Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Nora Loreto writes about the need for governments to make COVID management plans which take into account pockets of anti-vaxxers who will create significant risks for the general population. Andre Picard discusses why parents will need to ensure their children get vaccinated, while Matt Gurney wonders how children will react if a continued failure to take reasonable precautions foreseeably results in the loss of core activities. And Zak Vescera reports on research showing significant damage to the health of Saskatchewan people who have avoided care as a result of the poorly-handled pandemic. 

- Meanwhile, Jim Stanford studies the effects of paid sick leave, and finds that employers could ensure people don't have to work while sick with no measurable cost in competitiveness or profitability. 

- Adam Tooze's alarming takeaway from COP26 is that the world is trusting the same businesses who have created the climate crisis to solve it with little government action - though Simon Dyer notes that even the minimal commitments made to date make new oil and gas development completely untenable. Jason Hickel discusses the approach we'd be taking if we were actually treating climate breakdown as an emergency, while Seth Klein offers his suggestions as to what a Lib throne speech would look like if it wanted to meet that standard. And Julia Rock points out how pension funds are being hijacked to prop up the fossil fuel sector as capital which isn't under political control looks for investments outside of a dying industry. 

- CBC News reports on the widespread damage to British Columbia as torrential rainfall has combined with weakened natural drainage to produce floods and mudslides. And Carolyn Jarvis reports on the Ontario government's reluctant release of data showing the air pollution being inflicted on the Aamjiwnaang First Nation.

- Finally, Richard Swift wonders what value there is in the Pandora Papers and other revelations of the abuse of wealth and power when they don't lead to any investigations or prosecutions. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Eric Topol writes about the new wave of COVID-19 decimating Europe - and the level of denial required to pretend that the U.S. or any other region can escape it without taking steps to protect public health. And Zak Vescera talks to public health experts about the reality that Saskatchewan's best-case scenario (assuming current rules remain in place) involves a plateau over the coming months rather than a substantial reduction in the strain on our health care system. 

- Meg Oliver reports on the devastating effects of long COVID on children, while Jennifer Fereira takes note of the downstream impact on mental and physical health when a pandemic is met with insufficient measures. Omar Mosleh reports on the two subvariants which are spreading in western Canada. And Natalia Goodwin reports on the spread within deer populations, while Michael Le Page discusses the broader dangers of transmission within and by wildlife around the globe. 

- Meanwhile, Branko Milanovic highlights what our experience with COVID tells us about the possibilities (and implications) of making the systemic changes needed to avert catastrophic climate change.

- James Galbraith weighs in on the source of supply disruptions and associated inflation - being a matter of fragile logistics used by choice, rather than any effect of providing people with bare minimum incomes to survive a pandemic. 

- Finally, Sam Smart discusses (and documents) the right-wing elite's takeover of Canada's media. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- John Vidal discusses how the results of the Glasgow climate summit represents a failure by our leaders to act seriously in the face of a closing window to avert catastrophe, while George Monbiot writes that there's no choice but for citizens to pursue direct action as a result. Patrick Galey points out that the same governments dragging their heels on agreement to save our planet have had no hesitation locking themselves into trade deals which create obstacles to action at the national level. And Robert Hiltz reminds us of Canada's history of failing to live up to its climate change promises.

- All of which leads to Umair Haque's worry that we're approaching a point of civilizational collapse which we're unwilling to even acknowledge (let alone reckon with).

- Jonn Elledge points out the exclusionary classism of UK Cons looking to declare people living in poverty as unduly privileged while claiming that a far higher standard of living is unacceptable for themselves.

- Rainesford Stauffer and Abdullah Shihipar make the case to ensure workers have access to paid leave whatever their reason for needing to make use of it. And Justin Chandler discusses how employers can facilitate working from home for the benefit of all concerned - rather than instead forcing people back into a zero-flexibility requirement to work within an office space.

- Finally, Doug Cuthand highlights how preposterous Scott Moe's demand for "nation" status is coming from the premier failing in the most basic functions of provincial governance.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Brian Goldman interviews Raywot Deonandan about the options available to limit the spread of COVID-19 through the coming fall and winter. But while most people are primarily concerned with the coronavirus directly, Adam Miller reports on the growing calls from health care workers to ensure the safety of essential service providers is assured against an increasingly violent and emboldened mob of anti-science quacks.

