Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Andrew Freedman reports on the extreme heat wave scorching the southwest U.S., while Costas Kantouris reports on Greece's unprecedented drought and water depletion. And Kang Jin-Yiu reports on South Korea's exceptionally hot summer, while Ian Livingston notes that Australia has seen summer temperatures exceeding 40 Celsius through what's supposed to be its winter season. 

- Josephine Lee interviews Greg Casar about the Biden administration's belated efforts to ensure workers have protection from extreme heat - while noting that it's an open question whether any rules will be allowed to take effect even next summer. And Shannon Waters offers a reminder of the health damage caused by wildfire smoke.  

- Hannah Daly suggests that we should treat carbon pollution like cigarette smoke in order to treat its reduction as a public health goal. But it's unfortunately far form clear that the corporate forces that be will allow the protection of public health to influence policy - as seen in Tess Finch-Less' plea to stop bullying people out of even the most basic of COVID-19 protection measures, and Julie Doubleday's comparison of the status quo to what an adequate response would look like. 

- Solomon Hughes discusses the cozy relationships between conscience-free corporate abusers and multiple brands of political party. Richard Murphy calls out neoliberalism as the key factor in the Grenfell disaster among other human catastrophes. And Adrienne Tanner highlights how nobody should trust the fakery of John Rustad and other avowed science denialists - even as British Columbia's business class has coalesced to try to install him in power. 

- Finally, Luke LeBrun reports on how the FBI's charges dealing with Tenet Media revealed Russian influence and funding behind dozens of alt-right propaganda videos in Canada. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Andrea Thompson reports on the record-breaking heat wave in the southwest U.S. as another stark example of a climate breakdown in progress. But Alex Crawford writes that while we've already done immense damage to our living environment, it isn't too late to limit how much more we inflict.  

- But Geoff Dembicki reports on how the oil industry has captured universities to ensure scientific research is aimed at perpetuating rather than ending carbon pollution, while Steve Rabey exposes Shell's funding of climate denialism through churches and propaganda mills. Jake Johnson notes that Texas has gone so far as to create a separate "business court" in order to ensure its corporate overlords are never subjected to justice. And Drew Anderson reports on the UCP's attempt to push energy regulators to lie about having been involved in Danielle Smith's decision to stop any renewable energy development. 

- Paul Willcocks points out how the business-backed B.C. Conservatives are engaged in a war against factual reporting patterned after that of U.S. Republicans. Thom Hartmann discusses how the U.S. has been overrun by bullies. And Parker Molloy laments that the U.S. media's response to being constantly trolled and gaslighted has been to "sanewash" the obviously-disqualifying utterings of Donald Trump and his acolytes. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow points out that the same right-wing mouthpieces who constantly claim that people without resources are only lacking long-term planning and self-control are the same voices insisting that the wealthiest people can't be expected to give up a shred of instant profit or gratification to preserve a liveable society or planet. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Andrew Nikiforuk discusses the immense economic and human cost of COVID-19 denial as another wave surges. And Matthew Frank et al. study how COVID produces lasting damage to the brain. 

- Robert Booth and Emine Sinmaz report on the findings of the UK's Grenfell inquiry, which find that the tragic fire was the result of systemic corporate dishonesty and government neglect. And Mo Amir discusses how B.C.'s government is failing to implement vacancy controls even while understanding they would benefit renters.

- Meanwhile, Myriam Durocher, Annika Walsh, Irena Knezevic and Madison Hynes discuss how charity isn't enough to eradicate food insecurity. 

- Ariel Silber reports on the less-than-surprising revelation that apps are listening in on users' smartphones without notice or consent in order to profit from the contents of their conversations. And Webb Wright reports on the FTC's study into "surveillance pricing" where unspecified personal information is used to present different prices to different consumers. 

