Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Jim Stanford laments the likelihood that we're headed for a self-inflicted recession in the name of an arbitrary inflation target. 

- Acey Rowe talks to about the Craig Desson about the mechanisms used to perpetuate old wealth. And Rupert Neate writes about Gary Stevenson's story as someone who made large amounts of money in financial trading - but only through intolerable betting on needless suffering and growing inequality.

- Meanwhile, Mitchell Thompson calls out the Canada Infrastructure Bank's demand to turn essential public water supplies into sources of profits and management fees. 

- Ayurella Horn-Muller reports on some of the global responses to SCOTUS' decision to condemn humanity to a climate breakdown. And the Council of Canadians has released new Abacus polling data showing that Canadians recognize the need for strong climate action even when weighed against immediate economic interests.

- The Ottawa Citizen's editorial board weighs in on the need to combat intimate-partner violence.

- Finally, Umair Haque writes that we're all too likely to look back on the summer of 2022 as the start of an age of crisis.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Danny Altmann discusses how infection with COVID-19 tends to produce weakness and long-term illness rather than immunity, while Tom Livingstone likewise notes that reinfection is worse than previously assumed. Hanna Geissler reports on the warning from experts that we're looking at another new wave in the near future, while Patrick Rail talks to Kashif Pirzada about how the worldwide petri dish resulting from a refusal to stop community transmission is producing newer and more dangerous variants on a regular basis. And Carly Weeks reports on Theresa Tam's recognition that misinformation about the severity of COVID-19 and the ongoing need to try to limit its spread is proving to be deadly.

- Hasan Sheikh and Brandon Doucet make the case to follow through on Tommy Douglas' vision for medicare by adding universal dental care. But Jeff Labine reports that the Trudeau Libs aren't even bothering to respond to provinces who are looking to move forward.

- Phoebe Stephens writes about the need for smaller-scale food providers to limit the ability of corporate conglomerates to gouge the public. And Wayne Mantyka reports on the call from Saskatchewan mayors for the provincial government to fill thousands of public housing units which have been left vacant even in the midst of a housing crisis.

- Finally, Karen Geier discusses how the Cons' leadership race is pushing the party even further off any reasonable map of political philosophies into MAGA-land. And Luke LeBrun reports on Pierre Poilievre's choice to lead a march of COVID deniers, violent insurrectionists and secessionists in order to court their support.

Musical interlude

The Knocks feat. Donna Missal - Bang Bang

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Adeel Hassan reports on the dominance of the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron strains in the U.S. Phil Tank reminds us of the folly of the Moe government's admonition that people should assess their own risk even while actively suppressing the data which could make that possible, while Wency Leung reports on the push among experts for Canada to reinstate mandatory masking policies to limit the damage from a new wave. And Virginie Ann reports on research showing that the public health measures which Canadian governments seem determined never to use again helped to save tens of thousands of lives. 

- David Shield reports on research linking Saskatchewan's alarming HIV rates to inadequate social assistance. And Noushin Ziafati reports on the recommendation of a coroner's inquest jury that Ontario declare an epidemic of intimate partner violence and focus on eradicating it. 

- Edward Ongweso Jr. writes that we should recognize any current bout of inflation as being caused by corporate greed rather than pandemic stimulus payments to individuals. And David Sirota discusses how John Roberts has been central to the constitutionalization of corruption in then U.S.  

- John Clarke discusses the RCMP's "pipeline police" who have been mandated to violently suppress land defenders. And Natasha Bulowski reports that the Libs' case for TransMountain depends on its use to export dirty fossil fuels for a century.  

- Finally, Ariana Kelland reports on one case showing the continued fallout from the Phoenix pay fiasco, as an employee lost her home and her job after going without pay for months. Shelley Murphy reports on a much-needed award of damages to an employee who was handed on a platter to U.S immigration services in retaliation for reporting a workplace injury. And Chris Brooks discusses the possibility of substantially building strength in organized labour - as long as unions' organizational models are updated for the new reality in the workplace. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Elevated cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Ed Yong writes about the need for people to keep caring for and protecting each other to make up for being abandoned by business-driven politicians in the middle of a deadly and debilitating pandemic. Olivia Bowden discusses the considerations surrounding booster vaccine doses which do require government involvement. And Victor Castro-Gutierrez et al. study the connection between school infections and community spread (showing a clear pattern of the former driving the latter), while Sandra Lopez-Leon et al. examine (PDF) the long COVID symptoms suffered by children. 

- Stephanie Kelton writes that interest rate hikes and austerity are the hydroxychloroquine cure for inflation (i.e. quackery being pushed by the right as a substitute for viable measures which don't suit their political purposes), while the effective medicine of taxing windfall profits is being conspicuously left off the table. And TVO interviews Mike Moffatt about the glaring need for action to make housing remotely affordable for the people who need it most. 

- Jeremy Appel exposes how Amazon is trying to intimidate its workers in Quebec - but notes that it's also finding more resistance there than in some places. 

- Malcolm James, Jane Kenway and Rebecca Boden highlight how private schools in the UK use public money to create educational and social inequality. 

