Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Holiday cats.

 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Emma Ladds, Alex Rushforth, Sietse Wieringa, Sharon Taylor, Clare Rayner, Laiba Husain and Trisha Greenhalgh study the wade-ranging and severe symptoms resulting from "long COVID", while Jennifer Lutz and Richard Carmona point out how a health care system dependent on individual funding is ill-equipped to respond. Andre Picard writes about the absurdity of Ontario taking a holiday from distributing COVID-19 vaccines.

- Meanwhile, Mitchell Anderson discusses the lives lost in Western Canada to decades of propaganda which have built deep antipathy and distrust toward both science and the federal government. And Lee Berthiaume reports on another poll showing that the vast majority of respondents in the prairie provinces have had enough of failed leadership in responding to the coronavirus.

- CBC News points out how we've wasted two decades in the fight to salvage a liveable planet in the face of a climate breakdown. 

- John Harris points out that the UK's current set of self-inflicted crises is nothing new, but instead reflects a history of hubris and poor judgment by the country's ruling class. And Dani Alexis Ryskamp discusses how the U.S. has eliminated the prospect of the modest but secure middle-class lifestyle depicted in the Simpsons and other cultural touchstones.

- Finally, Michael Laxer highlights how COVID-19 has been used as an excuse for class warfare in Canada, with the richest few individuals and largest corporations claiming massive handouts and taking the opportunity to exploit their advantages in wealth and power while people generally are shamed for trying to survive.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Adam Finn writes about the factors which have allowed for the rapid development of safe COVID-19 vaccines. 

- Helen Tang discusses the stress and frustration she's heard from the people she's had to reach as a contact tracer. Madeleine Cummings tells the stories of single parents navigating the pandemic. And Lisa Wolff and Terence Hamilton examine the support provided to families through Canada's pandemic relief - along with the need for structural change (including a national child care program) to lead our recovery efforts. 

- Robert Reich writes about the importance of an economy based on building up from the bottom, rather than hoping that wealth trickles down from the top. Dylan Penner warns against using the privatized Canada Infrastructure Bank for our post-COVID rebuilding. And Jill Mahoney reports on the lack of attention that's been paid to such basic infrastructure as school ventilation in the midst of a pandemic.

- Jim Elliott points out that contrary to the constant drumbeat of oil industry propaganda, there's plenty of public appetite for a transition to clean energy. Aaron Rutkoff writes that even the world's dirtiest carbon polluters are coming to terms with that reality. And Cheryl Katz highlights how large-scale battery storage is becoming a reality rather than a distant hope.

- Finally, Emily Chung argues against the current pattern of anti-repair design and planned obsolescence which makes our consumption far more harmful to the environment than it needs to be.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Owen Jones writes that the oft-repeated message that the public is responsible for the control (or spread) of COVID-19 serves mostly to deflect from gross failures of government. Grant Robertson reports on the deterioration of Canada's capacity to respond to a pandemic. Roberto Rocha, Inayat Singh and Julianna Perkins point out that provinces which acted sooner have had far more success in limiting case loads. And Michael Baker, Nick Wilson and Tony Blakely examine the superior outcomes from plans which eliminate viral spread, rather than assuming that some level of community transmission is acceptable and controllable.

- Elayne Hyshka and Hakique Verani note that contrary to Jason Kenney's deflections, the rise of drug overdoses in Alberta is the result of precisely the harm exacerbation strategy his government is determined to inflict on the province. And Danny Kerslake reports on the spread of COVID-19 through the Saskatchewan Penitentiary at a rate even worse than that of other federal penitentiaries.

- Pamela Cowan writes that the tragic loss of life which marked 2020 should push us to take far better care of senior citizens. And Brigitte Pellerin similarly argues that we should use what we've learned to ensure we never again ignore marginalized people.

- Terry Gross discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has turned into a windfall for the people who already had far more than they could possibly need. Noah Smith points out that the growth of inequality isn't limited to the rise of the uber-rich, but also includes increased disparities within the middle class. And Alex Hemingway studies how the underrepresentation of people outside the upper classes in political leadership leads to distorted policy outcomes.