- Kea Wilson discusses how the deaths of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau are just an example of the traffic violence resulting from a transportation system designed to prioritize single-vehicle convenience over pedestrian and cyclist safety. And Coral Davenport highlights how the U.S. will need to update its infrastructure one way or another due to the use of materials which can't withstand a changed climate. 

- Finally, Susan Wright contrasts the importance of unions in social cohesion and development against the solidarity denialism of the UCP. And David Moscrop writes that the Cons and their allies remain hostile to workers - even as they try to pretend otherwise. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Cuddled cat.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Tyne Logan examines how people react to the extreme heat which is becoming increasingly common. David Bowman discusses why we can no longer pretend that formerly "normal" temperatures will be seen again in our lifetimes. And Denise Chow notes that even the hardiest of desert-adapted plants are struggling to survive the climate breakdown. 

- Kenny Mendoza et al. study the effects of ultra-processed foods, and find a connections to cardiovascular disease. And Hiroko Tabuchi reports on the dumping of forever chemicals into the food chain via wastewater sludge which is used as a fertilizer. 

- Bronwyn Bragg and Jennifer Hyndman discuss how low wages are at the root of the problems with Canada's meat processing industry. And Janet Andrews and Stephen von Sychowski offer a reminder that workers have the power to build a brighter future by organizing, while Mick Lynch discusses the depths the corporate class will sink to in trying to prevent that from happening. 

- In a similar vein, David Moscrop interviews Jim Stanford about the uber-rich's angry and manipulative response to paying a slightly more share of the cost of a functional society. Anne Applebaum writes that kleptocrats aren't merely stealing money, but also trying to destroy any democratic means of furthering the public interest. And Rowan Moore discusses how the UK's Grenfell inquiry exposes the contempt of the wealthy few for the lives of everybody else. 

- Finally, Sheena Goodyear discusses Carol Off's work to reclaim the concept of freedom as a positive goal based on the ability to make meaningful decisions, rather than a cover for hate and exploitation.

Musical interlude

Miami Nights 1984 feat. Gunship - Only When It's Dark

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- David Climenhaga writes that nobody should be surprised by Danielle Smith's determination to privatize Alberta's health system - though her explicit declaration that she wants providers to be motivated by an ethic of fear rather than care lays bare what the UCP has in store. Alexander Quon reports on the patient-pays system for doctor access set up by one Regina medical clinic on the Moe government's watch. And Gretchen Morgenson reports on research showing how private equity involvement in health facilities results in asset stripping and worse service. 

- Nora Loreto calls out the right-wing push to maximize harm and deaths from public health challenges. And Jon Woodward reports on the large number of additional deaths anticipated from Doug Ford's shuttering of safe consumption sites alone. 

- Todd Feathers reports on the illegal denial of hundreds of millions of dollars of medical benefits by a malfunctioning AI system. And Michael Joel-Hansen reports on the known issues with the Saskatchewan Party's new payment processing system which is leaving workers unpaid and supplies unordered. 

- Suzanne Blake reports on the admission by one Kroger executive that it engaged in price gouging (while using inflation as an excuse for profit-taking).

- Finally, Emily Peck discusses how the U.S.' public perception of labour unions is at a multi-decade high.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Brittany Hopkins rightly argues that parents with any interest in providing a worthwhile future for their children should be motivated to combat the climate breakdown. Steven Lam and Gloria Novovic write about the need for climate impacts to be included as a matter of course in analyzing all types of policies. And David Zipper discusses the need to transition away from highway megaprojects - and notes that anybody who actually believes in fiscally responsible government should be happy to join a coalition to that end. 

- David Suzuki calls out the glaring gap in treatment between climate activists facing constant police disruption and severe sentences for attempting to ensure a liveable future, and corporate polluters who face no meaningful consequences (and indeed receive massive subsidies) for polluting both the public discourse and the Earth. 

