Musical interlude

 MisterWives feat. PVRIS - Vultures

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- The University of California, Irvine examines the connection between air pollution and spontaneous preterm births. And Attracta Mooney and Jana Tauschinski discuss how the fossil fuel sector is far more interested in concealing its dangerous methane emissions than reducing them. 

- Hannah Brown interviews Faith Birol about the value of renewable energy in limiting our dependence on bad actors and vulnerability to crises - though it's well worth noting that the oil and gas sector which has amassed obscene amounts of wealth by preventing us from escaping won't be eager to see us take advantage. And Megan Gordon discusses the latest IEA report confirming that anybody focused on jobs should be supporting clean energy over fossil fuels. 

- Stéphane Leman-Langlois, Aurélie Campana and Samuel Tanner examine how the far right is expanding its reach in Canada. And Rachel Ward, Steven D'Souza, Andrew Culbert and Daysha Loppie report on the RCMP's video evidence showing the extremist ideology behind the armed insurrection at Coutts, AB. 

- Nick Falvo lists some of the gains made in homelessness and poverty policy in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic - though it's worth lamenting how those have been reversed (or worse) since. And Emmanuelle Bernheim writes about the flawed theory that involuntary treatment is a viable solution to homelessness. 

- Finally, Christopher Cheung talks to Rachel Bok about the self-serving corporate "solutions" being peddled to cities as a substitute for community-building. And Ian Welsh discusses how any nominal savings from Elon Musk's government destruction project are bound to be illusory as the corporate sector moves in to provide the same services at a marked-up price. 

Thursday Night Cat Blogging

Clutching cat.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Ajit Niranjan reports on Climate Action Tracker's latest assessment that we're making minimal progress toward any climate commitments, while Damian Carrington reports on new data showing that even the use of dirty fuels like coal, oil and gas continues to increase. 

- Bonny Ibhawoh writes about the need to address climate inequality if we're going to make any headway. Peipei Tian et al. study the relative share of responsibility for the overuse of natural resources - finding that the vast majority of environmental damage is caused by between 10-20% of people. And Phoebe Weston discusses how rapacious corporate conglomerates have taken over the COP biodiversity conference to an even more extreme degree than the fossil fuel-dominated climate version.

- Christina Pagel discusses new research showing that while COVID-19 still remains a problem for the general population, it leads to a particularly large increase in hospital admissions for babies (along with the elderly). Lian Duan et al. study the link between maternal infection and neurodevelopmental disorders. Katie Kerwin McCrimmon writes about the potential that COVID may increase the risk of cancer. Andn Josh Robertson reports that COVID-19 deaths are continuing to drive down general life expectancies in Australia.

- Ruth Patrick points out the unfairness and futility of demonizing people receiving social benefits as lazy - noting that conditionality and restrictions on benefits cause substantial harm to recipients while doing nothing to increase their rates of employment. 

- Finally, Diana Chan McNally offers a perspective on the real needs of people who have had to resort to tent communities - and the importance of treating them as human beings rather than as objects to be stripped of all rights in the name of denial.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Fiona Harvey, Damian Carrington, Ajit Niranjan and Dharna Noor report on Antonio Guterres' warning to the COP29 climate conference that 2024 has been a masterclass in destruction - though there's reason to worry that even worse is in store. And Paige Bennett reports on new research from the International Chamber of Commerce showing the cost of the climate breakdown is already upwards of $2 trillion per year. 

- Noor also reveals that the fossil fuel sector's private awareness (and self-serving public obfuscation and denial) of climate science dates back at least 70 years. And Bruce Huber discusses how commitments to reduce subsidies for dirty energy have all too often been discarded. 

- Kim Siever points out how Alberta's corporate sector relies disproportionately on low-wage temporary foreign workers. And Cory Doctorow discusses the importance of the labour movement in ensuring that employers can't exploit the most vulnerable workers.  

- Finally, Stephanie Swensrude examines how Canada's current housing crisis can be traced to the decision to abandon the construction of non-market homes.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The Guardian's This is Climate Breakdown series offers first-hand accounts of the current catastrophes arising out of the climate crisis. And Michael Mann writes that it's possible to avoid the worst anticipated effects of climate change - but only if we stop spewing carbon pollution in a hurry. 

- But Sehoon Kim discusses how the corporate sector is buying cheap and meaningless credits rather than taking steps to reduce its own environmental harm. Fatima Syed reports on Enbridge's laughable attempt to avoid any regulation of emissions by claiming that greenwashing is more than enough. And Angela Amato and Carly Penrose examine Alberta's plans for fossil fuel propaganda in schools - even as Breene Murphy notes that oil and gas aren't viable long-term investments.  

- John Clarke writes about the importance of cultivating truth and understanding against the entrenched interests seeking to drown out anything that might threaten their accumulation of wealth and power. But Charlie Warzel points out the immense resources being used to try to push people away from reality-based media, while Carole Cadwalladr discusses the especially dangerous combination of media and government power currently coalescing under the impending Trump regime. And Zak Vescera reports on Stockwell Day's role in building an alt-right echo chamber to try to install the BC Cons in government. 

- Finally, David Climenhaga reports on Danielle Smith's summary termination of the pension board it wants to put in charge of all Albertans' retirement income - while Paula Sambo, Layan Odeh and Dawn Lim confirm the UCP's plans for AIMCo are so political that they're planning to hand it over to Stephen Harper.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- The Climate Historian writes that COP climate change conferences are now far more a matter of theatre than of action. Justin Rowlatt reports on yet another COP conference being hosted by a fossil fuel operative seeking to use the cover of climate action to cut oil and gas deals. And David Suzuki offers a reminder that fossil gas is a bridge to nowhere rather than any solution to the climate crisis.

- Meanwhile, James Dyke notes that the disastrous floods in Spain should remind us that even the most developed countries are far from equipped to deal with the catastrophe that's in store if we don't avert more of a climate breakdown.

- Stockholm University studies the harmful effects of plastic pollution on other environmental dimensions including the climate crisis, biodiversity and water safety. And Miriam Freedman and Heidi Busse note that microplastics may be responsible for unusual cloud formation (and resulting increases in precipitation).

- Steven Staples warns that Donald Trump is coming for Canada's already limited and threatened fresh water.

- Finally, Steven Waldman examines how voters' news sources are a strong indicator of their voting preferences - with voters who rely on social media or cable news unsurprisingly repeating the positions of right-wing echo chambers. And Don Moynihan points out that the loudest forms of identity politics are those seeking to maintain while male supremacy - even as they're normalized so as to make the public falsely perceive marginalized groups as having outsized influecen.