Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Joe Lo reports on Oxfam's researching that the global 1% have already burned through more than their fair share of a sustainable carbon budget for the year. And Peter Kalmus both points out how we need to fight the billionaire class in order to limit the damage from the climate breakdown, and discusses how the disasters which are becoming all the more frequent and severe are exactly the ones long forecast by climate experts. 

- Amanda Marcotte discusses the absolute nonsense from the fascist right seeking to blame a nonexistent lack of gender discrimination for the Los Angeles wildfires. Jack Peat reports that Elon Musk's violent conspiracism is well within the definition of terrorism - and that only his obscene wealth is shielding him from consequences. Polly Toynbee weighs in on the UK Cons' choice to echo that same madness in the hope of out-extreming Nigel Farage. And Martin Kettle discusses the response needed to ensure the joint bullying by Musk and Donald Trump doesn't win out. 

- Patrick McCurdy, Kaitlin Clarke and Bart Cammaerts study the weaponization of anti-woke discourse by Pierre Poilievre - and the lack of an effective counter-frame so far. And Dale Smith notes that Libs seem to be looking for ways to concede vulnerable people's rights to escape the criticism - even though the main reason they've struggled to win support for their version of wokeness is that they haven't matched inclusive language with commensurate policy. 

- Andre Picard writes about the need to recognize and combat the casual violence of car culture. And David Zipper notes that large SUVs in particulare are a public health threat and need to be treated as such. 

- Finally, Dhruv Khullar points out the multiple interrelated factors which have made the standard U.S. diet into an incubator for health issues. And Tom Perkins reports on new research showing that early exposure to forever chemicals has long-term effects on health and well-being. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Geoffrey Deihl warns that this year's U.S. election may represent a point of no return in trying to avoid civilization-shaking climate breakdown (even if even the best possible result falls far short of ensuring the action we need). Tim Winton writes that it's understandable to experience rage and dread when we're treated as colonial subjects by politicians and tycoons who couldn't care less for our futures. And Jake Bittle points out that the costs of calamities like Hurricane Helene aren't currently accounted for - meaning that the general public will end up paying the price for the corporate-driven insistence on continuing to spew carbon pollution.

- Meanwhile, Christopher Oldcorn reports on Brett Dolter's observation that Saskatchewan can readily afford to be a full participant in Canada's clean energy system - contrary to the denialist impulses of the Sask Party and its fossil fuel backers. 

- Phillip Inman offers a reminder to UK Labour of the importance of investing in maintaining existing infrastructure rather than presuming the sole role of government is to pursue new and shiny photo-ops. And Maya Singer Hobbs discusses why new roads in particular are an unconscionable waste of public money compared to superior transportation options.

- Jamie Mann reports on the connections between the UK Cons and a billionaire family involved in blacklisting workers for daring to unionize.

- Finally, Trevor Herriot writes about the precipitous drop in Saskatchewan voter participation in recent elections - and the risk that a population which has given up on the possibility of change for the better will simply set itself up to be exploited all the more.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Annika Stechemesser et al. study the effectiveness of various countries' climate policies - and find that while carbon pricing is a necessary element in achieving emission reductions, it needs to be part of a full policy mix in order to get us anywhere near a country's Paris commitments. Dana Nuccitelli offers a reminder that the climate crisis represents a collective action problem where it's essential for everybody to be part of the solution (rather than looking for excuses to refuse). And Lisa Friedman writes about Kamala Harris' rightful characterization of climate policy as an issue of freedom - with the fossil fuel industry wanting nothing more than to eliminate any choice other than to keep feeding it profits by blocking cheaper and cleaner energy alternatives.

- Meanwhile, Flora Graham discusses the role of flash droughts in contributing to Canada's catastrophic string of wildfires. And Luca Ittimani reports on the unprecedented "heat engine" resulting in summer weather in the middle of Australia's winter season,

- Northwestern University examines how COVID-19 has mutated to more easily infect the central nervous system.

- Finally, Ali Velshi highlights how Project 2025 sets out the U.S. Republicans plan to undermine the wages and bargaining power of workers if they get the chance. And Tom Wall discusses how life as a gig worker in the UK is only getting more precarious - as a decade and a half of eliminating protections for migrant workers has only resulted in deteriorating conditions for everybody.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Anthony Newall et al. study the effects of the influenza vaccine - finding that each percentage point in vaccine uptake saves over a thousand U.S. lives which would otherwise have been lost to the flu and pneumonia. And Kit O'Connell discusses how people suffering from long COVID are advocating for a healthier living environment for everybody.