- Omayra Issa discusses how a climate breakdown in progress is causing anxiety and grief. Marieke Walsh reports on new polling showing overwhelming support for strong climate action in Canada even if it affects existing industries. And the Environmental Society of Saskatchewan offers (PDF) its recommendations to move the province toward a more appropriate level of climate ambition. 

- David Wallace-Wells muses that the strongest climate change rhetoric from political leaders is often coming from those who are trying to avoid doing their part. And Bill McKibben writes that we should be far past the point of expecting governments to fix the climate crisis - meaning that citizen action is the only plausible means of ensuring a habitable environment.

- Hannah Brais, Alex Nelson, Jesse Jenkinson and Kaitlin Schwan examine the connections between homelessness and women's rights. And Michelle Marcus and Katherine Yewell observe that universal free meals in schools produce significantly greater benefits for children from lower-income households than mere access. 

- Finally, Judd Legum weighs in on how corporate concentration and monopolization are the real cause of any current inflation facing consumers.

Musical interlude

LAUREL - Appetite

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Steven Mackay writes about new research showing the different responses to the COVID-19 pandemic by gender - with the men who are disproportionately likely to die of the coronavirus expressing substantially less fear of its effects. 

- Robert Reich discusses how the inflation being used as an excuse to attack public spending and worker demands is in fact a result of profiteering by corporate monopolists. And George Monbiot writes that an end to extreme wealth is a must if we're going to rein in the climate crisis. 

- Mostafa Henaway offers an undercover account of life in an Amazon logistics facility - including the efforts made to winnow out all but the most compliant of employees to avoid unionization or any other worker strength. 

- Katherine Rader writes about new survey data showing that voters are far more likely to be persuaded by a commitment to strong universal programs than by mealy-mouthed bromides about access to for-profit services. 

- Finally, Gary Mason writes about the folly of Scott Moe's attempt to push nationalism as a substitute for even faintly competent government. Russell Wangersky discusses how Saskatchewan's citizens are worse off as a result of Moe's inflated sense of self-importance. And Steve Burgess evaluates the risk of Moe's bluster actually amounting to anything. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Helen Ward et al. discuss the work that needs to be done to respond to long COVID on a global scale, while CBC News reports on Rachel Notley's needed call for Alberta to begin taking the long-term effects seriously. And Reuters reports on the Netherlands' move toward additional public health measures as another wave sweeps across Europe.

- Meanwhile, Chris Hurl and Leah Barrett Werner point out how private consultants have been put in charge of the COVID response across Canada - and how the public has been ill served by putting people focused on generating profits in charge of public health.

- Umair Haque writes that we're grossly underestimating the dangers of a climate breakdown and the scope of work needed to avert it. Tom Ambrose discusses scientists' warnings that the omission of military entities from emission reduction targets leaves a massive blind spot in any effort to develop and apply carbon budgets. Sarah Johnson reports on WaterAid's call to include the water crisis in global discussions of climate change, while Ivana Kottasova and Amy Cassidy write about the push by youth for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty.

- Finally, Aaron Huertas discusses the need for progressive activists and politicians to be willing to take action (including where it involves some risk of less-than-ideal coverage), rather than hoping for talking points alone to attract attention and persuade the public.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- David Shield reports on the development of a new COVID-19 variant which is becoming dominant in Saskatchewan, while Zak Vescera highlights how public health experts are refuting the Moe government's spin about not being provided reasonable options to limit the catastrophic fourth wave. And Shannon Proudfoot discusses how the pandemic (and the decision to treat it as over for the purposes of people without real family responsibilities) has been breaking parents left to navigate it on their own. 

- Bruce Arthur writes that booster shots will help the effort to contain COVID, but won't represent a panacea any more than the first round of vaccinations. And Vidya Krishnan reminds us of the need to stop prioritizing big pharma's profits over global access to vaccines if we want to get the pandemic under control. 

- Mary Annaïse Heglar and Amy Westervelt write that climate activists have been waiting politely and playing nice far too long while rapacious fossil fuel barons and their political lackeys set our planet on fire. Kate Aronoff responds to Barack Obama as he tries to put the onus for climate action on the activists he ignored - or even implicitly treated as his adversaries - while in power. Yanis Varoufakis argues that the Glasgow climate summit has failed due to a focus on distant and empty "net zero" targets. 

- Karl Nerenberg reports on Oxfam's push to tax the rich in the interest of both economic and environmental justice. 

