Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Dyani Lewis writes that we know enough to ensure clean indoor air if we care enough to work on limiting the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses. 

- Jane Philpott and Danyaal Raza observe that the Libs are endangering both the short-term affordability of needed medication and the long-term development of a national pharmacare plan by giving in to lobbying from big pharma. And Euan Thomson writes about the need to fight against a right-wing model which treats puritanical and profit-driven "recovery" schemes as the only response to the crisis of drug poisonings. 

- Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington warn against relying on corporate consultancies as a substitute for a functional and well-resourced public service. 

- Steven Greenhouse points out that major businesses are engaged in old-school union-busting to prevent workers from having a voice in their pay and working conditions. And CBC News reports on a massive human trafficking ring which shows there's no limit to the depravity of employers seeking to trap and exploit workers. 

- Finally, Max Fawcett writes about the dangers of Pierre Poilievre's aggressive know-nothingism. And Marc Fawcett-Atkinson rightly calls out the spread of anti-science hokum among white males in particular. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Joshua Cohen writes that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the first sustained streak of declining  global life expectancy in over 60 years - even as governments everywhere attempt to pretend the threat has passed. And the Washington Post's editorial board offers a reminder of the need to keep masking in order to reduce both the spread and severity of COVID. 

- Joel Lexchin writes about the lack of regulation of pharmaceutical advertising in Canada. And Andre Picard salutes British Columbia's progress in making contraception universally and freely available, while imploring other provinces to follow suit. 

- Owen Schalk discusses how the Libs' fossil fuel subsidies are merely providing fuel for an ongoing climate emergency. Damian Carrington reports on the "super-emitting" methane leaks could singlehandedly push the Earth past its carbon budget to stay under 1.5 degrees of warming. And Jeff Masters and Bob Henson explain why even relatively small temperature increases result in significantly more severe weather. 

- Gordon Laxer writes that while Canada should be investigation foreign interference in our elections, we should be paying more attention to the corporate actors who do so with a veneer of local presence while directing our policies for the benefit of foreign owners. 

- Amy Hanauer notes that the best way to address concerns about public debt is to make sure the rich pay their fair share. 

- Finally, Alexander Hinton writes that spin about "lone wolf" extremist attacks serve as a dangerous distraction from the networks of eliminationist rhetoric which invariably underlie the danger. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Tarun Sai Lomte discusses new research on the connection between structural brain changes and fatigue associated with long COVID. And Eric Topol examines the growing body of evidence on the increased risk of heart attacks and strokes after COVID infection. 

- Robert Reich writes about the problems with corporate capitalism which tries to cut all values other than immediate exploitation out of decision-making processes. David Sirota writes that the prospect of increased rail regulation in the wake of reporting about the East Palestine toxic release offers at least some example of how responsive governance is supposed to work. And Joe Mayall points out the importance of talking about wage theft - and combating it at every possible level of government. 

- Jim Stanford writes that Bank of Canada's choice to strangle growth is only ensuring that we don't produce more goods to help counteract inflation and push prices down. And David Moscrop points out that the most important source of affordable homes needs to be the public sector - which is currently falling far short of replacing housing which is becoming unaffordable in private hands. 

- Jim Bronskill reports on CSIS' assessment of the multiple security threats posed by a climate breakdown, while Owen Jones offers a reminder that anti-refugee rhetoric is being used to try to deny a massive wage of climate migrants any place to go. And Graham Readfearn reports on new findings showing Antarctica's sea ice at the lowest level ever. 

- Finally, David Climenhaga discusses how Danielle Smith is determined to break Alberta beyond repair, both in ensuring the collapse of systems of public services and in setting up the worst fossil fuel bust cycle the province has ever seen. And Jonathan Thompson writes about the public subsidy to oil barons as U.S. states pick up the tab for neglected and abandoned well sites. 

Musical interlude

Cannons - Love on the Ground

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Jonathan Lambert discusses how politicized messages have been used to weaponize uncertainty and changing information during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jonathan Howard points out how successful mitigation practices have been used to serve a misleading narrative downplaying the actual risks of COVID-19. Matt Gurney discusses the Canadian federal government's questionable decision to end supplies of rapid antigen tests while the pandemic rages on - as well as the lack of much apparent interest in challenging the choice. And Cara Murez reports on the research showing that reduced oxygen levels in the brain are among the effects of long COVID.