- Finally, David Fraser reports on the launch of the Ottawa People's Commission to report on the city's occupation. Jonathan Montpetit reports on the threats being made against libraries by convoy-affiliated bigots attempting to silence any voices which don't share their hostility to LGBTQ+ people. And Robert Reich writes about the roots of the U.S. Trumpism which is bleeding into Canada. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Geoff Thompson reports on new research showing that the cognitive decline caused by COVID-19 is worse than previously known, while the European Academy of Neurology finds a greater risk of neurodegenerative disorders. And the Economist reports on findings that the vaccine development and distribution process (which is no longer being treated as a priority as we race toward pandemic denial) has saved 20 million lives worldwide, while Wenkai Han et al. find that the coronavirus projects to escape immunity.

- Meanwhile, Tania Arrietta discusses how past and ongoing austerity made the pandemic worse in the UK. 

- George Monbiot suggests that debt relief for developing countries may serve as an important part of a climate strategy. 

- Finally, Kenan Malik writes about the well-recognized reality (contrary to the UK Cons' spin) that union influence and solidarity is necessary for the public good. And Andy Burnman makes the case for Labour to back proportional representation as a means of better distributing power. 

#SKNDPLDR Roundup

A brief roundup of news and coverage from the Saskatchewan NDP's leadership campaign as Sunday's convention approaches.

- There's been some more media coverage at a high level, including Adam Hunter offering an overview of the campaign; Global News interviewing Harvey; CKRM profiling both candidates; and Katia St. Jean offering profiles in French. 

- Meanwhile, those looking for somewhat deeper dives with the candidates will find them from Lenore Swystun's Civically Speaking, including an interview with Harvey going into her experience of racial divisions in Saskatchewan, and one with Beck with Beck which includes some discussion of her recognition of the effects of inequality and poverty based on her family's history. 

- Finally, the last interim financial disclosure statement before the vote has been released (if not reported on). And it looks to rule out any prospect of a shift in the race behind the scenes, as Beck raised roughly $13,000 in May to Harvey's approximately $2,500. 

For those who haven't yet voted, the deadline to do so is Sunday at 3 PM. And we'll find out shortly thereafter who will lead the NDP into the next election. 

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Mary Ziegler and Scott Lemieux both warn of the many other rights in imminent danger due to both the fact of the elimination of abortion rights by the Republican-dominated U.S. Supreme Court, and the excuses made for it.

- Dylan Scott discusses how the decision will lead to increase in child poverty. And Cassandra Szklarski reports on the growing reality of child hunger in Canada - as well as the need for a fundamentally more equitable policies to ameliorate it, rather that short-term band-aids. 

- Meanwhile, Erika Ibrahim reports on the Libs' choice to keep delaying even a framework bill for a national disability benefit. And Sid Frankel, John Stapleton and Shalini Konanur discuss how the demand that people repay the CERB benefits which they were told to apply for is further squeezing people already living in poverty.  

- Emily Leedham calls out Pierre Poilievre's designs on using the threat of withholding federal funding to dictate the lines of academic freedom. 

- Raymond Zhong writes about the proliferation of extreme heat around the globe. 

- Finally, Adam King discusses how Amazon is continuing to violate labour standards in an effort to prevent employees from exercising any collective bargaining power. 

Musical interlude

Cannons - Fire For You

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Kit Yates weighs in on the work which still needs to be done to avoid further waves of COVID-19. And Marsha Barber writes that we can tell from even the limited information still being released that it's delusional to suggest we're out of the pandemic, while Jonathan Charlton reports on research showing how important now-discarded vaccine mandates have been in broadening protection against the spread of COVID.  

- Lauren O'Neil writes about the end of Ontario's COVID-related paid sick days, including the reality that we'd all be better off if workers were better able to recover from all kinds of illnesses rather than being compelled to work. 

- David Feckling discusses how there's no business case for the tar sands if they aren't being massively subsidized - both through deliberate climate negligence as a matter of policy, and through direct public funding. And David Climenhaga writes that the TransMountain pipeline expansion has officially turned into a money loser for the federal government for the purpose of lining the pockets of the oil sector. 

- Meanwhile, Carl Meyer reports on the Notley government's choice to acquiesce to CNRL's lobbying demanding that methane regulations be torqued to allow heavily-emission operations to keep spewing pollution. 

- Finally, Jessie Anton reports on the needed backlash against the Saskatchewan Party's choice to pour money into private schools with anti-LGBTQ affiliations while forcing public schools into brutal cutbacks and job losses.

Wednesday Night Cat Blogging

Resting cats.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jon Henley writes that COVID is surging across Europe as governments and people alike ignore desperate warnings not to let their guard down. And Eric Topol writes about the reality that reinfection produces even worse outcomes than initial exposure - even as governments have largely abandoned any effort either to minimize spread through public health measures, or to reduce individual impacts through further vaccines. 

- Alex Cosh discusses how more and more Canadians are going hungry while corporate profits soar. 

- Fiona Harvey reports on research showing the need for consistently accurate climate messaging for people to understand the urgency of our climate crisis. David Moscrop writes about the stark contrast between Justin Trudeau's spin on climate change and his government's consistent catering to the fossil fuel sector. And Jan Gorski argues that Canada is more than capable of meeting its climate commitments if it stops operating in denial of the steps needed to get there. 

- Meanwhile, John Michael McGrath points out how the determination of where to bury nuclear waste comes down to a decision as to whose water supplies will be put at risk of radioactive contamination if all doesn't go as planned.  

