Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Lauren Rosenthal, Brian Sullivan and Christopher Cannon examine how the prospect of extreme weather and associated disasters is a reality everywhere in the U.S. Helena Horton reports on a World Meteorological Organization report showing how rivers are drying up, resulting in a grave threat to fresh water supplies. And Andrew Nikiforuk writes about the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in particular, while Kate Aronoff discusses the importance of putting climate safety at the forefront of all kinds of policy decisions due to its foundational impact across borders and policy areas. 

- Shawn McCarthy writes that we should be able to treat adaptation to a changing climate as a non-partisan priority - though that assumes away the conscious strategy of denial on the part of far too many of our political leaders. And Crawford Kilian discusses Thomas Piketty's recognition that any viable climate plan needs to rein in inequality and excess - which is precisely why the people flaunting obscene wealth and power refuse to accept any meaningful action. 

- And in case there was any doubt that antisocial action is rewarded among our corporate elites, Max Fawcett discusses how oil operators who have dumped massive amounts of environmental liability on the public (after previously extracting profits without setting aside the cost of cleanup) are being celebrated by the business class as representing everything they aspire to achieve. 

- Finally, Alex Himelfarb highlights the importance of collective action as the only viable response to both an economy grossly skewed in favour of the wealthy few, and the message that there is no alternative which serves as the substitute for any justification for that reality. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Geoffrey Deihl warns that this year's U.S. election may represent a point of no return in trying to avoid civilization-shaking climate breakdown (even if even the best possible result falls far short of ensuring the action we need). Tim Winton writes that it's understandable to experience rage and dread when we're treated as colonial subjects by politicians and tycoons who couldn't care less for our futures. And Jake Bittle points out that the costs of calamities like Hurricane Helene aren't currently accounted for - meaning that the general public will end up paying the price for the corporate-driven insistence on continuing to spew carbon pollution.

- Meanwhile, Christopher Oldcorn reports on Brett Dolter's observation that Saskatchewan can readily afford to be a full participant in Canada's clean energy system - contrary to the denialist impulses of the Sask Party and its fossil fuel backers. 

- Phillip Inman offers a reminder to UK Labour of the importance of investing in maintaining existing infrastructure rather than presuming the sole role of government is to pursue new and shiny photo-ops. And Maya Singer Hobbs discusses why new roads in particular are an unconscionable waste of public money compared to superior transportation options.

- Jamie Mann reports on the connections between the UK Cons and a billionaire family involved in blacklisting workers for daring to unionize.

- Finally, Trevor Herriot writes about the precipitous drop in Saskatchewan voter participation in recent elections - and the risk that a population which has given up on the possibility of change for the better will simply set itself up to be exploited all the more.

Musical interlude

CAMELPHAT & Nadia Ali - Endlessly

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Melissa Hanson writes about life as a climate refugee from what was billed as a relatively safe area - making for a particularly painful position in the midst of an election where a major contender denies both the reality of climate change and the humanity of refugees generally. Andrea Thompson points out that a natural disaster such as Hurricane Helene will have continuing impacts on victims for years to come. Jonathan Watts reports on new research showing that wildfires are rapidly burning through humanity's carbon budget, while Benjamin Shingler charts how Canada's 2024 wildfire season was severe by any standard other than the unheard-of fires of the previous year. And Marko Hyvarinen et al. study how our climate is breaking down faster than many species can possibly adapt. 

- Katharine Hayhoe discusses how China is far ahead of the rest of the world in developing clean and cheap renewable energy. But Richard Murphy laments that UK Labour is joining far too many Western governments in throwing massive amounts of free money at the fossil fuel sector even while telling citizens they'll have to fend for themselves in an environment of austerity. And Karin Larsen reports on Burnaby's agreement not to criticize Trans Mountain after its pipeline was forced through the city at pblic expense. 

- Jon Milton interviews Nora Loreto about the decline of public services in Canada in the name of neoliberalism. And Linda McQuaig discusses how the Ford PCs - like their ideological cousins elsewhere - are undermining public health care in order to ensure donors can profit from needed health services. 

- Meanwhile, Angela Amato reports on the UCP's decision to facilitate corporate influence and control in municipal politics.