- Nicolas Graham examines how the U.S.' fossilized right wing is operating in Canada - often with public funds and/or the imprimatur of academic credibility. And in the wake of the sudden departure of BC United from this fall's election, Luke LeBrun and Rumneek Johal offer a reminder that the B.C. Conservatives are unabashedly running against science and reality.  

- Finally, the Economist reports that the crypto firms courted by Texas in the name of economic development are making their money exploiting the terms of power supply agreements. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- The Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research discusses a new study showing that the effects of a climate breakdown could far exceed what has generally been treated as the worst-case outcome, with the potential for temperatures to increase by up to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Bob Burwyn writes about the dangerous feedback loop in which global warming results in the release of previously-trapped methane. And the Climate Historian observes that the uninhabitable surface of Venus is the result of a runaway greenhouse effect. 

- Daisy Dunne writes about the role climate change is playing in the outbreak of extreme heat events. Anna Betts reports on new research showing that the number of deaths caused by extreme heat in the U.S. has doubled over the past 25 years, while Ashifa Kasaam reports on a study showing that people with lower incomes bear a disproportionate share of the burden of heat waves. 

- Andrew Whelton points out that the effects of increased wildfire activity extend to widespread water pollution and harm to agriculture. And Emma Bryce discusses how there's ample food production capacity to feed the whole of humanity (and reduce carbon emissions) if the wealthiest few people adjust their consumption patterns to fit what the Earth can support.  

- But George Monbiot notes that the factory farm lobby is looking to ban any form of food production that could endanger its existing profit margins by making a healthy diet more affordable and accessible. And Tom Perkins reports on the corporate-owned scientists trying to keep toxic forever chemicals flowing into drinking water. 

- Finally, Colin Bruce Anthes discusses how the treatment of land is at the root of our housing crisis - with fair taxes on land value and investment in building affordable housing serving as the most obvious means of turning a current policy oversight into a logical solution. And James Hardwick notes that the accumulation of housing as a store of wealth prevents the people who need homes from finding them. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Extended cat.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Matthew Rosza discusses the growing recognition that there's little chance of holding to our one-time target of 1.5 degrees of global warming - and that it will take a radical change of course to limit the damage to 1.6. But New Scientist rightly argues that we should be doing everything within our power to avoid any more climate breakdown than is absolutely inevitable. And both Matthew Taylor and Adrien Plomteux discuss how a turn toward degrowth and focused resource allocation can both reduce the harm we're inflicting on our living environment, and produce far better outcomes for people. 

- Meanwhile, Taylor Noakes discusses how Imperial Oil has faced a laughably insignificant penalty for dumping millions of litres of contaminated waste from a tailings pond into the natural environment. 

- Dougald Lamont writes about Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter - noting that in addition to serving as a cautionary tale about fascist control over media, it also reflect the culture of debt-funded speculation as a substitute for actual economic development. 

- Finally, Andrew Ewing et al. examine the expert consensus on long COVID - even as the ongoing pandemic has been largely hidden from public notice. Jason Gale notes that the business of death is booming as a result of COVID-19, while Flannery Dean asks why we've accepted constant reinfection as our normal state of being. And Tina Reed discusses how contrived anti-vaccine messaging is now leaving American children exposed to numerous diseases which had previously been eradicated. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Robert Rohde surveys yet another month of record-high temperatures from July 2024. And Richard Heinberg examines what a real energy transition would look like - including a meaningful effort to stop using energy unnecessarily as well as a shit to clean energy sources. 

- Jim Stanford points out that price controls can be one mechanism to ensure that corporate profiteering doesn't cut into the affordability of basic necessities. 

- But Jason Hickel writes about the main barrier to that effort, as our key economic decisions are made by capitalists acting unilaterally to keep up their resource profits rather than by any government or other structure with any meaningful capacity to determine and act in the public interest. And Prem Sikka likewise discusses how wealthy individuals and corporations have hijacked any democracy. 