- Armine Yalnizyan, Laurell Ritchie, Marjorie Griffin Cohen and Pat Armstrong discuss the work that needs to be done at the federal level to build a functional and effective care economy. And the CCPA's alternative federal budget reminds us again how the federal government could develop a just and equitable society if it wanted to make the effort. 

- Finally, Anastasia French, Craig Pickthorne and Christine Saulnier write that a living wage is an essential element of any genuine economic recovery. 

This is why we can't have even minimally acceptable things

Here we go again. And somehow, the latest round of hysteria includes the Cons learning nothing from the failure of their attacks on coalitions or other forms of inter-party cooperation in the past, while the defence of a principle which has always enjoyed strong public support is getting weaker with time.

So let's once again be clear. We would be better governed if our political parties spent more time figuring out how to accomplish the goals they profess to share (or at least can view as mutually agreeable), rather than engaging in constant efforts to prove the other guys unfit for office (which ultimately succeed only to the extent of proving all parties right in that assertion).  

And for the NDP in particular, the politics and principle couldn't align much more cleanly: keep in mind that it was Jack Layton's defence of cooperation, and work to offer examples in practice, that helped shake voters out of their default allegiances to produce the party's best result ever. So even if it may be worth clarifying the facts on the ground, that needs to be coupled with a statement that a willingness to work across party lines to get results is a far more desirable attribute in both an opposition party and a prospective government than a refusal to consider anything of the sort. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Festive cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading. 

- Bruce Arthur offers a reminder that we know perfectly well how to limit the damage done by COVID-19 as long as a government is responsible enough to implement basic public health protections. But Geoffrey Stevens writes that we're still seeing numerous provincial governments prioritizing political pandering over COVID control - particularly with an eye toward impending elections.  

- Nili Kaplan-Myrth writes that the price of catering to the anti-science fringe includes regular threats being levied at health care professionals who dare to encourage people to get vaccinated. And Laura Sciarpelletti reports on the patients waiting for Saskatchewan's organ donor program to resume after the Moe government's negligence forced it to be put on hold to deal with a flood of critical COVID cases. 

- Leger surveys Canadians about the climate crisis and finds large majorities demanding more action to avert a climate breakdown. But Josephine Moulds discusses how banks are lobbying to water down any progress even while pretending to be climate-friendly in their public messaging. And Colleen Silverthorn reports on the false promise of CCS and other fossil fuel-based megaprojects as a substitute for a just transition to clean energy.  

- Steven Bernard, Dan Clark and Sam Joiner report on research showing that over 3 billion people could see their current locations become unliveable over the next half-century if we don't stop climate change now. And Jen St. Denis reports on an analysis documenting the people who died as a result of British Columbia's unprecedented heat dome - with older people, isolated people and people living in areas with limited green space facing especially high risks. 

- Finally, David Rider report on a new study showing that Toronto's garbage privatization predictably produced higher costs and less stable employment rather than offering any efficiencies. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Adam Miller highlights what we can do to limit the spread of COVID-19 over the winter to come. And Pratyush Dayal reports on the Saskatchewan cancer patients who are rightfully angry at Scott Moe for falsely declaring the pandemic over and endangering their life-saving treatment.

- William Moss, Lawrence Gostin and Jennifer Nuzzo summarize where pediatric vaccines stand as the U.S. rolls them out (and Canada hopefully prepares to do so soon). And Jonathan Howard points out the folly of using "underlying conditions" as an excuse to refuse to vaccination (or mandate vaccination).

- Alex Himelfarb suggests some reading on the big change we need as we work on responding to an ongoing pandemic and worsening climate crisis.

- Mark Hertsgaard discusses the importance of stronger news coverage in portraying what's at stake in a climate breakdown.

- George Monbiot writes that we should be treating climate funding for developing countries as reparations rather than aid. And Stuart Trew et al. point out that the same corporate investment treaties which have locked in the upward flow of wealth are tying the hands of governments trying to implement climate policy, while Manual Perez Rocha notes the complete absence of any effort to remove that barrier to climate action in Glasgow.

- Finally, Shaina Luck reports that the Libs' attempt to substitute inaccesible subsidies for an actual social housing policy is resulting in large amounts of announced money sitting unused while homelessness escalates.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Zak Vescera reports on the Moe government's full awareness that their elimination of public health measures would produce exactly the spike in cases and calamity for Saskatchewan's health-care system that have developed this fall. And Allison Bamford reports on the warnings from doctors that there may be another wave yet to come, while Nick Cumming-Bruce reports that Europe is now seeing a new wave of its own.