- Chris Hatch writes that the narrow focus on carbon taxes which dominates Canada's climate change policy discussion misses the far more important realities of a global crisis in progress. And Benjamin Shingler reports on Environmental Defence's latest study showing how the federal government continues to subsidize dirty energy, while Kendall Latimer notes that the official policy of the Saskatchewan Party remains one of strict climate denialism. 

- Daniel Otis takes note of an internal RCMP report showing that we're trending toward disaster on multiple fronts (though of course in ways that the Cons only want to exacerbate). Peter Walker writes that the U.K. Cons along with other right-wing parties are eagerly copying the Trump playbook of constant disinformation and bullying. And Abby Ferber discusses how the U.S.' bigoted right has set back racial progress by decades with a concerted attack ideas as basic as diversity and inclusion. 

- Angus Deaton writes about the lessons he's learned about the failings and frailties of capitalist orthodoxy. 

- Finally, Ian Welsh discusses the converse of the key principle that anything we can do, we can afford: when crisis hits, we can't afford anything which we've abandoned the capacity to accomplish. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Andrew Freedman examines how the climate breakdown is generating consequences far beyond those foreseen by previous projections. Seth Borenstein reports on the immense loss of Antarctic ice - and the danger it poses to coastal areas in particular. And Michael Mann points to the rise and fall of the Akkadian Empire as a precedent as to what can happen when heat and drought force people to migrate en masse. 

- The IEA offers a roadmap to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, with an emphasis on a rapid conversion to clean energy. And David Vetter notes that the arguments used by petropoliticians looking for excuses to block renewable power sources lack any basis in reality.

- But Sarah Munoz discusses how the oil industry is bent on spinning the climate crisis as a matter of individual responsibility rather than social organization in order to keep on spewing carbon pollution for decades to come. And Chris Tomlinson reports on the increased demands on energy systems (and resulting cost to consumers) from power-hogging crypto miners, while Victor Tangerman points out that the use of AI technology may produce a similar effect. 

- Devi Sridhar discusses how the UK Cons (like so many other right-wing parties) used the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to enrich cronies who lacked any ability to deliver what they were paid for. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow writes that we have every reason to be skeptical of corporate shows of progressivity - but that the appropriate response is for workers to organize and stand up to bosses on teir own terms, not to accept the reactionary position that nothing is worth improving. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Damian Carrington reports on new research showing that the cost of damage caused by extreme weather is already upwards of $16 million per hour (and escalating). And Peter Kalmus writes about the need to wind down the fossil fuel industry rather than accepting the loss of a habitable planet. 

- But Helena Horton reports that the UK Cons are joining other right-wing parties in trying to stop the ongoing transition to clean energy. Matt Simmons reports on the BC Energy Regulator's complete failure to enforce any regulatory requirements for gas pipeline construction, while Julia Simone-Rutgers reports on the systematic defunding of environmental monitoring and enforcement in Manitoba. And Andrew Nikiforuk discusses how the UCP is once again trying to sneak dirty coal projects past courts and the public alike. 

- And while governments are going out of their way to cater to the sociopaths looking to sell off humanity's future to make a quick buck, Nina Lakhari, Damien Gayle and Matthew Taylor report that they're also using the power of the state to criminalize climate activism. 

- David Climenhaga discusses how the UCP's choice of private telehealth providers has gone bankrupt, leaving millions without the health care they were forced to accept through corporate means.

- Finally, Mack DeGeurin does report on the approval of a right-to-repair law in California.  

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Emma Goldberg et al. study how the end of COVID-19 protections in China predictably gave rise to a swift and extensive outbreak. And Michelle Gamage reports on the push to ensure kids in British Columbia schools aren't avoidably exposed this fall, while Mark Lieberman discusses the reality that schools are among the many workplaces still reeling from the lasting effects of long COVID on workers. 

- Sascha Pare and Carolyn Gramling each report on the unprecedented melting of Antarctic sea ice among the ubiquitous indicators of a climate breakdown in process. And Stacey Priestley, Andy Baker and Pauline Treble write about the exhaustion of western Australian groundwater as a product of climate change. 

