Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Adam Hunter reports on the increasingly public campaign by Saskatchewan doctors to have public health taken seriously in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. And Marshall Ross, Leona Morris and Robert Tanguay write about the trauma front-line healthcare workers are facing - and the need for a system to support them. 

- Meanwhile, Stephanie Nolan highlights how there's no reason why developing countries can't produce their own COVID vaccines other than the refusal by the corporate beneficiaries of massive amounts of public research to share the information needed to do so. 

- Matthew Halliday reports on New Brunswick's alarming decision to suppress research into an unexplained cluster of a severe and unknown neurological disease.

- Braxton Brewington writes that the resonance of Squid Game is based on the debt being systematically placed on the shoulders of the working class. And Steven Greenhouse wonders whether the show of worker strength reflected in the U.S.' Striketober will lead to lasting change.

- Finally, Andrew Kurjata reports on a court's refusal to order the violent destruction of camps of homeless people in Prince George - though the victory in preserving a poor substitute for a human right only highlights the need to make sure people receiving the housing they actually need. And Julia Peterson reports on Regina's Camp Marjorie which is likewise serving a vital stopgap role for people who deserve far more.

Musical interlude

Nothing But Thieves - Futureproof

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- The Canadian Medical Association calls for Scott Moe to finally reinstate public health rules to prevent Saskatchewan's already-catastrophic fourth wave of COVID-19 from completely collapsing our health care system. And Phil Tank reports on Saskatoon's lonely efforts to start applying necessary measures at the municipal level. 

- Yuguo Li et al. discuss how the pandemic represents an air crisis which should lead to fundamental changes in ensuring that our indoor spaces are properly ventilated. Jan Wenzel et al. study the damage COVID-19 does to the brains of its victims. And the Associated Press reports on the positive news that highly-effective children's doses of a vaccine should be available soon, while Nurith Aizenman notes that the World Health Organization has been forced to fund African efforts to replicate Moderna's manufacturing process as the companies with existing vaccines refuse to share their knowledge on the scale needed to actually fight the pandemic. 

- David MacDonald examines who stands to lose out as the Libs needlessly allow federal COVID supports to expire. And Adam King interviews Jim Stanford about the danger of falling into austerity, while noting that there are plenty of opportunities for useful social investment. 

- Danyaal Raza writes about the need to provide more resources in areas that can keep us healthier - including both improved models for medical care, and a greater focus on the social determinants of health. And Jen St. Denis points out how the ongoing drug fatality crisis could be completely averted if we moved to a safe supply model, rather than insisting on a punitive approach to drugs.

- Finally, Dan Milmo reports on Twitter's admission that it systematically amplifies right-wing posts over left-wing ones. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Rod Nickel offers an international view of Saskatchewan's spiraling COVID-19 crisis, even as Scott Moe clings to his delusional minimization of the pandemic (and his personal responsibility for its impact on the province) in the face of objective reality. 

- Meanwhile, Laura Osman reports on the health care workers fighting to ensure sick leave is available across Canada when it's most needed. And Celina Gallardo writes about the frontline health care workers who are pitching in to save our health care system while lacking a path to permanent residency for themselves. 

- Valerie Lapointe and Nessa Gassemi-Bakhtiari write about the need to stop stigmatizing mental illness. And Jaela Bernstien discusses new research on the effects of climate change on our physical and mental health. 

- George Monbiot looks to World War II as an important example of how it's possible to direct our society and economy to response to an imminent threat - as we need to do to avert a climate breakdown. Jocelyn Timperley discusses how wealthy countries have broken their promise of even minimal financing for climate mitigation and adaptation. And Isak Stoddard et al. explore why we've failed so miserably in accomplishing much in previous decades, while Kevin Taft reviews William Carroll's Regime of Obstruction as an important reminder of the entrenched wealth and power that have been deployed to keep carbon pollution spewing, and Matthew Taylor reports that this year's global climate summit will be the first where big oil doesn't wield the power of a formal role. 