- Amy Westervelt reports on the fossil fuel sector's nine-figure capture of universities in the U.S, while Amy Mann writes that Canada too needs to stop letting oil and gas companies with a vested interest in continued carbon pollution fund and direct climate research. And Danielle Paradis reports on the choice by both Imperial Oil and the UCP government to inform First Nations and other affected parties of an unprecedented series of tailings pond leaks. 

- Trevor Tombe points out that the UCP's budget is designed to make the boom-and-bust cycle even bumpier than it was before. And Nick Warino discusses how Nordic countries are instead seeing large and stable returns from their investment in public enterprise.  

- Paris Marx warns against accepting Elon Musk's plan for a future which shifts to electric energy without otherwise disturbing the entrenched wealth structures which concentrate so much power in the hands of so few. 

- Finally, Alexander Quon surveys some experts about the claims of Regina's Catalyst Committee, and finds that nobody outside of Sandra Masters' backroom bunch thinks for a second that any returns from a downtown arena would come remotely close to justifying the expense. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Chris Stanford responds to the alt-right's demonization of liveable communities by pointing out what a 15-minute city actually means. And Monika Korzun and Farzaneh Barak discuss how to ensure more equitable and sustainable access to food. 

- Tyler Buchana points out the long history of train derailments around East Palestine prior to last month's catastrophic chemical spill and fire - as well as the pleas for safety measures which were dismissed in order to cater to corporate owners. And Cory Doctorow discusses how corporate recycling programs can be found on the plausibility scale between greenwashing and outright fraud. 

- Andrew Nikiforuk calls out the use of plastic words to gloss over the government infrastructure devoted to promoting oil and gas - a point which is all the more clear when petrostates are deliberately leaving anybody outside of the fossil fuel sector from "energy" advising. 

- Ian Bailey reports on the Calgary Petroleum Club's belated and mealy-mouthed expression of regret for providing a venue to Christine Anderson and her convoy reunion. And Luke LeBrun highlights a few details from the Emergency Act inquiry which have otherwise been largely overlooked - including how #FluTruxKlan drivers were handed cash-stuffed envelopes from as-yet-undisclosed sources as they occupied Ottawa.

- Finally, Charles Rusnell follows up on Calgary's funneling of money to a con man to deliver quack PTSD services - and the ensuing "investigation" which seems to have been little more than a coverup even after the swindle has become public knowledge.  

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- David Wallace-Wells discusses how the U.S. is woefully unprepared to deal with the real prospect of another pandemic (particularly on top of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which is the subject of a policy of denial). 

- Peter Frankopan writes that climate is a crucial aspect of history which we ignore at our own peril both in assessing past events, and planning for our own futures. Tessa Koumoundouros reports on new modeling showing that the melting of large ice sheets may result in a far more rapid climate breakdown feedback loop than already anticipated. And Jamey Keaten reports on Antonio Guterres' rightful opprobrium toward climate-wrecking corporations.

 

- Meanwhile, Susan O'Donnell and M.V. Ramana write that New Brunswick (and other governments) shouldn't give in to the demands of nuclear operators seeking to lock down massive funding for projects which will almost certainly fall short of being worth their immense cost.  

- Joel Lexchin offers a reminder of the cozy relationship between the Canadian government and big pharma which has once again been leveraged to prevent any action to make needed medications more affordable. And Lyndsay Armstrong reports on the concern by Nova Scotia social workers that one-time access to for-profit counselling represents more of a corporate recruitment strategy than a plan to help citizens. 

- Finally, Trish Hennessy introduces the latest issue of Monitor Mag with a reminder as to the importance of income inequality and the options available to tackle it. And D.T. Cochrane makes the case for a minimum tax on corporate book profits to limit corporate tax avoidance and fund social priorities. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Bed-ridden cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Lucky Tran offers a reminder not to take seriously the anti-science cranks determined to claim that COVID-19 mitigation measures (including masking) should be dispensed with. And Joy Jiang et al. find that COVID vaccination helps to lower the risk of cardiac events based on future infections.  

- Alan Morris examines the connection between housing status and inequality in Australia. And Nick Falvo offers an explainer on emergency shelters - and the limited role they should play compared to more secure housing.  

- Clifford Krauss offers a reminder that while the oil sector is swimming in windfall profits and paying out executives and shareholders, that isn't translating into a restoration of the jobs which have been slashed over the past decade. 

