Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Zak Vescera reports on the CCPA's new research showing how an increasing number of jobs in British Columbia are precarious - with already-disadvantaged workers especially likely to be affected. Don Pittis points out the Bank of Canada's continued attempts to hold wages below the rate of inflation, while offering much-needed space for Kaylie Tiessen to point out how that focus results in its being a soldier for capital in an ongoing class war. And Nick French writes that the essence of socialism is rooted in justice for workers pursuing what's rightfully theirs.

- Andrew Petter and Jim Rutkowski write about the value of progressive populism as a tool to make the case for an egalitarian society.  And Rowan Burdge, Jen Kostuchuk and Ismail Askin point out the importance of ensuring that social justice is embodied in any climate plan in order to ensure people see the benefits of a clean energy transition. 

- Meanwhile, Roberto Burgos discusses how the latest IPCC report is both alarming in its expectations, and unduly optimistic in its assumption that we'll manage a full transition away from carbon pollution.

- Finally, David Beers discusses the need to value journalism as a public good - particularly as the Cons and their provincial cousins attempt to stifle any reporting or commentary other than from their own side's propagandists.

Musical interlude

PVRIS - Anywhere But Here

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Kendra Pierre-Louis discusses the need for journalists to cover the massive health risks posed by COVID-19 even as (or even because of) the failure of governments to do so.  

- Jed Anderson calls out the increasing privatization of universities in Canada (facilitated by the systemic underfunding and corporate-oriented management of public post-secondary institutions). And David Moscrop writes that any form of enclosure and privatization of public spaces like Ontario Place would be problematic - though the Ford PC's entirely cronyist version is particularly odious. 

- Peter Waldman, Sinduja Rangarajan and Mark Chediak document how institutional farm ownership has been exacerbating the strain on California's water supply. And the Canadian Press reports on a new study forecasting a wave of retirements among Canadian farm and agricultural producers - raising the risk of takeovers by corporate forces. 

- Manuel Lopez Rostrepo notes that Generation Z is particularly pro-union - but that a shift in structural power will require work to convert that preference into organization and action. 

- Finally, Rae Deer offers a reminder that trickle-down economics has never been anything but a scam to direct more money to rich people. And Cory Doctorow writes about new research confirming the seemingly-obvious point that heavily-advertised goods on social media are likely to be overpriced junk. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Alex Fulton discusses the lessons we should be learning from the response to COVID-19 in preparing for the next pandemic. Richard Payerchin highlights how physicians recognize the need to diagnose and treat long COVID as it afflicts an increasing proportion of the population, but largely lack the means to do so.  And Milos Ajcevic et al. find a connection between cognitive impairment associated with long COVID, and dysfunction in cerebral blood flow observable through MRIs.

- Josh Gabbatiss writes about new research which projects that we're entering an age of decline for fossil fuels. Emily Chung points out what Canada can learn from Sweden's success in replacing oil heating with electric heat pumps. Joe Fassler argues that the disproportionate carbon pollution spewed by the ultra-rich can only be seen as a theft from everybody else. And Kevin Timoney writes about the multiple problems with tar sands tailings ponds - including but not limited to the toxic leaks into drinking water sources which have been concealed by the UCP government and operators alike. 

- John Michael McGrath highlights how the Ford PCs' supposed housing strategy figures to do far more to cause sprawl than to make homes available. Helena Horton writes that a road-building spree is utterly incompatible with any responsible climate strategy. And Matt Gurney notes that Ford's complete lack of credibility in funding promised transit infrastructure makes it impossible to take him seriously on transportation matters generally. 

- The Angus Reid Institute examines how Canadians are responding to additional cost pressures piled on what have long been precarious personal finances. Erin Weir points out that the list of windfall profits which should be tapped into to help the working class includes those emanating from grocery inputs. And Wayne Simpson makes the case to make the grocery rebate permanent to provide predictable support for people living on lower incomes. 

