Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Cuddled cats.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Anne Sosin and Martha Lincoln discuss the war on empathy embodied by the flurry of media attacks against anybody with the temerity to point out we're still in the middle of a pandemic where a lack of care for others is directly responsible for widespread illness and disability. And Pam Belluck reports on the large numbers of people whose affliction with long COVID has kept them from working for extended periods of time. 

- Damian Carrington reports on Mark Jacobson's work showing how a world fully powered by renewable energy is well within reach if we make it a priority, while Angele Alook, Emily Eaton, David Gray-Donald, Joël Laforest, Crystal Lameman and Bronwen Tucker note that Canada isn't lacking for viable options to fund a just transition. Marc Lee calls out the Trudeau Libs for instead throwing billions of federal dollars into pipeline expansion with the effect of gratuitously subsidizing pollution from the oil sector at the expense of Canadian society at large. And Carla Delgado discusses how corporations are greenwashing their plastic pollution. 

- Katelyn Burns reports on the influx of legislative attacks against trans people in the U.S., as the first approaches based on participation in sports have given way to full denial of health care and dehumanization. 

- Finally, Charles Rusnell reports on the Calgary Police Service's willingness to pay a con man for easy but wrong answers in dealing with PTSD even in the face of direct warnings. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Jessica Corsetti reports on Greta Thunberg's message that the wealthiest few value their own short-term profit-taking over the future of humanity. Paul Kahnert discusses how the privatization of health care is just the latest example of conservative heists from the public. And Sophia Harris reports on the lack of progress in the Competition Bureau's investigation into bread price fixing even in the face of Loblaws' confession.  

- Jordan Uhl reports on a fossil fuel tycoon's attempt to silence Beto O'Rourke from even talking about the connection between massive donations and preferential treatment from a Republican governor. And Lisa Song examines the current state of knowledge as to the dangers of gas stoves (even as the oil and gas sector tries to shout down any inquiry into their effects). 

- The Red Deer Advocate reports on a new study showing the cost of starting up new, politically-controlled police services is far higher than assumed by the UCP (as well as the Sask Party). And Ryan Little, Adam Willis and Ben Conarck report on the impact of group violence reduction strategies in reducing the homicide rate in West Baltimore. 

- Gregory Beatty writes about the attempt by private religious schools to undermine the public education system in Saskatchewan.

- Finally, Carolyn Harper talks to Eric Topol about the lack of resources being put into preventing and treating long COVID at a point when a large proportion of the population is being set up to suffer from it. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Matthew Agius reports on the growing body of evidence indicating that long COVID may produce lifelong aftereffects. Henna Saeed reports on  the large number of Canadians now suffering from long COVID symptoms. And Lee Han-Soo discusses new research showing that a reinfection may be twice as deadly as an original one.

- Meanwhile, Emily Leedham reports on the Manitoba PCs' choice to lie about the motives behind an event to support health workers in order to have it shut down - even as they were happy to let antivaxxers influence their own government's policy. And Jessica Wildfire weighs in on the contrast between careful testing and environmental controls at Davos and the elite consensus throwing everybody else to the wolves. 

- Patty Winsa reports that Ontario's PCs have arranged for public health lines to direct patients toward pay-for-play corporate primary care, while Norman de Bono reports on the growing backlash against the privatization of surgeries. And Thomas Walkom writes that the Ford government's idea of health care reform completely misses the point as to how medicare needs to work to keep everybody healthy.

- Justin Chandler discusses how temporary, weather alert-based shelter systems leave unhoused people in readily-avoidable risk.

- Rupert Neate reports that there are still billionaires begging for wealth taxes to limit their own destructive class hegemony. And Umair Haque discusses how perilous our future as a civilization looks if we don't achieve major progress in the present.

- Finally, Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood discusses what a just transition means - and why it's in everybody's interest to work on putting it in place (no matter how a few well-funded extractivists scream about what amounts to a desire for short-term profits). And Guy Walton points out a few of the most immediate consequences of failing to avert a climate breakdown.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- William Anderson sets out a few of the most important realities about the Kraken COVID-19 variant and its place within the ongoing pandemic. Glen Pyle and Jennifer Huang confirm that infection results in a far greater risk of myocarditis than vaccination. And Julia Doubleday weighs in on the fact that the wealthy and powerful gathered in Davos demanded exactly the preventative measures for themselves that they've denied the rest of us.

- Meanwhile, Steven Lewis discusses how a focus on ensuring everybody has access to primary health care would alleviate both health inequalities and burdens throughout our health care system. But Taylor Noakes writes that the federal government may need to take the lead in building a public system where conservative premiers are solely interested in slashing and privatizing.

- David Macdonald offers a thorough look at which industries and recipients are reaping the spoils from inflation in Canada - with corporate profits predictably the main beneficiary. And Jim Stanford corroborates that conclusion with a look at how unit profit costs have soared while wages have barely budged.