- Finally, Ken Rubin discusses how Canada's access to information system has fallen far short of the promise of open government due to the combination of overly broad exemptions and governments' cynical refusal to comply with either the spirit or letter of access legislation. And Elizabeth McMillan reports on the results of the Mass Casualty Commission's review showing how the RCMP endangered lives by withholding crucial information from the public in the midst of a shooting spree.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Danielle Hitch, Aryati Yashadhana and Evelyne de Leeuw write that long COVID is following the path of acute COVID-19 in having a disproportionate effect on disadvantaged communities. Catherine Gewertz discusses the need for schools to plan for a large number of students afflicted with a wide range of long-term symptoms. And Rebecca Stern et al. study how even less-infectious variants were able to spread through common areas of hospitals. 

- Geoff Dembicki writes about the Cons' large base of climate deniers - though it's worth being concerned that the party (particularly with Pierre Poilievre at the helm) will be perfectly happy to include outright denialism as part of its general detachment from reality. And Jennifer Hassan reports that Spain is among the latest regions to see devastating wildfires and heat as climate breakdown continues apace. 

- Charlotte Spring and Audrey Tung discuss how the housing crisis is forcing desperate renters to go hungry in order to hold onto a place to live. And Lauren Boothby exposes a private group which Edmonton landlords have been using to illegally deprive prospective tenants of any hope of finding a home. 

- Finally, Ramanan Raghavendran writes about the "gilded cage" as the executive version of the bullshit job - and notes that it lack meaning and purpose just as much as the lower-paid equivalent. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Dhruv Khullar interviews Ashish Jha about what's to come in the COVID-19 pandemic - including the desperate need for mitigation measures to reduce an unsustainable amount of spread. And Alexander Quon reports on the increase in COVID deaths in Saskatchewan from 2021 to 2022 even as the Moe government tries to pretend there's nothing left to see here. 

- Meanwhile, Greg Iacurci discusses how even the limited support working-class Americans received during the pandemic has changed their view of what's possible. 

- But Phillip Inman writes that central banks are fixated on suppressing wages even if the result is to collapse economic development altogether. And Heather Wright reports on the reality that increasing food prices aren't resulting in better returns for the farmers who produce it. 

- Amanda Follett Hosgood points out the disaster capitalism that's seeing the pandemic turned into a land grab and opportunity to push through environmentally devastating projects. 

- Finally, Supriya Dwivedi writes about the need for our political leaders to value a democratic electoral system, rather than looking to torque it beyond repair for personal gain. And Charlie Angus writes about the challenges of seeking to represent people who have removed themselves from any sense of shared reality. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Thomas Walkom points out that most Canadians have far more reason to fear an austerity-fuelled recession than any foreseeable level of inflation. J.W. Mason points out that the U.S. Fed is similarly looking to squeeze workers over inflation that has nothing to do with wages. And Jason Del Rey reports on leaked internal Amazon research finding that one of the most notorious abusers of labour may run out of workers to exploit as soon as 2024. 

- Edward Helmore reviews Bob Keefe's Climatenomics, including its analysis of how the climate breakdown is causing the supply chain disruptions which (along with corporate profiteering) represent the actual reasons for soaring prices. Matthew Rosza offers a warning as to how the 1930s dust bowl caused by a familiar disregard for sustainable development may offer a look at our future. And Fiona Harvey, Ashifa Kassam, Nina Lakhani and Amrit Dhillon discuss why extreme heat is only getting more severe.

- Emma McIntosh reports that Doug Ford's planned Highway 413 will do far more environmental damage than he has been prepared to admit. And Jesse Cnockaert reports on the warning from renewable energy experts at that the small nuclear reactors being pushed by petropoliticians as an alternative to wind and solar represent a delay tactic with dubious supposed benefits. 

- But then, Max Fawcett observes (with reference to Pierre Poilievre's attempt to hawk cryptocurrency) that the arsonist right is perfectly happy to be wrong - and indeed to cause massive damage to anybody foolish enough to believe them - as long as it serves their political ends.

- Finally, Lucette Cysique et al. study the ongoing cognitive impairment being discovered even in people who have only mild to moderate cases of COVID-19.

#SKNDPLDR: On Traps

The final official debate of the Saskatchewan NDP's leadership campaign was the first I had the opportunity to see, and I'd hoped that it would result in some meaningful and constructive contrast. But instead, the debate and its aftermath looked largely to push both candidates toward the key traps for their respective campaigns.

For Carla Beck, that trap was the tendency to retreat constantly into tiresome talking points and vague generalities. 

Beck was obviously comfortable with the debate stage, and appears to have stuck with the plan she brought to the debate. But the nature of that plan resulted in a frustrating experience for anybody hoping to find out much about what Beck would be interested in pursuing as leader. 

On the few occasions when she chose to address issues with any substance (normally only where that meant critiquing specific government policies), observers could see a hint of her capacity to challenge Scott Moe. 

But the bulk of the time, no matter how obvious the opportunity or need to offer some meaningful content, her responses led back to the "meet people where they're at" catchphrase which offers zero useful information - other than that she's more interested in being everything to everyone than putting forward a vision. That might seem like sound strategy as the favourite in a leadership campaign, but it stands to set Beck off on exactly the wrong course as the spotlight grows brighter and both party members and the general public get to know her better.

Unfortunately, Kaitlyn Harvey didn't match Beck's comfort with the format, struggling to fit answers into time limits and structure her answers even on friendly issues. (Of course, it didn't help that a few of the questions themselves were framed in ways that played far more to Beck's positioning than to Harvey's.)