- Gamage also reports on updates to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act - while noting that it still falls short of addressing the long-term effects of historical pollution and environmental racism. 

- Oliver Milman exposes the "double agent" lobbyists who are simultaneously representing the carbon pollution industry and clients seeking to claim to be climate-friendly.

- Finally, Denis Campbell discusses how the UK Cons have locked the National Health Service into a death spiral of eroding care due to their hostility toward public employees - and the parallels to most Canadian provinces are painfully obvious. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Kevin Jiang reports on the reality that COVID-19 has resulted in a crash in life expectancy (which has already been stagnant due to the failure to reduce the harm of the drug poisoning crisis). And Victoria Wells points out that even ruthlessly selfish employer shills should be concerned about a disease whose effects are devastating the labour market. 

- Meanwhile, Rowena Mason and Jessica Elgot expose how at the start of the pandemic - when most themes were ones of "we're all in this together!" - the UK Cons were actively pressuring the BBC to both echo government talking points about public health measures, and engage in partisan attacks and coverups on their behalf. 

- Caroline Hillier reports on the particularly dangerous stressed on parents facing perpetual burnout and illness as the default expectation of their corporate overlords. And Stefanie Davis reports on the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses' call for a meaningful response to understaffing and exceeded capacity in hospitals. 

- Finally, Rebecca Solnit writes that we should be treating a just transition to a clean economy as an opportunity for abundance and well-being, not a threat of deprivation (which better describes the oligarchical system in which we're currently trapped). Janetta McKenzie and Scott MacDougall examine (PDF) how Canada already provides more fossil fuel subsidies than the U.S. - even as the oil and gas sector continues to demand more. And The Breach offers an honest ad about Canada's treatment of toxic tar sands leavings:

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. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Zhenguo Nie, Yunzhi Chen and Meifeng Deng study the relative merits of COVID precautions, finding upward ventilation and masking to be the most effective combination in reducing the concentration of infectious particles. And Pascal Irrgang et al. find an altered immune response after multiple vaccinations which consists increasingly of a non-inflammatory antibodies.

- Peter Armstrong writes about the reasons for concern that 2023 will be an even more grim year than 2022 from an economic standpoint, with most people having to face continually-increasing prices amidst declines in employment and real wages. And Sam Meredith reports on the efforts of the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership to work on a more meaningful definition of well-being to measure policy choices - while noting that the background to that work is a "polycrisis" which has largely been ignored in favour of GDP-only measurement.

- Charley Adams reports on the increasing recognition among health care providers in the UK that its national health service is under intolerable (if deliberately-chosen) stress. And Simon Jenkins writes that anybody interested in saving public health care would approach the crisis with a war footing - making the minimization and denial from the Cons a clear indication that they're willing and eager to see the system fail so its spoils can be handed out to donors. 

- Finally, Philip Drost and Craig Desson discuss what the history of rail transportation in Canada can tell us about its future prospects - with past decisions to privatize passenger rail service and tie its operation to other railways' operations making rail travel less desirable than heavily-subsidized highway use.

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. 

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. 

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- David Moscrop hikes how Canada's financial elite is engineering a recession to ensure that workers don't see wage increases to match the price hikes caused by corporate profiteering. And Gaby Hinshiff writes about the UK Cons' plan to blame everybody but themselves (and their disastrous combination of nationalism and trickle-down economics) for what looks to be a particularly desperate winter for the UK's working class.

- The Canadian Press reports on the connection between the ongoing climate breakdown and the extreme weather seen in the course of Hurricane Fiona. And the Morning Star reports on the massive number of lives at stake if we don't work on limiting emissions and transitioning to a clean economy immediately.

- Meanwhile, Steven Donziger discusses the threat to U.S. democracy posed by a an impending case which could see the whims of gerrymandered Republican state legislatures take precedence over any effect of votes cast by the electorate.

- Finally, Pat Van Horne offers a reminder that the development of the universal health care system which we now value so strongly was the result of a determined focus by Tommy Douglas and the CCF - not a philosophy of taking only incremental gains toward no particular end.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Melody Schreiber writes about the perfectly awful timing of Joe Biden's wrong-headed declaration that the COVID-19 pandemic is "over" even as a particularly damaging wave was cresting. And Troy Farah reports on new research showing that the treatments which previously offered some means of mitigating the effects after an individual was infected are no longer helping against the emerging variants. 