- Finally, Michael Barnard discusses the decades of experience with nuclear power which make it clear it can't compete in a fair comparison to renewable energy.

Musical interlude

Marshmello, Halsey - Be Kind

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Sara Berg discusses what U.S. doctors wish the public understood about COVID-19 - including the dangers of reinfection and the continued need for protective measures. Daniel Sarah Karatsik writes about the consequences of a decimated working class as movement organizing has to push deeper into "hidden publics" to address the most pressing problems. And Walker Bragman explores the massive pools of dark money funding anti-public health conspiracies, while Meghan Grant and Elise von Scheel report on the attempt by Danielle Smith's office to use the power of government to interfere in prosecutions for violent insurrection. 

- Lisa Young points out where the UCP's concurrent decision to slant a politicized inquiry against COVID action fits into its wider plans. And Phil Tank discusses how the Moe government has relied on spin and misdirection to avoid answering for its pitiful management of Saskatchewan even by conservative standards. 

- Jack Hauen reports on the belated recognition that Maple and other private health care operators are blatantly exploiting loopholes in the Canada Health Act. Robert Hiltz recognizes that Doug Ford and other right-wing premiers are deliberately undermining any public health care system so its spoils can be turned into corporate profit centers, while Liam Casey reports on the loud and urgent warnings from hospitals that a plan to rely on private surgery clinics will only result in even more needed workers being lost from the public system. And Sheila Block points out how much more capacity Ontario in particular could build merely by funding health care at average levels. 

- Carolyn Greene, Katharina Maier and Marta-Marika Urbanik offer a reminder of the harm being done by the closure of harm reduction sites. 

- Zak Vescera discusses how efforts to better include women in the construction trades are limited by a failure to make basic safety equipment available to them.

- Finally, David Klepper reports on the escalating climate misinformation since Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter. And Geoff Dembicki reports on Shell Canada's choice to reward a history of participation in climate denial. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Kelsey Piper writes about the U.S.' memory-holing of the successes of a vaccine program which resulted in exceptionally quick development and distribution of effective COVID vaccines (and should have set a precedent for future pandemic planning). 

- Dustin Cook and Mike Hager note that while Doug Ford tries to claim there's no alternative to turning surgeries into a profit center, B.C. is instead achieving actual improvements by investing its public health care system. And Ryan McGreal discusses how the structure of Canadian health care - including the concessions to profit-seeking baked in from the start - is facilitating the push to privatize. 

- Meanwhile, Richard Murphy points out that one-time lump sums being offered by the UK's Cons as a substitute for fair wages are intended only to lock workers into longer-term reductions in real pay. And Jeremy Appel writes about new CCPA research showing that the largest beneficiary of inflation in Canada has been the resource extraction section - which has seen massive windfall profits while passing virtually nothing along to workers. 

- Max Fawcett discusses how Danielle Smith is lying to Albertans about a just transition in order to keep public policy skewed toward the continued enrichment of oil and gas tycoons. And Hannah Ritchie points out the absurdity of spin attempting to justify continued reliance on dirty energy (and environmental destruction associated with its extraction) by complaining about the far lesser amount of mining required to supply clean alternatives. 

- Simon Enoch points out a couple of prime examples of Saskatchewan's corporate-owned politicians substituting meaningless words for policy which does anything to benefit people - including the Moe government's publicity blitz around the word "sustainable" in lieu of any plan to build an economy which is consistent with anything short of climate disaster. 

- Finally, Cat Zakrzewski, Cristiano Lima and Drew Harwell report on what the U.S. House of Representatives' January 6 committee learned about the actions of social media giants in allowing violent rhetoric to appease the alt-right. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- The World Health Organization has updated its guidelines for COVID-19 prevention and response - including recommendations for masking and isolation periods even when these have been largely abandoned by governments. 

- Mitchell Thompson reports on the Ford PCs' plans for health care privatization which include facilitating corporate providers in upselling costly and unnecessary services to patients. And the Star's editorial board and Robert Bell each highlight the lack of any justification for privatized surgical operations even without that additional source of greed-based health care. 

- Sean Tucker writes about the need for far more to be done to keep workers safe in Saskatchewan. And Zak Vescera discusses the insufficient policy response to one of British Columbia's most prominent workplace fatalities. 

- Patrick Greenfield reports on an investigation finding that one of the largest carbon offset funds in the world is based on phantom emission reductions (and may in fact be worsening the climate breakdown). Robert Reich calls out the media's failure to connect California's severe storms to climate change. 

- Meanwhile, Oliver Milman offers a reminder that the healing of the Earth's ozone layer represents an important success story in cooperative environmental policy - with the near-elimination of the use of the substances responsible as a vital element of the achievement. 

