Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Mickey Djuric writes about the rising COVID-19 hospitalization numbers driven by unvaccinated people - but lest anybody treat past shots as an excuse for complacency, Fenit Nirappil and Dan Keating report on an increase in deaths among vaccinated people who are elderly and/or immunocompromised. Jason Moyer-Lee writes that there's no reason to celebrate the elimination of masking and other protections for people who will needlessly face avoidable disease and suffering. Adam Miller discusses what it might look like for COVID to become a more seasonal disease - while noting that we're still far short of the point of being able to predict its future waves. And Morgan Godfery calls out the right-wing attempts to diminish and criticize the successes of zero-COVID policies in New Zealand and elsewhere as more government simply abandon their constituents to the pandemic. 

- Austin Lee reports on a new study showing that a safe consumption site in Calgary resulted in savings of millions of dollars (to say nothing of the improved well-being of the people able to use it). And Zak Vescera reports that the federal government has gone so far as to invite Prairie Harm Reduction to apply for its funding directly for lack of any willingness by Scott Moe to make similar investments in health and safety in Saskatchewan.

- Drew Anderson highlights how refineries and other industrial polluters are doing untold damage to residents of Edmonton and surrounding areas. And the Canadian Press reports on the fine eventually issued to Husky for releasing harmful substances into a North Saskatchewan River tributary in 2018.

- Aryn Baker writes that the food supply crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine offers a deadly preview of what's in store as climate breakdown affects agriculture around the globe. And CBS News reports that California is already facing drought conditions long before its usual dry season.

- Finally, Leah Gazan and Kim Pate make the case for a guaranteed liveable basic income in the wake of a pale imitation thereof which nonetheless managed to reduce poverty and improve welfare in the midst of a pandemic.

Musical interlude

The Paper Kites - Revelator Eyes

#SKNDPLDR Roundup

So far, the Saskatchewan NDP's leadership campaign has been awfully quiet. And with a membership deadline looming for anybody who wants to be able to vote in the leadership election, time is running out for anybody looking to attract support from outside the party's existing membership base.

While it remains to be seen whether she'll success, Kaitlyn Harvey has taken a couple of steps which should pique some interest: announcing the endorsement of Seth Klein as one of the country's prominent voices for climate action, and unveiling a platform based on principles of sustainability and harm prevention, as well as a far more honest assessment of the costs of maintaining the status quo. 

There's some obvious potential for those messages both in establishing Harvey's bona fides within the climate justice movement, and for the party's future path as a part of that movement. But time is running short to convert that potential into memberships and votes. 

Meanwhile, Carla Beck's campaign has demurred from releasing a detailed platform. Instead, she's offered a list of priorities with a few policy proposals, along with an explanation for not going into much more detail than that. (And there's actually another reasonable argument on that point which she doesn't address, which is the effort underway to improve the NDP's internal policy development.) 

Not surprisingly, Beck has also added to her list of endorsements - though it's hard to see those as a novel development in a race where she's had establishment support lined up behind her from day one. 

We'll find out fairly soon whether there are any surprises in the membership numbers which may affect the balance of the race. In the meantime, though, a quiet campaign looks to favour Beck as the default favourite. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Zak Vescera reports on the combination of high rates of hospitalization and virtually nonexistent vaccination that's resulted from Scott Moe's surrender to COVID-19. And Nicholas Larsen et al. add autonomic dysfunction to the list of post-COVID symptoms which are common even among people fortunate enough to avoid a severe case. 

- Jonathan Josephs reports that the deliberate decisions of corporate vaccine manufacturers have resulted in a more severe pandemic due to a choice not to make supplies available more equitably. And Joel Lexchin discusses how the Libs have caved to big pharma in failing to keep their promise to rein in prescription drug prices. 

- Ed Yong writes that the systemic consequences of climate change include increasing the frequency and severity of infectious diseases. Oliver Milman reports that we're approaching a cataclysmic extinction of marine life. Shirin Ali reports on a new study finding that half of the U.S.' water is too polluted to be used for swimming, fishing or drinking. 