- Finally, Gillian Steward writes that Danielle Smith has chosen to present herself as the face of anti-science quackery and violent bigotry. And Stephen Magusiak reports on the Take Back Alberta group (which appears to be in full control of the UCP) which has been based on organizing exactly those malignant forces. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Playful cats.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Nina Lakhani reports on the latest data showing greenhouse gas emissions rising at an alarming rate. Bill McKibben discusses the math of climate change - including the vanishing budget for continued carbon pollution if we want to avoid catastrophic outcomes, and the plummeting price of actually making a transition to renewable energy. And Matthew Rosza writes about the foreseeable risks of a world with far less fresh water than we've come to count on. 

- Mitchell Beer writes that pipeline megaprojects invariably result in massive cost overruns, while also pointing out how the plan to offload TMX onto an Indigenous buyer seems designed to result in the transfer of a soon-to-be-stranded asset. 

- Meanwhile, Chris Hatch highlights the latest Conservative carbon tax tantrum. 

- Sharon Lerner reports on the EPA's inexplicable approval of a plastic-based fuel which looks to drastically exacerbate cancer rates among people exposed to it. 

- Finally, Victoria Gibson discusses how Toronto's homelessness crisis only stands to get worse as higher levels of government refuse to contribute - though the city's own focus on policing rather than providing services represents another key part of the problem. But on the bright side, Jason McBride reports on the non-profit Neighbourhood Land Trust's work in ensuring that rental housing is made available based on community need rather than a drive for profit. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- The University of Denver examines how prior infection with COVID-19 produces effects comparable to a traumatic brain injury in worsening the effects of long COVID. And Laise Conde reports on the efforts of Protect Out Province BC (among others) to keep people protected even as the motivation to normalize continued spread is used as an excuse to slash any public health measures, while Meg Duff reports that access to Paxlovid is being restricted even as its function in reducing the severity of long COVID becomes better known. 

- Meanwhile, Mariana Mazzucato discusses the need for our system of drug research and manufacturing to be oriented toward keeping people healthy rather than locking in corporate profit streams. 

- Adam King writes about British Columbia's example in showing how reducing employer interference in organizing can help workers to pursue their collective bargaining rights. 

- Luke Savage discusses how Elon Musk has become a test case in demonstrating that amassing money under a capitalist system has nothing to do with merit. And Nik Popli highlights how food companies have made groceries more expensive through blatant profiteering. 

- Finally, Alex Himelfarb writes that there's nothing prudent about budgetary choices which fall far short of meeting the needs of people and the planet. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Esther Choo and Scott Duke Kominers are the latest to point out the need for a focused effort (comparable to the Operation Warp Speed project to develop the original COVID-19 vaccines) to respond to the public health emergency that is widespread long COVID. Phil Tank highlights how the Moe government's elimination of masking protection in Saskatchewan health care facilities is a purely political decision to cater to anti-science cranks (which figures to produce disastrous health consequences). And Josiah Mortimer reports on the UK's apparent coverup of workplace COVID infections and fatalities in health facilities.

- Max Fawcett writes about the clear connection between strong social safety nets and people's happiness and well-being. Claire Cain Miller and Alicia Parlapiano chart how the U.S. built a functioning welfare state at the outset of the COVID pandemic - and has since dismantled it based on the perceived imperative to stop helping people. Andre La Rosa-Rodriguez reports on the rightful concerns by food banks that governments are entrenching the need for private charity rather than doing anything to ameliorate systemic deprivation. And Moira Welsh reports on the high rates of poverty and precarious housing among older women - and some of the options available to ensure a reasonable standard of living.

- Monica Potts discusses how rural America's combination of moral puritanism and limited economic development traps women based on their family backgrounds and sexual choices.

- Finally, Ann Pettifor writes about the importance of applying the principle that "we can afford what we can do" to the task of transitioning to a clean energy society. And Michael Mann discusses how climate change deniers seem to have finally been left behind in Australia's policy discussions - though many of us know from experience how other delay and obfuscation tactics can temporarily take the place of outright denial with a substantially similar effect.