- Finally, Kelvin Chan reports on Oxfam's push for a windfall tax on food companies. And D.T. Cochrane points out how price increases on existing products can be expected to correlate with economic stagnation due to corporate herd effects. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Angled cats.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Courtney Shea interviews Colin Furness about the combination of immunity theft and negligent public health messaging that's resulting in widespread avoidable illness, while Ashleigh McMillan reports on new research suggesting one in ten people infected with COVID-19 will end up with chronic health issues as a result. And Alexander Quon talks to Cory Neudorf and others about the causes of Saskatchewan's record COVID death toll in the year our government proclaimed the pandemic to be over. 

- Anam Khan reports on Nova Scotia's move to push newborn babies toward mobile clinics due to a lack of family doctors. And Mitchell Thompson reports on Doug Ford's plans to turn surgery into a corporate profit center - based specifically on his hostility toward publicly-administered health care. 

- Meanwhile, Bill Curry reports on the escalating amount of money being handed to McKinsey by the federal government (now over $100 million since the Libs took office) as a substitute for building the civil service. 

- David Farenthold and Talmon Smith report on how American food service workers have been conscripted to fund corporate lobbying against their own wages and working conditions. 

- Finally, Nicole Goodkind reports on the record levels of debt which have been accumulated globally - and the dangers of systemic collapse as interest rate hikes increase the cost associated with a larger amount borrowed. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Raywat Deondanan discusses some of the lessons which we should have taken from the COVID-19 pandemic (if it wasn't being forcibly disappeared down a memory hole for all practical purposes). And Nicole Sarden and Bryan Yipp have found that the lasting effects of COVID include compromising the ability of people's immune systems to fight common invasive fungal infections. 

- Meanwhile, Larissa Kurz reports that Saskatchewan's death toll in 2022 includes a record number of lost lives due to drug poisonings. 

- Steven Staples discusses how the military-industry complex has pushed the Trudeau Libs to break their promise not to pour billions of federal dollars into F-35 fighters of questionable utility. And John Woodside investigates how the financial sector is pushing to water down regulations to avoid any consideration of whether fossil fuel extraction is compatible with meeting Canada's international climate commitments. 

- Finally, Umair Haque writes about the decline of disruptive science and innovation, as the power exerted by people profiting from the status quo is both resulting in new ideas being squelched and the essentials of life being priced out of the reach of a large number of people. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Ed Browne examines the differences between the Kraken variant and the forms of COVID-19 which have come before. Char Leung, Li Su and Munehito Machida study how transmission different types of venues in Japan was reflected in further spread. And Benjamin Mateus discusses the readily-available options to clear air of COVID and other pathogens which are being ignored in favour of a strategy of denial.

- Michael Howard discusses how a basic income would effectively eradicate the U.S.' persistent poverty problem (among other social ills). 

- Meanwhile, Edward Keenan asks why Toronto (like so many other municipalities) is using force to destroy temporary encampments, rather than putting any resources into ensuring people have a safe home.  And Jason Vermes talks to Kayla DeMong about the need for support programs which don't insist on a miraculous, single-handed recovery from substance addiction as a precondition to any help.

- Katie Pedersen, Virginia Smart and David Common report on soaring cell phone bills across most of Canada as a narrowing corporate oligopoly squeezes consumers for every possible nickel. And Clement Nocos makes the case for a national public telecom provider to ensure people aren't systematically ripped off.

- Finally, Andrew Leach highlights how work toward a just transition is intended to make sure people who have previously depended on a declining fossil fuel sector have viable options for the future - in stark contrast to the desire of the UCP, Saskatchewan Party and their backers to focus solely on wringing short-term profits, then stick the workers and citizens who are left with all of the cost and risk of cleaning up the mess left behind.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Hannah Davis et al. review what we know so far about long COVID - and how much work remains to be done in making treatments and support available. And Phil Tank discusses some of the myths and distortions which continue to distract people from an ongoing pandemic in Saskatchewan. 

- Meanwhile, Bill Hodgins reports on a staff report from Peterborough Public Health pushing for improved indoor air quality to deal with COVID and other health issues. 

- Anupriya Dasgupta examines how fossil fuel companies are allowed to disseminate blatant disinformation through mainstream media channels. And Dana Drugmand reports on the appointment of an oil CEO to oversee the next round of global climate talks.

- David Schlissel examines the inordinate cost of modular nuclear reactors compared existing clean energy options. Yet as the Moe government insists on pouring money into nuclear vaporware, Carla Shynkaruk reports on a Saskatoon group home which is shutting down and displacing nine residents due to a lack of provincial funding.

- Finally, Andrea Pinochet-Escudero writes about the limitations of organizing solely for an election campaign. 

Musical interlude

Flight Facilities - The Ghost

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Oscar Grenfell discusses how Australia is among the countries which has seen a declining life expectancy due to COVID-19 - with a distinct trend based on when it chose to let the pandemic run rampant. Jonathan Shaw examines the evidence showing greater risks of more severe outcomes arising out of reinfections. And Ollie Williams reports on arbitral decisions out of the Northwest Territories rejecting government arguments to dispense with COVID leave merely because it has chosen to lift any declaration of a public health emergency while the pandemic rages on. 