- Finally, Heather McGregor points out how Ontario's most recent anti-poverty plan falls short of offering any useful plans to lift people out of poverty.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your Boxing Day reading.

- Kyle Hanniman and Trevor Tombe examine the relative fiscal positions of Canada's federal and provincial governments - concluding that while there isn't a need for austerity anywhere, there's a lot more room to maneuver at the federal level than in most provinces (though Saskatchewan is a noteworthy exception). And Richard Murphy points out the absurdity of obsessing over deficits as an excuse not to spend on public goods.

- David Dayen is hopeful that the U.S. is seeing a much-needed antitrust revolution against the consolidation of corporate power - particularly in the hands of tech behemoths. But Umair Haque warns tha its foolish devotion to neoliberal economics is needlessly converting a rich country into a poor one. And Branko Milanovic discusses his concern that the Biden administration will do little more than return (to the extent possible) to a status quo ante whose inequality gave rise to Donald Trump's election. 

- Meanwhile, Nick Bano discusses how the UK's housing crisis was the result of deliberate choices to privilege the profits of landlords over people's right to a home. 

- Kenyon Wallace, Ed Tubb and Marco Chown Oved report on the privatized long-term care corporations which have paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends - even as they've cried poor in failing to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic which has killed countless people under their care. And Moira Welsh takes note of the conditions found by a doctor asked to pitch in to save lives where corporate owners wouldn't.

- Badvertising examines the role of ads in pushing us toward needless and environmentally-destructive consumption.

- Finally, Carl Meyer reports on the Cons' determination to gift another set of handouts to the oil patch - this time by turning climate change policy into a subsidy scheme. But Chiara Eisner discusses how existing emissions tracking has grossly underestimated the damage done by leaking methane. And Bob Yirka highlights how Brazil's forest are being turned into net emitters rather than carbon sinks.

Musical interlude

 Gordi - Extraordinary Life

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- John Klein points out how Doug Ford's combination of abject failure and laughable deflection in response to the avoidable spread of COVID-19 is par for the course among Canada's conservative premiers. And Graham Thomson discusses Jason Kenney's opportunistic use of the pandemic to try to impose an unpopular, hard-right agenda on Alberta - even as he's also failed miserably in responding to the virus itself.

- Peter Zimonjic and Catherine Cullen note that the Libs are acknowledging that their new demands for CERB repayment are inconsistent with the direct message they offered about eligibility - even as they continue with plans to try to wring money out of people who can't afford to have it taken away. And Jordan Press reports on the effect a CERB clawback would figure to have on vulnerable young people.

- Ben Burgis writes that we shouldn't object to polarization in politics in all forms, but instead recognize the need for class to be the primary focus in choosing our battles. And Anita Balakrishian reports on the increase in union organizing resulting from workers recognizing how they've been treated as disposable during a pandemic.

- Brett Forrester reports on the nearly $100 million the Trudeau Libs have spent fighting against First Nations in court in their first three years in power - exceeding even Stephen Harper's propensity for using public money to defend discrimination. And Kristy Kirkup reports on the Libs' latest decision to appeal equal access to services for Indigenous children.

- Finally, Eric Dolan writes about new research showing a connection between psychopathic tendencies and an affinity for bigotry and authoritarianism.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Hibernating cats.

 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Katherine Scott and David Macdonald take a look at the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canada's labour force survey data - confirming that employment dominated by women has seen the most severe losses, and figures to take the longest to recover. Joel Dryden and Sarah Rieger offer a look at the large number of people with "co-morbidities" which are being cited by the likes of the Kenney UCP as reason not to worry about COVID-19 deaths. And Zak Vescera reports on the acute effect of the coronavirus on First Nations and their residents.

- Stephen Buranyi writes that we shouldn't be fooled by the spin of pharmaceutical companies seeking credit for COVID-19 vaccines developed with public support.

- Martin Lukacs highlights how the Libs' insistence on putting a carbon tax at the core of their climate change policy - rather than a Green New Deal which would include tangible benefits for most people - only figures to make the Cons' job easier in obstructing any progress. And Beth Gardiner notes that the best we can say about climate action globally in 2020 is that we didn't quite extinguish any hope of the transition we need.