- Sarah Zhang writes that the U.S. is conspicuously refusing to talk about managing COVID-19 even as it continues to pose a massive public health risk. And PressProgress calls out British Columbia's corporate lobby for claiming that COVID doesn't pose a significant workplace hazard in an effort to ensure employees don't receive sick leave or other protections.

- Donald Light and Joel Lexchin highlight how an unaffordable vaccine is effectively no vaccine at all for much of the world's population - and thus no protection for anybody against the development of increasingly dangerous variants.

- Hadrian Metrins-Kirkwood discusses how decarbonization will require reimagining our municipal planning. Anthony Vasquez-Peddie reports on new research showing how industrialized countries can shift to an extremely high proportion of wind and solar energy - with Canada's large land mass making us particularly well-suited to the change.

- Meanwhile, J.-F. Mercure et al. study how best to persuade the general public of the value of climate action, and find a need to emphasize the economic benefits of a just transition.

- Finally, Peter Zimonjic reports on the nearly 90,000 people facing Guaranteed Income Supplement clawbacks as punishment for having received the CERB in the wake of the pandemic. And the Leader-Post reports that mayors even from Sask Party strongholds are joining the chorus demanding that the Moe government provide adequate social benefits and stop pushing people out on the street.

Musical interlude

Purple Disco Machine feat. Eyelar - Dopamine

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content for your Friday reading.

- Emma Buchanan writes about the restrictions on media access that have resulted in people being poorly informed about the damage done by COVID-19. Meredith Wadman reports on new research showing that the increased infectiousness of the Delta variant is the result of its leaving more of its genetic code in host cells. And Matt Gurney discusses the importance of increasing vaccine supply around the globe - though he leaves out the obvious source of the current shortage as wealthy countries continue to prohibit the release of intellectual property over publicly-developed vaccines to let developing countries establish their own supply.  

- Corry Anderson-Fennell writes about the benefits for everybody when workers have access to paid sick leave, rather than being financially compelled to work through illness and pain. And Kim Siever debunks the corporate lobby's rhetoric about Alberta workers choosing federal pandemic benefits over work - as the only sectors seeing less employment are the ones where employers (government or otherwise) have chosen to restrict operations. 

- Meanwhile, Mario Canseco discusses new poll data showing an increasing number of Canadians recognizing the opioid crisis as a major problem and recognizing the need for political leadership. 

- David Suzuki calls out the continued subsidization of fossil fuels even as climate science points to an urgent need to transition away from them. Liang Jing et al. study (PDF) the carbon intensity of oil, and find Canada to be the second-worst polluter on the planet for the amount of crude it produces. And Aaron Wherry makes the seemingly obvious point that the high-pollution, low-efficiency tar sands are logically among the first resources which need to be left unextracted as we work on reducing our fossil fuel dependence. 

- Chen Zhou highlights how wealthy countries are trying to shift the goalposts to avoid meeting existing commitments to fund climate finance. Phoebe Weston reports on new research showing the grossly disproportionate share of emissions attributable to luxury carbon consumption. And Andrew Nikiforuk writes about the need to reduce our energy use in order to rein in the climate crisis.

- Finally, Susan Ferguson discusses how the systemic violence of capitalism has dictated a woefully insufficient response to COVID-19 (and to other crises). And Alex Steffen calls out the plutocrats who are using the spoils of existing wealth inequality to corner the market on the necessities for survival in a foreseeable climate apocalypse. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Christine Gibson writes about the need to start seriously fighting against the dangers posed by a climate breakdown, rather than merely hoping the problem goes away on its own. And George Monbiot observes that any plan which fails to account for the need to keep fossil fuels in the ground is at best a distraction tactic. 

- Which is to say that an agreement only to prioritize domestic production over foreign projects falls far short of the mark - particularly as Canada's oil companies are planning to ensure that carbon pollution continues to get dumped into our atmosphere for decades regardless of the damage done to our planet.  And Silvia Pastorelli makes the case to ban fossil fuel advertising as a needed step to stop corporate disinformation from getting in the way of climate action. 