- Meanwhile, Chandra Philip reports on the continuing crisis at Saskatchewan's children's hospital which is having to warehouse patients in spaces not intended for care. And Parry Winsa reports on research showing that patients who try to address their conditions with virtual "walk-in" clinics - which privateering governments and corporations are pushing instead of funding primary physicians - are twice as likely to end up in the emergency room as those who are able to consult with a family doctor. 

- Colin McKerracher reports on the increase in electric vehicle sales over the past few years, while David Wallace-Wells points out that a fuller picture needs to include an even more substantial movement toward electric bikes. And Emily Pointecorvo discusses how a transition process will require far more electricians - which represents a challenge in meeting the new need, but also an obvious opportunity to create new skilled jobs (where the fossil fuel sector is relentlessly slashing them even while pocketing massive profits). 

- Bill McKibben and Oliver Milman each examine the latest revelations about Exxon's detailed knowledge of the global warming caused by fossil fuel use even as it spent massive amounts of money on lobbying and disinformation to prevent any action to combat it. And Aliaksandr Herasimenka et al. study the public-facing funding and infrastructure behind vaccine misinformation. 

- Ram Singh studies (PDF) the systemic gap between reported income and wealth among the wealthiest few - signaling that documented income inequality far underestimates the real disparity in resources.  

- Finally, Akansha Batra, Kaitlyn Jackson and Rita Hamad find that the U.S.' 2021 child tax credit expansion which put a substantial dent in poverty rates also had a marked positive effect on mental health. And Elaine Power, Jennifer Brady and Dian Day write that while a national school food policy would be a plus, it would cover only a small part of the need for support for lower-income families. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Andrew Nikiforuk writes about the need for a revolution in ventilation practices to limit the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses. Emmanuel Heilmann et al. study the risks of relying on antiviral drugs rather than preventative measures, as it fuels the evolution of newer and less controllable variants. And Gregg Gonsalves calls out far too many media outlets for making a concerted choice to silence any continued discussion about the COVID-19 pandemic and other avoidable risks to health which are crying out for policy solutions. 

- Stuart Benson talks to David Fisman about the need for any federal health-care funding to Canada's provinces to be paired with accountability measures - particularly based on the provinces' choice to pocket pandemic resources rather than actually using them for their intended purposes. And Isaac Callan and Colin D'Mello report on the Doug Ford PCs' infuriating refusal to even acknowledge how many workers are needed to fill in existing gaps in the province's health care system. 

- Tracy Sherlock and Xavier Richer Vis report on the fossil fuel sector's lucrative lobbying which resulted in it being handed billions of federal dollars. And Robert Ascah discusses how oil and gas companies are pocketing windfall profits while sticking consumers with intolerable prices and demanding that governments clean up their pollution at public expense.  

- Finally, Robert Reich writes about the coalition of oligarchs and violent bigots which dominates the U.S.' Republican Party. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Chinta Sidharthan discusses new research on COVID-19 reinfections, showing that subsequent infections tend to produce similar immediate effects to a first one but with earlier long COVID effects. Ellen Phiddian reports on Brendan Crabb's observation that current immunity levels - through both vaccines and prior infections - are falling far short of managing the ongoing pandemic. And Andre Picard writes that the most virulent force that's been unleashed is glaring indifference toward others' health and well-being. 

- Meanwhile, Linda Silas points out that there are readily-available options to ameliorate Canada's health crisis. And Steven Staples discusses some of the public health care issues we should be watching in 2023. 

- Erin Bartram writes about the deteriorating working conditions for university adjuncts and graduate students - and how even professors with tenure and other formal protections are far worse off due to the precarity facing their colleagues.  

- Suzanne Shoush, Semir Bulle and Naheed Dosani highlight how it's investment in people - not in policing - that makes a community safe. And Jen St. Denis reports on how Vancouver-area police have harassed an individual for having the temerity to film an officer's violent assault on a citizen which had otherwise been covered up. 

- Finally, Rose Abramoff tells her story of being fired from a scientific research position merely for imploring fellow scientists to translate their knowledge into climate activism. And Damian Carrington reports that while authorities crack down on any effort to repair the harm we've done to our climate, the Earth's oceans have again reached a record high temperature in 2022. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Fluffy cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Stephanie Desmon interviews Ziyad Al-Aly about the reality that anybody infected with COVID-19 faces a substantial risk of heart problems as a result. And Moira Wyton examines what British Columbia could be doing to limit the spread of the Kraken sub-variant, while Paul Faulkner reports on Ian Watkinson's call for air cleaning units to reduce the transmission of respiratory infections in schools. 

