Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Bruce Boccardy writes about the continued centrality of class struggle. Melissa Ryan comments on the realities that "Epstein class" is by far the most apt description of the people currently in charge of the U.S. (and far too much else). And Nick Chater and George Loewenstein highlight how self-serving corporations and billionaires are trying to force individuals to bear the responsibility and consequences for systemic ills. 

- Meanwhile, Jason Koebler writes that the gamification of war crimes in Iran has turned into just another appalling example of the depravity economy. And Rana Foroohar discusses how the U.S.' increasing adherence to petrostate logic is making everybody worse off (other than a tiny number of the most exploitative tycoons).

- The Economic Security Project examines how we could be ensuring a dignified life for everybody - even while helping individual recipients' employment prospects - through a readily-affordable guaranteed income. 

- Finally, Isaac Callan and Colin D'Mello report on the Ford PCs' decision to just stop informing the public of the measured consequences of their policies. 

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 Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Jonathan Watts discusses the strong argument to treat climate hypocrites primarily as destructive petrostates rather than honest actors in trying to address the climate crisis. Leyland Cecco points out how Canada in particular fits that description in subsidizing and promoting dirty energy while pretending to be a climate leader, while Amanda Follett Hosgood notes that British Columbia is in the same situation due to its insistence on pushing fossil gas. And Tim Rauf calls out the unambiguous denialism of Danielle Smith and the UCP, while Annie Hylton writes about Scott Moe's deliberate attack on the concept of reality-based policy in Saskatchewan. 

- Markham Hislop writes that the track record of climate policy shows that a green industrial strategy is far more effective than price signals which depend on private actors to make systemic change. And Susan Price writes about the need to go further and stop pretending the climate crisis can be solved with the same capitalist logic that precipitated it. 

- Liam Keenan, Dariusz Wojcik and Timothy Monteath discuss how an increasingly monopolized food system is harmful to our health and our planet. 

- Linda McQuaig discusses how Ontarians are paying a massive short-term price for Doug Ford's liquor privatization. And John Quiggin points out the longer-term costs as new governments try to pick up the pieces and rebuild public services after decades of corporatist selloffs in the UK and Australia. 

- Finally, Sara Moniszuko examines the causes this summer's COVID surge, while Adam Hunter reports on the Moe government's decision to end vaccine availability even as the latest wave is crushing Saskatchewan's population. Runar Solberg et al. study the continued importance and effectiveness of masks in protecting against COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases. And Maria Fernanda Ziegler writes about research showing that even mild COVID infections can lead to long-term cognitive losses. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Adam Kleczkowski examines the effectiveness of COVID-19 interventions two years into the pandemic, while noting the importance of applying the precautionary principle in the face of uncertain but severe risks. Jillian Horton discusses how our aversion to thinking about danger has been exploited by the forces seeking to eliminate any protection against an ongoing pandemic, while Umair Haque highlights the devastating effects of COVID on the brain which we're just beginning to understand. And Lisa Steacy reports on the recognition by British Columbia Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender that the elimination of masking rules creates disproportionate and discriminatory risk for vulnerable populations.  

- Ketan Joshi reminds us of the role that oil and gas have played in building up Vladimir Putin's military threat to Ukraine. Richie Assaly reports on the reality that the best means of disempowering dictators is to stop relying on the non-renewable resources they control. And Greg Muttitt discusses the reality that all countries need to be working on phasing out fossil fuel extraction and use in order to avert catastrophic results. 

- Meanwhile, Matt Simon discusses the climate threat posed by the greenhouse gases which may soon be released by the melting of undersea permafrost. And Christy Climenhaga reports on the projections showing a future of increasingly widespread and severe droughts in Saskatchewan as another consequence of a climate breakdown.

- Finally, Robert Reich writes that raising interest rates won't help to avoid inflation caused by supply chain disruptions and corporate profiteering - but will ensure that working people are faced with wage stagnation and a recession along with all the other forces already arrayed against them. And Simon Enoch warns Newfoundland and Labrador against following the path of austerity and privatization which is making Saskatchewan and other conservative-controlled jurisdictions unliveable for so many. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Phil Tank calls out the Moe government for concluding that Saskatchewan's citizens should be deprived of the information we need to make decisions about risk. Zak Vescera reveals that the province crossed thresholds for a medical triage protocol due to Moe's disregard for public health in 2021, but stopped just short of actually activating it. And Adam Miller talks to experts about how the failure to test and trace leaves us all the more vulnerable to more (and worse) variants, while Jennifer Lee discusses the folly of eliminating public health protections as the BA.2 Omicron variant becomes the dominant strain.

- Meanwhile, Jonathan Jarry writes that the fearmongering about kids being harmed by wearing masks to protect themselves and others has proven to lack any basis in reality.

- Jamie Henn writes about the danger that the oil and gas lobby will use Russia's invasion of Ukraine to lock in climate-destroying fossil fuel infrastructure. And Bill McKibben writes that the way to defeat Vladimir Putin and other resource-fueled dictators is to ensure nobody has to rely on their supplies of non-renewable energy, while Roger Harrabin reports on the UK government's recognition that increased use of renewables would be better for consumer prices as well.

- Fiona Harvey reports on the IEA's recognition that fugitive methane emissions could be eliminated at no net cost (and indeed as a benefit to many producers). And Markham Hislop points out the IEA's conclusion that methane emissions are 70% higher than reported - even as the Jason Kenneys aof the world insist on refusing to allow them to be fully monitored or regulated. 

- Finally, Saamia Ahmad, Simon Enoch and Inez Hillel discuss the false promise that privatization somehow saves money, rather than adding transaction costs as well as an expensive profit share to be handed over to the corporate sector.