- Meanwhile, Annie Hylton discusses how Canadian resource companies continue to commit human rights abuses in Guatemala and elsewhere (with the full support of the federal government in the name of the "business environment"). Gregg Mitman highlights how the concealment of history in the form of corporate records prevents us from knowing and acting in response to some of the most powerful forces shaping our world. And David Sirota and Andrew Perez write that unchecked corporate power is central to the U.S.' slide away from anything resembling democracy. 

- Molly Murphy points out how defunding the police fits into the goal of protecting our climate. But Laura Sciarpelletti reports that the Moe government is instead echoing Jason Kenney's desire to pay more for a police force under provincial political control.

- Finally, Murray Mandryk writes about the vaccine hesitancy problem within the Saskatchewan Party as one of the causes of Moe's fourth COVID wave. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Sarath Peiris rightly calls out Scott Moe and his government for making it a goal to punish the poor within Saskatchewan. 

- Marco Ranaldi and Branko Milanovic study the connection between inequality of income sources and of income totals. And Ricardo Tranjan writes that we can't expect the pandemic (or any other event) to produce the end of neoliberalism, but instead need to fight for it against forces who remain determined to extract value from both the general population today, and the future of generations to come. 

- On that front, PressProgress exposes how private long-term care homes in Ontario profiteered off the pandemic by charging extra to move residents out of the risk of four-to-a-room overcrowding. Guy Quenneville reports on the prospect that it may take over a year and a major resource boost to make up the backlog in Saskatchewan's health care system - which is particularly problematic given the Sask Party's desire to hand health services over to the corporate sector.

- Michael King and Morgan Black report on the escalating death count from opioid poisoning in Alberta even as the UCP tries to ignore the options which would most obviously save lives. And in contrast, Michelle Ghoussoub reports on British Columbia's move toward decriminalization to ensure people don't fall victim to toxic drug supplies.   

- Environmental Defence examines how the oil industry's attempt at greenwashing with "net zero" spin falls far short of anything resembling a viable climate plan. And Megan Gibson and Phil Clarke Hill interview Jagmeet Singh about the work needed to push Justin Trudeau to fund a just transition to a clean economy, rather than decades of fossil fuel infrastructure.  

- Chen Zhou writes about the need for wealthier countries to pull our weight in funding global climate action. And Brian Kahn's survey of climate scientists show that the people best informed about our climate breakdown are begging our leaders to avert an imminent catastrophe.

- Finally, for those interested in a deeper look at climate change issues, a couple of new sites worth visiting have recently gone live: the David Suzuki Foundation's Climate Emergency Unit as a road map for action, and Amy Westervelt's Rigged as a source on corporate disinformation. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Costumed cats. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Mark Armstrong reports on the G20's agreement on a painfully-unambitious vaccination target for poor countries which is still unlikely to be reached. And Tahir Amin draws a connection between the dystopia of Squid Game and the reality of vaccine exclusion. 

- Jennifer Schuessler discusses David Graeber and David Wengrow's The Dawn of Everything as signaling the evolution of social structures far earlier and more broadly than we usually assume. And Wengrow takes that history as a basis for optimism about our current challenges - including the need to join forces to protect our living environment in the face of imminent climate breakdown.  

- David Wallace-Wells makes the compelling case for climate reparations - including the need for wealthier countries to both bear our share of the loan in mitigating the damage we're doing to our planet, and ensure that the people we've exploited along the way have opportunities to adapt and develop. And Laurie Macfarlane writes that we can't address the climate crisis without also addressing economic and social injustices. 

- Umair Haque discusses why the U.S. looks to be just beginning a full-on societal collapse. 

- Adam Lachacz reports on the frustration of Alberta municipalities with the UCP's blinkered devotion to promoting a costly and unnecessary provincial police force, rather than doing anything to actually improve people's lives. And Sheila Wong and Emma McIntosh explore just how corrupt and counterproductive the Ford PCs' push for another major bypass actually is. 

- Finally, John Clarke calls out the absurdity of Justin Trudeau's effort to equate left-wing activism toward equality and justice with right-wing bigotry. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Trevor Howlett warns not to treat a short-term drop in case numbers from an alarming peak as an excuse  to stop taking COVID-19 seriously. And Alexander Quon and Bonnie Allen offer a look at the painful and lonely plight of ICU patients sent to Ontario due to Scott Moe's choice to overload Saskatchewan's health care system. 

- Emma Jones reports on the increased number of liver conditions likely arising out of pandemic drinking. And Stephen David Cook reports on the deadliest year yet for drug poisonings in Alberta. 