- Anders Fremstad and Mark Paul discuss how neoliberal ideology has been used to stifle meaningful action to protect our climate and planetary environment. And Jessica Scott-Reid reports on the obstruction by the meat industry seeking to stop the development of plant-based products. 

- Umair Haque discusses how the right in the U.S. has managed not only to shatter the Overton window with shifts not just off the political spectrum but outside objective reality, but also to convince itself that the exact opposite has happened. And David Sirota warns that an ineffectual and captured Democratic administration is only reinforcing that nihilistic sentiment. 

- Finally, Alex Himelfarb offers a message of hope and solidarity for collective action in a time which demands it. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Peter Smits et al. examine some of the risk factors which tend to produce particularly severe breakthrough cases of COVID-19. The Economist summarizes what we know so far - and still have left to learn - about long COVID. Mark Lieberman discusses the particularly high concentration of long COVID cases among educators in the U.S. And Melanie Borrelli reports on new research showing that children's mental health is primarily harmed by the spread of COVID rather than by public health measures to stop it. 

- Kelsey Langston makes the case for the Moe government to start funding harm reduction - though the next indication that it cares a whit about saving lives will be the first. And Zak Vescera reports on the Saskatchewan Party's appalling insistence that it won't bother to do anything to work on suicide prevention even after it passed legislation confirming the ongoing need for a strategy. 

- Clement Nocos offers a backgrounder on how to implement universal mental health care in Ontario (in advance of an election campaign where that's on the table thanks to the NDP). And Catherine Carstairs discusses why dental care remains outside of the universal health care system despite its obvious connection to health and welfare. 

- Meanwhile, Armine Yalnizyan, Pat Armstrong, Marjorie Griffin Cohen and Laurell Ritchie warn of the dangers of instead allowing the Ford PCs and other right-wing government to privatize needed care services. Philip Mirowski warns that the death of neoliberalism has been greatly exaggerated - as the mere fact that its promises have proven false doesn't mean there's a lack of corporate servants willing to keep pushing it. And Tom Perkins examines how corporations have been price-gouging consumers even while using their own greed as an excuse to try to impose public austerity. 

- Finally, Lori Culbert and Dan Fumano highlight how far Vancouver has to go in allowing families' needs to be met. And Leif Gregersen writes about the gross insufficiency of the resources being provided to help homeless people. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Andre Picard highlights how the response to COVID-19 has been complicated - if rendered all the more important - by the recognition that people can expect to be reinfected if exposed to it. Lena Sun, Dan Keating and Joel Achenbach discuss how the U.S. has now seen over half of its population infected, while Paul Campos writes about the jarring increases in mortality rates that have wiped out 70 years of health progress among younger adults. 

- Seth Borenstein reports on the UN's research showing that there are all the more disasters to come due to a climate on the brink of breakdown. And Colleen Slevin and Deepa Bharath report on climate activist Wynn Bruce's self-immolation - which while less eagerly reported than similar actions in the face of government repression reflects an equally justified depth of concern about the consequences of accepting the status quo. 

- Meanwhile, AUPE points out that the UCP's reaction to the increased prevalence and risk of wildfires has been to slash its firefighting budget and assume without evidence that it can count on a shorter wildfire season. 

- John Anderson offers a helpful reminder of the subsidies still being shoveled toward the fossil fuel industry which is using public money to cook our planet while systematically enriching the least scrupulous people alive. And John Paul Tasker reports on Environment Minister Jerry DeMarco's warning that the Libs' emission reduction promises are based on wishcasting, rather than realistic plans to actually cut emissions and ensure a just transition for workers. 

- Finally, Paris Marx writes that Elon Musk's Twitter takeover shows how our current platforms for conversation are little more than billionaires' playthings, while Joshua Potash reminds us of Musk's selective interest in free speech which includes arbitrary action against labour and environmental voices as well as anybody who points out even the most glaring of flaws in his own self-promotion. Max Fawcett makes the case for increased regulation of the social media sites that currently dominate the flow of information, while Edward Ongweso Jr. and Ben Burgis each argue that we should instead be setting up open and publicly-administered alternatives. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Communicative cats. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Lauren Pelley reports on the strain Canada's children's hospitals in particular are facing in the midst of COVID-19's sixth wave. David Axe discusses the most important risk factors in the potential emergence of new global waves, while Smitri Mallapaty offers a reminder that the coronavirus can spread and mutate in deer and other animal populations. Sun Yoo et al. study the prevalence of the development of long COVID (being about 30% of all people treated) while Antonios Koutalos et al. find that long COVID's effects include harm to the musculoskeletal system. And Gili Regev-Yochay et al. study the effectiveness of a fourth vaccine dose. 

