Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Paul Krugman writes about the Trump Republicans' decision to impose hunger on tens of millions of Americans - with lasting consequences on people's health and development - in defence of pedophilia and arbitrary rule. John Collins offers a grim narrative as to the path of American collapse under a regime with no interest in governing. And Hamilton Nolan discusses the importance of solidarity as the alternative to oligarchy. 

- Ben Brubaker points out new research finding that algorithm-based pricing can be expected to force consumers to pay more. Lousie Matsakic reports on the likelihood that large numbers of AI users are seeing mental health crises exacerbated by the tendency to provide desired responses. And Joel Morris laments the loss of social media as a social hub rather than an exploitation device. 

- Jonathan Watts and Waja Xipai reports on Antonio Guterres' warning that we've likely missed the chance to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, but still have a desperate need to limit the damage to our living environment. And Dharna Noor reports on ExxonMobil's cynical efforts to avoid having to report on its massive contribution to carbon pollution, while Sylvain Amoros and Sylvain Senecal examine how Canada's banks are likewise trying to avoid answering for funding the climate breakdown (including by terminating their involvement in Mark Carney's voluntary reporting scheme). 

- Finally, Laura Doering discusses how mandatory return-to-office policies are likely to exacerbate gender discrimination. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Seth Abramson previews the foreseeable paths toward the breakdown of U.S. civil society in light of Donald Trump's intention to ignore both judicial and constitutional limitations on absolute power. David Roth comments on Trump's culture of sadism, while noting that there's still every need to imagine and build toward something better. And Lisa Needham and Stephen Robinson note that no amount of money (nor willingness to grovel) will ever make anyone safe from the MAGA protection racket, while Robert Reich warns that Trump is bullying far too many people into fearing dissent. 

- Meanwhile, Melanie McFarland discusses how the U.S. needs libraries and other "third places" which encourage learning and the development of community.

- Graham Redfearn reports on new modeling finding that global warming of 4 degrees Celsius will slash standards of living by 40%, while Corbin Hlar surveys reports from multiple big banks which both predict and signal an intention to contribute to carbon pollution which would drive us toward that catastrophic outcome. Austyn Gaffney reports on new data showing global sea ice at record low levels. And Thor Benson reports on Trump's attempts to spin the climate breakdown as a plus - in tandem with both his own patron in Vladimir Putin, as well as petropoliticians like Danielle Smith and Scott Moe. 

- Finally, Andrew MacLeod argues that Canada's political parties should be focusing on building our country for the long term, rather than limiting their vision to tax baubles. Alexandra Mae Jones notes that Canada can be a magnet for researchers and academics fleeing the U.S. Karen Foster et al. point out that a self-sufficient domestic food system is a must from the standpoint of national security. And Cherise Burda discusses how investment in non-profit housing can provide an immense economic boost. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Seth Wynes et al. survey climate scientists about their expectations for global climate policy - and it's telling that there's no apparent optimism about anything being accomplished until half a century down the road.

- Rickman et al. examine how banks are continuing to lend immense amounts of money for fossil fuel extraction and development - even as they know that action makes it impossible to meet the world's Paris targets. Josephine Moulds and Wil Crisp expose how Citigroup helped funnel billions to the UAE's state oil company while avoiding counting the loan against its climate commitments. And Dara Kerr reports on Elon Musk's plan to operate a massive, highly-polluting AI supercomputer in Memphis with no regard for residents who have already faced generations of environmental racism.

- Meanwhile, Zoe Kleinman discusses Stephen Fry's observation that Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have polluted the information ecosystem at least as much as any industrial operation has ever polluted the physical environment. Marc Edge argues that the developing Russian disinformation scandal could turn the tide against Pierre Poilievre and the party benefiting from Vladimir Putin's favour. And Freddy Brewster reports on J.D. Vance's plans to trash any remaining restrictions against full and unaccountable private ownership of the U.S.' political system.

- Finally, the Pandemic Acountability Index examines the gendered impacts of COVID-19, including a disproportionate burden on women already stuck with unpaid care responsibilities. And Matthew Kupfer reports on the numerous social ills caused by the federal government's decision to order employees back to their offices.