- Brett Dolter discusses some of the lessons we should take from our COVID response in dealing with the generational challenge of climate change - though there's reason for concern that the main takeaway is that self-serving profiteers will find excuses to stake fraudulent claims to the entire world before the public can get its shoes on in response. Bob Ward reviews Katharine Hayhoe's Saving Us as a resource in trying to reach people who are hesitant to contribute to climate solutions. And Fiona Harvey reports on Antonio Guterres' message that we can't rely on optimism without action, even as the obvious plan of the leaders who need to step up is based on wishing rather than effort. 

- Roy Culpeper points out the need for Canada in particular to start contributing our fair share to global emission reductions. And Jay Wilson discusses how cleaner infrastructure is a vital part of the picture. 

- Finally, the University of Cambridge studies the amount of work necessary to achieve the positive mental health outcomes associated with it - and finds that a day per week is the point of diminishing returns for work for its own sake. And Sara Zaske reports on new research confirming that parents living in poverty who are offered a basic income will put the new resources toward their children. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Fiona Harvey reports on the warning from climate scientists that a 1.5 degree target is non-negotiable. Adam Tooze explains why we shouldn't let fossil fuel flacks convince us to mistake a temporary price fluctuation for a reason to entrench our reliance on dirty energy. And PressProgress notes that the UCP's anti-environmental inquiry inadvertently exposed how much foreign money actually got poured into fossil fuel astroturf projects.

- Meanwhile, Scott Neigh discusses the oil sector workers looking for a transition to more sustainable jobs. 

- Mohamed Adow discusses the growing climate debt as wealthier countries (and people) continue to blow through our planetary carbon budget while expecting people with less resources to absorb the cost and risk. And Phillip Inman notes that colonial debts are keeping poorer countries from investing in any mitigation or adaptation (among other vital priorities).

- Kenny Thomas highlights a new tool to expose UK corporations which have committed regulatory offences. But in case we needed a reminder that we shouldn't presume malfeasance by the wealthy has actually been investigated and prosecuted, the Canadian Press reports on the continued failure of CRA audits of ultra-wealthy people arising out of the Panama Papers to produce a single prosecution.  

- Finally, Eric Levitz laments how the U.S.' Congress has chosen to learn nothing from the COVID-19 pandemic. And Umair Haque discusses how the UK has eliminated its own capacity to function as a state - while choosing in response to keep up appearances even as essential services disappear.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- PressProgress offers a timeline of Saskatchewan's fourth wave of COVID-19 (and the choices by Scott Moe which precipitated it), while Arthur White-Crummey reports that approval of the Sask Party's pandemic response is half what it was four months ago. And Justin Ling highlights how many governments continue to act as if we'd learned nothing about COVID by emphasizing surface hygiene theatre over the ventilation and masking which have actually made a difference.

- Benjamin Franta documents how oil companies knew about climate change long before most of the public - and went far out of their way to deceive people into continuing to rely on their carbon-polluting products. And Brooks DeCillia, Melanee Thomas and Lori Thorlakson discuss how to turn the tide of public opinion to favour climate action in a petro-state like Alberta.

- George Monbiot writes about the need to challenge the structure of a capitalist economy in order to save our natural environment, rather than accepting consumer choices as the limit of our ability to make change. And David Sirota discusses the impossibility of catering to corporations while solving the problems they impose on the public.

- Mitchell Thompson discusses how Loblaws' business model depends on paying workers poverty wages. And Samantha Ponting points out Doug Ford's use of Ontario's workers' compensation system as a giveaway to employers, rather than a dependable source of needed relief income for injured workers.

- Finally, The Breach interviews Harsha Walia about the racism exploitation of immigrants in Canada. And Monia Mazigh sets out the concrete steps Justin Trudeau would take if he were serious about fighting Islamophobia, rather than treating it solely as a photo op.

Musical interlude

Vök - Running Wild

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Sara Birlios examines the grim state of Saskatchewan - including the numerous areas where Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party are consciously choosing social murder over even the slightest concern for the well-being of non-donors. And the Globe and Mail's editorial board calls out Jason Kenney for continually picking the wrong fights (and accruing a lengthy list of failures in the process). 

- Ryan Patrick Jones reports on the escalating pressure on already-overstretched food banks to help people to get by. And Rosa Saba highlights the backlash against the Libs' choice to keep subsidies flowing for businesses while leaving workers to fend for themselves. 