- Finally, John Woodside reports on recent research showing that continued fossil fuel production is absolutely contrary to any serious climate policy, while Jenny Uechl reports on Quebec's decision to end fossil fuel exploration. And Tzeporah Berman discusses how we've accepted far too little action from our political leaders as constituting climate leadership, 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Carol Off interviews Andre Picard about the cultural factors and policy choices that have led to an avoidable fourth wave of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan and Alberta. And Yasmine Ghania talks to Alex Wong about the need for immediate gathering size restrictions to prevent calamitous results, while Guy Quenneville highlights the modeling showing how Scott Moe is instead choosing to crash Saskatchewan's health care system.

Key slide. 5 scenarios. #skpoli pic.twitter.com/8f2wbJtddk

— Guy Quenneville (@gqinsk) October 20, 2021

- Meanwhile, Armine Yalnizyan takes a look at possible economic scenarios as we eventually emerge from the COVID pandemic - though it's hard to share her optimism that we'll see substantial renewal at a point when nearly all attention seems to be focused on entrenching existing wealth and power. And Andrew Jackson discusses how Nobel Prize recipient David Card's research fits into the recognition that living wages result in better outcomes for everybody. 

- The Stockholm Environment Institute examines (PDF) how we're continuing to burn far more fossil fuels than we can afford while maintaining a liveable climate, while the Chalmers University of Technology highlights the concurrent need for a far more rapid transition to clean energy. And Drew Yewchuk points out that Alberta is once again failing to secure the cost of remediation from resource exploiters even as soaring prices set up what may be the last, best opportunity to ensure the public isn't stuck with the bill for environmental disasters. 

- Toby Sanger highlights how Canada's tax system currently foundations and charities to shelter massive amounts of money without either making tax contributions or fulfilling their supposed purposes.  

- Finally, Kristy Kirkup reports on the push by several sections of the Canadian Bar Association to have the federal government stop its campaign of litigation against Indigenous children. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Cluttered cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Gary Mason writes that Saskatchewan and Alberta are tragically showing the rest of the country what a COVID-19 disaster looks like. CBC News reports on a predictable spike in COVID-19 following Saskatchewan's Thanksgiving weekend. And Zak Vescera uncovers the Moe government's choice to beg for medical help from their Republican allies even while they demurred on making requests for help which was already on offer from Canada's federal government. 

- Meanwhile, PressProgress reports on the callous efforts of British Columbia's business lobby to prevent workers from having to access to sick leave during the pandemic. 

- Pratyush Dayal reports on how the Moe government's needless undercutting of social programs has led to the buildup of tent cities in the province's cities just in time for winter. 

- Hamilton Nolan sees reason for hope in the U.S.' wave of strikes, while pointing out the importance of people participating rather than merely observing. And Michael Sainato reports on organizing by retail workers at Dollar General and other stores which have refused to recognize the contributions of essential workers. 

- Dave Cullen writes that we shouldn't let self-serving actors turn the urgency of the climate crisis into an excuse to push expensive and dangerous nuclear power when we have more affordable renewable alternatives. 

- Finally, Karl Nerenberg discusses how a first-past-the-post electoral system magnifies and exacerbates regional divides. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Monique Beals reports on Anthony Fauci's recognition that attacks directed against him are based solely on denialists' hostility toward the truth, while Mike Baker and Danielle Ivory discuss the U.S.' public health crisis. And Zak Vescera examines why Saskatchewan's vaccination rate is so low (notwithstanding Scott Moe's failed attempt to make it into the province's only ongoing response to a pandemic in progress). 

- Meanwhile, Marianne Cooper discusses how women have borne the brunt of additional "invisible work" trying to ensure colleagues' well-being during the course of the pandemic. 

- John Woodside reports on polling showing that a strong majority of Canadians want to see our governments invest in a just transition, and not in new fossil fuel infrastructure. Bill McKibben writes that the effort to avert a climate breakdown has two major strengths in its corner in a massive activist base and readily-available technological solutions. And Kim Siever reports on TransAlta's move from fossil fuels to renewables even under a government desperate to stand in the way of any transition. 

- Christopher Lyon et al. examine models showing the dire future which awaits - including centuries of continually increasing temperatures and drastic environmental changes - if we don't rein in the climate crisis. 

