Musical interlude

Elderbrook - Numb

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Matthew Rosza reports on the continued toll of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including over 1,000 deaths per week in the U.S. alone along with massive numbers of hospitalizations. Lauren Pelley highlights how health care workers are being burdened with unmanageable case loads and understaffing due to their own illnesses as part of the post-acknowledgement-of-COVID "new norm", while Louella Vaughan and Nigel Edwards implore governments to reverse the trend of emergency services being shuttered for lack of staff. And Joe Vipond, Julia Wright and Dan Furst rightly argue that it's long past time to recognize that the determination to operate in denial of COVID in the name of the almighty dollar has proven disastrous for the economy and public health and well-being alike.  

- Victoria St. Martin reports on the recognition at COP28 that air pollution linked to fossil fuel consumption produces devastating health impacts in addition to precipitating the ongoing climate breakdown. But Soma Marla discusses how fossil fuel conglomerates are dictating the conference's agenda, while Arthur Zhang points out how the oil and gas sector is singlehandedly destroying any hope Canada might have of living up to its climate commitments. 

- Pete Evans reports on the latest Parliamentary hearings into food prices - featuring Loblaws and Walmart both trying to enshrine "the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all" as a settled foundation for public policy.

- Finally, Cory Doctorow warns about the trend of manufacturers unilaterally removing features and downgrading products even after consumers have already bought them - and points out how the law perversely encourages that consumer abuse. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Adam King discusses how governments and employers have memory-holed some of the most important lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic as to the need for paid sick leave to ensure workplaces don't exacerbate the spread of dangerous diseases. 

- Debbie Cenziper, Michael Sallah and Michael Korsh examine how the FDA put millions of people at risk by failing to regulate the use of tainted breathing machines. And Carey Gillam reports on new research showing how the use of glyphosate herbicide endangers pregnant women and their children even who merely live near fields which have been sprayed. 

- Joe Vipond discusses how an actual cap on carbon emissions would have massive spillover health benefits, while Arthur Neslen reports on a push to put climate policy in the hands of experts rather than politicians and their donors. But Peter Zimonjic reports that the Libs are instead watering down existing targets for the oil and gas sector (even setting aside their continued blithe ignorance of emissions at the consumer level). 

- Meanwhile, Carl Meyer points out the recognition by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and Greenpeace Canada that there's no effective plan to counteract fossil sector greenwashing. And Ani Dasgupta sets out the crucial myths which have been exploited by the oil and gas sector to excuse the continued expansion of an industry which is already the leading cause of an ongoing climate breakdown. 

- Robson Fletcher talks to Trevor Tombe about the distributional impact of the carbon tax currently on the books - with the inescapable conclusion being that the Cons are looking to hand free money to the rich rather than helping those who are less well off. And Tracy Smith-Carrier examines the myths used to perpetuate poverty and block wide-scale implementation of a basic income. 

- Finally, David Climenhaga rightly notes that the Alberta NDP should have far more important things to do than to pursue a name change. (Though I'd raise an additional point on the futility of rebranding: to the extent the UCP's mantra of a "Trudeau-Notley-Singh alliance" carries an ounce of weight, the inclusion of the Trudeau Libs signals that nothing about a different party name or structure will change the messaging one iota.)

Wednesday Night Cat Blogging

Last cat slumbering.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Nandini Gautam discusses the World Health Organization's research showing how COVID-19 damages the human immune system. And Adam Kucharski takes a look at historic accounts of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic as a grim foreshadowing of how history books will look back on the public policy response to COVID. 

- Doug Cuthand calls out the Moe government as falling squarely into the group of obstructionist governments looking to derail COP28 and any other work to avert a climate breakdown, while Jeremy Appel examines the idiocy of Danielle Smith's invocation of a Sovereignty Act to try to avoid any path to reducing emissions from the power sector. Chris Kruszewski and David Ellis point out how the wealthiest and greediest few are the only people who benefit from false solutions and delay. And Arielle Samuelson documents some of the fossil fuel lobbyists who are being allowed to set global climate policy, while Jon Queally points out the particular absurdity of a fossil fuel-sector greenwashing effort based on gradually reducing only the carbon pollution caused by the extracting of fuel intended to release massive amounts of CO2 into atmosphere when it's burned. 

- Clarrie Feinstein reports on the reality that condo construction in Toronto is doing nothing to alleviate the housing crisis when half of the units are being snapped up as investment properties. And Liam Casey reports on the Ford PCs' conclusion that it's far too inconvenient for construction firms to face an investigation into *every single fatality* on their work sites, such that deaths will be lumped together as part of what's apparently expected to be a regular inquest process. 