- Regan Boychuk examines the story behind Danielle Smith's planned eleven-figure Rstar giveaway to her oil and gas backers, while Bob Weber reports on the predictable reality that her largesse with public money is translating into a spike in oilpatch donations to her lobby group. And Stephen Magusiak and Luke LeBrun expose how a developer flouted donation rules to pool funding through multiple corporations in order to advertise on Smith's behalf. 

- Finally, Luke Savage points out how even the most partisan of media are more likely to indulge in propagating fake news where that choice fits with its profit motive. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Michael Kempa discusses Justice Paul Rouleau's findings on federalism in his report on the use of the Emergencies Act - though the hope for province to provide better governance within their jurisdiction seems rather empty when so many of them are focused on stoking alt-right hate rather than caring for the well-being of their citizens. And on that front, Peter Prebble and Glenn Wright highlight how the Moe government's talking points about federalism and sovereignty are primarily oriented at stifling any effective climate policy. 

- Barry Saxifrage examines how electric vehicles reduce carbon pollution compared to gasoline cars - though he also rightly notes that an upswing in sales of the former hasn't done anything to stop an overall increase in vehicular emissions. And Catherine McKenna discusses the need for corporations to stop favouring greenwashing over actual steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

- Julia Conley reports on the entirely justified public perception that the East Palestine train toxic train crash is the fault of the rapacious corporate operator profiting from the erosion of safety standards. 

- Henry Grabar points out how the shredding of the civil service and consequent outsourcing of project decision-making to self-interested consultants has made it more costly and difficult to build major transit projects. 

- Finally, Naomi Fowler discusses how financial secrecy serves to enable both what's already recognized as organized financial crime, and the general ethic of greed and entitlement which results in "legitimate" businesses profiting from it as well. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Eric Reinhart discusses the importance of approaching public health from a collective perspective, rather than presuming health is simply a matter of individual-level choices. And Michael Hiltzik highlights the usual combination of dishonesty and ignorance behind yet another set of talking points intended to undermine masking as a protection against COVID-19 and other communicable diseases.

- Daphne Bramham writes about the dangers of allowing the corporate sector to take over health care, while Alex Ballingall and Raisa Patel report on the apparent big pharma takeover of Canadian prescription drug policy. And Ryan Gabrielson and J. David McSwane offer an appalling look at what happens when for-profit healthcare meets a religious-based immunity from regulation. 

- Armine Yalnizyan writes that the most important headwind facing Canada's economy is a lack of affordability, rather than any concern about inflation. But Peter Armstrong reports that the Bank of Canada is bent on hiking interest rates with the theoretical intention of meeting inflation targets - no matter how much damage it does to people, and how little it accomplishes as corporations continue to profiteer.

- Stefan Gossling and Andreas Humpe examine the carbon emissions of the wealthy, and find that millionaires alone stand to eat up over two-thirds of humanity's remaining carbon budget by 2050.

- Finally, Don Braid discusses how Danielle Smith and the UCP are determined to squelch any criticism of their plans to take pensions and policing under politicized provincial control. And Howard Leeson writes that the spin being used to push Scott Moe's plan to expel the RCMP from Saskatchewan (again in favour of a provincially-controlled police service) doesn't hold water.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Francesco Pierri et al. study the roots of COVID-19 vaccine denialism, with misinformation becoming more and more prevalent as the pandemic continues. And David Climenhaga discusses how Alberta (and many other Canadian provinces) are taking a new step in pandemic denialism by planning to limit citizens' access to vaccine boosters.

- Meanwhile, Crawford Kilian points out that we should be doing far more to reduce the death toll and health issues caused by air pollution. But Sharon Lerner reports that the oil industry is instead being permitted to label the burning of toxic plastics as a "biofuel".

- Philippe Fournier notes that a majority of Canadians want to see stronger climate action, and are thus being ill served by a Lib-Con debate between not doing enough and doing even less (if anything). And the Globe and Mail's editorial board weighs in on the complete lack of justification for Danielle Smith's plans to hand tens of billions of dollars to the oil industry to comply with its legal obligations.

- Mitchell Thompson reports on polling showing that even the Fraser Institute can't load the dice enough to find popular support for capitalism over socialism. But Judy Rebick points out the need for popular action to replace pay-for-play politics with government that's remotely representative of people's interests.

- Finally, Justin Ling discusses the connections between the Cons and the global alt-right - including Christine Anderson who has been feted by Con MPs and the Western petropolitical powers that be for her bigotry.

Musical interlude

Gorgon City, DRAMA - Nobody

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Eric Anderson writes that capitalism has been developed to exploit psychological vulnerability for profit. And Ludvig Weir and Gabriel Zucman highlight how the corporate profits shifted between countries for the purpose of tax avoidance approached a trillion dollars in 2019 (and likely soared past that milestone since). 