That need for more focus was then exacerbated by Harvey's comments portraying herself as a target and linking the campaign back to the party's treatment of Ryan Meili. Which isn't to say those can't be fair areas of concern - but for a candidate trying desperately to get party members to focus on substantive issues, they serve primarily as distractions which make it hard for her policy message to get through. 

The end result was thus likely to strengthen Beck's position for all the wrong reasons. Voters open to considering both candidates may have seen enough inexperience to rule out Harvey, even as Beck did little to earn their confidence.

Once again, what happens from this point forward may well be academic: many votes have already been cast, and nothing has changed the basic dynamics of the campaign. But it is still worth watching and hoping the candidates will be able to extricate themselves from where they've ended up so far in the informal forums and convention to come.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Dianna Chang et al. examine the correlation between social and political factors and COVID-19 spread and mortality. And Crawford Kilian discusses how Canadian society has failed the basic test of looking out for each other's well-being, while Teresa Wright reports on the imminent prospect of a summer wave even as provinces continue to abandon what few public health protections were still in place.

- Yasmine Ghania reports on a new survey showing the precarious financial situations of Saskatchewan residents (even as the establishment shifts into austerity mode to make matters even worse). And Andrew Elrod discusses how the solution to any labour shortage needs to be giving people more control over their work, not starving them into putting up with employer abuses.

- And in case there was any doubt that there's plenty of room for overall good to come of limiting the arbitrary power of property owners, Jen St. Denis reports on a review showing that British Columbia's real estate speculation tax worked even better than expected in putting housing units back into service.

- Finally, Catherine Shoichet reports on the UNHCR's latest report showing that over 100 million people around the world are displaced by war, violence and human rights abuses - even as far too many countries are primarily focused on avoiding providing a place to go.

Musical interlude

JJ Wilde - Mercy

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Mary Ward and Lucy Carroll report on New South Wales' warning of the potential for COVID-19 reinfection as the newer Omicron variants become dominant. Zoe Swank et al. find that people with long COVID may have viral reservoirs in their bodies for a year or more after first being diagnosed, while David Holdsworth et al. discover cognitive deterioration comparable to that expected from 10 years of aging after only six months of long COVID. And Jennifer Couzin-Frankel discusses the main theories as to the causes of long COVID symptoms.  

- David Macdonald writes that any recovery from the 2020 recession is unprecedented in its combination of massive increases in corporate profits and declines in compensation for workers. Matt Trinder discusses how real wages are falling off a cliff in the UK, while Russell Napier calls out central banks for putting a thumb on the scale to push even more money into the hands of capital rather than labour. And Aditya Chakrabortty writes that an important part of the pushback will involve identifying corporate vulnerability to public and union pressure, rather than relying on legislative action alone. 

- Ed Burmilla writes that what should be the end of the neoliberal era has been delayed for want of an alternative. And the continued entrenchment of a failed economic system can largely be traced to Sandor Demetor's observations about political and regulatory capture, as the people with the power to act on the recognition of the dangers of serving corporations have financial incentives not to. 

- Finally, Claire Parker highlights the devastating effect of air pollution on public health. Oliver Milman points out the staggeringly large number of lives at stake as the U.S. hems and haws on any climate action. And Stephanie Hogan notes that even Canada's housing stock is far from equipped to deal with the warming and extreme weather that's already locked in (to say nothing of what we're continuing to cause with prolonged fossil fuel use). 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Wency Leung talks to public health experts about what still needs to be done to rein in the COVID pandemic, while Aisha Dow discusses the importance of continuing to mask even when it's not required. And Justin Fox reports on the impact long COVID is now having on employment data - once again resulting in public health neglect having harmful economic consequences. 

- Meanwhile, Armine Yalnizyan writes about the burnout being experienced by Canadian health care workers - and the temptation of seeking out temporary assignments rather than public service roles in order to escape it. And Patrick Rail reports on Katharine Smart's warning that our health care system is collapsing even as governments operate in denial. 

- Jen Christensen discusses the dangerous effects of extreme heat on people's health and well-being. And Damian Carrington reports on particularly large warming effects in the Arctic. 

- Eric Gardner examines the price of diapers as another apparent example of profiteering by a few oligopolistic corporations. And Catherine Porter, Vjosa Isai and Tracy Sherlock report on the findings of the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in B.C. 

- Finally, Jack Monroe offers her account as to how poverty leaves scars which last even after one's financial circumstances improve. 

[Edit: added link.]

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Devi Sridhar writes that a responsible plan for the impending COVID wave would involve masking, improved ventilation, booster shots and a plan for the growing scourge of long COVID - even as most Canadian provinces range from uninterested to hostile toward anything of the sort. And Nicola Davis reports on new research showing that prior infection isn't providing any meaningful boost immunity to the new variants.  

- Andrew MacLeod discusses the systematic underreporting of workplace injuries in B.C. (and the callous employers pushing workers to miss out on income and medical care in order to dodge responsibility). And Shannon Devine points out the lack of any systematic support for 1.5 million Canadians living with a brain injury.

- Mark Zacharias and Merran Smith write that Canada is once again failing to plan for the aftermath of an unsustainable oil boom. Megan Milliken Biven, Virginia Palacios and Ted Boettner rightly argue that the fossil fuel sector should be paying for its own cleanup out of massive windfall profits, rather than sticking the public with the bill. And Anders Bjorn, H. Damon Matthews, Matthew Brander and Shannon Lloyd point out how the renewable energy credits developed as a substitute for actual decarbonization have predictably become a scheme to be manipulated rather than actually reflecting emission reductions. 

