benz takes note of the corporate media focused primarily on profits rather than lives.


- Finally, Ian Welsh offers a needed warning against the impulse to rally around bad leaders in a time of crisis.