Thursday Evening Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Bill Weir writes a poignant letter of apology to his son about the state of the planet being left to future generations. 

- Cory Doctorow is optimistic that we have the means to avert the worst dangers of the climate crisis - subject to the immense "if" that capitalist avarice can't be allowed to get in the way. And Mitchell Beer and Christopher Bonasia report on the Canadian Climate Institute's warning that expanded fossil gas infrastructure will be stranded under any scenario that involves meeting even our existing emission targets.

- Meanwhile, new research from the University of Bristol shows how the global effort to protect and rebuild the ozone layer has succeeded.

- Jennifer Collins examines how return-to-office mandates drive away employees. And Manuela Vega reports on new Statistics Canada data showing that remote work produces immense benefits for personal well-being.

- Keldon Bester examines how Canada's big banks are using their privileged position to extract billions of dollars out of Canadians every year.

- Finally, Linda McQuaig offers a reminder that Pierre Poilievre's plans for systematic cruelty and austerity bear no relationship to what Canadian voters (including those who are justifiably dissatisfied with the Libs) actually want.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Rumtin Sepasspour and Courtney Tee write that it's impossible for governments to prevent and prepare for catastrophic risks when they're deliberately operating in denial that such risks even exist. And Crawford Kilian points out how the fact that we're still in the midst of a global pandemic doesn't mean we've developed mechanisms capable of responding to another one. 

- Meanwhile, Jamie Ducharme writes about the utter abandonment of anybody trying to maintain some level of COVID-19 precautions. And Erin Clack discusses the continuing stream of research showing the negative effects of COVID on the brain, while Lauren Pelley highlights how updated vaccines remain important even as their availability is becoming less and less certain. 

- Steven Trask reports on the latest revelation of a "carbon credit" project which has turned out to be an utter failure - which is worth keeping in mind in particular as the federal government's climate change consultation includes a predictable push to accept foreign credits as a substitute for emission reductions. And Natasha White examines how banks are recognizing the dangers of funding the fossil fuel sector - but how the financial sector is responding by shunting dirty loans into separate private entities. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow writes about the realities of trying to operate in systems which people can't fully understand under circumstances where the corporations with direct control and the governments who are supposed to serve the public interest have both proven utter failures in protecting our interests. And Sam Biddle exposes how any posturing by Elon Musk and X about the evils of government surveillance is entirely selective given that they've turned the sale of their own surveillance data into a profit centre. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Andrew Phillips offers a reminder that Canada will pay the price for a climate breakdown whether or not it partially prices emissions in the moment - though it's worth noting that even the existing combination of taxes and regulations falls far short of the investments we should be making in transitioning to a clean society (especially when compared to the massive subsidies incentivizing increased fossil fuel extraction). And Aaron Wherry notes that thanks in part to the know-nothingism of the Cons and their oil industry backers, there's very little public awareness of the rebate side of the federal carbon pricing system. 

- Andrew Nikiforuk points out that Danielle Smith is adopting some of the most laughable coal baron talking points on the planet in an attempt to excuse pushing further extraction with no regard for the climate crisis or the need for potable water. 

- David Climenhaga writes about the UCP's plans to assemble a provincial police force under their political control. And Jim Bronskill reports that the bigoted Flu Trux Klan was given primacy over any interest in police safety, as officers weren't warned of active threats to harm police.   

- David Moscrop writes about the immense power accumulated by Loblaws as a provider of everything, and corporate tech giants as the largest monopolists on the planet. And Erica Johnson et al. report on the continued pressure banks are putting on their employees to push financial products which consumers don't want or need. 

- Finally, Susan Riley writes that the prescription drug plan being developed at the federal level represents only a few baby steps toward a full pharmacare program - and wonders whether we'll ever see that latter goal reached. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- The John Snow Project calls out the dangers of labeling COVID-19 infection as an immune-boosting mechanism, rather than an unequivocal harm to individual health. Jake Miller discusses new research on the groups at particular risk of long COVID. And Remember Rebuild SK has developed an online memorial to ensure we recognize the lives lost to the preventable spread of disease, rather than focusing only on numbers. 