- Meanwhile, Kim van Daalen examines how extreme weather and climate events contribute to gender-based violence among other social harms. 

- Finally, Phoebe Stephens weighs in on how the soaring prices of groceries and other necessities are the result of corporate greed rather than the operation of fair markets. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Feline oversight. 

 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Belen Fernandez discusses how the reckless normalization of masklessness even in particularly dangerous portions of a pandemic is leading to avoidable suffering and death. And Solarina Ho reports on new research showing the effects of prenatal COVID on babies, while Tzvi Joffre reports on the connection between long COVID and childhood hepatitis. 

- Meanwhile, Andre Picard writes that we should be outraged over the health care wait times that are endangering our most vulnerable neighbours, rather than accepting the right-wing focus on airport convenience. 

- Robert Reich examines the prospect that interest rate hikes may cause a recession while doing nothing to rein in the corporate profiteering which is actually driving prices higher. And Derek Thompson points out that one additional source of increasing expenses is the end of subsidies for apps which were previously underpriced in order to attract users. 

- Antonio Guterres discusses the need to transition immediately away from reliance on fossil fuels. Marieke Walsh reports on the federal government's analysis showing that its own 2030 emission targets  are completely non-viable based on the policies currently on the table. And Sahan Habib Ghazi writes about life in Jacobobad, where heat and humidity have risen above the levels the human body is equipped to survive. 

- Finally, Mitchell Thompson reports on participation of Con MPs and other well-connected conservatives in a Civitas conference promoting residential school denialism and other regressive subjects of choice.

#SKNDPLDR Roundup

Saskatchewan's NDP leadership race continues toward convention day on the 26th. And it's starting to get somewhat more attention outside of core party circles - though it's unfortunately too late for newly-interested people to sign up and vote. So let's take a quick look at the latest. 

- Tonight is the final leadership forum, with options to view in person or online. And for those concerned about ensuring there are events covering a range of prospective voters, there will be another Saskatoon forum on the 15th (the second organized by the Saskatoon Metro group), followed by one from the Southwest Region on the 20th. 

- Found in an earlier report on the campaign are these membership numbers from the party's president Sheila Whelan:

Since the launch of the leadership race, Whelan said the party signed up about 2,400 new members over the past two months for a total of 7,295.

During the contest between Meili and Trent Wotherspoon in 2018, the NDP had 13,414 members eligible to vote.

Note that the membership totals had similarly been in the 11,000-13,000 range for the party's other leadership campaigns since 2009. But it will be worth watching whether the lower number also reflects a more committed core of voters - which could lead to a countervailing increase in the percentage of people who end up casting a ballot (which has normally been around 80%). 

- Kaitlin Harvey has updated her platform with additional issues (presumably based at least in part on the policy survey which is no longer open), 

- Finally, Murray Mandryk has offered profiles of each of Carla Beck and Kaitlyn Harvey. And Global News interviewed Beck about her run. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Allison Jones reports that Ontario is working on a new round of COVID booster shots for the fall (while so many other jurisdictions have given up on any additional vaccinations). Laurie McGinley reports on the FDA's findings that vaccines for children under 5 are safe and effective. And Joseph Stiglitz and Lori Wallace offer a reminder that intellectual property barriers imposed at the behest of big pharma are still acting as barriers to vaccines and treatments for many of the people who need them the most. 

- Piya Chatto talks to Armine Yalnizyan about the challenges for central banks in dealing with inflation (as well as the people who stand to be harmed by overly severe responses). Richard Burgon makes the case for a one-time wealth tax to create a social emergency fund which would ensure nobody is left behind. And James Wilt points out how the cruel war against unhoused people is being used as an excuse to undermine transit for everybody.  

- Aishwarya Dudha reports on the need for the Regina Food Bank to respond to food insecurity among children. And Zak Vescera reports on the glaring shortfall Saskatoon's public school division is facing in trying to support high-needs students with inadequate funding.   

- Kunuk Inutiq discusses how Nunavut is seeing its resources (and the associated profits) flow south while its population remains in poverty and precarity. 

- Finally, Dean Blundell and Marie Snyder each take a look at the growing awareness of the Klondike Papers and the diversion of public money toward Plymouth Brethren-associated businesses. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board reminds us of the continued choice between taking reasonable precautions to minimize the damage from continued waves of COVID-19, or letting wishful thinking lead us until avoidable harm to people's health. And Shalini Saksena writes about the emergence of long COVID as a parallel pandemic, while Elizabeth Payne highlights how Canada's public health care system is woefully unprepared to respond to it.

- Joshua Chung reports on the disappearance of some of the breaks lower-income Canadians were able to seek out at discount grocers, while noting the need for more secure incomes. And Jaele Bernstien reports on some of the changes Canadians are making in response to higher prices in both lower-income and middle-class households.

- Robin Sears reminds us that decriminalization along is far from enough to step the carnage of drug poisoning deaths.

- Amanda Follett Hosgood discusses the sudden loss of phone and Internet services in northwest British Columbia as another example of how we're setting ourselves up to face dangerous and avoidable risks. And Michael Lee reports on new research showing the emergency of "plastitar" as a new threat to marine life.