- Luis Feliz Leon and Maximillian Alvarez write about the importance of converting the visible worker militancy reflected in the U.S.' Striketober into substantial results and systemic change. 

- Heather Wetzel writes about the problem with discussing economics without recognizing and accounting for the distortionary effects of land and resource ownership.

- Kyle Bakx and Tony Seskus review Canada's history of underdelivering when it comes to averting the climate crisis. And Thomas Gunton examines how much more action is needed even to meet our current targets.  

- Andre Picard writes that the Libs' choice to identify a minister in charge of mental health means little if it isn't backed by funding and a commitment to action. 

- Finally, Umair Haque discusses why societies may be unable to see their own downfall - and how the U.S. and UK are falling prey to that phenomenon. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Bruce Arthur calls out Doug Ford for choosing (like other conservative premiers) to prioritize the "freedom" of uninformed anti-vaxxers to endanger everybody over the health of the population at large. The Economist charts how vaccinated people have not only been better protected from COVID-19, but also less likely to die of other causes - which, while not subject to a causal analysis, would make sense from the standpoint of a dividing line as to the recognition and calculation of risk. [Update: Yes, this would seem related too.] Pat McKay tells the story of a family facing limited care for prematurely-born twins due to Scott Moe's choice to flood the health care system with COVID patients. And Theresa Kliem reports on the health care workers who no longer see a future in a province which places so little value on them or their patients - exacerbating what was already a shortage of care workers. 

- David Coletto unveils new polling data showing that a large majority of Canadians - including a plurality even among the most recalcitrant provinces and political parties - want to see far more action to protect our climate. 

- But Oliver Milman reports on a new study by Systems Change Lab showing that not a single industry is pulling its weight to pull us back from reaching and exceeding 1.5 degrees of warming. Oil Change International points out how countries are continuing to subsidize carbon pollution by throwing money at oil and gas operators, while Bob Weber reports on Canada's place as the worst offender of the lot in funding the entrenchment of dirty energy rather than a transition to cleaner options. And Geoffrey Morgan reports on the giant windfalls being pocketed by oil companies even as governments go out of their way to avoid having them post security for their environmental damage. 

- Georgia Wright, Liat Olenick and Amy Westervelt point out the U.S.' worst climate villains. Belen Balanya, Lala Hakuma Dadci, and Myriam Douo discuss how dirty energy interests have blocked climate action in Europe. And Tim Gray and Devon Page highlight how the UCP's inquiry attacking environmental activists represented an unconscionable abuse of power - even if its results proved to be a damp squib. 

- Finally, Colleen Silverthorn reports on the grossly inadequate benefit amounts under Saskatchewan's income support system, while Yasmine Ghania reports on yesterday's rally to at least reverse the Sask Party scheme which has pushed dozens of people out of their homes and into tent cities. And PressProgress exposes how the Ford government is not only slashing assistance to people, but ensuring that Republican cronies reap profits as a result. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Yasmine Ghania interviews Nazeem Muhajarine about the Saskatchewan Party's choice to produce misleadingly low COVID-19 case numbers by stifling testing. And Kelly Provost reports on one of the families facing potentially dangerous delays in necessary medical care due to Scott Moe's fourth wave, as a patient awaiting a kidney transplant has been put on hold indefinitely.  

- Andrew Coyne writes that the Cons have failed in their chance to be a responsible party when it comes to vaccines in Canada. And Wyatt Schierman discusses how the failure of Canada and other wealthy countries to ensure equitable vaccine access means that the world's poorest countries could be without vaccines for decades.  

- Fiona Harvey reports on the UN's warnings that current emission targets would produce a calamitous 2.7 degrees of global warming - and the reality that we've already failed to build back better as part of our pandemic recovery. Damian Carrington reports on Nicholas Stern's warning that existing climate plans are based on the devaluation of the lives of young people and future generations. And Emily Atkin and Molly Taft expose how fossil fuel giants are using a new round of deceptive media tactics to try to avoid accountability for their history of climate fraud.  

- Meanwhile, Emily Eaton examines how Saskatchewan can transition to a clean and prosperous future without tying our economy to the development of fossil fuels. 

- Finally, Marc Lee et al. discuss how to build a zero-waste economy by 2040 both by reducing the production of avoidable waste, and by prioritizing repair and maintenance options to ensure that consumer goods are able to last. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Playful cats.