Musical interlude

Skylar Grey - Show Me Where It Hurts

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Linda McQuaig calls out the Ford PCs for making it even more difficult to hold corporate health care operators to account for sub-par service. And Emma McIntosh, Fatima Syed and Denise Balkissoon discuss Ford's latest sketchy step to turn farmland and industrial areas into new suburban sprawl, 

- Guido Lorenzi and Ivan Werning theorize (PDF) that inflation is best seen as conflict-based, representing the accumulation of price increases by parties with the perceived market power to impose them. And Duncan Kinney offers a reminder that the largest set of money stolen is that pilfered from workers by employers. 

- Colin Woodard discusses how car payments are taking up an increasingly large share of already-strained U.S. incomes. And Paul Kiel examines how the ultrarich are able to claim private jets and yachts as tax deductions while most people have to pay for transportation from after-tax incomes. 

- Finally, J.W. Mason discusses why socialists should be eager to see industrial policy as a tool to ensure that productive capacity is used to meet human needs and develop desirable economic activity (including the tools for a just transition). And Kevin Anderson offers an overview of what an effective plan to limit warming to 1.5 degrees will require - while noting that what's needed far exceeds what any major actors currently have on the table. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Lisa Schnirring reports on new research showing how infection with COVID-19 tends to lead to extended sick leave, while Helen Twohig et al. survey the prevalance and effects of long COVID among children. And Alec Salloum reports that workers and experts alike are rightly appalled at the Moe government's political order to expose patients and staff to needless risk by removing masking requirements. 

- Justin Chandler interviews Marilyn Struthers about the role municipalities and non-profit organizations can play in ensuring people have homes. Ximena Gonzalez reports on the UCP's choice to make matters worse by paying to privatize existing housing and enrich landlords. And Annette Desmarais and Andre Magnan report on the takeover of prairie farmland by institutional investors, squeezing out anybody who doesn't have multi-billion-dollar pools of capital to to throw around. 

- David Ho highlights why we can't accept the theoretical possibility of future carbon dioxide removal as an answer to the urgent need to reduce emissions now. Damian Carrington reports on new research suggesting that ice sheets may be collapsing far faster than expected. 

- Meanwhile, Rob Miller calls out Danielle Smith for deliberately blocking any transition to cleaner and cheaper renewable energy in order to serve her party's fossil fuel donors. And Alex Robinson writes about the corporate lobbying aimed at undermining any international effort to reduce plastic pollution. 

- Finally, Owen Jones writes that there's ample reason to fear the decline of the West - not because of trumped-up claims about morality, but because of real losses in health, well-being and equality. And Michael Harris discusses how Pierre Poilievre has bet his leadership and his party on MAGA politics - even in the absence of much reason to think Canadians are willing to let them carry the day.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- IOS Press discusses new research showing that COVID-19 accelerates the cognitive decline in people already living with dementia. F. Perry Wilson examines how COVID has both directly exacerbated the U.S.' fatality rate, and further exposed existing deficiencies in public health. And John Klein is duly scathing in responding to the Moe government's decision to eliminate masking protections in Saskatchewan health facilities (particularly just in time for a holiday in the midst of a wave to maximize the resulting damage). 

- Meanwhile, Andrew Nikiforuk examines how Danielle Smith and the UCP are doing their utmost to systematically any expectation that elected officials will operate with even a modicum of honesty or public concern, rather than exploiting every available weakness in order to funnel goodies to supporters.  

- Dylan Scott discusses how the development of limited private-sector competition has barely made a dent in price-gouging for EpiPens in the U.S. And Nicholas Frew reports on the growing recognition that work as a firefighter should be treated as a risk factor for cancer. 

- Molly Crabapple reports on the growth of a tenants' movement in New York to counteract the abuses of greedy landlords, while Jen St. Denis exposes the brazenness of one Vancouver landlord which attempted to use its own failure to comply with building codes as an excuse to declare a building "decommissioned" in order to clear out tenants. And Jeral Poskey examines how the U.S.' focus on parking over all other planning considerations has led to immense costs in health and well-being. 

- Finally, Andrew MacLeod reports on a new study showing the connection between children facing preventable risk factors at age 10, and a lifetime of social issues. (Though it's worth noting that the case for providing support to children at risk shouldn't be taken as an argument against universal or broad-based programs which aren't designed to devote resources to exclusion.)