- Bill Curry reports on the PBO's findings that the Libs are spending a record $21.4 billion to outsource public service functions. And Jennifer Carr discusses how the outsourcing of public sector capacity results in both high costs and severe consequences for government's ability to make decisions in the public interest. 

- Maximilian Alvarez talks to railroad workers who have long been warning of the potential for derailments and associated risks to public health and safety as regulatory standards have been slashed in the name of profits. And Chris Isidore reports on Norfolk Southern's continued plan to hand over a thousand times as much money to shareholders in buybacks than to victims of the East Palestine chemical spill and fire. 

- Lindsay Ellis discusses how noncompete clauses have been turned into a systematic attack on worker wages - and how the U.S.' plan to ban them can help. And Leland Glenna writes about the right-to-repair laws being developed to ensure purchasers aren't helpless in the face of arbitrary corporate controls on the use and repair of consumer goods.  

- Alex Hemingway and Simon Pek discuss the problem with housing land use hearings which tend to include only objectors rather than the people who would benefit from approvals. 

- Finally, Sarah Gordon points out how drug decriminalization will improve the well-being and treatment options for people who use them - while also noting that there's still far to go from the standpoint of harm reduction. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Kimberly Atkins Stohr discusses her experience with long COVID - along with the reality that others have suffered far worse when they've lost employment as a result of it. Jasleen Gosal writes about the "silent pandemic" on and around Stanford's campus. And CanCOVID examines (PDF) the communications used to inform people about COVID - including the effect of delay and uncertainty in official communication which enabled conspiracy theories to spread. 

- David Suzuki writes that the East Palestine rail disaster offers an important reminder of the risks of valuing profit over human lives and health. Branko Marcetic discusses the connection between corporate and executive windfalls and increased numbers of train derailments. And Topher Sanders and Dan Schwartz report on the Norfolk Southern corporate policy allowing desk workers to tell rail crews to disregard safety alerts. 

- Jenna Benchetrit reports on yet another quarter of blatant profiteering by Loblaws, while Dan Guadagnolo notes that the public isn't buying its attempts to cast blame elsewhere for its inflated prices. And Jon Keegan discusses how beyond price-gouging for the necessities of life, grocery stores are also turning into massive brokerages for personal information about consumers. 

- Greg Jericho highlights how wages are failing to keep up with price increases in Australia (like in many other countries). And Emmanuel Saez finds (PDF) that the income distribution in the U.S. is more top-heavy now than ever before.  

- Finally, Kelly Crowe exposes how the Libs have given in to lobbying by the pharmaceutical sector and put off a process to develop more fair pricing for the medication people need. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Liam Mannix examines how the scientists with the deepest knowledge of the risks of COVID-19 are protecting themselves from the ongoing pandemic. And Robson Fletcher writes about the attempts of Calgary parents to gather data on how to keep schools safe (in the face of school board choices to prohibit either filters or any measurement of the effect of their absence). 

- Christina Frangou discusses how for-profit online providers are looking to cash in on the underfunding of primary care, while Mike Crawley reports on the use of nurse practitioners as a loophole to allow for pay-for-play access to medical care. Nora Loreto highlights how public-sector wage freezes are designed to push workers into privatized systems. And Gregg Gonsalves writes about the battle for even worse standards of health care in the U.S. - offering an obvious reply to the attempt to privatizers to claim that the development of profit-based systems has nothing to do with the decay of access to public health care. 

- Meanwhile, Mary Catt writes about the increased level of strike activity in the U.S. as workers stand up for themselves - particularly in the food and hospitality industry. And Stephanie Vozza discusses how people are more productive in "non-linear" work structures - rather than the heavily-monitored, employer-driven schedules which seek to control every second of a worker's day. 

- Alex Nurse, Alessia Calafiore and Richard Dunning contrast the anti-fact right's contrived panic over 15-minutes cities against the reality of navigable communities. And Jonathan Green interviews Brent Toderian about how basic liveability was turned into a conspiracy theory. 

- Finally, Rachel Aiello points out a few conclusions of the Public Order Emergency Commission's report which deserve more attention - including the #FluTruxKlan's connection to right-wing petropolitics, and the massive amounts of money which were dumped into its coffers based on that link. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Drowsy cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- David Moscrop discusses how the Trudeau Libs have chosen to funnel money to cutthroat corporate consultants rather than building a functional public service. Alex Kerner follows up by pointing out how that choice reflects the class politics of a neoliberal state. And Kenan Malik writes that a focus on diversity in elite roles alone misses the deliberate effort to exacerbate inequality and stratify people by class. 