- Colin Lecher and Tomas Apodaca expose how Facebook profits from the environment of violent extremism which it promotes. And Alex Kierstein reports on Ford's patent filing seeking to eavesdrop on car users in order to foist ads on the occupants of vehicles.

- Finally, Fair Vote Canada fact checks Justin Trudeau's excuses for breaking his promise of a fair electoral system - while highlighting that its members and others who support a more proportional system were specifically targeted for misleading promises which Trudeau never planned to fulfil. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Paul Abela writes that the continual concentration of wealth is patently unsustainable. Alex Himelfarb discusses how neoliberalism has laid the groundwork for the violent authoritarianism of Donald Trump and his fascist fellow travelers. And Karen Landmand examines how private equity's takeover of health care in the U.S. is endangering patients' lives while driving health care workers out of their professions. 

- Josh Pringle reports on a new survey showing Canadian workers see substantial benefits from remote work (even as many employers have sought to put an end to it). And Cory Doctorow juxtaposes the impetus toward in-person control and extensive supervision with Wells Fargo's complete neglect of well-being to the point of leaving a dead employee rot for days. 

- Katia Lo Innes and Tannara Yelland take a look at the double-dipped donations from the corporate elite which are funding the Saskatchewan Party's election campaign. And Ricardo Acuna discusses how the UCP is determine to avoid anything resembling fair taxation. 

- Finally, Stephen Magusiak exposes the hasty scrubbing of the BC Cons' platform, while Andrew MacLeod points out a few questions which should be directed at John Rustad if he deigned to interact with actual journalists. And Rumneek Johal notes that even the sanitized version of the party's plans includes using the notwithstanding clause to lock up people dealing with substance addiction. 

Wednesday Night Cat Blogging

Collapsed cat.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Daron Acemoglu highlights the dangers of a new gilded age - particularly as increasingly large concentrations of wealth are taken for merit or wisdom. Amanda Marcotte writes that anybody who actually cared about the future would seek to rein in climate change - not deny its reality like JD Vance and the rest of the right. And Emile Torres calls out the highly selective "longtermism" being used by the uber-wealthy to justify sacrificing most of humanity in the foreseeable future. 

- Meanwhile, Andre Mayer reports on the corporate conglomerates who are breaking their already-insufficient climate promises even as the climate breaks down in front of our eyes. And Amanda Buckiewicz reports on Richard Thompson's recognition that we're not moving anywhere near quickly enough to address the known harms of microplastics.

- Sam Levine reports on the employees who died after a plastics manufacturer reportedly ordered them to stay on site in the midst of Hurricane Helene. And CBC News reports on the multiple employees injured by an explosion at an Alberta oil site.

- Rupendra Brahambhatt discusses how the hype surrounding AI seems to serve little purpose other than to excuse increased energy consumption and environmental degradation. 

- Finally, Gabriela Calugay-Casuga notes that full-time work is getting harder to find - making raw job numbers an incomplete indicator of income and security.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Amy Goodman calls out the media's failure to connect the devastation of Hurricane Helene with the global warming which is exacerbating extreme weather, while Jessica Corbett talks to experts who recognize that it would serve as a blaring wakeup call if the powers that be were at all willing to let such a thing be heard. And Andrew Dessler and Kiara Alfonseca each discuss the grim reality that one of the cities hardest hit by Helene is Asheville, NC - which was previously theorized to be one of the safest cities in the face of a climate breakdown. 

- Meanwhile Keira Wright, Bernadette Toh and Charlotte Hughes-Morgan write about the impact extreme weather will have in pushing up the price of food. 

- Carl Meyer reports that fossil fuel executives are predictably demanding that Canada do nothing whatsoever to limit carbon pollution from the oil and gas sector. And Julia Conley reports on yet another example of oil-sector price fixing which has ensured that consumers pay through the nose no matter what climate policies are or aren't in place.  

- Jeremy Corbyn discusses how corporations focused on nothing but concentrating their own wealth and power have become the dominant governing entities around the globe. And Jamie Mann reports on new data from the Tax Justice Network on the world's most notorious tax havens - with UK territories continuing to rank among the worst offenders in allowing for corporate tax evasion. 