- Finally, Dylan Matthews discusses the results of a large-scale basic income experiment in Kenya - with multiple payment structures producing economic benefits, but long-term security in monthly payments also creating gains in well-being and mental health. 

Musical interlude

PVRIS - Things Are Better (Alt Version)

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Damian Carrington reports on Antonio Guterres' warning to COP28 that we're already in the midst of a climate collapse. Katelyn Reinhart discusses new research showing how existing climate studies underestimate the effects of extreme heat. And Nicholas Beuret writes about the unequal responsibility between countries and people for the emissions that are putting the planet at risk.

-  But Benjamin Shingler reports on the justified concern that a climate conference has been captured by fossil fuel lobbyists bent on long-term destruction in the name of continued windfall profits. And Markham Hislop notes that Danielle Smith is among the attendees determined to keep carbon pollution spewing for decades to come. 

- Crawford Kilian reviews Chris van Tulleken's Ultra-Processed People, while highlighting how much of what's sold to us as food doesn't deserve the name.

- Nabhan Refaie discusses how an increasing number of people are channeling their frustration and anger with an unfair economic system into union activity and other collective action.

- Finally, Cory Doctorow points out how the loudest debates over artificial intelligence are set up to avoid any discussion of how AI is used primarily to reinforce the wealth and power of those who already have the most. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Mark Sumner discusses the World Health Network's recognition that the damage from COVID-19 includes harm to people's immune systems which has made the effect of other diseases more severe. 

- Patrick Metzger examines how the climate crisis is accelerating faster than anticipated. And George Monbiot calls out the billionaires using their wealth and power to push for continued (and even increased) carbon pollution, while Kevin Anderson notes that any path to avoiding a climate breakdown requires an immediate and profound shift in productive capacity toward both cleaner energy and more equal allocation of resources. 

- Meanwhile, Bill McKibben points out how petrostates are using what's supposed to be a climate action conference to make deals to exacerbate our dependence on fossil fuels. And Graham Thomson discusses how Danielle Smith is using yet another set of laughable promises about carbon capture and storage (along with wilful blindness toward end-user emissions) to try to lock in decades of fossil fuel extraction

- Lisa Young calls out Smith and Scott Moe for pantomiming civil disobedience in their effort to serve their corporate masters. And David Fraser reports on the newly-revealed text messages showing that both Brad Wall and Saskatchewan Party MLA Hugh Nerlien were actively involved in advising and supporting the #FluTruxKlan. 

- Finally, Jeremy Simes reports that breast cancer screening is just the latest area where the Sask Party is choosing to funnel money to private Alberta operators rather than investing in a functional health care system in Saskatchewan. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- The Canadian Press reports on Statistics Canada's findings that Canadian life spans have fallen for three years in a row - with Saskatchewan continuing to face the most extreme decline. And Codi Wilson reports on Toronto's closure of its remaining COVID-19 vaccination clinics due to the Ford government's decision to stop funding prevention of avoidable transmission and illness. 

- Norm Farrell discusses how the push to expand liquid gas production may be the most dangerous fossil fuel plan in the world, while Oliver Milman writes about the U.S.' expansion of fossil fuel extraction while the world tries to work on a phaseout. Markham Hislop calls out Danielle Smith's enshittification of energy policy as a means of stalling any transition to clean energy. And Cory Doctorow points out that insurance companies are exacerbating the climate breakdown by funding oil and gas extraction while constraining public mitigation and remediation efforts. 

- Chip Colwell offers a reminder that individual-level behaviour can only accomplish so much in a system designed to encourage consumerism and waste. But David Danelski notes that one all-too-familiar form of corporate manipulation appears to be backfiring, as payment for "sponsored" product positioning in search results produces a justified aversion among users.  

- Meanwhile, Merissa Daborn writes that we should be ensuring that people have access to the necessities of life including food, rather than focusing on policing and punishing people who lack them. 

- Finally, Amanda Marcotte discusses why it's entirely healthy that so many U.S. women expect more for themselves than to settle for a MAGA reactionary in order to get married. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Blissed cats.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Andrew Nikiforuk discusses the 10 inescapable laws of pandemics - and the grim future they portend in light of our pitiful response to the social challenges posed by COVID-19. And Jessica Wildfire writes that the effects of repeated COVID infections on people's immune systems will reverberate for decades to come. 

- Lucas Henneman writes about new research showing that pollution from coal-fired electricity produces even more health problems than previously identified.  