- Lawrence Scanlan comments on the glaring indifference toward the harm caused by avoidable poverty. And Pratyush Dayal reports on the rising homelessness in Saskatoon as the Moe government goes out of its way to avoid providing for the needs of the people stranded in the cold. 

- Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood examines the first version of the Libs' Sustainable Jobs Plan (aka just transition plan) and finds very little of substance in transitioning to a clean economy.  

- Henry Grabar traces the coordinated rise of the alt-right crusade against walkable cities. And Yves Engler points out that the ultimate complaint is the prospect that the needs of people might be prioritized over obeisance to combustion-based car culture. 

- Meanwhile, Marc Fawcett-Atkinson both offers a primer on climate disinformation, and reports on Trans Mountain's purchase of carbon credits from a non-operational seaweed-additive supplier as a supposed offset against real carbon pollution. 

- Fred Lewsey discusses new research from the showing that a four-day work week results in immense benefits for workers at no real cost to employers. 

- Finally, Jack Mirkinson writes that the New York Times (among other media outlets) is repeating the horrific mistakes in its coverage of the gay rights movement and the AIDS crisis by choosing to platform and promote anti-trans messages. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Mark Jacobson writes that we already have the technology needed to make a full transition to a clean energy economy - as long as we don't allow fossil fuel interests to keep delaying the necessary and inevitable. James Price and Steve Pye discuss why countries reliant on oil and gas need to phase our their use faster in order to allow for the developing world to transition away from coal. Max Fawcett discusses the folly of Danielle Smith's plan to hand a free $20 billion to oil tycoons in order to fulfill their existing obligation to clean up well sites. And Sam Biddle reports on Google's attempt to greenwash its use to boost carbon pollution.

- John Michael McGrath discusses how developer-focused housing policies are resulting in Canada falling far behind the pace needed to provide people with homes. And Jesse Gourevitch et al. study the climate risk which is deliberately being excluded from the cost of housing in flood-prone areas.

- Taylor Lambert points out the predictable connection between the UCP's ideological aversion to harm reduction, and the soaring death rate from drug poisonings.

- Katherine Denkinson calls out Elon Musk for turning Twitter into the ultimate recruitment tool for the bigoted alt-right. And Anna Merlan discusses how even after getting their way as a matter of government policy, anti-vaxxers are bent on vengeance against anybody who cared for others' well-being in the midst of a preventable pandemic.

- Finally, Anand Giridharadas talks to Roger Cohen about his hope for the future of democracy even in the face of well-resourced actors determined to end it.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- John Launer offers his thoughts on how public health messaging around COVID-19 could have encouraged people to address risk management at both the personal and social level. And Clark Russell, Nazir Lone and J. Kenneth Baillie study the current evidence showing the dangers of combining COVID with co-morbidities. 

- Miranda Bryant and Jon Ungoed-Thomas report on a new study showing UK food bank use is at a record high. Mathew Silver interviews Jim Stanford about the direct responsibility Galen Weston and other grocery tycoons hold for soaring food prices (which are mirrored in record profits). And Sara Mojtehedzadeh reports on the dubious employment practices of Fiera Foods as it seeks to benefit from people's work while refusing to take responsibility for their livelihood or safety.

- Thom Hartmann discusses how the U.S. Supreme Court has undermined any prospect of democratic governance by treating political corruption as free speech. Tim Adams talks to Bernie Sanders about the oligopoly which has seized control of public policy debates as a result. And Bela Devaan writes that rich people's philanthropic whims can't be seen as an acceptable substitute for a paying a fair share of their excess wealth in taxes.

- Giorgios Gouzoulis points out the connection between escalating personal debt and a decline in labour's willingness to protect workers' interests through strike action. And Gleb Tsipursky writes that management edicts to return to office work by default correlate with a decrease in productivity.

- Finally, Susan Delacourt writes that one of the most important outputs from the Public Order Emergency Commission was its recognition that "freedom" shouldn't be defined in the terms of people looking to violently impose their prejudices on society at large. And Caroline Orr points out how Russian proxy sites played a major role in boosting the most destructive messages of the #FluTruxKlan (which remain staples of Pierre Poilievre's Con rhetoric to this day).