- Kim Siever highlights how Canadian grocery stores have raked in windfall profits during the course of the pandemic while pointing the finger elsewhere for the higher prices they're charging to people trying to buy the necessities of life.  

- Meanwhile, Geraint Harvey points out that businesses are predictably responding to the slightest upward wage pressure with a round of automation to eliminate jobs which might otherwise have to pay a living wage. And Paul Christopher Gray and Jordan House compare the successful Amazon organizing drive in Staten Island to previous attempts in Alberta and elsewhere. 

- Finally, Umair Haque holds out the prospect that the future will eventually get better - but only well into the future, and based on the hope that younger generations will prove far more successful than the ones now in power at defining and working toward the common good. 

On set identities

While there's been some attention paid to Environics' polling on provincial identity politics, little of it seems to have noted just how little public interest there is in a highly concerted effort to build up a Saskatchewan sovereigntist movement. 

After all, Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party has gone far out of its way (backed of course by big Alberta oil money) to spend time demanding more power as a "nation within a nation", rather than using the authority it has to keep Saskatchewan's people safe and healthy. And much of its excuse for doing so is the presence of other theoretical competitors for the anti-Canadian title - from the Buffalo Party which parlayed the province's largest out-of-province donation into a few distant second-place finishes, to whatever is currently bubbling up in the fever swamps of anti-vaxxers.

Yet for all the money, power and fanaticism behind those efforts, Environics' polling shows only 24% wanting more to be done to build a provincial identity separate from Canada...compared to 20% taking the position that we should change course to stop wasting our time. (And of course the largest single share is of those who choose the middle, "same" option rather than wanting to increase the resources being put into stoking separatism for amusement and profit.)

Of course, it's far from clear that Moe or any of his fellow travelers have the slightest clue what a Saskatchewan identity would look like other than to be a fully-owned subsidiary of the Alberta conservative movement. But we should be both reassured by the fact that our fellow citizens aren't taking the bait no matter how much of a noise machine is dedicated to pitching it - and outraged that our government is so bent on a cause which is so obviously out of touch with what's important to the province's actual people. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Stephanie Desmon interviews Ziyad Al-Aly about the danger COVID-19 poses for the heart - even for people with mild cases which have otherwise seemingly run their course. Megan Ogilvie, May Warren and Kenyon Wallace report on new research showing the avoidable risk that unvaccinated people create for people who have had their . And Justin Chandler talks to three Ontario medical officers of health about the need for masks - with all recognizing the continued importance of wearing masks even if their political circumstances have made orders difficult to pursue. 

- In the context of Elon Musk's imminent takeover of Twitter in the name of "free speech", Robert Reich warns that any talk of freedom by billionaires (or their media mouthpieces) inevitably means they're looking for a way to exert even more control through their wealth. And Alex Pareene writes that the alt-right is dedicated to trying to undermine the very idea of journalism in the sense of discovering and reporting truth - particularly as that tends to prove inconvenient for the movement's funders looking to protect wealth gathered through exploitative means. 

- Meanwhile, David Moscrop writes that progressives can't afford to cede the notion of populism to the fascists using it to posture as defenders of the working class.  

- Andrew Jackson discusses the damage done by decades of neoliberalism while reviewing Gary Gerstle's The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order. 