- Meanwhile, F. Douglas Stephenson offers a reminder that the pharmaceutical industry has every incentive to see people get sick and require treatment, rather than acting responsibility to avoid the spread of disease. 

- Ari Natter reports on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's work examining whether gas stoves should be regulated due to their contribution to asthma and other respiratory ailments. And Oliver Milman notes that many U.S. cities are finally pushing back against the spread of parking lots which encourage vehicle use while disincentivizing any other form of transportation - even as Peter Walker observes that policies aimed at reducing avoidable vehicle traffic are met with a particularly virulent strain of conspiracy theory in response.  

- Finally, Vivian Unger discusses how an electoral system which awards absolute power based on a minority of votes can be expected to break down trust between the public and the politicians who are supposed to be serving it. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Erin Durkin writes about the failure of the U.S.' government to deal with the growing impact of long COVID - and the likelihood that matters will only get worse with Republicans able to unilaterally refuse funding. And Lisa Young wishes that Alberta's government could better be classified as a meerkat which is alter to its surroundings, rather than an ostrich determinedly avoiding information which didn't match its ideology. 

- James Galbraith comments on the difficulty of trying to respond to inflation with interest rate hikes under an ologopolistic economic system. And Robert Reich writes that the response to inflation should involve breaking up corporate behemoths which are extracting windfall profits, not attacking workers in their attempts to tread water. 

- Zoe Williams discusses how body image distress (particularly in young people) can be traced almost entirely to corporations looking to turn self-image problems of their own creation into long-term profit centres. And the Economic recognizes that the generation of young adults in the UK is rightly outraged at having its present and future put at risk in order to extract wealth for older generations.  

- Mitchell Thompson writes about the critical state of Canada's health care system. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow comments on the rise and fall of social media platforms - and how the demise of Facebook and Twitter is a predictable result of their being managed to serve the interests of investors and advertisers rather than users. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Nicholas Frew reports on the wholly-unsurprising news that the XBB.1.5 COVID-19 variant mad its way into Saskatchewan before the holidays with zero timely public notice. And Scott Larson reports that Saskatoon's pediatric hospital is among the many medical institutions swamped with respiratory illnesses even as a new COVID wave forms.

- Umair Haque discusses how we should see the collapse of the UK's National Health Service as a warning to the world. And Shanti Das and Jon Ungoed-Thomas report that the NHS itself is promoting privatized, pay-for-play services to patients to avoid the delays caused by the government's perpetual neglect.

- Jennifer Ackerman writes about the widespread recognition of glaring gaps in Saskatchewan's social safety net which made the news in 2022 - though sadly the only end result has been for callous politicians to go out of their way to make matters worse.

- Bloomberg News points out the severe and avoidable risk from the world's reliance on a dwindling number of crops for food, including three which make up half of humanity's calorie consumption.

- Finally, Sam Levin reports on the U.S.' new record high in civilians killed by police in 2022 - even as the public discourse about law enforcement was hijacked by corporations seeking to paint themselves and the police as victims.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Tisse Wijeratne et al. discuss what we know - and have yet to discover - about long COVID's effects on our brains three years into a pandemic which is being allowed to run rampant. And Mary Van Beusekom writes about the lengthening list of organs affected (and harms possible) when children get infected.

- Thara Kumar warns about Danielle Smith's plans to put health care behind a paywall. And Julia Rock offers a reminder of big pharma's example as to how corporatized health care profits will be used, with far more of its massive revenue from exclusive control over necessary medications going to shareholder payouts and lobbying than to research and development.

- Justin Ling discusses how McKinsey and Company is operating as a richly-compensated shadow government (thanks in no small part to decades of cutbacks and "efficiencies" which have left the public sector with challenges in trying to plan and strategize for itself). 

- Gabrielle Fonrouge reports on Walgreens' belated admission that its complaints about inventory theft were overblown - which comes far too late (and too quietly) to make up for the disproportionate effect the initial spin had in buttressing tough-on-crime messages in key elections.

- Finally, Trish Hennessy discusses what we can do to avoid being duped by misinformation. An Dan Dunsky reviews two books addressing the deliberate falsehoods spread by the populist right (and the damage they've done to democracy).

Musical interlude

The Paper Kites - Give Me Your Fire, Give Me Your Rain

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- David Wallace-Wells examines a few of the false narratives which are limiting our response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Sarah Wulf Hanson and Theo Vos write about new research showing that most cases of long COVID have arisen out of seemingly mild initial infections. And Rich Haridy discusses new revelations from autopsies showing pools of the COVID virus in many parts of the body. 

- John Clarke writes about the need for working people to mobilize and stand up for their own interests, rather than accepting class compromise which serves only to further entrench the power of the rich. Kim Siever examines how the UCP's tax giveaway to business produced absolutely nothing for Alberta's workers. And Jeremy Appel and Mitchell Thompson each discuss the CCPA's report on the gap between CEO and worker compensation. 

