Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Toby Buckle and Greg Sargent highlight the need for a global response to the race war being propagated by Elon Musk and other white supremacists. And Will Bunch explains his (however belated) exit from the media empire of a tycoon whose violent anti-humanitarism is absolutely inescapable. 

- Meanwhile, as the fascists among us try to pretend they're defenders of civilization, Moira Doneghan examines the parallels between the Trump regime and the despots who oversaw the decline of Rome. Robert Reich comments on the symbolism of Trump's use of the White House as the backdrop for cage fighting. And Judith Levine discusses the importance of an iconoclastic movement to tear down the monuments built for no purpose other than to assuage a dictator's ego, while Rev. Dr. William Barber II points out the need for a general deep clean as part of the U.S.' reconstruction. 

- Kevin Hardy reports on the increasing number of Americans going hungry due to a combination of evaporating social supports and soaring prices. And Ben Casselman points out the U.S.' general population is rightly peeved at seeing a perpetually increasing gap between income and expenses while a few hoarders amass unprecedented riches. 

- Dell Cameron and Yulia Almazova report on the connections between media, techbros and Trump regime figures in Peter Thiel's private "Dialog".   

- Finally, Brett McKay reports on the lobbying by DoorDash and Uber to pressure Alberta and Saskatchewan to refuse to provide the protections B.C. has offered to precarious workers. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Beth Kowitt discusses how the inequality and exclusion deliberately exacerbated by the wealthiest few are only ensuring that CEOs have no idea how angry the public is with them. David Higginbottom writes about the capital class' increasingly sophisticated and thorough extraction of labour and value from the rest of us. And Nora Loreto discusses how the Libs have always been on the side of capital rather than the environment. 

- Madison Mills notes that the businesses who have poured the most faith and funding into AI are starting to realize that they're not getting anything close to the value promised by its purveyors. And Patrick Galey delves into the lies which have been used to lure them in. 

- Raphael Satter reports that the U.S. government's neglect of personal privacy and data protection has reached the point where its own troops are being targeted thanks to information handed to unscrupulous data brokers.  

- Jonathan Liew rightly questions why anybody who considers themselves progressive would want to contribute content and eyeballs to a Nazi recruitment tool like X.  

- Finally, James Goldston and Natasha Arnpriester write that the Trump regime's dehumanization of refugees and asylum claimants is utterly intolerable - and needless to say the same should go for any other country's willingness to pretend that the U.S. is a safe landing place for immigrants. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Casey Newton notes that repeated studies showing the distorting effects of X and other social media sites are making it impossible to pretend that major tech platforms deserve the protection of a presumption of neutrality. And Raphael Satter and Alexandra Alper report on the Trump regime's demand that other countries avoid asserting any protection for data integrity or public privacy where its tech giants think there's something to be exploited.

- Rory White investigates the consultants looking to overwhelm political conversations with AI talking points. And Brett McKay reports on the right-wing astroturf entities who are skirting or deliberately violating Canadian election laws in order to flood the airwaves with election ads without providing timely (or in some cases any) disclosure of who's funding them. 

- A.R. Moxon discusses why toxic masculinity is damaging to the people who succumb to it, while recognition of others' humanity is necessary to the flourishing of one's own. And Kelly Hayes writes that it's no surprise that people who have been systematically isolated are unable to understand the connections being made in Minnesota where people are building support networks. 

- Finally, Sharlene Gandhi examines data from 211 calls which shows that housing and mental health are the most glaring unmet needs among people calling for crisis support. And Simon Enoch discusses Saskatchewan's continued place as the province with the highest rates of child poverty - which is only becoming both broader and deeper under the Sask Party. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Adrienne Tanner comments on how Canada has taken on unacceptable risks in accepting industry-funded "research" as a substitute for an accurate assessment of the dangers of pesticides. And Mark Carney's plans to defer to approvals from the U.S. and other foreign regulators only stands to make matters worse - particularly given Virgina Gewin's analysis of the devastating effects of the Trump regime's attacks on science in destroying careers and standards alike. 