- Linda McQuaig notes that Doug Ford is going far out of his way to ensure Ontarians don't know how factory farms are abusing animals. Jake Johnson discusses how the meat industry is yet another sector where corporate collusion and price-fixing are increasing the cost of living for consumers. And Sara Moniuszko and Meg Oliver report on new research showing that the majority of baby food sold in the U.S. falls short of WHO health standard. 

- Scott Martin discusses how Ford (and other premiers focused on harm maximization as policy) can only be seen as choosing a legacy of social murder. And David Climenhaga notes that Danielle Smith is adding gross cronyism to the mix, as anybody seeking addiction services in Alberta is required to disclose sensitive personal health information to a politically-connected provider. 

- Finally, Matt Motta and Kathryn Haglin find that the benefits of Alaska's basic income include greater use of primary and preventative health services. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Annika Stechemesser et al. study the effectiveness of various countries' climate policies - and find that while carbon pricing is a necessary element in achieving emission reductions, it needs to be part of a full policy mix in order to get us anywhere near a country's Paris commitments. Dana Nuccitelli offers a reminder that the climate crisis represents a collective action problem where it's essential for everybody to be part of the solution (rather than looking for excuses to refuse). And Lisa Friedman writes about Kamala Harris' rightful characterization of climate policy as an issue of freedom - with the fossil fuel industry wanting nothing more than to eliminate any choice other than to keep feeding it profits by blocking cheaper and cleaner energy alternatives.

- Meanwhile, Flora Graham discusses the role of flash droughts in contributing to Canada's catastrophic string of wildfires. And Luca Ittimani reports on the unprecedented "heat engine" resulting in summer weather in the middle of Australia's winter season,

- Northwestern University examines how COVID-19 has mutated to more easily infect the central nervous system.

- Finally, Ali Velshi highlights how Project 2025 sets out the U.S. Republicans plan to undermine the wages and bargaining power of workers if they get the chance. And Tom Wall discusses how life as a gig worker in the UK is only getting more precarious - as a decade and a half of eliminating protections for migrant workers has only resulted in deteriorating conditions for everybody.

Musical interlude

Stoto - Afterlife

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Paul Rogers discusses the imminent threat of more extreme weather events, shortages of the necessities of life and increased division and inequality if the climate crisis is allowed to continue unchecked - while trying to find some hope in more widespread awareness of the dangers we face. Michael Mann writes about the place of the Republicans' Project 2025 as part of the right's attempt to block global climate action. And Patrick Greenfield reports on Susana Mohamed's warning that even meeting our greenhouse gas emission targets is only a small part of the work to be done in restoring our living environment to balance. 

- Meanwhile, Bob Weber reports on the pleas from Alberta municipalities for the UCP to stop allowing the dirty energy industry to extract resources and spew pollution without contributing to its own cleanup costs. 

- Phil Tank discusses how unsafe commercial transport trucks remain the norm in Saskatchewan as commercial transporters have carried on business as usual even after the Humboldt Broncos tragedy. And Gabriela Calugay-Casuga points out that the main demand of the railway workers who have since been deprived of a place at the bargaining table by the federal government is to avoid the type of catastrophes caused by corporate railways' disregard for worker and public safety. 

- Nadia Khan reports on a new Centre for Future Work report showing that racialized workers continue to be underpaid compared to other Canadian workers - but that union organization helps to close the gap. And Lucy Uprichard compares the cultural funding and organizational models in Montreal and Toronto, noting that the corporate-focused version in the latter is leading to the steady erosion of community-level activity. 