- UNITE examines how profiteering has been soaring in Britain (as it has elsewhere) as corporations use the excuse of inflation to extract more profits from the public. And David Dayen writes that the bailouts handed out to Silicon Valley Bank and other failed financial institutions are the direct result of deregulation premised on the claim that public oversight wouldn't be needed to prevent exactly that consequence.  

- Timothy Noah writes about Mark Robert Rank and Matthew Desmond's recognition that poverty is the result of policy choices and imbalances of power - including the ability of landlords to wring higher profits out of poorer neighbourhoods. And Brittany Freeman reports on the plight of residents who are blocked from making payments demanded by homeowners' associations, then forced to fund obstructionist litigation against themselves in order to resist foreclosure. 

- Finally, Fiona Harvey reports on the IPCC's latest report - including its "final warning" that we need to act now in order to limit the damage to 1.5 degrees. Laura Thomas-Walters argues that climate activism needs to focus on challenging the power structures which have entrenched the fossil fuel economy, rather than appeals to the general public. Emma Shemko writes about the deep connections between the climate crisis and environmental racism. And June Sekera highlights how carbon capture and storage represents a delay and distraction tactic rather than an antidote to a climate breakdown. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Camille Bains reports on Dr. Mona Nemer's warning that long COVID represents a mass disabling event with potentially devastating social and economic consequences. And Zeynep Tufecki examines the evidence showing the importance of masking in reducing the spread and severity of COVID-19. 

- Natasha Bulowski reports on DT Cochrane's rightful concerns that the spin from grocery magnates summoned to testify before Parliament didn't accurately reflect the reality of how prices have been inflated to generate windfall profits. And Linda McQuaig calls out the Libs for meekly letting big pharma dictate that needed medicines will continue to be subject to inflated prices as well. 

- Carl Meyer reports on the anticipated effects if banks actually comply with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions ' plan to include the cost of a climate breakdown in disclosures about their lending portfolios. Alex Panetta interviews Drew Anderson about the fallout from Alberta and Imperial Oil's joint cover-up of massive tailings ponds leaks. And Helena Horton reports on the BBC's decision to squelch David Attenborough's show on the destruction of nature based on the fear of retaliation from a fossil-backed government. 

- Finally, Andy Kroll, Andrea Bernstein and Nick Surgey examine the billions of dollars being funneled into smashing solidarity and entrenched corporate control over the U.S. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Phil Tank writes that the holidays will be anything but happy for families dealing with long COVID due to the Moe government's choice to let it rip through the population, while Larissa Kurz reports that a year in which everybody decided to pretend the pandemic was over has been the province's most deadly one yet. Aaron D'Andrea reports on the World Health Organization's warnings about the potential effects of developing variants on overburdened health care systems, while Alika Lafontaine and Stefanie Davis each point out how ours are already collapsing. 

- Meanwhile, Marc-Andre Pigeon, Haizhen Mou and Natalie Kallio point out how cooperative clinics can ensure people have access to primary and preventative care without placing additional burdens on already-overloaded workers.  

- Armine Yalnizyan responds to anti-worker spin by pointing out that there's little reason to think higher wages are a driver of inflation. Marco Chown Oved reports that there's still a direct connection between food price inflation and profiteering by grocery giants. And Katie Hyslop explains her decision to stop contributing to band-aids such as food banks when there's an urgent need to work toward actual food security. 

- Dylan Short reports on the sheer cruelty involved in Calgary's decision to remove doors from transit stations in order to prevent people from seeking warmth. And Arny Wise offers some suggestions as to how David Eby can address British Columbia's housing crisis - including a need to focus on non-market housing rather than hoping that for-profit developers will solve the shortage of affordable homes. 

- Finally, Adam Johnson highlights how under a corporatist political and economic system, free speech is limited to what the wealthiest few are willing to hear and promote. And Rebecca Burns and Julia Rock report on the lobbying by U.S. banks to be able to commit felonies without consequences - supposedly in the name of serving the very customers they apparently plan to defraud. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Xue Cao et al. find that infection with COVID-19 produces accelerated physical aging among its other alarming effects, while Jan Hennigs et al. discuss the development of respiratory muscle dysfunction as a product of long COVID. Which means - as noted by Moira Wyton - that the decision to get an additional booster vaccine is an easy one for the people in a position to receive it.  