- Paris Marx discusses how Elon Musk is showing exactly why conscience-free tech giants need to be regulated rather than allowed to do as much damage to people as they can get away with. 

- Marie Woolf reports on the recommendations of a Canadian task force to regulate artificial intelligence in particular. And Daniel Munro notes that while there are choices to be made as to what to do once the AI bubble inevitably pops, the guiding principle needs to be the public interest rather than the subsidization of ill-fated decisions. 

- Katie Pedersen et al. point out that property controls are just one more mechanism grocery giants use to stifle competition and gauge consumers. 

- Finally, Jeremy Wallace discusses how the renewable energy revolution is set to triumph no matter how much money and power is thrown at trying to subsidize fossil fuel profits. Alexandra White reports that U.S. gas producers are spewing far more methane (and thus doing far more climate damage) than they're willing to report publicly. And David Shephardson and Mike Scarcella report on Michigan's legal action against oil companies for conspiring to suppress electric vehicle development.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Miguel Xavier discusses the need for social democrats to stop limiting their goals to preserving the status quo, and instead make the case for transformative change of an unfair economic system. And Dale Smith comments on the need to build grassroots democracy as a necessary precondition to sustainable social and policy gains. 

- Patrick Lennox warns that the separatist movement being stoked by the UCP and the Sask Party represents a threat to Canada's national security. Matthew Mendelsohn writes about the changes Canada's public service needs to make to strengthen our defences against the U.S.' aggression, while Paris Marx highlights the need to ban X in particular as both a peddler of CSAM and a threat to democracy. And Paul Stewart points out how reliance on P3 schemes and outsourcing as a substitute for a dedicated civil service only makes the delivery of necessities more expensive and less effective. 

- IndustriALL examines how social dialogue mechanisms have led to improved wages and working conditions in Kyrgyzstan. 

- Finally, Laura Semenzato et al. study the effects of COVID-19 vaccines, and find a substantial reduction in COVID-related deaths without tradeoffs in all-cause mortality. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- The Guardian discusses how Canada is on the frontline of Donald Trump's attacks on any concept of a rules-based international order. Franklin Foer writes about how Trump is operating entirely according to Vladimir Putin's worldview, while Anna Betts reports on the U.S.' place in the list of countries seeing a rapid decline in civic freedoms. Rana Foroohar writes that Trump is proving to be a disaster even in terms of the accumulation of wealth, while Umair Haque warns that our economic system is entirely unfit to assess and manage the risks we're now facing. And Isaac Stanley-Becker warns that air safety is under even more threat than one would think from Elon Musk's well-publicized mass layoffs (and the spate of plane crashes that has followed). 

- Ryan Meili discusses the importance of building connections around the globe to fill the void left by a decaying American empire - rather than retreating into an insular mindset which leaves us more isolated and vulnerable. David Olive adds a few more suggestions to Canada's list of options in responding to the trade component of the U.S. threat. And Nick Tsergas highlights why it's long past time for anybody who cares about their own credibility to ditch the morass that is X. 

- Taylor Noakes calls out the dark money being used to propagandize for continued reliance on dirty energy. And Heather Stewart talks to Yolanda Diaz Perez about the success of Spain's left-wing government - including the need to push back as to the terms of political debate rather than accepting right-wing framing. 

- Finally, James Tapper, Anna Fazackerley and Vanessa Thorpe discuss how COVID-19 has exacerbated existing inequalities in the UK. And Laura Spinney laments that right-wing, anti-social narratives have come to dominate any discussion of a disease which still serves as a compelling demonstration of the need to take care of each other. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Seth Wynes et al. survey climate scientists about their expectations for global climate policy - and it's telling that there's no apparent optimism about anything being accomplished until half a century down the road.