- Finally, Jen St. Denis rightly asks why we aren't building affordable homes when that would require nothing more than following the precedent set in the 1970s. And Chris Ballard questions why the Ford PCs are going out of their way to make Ontario homes less energy-efficient. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Adam Miller discusses new research showing nearly half of Canadians have already caught COVID-19 at least once, while Charlie Smith offers a list of proclamations which also serve as reasons why we shouldn't allowing it to spread further. But Michael Lee reports on Peter Juni's warning that yet another new wave this fall is nearly inevitable in Ontario. Will Stone and Maria Godoy highlight why it's still wise to mask on public transport even when it's no longer required, while Jamie Ducharme writes that one-way masking is still far better than nothing (even if it falls well short of evidence-based public health protections). And Beeke Tappe et al. find that yet another side effect of COVID is its making the body more vulnerable to pathogenic molds.

- Harriet Mercer discusses the importance of the IPCC's acknowledgment that colonialism is linked to the climate crisis. And Mark Omara et al. examine how a small number of low production oil and gas wells are producing a massive proportion of the U.S.' fugitive methane emissions. 

- Jacques Gallant queries why the federal Libs are dragging their feet on decriminalizing drug use in order to rein in the devastating crisis of drug poisonings. And Zak Vescera reports on the medical students and other community members fighting for safe consumption sites in Saskatchewan - even as the Moe government makes clear it has no interest in saving lives.

- Finally, Umair Haque rightly coins the term "greedflation" to describe how corporations are exacerbating inflation in order to profiteer at the expense of people who can't afford their price increases. And Arwa Mahdawi discusses how the wealthiest few aren't just richer than they used to be, but also far more self-absorbed in how they accumulate and use their obscene fortunes.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Renee Graham writes that the elimination of masking protections as a matter of privileged people's comfort in the midst of a pandemic that endangers everybody shows how painfully cruel and selfish much of the U.S. (like Canada) has become. 

- Phil Tank is rightly unnerved by the Moe government's propensity for catering to conspiracy theorists rather than making decisions with any grounding in reality. And Stefan Labbe writes about the first steps in tracking climate anxiety and distress among Canadian youth, while Simon Appolloni offers some suggestions to help ameliorate matters. 

- Al Jazeera reports on the imminent danger that tens of millions of people in Africa may starve as a result of extreme drought. 

- Ivan Semeniuk reports on a new study showing how a reduction in pollution from traffic could substantially help Canadians' health, while CBC News reports on the federal government's plans for an expanded electric vehicle tax credit which may at least reduce the proportion of vehicles on the road which are needlessly spewing carbon pollution. And Brett Tryon discusses how to transition away from using natural gas in one's home. 

- Alex Hemingway discusses how a public investment in rental housing to make sure everybody has a home can pay for itself (while drastically improving people's lives). 

- Finally, Brynn Bourke points out that the underground economy is costing both public revenues and labour and employment rights for workers. And DT Cochrane writes that it's long past time to start requiring corporations to pay their fair share in order to fund the social infrastructure we desperately need. 

Musical interlude

Dash Berlin - Oceans

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Nadine Yousif writes about the growing frustration people are experiencing as they're told to manage their own risks in the midst of a pandemic with obvious social dimensions, and all while being denied the information needed to do so. Dylan Scott similarly laments being stuck in the choose-your-own-adventure phase of the pandemic. Aaron Carroll writes about some of the options to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 which should still be on the table even if protective masking is (needlessly) ruled out. And Maija Kappler reports on the shortest known interval between COVID infections in an individual at 20 days - signaling that the people getting infected now won't have any reason for confidence they'll avoid further harm within a matter of weeks. 

- Clarrie Feinstein and Rosa Saba discuss the need for wages to catch up to inflation - not be pushed down in an effort to ensure only the wealthy benefit from price increases. Josh Bivens points out how the U.S.' inflation has been disproportionately the result of profiteering - with supply chain issues as the other substantial contributing factor, and wages playing hardly any role. And Dean Baker calls out the corporate spokesflacks trying to ignore that reality in seeking to suppress workers' income. 

- Meanwhile, Bert Blundon notes that the Libs' budget offers minimal (and less-than-promised) improvement in securing revenue from the people with the most, while also imposing Harper-style attacks on the public sector. 

- Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood and Marc Lee discuss the continued confusion in the Libs' climate policy, with loud declarations of climate leadership paired with free money and regulatory approvals for major sources of additional emissions which our planet can't afford. And Shawn McCarthy notes that Canada's history of climate policy under the Trudeau government has been one of the worst among developed countries.  