- Finally, Justin Fisher reviews Divided (ed. by JoAnn Jaffe, Patricia Elliot, and Cora Sellers) as to the social harm Saskatchewan is suffering as a result of the Sask Party's neoliberal economic and political model. And Susan Ferguson discusses how the violence and devaluation of life inherent in capitalist decision-making have constrained the responses to COVID-19 and other crises. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Hannah Devlin asks why the UK is accepting a thousand lives a week as the price of incompetence in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

- Meanwhile, Marlene Leung reports on new research showing that surface contact on high-contact areas of grocery stores isn't a source of COVID spread at all.

- Jim Stanford discusses how Canada has been recovering from the pandemic with far more strength than the U.S. - demonstrating that slashing pandemic supports doesn' t help the economy even as the Libs are set to follow the U.S. down that road. And Eric Levitz writes that after seeming to have been exposed as the cause of our inability to respond to an emergency, neoliberalism seems to have emerged unscathed.

- Marc Jaccard makes the case for a zero-emission vehicle mandate from the federal government, while Rewiring Australia points out that full electrification is well within reach. The UN Climate Change examines the painfully tight carbon budget left to have a reasonable chance of stopping a climate breakdown at 1.5 degrees of warming. And the Canadian Press reports on the IEA's forecasts showing that the fossil fuel sector is in irreversible decline.

- Finally, Aaron Wherry highlights why it would be in everybody's best interest for the Libs to work on a multi-year support agreement with the NDP rather than planning for another game of minority Parliament chicken.

Musical interlude

The War On Drugs feat. Lucius - I Don't Live Here Anymore

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Michael Bang Pedersen argues that the COVID pandemic offers a prime example of the importance of telling hard truths to the public - rather than engaging in the wishful thinking, sugar-coating and general denial we've come to expect from Scott Moe. And Susie Flaherty writes about new research confirming that children are spreaders of COVID-19 (and particularly its variants), while Lynn Giesbrecht reports that over a hundred Saskatchewan schools (plus several dozen daycares) are currently experiencing outbreaks.  

- Paddy Bettington rightly criticizes the UK Cons' version of "building back" for providing nothing but worse conditions for workers. And Paul Krugman points out the rightful revolt of American workers against being underpaid, put at risk and taken for granted.  

- Max Callaghan and Carl-Friedrich Schleussner discuss their new study showing how the vast majority of people are already affected by the climate crisis. And Oliver Milman, Andrew Witherspoon, Rita Liu and Alvin Chang observe that a climate disaster isn't merely a remote future prospect, but an imminent reality.  

- Simon Evans notes that the IEA's latest World Energy Outlook shows fossil fuel use peaking in 2025 if countries meet their climate commitments. But Rob Davies highlights how that limited and delayed change would be nowhere near enough to actually avert climate breakdown. 

- Meanwhile, Siddharth Joshi, James Glynn and Shivika Mittal discuss the obvious potential for solar power alone to meet the world's energy needs. And Dana Nuccitelli points out how a faster transition to a clean economy will also be a more affordable one.

- Finally, Brent Patterson examines what we know about the RCMP's unit dedicated to violating human rights to protect extractive industries. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Amativa Banerjee writes about the cognitive dissonance involved in living through the COVID-19 pandemic. And Ian Sample reports on scientists' recognition that the UK's deadly second COVID wave was the result of the repetition of mistakes and a failure to learn from the first wave. 

- Needless to say, that makes an especially dangerous and deadly fourth wave all the more preventable and inexcusable. On that front, Mickey Djuric reports on the continuing erosion of care for Saskatchewan residents in need of surgery, while Zak Vescera reports that the province is on the verge of needing to ship ICU patients to Ontario for lack of health care capacity. 

- Meanwhile, Marlene Leung reports that many of the experts trying to help save lives in the midst of a pandemic have themselves faced threats of violence for daring to do so. 

- Norm Farrell writes that David Card's Nobel prize helps to signal how empirical reality is on the side of progressive policy - even as the wealthiest few set up self-serving default assumptions to the contrary. 

- Jacob Lorinc reports on the CCPA's research into the hundreds of thousands of workers who have left thankless and abusive service-sector jobs for ones which offer greater pay and security - and the employers trying to spin that as reflecting a "labour shortage" rather than a need to do better themselves. Robert Reich characterizes the newfound willingness of U.S. workers to reject unacceptable work as an unofficial (and entirely necessary) general strike. And Shannon Waters documents the lobbying by B.C. employers against a basic standard of paid sick leave. 