- Meanwhile, Noam Scheiber reports on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's move to ban noncompete agreements which prevent workers from seeking improved pay and working conditions with a new employer. 

- Rudy Perez offers a reminder that keeping people homeless costs far more public money than providing shelter. 

- Finally, Karl Nerenberg points out that there's still time to implement a fair and proportional electoral system before Canada's next federal election. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Andrew Nikiforuk examines what we know about - and what we should be doing in response to - the Kraken COVID-19 variant which is running amok in parts of the US and beginning to spread in Canada. 

- Whizy Kim writes about the worsening race to the bottom among U.S. states in allowing the wealthiest few to avoid paying taxes (forcing people with less resources to foot the bill for whatever public services remain available). And Romain Schue and Thomas Gerbet report on the escalating amount of money being paid to McKinsey & Company as a substitute for a functional civil service at all levels of government in Canada. 

- hopebuilding discusses how Housing First policy is ultimately about valuing the people otherwise lacking one of the essentials of life. And Patrick Condon points out the glaring lack of evidence that funneling large amounts of money into private housing produces measurable improvements in making units available and reducing homelessness. 

- Izzie Ramirez writes about the trend toward perpetually inferior consumer products as businesses optimize a system based on constant replacement rather than the provision of what people actually want. And Leslie Kaufman highlights the damage we're doing to our climate through an addiction to cheap plastics (which petropoliticians are only looking to worsen). 

- Neal Lawson discusses how UK Labour can't credibly claim to be offering change from the Cons without committing to a fair electoral system - a point which applies equally to other parties claiming to be a progressive alternative to top-down, corporate cronyist governments. 

- Finally, Owen Jones writes that the younger generations which have been made the object of conservative scorn and spite are unlikely to reward that enmity with future support. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jessica Wildfire discusses how the U.S. and Canada are following the UK's healthcare collapse due to a combination of public health negligence and destruction of existing health care institutions. And CBC News reports on how Quebec's already-overburdened emergency rooms are again preparing to face an influx of new illness after the holidays. 

- Meanwhile, Patty Winsa reports that corporate health operators in Ontario are taking the opportunity to shift toward pay-for-play for virtual care. And Janet Conrad and Devon Mitchell recognize the steps British Columbia is taking to push back against paywalled health care. 

- Angella MacEwen charts how workers have been systematically falling behind GDP growth. And Zak Vescera discusses the potential for 2023 to be the year of the union as workers recognize the need to fight back. 

- Robert Saunders points out that even after her speedy departure, Liz Truss's ascent to power reflects the core of the UK Cons and their right-wing media ecosystem rather than a deviation from it. And Murray Brewster reports on a Eurasia Group report documenting how Canada is seeing the spillover effects of the U.S.' march toward disinformation and violence. 

- Finally, Umair Haque writes that the overall impact of the Internet so far has been to destroy our ability to function as a civilization. And Paula Simons discusses her decision to leave Twitter and other social media behind. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Surrounded cats.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Brendan Crabbe and Mike Toole discuss how COVID-19 has been able to spread and evolve due to people's willingness to live dangerously, while Marisa Eisenberg and Emily Toth Martin offer a reminder of the continued value of masks in reducing spread. And Dawn Brotherton weighs in on how widespread long COVID is placing massive burdens on workers and employers alike.  

- Pat Armstrong and Majorie Griffen Cohen remind us that privatization of long-term care only undermines service while turning people into profit centres. And Taylor Noakes makes the case for the direct provision of health services by the federal government to overcome the unmistakable pattern of provincial neglect. 

- David Macdonald finds that CEO pay has once again hit new highs - both in absolute terms and in comparison to the pay received by other workers. 

- Finally, Zeynep Tufecki points out that Southwest Airlines' service failure is a direct result of corporate concentration and a blinkered focus on paying out shareholders even as workers fought to keep a business functional. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

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

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

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

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

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your New Year's reading.

- Bartley Kives reports on the most deadly year of the COVID-19 pandemic yet. And the BBC reports on the admonition that vulnerable people in Wales should avoid going to hospitals due to the lack of measures in place to avert the spread of COVID-19.

- Meanwhile, Rowan Williams writes that we should take the principle of "nobody is safe unless everybody is safe" and apply it to economic decision-making - though the most plausible interpretation is that exactly that message has been cut out of pandemic decision-making to prevent it from being considered elsewhere as well. N.J. Hagens points out (in a March 2020 piece) that we need to see the economy as a subset of a sustainable living environment, rather than treating the environment as a luxury within an economy built to maximize the immediate extraction and concentration of wealth. And James Meadway warns that anybody expecting 2023 to be better for personal budgets than the previous year may be in for a rude surprise.

- Brian Osgood examines the state of the U.S. labour movement at the end of 2022 - with overall unionization rates still looking grim, but with some reason for hope in new forms of organization and widespread public support which could change the bigger picture in short order.