- Finally, David Sirota discusses how U.S. Democrats devoting their time and effort to declaring that government is powerless to do anything but continue catering to the wealthiest few are Jokerfying a generation of voters who saw the 2020 election as the last best hope for better. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Liz Szabo discusses how improved ventilation has plenty of additional benefits beyond limiting the spread of COVID - making it the COVID policy equivalent of the familiar image:

 

- Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail's editorial board writes that there's no excuse for pretending that two past COVID-19 vaccine doses are still sufficient for people to be "fully vaccinated", while Sonia Furstenau and David Fisman question why public health authorities are abandoning their core responsibilities while a global pandemic rages on. And Penny Daflos reports on the lack of available treatment for long COVID - and how for-profit providers are taking advantage where public health care systems are failing to meet people's needs. 

- On that front, Doreen Nicol warns that Conservative premiers are working their way through the health privatization playbook by failing in their responsibilities and encouraging people to pay for help elsewhere. And Mitchell Thompson reports that Doug Ford is also actively outsourcing responsibility for social assistance to businesses - with the intention to strip away the benefits which currently keep people alive while also setting up a corporate profit stream. 

- Danyaal Raza, Ritika Goel and Suzanne Shoush write about the need to push toward racial justice within our health care system as it stands. And Rachel Browne reports on the stark (if unsurprising) difference in arrests for drug possession by race. 

- Finally, Armine Yalnizyan writes that there's no reason to treat temporary inflation as an excuse for another round of '90s-style austerity. 

On mere opinions

There's been plenty of attention - and indeed enthusiasm - in response to the Saskatchewan Liberals' petition seeking a plebiscite on a COVID inquiry. So let's take a look at what might be accomplished through that process - as well as where it's likely to fall short of how it's being billed.

To start with, there have been some questions raised as to whether it's even possible to collect valid plebiscite signatures through a website rather than a physical petition. 

On that front, the authority to determine the validity of signatures lies not with an independent agency such as Elections Saskatchewan, but with the minister responsible. And in the absence of any substantial plebiscite drives in the province's recent past, there's no clear guidance as to what will or won't be accepted. While some familiar with Elections Saskatchewan's rules have pointed out their requirement for physical signatures, there is also legislation which generally provides that electronic signatures are valid for most purposes.  

The more fundamental limitation, though, is that a plebiscite under the Referendum and Plebiscite Act is limited to an expression of opinion. And that fact seems to have been missed both in how the petition has been presented, and in much of the associated media coverage. 

Even if the signature requirement for a plebiscite is met - and even if a vote is ultimately held - the best-case scenario would be purely symbolic. The greatest possible success in the plebiscite drive would be a majority of votes providing a "yes" answer to the question raised in the petition as to whether an inquiry should be called. 

But nothing about the plebiscite process actually binds the government to call an inquiry. (This is in contrast to the referendum procedure under the same legislation; that can produce binding outcomes, but may only be initiated by the government.)

And unfortunately, the Libs' message seems designed to evade acknowledging that glaring gap in their plan. It's thoroughly misleading to offer references to show that plebiscites and public inquiries are legal (yes, that's part of their message), while eliding the reality that one can't legally require the other. 

Which isn't to say there isn't still some merit in organizing around the need for far more transparency - both on an ongoing basis in the midst of a pandemic which continues despite the Moe government's efforts to deny it, and on a retrospective basis as the human toll of the Saskatchewan Party's poor choices continues to escalate. But it's worth avoiding any promises which don't match what's actually on offer - lest the result be to foment even more of a sense of futility among opposition organizers which only serves Moe's purposes in the long run. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Abdullah Shihipar discusses why there's every reason to resist the pressure from self-serving politicians and business groups to succumb to COVID-19. Hannah Flynn discusses the long-term brain injuries traceable to long COVID in primates. And Steve Schering examines the hospitalization rates for children during the Omicron wave (with vaccinations offering some, but not bulletproof, protection). 

