Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Aria Bendix examines the state of current knowledge as to how likely people are to suffer from long COVID after being infected - with a seemingly declining risk for any given infection being more than counterbalanced by the threat from repeated reinfection. And the Lancet discusses how much more there is to learn about long COVID, while Caora McKenna shares the stories of some of the people currently afflicted with it.

- Meanwhile, Brennan Doherty reports on the fight of federal employees to be able to continue minimizing unnecessary spread by working from home where possible. And Zak Vescera discusses the prospect of a four-day work week. 

- Matthew Yglesias writes that contrary to the assumptions of people looking to find complicated solutions to poverty in the U.S., the real problem is that current programs are effective but underfunded. 

- Inori Roy reports on the private deals which are making long-term care in Ontario even more oriented toward enriching connected corporations rather than ensuring people have the homes and care they need.

- Bob Wells points out how the covered-up Kearl tar sands leak exposes dangerous gaps in environmental regulation, while Adrienne Tanner calls for accountability for the people responsible. Danny Halpin reports on new research finding that the effects of a climate breakdown include a quadrupling of extreme rainfall events. And Matthew McClearn writes about the consequences of disappearing ice cover over the Great Lakes.

- Finally, Umair Haque examines the UK Cons' takeover of the BBC as a prime example of the fascist tendency to break the institutions of civil society. And Chelsea Nash reports on Faiz Shakir's message that progressives need to recognize public anger and its causes - while turning it toward positive ends rather than the hate and destruction peddled by the right.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Tom Frieden offers a primer on what we know about long COVID - and what we should be doing to avoid it. And Eric Topol interviews Linsey Marr about the importance of clean air to alleviate the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. 

- Robert Booth and Pamela Duncan report that the increased privatization of care homes in England have resulted in nearly a third falling short of basic standards of hygiene and care for dementia patients. 

- David Sirota and Andrew Perez point out that the airline mess in the U.S. was fully anticipated in advance of the holiday season - and that Southwest Airlines in particular proceeded with a massive dividend payment rather than putting a nickel toward keeping its operations functional. And Adam Johnson discusses how the nightmare for air travelers reflects the broader work by giant corporations to ensure people aren't able to raise their problems with anybody other than powerless frontline workers:

We are conditioned to get mad at the human face we see before us, the “representative” of the company who personally profits nothing from our purchase. We are conditioned to get mad at the waiter when our food is late (and penalize this “bad service” with a bad tip) when the vast majority of the time it’s due to understaffing by a cheapskate boss. We are conditioned to get upset with the enforcer of arbitrary rules at a hotel checkout, despite it not being their rule at all. We are conditioned to be hostile to the very people we should have the most solidarity with. 

... 

Those who actually make the decisions remain protected like mob bosses, gently nestled between layers of middle management, lawyers, and marketing reps, impossible to reach by design. They have addresses and homes and phone numbers, you just don’t have access to them. And if you did, this would be stalking, and you’d likely get a visit from a police officer. Meanwhile they have all your information, and can hound you with credit agencies and just randomly steal your money. To the extent they face consequences, it’s a pointless fine that’s factored into their cost-benefit calculations at the beginning of the year... 

... 

(B)y design, the only humans we interface with are those who, by definition, are the lowest on the ladder, the least paid, and least protected: The cashier, the ticket agent, the flight attendant, the poor call center punching bag. So people yell at them, because there is no one else. They hate you back, and worker solidarity further erodes. We all grow more atomized, angry, powerless, and bitter. And the system works as intended.

- Agence France-Presse discusses the connections between the climate breakdown and increasingly severe winter storms.

- Finally, Craig Silverman and Ruth Talbot expose some of Google's ad network - including its complicity in fraud and disinformation by protecting the identities of bad actors using it for their antisocial ends. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Robert Reich rightly questions why trickle-down economics are still being pushed even after decades of consistent failure to accomplish any goal other than increased inequality. And James Galbraith and Mariana Mazzucato each offer an outline as to how to reshape economies to achieve social goals other than further engorging the obscenely-wealthy.

- Carina Marquez et al. study how the length of actual COVID infection has changed over the course of the pandemic, finding an increased length of infection in the Omicron phase even as isolation and leave policies have been weakened. And Kenyon Wallace and Andrew Bailey warn that Ontario is seeking another rise in the number of cases in long-term care homes just in time for increased indoor activity to drive even more transmission.

- Greta Thunberg highlights the need not to accept the word of governments and corporations claiming to be doing their part to avert a climate breakdown while in fact exacerbating the problem. Alastair Marsh reports on new research showing the need for a drastic transition in investment from dirty fossil fuels to clean energy in order to meet existing commitments. And Nina Lakhani reports on TC's cynical use of Black community leaders to create the pretense of community support for pipelines which in fact stand to impose environmental costs on people who can't afford to bear them.

- Oliver Moore discusses how many municipalities have learned valuable lessons about the merits of keeping space open for walking and pedestrian use rather than parking - while Regina stands out as one of the few Canadians cities actively going in the opposite direction.

- Isaac Chotiner examines the longstanding racism and neglect behind Alabama's widespread prison strike.