- Jolson Lim reports on new research by the CRA showing that individuals pay their taxes far more quickly than corporations. And PressProgress highlights a new poll showing how Manitobans are rightly skeptical of for-profit care home operators.

- Finally, Nick Wells reports on the push for a safe national drug supply as the prospect of an even more deadly year looms. And Heidi Atter reports on the work being done by the Nēwo Yōtina Friendship Centre to set up a community-based supervised consumption site in Regina as the provincial government continues to drag its heels.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Steven Lewis writes about the need for firm and decisive public health action to stop the spread of COVID-19, rather than the excuse-making and bothsidesing that have come to be the norm. And Kaitlin Peters discusses how the people already dealing with long-haul COVID infections are being confronted with the reality of an economic system designed to devalue people who can't be put to use as productive bodies.

- Sara Mojtehedzadeh reports on the disconnect between tens of thousands of cases of workplace infection in Ontario even as only a single employer has faced so much as a fine for contributing to the spread of disease. And NPR examines the importance of vaccinating inmates in order to limit the dangers of a pandemic in particularly risky environments, while Dan Zakreski interviews Kyle Anderson about Saskatchewan's failure to properly test and trace in correctional institutions.

- Frank Graves highlights the high levels of disinformation about COVID-19 in Canada's prairie provinces - with Alberta standing out for the highest level of "very disinformed" people, Saskatchewan for a plurality of "mildly disinformed" people over any other category, and Manitoba for barely a third of its population being well-informed. And PressProgress points out how over-exposed anti-mask events are just the latest cry for attention on the part of racist conspiracy-mongers.

- In case it's not still clear that plainly inessential work is still going on in ways which put people at risk, the Canadian Press reports on a COVID-19 outbreak among Coastal GasLink pipeline workers. And the AP reports on the halt to travel to and from the UK due to the development of a new strain of the coronavirus.

- Finally, Jim Stanford discusses how a national child-care plan would work wonders toward a strong post-COVID recovery.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Luke Savage weighs in on the false promise of tax giveaways to the rich as an economic strategy for anybody else.

- Nichole Dusyk argues that it's past time to bridge the gap between Canada's climate change promises and our actual policies.

- Guy Quenneville reports on the early mistakes - including the movement of infected people around the facility and the continued use of 4-person rooms - which have led to a severe COVID outbreak at Regina's Parkside Extendicare long-term care home.

- Meanwhile, Geoff Leo reports on the underinvestment in Saskatchewan's health-care technology which is putting patients' lives at risk. And Jeremy Appel points out who stands to benefit from Jason Kenney's choice to limit any drug treatment to private, abstinence-only programs - with the hand-picked members of an advisory panel ranking among the largest recipients of public largesse.

- Justin Ling reports on Health Canada documents which confirm that the Libs' continued blood donation ban based on sexual orientation has no grounding in evidence.

- Finally, Sean Illing interviews Ethan Porter about his theory that political parties need to approach voters as shoppers rather than citizens. But it's worth noting exactly how that theory plays out, as Porter ultimately argues that voters are more open to making a fair contribution for important services than being persuaded by promises of something for nothing.

Musical interlude

 Lianne La Havas - Weird Fishes

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Jeremy Samuel Faust, Harlan Krumholz and Rochelle Walensky write about the false - and dangerous - assumption that COVID-19 would pose few risks for young adults. 

- David Cyranoski examines how restaurants and other crowded businesses have proven to be regular transmission grounds for the coronavirus, while pointing out how occupancy limits can help to avoid that outcome. But CBC News reports on Dale MacKay's recognition that restaurants and their employees are likely far better off being supported through public relief, rather than having to keep working at limited capacity while increasing the risk of catching or spreading COVID-19.

- Rosa Saba reports on the confusing information given to many Canadians who applied for the CERB and are now receiving CRA warning letters threatening to retrench what little support they've had through a pandemic. Jolson Lim reports on Jagmeet Singh's push for forgiveness for self-employed people caught in a lack of distinction between net and gross income, while Melanie Doucet and Rachel Gouin call for amnesty for former foster children who applied in order to have some income after aging out of care. But Catherine Cullen reports on the Libs' refusal to offer any relief to people who applied based on the advice of the government. 