- Finally, Mariana Mazzucato highlights the need for a new international consensus in which governments plan, and deploy public resources toward, a new economic structure which serves the common good rather than the rich. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- David Fickling responds to the attempt by petropoliticians to blame high gas prices on limited climate action rather than the vagaries of commodity economics. Lisa Friedman reports on the agreement among 30 countries to slash methane emissions as a crucial short-term step in mitigating a climate breakdown. And Pratyush Dayal reports on the embarrassing gap between Saskatchewan residents' acknowledgment of the reality of the climate change, and their unwillingness to be part of the solution in fighting it. 

- Emma Black argues that any successful push toward a just transition needs to originate in the working class. Chris Saltmarsh highlights the importance of a Green New Deal which reflects state planning in the public interest, rather than attempting to get capital interests to develop a clean economy. 

- Lucy Ellman discusses how we've prioritized frequent and gratuitous air travel over basic health and safety (among other far more important concerns).   

- Kim Moody writes about the needless fragility of just-in-time supply chains as exposed by events ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic, to the disruption caused by a single stuck ship. 

- Jennifer Sweet reports that out-of-control housing markets are pricing cooperatives out of the picture along with most individuals. 

- David Climenhaga writes about the dangers of Jason Kenney's all-in bet on an equalization referendum to salvage public support. 

- Finally, Doug Cuthand notes that the racism which led to Joyce Echaquan's death remains embedded in Canada's history and established social structures. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Uplifted cats.

 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Ian Sample and Peter Walker report on the Parliamentary inquiry which has found the UK's response to COVID-19 to be one of the country's most severe public health failures in history. Denis Campbell reports on a new study showing that the UK's growing gap in lifespans based on income has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. And Jackie Dunham reports on the long-term damage to the nervous system being observed in people who have suffered from long COVID. 

- Meanwhile, Jake Johnson discusses the U.S.' hoarding of COVID vaccines. And Rebecca Robbins points out how after being gifted a vaccine developed through public investment and targeted donations, Moderna is going out of its way to avoid making any supply available to the poor countries where they're most needed. 

- Julieta Caldas chimes in on how philanthropy generally serves to entrench wealth and power. And Lori Nikkel writes that Canada now has significantly more food charities than grocery stores - while asking how we can accept that reality. 

- CBC News offers a reminder of some of the revelations about tax evasion prior to the Pandora Papers - while at the same time making clear that mere knowledge of offshoring has been far from enough to ensure that the wealthy are required to pay their fair share. And Roman Lanis and Peter Wells warn that we'll continue to see more of the same unless we eliminate the secrecy that allows assets to be hidden. 

- The Associated Press reports on the first step of achieving agreement among 140 countries on a minimum corporate tax rate. But Michael Galant highlights the problems with hoping for inequality to be solved based on the self-interested designs of the wealthiest countries. 

- Finally, Stuart Trew discusses how investment treaties continue to give corporate owners precedence over democratic governance in the public interest - even under newer models which supposedly respond to environmental and labour concerns. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Blair McBride writes about the long-term medical crisis Alberta can expect as people are unable or unwilling to have normal diagnoses carried out while the health care system is overrun by COVID-19.  And Mickey Djuric reports on the frustration of Saskatchewan families with their inability to access medical care for children.

- Faiz Shakir writes that organized labour is managing to win some important concessions for workers in the U.S. But Brett Wilkins offers a reminder of how far there is to go in ensuring that workers benefit from the riches that are being created, as the 1% now holds more wealth than the entire U.S. middle class.

- Matt Gurney takes note of Canada's housing crisis which is progressing beyond being an economic issue to a profound social illness. 

- Jeremy Lent discusses how a capitalist mindset is entirely incompatible with any solution to the climate crisis. And Amy Salyzyn and Penelope Simons theorize that an entirely new model of professional responsibility needs to be adopted to ensure that the legal profession doesn't continue trampling human rights and environmental imperatives in the service of extractive industries.