- Finally, Chuka Ejeckam highlights how the far right is trying to capitalize on socio-economic disruption. But John Burn-Murdoch discusses how millennial voters are shattering the expectation that voters will become more conservative with age.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your year-end reading.

- Allison Maher et al. study how COVID-19 causes fundamental changes to a person's immune system, resulting in far greater vulnerability to other infections. Spencer Kimball reports on the rapid spread of the XBB.1.5 COVID-19 variant - which appears to be rendering previous types of immunity significantly less effective.  And Volker Gerdts, Baljit Singh and Loleen Berdahl write about the need to start planning immediately for future pandemics - including by incorporating knowledge from the social sciences into communications about public health issues. 

- Mitchell Thompson discusses how Doug Ford has chosen to lead Ontario's health care system into a crisis. And Linda McQuaig offers a reminder that the destruction of a universal, publicly-funded system is part of the right's plan to turn people's health into a corporate profit centre.

- David Macdonald warns that the CRA's heavy-handed approach to demanding repayments from low-income CERB recipients may cast a pall over any future social benefits. And John Loeppky discusses the need to ensure people with disabilities have secure access to housing - even as the policy response seems to range from dodging responsibility to outright hostility.

- Tony Barboza writes that it's essential to talk to kids about climate change - even if the continued accumulation of avoidable damage to our living environment is scary enough even for adults. Cameron Wood writes that Saskatchewan's grasslands are among the ecosystems in the most danger due to environmental neglect. And CBC News reports on the benefits Alberta is seeing from a shift to solar power generation. 

- Finally, Eric Blair writes about the need to find alternatives to billionaire-dominated communication platforms.

Musical interlude

Stoto - Her

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Teresa Wright sets out the wish list of ER doctors who have been dealing with avoidable COVID waves for years. Tiffany Hsu discusses the dangers of COVID-19 misinformation both in the course of the ongoing pandemic, and in its spillover effects as to public perception of vaccines and public health generally. And Bonnie Petrie examines the spin about "immunity debt" in contrast to the apparent reality of immunity lost to COVID infections. 

- Grant LaFleche examines the alt-right's systematic fabrication of claims of "grooming" as an excuse to promote bigotry. Umair Haque points out how widespread downward mobility is laying the groundwork for conservative con artists, while Juliana Kaplan and Jason Lalljee recognize that most workers are facing real pay cuts as a result of profit-driven inflation. 

- Elizabeth Wiese points out the lies being used by the fossil fuel sector and its fully-owned political subsidiaries to delay any action to reduce carbon pollution. But Leah Stokes offers reason for optimism that 2022 was the beginning of an energy transition, while Rebecca Leber discusses what the U.S. can do to accelerate that process. 

- Finally, Robert Reich implores us to stay hopeful and keeping toward a more just world even in the face of the powers lined up against it. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Tom Frieden offers a primer on what we know about long COVID - and what we should be doing to avoid it. And Eric Topol interviews Linsey Marr about the importance of clean air to alleviate the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. 

- Robert Booth and Pamela Duncan report that the increased privatization of care homes in England have resulted in nearly a third falling short of basic standards of hygiene and care for dementia patients. 

- David Sirota and Andrew Perez point out that the airline mess in the U.S. was fully anticipated in advance of the holiday season - and that Southwest Airlines in particular proceeded with a massive dividend payment rather than putting a nickel toward keeping its operations functional. And Adam Johnson discusses how the nightmare for air travelers reflects the broader work by giant corporations to ensure people aren't able to raise their problems with anybody other than powerless frontline workers:

We are conditioned to get mad at the human face we see before us, the “representative” of the company who personally profits nothing from our purchase. We are conditioned to get mad at the waiter when our food is late (and penalize this “bad service” with a bad tip) when the vast majority of the time it’s due to understaffing by a cheapskate boss. We are conditioned to get upset with the enforcer of arbitrary rules at a hotel checkout, despite it not being their rule at all. We are conditioned to be hostile to the very people we should have the most solidarity with. 

... 

Those who actually make the decisions remain protected like mob bosses, gently nestled between layers of middle management, lawyers, and marketing reps, impossible to reach by design. They have addresses and homes and phone numbers, you just don’t have access to them. And if you did, this would be stalking, and you’d likely get a visit from a police officer. Meanwhile they have all your information, and can hound you with credit agencies and just randomly steal your money. To the extent they face consequences, it’s a pointless fine that’s factored into their cost-benefit calculations at the beginning of the year... 

... 

(B)y design, the only humans we interface with are those who, by definition, are the lowest on the ladder, the least paid, and least protected: The cashier, the ticket agent, the flight attendant, the poor call center punching bag. So people yell at them, because there is no one else. They hate you back, and worker solidarity further erodes. We all grow more atomized, angry, powerless, and bitter. And the system works as intended.