- Eve Darian-Smith highlights how the same anti-social industries (including resource extraction and finance sectors) are lobbying both to perpetuate carbon pollution and install authoritarian governments to ensure that efforts to build a healthy population and planet don't serve as barriers to short-term profits. Vanessa Nakate warns against outside efforts to impose gas dependence on Africa when its development can be powered with cleaner technology. 

- Diana Kruzman writes about the developing phenomenon of "flash droughts" which are threatening the availability of food and water in the U.S.' midwest. And Christy Climenhaga discusses how glaciers have melted past the point of no return in the western Canadian Rockies, making our water supplies far more precarious. 

- Cory Doctorow points out the problems with accepting "vote with your wallet" as a means of expressing values in the context of choices severely constrained by corporate decision-making. And Judd Legum writes about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to constitutionalize the right to corruption on the part of the people whose extreme wealth can swamp democratic politics. 

- Jake Johnson discusses the record executive pay being handed out even as workers are told (at both the firm and social levels) that they need to accept cuts in real income to avoid inflation. Richard Burgon writes that the UK should be capping prices and profits rather than wages. And Heather Scoffield approves of the NDP's plan to ensure that inflation doesn't create more poverty and inequality by having the wealthy pay more to double the low-income GST credit. 

- Finally, Umair Haque pleads for Americans to pay attention to the violent takeover of their society by white supremacists. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading. 

- Bruce Arthur offers a reminder that we know perfectly well how to limit the damage done by COVID-19 as long as a government is responsible enough to implement basic public health protections. But Geoffrey Stevens writes that we're still seeing numerous provincial governments prioritizing political pandering over COVID control - particularly with an eye toward impending elections.  

- Nili Kaplan-Myrth writes that the price of catering to the anti-science fringe includes regular threats being levied at health care professionals who dare to encourage people to get vaccinated. And Laura Sciarpelletti reports on the patients waiting for Saskatchewan's organ donor program to resume after the Moe government's negligence forced it to be put on hold to deal with a flood of critical COVID cases. 

- Leger surveys Canadians about the climate crisis and finds large majorities demanding more action to avert a climate breakdown. But Josephine Moulds discusses how banks are lobbying to water down any progress even while pretending to be climate-friendly in their public messaging. And Colleen Silverthorn reports on the false promise of CCS and other fossil fuel-based megaprojects as a substitute for a just transition to clean energy.  

- Steven Bernard, Dan Clark and Sam Joiner report on research showing that over 3 billion people could see their current locations become unliveable over the next half-century if we don't stop climate change now. And Jen St. Denis reports on an analysis documenting the people who died as a result of British Columbia's unprecedented heat dome - with older people, isolated people and people living in areas with limited green space facing especially high risks. 

- Finally, David Rider report on a new study showing that Toronto's garbage privatization predictably produced higher costs and less stable employment rather than offering any efficiencies. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Jenna Gettings et al. study the massive effect masking and improved ventilation have in reducing the spread of the coronavirus in elementary schools. But Sheila Wang reports on the outdated assumptions still being used to inform public health advice about COVID-19. And Michael Zennie and Gladys Tsai point out that the pandemic has evolved to the point where countries like Taiwan who successfully stamped out earlier waves are now facing significant spread, while . 

- Meanwhile, Umair Haque writes that after being handed intellectual property rights over publicly-researched vaccines, the pharmaceutical sector is now banking on COVID-19 becoming endemic to provide an ongoing source of profits.

- David Sirota highlights how the U.S. serves as a tax haven for the rich - including by dedicating far more effort to auditing low-income people than the corporations who are actually hiding money. Luke Savage discusses how Wall Street always tends to get its way in Washington even when public opinion is united against it. And David Lawder and Michael Nienaber report that other countries are watering down even the U.S.' modest proposals for international tax standards. 

- Erica Johnson reports that banks are exploiting the pandemic by extracting even more and higher fees from the people who can least afford to pay them.

- Finally, Ian Gill writes that we're far more likely to be able to pursue happiness and well-being if we don't link them to constant consumption and environmental destruction.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Dan Gardner writes that the COVID-19 pandemic is exactly the type of rare but severe event which should be the subject of thorough public preparation. And Eric Neudorf explains why so many governments failed to appreciate and act on the severity of the coronavirus even after its dangers were publicly known.