- Finally, Adam King writes that a strong labour movement in Canada needs to fight for the interests of Indigenous workers who continue to face systemic barriers. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your Truth and Reconciliation Day reading.

- Michelle Cyca discusses the promise that the awareness and education shared in the course of Truth and Reconciliation Day can be a first step toward a more respectful future, while Tumia Knott writes about the resilience needed to keep Indigenous culture alive in the face of a concerted campaign to eradicate it. And Amanda Follett Hosgood reports on the rightful concerns of Indigenous leaders that John Rustad and the BC Cons are looking to set any prospect of reconciliation back by decades.  

- Meanwhile, Tim Wilton writes that the dominant current form of colonialism is the subjugation of human interests to the profit-seeking of corporate resource extractors. 

- Wenfei Xu et al. study the distribution of traffic tickets in Chicago, and find that while red light cameras allot tickets in proportion to the racial makeup of drivers, police tend to stop Black drivers at a rate three times that of white drivers.  

- Kelly Ashmore reports on the rising XEC COVID-19 variant - complete with particularly severe symptoms compared to the most recent waves. Ozgur Tanriverdi et al. study how all types of COVID infections can exacerbate the risk of developing cancer. Julie Corliss examines new research finding that even "just the flu" can increase the risk of heart conditions. And Jennifer Lee reports on the Alberta health care workers bracing for yet another fall patient surge into a woefully overwhelmed medical system. 

- Finally, Selena Simmons-Duffin reports on new research linking anti-trans laws to an increase in suicide attempts among trans teens. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Joelle Gergis offers a reminder that we're running out of time to avert a climate calamity - and that the only reasonable goal is a rapid push toward zero emissions, not yet another decades-away "net zero" target divorced from any action which could possibly result in its achievement. Umair Irfan discusses how solar energy is far exceeding even the most optimistic projections in both price and deployment, making any fossil fuel-based power generation (or delay tactics built around nuclear distractions) into a clear financial loser for everybody but the oil and gas sector. And Abdul Martin Safraz reports on the Toronto Transit Commission's refusal of false advertising from the fossil fuel sector as an example worth emulating.

- Meanwhile, Jon Queally reports on the pesticide industry's use of public money to target people who dare to point out the environmental and health harms caused by chemical pollution. 

- Polly Thompson discusses how the executive-driven edicts requiring full-time in-office work reflect the real-world consequences of a corporate echo chamber. And John Quiggin notes that the objective success of remote work only shows how the CEO class doesn't deserve the level of entitlement it's claimed - and indeed seems to serve little useful purpose at all.

- Finally, Thomas Zimmer highlights how Project 2025 is shifting votes toward Democrats by providing rare advance warning of what the Republicans plan to do if handed any more power.

Musical interlude

Tove Lo - No One Dies From Love

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Eric Topol examines the latest research showing COVID-19's effect on the brain, while David Robson takes note of the prospect that the brain has its own microbiome whose disruption is responsible for neuro degenerative disorders. And Erica Sloan discusses COVID-19's wider effects on the body. 

- Lois Parshley discusses the insurance apocalypse developing as insurers decline to cover the effects of a climate breakdown. And Jake Johnson reports on a new study from Oil Change International showing that there are plenty of resources to help reduce the damage from climate change if we take even the bare minimum steps of ending fossil fuel subsidies and cracking down on tax evasion by the wealthy. 

- Meanwhile, Silas Zuereb examines how tax giveaways to wealthy investors are exacerbating Canada's housing crisis. 

- Democracy Watch points out how the current Parliamentary study into foreign political interference is designed to miss crucial weaknesses in Canada's laws and enforcement systems.  

- Dougald Lamont walks through the connections between the Cons, the institutional right and the Flu Trux Klan which violently occupied Ottawa and other sites.  

- Finally, Alex Himelfarb discusses the importance of maintaining optimism and determination even in the face of a polycrisis - particularly where one of the root causes is the loss of a sense of potential for collective action to create meaningful improvement. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Hilary Beaumont and Nina Lakhani report on the fossil fuel lobby's pressure on U.S. governments to impose draconian anti-protest laws to prevent climate activists from being heard. darryll k. jones points out the dangers facing environmental activists around the globe at the hands of mining corporations and the governments who serve them. And Robert Reich writes that Elon Musk's control over crucial infrastructure - and his complete lack of compunction in using it to settle personal scores or strongarm governments - represents an unacceptable security risk for the U.S. 

