Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Bryn Nelson offers a call to action against the anti-science, anti-reality industry seeking to blast out propaganda to keep corporate coffers spilling over at the expense of public health and safety. And John Woodside sets out the greenwashing plan being used to try to force through even more dirty energy development in the tar sands, while Nina Lakhani reports that the journalists seeking to offer full and accurate information about climate issues are under constant threats of violence.

- Meanwhile, Yongxiao Liang, Nathan P. Gillett and Adam H. Monahan find that we're already on a path toward more than 2 degrees of global warming once we account for variability in ocean temperatures. Gabriel Rau et al. warn that warming groundwater poses threats to life both above and below the surface. And Dylan Baddour and Alejandra Martinez report on the escalating costs of droughts in Texas (and elsewhere) which are borne by publicly-subsidized insurance programs. 

- Mike Savage offers a reminder that wealth inequality remains a crucial issue for the general public in the UK - even as Keir Starmer has purged anybody who might advocate on the issue from his caucus in the name of bland corporatism.

- Finally, Jared Wesley and Alex Ballos point out how Danielle Smith is following the Republicans' playbook to prevent people from exercising their right to vote. And Jason Foster and Rebecca Graff-McRae write that the seemingly random acts of arbitrary governance from by UCP can generally be traced back to an attempt to dissolve any civic institution or source of information which could possibly check the exercise of partisan power.

Wednesday Evening Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Li Cohen discusses how the Earth has experienced 12 months of record heat in a row - but is on track to see today's extreme heat become a lower baseline for the decades to come. And Peter Crank points out how already-vulnerable people - including those living with mental illness - are particularly endangered as temperatures exceed what our infrastructure is intended to manage. 

- Meanwhile, Richard Heinberg writes about the challenges in trying to address the climate breakdown among other ongoing crises (particularly in the context of the elite assumption that problems have to be solved with markets and technology). And Matt Shipman explains how climate change will exacerbate air pollution. 

- Pam Belluck reports on the recognition of the widespread and devastating effects of long COVID in a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Cate Swannell warns that in the midst of an ongoing pandemic, we're actually backsliding in our public health mechanisms necessary to monitor and contain similar outbreaks. And Mike Crawley reports on Doug Ford's decision to axe all wastewater monitoring in Ontario - depriving the province of the ability to track all kinds of infectious diseases. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow discusses how one of the main purposes and effects of ubiquitous corporate surveillance is to use the information gathered to extract the highest prices possible from consumers. And Catalina Sanchez rightly argues that auto manufacturers shouldn't be selling off people's driving history to anybody who finds that data useful and profitable. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Watchful cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Joëlle Gergis asks what it will take for political leaders to acknowledge and act on the science demonstrating that we're on the precipice of climate disaster. And Fiona Harvey discusses Laurence Tibuania's eminently reasonable take that the people who built wealth through an unsustainable and destructive system will have to contribute to remedying the damage. 

- But Charisma Madarang and Andrew Perez report that the Republicans' big money machine is applying all available pressure to have their partisan majority on the U.S. Supreme Court block any attempt to have polluters pay for the harm they've done. Matthew Rosza notes that the financial sector is pairing extensive greenwashing publicity with continued funding for large-scale carbon pollution. And Nina Lakhani reports on new research showing that many of the credits claimed by large corporations as emission reductions are in fact worthless, double-counted or both. 

- Meanwhile, Fatima Syed reports on the new (or newly-acknowledged) contaminants endangering the Great Lakes region. And Leyland Cecco reports on New Brunswick's decision to suppress any awareness or investigation of a mystery neurological illness which appeared to be based on environmental conditions. 

- Cory Doctorow discusses how Ticketmaster's business model - which is finally being addressed by the U.S. federal government - is just one of many prominent corporate structures based on pure corruption. 

- Finally, Kim Siever exposes how the UCP is normalizing hallway medicine, making the use of hallway beds into a standard operating procedure at Calgary hospitals. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Robert Reich discusses the growing gap between the well-being of lower-income and higher-income consumers in the U.S. - as well as the reality that the former are being perpetually worse served by the market as businesses chase the larger amounts of money held by the latter. Geoffrey Diehl writes about the U.S.' zombie democracy, where unpopular and destructive policies win out due to a combination of a distorted electoral system and a political class more interested in preserving itself than representing people's interests. And A.R. Moxon calls out the anti-morality of the people who have proclaimed themselves the U.S.' moral authorities. 

- Chris Hatch writes about the need to acknowledge that reversing climate change is beyond our means, such that we need to be focused on harm reduction (even as that concept has been vilified by conservatives). Natasha Bulowski reports on a new climate report card showing how right-wing provincial governments are the main barriers to any progress. And Jordan Pearson reports on new research showing that rivers are among the geographical phenomena which are being turned from carbon sinks into carbon sources, while the Alfred Wegener Institute discusses the effects of melting permafrost. 