- Meanwhile, Yves Engler weighs in on the Libs' concurrent refusal to relax intellectual property restrictions to allow less wealthy countries to have access to COVID-19 vaccines within a reasonable period of time.

- Finally, Mike De Souza and Julia Wong report on the Alberta Energy Regulator's warnings that the province's oil industry was polluting land and water - and recklessly failing to set money aside to remediate it - long before the coronavirus hit. And Sharon Riley asks what happens now that leaking for tar sands tailings ponds is becoming common knowledge as the sector faces being wound down.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- David Hope and Julian Limberg study (PDF) the effects of tax cuts for the rich  - concluding that they lead to worsened inequality while generating no significant benefits for anybody but the few who are able to hoard wealth as a result. And Danyaal Raza and Edward Xie make the case for a wealth tax to both reduce inequality, and fund needed investments in a healthier society.

- Luke Savage writes about the increasing prevalence of hunger in the U.S. - which has only been exacerbated by a pandemic in which governments have offered little support. The Washington Post examines how the U.S.' largest companies have slashed employment during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic even while continuing to rake in immense profits. And David Doorey offers some suggestions for a substantial rethinking of a labour relations model which has done far too little to empower workers.

- Rosa Saba discusses the state of labour in food and beverage manufacturing - noting that employers' complaints about a lack of workers appear to be based entirely on an expectation that people will take subpar wages to help support their profit margins. And Andrew Lupton reports on the persistently high number of construction workers killed on the job in Ontario.

- Marc Lee and Seth Klein write about the need for a managed wind-down of fossil fuel extraction and just transition to clean energy in British Columbia. And Lee also joins Hadrian Metrins-Kirkwood to point out how the federal Libs' new climate plan rings hollow - and will have less effect than needed - when it's paired with a costly commitment to continuing fossil fuel production. 

- Finally, Robyn Urback argues that we'd be far better off if Scott Moe and his government cared to devote anywhere near the attention and effort to controlling COVID-19 than they've wasted fighting against any carbon tax or price.

On non-goals

The combination of Paul Merriman's appalling use of poll numbers as a measure of COVID success - followed by Scott Moe's feckless response - has rightly been the subject of plenty of criticism. But it's worth a reminder that there's nothing new in either of their messages - such that those criticisms are properly seen as addressing structural problems with the Saskatchewan Party, not personal foibles or slips which can plausibly be minimized.

Let's remember after all that Moe's own reaction to public awareness of the coronavirus was to use it as an excuse to hold a snap election. And even after that plan fell apart, the Saskatchewan Party gleefully attacked Ryan Meili as "Dr. Doom" for attempting to have the government take COVID-19 seriously, delayed and minimized any response to the coronavirus in order when it wasn't convenient for their own budget message...and bragged about polling results which were supposed to show a romp in the making. 

So there's absolutely no air of reailty to Moe's attempt to spin Merriman's message as being a one-time mistake. To the contrary, it fits perfectly into the Saskatchewan Party's longstanding pattern of behaviour prioritizing polls and political interests over the lives of Saskatchewan people.

But the more important part of Moe's attempt at damage control is this:

Moe said he doesn’t know if there is a measure of success when it comes to tackling the virus.

...

“I don’t know that that’s a measure of success … the answer to that question. What are people going to recall when they talk about COVID in two years is something that I most certainly am thinking about today,” said Moe.

“How do you measure success (against) a virus that we are still sorting out, trying to learn?”

Of course, one answer would be to compare Saskatchewan to jurisdictions which have actually been successful in fully containing COVID-19. And there's no reasonable explanation as to why Moe has chosen needless viral spread and human suffering over real public health measures which would be far better for people and the economy alike.

But even if we assume Moe is incapable of the type of leadership necessary to defeat COVID-19 entirely, one of the issues consistently raised by Meili and the NDP has been the need for clear objective standards and thresholds to inform our reaction to the spread of the virus.

