Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Gloria Dickie documents how the Arctic region may already be in a death spiral caused by climate change. Katharine Murphy reports on IMF research showing that current policies and plans are woefully inadequate to address the climate crisis. Joseph Winters notes that the default position of U.S. residents is to recognize the danger and demand action - though of course even the most optimistic prospects for next month's elections won't see that reflected in policymaking. And Paris Marx writes about the need to challenge the inequality of wealth and power in order to make meaningful strides to avert a climate breakdown. 

- Meanwhile, Carbon Brief notes that solar electricity is now the cheapest form of energy ever available.

- Deirdre Mitchell-MacLean responds to the UCP's plans to privatize hospital services by pointing out how the inevitable result of inserting corporate actors into medical functions (with a motive to skimp in order to pad a bottom line) is for the public to pay more and get less. And Danyaal Raza and Naheed Dosani highlight how pay-to-play COVID testing serves to break down common interests and purposes within an pandemic.

- Finally, Duncan Kinney reports on the openness to outright Naziism on the part of some prominent Wexiteers. And PressProgress exposes Saskatchewan Party cabinet minister Greg Ottenbreit's propensity for reinforcing the message of anti-Semitic and outright lunatic figures who have been condemned even by U.S. Republicans.

The reviews are in

Murray Mandryk:

Add another casualty as the hearing started on Wednesday: Accountability. For the first time in a quarter century of covering events at the legislature, I witnessed reporters being barred from a room where elected officials were publicly debating law. Ostensibly, the reason the media wasn't allowed in was because there was no room for them because of the larger-than-anticipated crowd of tradespeople that had taken up the chairs that are filled on a first-come, first-served basis...

Of course, with the hearings broadcast on the Internet and carried within the legislative building on close-circuit television, the government committee members weren't especially interested in listening to any such concerns Wednesday. Frankly, though, the fact they weren't particularly interested in much of anything that might have altered their already-made-up minds is exactly the problem.

The truth be told -- and contrary to the false assertion of committee chair Greg Ottenbreit -- the trades people that came to the legislature Wednesday did not come at the behest of the NDP Opposition. They came out of deeply held concerns that this legislation threatens higher wages and might restrict their access to future jobs.