- Jim Stanford warns that the Bank of Canada is inflicting an entirely avoidable recession by failing to pay attention to the actual causes of inflated prices. And DT Cochrane studies how corporate Canada has avoided $30 billion in taxes even while profiteering at the expense of the public. 

- Meanwhile, Armine Yalnizyan warns against allowing the corporate powers that be to paint workers as the villains for seeking to have their pay keep up with the cost of living. And Stephen Magusiak points out that the list of disqualifying characteristics of UCP frontrunner Danielle Smith includes absolute contempt for service industry workers. 

- Matthew Cunningham-Cook and Ricardo Gomez discuss how Jackson, Mississippi's water crisis can be traced directly to Wall Street exploitation. And Adam Ramsay points out the predictable harm to the UK's economy and democracy arising from Liz Truss' choice to begin her stay in power with a blizzard of disaster capitalism, while Max Fawcett notes that the Cons are once again stubbornly refusing to learn anything from the damage wrought by their policy choices abroad. 

- Finally, Andrew Coyne writes that Quebec's election results provide one of the most glaring examples yet of the unfairness of a first-past-the-post electoral system. And Fawcett suggests that the federal NDP push Justin Trudeau to keep his long-broken promise of electoral reform as the price of continued support. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Andrew Nikiforuk writes about the growing recognition that COVID-19 may have severe and long-term effects on the brains of people who get infected, while Hannah Devlin reports on research showing it may also have systematic personality effects on younger people. And Nam Kiwanuka discusses the appalling lack of discussion of a shortage of children's pain medication as one obvious symptom (and indicator) of a devastating COVID wave in Ontario, while Adam Toy reports on the soaring hospitalization rates in Alberta in a health care system already in crisis. 

- Jessica Corbett discusses how the UK Cons have crashed their country's economy by handing gigantic tax cuts to business while paying no regard to the well-being of actual people. And Jon Schwarz and Ken Klippenstein report on yet more corporate executives - this time the CEO and CFO of Iron Mountain Inc. - confirming that businesses are using the cover of inflation to extract windfall profits. 

- Ghada Alsharif reports on Canada Post's new offering of personal loans - though it's of course telling that it was only permitted to proceed with a private bank standing to profit. 

- Finally, Kate Wagner interviews Katharine Hayhoe about the effects of climate change in exacerbating extreme weather events like Hurricane Ian. And Max Fawcett reminds us of the oil industry's sociopathic plans to delay any action to reduce or mitigate the damage caused by continued carbon pollution until they can install a Poilievre government which will eliminate any climate policy whatsoever. 

Tuesday Evening Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Marina Hyde laments Liz Truss' decision to hit the gas pedal on free money for the people who need it least while most of the UK struggles to make ends meet due to her party's mismanagement.

- Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Katie Thomas report on the exploitative turn taken by "not-for-profit" U.S. hospitals which are extracting massive profits and failing to treat patients while being managed with a business mindset.

- Alex McCuaig reports on the fossil fuel companies who are still refusing to pay municipal taxes owing even as they're swimming in windfall profits, while Joel Dryden notes that the oil and gas sector is likewise falling far short of its already-insufficient emission reduction targets despite record cash on hand. Bill McKibben calls out the banks which are continuing to finance a climate breakdown and all kinds of pollution. And Britt Wray writes about the industry-funded defeatism being used as the latest prominent strategy to evade any climate action.

- Finally, CBC News offers competing perspectives on the Moe government's obsession with nuclear reactors - with the inescapable conclusion being that there's no point in insisting on an expensive set of vaporware a decade down the road when cheap and plentiful renewables are an option today. And Jeremy Simes reports on the literal downstream consequences of the Saskatchewan Party's neglect of water management and regulation.

Monday Morning Links

Assorted material to start your week.