- Adam Almeida notes that Canada's universal public health care has allowed us to fare far better than other countries who rely on private providers. But Kara Grace Hounsell, Marcella Jones, Melanie Spence, Nisha Kansal and Thrmiga Sathiyamoorthy write that COVID-19 also the need to fight to fill in the gaps in Canada's system.

- Robert Green writes about privatization as a pre-existing condition which has created intolerable dangers for people in long-term care. Bruce Arthur points out how COVID-19 was positioned to exploit our current nursing home structure, while Jonathon Gatehouse reminds us that there have been plenty of warnings which have gone unaddressed (or indeed been met with deregulation and declining standards). Andre Picard calls out the ageism involved in the appalling willingness of operators - and a growing number of right-wing politicians - to sacrifice the lives of older residents. And David Climenhaga discusses the need for improved pay and working conditions for long-term care workers both during and after the pandemic, while Scott Gilmore makes a similar case for all of the essential workers risking their own health to keep us supplied with necessities. 

- Jim Stanford discusses how the Bank of Canada could offer far more effective quantitative easing by investing directly in government bonds, rather than relying on bank-shot secondary funding through private financiers to produce desirable public outcomes. And Frances Bula highlights the difficulties faced by municipalities confronted simultaneously with reduced tax revenue and provincially-imposed obligations to balance their budgets.

- Finally, David Dayen points out that the U.S. is allowing banks to seize relief funding to individuals, meaning that the already-meager assistance on offer might never make it to recipients. And Ricardo Tranjan studies how payday lenders are positioned to exploit the dire straits facing Canadian workers to pad their profits. 

On private interests

So far, the COVID-19 crisis has offered plenty of lessons about the limitations of delivering public goods through self-interested banks. Any relief has flowed only slowly, while the crisis has been turned into a profiteering opportunity both in the form of fine print imposing higher long-term costs on people who ask for it, and standard policies imposing higher immediate costs for people who don't.

Meanwhile, the major public-sector effort to distribute a new form of relief has been an unabashed success in terms of speed and efficiency (even if it's still too limited in scope). 

Which is to say that we're seeing further evidence that a blinkered focus (PDF) on putting banks in charge of deciding who gets money and how can't actually be justified in the name of speed or business efficacy. To the contrary, they're far more likely to dangerously limit any distribution of resources, while making any decisions only through ponderous approval processes which delay the receipt of help even where it is made available.

Instead, if we want to ensure that money actually makes it where it's needed (however that need is defined), the past month has demonstrated that the public sector is far better suited to the job.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Derek Thompson reports on Denmark's wage subsidies which are finally being mimicked by other countries including Canada. And Duncan Cameron points out how the Libs' early response fell far short of the mark.

- Rachel Giese points out how the coronavirus response shows the ability of governments to deploy resources to meet basic needs when they're motivated enough to do so.

- Mindy Isser discusses how a pandemic is showing everybody who's actually needed as between the wealthy few and the service workers who keep our essential supports running. But Alexander Panetta observes that a crisis is only emphasizing and deepening the class divide.

- Anthony Morgan discusses how incarcerated people are particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases. And Samantha Michaels writes about the spread of COVID-19 through Rikers Island, while Kendall Latimer, Dan Zakreski and Creeden Martell report on the first apparent cases among Saskatchewan correctional workers.

- Aaron Saltzman notes that deferred mortgage payments under the privately-controlled model set up by the Libs may carry large costs, with the bank standing to benefit as a result.

- Finally, PressProgress highlights how Jason Kenney attempted to demonize renters as an excuse for refusing to provide protection against evictions.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Laurie MacFarlane writes that flows of income and wealth have everything to do with bargaining power and social decision-making, rather than productivity or merit:

(A)ggregate wealth is not simply a reflection of the process of accumulation, as theory tends to imply. It is also a reflection of the boundaries of what can and cannot be alienated, priced, bought and sold, and the power dynamics that underpin them. This is not just a historical matter.