At times, we've received that from the chief medical health officer Dr. Shahab. But it appears that even nine months into a pandemic, Scott Moe still can't even conceive of the possibility that we could set defined markers of our success (or lack thereof) in responding to COVID-19.

Needless to say, a government's refusal to accept that it's even possible to define success makes it virtually certain that we'll make no meaningful effort to achieve it. And that only figures to set the stage for many more abject failures to come.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Elisabeth Rosenthal writes about the need to ensure that our public health messaging includes the graphic details of the severe threat of COVID-19. And Josh Kovensky points out one of the crucial questions still unanswered about the vaccines we're hoping to rely on - as it's not clear they'll prevent transmission even if they protect the people who have been vaccinated.

- Meanwhile, Maclean's highlights how data from the release of prisoners to minimize the spread of COVID offers us a compelling indication that we can significant reduce prison populations without any harm to public safety. 

- CBC News reports that Saskatchewan is predictably in the same position as Alberta when it comes to federal funding for oil well reclamation: having begged for massive amounts of federal money in the name of COVID relief, the Moe government isn't bothering to put most of that money to use until future years. 

- Noelle Allen discusses how protest is crucial to bringing about any meaningful social change. 

- Finally, Lawrence Mishel, Lynn Rhinehart and Lane Windham examine the deliberate choices made to undermine the ability of American unions to organize people toward collective action.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Homebound cats. 

Monday Evening Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Paul Wells writes that the Libs' latest climate announcement represents at least some break from their tendency to take the easy way out on tough policy choices, while Canadians for Tax Fairness offers a thumbs-up to the first national plan to meet any (however insufficient) climate target. But if we're looking for other readily-available steps to make a Canadian contribution to the protection of a liveable planet, the Financial Times reports on the UK's plan to stop subsidizing overseas fossil fuel extraction. And Jeremy Appel asks why we haven't paired a carbon tax with a Green New Deal (particularly as the cost of cleaner energy is plummeting), while Maria Fernanda Espinosa notes that we have an opportunity to transition to a cleaner environment by putting climate progress at the heart of a COVID recovery. 

- Ian Sample reports on new research showing how COVID-19 causes the production of "auto-antibodies" which severely exacerbate its damage. And Krysia Collier and Dawna Friesen highlight how the coronavirus can damage the brain. 

- Meanwhile, Richard Cuthbertsen writes about the readily-foreseeable financial cliff looming in front of people who were facing poverty before now-expiring relief programs were put in place.

- Danielle Groen examines what needs to be done to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine around the globe. And Geoffrey York discusses the eminently reasonable fear that wealthier countries will hoard the vaccines that are being developed and produced.

- Finally, Lana Polansky writes about the use of intellectual properly laws to create cultural monopolies while stifling any genuine creativity.

On preferential treatment

Chris Selley's thread trying to justify a fully effective anti-COVID strategy does manage to make an extremely strong statement. But it's not the one he means to - and it speaks volumes about Canada's warped priorities if we accept his examples and reasoning in the context of the violent law enforcement that we have been told to accept for far less valid purposes. 

The core of Selley's argument is this:

I used to think the simplest explanation of how the Australian model was inconceivable in Canada was to imagine (a) rich people not being allowed to go to the cottage; and (b) police actually enforcing that rule.

— Chris Selley (@cselley) December 14, 2020

But another good one is this: imagine a Canada in which police dispersed protesters for salubrious causes like Black Lives Matter, and arrested the organizers, and mass-arrested people protesting for insalubrious causes like anti-masking.

— Chris Selley (@cselley) December 14, 2020

So let's unpack the problems with this line of thinking.

The first issue is the assumption that any excessive enforcement action taken by Australian police is a necessary component of a full lockdown strategy. And that's a readily disputable point.

Some of us don't see a contradiction between recognizing the harmful excesses and wrongful choices associated with the pursuit of a necessary cause - least of all to the point of abandoning the latter in the bare hope of avoiding the former.