- Finally, Abacus Data has released polling showing the large number of Canadians expressing their agreement with dangerous and racist conspiracy theories.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Olivia Bowden and May Warren discuss the importance of continuing to wear masks even when it's no longer mandated. And Lisa Schick reports on the recognition (if sorely lacking in Saskatchewan's political class) that long COVID is itself developing into a severe public health crisis.

- Courtenay Brown examines the changes to the U.S.' labour market in the wake of the pandemic - which includes the continued loss of nearly half of the public-sector jobs eliminated over the past two years, even as the private sector has mostly returned to its previous employment level. 

- The Council of Canadians highlights the effort to press Canada to work toward waiving intellectual property restrictions which are preventing the developing world from having access to COVID vaccines. And Global Justice Now points out the similar effort on an international basis as the WTO meets for a conference which could address the issue.

- Dylan Penner discusses why we can't rely on private capital to drive the needed transition to a low-emission economy. Tiffanie Turnbull reports on the glaring underreporting of methane emissions in Australia's coal industry.

- And finally Andrew Freedman reports on another stark consequence of climate change, as much of the southwest U.S. is facing an extremely dangerous heat wave.

Musical interlude

Metric - What Feels Like Eternity

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Ryan Tumulty reports on Theresa Tam's warning that Canada may be headed for another COVID wave this fall. CBC News reports on the warning from Fahad Razakthat the province shouldn't have lifted mask mandates this week, while Jennifer Lee points out that Alberta is facing its deadliest pandemic year to date. Adam MacNeil discusses the need for people to serve as the immune response to a disease which will otherwise circulate unabated. And Anneli Uuskula et al. find that COVID infection results in three times the risk of mortality in a year compared to people who are able to avoid the coronavirus, while Matthew Durstenfeld et al. study how long COVID also reduces exercise capacity. 

- David Hencke reports on the billions of dollars in personal protective equipment which has been deemed unfit for use after being supplied by UK Con-connected businesses. And Emily Leedham reports that Manitoba is among the provinces which saw a conservative government hand massive contracts to businesses affiliated with the Plymouth Brethren for no remotely apparent reason. 

- Rani Molla writes that some of the people being required to return to office settings are gaining little besides long commutes as a result. 

- Rob Merrick reports on Boris Johnson's demand that UK workers bear the brunt of inflation (worsened by his party's Brexit) by accepting pay cuts in the midst of soaring prices. And Nadia Whittome writes that the proper response is instead a living wage to ensure workers can afford a reasonable standard of living. 

- Rishika Pardikar reports on how fossil fuel giants are using trade agreements to bully governments into avoiding effective climate policy - and collecting massive windfalls from those which dare to defy them. Carbon Tracker examines how the resources set aside for remediation of wells in the Gulf of Mexico (as in so many other places) fall far short of what's needed, even as oil companies rake in massive profits. And Mickey Djuric reports on the Moe government's failure to ensure resource companies pay what they owe Saskatchewan for extracting natural resources. 

- Finally, Aditya Chakrabortty writes about the collapse of the UK's collapsing political order - along with the hope (however remote) that something better will emerge from the wreckage.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Gloria Oladipo reports on the spread of two new Omicron subvariants (BA.4 and BA.5) across the U.S., while Rahul Suryawanshi et al. find that Omicron infection doesn't provide substantial immunity against other variants of COVID-19 (particularly among the unvaccinated). And Tanya Lewis discusses how a focus on cleaner indoor air would protect against COVID as well as other avoidable health problems. 

- Karen Hawthorne interviews Sue Robins about the need for our health care system to move toward a focus on care rather than business. But Katie DeRosa reports that B.C. is instead seeing (and investigating) the acquisition of medical practices by corporate providers who are looking to create a two-tiered system through individual subscription fees - a reality that's also playing out in Ontario. 

- Greg Jericho points out the obvious unfairness of allowing corporations to grab windfall profits by raising prices, while cracking down on any prospect of wage gains to direct anything to workers. And Alex Cooke writes about the devastating effects of an economy planned to provide less than a living wage to workers. 

- Steven Greenhouse and Harold Meyerson argue that established unions can and should do far more to build organizing capacity among younger workers, rather than limiting their focus to a failing effort to cling to what they have now. And Lee Fang discusses how one of the cynical corporate responses to any attempt at unionization has been to co-opt the language of social justice to claim there's no need for organization in the interest of equity and inclusion.

- Finally, Alex Williams discusses how the inflation we're seeing now is the result of conscious choices to eliminate physical productive capacity in all but the most exploitative jurisdictions in the name of goosing corporate profits. Liat Olenick warns that the U.S.' baby formula shortage is just a preview of the precarity of all kinds of food supplies as our climate breaks down. And Umair Haque writes that we can't plausibly treat the multiple, overlapping and substantially-unanswered crises we're facing as anything less than a collapse in progress. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Nathalie Schwab et al. study the results of autopsies, and find that COVID-19 appears to be the actual cause of death even for many patients treated as having died of other causes. Eva Hejbol et al. examine COVID's wide range of effects on muscles as one explanation for the fatigue it causes. And Deborah Dowell, William Lindsley and John Brooks make the case for improved ventilation to reduce the harm from COVID and other airborne dangers. 