- Jeremy Faust laments the removal of the few remaining COVID public health recommendations when we've had ample opportunity to learn about the costs of letting the coronavnirus run rampant. Dave Sherwood and Marc Frank report that Cuba has set an example for other countries in reducing the harm of COVID through widespread vaccination and a focus on children, while Nina Notman highlights how we have the means to clear the air around us to reduce the spread of multiple diseases. Ed Yong discusses how widespread long COVID is forcing health care system to reckon with the realities of chronic fatigue syndrome more generally. 

- Danielle Barnsley writes about the grim choices facing people whose existing poverty is being exacerbated by corporate price gouging. And Anna Fazackerley reports on the heartbreaking number of UK children going hungry as underfunded schools and overworked food banks try desperately to keep up with the deprivation being inflicted on them. 

- Meanwhile, Umair Haque writes about the UK's continuing self-destruction under a Conservative government which is undermining any semblance of a functional state in order to hand still more money to the corporate sector. And Pippa Crerar reports on revelations that a large amount of announced public procurement is being promptly sent to offshore tax havens  

- Finally, John Cochrane, Daniel Litvin, Yanis Varoufakis and Isabella Weber discuss the case for windfall taxes to ensure fossil fuel companies don't rake in undeserved profits while shirking any responsibility for the harm they're doing both to consumers and to our living environment. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Maggie Mills discusses how an antisocial public health policy in the midst of an ongoing pandemic is producing a disastrous human cost (particularly for vulnerable people), while Pamela Heaven reports on CIBC research showing that even the economy to which people are being sacrificed is suffering from the continued spread of COVID-19. The Washington Post's editorial board calls out anti-vaxxers for their contribution to the continuing death toll. And Amber St. Louis warns from experience that anybody counting on the effects of COVID to be mild or brief may be in for a rude awakening. 

- Richard Wolff writes about the dangers of promoting corporate power with the type of religious fervor which all too often dominates our policy discussions. 

- Elliott Smith reports that the Cons' chaotic right-wing government is stripping the UK of the fundamentals of a developed society and economy. And the new Enough is Enough campaign is looking to build a movement to ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share to ensure people's basic needs are met. 

- Meanwhile, Bryce Covert discusses how even a modicum of investment in a functional revenue agency figures to improve both the U.S.' finances and its level of social equality. 

- Finally, Newsweeks weighs in on the UCP's essay contest which saw anti-equality, nativist rhetoric rewarded with a cash prize. And Dan Taekema reports on the private army being assembled by the same radicals whose armed occupation paralyzed Ottawa earlier this year. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Farah Hancock offers an informative look at the circumstances where people are most likely to share air in ways that results in COVID transmission. And Nam Kiwanuka highlights the need for messaging about the ongoing pandemic which is both internally consistent, and paired with action to enable people to protect themselves and others. 

- David Moscrop is optimistic about some gains being made by the labour movement in Canada and the U.S. in both achieving certification, and winning public policy improvements. And Sara Mojtehedzadeh exposes more of Uber's tactics to avoid employment standards and exploit its drivers, even while cynically claiming to be offering them opportunities. 

- Diane Abbott rightly argues that the UK Cons as a whole need to answer for the gross dereliction of duty which has led to Boris Johnson's departure - a point which applies equally to the conservative parties in Canada who believe that shedding a single leader entitles them to a clean slate for decades of disastrous choices.

- Finally, Bill Gillies writes about the need for change from an electoral system which allows minorities of voters to stake a party to absolute power. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Katherine Wu writes about the much-needed update to COVID-19 vaccines coming this fall - and the challenge getting people to receive them after months of false messaging about the pandemic being over. 

- Steven Lewis discusses how the privatization of health care (including surgical services) stands to undermine our universal Medicare system. And Andrew Gregory reports on a new study showing how the UK Cons' privatization was the direct case of avoidable deaths alongside other demonstrable harm to services. 

- Charles Pierce points out how the hard right has been getting what it's paid for in securing a stranglehold over the U.S. Supreme Court. And Brigette Bureau reports on the intimidation of judges in Canada by Flu Trux Klan terrorists, while Brett Forester reports that the RCMP remains far more interested in infiltrating peaceful land defenders than dealing with the actual violence in our midst. 

- Emily Leedham reports on WestJet's attempts to use scab labour to operate while refusing to provide acceptable wages and working conditions for check-in clerks.

- Finally, Alex Himelfarb makes the case for proportional representation as a means of guarding against anti-majoritarian control over public policy.