- Lynn Boylan and Alma Dufour point out that Amazon is a massive cause of carbon emissions and avoidable waste - even as it tries to greenwash its operations through selective reporting and PR. Oliver Griffin reports on the targeted killings of environmentalists in Colombia and elsewhere by corporate forces determined to destroy anything and anybody who might call attention to their destruction. And Radio Ecoshock discusses the fossil fuel sector's plan to wreck the Earth's atmosphere, while Leyland Cecco reports on Canada's worsening contribution to carbon pollution as oil companies ramp up production in the midst of a climate crisis. 

- Michelle Cyca writes about the reality that real estate windfalls represent a massive source of unearned wealth - as well as an opportunity for cynical politicians to divide the working class based on homeownership. And Max Fawcett highlights how the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is entirely a political tool of right-wing parties, rather than a remotely principled critic of unconscionable waste when it emanates from the likes of Danielle Smith. 

- Paul Wells discusses how Pierre Poilievre has paired Stephen Harper's contempt for accountability with the antisocial buffoonery of the Joker, while Deveryn Ross calls out Poilievre's combination of serial lying and determination to foment fear and hate. And the Economist writes about the appalling rise of Geert Wilders' party - including through the normalization of bigotry by "mainstream" parties. 

Musical interlude

Grace - Not Over Yet

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Stephanie Soucheray examines how COVID-19 can cause lasting damage to the brain even without causing severe initial symptoms, while the British Heart Foundation points out the soaring rates of cardiovascular disease during the course of the ongoing pandemic. And Lisa Lundberg-Morris et al. find that vaccination helps to prevent long COVID. 

- But while there has been (and remains) ample room for public policy to reduce the spread of COVID, Alanna Smith reports on the complete lack of return on the UCP's $80 million investment in giving Ottawa the middle finger. 

- Jason Markusoff highlights how Preston Manning's publicly-funded COVID inquiry report is a work of fiction. And Bob Hepburn rightly asks why the Canadian media is largely giving Pierre Poilievre a pass on his refusal to engage with the real world of policy development. 

- Markham Hislop talks to Janet Annesley about the culture of secrecy in Alberta's oil sector which precludes any honest discussion of the dangers of fossil fuel extraction and dependency. And Marco Chown Oved points out the folly of building new carbon pollution infrastructure (including fossil gas electricity generation) and pretending it's somehow a climate solution. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow discusses how the dominant tech giants have succumbed to long-foreseen enshittification - and points out how institutions can be set up and managed to avoid that outcome. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Crawford Kilian discusses what Canada's long-term climate policy needs to look like as it becomes abundantly clear that relying primarily on consumer-based carbon pricing has failed both as a means of reducing carbon pollution, and as a political calculation. Celeste Young and Roger Jones discuss the reality that providing people with accurate information about the climate crisis has done little to spur any systemic change. And Graham Readfearn talks to Lesley Hughes about the importance of maintaining hope even while recognizing the immense work ahead of us to avert a full climate breakdown. 

- John Gibbons highlights the dangers of allowing the imperative of maintaining a survivable environment to be subordinated to the capital class' demand for perpetually growing wealth extraction. And Fiona Harvey discusses Thomas Piketty's ideas which can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and inequality together. 

- Amber Bracken and Drew Anderson offer a reminder of the carnage being wrought in the Alberta tar sands - even as the perpetrators greenwash themselves and their destruction. And Matthew Taylor reports on new estimates showing that even based on its own spin, the fossil fuel sector is centuries away from zeroing out its emissions with carbon capture. 

- Beth Mole reports on big pharma's massive dark money donations being used to try to avoid any steps to make needed medications more affordable in the U.S. 

- And finally, Arman Hamidian discusses the need to tackle our common challenges with a whole-of-society approach, rather than an assumption that individual incentives and choices are our only options. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Warming cats.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Archie Mitchell and Adam Forrest report on the revelation from the UK's COVID inquiry that now-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was entirely eager to let people die, and considered it more important to control scientists than COVID-19 itself. And Luke LeBrun highlights how the Poilievre Cons are recruiting anti-public-health cranks into their candidate pool, while Janet French reports on Preston Manning's use of his supposedly non-partisan, multi-million dollar inquiry into a partisan tool. 

- Damian Carrington reports on the UN Environment Programme's warning that we're currently on course for 3 degrees of global warming. And Andrew King writes about the significance of yet another set of temperature peaks and spikes, while David Dodwell discusses the "doom loop" resulting from the combination of hotter weather, drier vegetation and increased storm activity. 

- Meanwhile, Bill McKibben calls out Canada and other petrostates for refusing to take responsibility for carbon pollution they're actively promoting and subsidizing. Seth Klein discusses how yet another round of posturing over consumer carbon prices is causing us to miss the bigger picture of a climate breakdown in progress. And Carrington and Jonathan Watts each examine how wealthier people contribute disproportionately to greenhouse gas emissions. 