By way of analogy, Canada has rightly apologized for the heinous internment of Japanese-Canadians during World War II. But that wrongful treatment of people in the name of an underlying conflict doesn't serve on its own as anything approaching a full answer to the question of whether that conflict as a whole was worth pursuing. And indeed, most of us would rightly be ashamed of the former while recognizing the justification for the latter. 

That said, Selley is also glaringly wrong in assuming that the tactics he decries don't surface in Canada. And it's telling when they're actually used, and what consequences tend to result.

There are plenty of more recent instances of protesters being dispersed and mass-arrested, often in a violent manner, for the exercise of free speech rights, most of them fitting into the same pattern described below. 

But let's remind ourselves of perhaps the most prominent example in the past few decades: the mass arrest and kettling of 1,100 people protesting the 2010 G20 summit in Toronto.

So what devastating consequences were there for the architects of that calculated assault on civil rights? Well, a single officer ended up facing some loss of paid vacation days. And the chief in charge saw his career derailed to the point of finding his way into the federal cabinet with responsibility for public safety. 

Of course, those were mass arrests in the interest of protecting powerful and privileged people from being exposed to the existence of dissent. Which brings us to the question actually raised by Selley's examples. 

Is it the case that we're willing to grant a superpriority to the convenience of the wealthy and powerful in all circumstances - both in allowing for the use of force to insulate them from criticism, and in rejecting any law enforcement which might ensure they don't blithely endanger the entire population with their disregard for public health?

Or do we have enough of a sense of social cohesion to recognize that even the richest may have to face some change to the life they normally purchase when the common good is at stake?

Selley may well be right as to where the lines are currently drawn. But if so, that speaks to a desperate need to redraw them - not to a reason to claim we can't do what Australia has already done.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Andrew Jackson summarizes and discusses Lance Taylor and Ozlem Omer's new book showing how the combination of wage suppression and growing inequality is the result of the conscious policy choice to weaken workers' collective bargaining power:

Taylor and Omer argue that the period since about 1980 has been one of persistent wage repression, the result of steadily falling union bargaining power and political influence over issues such as labour rights, the minimum wage and unemployment insurance benefits. Downward pressure on wages has meant that real inflation adjusted wages have risen little for the bottom 90%, and by less than the rate of growth of productivity. 

...
Taylor and Omer calculate that the share of capital in US national income has risen by eight percentage points of GDP since 1970. While the share of labour has correspondingly fallen. This has contributed massively to the rise of the income share of the top 1%, who have household incomes now averaging over $3 million per year and receive the majority of income from capital. 

...
The argument that extreme economic inequality is a major cause of economic stagnation is not new. But Taylor and Omer connect the dots in the data to confirm the diagnosis. Their analysis suggests that capital has become far too strong to sustain a robust economy and that an increase in labour bargaining power should be welcomed rather than resisted.

- Chuck Collins and Omar Ocampo point out that the billionaires seeing their fortunes grow thanks to pandemic profiteering can easily afford to share the spoils with the workers who enrich them - including by offering needed protection from COVID-19 rather than exposing them to injuries and illness. And Aidan Harper makes the case for a four-day work week (without a drop in salary) as a huge step in both increasing the relative power of workers, and allowing for desperately-needed balance between what's expected of workers and what they can realistically provide.

- Meanwhile, CBC News reports on the need for additional income supports to put an end to food insecurity. And Nick Falvo highlights how single people in particular face benefit amounts which are grossly insufficient.

- Eric Adams refutes the right-wing claim that there's some tension between Charter rights and effective public health measures. And Stephanie Taylor talks to Kyle Anderson about the desperate need for Saskatchewan to reduce viral spread as the holiday season approaches, even as the Moe government continues to drag its heels on any effective break in transmission.

- Patty Winsa reports on the increasing presence of poorly-regulated for-profit COVID test providers in Ontario. And Niclas Rolander reports on the vicious cycle of overwork and burnout among Swedish health workers facing the consequences of COVID-19.

- Finally, Emily Mertz reports that Saskatchewan ranks just behind Alberta as the provinces facing the most stress and the worst psychological health - even as the governments of both refuse to lift a finger to address either root causes or treatment.