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Stretching cats.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Andre Santa Cruz et al. study the immunological dysfunction that looks to be the norm for up to six months after a COVID-19 infection. And Geraldine Nouailles et al. find that there's substantial room for improvement in the types of vaccines currently available, both in the use of live-attenuated vaccines and a shift to nasal delivery. 

- Holly Williams reports that more UK workers are facing long-term sickness than ever before. Dawn Bowdish calls out how Canada has allowed needless suffering and death by refusing to take basic steps to limit the spread of COVID, with particularly dire effects for elderly people. And Yvette Brend points out how we're falling behind other wealthier countries in avoiding infant mortality. 

- Cory Doctorow discusses how the acceptance and propagation of the laughable assumptions underlying laissez-faire economic models has produced disastrous consequences for the people faced with the resulting decisions. And Annie Nova talks to Matthew Desmond about the reality that poverty is highly profitable - meaning there are vested and well-funded interests fighting to ensure people continue to be trapped in it. 

- Finally, Vivian Underhill and Lourdes Vera discuss how many Americans are drinking water contaminated with toxic chemicals due to governments' refusal to regulate fracking. Kiah Lucero discusses the UCP's choice to conceal the Kearl toxic chemical leak from communities and other governments. And Julia Kane, Lina Tran and Diana Kruzman note that the effects of climate change include dangerous changes to groundwater. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Umair Haque writes about the implications of facing a deliberate decline in both environmental and economic well-being for the sole purpose of facilitating the short-term extraction of profits. Daniel Gilbert, Todd Frankel and Joseph Menn report on Silicon Valley Bank's choice to discard any risk modeling that accurately pointed out the dangers of its lending strategy before its collapse. Bryce Covert weighs in on how the Federal Reserve's determination to squelch economic and wage growth (but not the profiteering which is the actual cause of inflation) represents little more than class war against workers. And Peter Hannam reports on a study showing how Australia's tax system has been set up to make taxpayers fund inheritances for the super-wealthy at the expense of social programs and benefits. 

- Zia Weise and Federica Di Sario report on Antonio Gutteres' call for wealthy countries to accelerate their commitments to stop emitting carbon pollution. Geoff Dembicki's Senate testimony highlights the need to investigate the fraud of the fossil fuel sector in sowing doubt about science that it knew to be accurate. Yves Smith discusses why market fundamentalism is utterly incompatible with averting climate breakdown. And Stephanie Roe offers a reminder of the ways to help at the individual level - even if they need to be paired with major systemic progress. 

- Euan Thomson and Petra Schulz comment on Pierre Poilievre's rage farming in the face of any empirical reality when it comes to harm reduction - though of course the principle applies to all kinds of policy areas. 

- Shawn Micallef points out John Tory's grim legacy as the mayor of Toronto bent on impeding any social progress in the name of austerity while still harming the city's finances in the process. And Mario Canseco discusses new polling showing that a strong majority of Canadians favour 15-minute cities and the underlying principle of accessible communities (even in the face of the petro-right's rage machine). 

- Finally, John Sewell writes that anybody actually wanting to reduce crime (rather than stoking an environment of fear) should be working on ensuring people have the necessities of life, rather than pouring money into arming police forces. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Statistics Canada offers some new (if dated) data on the spread of COVID-19 in Canada - with over 40% of those with antibodies from a past infection having no idea they'd ever had COVID. And Carla Johnson examines the inescapable answer to the question as to whether we've allowed COVID-19 to win over humanity.

- Brendan Haley discusses how the U.S.' sudden infusion of investment in a green economy exposes Canada's lack of any meaningful industrial policy. And Brett Dolter points out that we should be far more concerned with getting to balance (or better) in the global carbon budget than in government balance sheets.

- Gordon Laxer notes that any meaningful study of foreign interference in Canadian politics needs to include a strong focus on the control exerted by the fossil fuel sector. And Kristoffer Tigue examines how oil tycoons and their puppet politicians continue to water down any attempt at agreement on the necessary steps to avert climate breakdown.