- Rickman et al. examine how banks are continuing to lend immense amounts of money for fossil fuel extraction and development - even as they know that action makes it impossible to meet the world's Paris targets. Josephine Moulds and Wil Crisp expose how Citigroup helped funnel billions to the UAE's state oil company while avoiding counting the loan against its climate commitments. And Dara Kerr reports on Elon Musk's plan to operate a massive, highly-polluting AI supercomputer in Memphis with no regard for residents who have already faced generations of environmental racism.

- Meanwhile, Zoe Kleinman discusses Stephen Fry's observation that Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have polluted the information ecosystem at least as much as any industrial operation has ever polluted the physical environment. Marc Edge argues that the developing Russian disinformation scandal could turn the tide against Pierre Poilievre and the party benefiting from Vladimir Putin's favour. And Freddy Brewster reports on J.D. Vance's plans to trash any remaining restrictions against full and unaccountable private ownership of the U.S.' political system.

- Finally, the Pandemic Acountability Index examines the gendered impacts of COVID-19, including a disproportionate burden on women already stuck with unpaid care responsibilities. And Matthew Kupfer reports on the numerous social ills caused by the federal government's decision to order employees back to their offices.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Matthew Rosza discusses the growing recognition that there's little chance of holding to our one-time target of 1.5 degrees of global warming - and that it will take a radical change of course to limit the damage to 1.6. But New Scientist rightly argues that we should be doing everything within our power to avoid any more climate breakdown than is absolutely inevitable. And both Matthew Taylor and Adrien Plomteux discuss how a turn toward degrowth and focused resource allocation can both reduce the harm we're inflicting on our living environment, and produce far better outcomes for people. 

- Meanwhile, Taylor Noakes discusses how Imperial Oil has faced a laughably insignificant penalty for dumping millions of litres of contaminated waste from a tailings pond into the natural environment. 

- Dougald Lamont writes about Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter - noting that in addition to serving as a cautionary tale about fascist control over media, it also reflect the culture of debt-funded speculation as a substitute for actual economic development. 

- Finally, Andrew Ewing et al. examine the expert consensus on long COVID - even as the ongoing pandemic has been largely hidden from public notice. Jason Gale notes that the business of death is booming as a result of COVID-19, while Flannery Dean asks why we've accepted constant reinfection as our normal state of being. And Tina Reed discusses how contrived anti-vaccine messaging is now leaving American children exposed to numerous diseases which had previously been eradicated. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Joan Westenberg writes about the insistence by Elon Musk and others that people be forced to listen to bigotry in the name of "free speech" - along with their dissatisfaction that people keep developing new communication systems to avoid their hate-filled channels. Athmeya Jayaram points out how extreme wealth is used to threaten decision-makers not to consider any interests other than the demands of the richest few individuals and corporations. And Ajay Parasram discusses how solidarity and cooperation have served as the most effective message to stop the political rise of the regressive right.  

- Kate Yoder discusses how politicians (and even the general public) drastically underestimate the popular support for climate action - due in no small part to anti-clean energy astroturfing funded by fossil fuel tycoons. Rebecca Hersher reports on the reality that our oceans are warming significantly faster than projected, producing even more severe weather than anticipated. And Jack Simpson reports on the effect of extreme weather on insurance payouts. 

- Everett Kehew highlights the folly of blaming a housing shortage on lower-income immigrant workers rather than the capital class which refuses to build homes which most people can afford. And Alex Lord discusses the reality that the UK (like other countries) needs to reverse decades of neglect to meet housing targets - though it's telling that the needed number of homes isn't unprecedented, merely unfulfilled due to a lack of public investment.  

- Jason Foster, Bob Barnetson and Susan Cake study how governments have meddled in public-sector collective bargaining in Canada. 