- Tamara Palmer discusses the embarrassing lack of recycling of electronic waste - though it's worth noting how manufacturers put far more resources into pushing people to buy new devices than allowing them to recycle old ones. And Rosa Galvez makes the case for an international treaty on plastic pollution.

- Meanwhile, Richard Murphy argues that it's long past time for the UK to abolish "freeports" intended to allow corporations to operate outside the law - while noting that there's been little apparent interest in taking up that option in any event. And Aditya Chakrabortty reminds UK Labour that voters turfed the Cons for trashing public services in the name of catering to the corporate sector - meaning that they're not likely to be pleased with continued austerity from the government which ran on the need for change. 

- Finally, Lorraine Carpenter reports on the spread of fake X accounts in Quebec - following the pattern of similar accounts parroting Con messaging. And Don Braid and Jason Markusoff each discuss how Danielle Smith is catering to the most extreme wing of the UCP, while Jeremy Appel notes that there's little to distinguish those demands from the most dishonest and bigoted faces of the MAGA movement. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Glen Hendrix wonders whether any talk about impending civilizational collapse may miss the point that we've already largely lost any ethic of care deserving of the name. And Joshua Hill examines how Greta Thunberg's climate advocacy led inexorably to her challenging the colonial and capitalist structures underlying the fossil fuel industry - and in turn to her being systematically silenced by corporate media. 

- Geoffrey Diehl discusses how we've allowed our minds to be poisoned both metaphorically by corporate propaganda, and literally by microplastics and other industrial byproducts. Karen Raubenheimer comments on an expert review of the many sources and effects of microplastics which cries out for immediate action to stop their spread. And Tom Sanzillo, Suzanne Mattei and Abhishek Sinha argue that a cap on plastic production makes sense as one way to manage and ultimately rein in plastic pollution.

- Mike de Souza and Carl Meyer report that it's only after nine years in office - and with a tenuous hold on power - that the Libs are even presenting a first draft of regulations governing carbon pollution from the oil sector. And de Souza also reports on the Libs' funneling of tens of millions of dollars to McKinsey to push through the Trans Mountain pipeline for the benefit of its fossil fuel clients. 

- The Canadian Press reports that the summer of 2024 saw Canada set yet another record for insured losses from extreme weather. And Anand Ram and Benjamin Shingler discuss new research showing that a wildfire can create heat islands for years afterward - particularly in the coniferous monocultures which are being substituted for natural forest development. 

- Finally, Jen St. Denis offers a look at the white nationalism and deep-seated bigotry within the BC Cons as the business class seeks to install them in power. And Rumneek Johal and Andrew MacLeod each point out the conspiracy theories John Rustad has spread while taking over as the face of British Columbia's right wing. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Curled-up cat.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Avery Lotz reports on Al Gore's latest reminder that the fossil fuel sector is far better at capturing politicians than carbon pollution. And Max Fawcett discusses how the UCP continues to make polluter-paid its primary operating principle in dealing with the oil and gas sector. 

- Marietje Scheeka points out the dangers of treating "innovation" (defined as corporate impunity) as the sole end to be pursued through economic policy. And Pauline Gerrard writes about the need to keep plastics out of our fresh water.  

- Alex Hemingway rightly questions why municipalities are banning small, liveable apartment buildings while complaining about a housing crisis. 

- Kendal David and Hannah Owczar note that Leah Gazan's basic income bill offers an immediate chance to move toward eradicating poverty in Canada. 

- Finally, Randy Robinson points out how the Ford PCs use big headline numbers to paper over real cuts to public services - and it's well worth noting the similar pattern of the Moe government as it pretends not to have starved Saskatchewan's health and education systems. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Sarah Kaplan and Simon Ducroquet highlight new research documenting hundreds of millions of years worth of temperature fluctuations - and finding both that high temperatures are connected to mass extinction events, and that the current rate of increase lacks any precedent in the historical record. 

- Michael Sainato reports on a new study showing which corporations are doing the most to undermine democracy - with big tech joining mining and fossil fuel conglomerates among the worst offenders. 