- Marc Fawcett-Atkinson reports on the prospect that Canada may end up approving an increase in toxic PFAs in our food supply even as other countries begin to regulate them. 

- Finally, Carolyn Barber discusses the new research finding that COVID-19 may continue to cause health problems for years after infection. And Jianyu Lai et al. find that readily-available duckbill N95 masks are extremely effective in stopping the spread of COVID and other viruses.

Sunday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your Sunday reading.

- Seth Borenstein, Mary Katherine Wildeman and Anita Snow find that the U.S. suffered a record number of heat-related deaths in 2023, while Aryan Dwivedi reports on unprecedented death tolls in India this year. And Julius Choudhury offers some tips on surviving extreme heat at an individual level - though they rely largely on levels of wealth and privilege which are certain to be unavailable to far too many.

- Rachel Donald interviews Naomi Oreskes about the power dynamics - extending beyond fossil fuel companies to capitalist ideology generally - which have given rise to a worsening climate crisis. 

- John Timmer reports on new research showing that investment in renewable energy more than pays for itself in social and health benefits. But Andrew Dessler highlights how fossil giants whose products are grossly inferior in any fair competition are rigging the rules to preserve their profits. And Michael Franco writes about a new study showing that modular nuclear reactors are expensive, slow and risky compared to existing alternatives - meaning that their spectre serves mostly as a delay tactic for oil and gas barons.

- Polly Neate notes that in the UK (as elsewhere), it's entirely possible to meet everybody's right to housing if a government bothers to marshal public resources to ensure homes aren't built only for profit.

- Finally, Andrea Blanco discusses how psychosis can be a symptom of COVID-19 - and how the medical response can be a matter of life and death. Alison Escalante writes about the persistence of COVID in the body long after an initial infection appears to have abated. And Hunter Crowther reports on the new strains which are becoming dominant in Canada.

Musical interlude

PVRIS - Mirrors

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Jillian Ambrose reports on a study showing that there's no reason to approve any new fossil fuel development to meet current demand forecasts - and every reason to reject new projects as they push us toward further climate breakdown. 

- Gordon McBean discusses the need to hold the oil and gas sector accountable for decades of lying about climate change. And Max Fawcett writes about the perpetual dishonesty of the dirty energy industry in misrepresenting scientific research - but as Amanda Follett Hosgood reports, the public is being punished for the release of findings of misleading advertising. 

- Meanwhile, Naveena Sadasivam reports on the dangerous quantities of methane being emitted by landfills. 

- Mariana Mazzucato weighs in on the immense waste of resources involved in using massive amounts of energy on AI data centres. And Asaf Tchazor et al. warn that inaccurate information in AI-generated agricultural advice could precipitate food shortages - though it's apparently not yet at the point of recommending Brawndo for irrigation purposes. 

- Dalmeet Singh Chawla reports on Japan's move to make all publicly-funded research subject to open access.

- Finally, Martin Lukacs writes about the class war pantomime which clouds any real discussion of wealth and power inequality in Canada - including the fact that the Cons' corporate backers know better than to take Pierre Poilievre's posturing seriously:

The establishment media, in turn, have either amplified his anti-corporate message, or reinforced it by bemoaning it. In the Toronto Star, Susan Delacourt tut-tutted about the unfortunate “demonization” of “big business” (before admitting she’s close buds with lobbyists).

They’ve thus let Poilievre wear his chosen mantle, despite all the contradictory evidence: nearly half his governing council are lobbyists, every other week he is hobnobbing and fundraising in their presence, and his main advisor owns not one but two lobby firms.

But he’s keeping up the schtick because it’s working. A few weeks ago, he continued the corporate bashing in an op-ed in the National Post, telling business leaders to “cancel your lunch meeting at the Rideau Club,” “fire your lobbyist,” and “go to the people.”

A rare journalist at iPolitics decided to solicit the view of lobbyists themselves.

“The entire public affairs community in Canada smiled knowingly reading that National Post article,” one veteran lobbyist said . “A government led by Pierre Poilievre with his ministers will absolutely continue to engage the way they have with corporate Canada.”

In other words, they got Poilievre’s message: rest assured, the circus is for the rabble.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Lauren Chadwick reports on the WHO's findings that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a multi-year drop in life expectancy and undone a decade of health progress. Eric Topol and Ziyad Al-Aly examine the results of a new study showing that long COVID is linked to a large number of adverse health outcomes 3 years after an initial hospitalization. And Dan Luo et al. identify one possible mechanism by which COVID-19 may cause heart problems. 

- Amy Janzwood discusses the immense financial and environmental costs of the TMX pipeline which the Libs have chosen to prioritize over anything which could actually reduce carbon pollution. And Eric Van Rythoven notes that the spread of carbon tariffs among countries who don't share the Cons' denial of climate science would render Pierre Poilievre's anti-pricing sloganeering completely ineffective. 