- Finally, Simon Evans examines historical greenhouse gas emissions from a few standpoints - including a per-capita calculation which shows Canada as the absolute worst offender in spewing carbon pollution.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Ricky Leong discusses the complete lack of any reasonable explanation for the UCP's failure to protect the health of Albertans in the face of the fourth wave of COVID-19. And Murray Mandryk comments that the Sask Party likewise insists on doing too little, too late even as people suffer as a result of their negligence.

- Adam King writes that the Pandora Papers offer just the latest reminder that any refusal to fund the society we want is a matter of choice rather than lack of resources.

- Matt Bruenig points out the U.S.' dangerous combination of gratuitously-slashed unemployment benefits and a lack of new employment. And Lysa Lloyd offers her perspective on the precarity and drudgery that come with surviving on social assistance. 

- Sandy Carrier discusses how a general disability benefit in particular would provide a desperately-needed basic standard of living. And Andre Picard writes that all parties should be able to agree on the need to ensure people with disabilities aren't trapped in poverty.

- Angela Smith interviews Jessica Whyte about the neoliberal movement's use of human rights language to impose cruel capitalist structures. 

- And finally, Alan Finlayson discusses the need to present progressive politics based on concrete proposals and demands, rather than nebulous values which are easily distorted by opponents while offering little of substance for potential supporters to draw upon.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Adam Hunter points out the stark gap between public health officials emphasizing the need for protections against community transmission of COVID-19, and Scott Moe's stubborn refusal to apply them. Alexander Quon writes about the hundreds of Saskatchewan patients missing out on surgeries every day. And Jacqueline Howard reports on the new research confirming that children face no less risk of infection than adults.

- Rhitu Chatterjee points out the large number of people in the U.S. losing essential caregivers to COVID-19. And Matt Sedensky discusses how nursing homes are losing staff - and the ability to care for residents - as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

- Umair Haque warns that the supply chain breakdowns seen in the course of the pandemic are just the beginning of a state of perma-crisis.

- Bob Weber reports on the UCP's pathetic - if perhaps not surprising - announcement that oil companies won't be contributing a dime of their massive windfall profits to cleaning up their messes. And Isabella Kaminsky highlights how fossil fuel giants have put massive chunks of the legal industry to work in attempting to avoid responsibility for the damage they've done to people and our natural environment.

- Meanwhile, Christian Schimpf et al. find that confidence in the long-term future of fossil fuels (however misplaced) translates into a refusal to accept climate action. 

- Finally, the Guardian's editorial board discusses the connection between the UK Cons' pay-to-play political schemes and the tax loopholes shown to be exploited in the Pandora Papers.

Musical interlude

Raye & Rudimental - Regardless

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Thomas Saunders discusses how COVID-19 transmission through schools is resulting in effectively a separate epidemic among children and parents. Kathy Eagar offers a reminder of the dangers of recklessly discarding public health measures rather than taking care to make sure that reopening is sustainable. Erin Anderssen takes a look at the long-term difficulties facing people who have suffered from long COVID. And Scott Larson reports on the recognition by the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses that shuffling health care workers around is no answer to the demands placed on them by a pandemic that's been allowed to run out of control. 

- Meanwhile, Tosin Thompson writes about new research showing how air filters can remove viral particles from the air. 

- Christine Fernando reports on the likelihood that climate-related disasters will be the norm for today's younger generations. And Andrew Gregory discusses the growing recognition that a degraded natural environment will place young people under a lifetime of avoidable stress and anxiety. 

- Jaela Bernstein offers her take on what Canada needs to do to contribute its fair share to global emission reductions. And Marc Lee chimes in with some necessary lessons from British Columbia's unprecedented wildfire season. 

- But in case anybody thought the industries who have profited off of destroying the climate would be willing to contribute to solutions, Rod Nickel reports on the demands of tar sands operators who want the government to pay 75% of the bill to greenwash their continued extraction of dirty energy. And Frank Duffy writes about the UK auto industry's refusal to consider workers' attempts to transition toward non-emitting vehicles. 

- Finally, Yakov Feigin discusses how the right's obsession with inflation as an excuse for cruelty and austerity neglects the fact that the ultimate source of that inflation is the stagnation of productive capacity due to underinvestment. And Ian Welsh points out our glaring inability or refusal to do anything substantial without some entrenched corporate oligarch taking the resulting profit.