 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- CBC News reports on the public health officers begging Saskatchewan's provincial government to stop the spread of COVID-19 as our health care system collapses, while Guy Quenneville notes that Dr. Saqib Shahab is now publicly calling out some of the areas where the Saskatchewan Party is being particularly negligent. And Jillian Smith reports on Saskatoon's move to apply gathering limits at the municipal level due to Scott Moe's stubborn refusal to lift a finger to protect public health. 

- Lori Lee Oates sets out how we can make a just transition to a clean energy economy generally, while Raidin Blue examines the path for Saskatchewan to do the same. And Emily Chung writes about a focus on net zero by 2050 actually looks like - along with the problems with trying to count carbon removal when there's little certainty that it will have its intended effect. 

- Meanwhile, Matt Simon writes about the potential for the concurrent use of land for solar panels and crops may produce improved outcomes for both energy generation and agricultural output. 

- But Doreen Nicoll points out the problem with spending billions to subsidize sprawl and carbon pollution at a point when we need to be working on decarbonizing. 

- Finally, Emma Kelly calls out the countries who provide tax havens for the wealthy seeking to avoid paying their fair share - with Canada making the list due to both low corporate tax rates and a lack of transparency.  

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Sarath Peiris discusses how Saskatchewan shouldn't be anything but embarrassed by Scott Moe's utter failure to look out for public health in the midst of a pandemic. And Theresa Kliem interviews Steven Lewis about the dire projections - even before the province made clear that rather than taking steps to limit the spread of COVID-19, it's still fully devoted to allowing super-spreader events regardless of the human cost. 

- Meanwhile, Jillian Smith reports on the homelessness crisis which is only being exacerbated by the Sask Party's choice to undercut housing security. 

- Doug Nesbitt discusses the now-expired federal pandemic supports in the context of our stingy employment insurance system as a whole. V.S. Wells says goodbye to the CRB which sustained many Canadians through much of the pandemic, while Taylor Scollon points out how the Libs' decision to cut it off is positively calculated to drive people into desperate poverty. David Lao reports on some of the people - and even businesses - seeing their future put in jeopardy by the choice. Kori Sidaway talks to Jim Stanford about the reality that employers finding workers should be looking at their own wages and working conditions, not trying to cut off social benefits. And Karl Nerenberg notes that income supports remain an area where the NDP is putting in hard work pushing the Libs to take better care of people, while Robin Sears argues that it's long past time for Canada's party leaders to put more time into making minority Parliaments work rather than constantly posturing for an immediate election. 

- Sara Mojtehedzadeh reports on the new employment standards being mooted in Ontario, including the possibility of a right-to-disconnect rule. But in case anybody lost track of Doug Ford's disregard for workers, PressProgress reports on the PC's choice to allow health-care employers to limit the protection provided to workers even when a stockpile of PPE is readily available. 

- Meanwhile, Jodi Kantor, Karen Wiese and Grace Ashford expose a new set of worker abuses at Amazon, as systematic refusals to provide leave have left workers scrambling to survive. 

- Finally, Luke Savage writes that multilevel marketing scams represent the epitome of capitalist logic, while serving to highlight the need for an society that isn't designed to enrich a few at the expense of the many. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Ed Yong discusses how the field of public health has been marginalized by the false assumption that the task of keeping people healthy shouldn't play a role in our political choices.

- Nadeem Badshah reports on Greta Thunberg's message to countries participating in COP26 that we can't afford any more climate denial.

- Olamide Olaniyan interviews Naomi Klein about the hope for a breakthrough in applying an ethic of care to our natural and human environments. Alexander Kaufman reports on new research confirming that investments in renewable energy produce several times more jobs than comparable spending on fossil fuels. And Alexander Verbeek reports on the U.S.' recognition that a climate breakdown represents a severe security threat (among other calamitous outcomes).

- But Sandy Garossino writes that we shouldn't let the underwhelming contents of UCP's anti-environmental inquiry override our outrage at an abuse of power. And Andrew MacLeod reports on B.C.'s willingness to allow oil and gas companies to procrastinate (and likely welch) on their obligation to clean up their messes.

- Finally, Alan Freeman discusses how Stephen Harper is cozying up to dictatorships for financial gain even while continuing to operate behind the scenes of Canada's conservative parties. And CBC News reports on the Sask Party's push to hold a fire sale of Crown lands to undermine both public interests and treaty rights - and the work of Betty Nippi-Albright and others in trying to stop them.

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.