Today some goods and services are provided by private firms on a commodified basis, whereas others are provided socially as a collective good. This can often vary significantly between countries. Where a service is provided by private firms (for example, healthcare in the USA), shareholder claims over profits are reflected in the firm’s value – and these claims can be bought and sold, for example on the stock market. These claims are also recorded as financial wealth in the national accounts.

However, where a service is provided socially as a collective good (such as the NHS in the UK), there are no claims over profits to be owned and traded among investors. Instead, the claims over these sectors are socialised. Profits are foregone in favour of free, universal access. Because these benefits are non-monetary and accrue to everyone, they are not reflected in any asset prices and are not recorded as “wealth” in the national accounts.

A similar effect is observed with pension provision: while private pensions (funded through capital markets) are included as a component of financial wealth in the OECD’s figures, public pensions (funded from general taxation) are excluded. As a result, a country that provides generous universal public pensions will look less wealthy than a country that rely solely on private pensions, all else being equal. The way that we measure national wealth is therefore skewed towards commodification and privatisation, and against socialisation and universal provision.
...
All statistics tell a story, but stories can be told from different perspectives. Embedded in the definitions of all economic statistics are value judgements about what is desirable and what is undesirable, which in turn shape the way we think about the economy. At the moment, the way we measure the wealth of nations mainly reflects the fortunes of capitalists and landowners rather than workers and tenants. Britain looks wealthier than Germany on paper, but this does not reflect the lived reality for most people. While it’s important not to overstate the extent to which statistics can influence the real world, this is important for at least three reasons.

Firstly, it illustrates how seemingly objective metrics often have ideological assumptions baked into them. While there is already a well-established literature on alternatives to GDP, many economic metrics are used in economic analysis and policy appraisal without any critical appraisal of their underlying ideological assumptions. This needs to change.

Second, it highlights how paper wealth has in many places become decoupled from productive capacity, and how conflating the two can be highly misleading. This is particularly the case where zero sum rentier activity is widespread, as in the case of Britain. Such discrepancies raise the question of whether the way that we currently measure wealth is really the most sensible.

But most importantly, it illustrates that the distribution of wealth has little to do with contribution or productivity, and everything to do with politics and power. As J.W. Mason states: “It’s bargaining power, it’s politics, all the way down.”

- Meanwhile, Anna Tims offers a reminder that a cashless and financialized society imposes disproportionate costs on the people who aren't catered to by big banks.

- Allison Alberto discusses a new study from the Alberta Federation of Labour showing how a $15 minimum wage will boost the economy as a whole as well as the standard of living of some of the people who need it most. Michael Speers implores the Ford PCs not to reverse planned minimum wage increases in Ontario. And Emily Klatt reports on the Saskatchewan NDP's push to finally follow suit with a living hourly wage for all workers.

- Finally, Michael Spence comments on the balkanization of international trade flows. Neil MacDonald writes that contrary to the Libs' spin, the new NAFTA represents almost total capitulation to the U.S.' bullying - including by limiting Canada's ability to seek out trade agreements with new potential allies. David Moscrop concurs that Canada has both made painful short-term concessions, and increased our future vulnerability to the U.S. And Duncan Cameron outlines the changes for the worse in the Trump NAFTA.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Ed Finn discusses how employment and unemployment rates are among the economic indicators which are all too often misleadingly substituted for shared prosperity. And Russell Robinson points out how the Libs' poverty strategy is at best a first step toward eliminating needless deprivation in our midst.

- Meanwhile, Robert Frank notes that one of the insidious effects of income inequality is an increasing gap in access to justice.

- Jared Bernstein and Dean Baker offer a reminder of the role organized labour needs to play in reducing inequality, while IBEW points to new research showing how all workers benefit from union strength. And Nick Reeve writes that pensions and benefit structures haven't kept up with the spread of precarious employment. 

- Andrew Nikiforuk concludes that the Libs' Kinder Morgan bailout represents nothing but an example of petro politics at work. And Chris Turner traces how Trans Mountain became a political dumpster fire which the Libs and Cons are both determined to keep burning, while Cara Daggett explores the connection between fossil fuels and the right-wing shift toward exclusionary authoritarian politics.