- Finally, Rebecca Solnit discusses how the combination of immense power and utter detachment from the reality of most of humanity makes billionaires dangerous to everybody else. Eric Burdon points out how the uber-wealthy pitch self-help hokum in order to distract people from the systemic burdens they impose on the working class. Jason Linkins discusses how billionaire philanthropy is a scam. And Adam King reports on the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us in Canada. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Elizabeth Payne reports on yet another COVID-19 wave in Ottawa which is far exceeding both the case numbers and harmful effects of seasonal viruses. And Brian To-Dang et al. confirm that the lasting coronary artery impacts of a COVID infection.  

- Nicole Mortarillo reports on the repetitive pattern of record-breaking temperatures, while Sana Pashankar and Eric Roster discuss the uncertainty as to whether even a shift to net zero emissions will be enough to avert a climate breakdown. And Markham Hislop highlights how Australia is far ahead of Canada in the U.S. in converting to clean solar power, while Bob Weber reports that Alberta is continuing to massively undercount its carbon pollution in an effort to pretend its fossil fuel sector is anything but a blight on our living environment. 

- Mark Winfield points out how right-wing premiers are determined to prevent Canada from having any effective climate policy. And Kristoffer Tigue reports on the Republicans engaged in the systematic burning of any science textbooks which dare to include accurate information rather than fossil-fuel sector propaganda. 

- George Monbiot discusses how humanity is currently a test subject in a reckless experiment as to the effects of toxic chemicals on food supplies. And Claire Thornton notes that environmental and economic policies based on complete submission to corporate interests in the name of growth aren't preventing record numbers of Americans from going hungry. 

- Finally, Justine Toh writes about the importance of preserving one's humanity in a world designed to see people solely as objects to be exploited. 

Musical interlude

Lastlings - Far From Falling

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Crawford Kilian reviews Ryan Meili's A Healthy Future as an important account of the insufficient political response to the COVID-19 pandemic, while David Climenhaga calls out the absurdity of Preston Manning's prescription for disaster in pushing for even to be done to protect public health. And Andrew Nikiforuk discusses what we can learn - and what dangers we face - as COVID continues to circulate in deer and other animal populations. 

- Andrew Dessler writes about the scariest climate plot in the world - though it's all the more alarming for assuming that governments will take enough action to limit warming to a total of 3 degrees Celsius. On that front, A.L. Lee reports on research showing that a majority of the world's largest and richest companies are lobbying against effective climate policy. And Jake Johnson points out how the fossil fuel sector is planning massive expansion which would exacerbate our current course toward destruction.  

- Meanwhile, Martin Olzynski highlights how Danielle Smith and other petropoliticians are using their bully pulpit to goose the profits of the oil sector at public expense. And Oliver Haynes points out that the neoliberal attempt to treat consumer pricing as the only acceptable mechanism to change behaviour has made people vulnerable to that type of message. 

- Maria Farrell examines the tech sector's ideology of "libertarianism for me, feudalism for thee" - though for all of Silicon Valley's claim to innovation, it's hard to see that as representing any distinction from most of the corporate world. 

- Finally, Philip Bump discusses the rise of toxic masculinity and the normalization of political violence. And Amelia Hansford points out how the result of the right-wing project of using a culture of fear and hate to distract from material losses makes for a dangerous environment for trans women and other targeted out-groups. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Al Jazeera reports on the World Meteorological Organization's analysis showing that greenhouse gas emissions reached yet another new high in 2022. Fiona Harvey reports on the findings in the World Resources Institute's State of Climate Action report, including the reality that transitional steps are several times short of what's needed to avert a climate catastrophe. (On that front, Chuck Squatriglia reports on the promise of acceleration by the US and China - but it's far from sure that will be the subject of either sufficient follow-through by the parties or general acceptance by climate obstructionists.) And Mike Joy highlights how there's no prospect of offsetting continued carbon pollution from fossil fuels with tree-planting or other sequestration schemes.  

- Casey Ross and Bob Herman expose how the U.S.' largest health insurer is using algorithmic decision-making to cut off needed rehabilitation for patients. And Helen Santoro reports on another insurer's lobbying efforts to avoid covering mental health care in Michigan. 

- Katherine Rowland interviews Naomi Klein about how profit-based individual wellness culture has served as a platform for anti-social misinformation. 

- Finally, Amanda Marcotte writes about the suicide of a gender non-conforming Republican mayor after he was outed and made the subject of public abuse by the GOP's anti-LGBTQ+ media.