#SKNDPLDR Roundup

A brief roundup of news and coverage from the Saskatchewan NDP's leadership campaign as Sunday's convention approaches.

- There's been some more media coverage at a high level, including Adam Hunter offering an overview of the campaign; Global News interviewing Harvey; CKRM profiling both candidates; and Katia St. Jean offering profiles in French. 

- Meanwhile, those looking for somewhat deeper dives with the candidates will find them from Lenore Swystun's Civically Speaking, including an interview with Harvey going into her experience of racial divisions in Saskatchewan, and one with Beck with Beck which includes some discussion of her recognition of the effects of inequality and poverty based on her family's history. 

- Finally, the last interim financial disclosure statement before the vote has been released (if not reported on). And it looks to rule out any prospect of a shift in the race behind the scenes, as Beck raised roughly $13,000 in May to Harvey's approximately $2,500. 

For those who haven't yet voted, the deadline to do so is Sunday at 3 PM. And we'll find out shortly thereafter who will lead the NDP into the next election. 

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Mary Ziegler and Scott Lemieux both warn of the many other rights in imminent danger due to both the fact of the elimination of abortion rights by the Republican-dominated U.S. Supreme Court, and the excuses made for it.

- Dylan Scott discusses how the decision will lead to increase in child poverty. And Cassandra Szklarski reports on the growing reality of child hunger in Canada - as well as the need for a fundamentally more equitable policies to ameliorate it, rather that short-term band-aids. 

- Meanwhile, Erika Ibrahim reports on the Libs' choice to keep delaying even a framework bill for a national disability benefit. And Sid Frankel, John Stapleton and Shalini Konanur discuss how the demand that people repay the CERB benefits which they were told to apply for is further squeezing people already living in poverty.  

- Emily Leedham calls out Pierre Poilievre's designs on using the threat of withholding federal funding to dictate the lines of academic freedom. 

- Raymond Zhong writes about the proliferation of extreme heat around the globe. 

- Finally, Adam King discusses how Amazon is continuing to violate labour standards in an effort to prevent employees from exercising any collective bargaining power. 

Musical interlude

Cannons - Fire For You

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Kit Yates weighs in on the work which still needs to be done to avoid further waves of COVID-19. And Marsha Barber writes that we can tell from even the limited information still being released that it's delusional to suggest we're out of the pandemic, while Jonathan Charlton reports on research showing how important now-discarded vaccine mandates have been in broadening protection against the spread of COVID.  

- Lauren O'Neil writes about the end of Ontario's COVID-related paid sick days, including the reality that we'd all be better off if workers were better able to recover from all kinds of illnesses rather than being compelled to work. 

- David Feckling discusses how there's no business case for the tar sands if they aren't being massively subsidized - both through deliberate climate negligence as a matter of policy, and through direct public funding. And David Climenhaga writes that the TransMountain pipeline expansion has officially turned into a money loser for the federal government for the purpose of lining the pockets of the oil sector. 

- Meanwhile, Carl Meyer reports on the Notley government's choice to acquiesce to CNRL's lobbying demanding that methane regulations be torqued to allow heavily-emission operations to keep spewing pollution. 

- Finally, Jessie Anton reports on the needed backlash against the Saskatchewan Party's choice to pour money into private schools with anti-LGBTQ affiliations while forcing public schools into brutal cutbacks and job losses.

Wednesday Night Cat Blogging

Resting cats.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jon Henley writes that COVID is surging across Europe as governments and people alike ignore desperate warnings not to let their guard down. And Eric Topol writes about the reality that reinfection produces even worse outcomes than initial exposure - even as governments have largely abandoned any effort either to minimize spread through public health measures, or to reduce individual impacts through further vaccines. 

- Alex Cosh discusses how more and more Canadians are going hungry while corporate profits soar. 

- Fiona Harvey reports on research showing the need for consistently accurate climate messaging for people to understand the urgency of our climate crisis. David Moscrop writes about the stark contrast between Justin Trudeau's spin on climate change and his government's consistent catering to the fossil fuel sector. And Jan Gorski argues that Canada is more than capable of meeting its climate commitments if it stops operating in denial of the steps needed to get there. 

