Musical interlude

Jax Jones, Au/Ra - I Miss U

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Amy Goodman interviews Peter Kalmus about the need to start treating the climate breakdown as an emergency, while Joelle Gergis points out that the extreme destruction from catastrophic climate-caused events in the summer of 2023 represents just a taste of what we can expect for decades to come. And James MacCarthy et al. discuss their new findings showing that wildfires are getting worse, while Ryan Allen and Stephanie Cleland offer some advice as to how to avoid the worst effects of wildfire smoke. 

- Colin Woodard examines how life expectancy follows distinct geographic patterns in the U.S. - with location by region serving as a more significant factor in life expectancy than income, education, race or other indicators. 

- Emily Fagan discusses warnings from experts about the growing humanitarian crisis of homelessness in Canada. And Jeremy Simes reports on the Saskatchewan Party's contribution to the problem as it allows needed social housing to deteriorate and sit vacant. 

- Brendan Kennedy points out how glaring loopholes allowed the Ford government to keep its meetings with lobbyists off of any registry as it plotted the giveaway of environmentally sensitive public land to rapacious developers. 

- Finally, Scott Martin writes about the coordinated attacks by right-wing provincial governments against trans children. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Michael Klare writes about the growing indications that the climate breakdown is pushing us toward a civilizational collapse. Jeff Renaud discusses new research showing that climate change could cause over a billion deaths over the next century, while William Skipworth reports on research confirming the link between global warming and the deaths of polar bears. And Parker MacKenzie reports on a new study showing that Australia (like most other jurisdictions) is completely unprepared for the impacts of climate change. 

- Meanwhile, Climate & Capital Media offers a list of the false "solutions" which serve only to obfuscate and delay against action which could actually reduce the harm we're inflicting on our living environment. And Emiko Newman and Erin Blondeau make the case for a Youth Climate Corps.

- Alex Hemingway points out how British Columbia could turn soaring property values into revenue to improve human welfare, rather than merely allowing it to collect in the hands of the wealthiest few. And Leyland Cecco reports on new research confirming that money provided to the people who need it most tends to be applied to basic needs. 

- Finally, Jason Stanley writes about the fascist ideology underlying Florida's latest mass shooting - and the lengths much of the U.S. establishment has gone to in normalizing it. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Sascha Pare reports on the growing recognition that methane emissions could trigger "termination" events which see tundra turn into tropical savannah. And Robson Fletcher reports on a drop in wheat production caused by drought which may make staple foods far more expensive. 

- Dharna Noor reports on Fossil Free Future's work to point out how the oil industry continues to push us toward civilizational catastrophe in the name of an insatiable addiction to short-term profit. But Simon Black, Ian Parry and Nate Verson chart how dirty energy subsidies are hitting record levels even as the consequences of a climate breakdown become increasingly clear. 

- Arya Rao and Shira Hornstein point out the related effects of climate change and poor housing on public health. Stephanie Swensrude reports on the City of Edmonton's recognition that suburban sprawl is worse for citizens from the standpoint of direct cost as well as health and community. And Michael Gorman reports on a review of Nova Scotia's housing situation which has flagged the need to enforce landlord compliance - which has apparently been buried for reaching that inconvenient conclusion. 

- April Short discusses how models based on free and shared goods are surviving and thriving, even as public policy is oriented solely at favouring conspicuous consumption and corporate profits. 

- Finally, David Climenhaga examines how social conservatives are pushing to take over Alberta's education system (which is of course mirrored across Canada). And Emma Brown and Peter Jamison report on the U.S.' experience with "parental rights" being used by socons to take over and destroy public education. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Cats amid chaos.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Michelle Gamage and Katie Hyslop report on the grassroots push for better anti-COVID-19 planning in British Columbia schools. And in case there's any doubt what's at stake, Brenda Goodman reports on new research finding that long COVID may cause a greater disability burden than cancer or heart disease, while the San Diego Union-Tribune warns about the immense social damage which would result from continued spread without massive improvements in treatments and therapies.  

- Damian Carrington et al. write about the growing indicators that humanity has already fundamentally broken our climate. And while Katharine Hayhoe makes the case to respond with determination rather than resignation, it's worth noting the powerful interest aligned against any effort to meaningfully avert a total breakdown - including a fossil fuel sector talking openly about its plan to continue to spew carbon pollution for generations to come, and a sketchy carbon offset system which is claiming credit for  the false promise of protection of forests which are themselves turning into carbon bombs. 

- Meanwhile, David Climenhaga points out how the UCP is putting its thumb on the scale to prevent clean energy development generally, while Clayton Keim writes about the Peace Energy Cooperative solar project as a stark example of the progress that's been shut down in order to keep Albertans hooked on dirty fossil fuels. 

- Finally, Rebecca Zandbergen examines the enduring consequences of the Canadian federal government's decision to stop funding social housing. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Apoora Mandavilli writes that cleaner air is essential to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in schools. Elizabeth Hlavinka discusses the severe impact of long COVID on children and the lack of resources to treat it. And Helen McArdle reports that hundreds of Scottish hospital wards have been forced to close due to COVID-19 so far in 2023, while Sissi De Flaviis reports on yet another surge in COVID hospitalizations in Canada. 

- Oliver Milman reports on the likelihood that next year (and all foreseeable future years) will be even worse than this year for extreme heat, wildfires and other calamitous climate impacts. Matthew Rozsa writes about the uber-wealthy and connected "super-emitters" who are contributing disproportionately to a climate breakdown while seeking to cast blame on everybody else. Kaamil Ahmed discusses how rich countries are trying to trap poorer ones into using dirty energy. And the Yale School of the Environment points out the Canadian oil sector's plans to increase how much pollution gets dumped into an already-precarious atmosphere, while Sarah Cox investigates how Canadian taxpayers are subsidizing both fossil fuel expansion and obscene corporate profits.  

- Meanwhile, Colin McCarter and Mike Waddington discuss how wetlands are already becoming carbon time bombs, while Daniel Grossman writes about the similar effect in the Amazon rainforest. 

- Josh Funk reports on the demand by U.S. railroads that a safety hotline serve primarily to allow them to punish workers who dare to report issues. 

- Colette Derworiz writes about the lack of available housing for university students. And Sawdah Bhaimiya reports on New York City's initiative to turn empty office space into homes, rather than pretending that the construction of expensive, sprawling suburbs is any solution to a housing crisis. 

- Finally, the Canadian Press examines how under Pierre Poilievre, the Cons have abandoned even the slightest nod to reality and become a vessel for the most deranged of conspiracy theories.