- Ian Welsh writes about the folly of the petrochemical age on a historical scale - even as so many of our politicians desperately try to avoid discussing how to shift to remotely sustainable forms of social and economic organization. And Deepa Shivaram notes that the U.S. has seen one important first, as wind power has exceeded that from coal and nuclear sources for the first time. 

- Nina Lakhani, Alvin Chang, Rita Liu and Andrew Witherspoon discuss how our food system is grossly unprepared for the effects of climate change. And Gisele Yasmeen notes that far too many people already face food shortages and insecurity - though due to inequality and war rather than a lack of sufficient production to feed everybody. 

- Jacqueline Best points out the problems with Pierre Poilievre's quack monetarism as an excuse to engage in austerity and economic self-sabotage in the name of fighting modest inflation. And Michael Roberts notes that most of the conversation around inflation ignores the reality of supply shocks which can be relieved through direct public investment in productive activity - with the added bonus of ensuring that what's produced best serves the needs of people. 

- Meanwhile, Umair Haque comments on the concentration of wealth and power that inevitable results when we allow - and even encourage - public goods to be put under private control. 

- Finally, Bill Blaikie highlights a few of the firsts in the supply and confidence agreement between the NDP and the Libs. And Aaron Wherry writes that the appropriate frame of reference in evaluating the deal is to assess whether and how it produces durable changes in policy. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Hunting cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Mustafa Hirji discusses how basic public health protections offer the best chance of controlling the spiraling harms from COVID-19 without resorting to lockdowns. Andrew Woo writes that the elimination of regular testing and reporting at the provincial level is making it impossible for people to know the level of risk they face. And John Smith comments on the absurd combination of a devastating wave of infections, hospitalizations and deaths in the midst of a global pandemic, and a government response aimed at denying the problem and demanding that citizens do the same. 

- Andre Picard weighs in on how the pandemic should have pushed us to ensure that long-term care actually provides for the health and well-being of residents. But Megan Messerly and Krista Mahr report that instead of the recognition of our shared fate pushing us to take better care of each other, the contrived backlash against public health measures is undermining longstanding protections such as standard vaccines.  

- Eric Holthaus discusses the challenges of communicating about the approaching and worsening dangers of climate change when we're still stuck in a pandemic. Bob Berwyn writes about the IPCC's warning that it's now or never to avert catastrophe. And Hannah Patros writes about the young climate activists stepping up to stop the exploitation of fossil fuels which otherwise stand to cause irreversible damage to our natural environment. 

- Brian Platt points out the challenge of trying to encourage the construction of new houses in the absence of sufficient workers to do the job - though that reality points out just another consequence of prioritizing resource exploitation over any other goal. And Margot Roosevelt reports on the success of unionized grocery workers in California who have successfully pushed for raises of up to 31% in new contracts. 

- Finally, Anya Zoledziowski reports on the right's continued genocide denial surrounding residential schools, as even a (however indirect) apology from the Pope hasn't put a dent in the determination of white supremacists to minimize or outright deny our past (and continuing) colonialism. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Delphine Strauss and Jamie Smyth highlight how long COVID is already preventing millions of people from working - with far more likely to face the same fate due to governments' mass infection strategies. Emily Leedham points out how Saskatchewan's combination of sops to the corporate sector - including a low minimum wage and a lack of health and safety protections - is harming the health of workers. And Adam Miller and Lauren Pelley discuss the difficulty navigating risks on an individual level when the few tools still available are less effective at preventing infection than they once were.  

- Meanwhile, Dean Baker writes about the abuse of the patent system by big pharma to entrench and exploit monopolies at the expense of people's health. 

- Dan Darrah writes that the shortage of available homes in the U.S. and Canada will only be met by prioritizing social housing over market interests, while Stephen Wentzell laments that the Libs' budget focuses more than it should on supply-side funding which will only drive prices and profits higher. 

- Finally, Jonathan Haidt discusses how the U.S.' public discourse has become uniquely stupid over the past decade as increasing numbers of people are utterly disconnected from accurate information about the world around them. And Umair Haque warns that the same forces are producing the prospect of a fascist and anti-democratic wave around the globe.