- Kenny Stancil writes about the growing demand for a windfall profits tax based on price gouging by the oil and gas sector. John Woodside highlights how continuing (and even increasing) reliance on fossil fuel assets is setting Canadian investors up for a collapse, while Eszter Matyas, Laura De Rosa and Marek Jozefiak point out the folly of pouring even more money into gas infrastructure which couldn't responsibly be used for anything approaching its full lifespan. 

- Meanwhile, Christopher Flavelle discusses the spectre of the Great Salt Lake drying up as an example of the imminent and devastating effects of climate change and associated environmental negligence. 

- Ian Welsh discusses Emmanuel Wallerstein's work in asking whether capitalism is reaching a breaking point where there's nobody left to exploit. And Moises Canales-Lavigne reports on the wide range of necessities whose prices are being inflated beyond the means of Canadians. 

- Stephen Wentzell writes about Doug Ford's increased majority based on big-money donations and a complete lack of democratic accountability. And Andrea Houston discusses the need for electoral reform to ensure minority-of-a-minority parties can't exercise absolute power, while Max Fawcett makes the case for mandatory voting to ensure everybody's voice is included in electoral decision-making. 

- Finally, Kisha Supernant and Sean Cameron push back against the residential school denialism which is being lent wholly undeserved credence by the corporate media. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Sociable cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Jason Hannan discusses why the gaslighting campaign to get people to forget about the deadly disease being left to spread unchecked is so dangerous to democracy, while Daniel Chang reports that essential workers have borne the brunt of the damage of the workplace spread of COVID-19. And Matt Gurney writes that Ontario's health care system is so threadbare that even unrealistically optimistic assumptions about COVID being "no worse than the flu" could still lead to its triggering systemic collapse. 

- Meanwhile, Thomas Homer-Dixon and Robin Cox discuss the need for British Columbia (and other jurisdictions) to recognize and address the common sources of increasingly-regular calamities. 

- Jaryn Vecchio reports that workers in Prince Albert (among other places) are having perpetually more difficulty affording even the necessities of life. And Paula Duhatschek reports on the growing identification of poverty as a crucial factor in medical care. 

- Christiana Figueres, Yvo de Boer and Michael Zammit Cutajar write that we shouldn't accept any more excuses for delay in halting our contributions to a climate breakdown. But Tracy Sherlock reports on how foreign oil lobbyists have been setting the agenda for Canada's federal government. And Lori Lee Oates discusses how Newfoundland and Labrador is just one of many jurisdictions implausibly proclaiming the exceptionalism of its own fossil fuel sector as an excuse to keep drilling. 

- George Monbiot writes about the environmental disaster of dead crabs and lobsters washing ashore off the coast of England - and the refusal of the Con government to investigate to determine what's causing mass fatalities of wildlife.

- Finally, Justin Brake discusses the fight to hold off the privatization of post-secondary education as for-profit actors try to use the disruption of the pandemic to push further into universities. 

#SKNDPLDR Candidate Profile - Carla Beck

On paper, Carla Beck's track record covers nearly every group the NDP should be looking to attract into its fold. She's a well-respected veteran member of the Legislature, with prior experience as a school board trustee who can thus point to a history of collaborative government. And she can combine rural roots with a political base in one of the party's most important urban strongholds. 

Moreover, she was able to get organized from the outset of the NDP's leadership campaign, resulting in only one challenger entering the field. And it's no surprise that a front-running campaign has been able to assemble endorsements from within any group a leadership hopeful could want to attract - giving nearly any type of voter some validation to accept her as an option.

All of those factors mean that Beck has been in the driver's seat of the campaign from day one, and still looks like an overwhelming favourite to win the Saskatchewan NDP's leadership. But there are still a couple of crucial questions which are making her campaign positively painful for some of us to watch. 

The most basic question has been how Beck's experience and skill would translate to being the face of the party on a provincial level. And on that point, there don't look to be any strong answers in either direction: her work speaking to voters may not be the most comfortable yet, but there's no reason to think she isn't up for the job in an election campaign. 

More problematically, there's been uncertainty as to Beck's decision-making process in deciding what the NDP's messages and priorities should be. And while that may not affect the outcome of the leadership race, it raises alarming prospects for the party if Beck does cruise to victory. 

From the moment Beck's campaign launched in an oil and gas supplier's business, there's been reason for concern from the beginning that she's accepted a dangerous interpretation of the results of the 2020 provincial election. 

In that respect, it's worth another reminder that the Saskatchewan Party's spin about the NDP's platform has never borne even a remote resemblance to reality, particularly as it involves the oil and gas sector in the province. 

Under the leader regularly branded by the Moe government (and its media allies and puppets) as being opposed to oil-sector jobs, the NDP explicitly said (PDF) the "(o)il and gas is an will remain a strong pillar of our economy", announcing that its ambition was limited to "chang(ing) our energy mix" by moving to renewable and non-emitting electricity. And the NDP never put together the type of climate plan which would actually affect the fossil fuel sector's carbon pollution - a point which plenty of people within the party recognized as a weakness before the campaign. (After all, it's a lot easier for opposition spin about your positions to stick when you don't have a clear answer as to what you actually have planned.)

One could hardly imagine a more self-destructive choice for a political party than to fully buy into opponents' framing of the political debate. But Beck (if hardly alone) seems to have accepted the view that resistance to the complete domination of Saskatchewan's political scene by the oil sector is futile - and that there's nothing to be done other than to supplicate the party to its wishes, rather than hammering its own message about the difference in interests between oil workers and the billionaires simultaneously trying to exploit and eliminate them. 