- Meanwhile, John Michael McGrath points out how the determination of where to bury nuclear waste comes down to a decision as to whose water supplies will be put at risk of radioactive contamination if all doesn't go as planned.  

- Finally, Ken Rubin discusses how Canada's access to information system has fallen far short of the promise of open government due to the combination of overly broad exemptions and governments' cynical refusal to comply with either the spirit or letter of access legislation. And Elizabeth McMillan reports on the results of the Mass Casualty Commission's review showing how the RCMP endangered lives by withholding crucial information from the public in the midst of a shooting spree.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Danielle Hitch, Aryati Yashadhana and Evelyne de Leeuw write that long COVID is following the path of acute COVID-19 in having a disproportionate effect on disadvantaged communities. Catherine Gewertz discusses the need for schools to plan for a large number of students afflicted with a wide range of long-term symptoms. And Rebecca Stern et al. study how even less-infectious variants were able to spread through common areas of hospitals. 

- Geoff Dembicki writes about the Cons' large base of climate deniers - though it's worth being concerned that the party (particularly with Pierre Poilievre at the helm) will be perfectly happy to include outright denialism as part of its general detachment from reality. And Jennifer Hassan reports that Spain is among the latest regions to see devastating wildfires and heat as climate breakdown continues apace. 

- Charlotte Spring and Audrey Tung discuss how the housing crisis is forcing desperate renters to go hungry in order to hold onto a place to live. And Lauren Boothby exposes a private group which Edmonton landlords have been using to illegally deprive prospective tenants of any hope of finding a home. 

- Finally, Ramanan Raghavendran writes about the "gilded cage" as the executive version of the bullshit job - and notes that it lack meaning and purpose just as much as the lower-paid equivalent. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Dhruv Khullar interviews Ashish Jha about what's to come in the COVID-19 pandemic - including the desperate need for mitigation measures to reduce an unsustainable amount of spread. And Alexander Quon reports on the increase in COVID deaths in Saskatchewan from 2021 to 2022 even as the Moe government tries to pretend there's nothing left to see here. 

- Meanwhile, Greg Iacurci discusses how even the limited support working-class Americans received during the pandemic has changed their view of what's possible. 

- But Phillip Inman writes that central banks are fixated on suppressing wages even if the result is to collapse economic development altogether. And Heather Wright reports on the reality that increasing food prices aren't resulting in better returns for the farmers who produce it. 

- Amanda Follett Hosgood points out the disaster capitalism that's seeing the pandemic turned into a land grab and opportunity to push through environmentally devastating projects. 

- Finally, Supriya Dwivedi writes about the need for our political leaders to value a democratic electoral system, rather than looking to torque it beyond repair for personal gain. And Charlie Angus writes about the challenges of seeking to represent people who have removed themselves from any sense of shared reality. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Thomas Walkom points out that most Canadians have far more reason to fear an austerity-fuelled recession than any foreseeable level of inflation. J.W. Mason points out that the U.S. Fed is similarly looking to squeeze workers over inflation that has nothing to do with wages. And Jason Del Rey reports on leaked internal Amazon research finding that one of the most notorious abusers of labour may run out of workers to exploit as soon as 2024. 

- Edward Helmore reviews Bob Keefe's Climatenomics, including its analysis of how the climate breakdown is causing the supply chain disruptions which (along with corporate profiteering) represent the actual reasons for soaring prices. Matthew Rosza offers a warning as to how the 1930s dust bowl caused by a familiar disregard for sustainable development may offer a look at our future. And Fiona Harvey, Ashifa Kassam, Nina Lakhani and Amrit Dhillon discuss why extreme heat is only getting more severe.

- Emma McIntosh reports that Doug Ford's planned Highway 413 will do far more environmental damage than he has been prepared to admit. And Jesse Cnockaert reports on the warning from renewable energy experts at that the small nuclear reactors being pushed by petropoliticians as an alternative to wind and solar represent a delay tactic with dubious supposed benefits. 

- But then, Max Fawcett observes (with reference to Pierre Poilievre's attempt to hawk cryptocurrency) that the arsonist right is perfectly happy to be wrong - and indeed to cause massive damage to anybody foolish enough to believe them - as long as it serves their political ends.

- Finally, Lucette Cysique et al. study the ongoing cognitive impairment being discovered even in people who have only mild to moderate cases of COVID-19.