- Agence France-Presse discusses the connections between the climate breakdown and increasingly severe winter storms.

- Finally, Craig Silverman and Ruth Talbot expose some of Google's ad network - including its complicity in fraud and disinformation by protecting the identities of bad actors using it for their antisocial ends. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Zaina Hamza discusses new research showing how COVID-19 fatalities hit younger people and caused more loss of expected years of life in the second year of the pandemic than the first. Kenyon Wallace discusses why 2022 was the deadliest year of the pandemic yet in Canada, while Carrie Tait reports on the tripling of the number of Canadians hospitalized with COVID since this time last year. Erin Prater writes about the recognition that a COVID infection may allow dormant viruses to reactivate in one's body. And David Climenhaga comments on Danielle Smith's determination to ensure nothing is done to limit the spread of respiratory diseases on her watch, while David Parsley reports on John Drury's observation that the UK Cons are failing to protect people from long COVID. 

- Meanwhile, the Good Law Project exposes what the UK Cons have been more interested in: funneling billions of pounds of public money to a few well-connected VIPs. 

- Amy Westervelt discusses how the the documents released as a result of the U.S. House's investigation into climate disinformation show a fossil fuel sector determined to stay in a polluting past and prevent anybody from progressing past it. And Adam Aron writes about the importance of local climate organizing to overcome the industry's obstruction. 

- Meanwhile, David Berman points out the massive special dividends doled out by corporate conglomerates who claim not to have profiteered off of price increases. 

- Thomas Zimmer discusses the threat Elon Musk and other alt-right tech bros pose to any open discussion on the platforms they control. And Gal Beckerman examines contemporary accounts from the 1930s to discuss what the descent into fascism feels like in real time. 

- Finally, Ted Rutland exposes how the Trudeau Libs conspired with the RCMP and other law enforcement interests to carry out push polling and manufacture opposition to defunding the police. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Cuddly cats.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Helen Branswell examines what experts were and weren't able to anticipate about the COVID-19 pandemic - with the voluntary panic-neglect cycle looking to be one of the most damaging lasting impacts. And Andre Picard discusses what we have and haven't learned from this year's multiple viral outbreaks.

- John Stapleton, Sid Frankel and Leila Sarangi point out that Canada briefly met its stated goal of substantially reducing poverty through pandemic supports - only to snap back to a default setting of accepting systematic deprivation. And Lynn Ward writes about the importance of keeping remote options to ensure people with disabilities and preexisting health conditions aren't excluded from participating in work and public life.  

- Robert Reich discusses how the growing concentration of wealth is the result of the extraction of value in zero-sum interactions, not the generation of anything useful or valuable for the general public. And Alvin Chang highlights how even a nominally level playing field would tend toward extreme inequality over time.

- Dylan Sullivan and Jason Hickel find that tens of millions of people have died of avoidable malnutrition over the past 50 years. And Clare Carlile exposes how big agriculture is likewise lobbying to avoid any transition to sustainable farming.

- Finally, Olayemi Olurin discusses how mass incarceration is utterly useless for keeping people safe, but instead serves mostly to preserve inequality.

Migration in progress

After using Twitter as my main political social media outlet for years, I've joined the many in the process of shifting to Mastodon. You'll find a link to my account in the right sidebar - and hopefully the new year will see the continued development of communities which better serve users rather than the whims of tycoons.

Monday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your Boxing Day reading.

- Robert Reich discusses the dangers of relying on - and indeed building a political and economic system to favour - the social costs of extreme greed. And the Canadian Press reports on the Trudeau Libs' plan to take foreign aid even further in that direction, prioritizing funding for privatized infrastructure projects over humanitarian resources.

- Meanwhile, Peter Zimonjic, Tyler Buist and Arielle Piat-Sauve report on Justin Trudeau's refusal to consider windfall taxes on the corporations profiteering at the expense of Canadians - even as Portugal joins the numerous countries showing it can be done.

- Benjamin Mateus writes about new research showing that COVID-19 was the leading cause of death worldwide in 2021. And Emily Putman reports on the expert recognition that an ongoing pandemic and other infectious diseases highlight the value of a true national pharmacare program, while Yvette Brend points out the need to ensure (sorely-needed) funding for health care is put toward preventative measures.  

- Michael Janz writes about the value of dedicated bike lanes to ensure healthier communities for cyclists and drivers alike. And Carlton Reid reports on the revelation that electric car batteries are generally lasting longer than anticipated, meaning there's less need for churn and reprocessing than once expected. 

- Don Lee discusses how work from home has allowed for an increase in workforce participation by people with disabilities - at least until arbitrary rules about office work are reinstated.

- Finally, Catherynne Valente writes about the longstanding pattern of corporatized sites and apps trying to push people to buy things and/or hurt each other - as well as the potential for a return to online relationships better focused on sharing meaningful information.