- Finally, Gus Speth discusses the need to focus on well-being as the basis for our policy choices, rather than fetishizing growth for its own sake. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The Technical University of Munich highlights the uncertainties involved in putting a timeline on particular climate tipping points - even if their arrival is certain if we don't stop spewing carbon pollution. And Meghan Bartels discusses how the climate breakdown is damaging all kinds of infrastructure designed for a temperature range which is entirely in the past. 

- Meanwhile, Alexis Simmerman and Doyle Rice report that an oxygen-depleted "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico caused by industrial pollutants has expanded to over 6,700 square miles. 

- Emilia Belliveau and Nola Poirier discuss how oil tycoons are perpetually lobbying to avoid cleaner energy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. And David Climenhaga points out how the UCP's hostility to renewable energy was able to shut down enough planned projects to power every house in Alberta - making it clear that Canada's right isn't interested in making energy available, but in ensuring that we have to pay off their dirty energy donors to access it. 

- Tom Perkins writes about the connection between increased food prices and blatant corporate profiteering.  

- Finally, Joe Mulhall rightly calls out against any attempt to legitimize racist violence. And Gil Duran warns that Twitter has been weaponized to favour exactly that - meaning that any responsible users need to be developing an exit strategy (if they haven't already). 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Rumtin Sepasspour and Courtney Tee write that it's impossible for governments to prevent and prepare for catastrophic risks when they're deliberately operating in denial that such risks even exist. And Crawford Kilian points out how the fact that we're still in the midst of a global pandemic doesn't mean we've developed mechanisms capable of responding to another one. 

- Meanwhile, Jamie Ducharme writes about the utter abandonment of anybody trying to maintain some level of COVID-19 precautions. And Erin Clack discusses the continuing stream of research showing the negative effects of COVID on the brain, while Lauren Pelley highlights how updated vaccines remain important even as their availability is becoming less and less certain. 

- Steven Trask reports on the latest revelation of a "carbon credit" project which has turned out to be an utter failure - which is worth keeping in mind in particular as the federal government's climate change consultation includes a predictable push to accept foreign credits as a substitute for emission reductions. And Natasha White examines how banks are recognizing the dangers of funding the fossil fuel sector - but how the financial sector is responding by shunting dirty loans into separate private entities. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow writes about the realities of trying to operate in systems which people can't fully understand under circumstances where the corporations with direct control and the governments who are supposed to serve the public interest have both proven utter failures in protecting our interests. And Sam Biddle exposes how any posturing by Elon Musk and X about the evils of government surveillance is entirely selective given that they've turned the sale of their own surveillance data into a profit centre. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Mark Jacobson writes that we already have the technology needed to make a full transition to a clean energy economy - as long as we don't allow fossil fuel interests to keep delaying the necessary and inevitable. James Price and Steve Pye discuss why countries reliant on oil and gas need to phase our their use faster in order to allow for the developing world to transition away from coal. Max Fawcett discusses the folly of Danielle Smith's plan to hand a free $20 billion to oil tycoons in order to fulfill their existing obligation to clean up well sites. And Sam Biddle reports on Google's attempt to greenwash its use to boost carbon pollution.

- John Michael McGrath discusses how developer-focused housing policies are resulting in Canada falling far behind the pace needed to provide people with homes. And Jesse Gourevitch et al. study the climate risk which is deliberately being excluded from the cost of housing in flood-prone areas.

- Taylor Lambert points out the predictable connection between the UCP's ideological aversion to harm reduction, and the soaring death rate from drug poisonings.

- Katherine Denkinson calls out Elon Musk for turning Twitter into the ultimate recruitment tool for the bigoted alt-right. And Anna Merlan discusses how even after getting their way as a matter of government policy, anti-vaxxers are bent on vengeance against anybody who cared for others' well-being in the midst of a preventable pandemic.

- Finally, Anand Giridharadas talks to Roger Cohen about his hope for the future of democracy even in the face of well-resourced actors determined to end it.