- Finally, Yves Engler highlights Canada's reliance on financial-sector profits, including ones extracted from poorer countries around the globe.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Peter Gowan and Ryan Cooper write about the need for much more affordable social housing across the income spectrum. Rhys Kesselman responds to a few of the more laughable attacks on British Columbia's more progressive property tax. And Stephen Punwasi discusses the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's warning that Canadian mortgage lenders are pushing both brokers and borrowers toward risky products which may create systemic instability.

- Dean Beeby examines FINTRAC's internal report showing how Canadian banks have been facilitating money laundering - and discusses how a report for public consumption was reworded to give the opposite impression.

- Mitchell Anderson rightly calls out the nonsensical claim that building pipelines is anything but a negative for the cause of reducing the effects of climate change, while David Suzuki weighs in on the audit showing how governments at all levels are falling short of their commitments. And Richard Partington reports on Mark Carney's warning that fossil fuel dependence may be just as catastrophic for financial interests as for the planet, while Olaf Weber and Chelsie Hunt model the superior prospects for investments which avoid throwing money at dirty energy. 

- And David Climenhaga rebuts the theory that Alberta (or any other jurisdiction) would do itself any favours by choosing to be an environmental pariah - even as the likes of Scott Moe and Doug Ford push in that direction.

- Finally, Ronald Labonte discusses the nutrition and health consequences of corporate-driven trade deals, including any attempt to renegotiate NAFTA.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Mitchell Thompson discusses the absurdity of setting up Canada's banks for collapses and bailouts, rather than ensuring they serve the public interest. And Colin Butler reports on CUPW's continued push for a postal banking option to provide better service to far more people and communities.

- Barry Saxifrage writes about the glaring gap between Canada's supposed greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and the minimal policies actually in place. And Emily Pasiuk notes that Saskatchewan is the worst offender in lacking even a willingness to take the first step of setting meaningful targets.

- Meanwhile, Geoff Leo reports on Andrew Stevens' concerns that Scott Moe will leave Regina on the hook for the waste and scandal linked to the Global Transportation Hub after already exploiting the city for a la carte services.

- Nathan Laurie warns of Doug Ford's plans to send Ontario over a fiscal cliff. And Chris Selley points out that voters looking for an alternative would be best served voting for the Andrea Horwath's NDP rather than the party cynically copying its plans.

- Finally, the Globe and Mail wonders why the Trudeau Libs are dragging their feet on any improvements to Canada's electoral system - not to mention appointing somebody to oversee it.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- The Courage Coalition discusses why economic justice is necessary for social equality. But Ed Finn writes that instead, Canada is pushing people into serfdom:

Today's big business executives are not so outspoken, at least not in public, but privately they could make the same boast. Their basic agenda is not that much different from that of their 19th-century forerunners, whom they envy and seek to emulate. And what's really scary is that they now have amassed almost as much of the political and economic power they need to recreate the "bad old days" of the industrial robber barons.
...
This flinthearted exploitation of child labour may never be repeated in Canada, mainly because there are so many children in poorer nations who can more easily be exploited. But don't rule out the possibility that much of our adult work force will be driven back into a modern-day version of serfdom. With our labour laws impaired and laxly enforced, with workers' unions and bargaining rights weakened, with well-paid manufacturing jobs being replaced by low-paid part-time or temporary work, the regression of our labour force into 19th-century-style servitude is far from a dystopian fantasy.

Canadians should take a good hard look back at the age of absolute corporate power that doomed millions to dire poverty and serfdom in the late 1800s. If they did, they might be more concerned about having to relive that blighted and benighted past -- and become active in the struggle to avert it. 

- And Andrew MacLeod reports on the CMHC's thorough rejection of Christy Clark's attempt to lock vulnerable people into housing prices they can't afford.

- Carolyn Ray writes that instead of doing anything to rein in the abuses of banks who are simultaneously slashing jobs and closing branches while raking into economy-distorting profits, the Libs are attacking the credit unions who offer the most important alternative source of financial services. 

- Finally, Ben Chapman writes about the results of Finland's test of a basic income - which finds that people with some basic economic security are actually showing a stronger inclination to seek out work. And Tom Parkin examines the federal NDP leadership candidates' respective plans to put an end to poverty - while highlighting the importance of recognizing that as a feasible and necessary goal.