- Gregory Beatty highlights the case for universal reproductive medicine (which B.C. has since introduced).

- Finally, the Star's editorial board calls out the cruelty motivating Doug Ford's elimination of health care for the people who have the least.

Musical interlude

Stoto - Many Dreams Ago

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- The John Snow Project discusses how government minimization of the ongoing risk of COVID-19 - including the removal of what few policies remained to limit its spread - is pushing people to neglect the continued danger. And Josh Lynn reports on the latest data which shows that COVID remains a threat to Saskatchewanians, with 18 deaths in the last two-week reporting period alone. 

- John Burn-Murdoch examines why life expectancies in the U.S. are falling from their already worrisome levels. And in a couple of prime examples of the risks which have been deemed acceptable to impose on the public, Jake Johnson reports on the leak of a radioactive compound from a nuclear power plant, while Holly Yan et al. report on a train derailment and ethanol spill resulting in a fire and evacuation. 

- All of which makes it particularly damning that the Libs are throwing public money at the nuclear and fossil fuel sectors. Bill McGuire points out the folly of the UK's similar attempt to brand subsidies for increased oil and gas development (and associated carbon pollution) as somehow being part of a net zero emissions plan. And Nils Markusson discusses the utter failure of carbon capture and storage to meet even its selective promises to reduce emissions.  

- Luke Mari writes about the need for middle-density development to make communities walkable and liveable. And John Lorinc reports on the Ford PC's plan to put Ontario Place - including its nominally public areas - fully under corporate control. 

- Finally, Luke LeBrun reports on the Canada Revenue Agency's own recognition that Canadians want to see far more action to confront tax dodging by wealthy people and corporations. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Hayden Klein reports on new research suggesting a connection between COVID-19 infection and increased cancer rates (particularly in younger people). And the Trade Union Council and Long COVID Support survey how workers with long COVID have been treated by employers - finding that one in seven has lost their job, and two-thirds have faced employment discrimination for having the temerity to suffer from a disability.  

- Greg Jericho offers a reminder that allowing workers' pay to keep up with price increases shouldn't be treated as an affront to the economy. Valerie Tarasuk and Tim Li point out how the Trudeau Libs' short-term "grocery rebate" falls far short of the secure access to essential goods. And Armine Yalnizyan discusses how the Libs' budget falls far short of any self-proclaimed feminism in doing nothing to respond to the immediate needs of women who have been disproportionately hit by both a wave of inflation and stingy monetary policy. 

- Adam Radwanski and Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood each point out the problems with Libs' reliance on the corporate sector to dictate the terms of any climate progress. Merran Smith and Trevor Melanson point out the reality that fossil fuel jobs are disappearing based on forces far beyond the control of any Canadian government, making it thoroughly counterproductive to put off a transition to clean energy which will actually provide good long-term employment opportunities. And Alastair Marsh reports on new analysis showing that thanks to plummeting prices, there's effectively no cost to a shift to clean energy alternatives. 

- Finally, John Michael McGrath weighs in on the Ford PCs' callous decision to strip health care away from people without current proof of insurance. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Ritika Goel, Vanessa Redditt and Michaela Beder discuss how the Ford PCs are cruelly taking health care away from the marginalized people who need it most. And CBC News reports on the preferred right-wing model of privatized profit centres threatening patients into paying for upsold services. 

- But on the bright side, Harold Meyerson writes that California is taking steps toward the public production of insulin and other medication to ensure that corporate profit motives don't restrict access to needed medicine. 

- Francis Sedgmore points out how our already-worrisome expectations for an overheating Arctic region may underestimate actual temperature changes. And Moritz Langer et al. examine the threat posed by the thawing of permafrost at sites with industrial contamination. 

- Damian Carrington reports on a new study which concludes that the UK is completely unprepared for the readily foreseeable effects of a climate breakdown. And Kristoffer Tigue reports on the corporate interests (and their puppet governments) who insisted on watering down science-based recommendations in the latest IPCC report. 

- Finally, Adam Minter writes about the growing push to ensure a right to repair consumer electronics. And Michael Woods reports on the preliminary steps toward its implementation in the recent federal budget.