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. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jessica Wildfire discusses how the U.S. and Canada are following the UK's healthcare collapse due to a combination of public health negligence and destruction of existing health care institutions. And CBC News reports on how Quebec's already-overburdened emergency rooms are again preparing to face an influx of new illness after the holidays. 

- Meanwhile, Patty Winsa reports that corporate health operators in Ontario are taking the opportunity to shift toward pay-for-play for virtual care. And Janet Conrad and Devon Mitchell recognize the steps British Columbia is taking to push back against paywalled health care. 

- Angella MacEwen charts how workers have been systematically falling behind GDP growth. And Zak Vescera discusses the potential for 2023 to be the year of the union as workers recognize the need to fight back. 

- Robert Saunders points out that even after her speedy departure, Liz Truss's ascent to power reflects the core of the UK Cons and their right-wing media ecosystem rather than a deviation from it. And Murray Brewster reports on a Eurasia Group report documenting how Canada is seeing the spillover effects of the U.S.' march toward disinformation and violence. 

- Finally, Umair Haque writes that the overall impact of the Internet so far has been to destroy our ability to function as a civilization. And Paula Simons discusses her decision to leave Twitter and other social media behind. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your year-end reading.

- Allison Maher et al. study how COVID-19 causes fundamental changes to a person's immune system, resulting in far greater vulnerability to other infections. Spencer Kimball reports on the rapid spread of the XBB.1.5 COVID-19 variant - which appears to be rendering previous types of immunity significantly less effective.  And Volker Gerdts, Baljit Singh and Loleen Berdahl write about the need to start planning immediately for future pandemics - including by incorporating knowledge from the social sciences into communications about public health issues. 

- Mitchell Thompson discusses how Doug Ford has chosen to lead Ontario's health care system into a crisis. And Linda McQuaig offers a reminder that the destruction of a universal, publicly-funded system is part of the right's plan to turn people's health into a corporate profit centre.

- David Macdonald warns that the CRA's heavy-handed approach to demanding repayments from low-income CERB recipients may cast a pall over any future social benefits. And John Loeppky discusses the need to ensure people with disabilities have secure access to housing - even as the policy response seems to range from dodging responsibility to outright hostility.

- Tony Barboza writes that it's essential to talk to kids about climate change - even if the continued accumulation of avoidable damage to our living environment is scary enough even for adults. Cameron Wood writes that Saskatchewan's grasslands are among the ecosystems in the most danger due to environmental neglect. And CBC News reports on the benefits Alberta is seeing from a shift to solar power generation. 

- Finally, Eric Blair writes about the need to find alternatives to billionaire-dominated communication platforms.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Zaina Hamza discusses new research showing how COVID-19 fatalities hit younger people and caused more loss of expected years of life in the second year of the pandemic than the first. Kenyon Wallace discusses why 2022 was the deadliest year of the pandemic yet in Canada, while Carrie Tait reports on the tripling of the number of Canadians hospitalized with COVID since this time last year. Erin Prater writes about the recognition that a COVID infection may allow dormant viruses to reactivate in one's body. And David Climenhaga comments on Danielle Smith's determination to ensure nothing is done to limit the spread of respiratory diseases on her watch, while David Parsley reports on John Drury's observation that the UK Cons are failing to protect people from long COVID. 

- Meanwhile, the Good Law Project exposes what the UK Cons have been more interested in: funneling billions of pounds of public money to a few well-connected VIPs. 

- Amy Westervelt discusses how the the documents released as a result of the U.S. House's investigation into climate disinformation show a fossil fuel sector determined to stay in a polluting past and prevent anybody from progressing past it. And Adam Aron writes about the importance of local climate organizing to overcome the industry's obstruction. 

- Meanwhile, David Berman points out the massive special dividends doled out by corporate conglomerates who claim not to have profiteered off of price increases. 

