Musical interlude

Audrey Vixen - Emergency Room

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Joshua Pearce discusses the reality that the climate crisis could carry a ten-figure death toll over the course of this century - which would give rise to an obvious responsibility to act among any but the most inhuman of leaders. Mario Alejandro Ariza reports on the connection between insurance costs rising as a result of the climate breakdown, and a resulting spike in people who can't pay their mortgages. And Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood highlights the need for Alberta and other jurisdictions currently under the thrall of petropolitics to prepare for reduced demand. 

- But Joakim Kulin examines how finger-pointing and blame-shifting have been used to translate nationalism into climate obstruction. Raphael Satter and Christopher Bing reports on the emerging revelations as to how Exxon Mobil and its corporate buddies have sponsored and made use of the hacked e-mails of environmentalists to disrupt climate litigation and activism. And Geoff Dembicki reports on the astroturfing efforts of the fossil gas lobby in its attempt to undercut Vancouver's ban on gas heating - though Seth Klein is relieved to note that attempt to drag the city backwards just barely fell short. 

- Henry Obanya discusses the immense amount of microplastic pollution caused by vehicle tires. 

- Negin Owliaei and Maya Schenway point out that the incoming Trump administration has a detailed and dangerous playbook to shut down progressive civil society. And Robert Reich offers a reminder that an ostensibly populist campaign has given way to a cabinet of plutocrats and their sycophants, while Gil Duran talks to Brooke Harrington about the tech bros' plans to exploit the power of the presidency. 

- Finally, David Moscrop discusses the belated recognition by some commentators that a "liberal" consensus which does nothing to challenge concentrated wealth and power will never earn the support of the working class. And Kim Siever reminds us that billionaires are an economic drain on society - not a goal to be pursued, or even a necessary evil to be accepted.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Carbon Brief examines the results of the COP29 climate summit - with the main takeaway being a familiar combination of barely-existent commitments and watered-down aspirations. Sofia Gonzales-Zuniga, Danial Riaz and Mia Moisio highlight the hypocrisy of Canada and other petrostates who are ramping up exported carbon pollution while trying to claim to be meeting emission reduction targets. 

- Andrew Nikiforuk reports on the sham referendum being used as an excuse for dangerous coal mining in Ranchland, Alberta. And Emma McIntosh exposes the reality that Doug Ford's government was well aware there's no rational basis for systematically destroying cycling infrastructure before ramming through a bill to do just that. 

- Meanwhile, Carl Meyer notes that cross-party cooperation played a crucial role in applying a minimal standard of accuracy to petropropaganda. 

- Stéphane Leman-Langlois, Aurélie Campana and Samuel Tanner warn that the violent far right has been emboldened in Canada - with little apparent response from governments or law enforcement. And Max Fawcett notes that our institutional conservative parties are eager to surrender Canada to Donald Trump and his brand of fascism. 

- Finally, Tannara Yelland and Martin Lukacs report on the Competition Bureau's investigation into rantel price-fixing by corporate landlords. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Ellen Wald writes that Canadian oil companies would be smart to be prepared to answer for their environmental and human rights abuses. But Carly Penrose reports that they're instead funding petropoliticians and shadowy lobby groups in an effort to undermine climate change policy, while David Climenhaga discusses Danielle Smith's latest scheme to make accurate information about emissions illegal. 

- Hiroko Tabuchi writes about the propaganda campaign being waged by the plastics industry in an effort to avoid answering for massive and easily-avoidable damage to people's health and the environment. And Tom Perkins reports on new research finding that microplastics and "forever chemicals" are particularly dangerous in combination with each other. 

- Jack Hauen discusses how the Ontario PCs' destruction of bike lanes shows the outsized influence of a few wealthy donors. Sarah Elton and Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher write that Doug Ford's diktat forcing the removal of bike lanes doesn't merely reflect hostility to bikes themselves, but a war on data and evidence in policy choices. And David Rider discusses the misinformation being deployed to undermine the development of walkable and people-friendly cities. 

- Silas Xuereb examines the hundreds of billions of dollars per year being diverted into excess profits - and the resulting opportunity to both reduce inequality and fund social needs through a windfall profit tax. 

- Finally, Adam King discusses how the Canada Post strike fits into wider trends around precarious work and the destruction of public services. And Paris Marx points out the contrast between the strength and solidarity of public sector workers in a well-established bargaining unit, and the results of isolate-and-conquer practices imposed Amazon and other corporate giants. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Curious cat. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- John Woodside reports on the pitiful excuse for climate finance advanced by developed countries at COP29. Kate Dooley highlights how the carbon trading scheme set up at COP29 falls far short of both actually reducing carbon pollution, and accounting for other environmental and social harms caused by credit-generating activities. Patrick Greenfield notes the absurdity of governments and businesses claiming credit for natural carbon sinks as somehow offsetting new carbon pollution. And Nancy Stauffer discusses how existing emission promises rely in particular on implausible assumptions about the viability and impact of carbon removal.

- Trevor Tombe and Jennifer Winter study the price impact of carbon pricing on Canadian food, and find that it's a fraction of the added cost imposed on consumers by corporate profiteering. And Andre Picard writes that the recent cluster of cases of scurvy in La Ronge reflects a far broader issue of poverty and food insecurity in northern regions. 

- Meanwhile, Cheryl Jahn interviews Alex Hemingway about the immense opportunity cost of offering boutique tax cuts rather than investing in underresourced public services. And Wency Leung reports on the dire state of Ontario's public education system as a result of decades of austerity. 

- Simon Spichak points out that recommendations being supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada may actually worsen the effects of long COVID, including by recommending exercise when it's strongly inadvisable. 

- Finally, Ricardo Tranjan discusses how to make rent regulation effective to ensure that housing is both available and affordable. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Whizy Kim writes about the rise of the overt use of wealth and associated fame to overwhelm the U.S.' political system. Jason Sattler discusses the need for a new declaration of independence focused on decoupling from billionaires. And Robert Reich notes that Democrats' refusal to meaningfully challenge corporate greed and bullying resulted in their political defeat by a demagogue claiming (however implausibly) to stand up for the working class. 

- Meanwhile, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has released its report on the intimidation and subversion tactics of tech giants. And Seamas O'Reilly discusses the comparative joys of Bluesky in contrast to the social media platforms that have gone through full enshittification. 

- Helena Horton, Lucy Swan, Ana Lucía González Paz and Harvey Symons highlight new data showing the acceleration of the climate breakdown - even as the wealthy countries who bear the most blame continue to dodge any responsibility for reparations or mitigation. And Karen McVeigh reports on the scientific recognition that we're generating an unmanageable quantity of plastic waste - with the same bad actors blocking any solutions on that front as well. 

- Nadine Yousif reports on the success of Halifax' choice to integrate tent encampments rather than meeting them with violent displacement. And Jonathan Brooke and Jennifer Hulme discuss how anybody in need of medical assistance is made worse off by a punitive response to addictions. 

- Finally, Jim Stanford studies (PDF) the benefits of expanded child care availability in Canada - including in averting both recessions and inflation.