- Marissa Alexander and Wade Thorhaug discuss how soaring food prices are the result of corporate control over the our food supply. And David Wainer points out that increased private equity involvement in U.S. health care has resulted in further ballooning costs in what was already a grossly unaffordable medical system.  

- Finally, Susan Jane Wright writes about the importance of taking to the streets in response to Danielle Smith's anti-democratic governance. But David Climenhaga notes that the UCP's contempt for voters includes a plan to dictate who's actually allowed to cast a ballot in order to have a say in how they're governed. And Charles Rusnell warns that the Alberta Legislature appears to be going out of its way to hire disgraced violent former police officers to control one of the most important public spaces in the province. 

Wednesday Night Cat Blogging

Blissed cat.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Kate Raworth discusses the need to orient ourselves toward measures of progress based on well-being rather than growth - both due to its being intrinsically more important, and more sustainable under conditions of dwindling environmental resources. And Sonali Kolhatkar laments the U.S.' choice - largely paralleled in Canada - between a party determined to accelerate the climate breakdown and one which promises little improvement beyond a slower death. 

- Laura Cozzi and Apostolos Petropoulos highlight how larger SUVs are one of the major contributors to increases in carbon pollution. Matthew Taylor reports on a new study showing the racial and class dynamics behind greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, with wealthy white men as by far the worst class of polluters. And Karl Bode discusses how the U.S. has passed legislation to close off one of the few tools available to hold the wealthiest few to account for their environmental destruction in the form of emissions from private jets.   

- Katrina Miller and Ryan Romard respond to a typical round of demands for austerity in the name of productivity by pointing out that it's inequality, not fair taxes, which results in stagnation and economic decay. 

- Finally, Kim Siever writes that we can't treat the ability of a worker to quit a single job as a remedy for a system designed for exploitation. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Novinite surveys the numerous countries facing unprecedented heat warnings as the most extreme effects of the climate crisis hit earlier in the year than ever before. And Matt Simon discusses the release of black carbon from wildfires as yet another dangerous climate feedback loop. 

- Emma Cooper-Smith and Hannah Lindell-Smith highlight how liquified natural gas is a climate menace rather than a solution. But Christopher Bonasia reports on a Con-affiliated lobby group's insistence on running ads which have been found to be misleading as their fossil fuel fanaticism outweighs any interest in accurate information, while Rob Miller calls out the oil and gas industry for its spin and propaganda seeking to expand dirty energy production and consumption alike. 

- Geraint Harvey and James Wallace point out that employers are consistent foisting the costs of neglecting workers' health and welfare on the public purse. And Adam King notes that the Trudeau Libs have rendered the right to strike nugatory for rail workers by using bureaucratic mechanisms to prevent unions from using their bargaining power. 

- Joan Westenberg discusses how trickle-down economics have always been a miserable failure toward their asserted goal of improving general welfare through wealth building - though they've worked wonders in concentrating the wealth that does exist in the hands of a perpetually greedier few. 

- Finally, Elizabeth Smythe examines how the UCP is following a worn and predictable playbook to dismantle democracy. 

Monday Morning Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Leslie Sattler discusses new research showing that carbon concentrations are continuing to increase by record amounts. David King writes about the immediate and large-scale changes needed to avert an imminent climate catastrophe. And Mohammed Muizzi writes about the existential threat facing the Maldives and other low-lying areas as a result of carbon pollution from wealthier countries.

- Cynthia McCormick Hibbert points out a new study suggesting that the environmental harms of microplastics may include reducing the ability of oceans to absorb atmospheric carbon. Zoe Schlanger discusses Maine's attempt to respond to the ubiquitous threat of PFA "forever chemicals" in water. And Sattler also notes that sandwich bags are rife with PFAs. 

- Meanwhile, Carl Meyer reports on the attempt by the tar sands-based Pathways Alliance to both evade any environmental assessments for planned megaprojects, and help itself to massive amounts of public money in the process. 

- Caitlin Owens discusses the mental health crisis which may have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but which continues to hamper wide swaths of people. And Jonathan Ore writes about the "great exhaustion" arising out of a combination of work and social stressors.  

- Aaron Wherry writes about Food Banks Canada's report card indicating that the Libs are barely treading water in ameliorating poverty (while right-wing provincial governments are doing no better and the Cons are bent on making matters even worse). And Thom Hartmann highlights the U.S. Republicans' "mudsill" theory which relies on a trapped underclass of labour to further enrich the already-wealthy. 

- Finally, Timothy Cooke writes about Josh Chernofsky's escape from the alt-right's cult. 