- Thomas Zimmer discusses the threat Elon Musk and other alt-right tech bros pose to any open discussion on the platforms they control. And Gal Beckerman examines contemporary accounts from the 1930s to discuss what the descent into fascism feels like in real time. 

- Finally, Ted Rutland exposes how the Trudeau Libs conspired with the RCMP and other law enforcement interests to carry out push polling and manufacture opposition to defunding the police. 

Migration in progress

After using Twitter as my main political social media outlet for years, I've joined the many in the process of shifting to Mastodon. You'll find a link to my account in the right sidebar - and hopefully the new year will see the continued development of communities which better serve users rather than the whims of tycoons.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Julia Doubleday writes that we shouldn't accept spin from any party which attempts to minimize the unacceptable dangers of exposing children to a virus known to cause lasting damage to people's immune systems, while Terry Pender reports on the growing recognition that COVID-19 does just that. And Justus Burgi et al. find that past COVID-19 infection is correlated with increases in troponin I which normally signals heart damage. 

- Carly Weeks reports on Ontario's belated decision to require the use of biosimilar biologic drugs to prioritize access to medication over pharmaceutical profits. Liana Hwang and Adam Pyle discuss the unfairness of government attempts to blame doctors for their own failures in making health care available. And Mitchell Thompson reports on the Ontario Financial Accountability Office's finding that the Ford PCs have set the hospital system up for years of worker shortages to come. 

- Thompson also calls out the Fraser Institute for its truly inhumane attempt to claim that poverty is a trendy lifestyle choice rather than an injustice demanding a policy response. And Pratyush Dayal reports on the thousands of evictions (caused in part by the Moe government's deliberate choice to make social assistance both stingy and unduly complicated) which have left Saskatchewan people without homes over just the past few months. 

- Vijith Assar discusses how Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter shows the need for social networks which can't be put under the thumb of capricious and self-serving billionaires. But Jim Stewartson points out that for the moment, both Twitter and one of its most prominent replacements are under the control of alt-right actors more interested in stoking misinformation and division than providing sustainable spaces for online interaction. And Heidi Cuda writes about the natural alliance between corporate power and fascist politics.  

- Finally, John Nguyen and Maryam Tibrizian make the case for Canada to follow the U.S. in ensuring open access to publicly-funded research. And Justin Ling offers a reminder of the importance of transparency in the beneficial ownership of property - while noting that a European Court of Justice decision is providing a precedent going in the wrong direction. 

Sunday Evening Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- The OECD issues a report on the importance of avoiding climate tipping points - and the reality that we're on pace to far overshoot them. Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood notes that lobbying on behalf of fossil gas is the latest version of climate denialism masquerading as pragmatism, while Stewart Phillip and others write that David Eby has to choose between responsible climate action and fossil fuel development. And Lylla Younes discusses the unusually high cost of extreme weather events and natural disasters which are becoming ever more common.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board points out how some conservative governments have lost their minds - though there are plenty more cringe-inducing policies across right-wing governments which presumably had to be cut for space. Althia Raj asks why any principled conservatives who may still exist aren't calling out the combination of heavy-handed intrusion and abject dishonesty underpinning Danielle Smith's power grab. Don Braid points out that Alberta itself fought against a far more limited version of sub-legislative decision-making at the federal level just last year. And Martin Regg Cohn thinks that Doug Ford will pay the price for overplaying his own hand in trampling on Charter rights and democratic structures - though the evidence to date suggests little reason for optimism.

- Russell Lansbury discusses how Australia has moved toward sectoral bargaining which figures to ensure gains are shared widely among workers. But Luke Savage calls out the U.S. Democrats for trampling collective bargaining rights while pretending to be allies of the labour movement. 

- The Economist discusses how the deliberate elimination of public testing for COVID-19 is leaving responsible people to look to indirect measures like reviews of scented candles to determine current levels of spread.

- Finally, Oliver Darcy reports on the dramatic increase in hate speech on Twitter in the wake of Elon Musk's takeover.