- Cory Doctorow discusses how one of the fundamental elements of exploitative capitalism is its deployment of boringness and complexity to keep people from challenging its abuses. And the Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlights how no amount of economic growth will reduce poverty levels if it isn't accompanied by redistribution.

- Yves Smith points out how businesses have systematically implemented price increases to extract more from the people who have the least (while falsely blaming it on forces beyond their control). And Sarah Butler reports on a study showing exactly how much more grocery stores charge for the "convenience" of shopping at smaller, closer locations - amounting to another increased cost for people who don't have a large vehicle ready at hand.

- Finally, Jessica Wildfire notes that the employer push to force workers back to offices in the midst of a pandemic is all about preserving real estate value with no regard for health or well-being. And William Trender et al. examine the effect of COVID-19 on memory and cognition - finding that it regularly causes observable harm without a patient noticing.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Tarique Niazi discusses some of the geopolitical implications of the intensifying climate crisis. Aaron Whetty offers a reminder that the joint effort by the Libs and Cons to treat a consumer carbon tax as the sole point of climate policy worth discussing missed the much bigger picture. And Nick Hedley notes that a rapid and successful transition to renewable energy in China stands to reduce global demand for fossil fuels far faster than previously projected.

- John Lavis and Mathieu Ouimet highlight how decision-makers would be expected to apply scientific knowledge to deal with a global polycrisis if they had any interest in acknowledging and responding to it. And the University of Plymouth takes note of the scientific consensus on the need to tackle the dispersion of microplastics.

- Kiran Stacey reports on a new study showing that a corporate tax giveaway in the UK is costing three times as much in revenue as it stands to produce in investment. And Sharon Graham asks what a Labour party is for if the UK's version is bent on starving the public while serving the interests of the corporate class.

- Wing Li rightly argues that the UCP shouldn't be using Alberta's public money to build private schools - particularly when it's responsible for failing to maintain public educational infrastructure. 

- Finally, Richard Murphy discusses the need to re-re-brand private equity with its previous title of "asset stripping" - and match that more accurate description with public policy aimed at limiting the harm it can do to functional economic vehicles.

Musical interlude

Blu DeTiger - Vintage (Flight Facilities Remix)

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Steve Hanley discusses how a climate breakdown would result in the destruction of any other social and political goals which might otherwise be achieved. Scott Forbes writes that the foreseeable consequences of the climate crisis make it impossible to shrug off denialism in theory or practice. And Laura Paddison highlights how the rapid melting of the Thwaites Glacier could cause it to collapse - and produce a massive sea level rise - far sooner than previously anticipated. 

- James Norman points out the environmental dangers of soft plastics - but also the availability of alternatives if we can be bothered to pursue them. And Umair Irfan discusses how solar power - both on its own and in combination with battery storage - is spreading faster and more effectively than projected, making continued reliance on fossil fuel energy a waste in terms of short-term costs even leaving aside the need to preserve a habitable environment.  

- Brandon Vigliarolo reports on FTC Chair Lina Khan's recognition that people deserve protection from corporate data harvesting. Cory Doctorow writes about the reality that few if any mass-produced consumer goods meet such basic standards as not engaging in gratuitious surveillance or not being subject to remote termination in the name of increased profits. And Jason Koebler notes that one project seeking to analyze human language usage has shut down due to the reality that online content is now irreparably polluted by AI spam. 

- Jake Johnson reports on new research showing that the U.S.' profit-driven health care system continues to be more expensive and less effective than any alternatives. And Christina Frangou notes that Pierre Poilievre refuses to talk about the health care privatization favoured by his party and its corporate backers - making it clear that he doesn't want to be held to the slightest commitment to preserve a public health care system. 

- Finally, Kaelyn Lynch points out how the symptoms of severe long COVID may make it impossible for people to access care. Jamie Ducharme writes about the growing evidence that COVID-19 has done widespread cognitive damage. And Rieza Soelaeman et al. find that a strong majority of U.S. adults want to be updated on COVID levels and are prepared to take protective steps when they know there's a high risk - making it all the more inexcusable that the basic information needed to give effect to that desire to help has mostly been scrapped.