It's from that starting point that subsequent events have looked particularly worrisome - including an oil show photo-op which did little but validate the fossil fuel barons who already have multiple fully-owned political parties at their disposal, and a distinct turn toward the austerian in answering questions as to whether there's any room to increase public revenue with the claim that it's possible to fund the change Saskatchewan needs merely by finding efficiencies (among other rhetoric that would more comfortably be found coming from the CTF than the NDP). 

Of course, there's no lack of outside voices who have been telling the NDP constantly that what it needs is to brand itself as the Sask Party Orange. But that's always been at best a dubious proposition even from the standpoint of trying to make the case for change - and a downright destructive one for anybody who actually wants to accomplish anything for the province's people in the process. And if Beck continues with that mindset, the risk isn't limited to the outcome of the leadership campaign, but extends to the prospect that people will conclude the NDP has given up on providing a meaningful progressive alternative. 

#SKNDPLDR Candidate Profile - Kaitlyn Harvey

The flip side of Carla Beck's position as the ultra-establishment candidate - backed by most of the NDP's existing organizational structure, and using that position to play to those with the most wealth and power within the province - has been an obvious opening for an outsider candidate. And Kaitlyn Harvey has taken up that mantle with at least some success so far.

It helps that Harvey has a solid background for her campaign message, raising the prospect of representation for long-neglected groups (including a personal stake in the Saskatchewan Party's politics of neglect) combined with a strong professional background which leaves no room for question as to her credentials. 

Unfortunately, Harvey started the campaign at a severe disadvantage in name recognition and internal support, and it's doubtful that she'll be able to close the gap in a way that will affect the outcome of the campaign. And that isn't entirely attributable to the structure of the campaign. 

Even for some period of time after she entered the race, Harvey's campaign had little apparent public impact, including the glaring lack of public endorsements within the province until recently. While she's now starting to hold frequent events and receive visible shows of support, there looks to be too small a time frame in which to transition from convincing her natural core of activists to reaching the full breadth of the party membership - particularly when the voting window is already open.

In addition, there's also some reason for question whether Harvey's choice of messaging is right for an effort to convince voters to support an insurgent alternative. 

From the standpoint of a completely neutral, dispassionate observer, a mindset of risk assessment and mitigation would represent a highly valuable asset in the leader of a government. But there's precious little evidence that the message will resonate with anybody who needs to be convinced of the need for change.

Instead, there's inevitably at least some gap between what makes for the most responsible decision-making in power, and what will convince voters to offer their support. On that front, Harvey's message seems to have all the possible down-sides of Ryan Meili's evidence-based approach (which precluded definitive statements about possibilities which seemed to merit study rather than immediate promises), without the overarching positive vision of a "healthy society" as the end goal to be pursued. And her presentation in person tends toward a higher level of frustration (and lower level of optimism) than would seem ideal for a candidate whose success depends on the promise of something better. 

That said, Harvey is doing plenty both to raise questions which deserve discussion within the leadership campaign, and to boost her own profile as somebody who can shape the direction of the NDP and the province. And even the party stalwarts who have thrown in their lot with Beck would do well to ensure that Harvey and her critiques play a major role in the NDP's future. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Judy Melinek notes that the physical effects of long COVID include irreversible organ damage, while Rob Chaney discusses its devastating impact on people's lives. But Brigid Delaney writes about the social death of a pandemic which is still very much a live threat to the people ignoring it. And Irelyne Lavery reports on one of the latest steps in the process of disappearing awareness of COVID-19, as Canada's federal government is planning to stop making rapid tests available by the end of the year regardless of how much human suffering continues to circulate. 

- Elizabeth Payne discusses some of the Ontario family doctors who are leaving their practices behind due to government neglect when it comes to basic health care. 

- Adam Miller writes that decriminalization of possession is only a small first step in saving lives when poisoned drugs are already baked into the supply chain for widely-used substances. 

- Drew Anderson reports on the continual growth of the toxic tailings ponds holding the liquid residue from Alberta's tar sands. 

- Finally, Creeden Martell reports on the pitiful excuse for housing support - deliberately designed to exclude Saskatchewan's poorest people - introduced last week by the Moe government. And Stewart Lansley writes about the need to put basic infrastructure and services back in the hands of citizens rather than extractive capitalists. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Tom Brodbeck writes about the need to treat the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic as human beings, rather than mere statistics to be reported once and never thought of again. 

- Gabriel Favreau discusses how the pandemic (combined with a negligent government response) has left Alberta's public health care system in worse shape than ever. And Chris Hannay reports on the corporate takeover of all kinds of health services - and the predictable result that patient visits are directed toward high-profit options rather than medical needs.

- Henry Fountain notes that another year of record carbon pollution has predictably caused a new peak in CO2 concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere. Damian Carrington reports on research showing the dangers of air pollution caused by tires even in vehicles which limit tailpipe emissions. And Jon Queally reports on an OECD warning that plastic pollution is only projected to increase over the next few decades if radical action isn't taken now.

- Wilfred Chan reports on the failure of the U.S. to extend a school lunch program needed to keep millions of children from going hungry.

- Finally, Dell Cameron reports on the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's findings about Tim Horton's app being used to illegally track customer movements for no legitimate purpose. And Kyle Chayka discusses how corporatized social media has turned people into content machines, serving the purposes of tech giants more than their apps serve users.