Musical interlude

Thornley - Make Believe

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Simon Torracinta reviews Branko Milanovic's Visions of Inequality in tracing historical conversations in inequality, while pointing out the importance of identifying power dynamics as a root cause. And Natalia Junquera talks to Gary Stevenson about the systematic forces serving to funnel wealth toward the rich at the expense of impoverishing more and more people. 

- Patrick Greenfield examines the problems with relying on the whims of Jeff Bezos and other plutocrats to fund the work of trying to salvage a habitable environment in the face of industrial carbon pollution. Emily Sanders writes that the nomination of one climate scientist to Exxon's board of directors did nothing to noticeably alter its business as usual. And Ian Urquhart discusses how petropolitics in Alberta (and elsewhere) are blocking the deployment of renewable energy which is both more affordable and more sustainable. 

- Crawford Kilian discusses Tim Smedley's The Last Drop, including its recognition that our current usage patterns include wasting and poisoning vital supplies. And Ainslie Cuickshank reports on the constant chemical pollution at Vancouver's Burrard Inlet port. 

- Finally, Sarah Law discusses new research showing that mercury poisoning near the Grassy Narrows First Nation is being exacerbated by ongoing industrial releases. And Marc Fawcett-Atkinson reports on the push by advocates to start having realistic adult conversations about the health risks of glyphosate herbicides and pesticides - and the complete refusal by regulators to do anything but operate in utter denial. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Brian O'Boyle discusses how Ireland's choice to act as a tax haven for the ultra-wealthy has done nothing to help its citizens. And the Center for Working-Class Politics notes that a strong majority of Americans support a jobs guarantee, making it both a desirable means to boost worker interests and a political winner. 

- But then, Martin Lukacs highlights how Canada's media has gone far out of its way to manufacture sympathy for landlords at the expense of tenants. And Katya Schwenk reports on Wall Street's mass takeover of housing.  

- Cecilia Nowell writes about the dangers of ultra-processed foods - both in encouraging overeating, and in causing a variety of health issues. And David Barnett talks to Patrick Grant about the deteriorating quality of clothes (which isn't being matched by any lowering of prices).  

- The Canadian Press reports on new Leger polling finding a majority of Canadians to support the Loblaws boycott against profiteering and monopolization. 

- Cloe Logan writes about the work being done by labour activists to try to protect workers from the effects of extreme heat. 

- Finally, Tom Perkins reports on both new research showing the ubiquity of "forever chemicals" in the Great Lakes basin, and a study finding glyphosate in a majority of sperm samples at an infertility clinic. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Multidirectional cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Oliver Milman discusses a new study showing that the costs of a climate breakdown roughly approximate what it would take to fight a domestic war in perpetuity. Sarah Waldrip examines the relationship between climate change and unexplained changes in oceanic tides as yet another example of how the climate crisis is altering our living environment in unanticipated and dangerous ways. And Sanjay Sisodiya and Mark Maslin find that climate change is also exacerbating the symptoms of numerous brain conditions.  

- Jonas Hosp et al. study the long-term effects of COVID-19 on cerebral microstructure as an apparent explanation for the sustained harms of long COVID. But Tamara Schneider writes about new research showing that repeated COVID vaccines also bolster the body's immune defences against a range of other viruses. 

- Torsten Bell points out that the UK (like Canada) has ample means to end child poverty if it's motivated to do so. But Adam Bienkov notes that PM Rishi Sunak is making out like a bandit in his family's personal wealth while standards of living are deteriorating. And Prem Sikka discusses the connection between corporate profiteering and the increase in citizens' cost of living. 

- On a similar note, Jim Stanford examines how the UCP has eliminated any wage advantage in Alberta while opening the province up for complete corporate exploitation. 

- Finally, Joan Westenberg calls out the use of social Darwinism as a basis to reward the rich and selfish at the expense of everybody else. 

Sunday Morning Links

Assorted content for your long weekend reading.

- Max Fawcett laments that anti-vaxxers and science denialists have managed to control public policy choices in the midst of a pandemic with many more public health threats looming. And Jessica Wildfire writes about the collective amnesia that's served to eliminate attention to an ongoing threat - while noting that the same steps which still serve as important personal precautions also offer a needed reminder.

- The Star Tribune's editorial board notes that regular air quality warnings are an important alarm signaling the need to rein in the climate crisis. And Drew Anderson and Matt Simmons write that western Canada is once again the site of some of the most severe and widespread wildfires.

- Linda McQuaig calls out Canadian governments for subsidizing both dirty energy and short-sighted shareholder service as much of the country burns. And Ellen Ormesher and Rebecca Jean report on documents showing how the oil industry pays off the establishment media to secure social license to keep polluting.

- Accountable.us points out that the housing sector is just one more area where the affordability crisis can by traced directly to corporate profiteering.

- Finally, Sarah MacMillan reports on a Shoppers Drug Mart owner's attempt to replace paid staff with volunteers in order further goose its profits.

Musical interlude

Adina Butar - Whisper