- Finally, Sarah Butler reports on the false "discounts" being peddled by big retailers who grossly inflate prices, then demand that consumers hand over personal information in order to access the previous price as part of a membership program. And Jim Stanford points out the gross dishonesty of the Poilievre Cons in peddling selective or outright false information about the state of Canada's economy. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Anna Betts reports that the fallout from the climate crisis may include threats to blood donations, while Zoe Schlanger writes about the dangers of relying on steel-based infrastructure which will fail under the temperatures which are becoming the norm. James Dyke, Robert Watson and Wolfgang Knorr discuss the folly of making choices which deliberately overshoot past emission targets in the short term based on the bare hope that carbon pollution can be captured or reduced later. Kate Yoder writes that action on climate change is far more popular than one would think from corporate-captured governments' reluctance to carry it out. And Richard Sandbrook is right to note that Canada can't use other countries' climate sabotage as an excuse for doing nothing - though it's unduly generous to characterize a track record of stagnation and delay as something to be continued rather than improved upon. 

- Betsy Agar and Raidin Blue examine the renovations and retrofits needed to make buildings safe amid a warming climate and more extreme weather, while Carissa Wong writes about new research showing that the temperatures which humans can survive are lower than previously assumed. And Adam Thorn points out that any transition to an electrified fleet of vehicles will require buildings to be EV-ready. 

- Douglas Main reports on new research showing that the ubiquity of microplastics now extends into the human brain. 

- Finally, William Brangham interviews Eric Topol about the current state of the COVID pandemic, including a summer surge in infections which has been met with no policy response. And Clovis Palmer et al. find that the effects of COVID-19 can include type 2 diabetes - but that there's a prospect that post-infection vaccination can reduce the risk.  

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Concentrating cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Jeff Masters sets out some of the anticipated timelines for climate change to fundamentally reshape life in the U.S. - with immense disruption expected in a matter of just a few years. Vikas Parashram Mekram discusses how climate change is threatening groundwater supplies, while Darrin Joy points out the risk that melting permafrost will unleash massive quantities of mercury into the environment. And Hope Lompe reports on a new study showing how migrant workers in British Columbia are suffering from extreme heat in housing not designed to protect against it, while Stuti Mishra writes about the dangers and stresses of life at 50 degrees Celsius in India. 

- Meanwhile, Mostafa Henaway discusses how both the Cons and Libs have chosen to turn Canada's temporary foreign worker program into constant supply of cheap, powerless labour for corporate masters. And Prem Sikka sets out some suggestions to rein in extreme executive pay and income inequality. 

- Nojoud Al Mallees reports on new research showing that corporate capital gains have nothing to do with the creation of jobs in Canada. And Judd Legum offers a reminder that the inflation make life unaffordable for consumers has been primarily the result of corporate price-gouging which Republicans have now decided is fundamental to their way of life. 

- Finally, David Moscrop discusses how Doug Ford has thrown any concern for health and well-being out the window in directing his government's attention (and massive amounts of public money) toward alcohol liberalization as a top priority. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Ayesha Tandon discusses a new study showing that the limiting factor in averting a climate breakdown is public policy rather than technological limitations. Aaron Wherry rightly points out that there's no either-or choice between mitigation and adaptation - and that indeed investment in the former can make the latter more manageable. And Natasha Bulowski reports on Danielle Smith's predictable decision to put an oil industry insider in charge of climate policy (and obstruction), while Kyle Bakx notes that the UCP is also actively pushing the construction of fossil fuel-powered data centres.

- Meanwhile, David Climenhaga highlights how the UCP is looking to turn limited addictions treatment into a donor profit centre. And Joel Dryden reports on the its choice to use public money to turn urgent care and other core health services over to private control. 

- Marc Bou Mansour examines how even a "featherlight" wealth tax could produce $2.1 trillion in annual revenue for public purposes. Ann Pettifor writes that the UK (like other countries) can afford to do what it has the will to do - making any focus on austerity in the name of growth an utterly counterproductive impulse. And Richard Murphy warns that the Starmer government seems inclined to pursue "balance" over a single term at the expense of underdevelopment and corporate control in the longer term. 

- Finally, Tory Shepherd discusses how the pathological fixation on growth in the name of perpetual profit generation includes a demand to increase birth rates and population levels on a planet whose resources are already overextended. 

Musical interlude

WaltR Melody - Creation