Saturday, February 29, 2020

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Joseph Stiglitz writes about the need to cultivate solidarity as an alternative to neoliberal selfishness. And Chuck Collins reminds us how the very existence of billionaires represents both a profound failure of public policy, and a cause of distortions at the whims of those who have far too much.

- Meanwhile, Pete Evans reports on the failure of a bond system to provide any effective response to the coronavirus. And Patrick Condon discusses how the influence of the financial sector is making housing unaffordable.

- PressProgress highlights the connections between Ford PC insiders and a (thankfully unsuccessful) smear campaign against Ontario teachers.

- Finally, Ralph Surette points out the inevitability that we can't go on subsidizing dirty and inefficient tar sands projects. Scott Gilmore writes that contrary to the spin from the right, the only people betraying Albertans are the fossil fuel fanatics who refuse to tell the truth about the need for a transition to clean energy. And David Climenhaga discusses the laughable Buffalo Declaration as just the latest round of faux victimhood.

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Ezra Klein discusses the socialist ethic behind Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. And Umair Haque writes that the antidote to Donald Trump's authoritarianism is a far stronger recognition of the need for collective action.

- Meanwhile, Shree Paradkar notes that the vilification of solidarity among Indigenous peoples is a familiar part of Canada's colonial playbook. And Ethan Cox points out that regardless of the predictable bluster from reactionary politicians, it's impossible to stop a solidarity movement by force.

- Will Dubitsky writes that the struggle surrounding the Coastal Gas Link pipeline should represent a canary in the coal mine for further fossil fuel development in Canada. And Marc Lee notes that the pipeline is no more defensible in its economic and environmental effects than in its intrusion on unceded lands and Indigenous rights, while Geoff Dembicki confirms that the Teck Frontier project similarly had no path to commercial viability even if environmental realities were ignored.

- Nick Falvo offers some important background information on Alberta's treatment of low-income households. Alicia Bridges reports on the challenges facing homeless people navigating the coldest part of the year in Saskatchewan - including arbitrary limits on their ability to access shelters even if spaces are available. And Brian Cross writes about the financial stress facing the province's farmers.

- Finally, Patrick Condon discusses how exploitation by the financial sector makes housing unaffordable for the people who need it most.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Saeed Kamali Dehghan reports on a new World Health Organization study showing the utter lack of progress toward sustainable development, particularly due to the harms caused by our climate breakdown. Mahita Gajanan focuses on the reality that every child's future is threatened by our continued carbon pollution and the culture of exploitation which causes it. And Patrick Greenfield and Jonathan Watts report that JP Morgan Chase - even after decades of profiting off of dirty energy - has issued its own warning of the threat climate change poses to humanity as a whole.

- Paul Fauteux, Howard Mann, Chris McDermott and Guy Saint-Jacques challenge Canada's federal government to finally end our hypocrisy in pushing fossil fuel development while paying lip service to the cause of fighting the climate crisis.

- Nadja Popovich points out the growth in U.S. public support for action to fight climate change, while recognizing that the Republican echo chamber still won't tolerate any concern for our planet. And Gaby Hinsliff takes note of the social stigma finally coming to be attached to businesses clinging to climate denial and delay.

- Edward Helmore reports on new research showing that BP's Deepwater Horizon blowout was even more disastrous than previously understood.

- And finally, Marcelo Lu and Sean Drygas discuss the opportunities available to Canada if we work on becoming leaders in renewable energy, rather than putting our efforts toward being the last fossil fuel pusher standing.

Monday, February 24, 2020

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Anand Giridharadas writes that with Bernie Sanders in position to win the Democratic nomination for president, the U.S.' election will answer the question of whether the country belongs to billionaires or to everybody else. 

- Emily Bazelon discusses how the Trump administration's choice to stop enforcing labour law is making life even worse for American workers. And Jim Stanford writes that the employers complaining about a "skills gap" as an excuse for stagnant wages are responsible for setting up precarious jobs and failing to invest in their own employees.

- Kenneth Jackson reports on the federal government's failure to even track how many First Nations children are apprehended from their homes.

- Danyaal Raza writes about the dangers to Canada's universal health care system arising from the corporate-backed attempt to turn for-profit medicine into a constitutional principle.

- PressProgress highlights how Doug Ford's combination of mandatory online course credits and ballooning class sizes figures to make education entirely unmanageable.

- Finally, Mike Blanchfield reports on the Libs' acceptance of some transparency for future trade deals in order to secure the quick passage of the new version of NAFTA.

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Eric Holthaus calls out any attempt by the uber-wealthy to paper over their profits from climate destruction with "philanthropic" donations. And David Wallace-Wells notes that while a response to our climate crisis is possible using the resources of society as a whole, it's beyond the scope of any individual fortune.

- Bronwyn Oatley, Meghan Bell and Danial Hoyer highlight the need for an inheritance tax and wealth taxes to meet obvious social needs and to ensure that wealth and power don't continue to accumulate in the hands of a privileged few.

- Sophia Reuss discusses the parallels between the U.S.' debate over health care generally and Canada's continued need for pharmacare. And the Economist also takes note of the glaring gap in our health care system.

- Finally, Bob Weber reports on the justified fear by Alberta workers that Jason Kenney will gamble their pensions on doomed fossil fuel developments. And Alex Ballingall reports on the prospect that the federal government might underwrite the Coastal GasLink pipeline to ram it through Wet’suwet’en territory - even as word comes out that the project has been rejected by provincial regulators.