- Finally, Brodie Thomas reports on the organized ignorance which is on the verge of completely taking over the UCP's party structures. And Cara McKenna reports on the large amounts of money being dumped into municipal campaigns in Squamish, B.C. by the natural gas industry and its puppets to try to bulldoze over popular disapproval for gas projects.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board writes that we're being left to navigate an ongoing pandemic in the dark as governments choose not to provide either resources or information to protect public health. Riley Acton et al. study (PDF) how vaccine mandates reduced COVID spread at U.S. colleges, while Prabir Purkayastha notes that everybody is suffering for the WTO's decision to prioritize pharmaceutical profits over the availability of vaccines. Emily Clark discusses how habitual mask-wearing has allowed Japan, Singapore and South Korea to avoid the death toll of the Omicron COVID wave experienced elsewhere. And Sky News reports on the emerging recognition of multiple forms of long COVID.

- Kevin Wasko writes about the lessons we should be taking from the calamitous failures of Canada's senior care system. But Chris Hannay reports that provinces are instead enabling more of our health care system to fall into profit-motivated corporate hands, while Tom Yun reports on the worsening staffing shortages in our public health care system. 

- George Monbiot writes that a pattern of unprecedented heat waves should make clear that we can't count on small actions to avert a climate breakdown, while Damian Carrington reports on the warning from climate scientists that societal collapse and even human extinction represent increasingly foreseeable scenarios if we keep spewing carbon pollution. Christy Climenhaga examines how climate change is altering Canada's forest regions, while Nouran Salahieh and Claudia Dominguez report on the latest wildfires in California. And Peter McKenna points out the looming prospect that an increasingly parched U.S. will look to Canada to divert water for its use. 

- Émile Boisseau-Bouvier and Laura Cameron call the bluff of the Libs' weasel wording by setting out a framework which a fossil fuel subsidy would have to meet in order to avoid being "inefficient". And Aitor Hernandez-Morales writes about the success of Pontevedra, Spain in prioritizing car-free development.  

- Finally, Anna Cooban reports on the results of the UK's trial with a four-day work week, along with earlier pilot programs which showed it's possible to maintain productivity without demanding the work days currently required of most workers. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Katherine Wu warns about the consequences of the powers that be deciding that people will be subjected to repeated COVID-19 infections. And Saba Qasmieh et al. examine the difference between reported case numbers and actual COVID prevalence, and find that the data now being provided may underestimate case counts by 30 times due to the choice not to conduct systematic testing. 

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board discusses how density - not further publicly-subsidized sprawl - represents a key part of the solution to ensuring people's right to housing is met. 

- Marco Chown Oved, Kenyon Wallace and Ed Tubb call out the Ford PCs' plan to shovel billions more public dollars toward the well-connected private long-term care home operators which saw some of the worst death rates in the course of the COVID pandemic. And Stephen Magusiak and Luke LeBrun report that Doug Ford's shady activities include having inner-circle operatives put one of his own cabinet ministers under surveillance. 

- Duncan Kinney exposes how the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce is exploiting a loophole intended for community groups to avoid property tax on most of a $11 million commercial property - and how the provincial government is allowing the business lobby tax advantages which aren't available for labour organizations. 

- Finally, Umair Haque laments the ongoing - and indeed worsening - carnage in the U.S. most recently exemplified through the mass murders in Buffalo and Uvalde. Elizabeth Bruenig writes about the U.S.' final descent into utter nihilism as yet another preventable  massacre of children produces public outcry but absolutely no policy response. And Sigal Samuel writes about the debate over grossly insufficient estimates of the social cost of carbon in the U.S. - and the reality that any reasonable valuation of human rights and a viable existence for future generations would make any avoidable carbon pollution untenable. 

On historical echoes

Ontario's ongoing provincial election is presenting some interesting echoes from previous campaigns - particularly the 2015 federal election which similarly involved a seemingly vulnerable Conservative majority, an NDP official opposition and a Lib attempt to jump back into default-government status. 

At the outset, I'll reiterate my longtime view that contrary to conventional wisdom, the 2015 NDP strategy - which involved focusing largely on making the case to defeat the Harper Cons, and positioning Thomas Mulcair as a broadly acceptable option in the event voters reached the judgment Justin Trudeau wasn't ready for the job of prime minister - was neither entirely unreasonable nor unsuccessful. 

The first necessary step to achieve anything was to make the case for a change in government, and Mulcair's work prosecuting Harper and his record played a huge role in achieving that. And while Trudeau's performance was beyond the NDP's control, there was a plausible path to government if he'd failed to live up to expectations. (Of course, it ultimately helped Trudeau that dismissive messaging about him lowered the bar considerably.) 

To the extent that calculation failed to achieve all of the desired outcome, it's one that Andrea Horwath's Ontario NDP seems determined not to repeat: it's rightly keeping a focus on the continuity between PC and Lib policies as representing a series of failures that need fixing. But there are also a couple of other distinguishing factors which offer the prospect of a better outcome in Ontario. 

The first is the one which was entirely outside of the federal NDP's control: following Jack Layton's death, the leader whose popularity helped boost the party into Official Opposition status was no longer around to help it take the next step into government.

It's bizarre in that context to see commentary (mostly from Lib spinners, but somewhat from others as well) suggesting that Ontario's NDP should have jettisoned its leader voluntarily after achieving its best result in a generation. But for now, the party enjoys the advantage of Andrea Horwath's relatively strong approval ratings and consistent ability to boost the NDP's standing, while the Libs have a comparatively unknown leader who remains ripe for a campaign collapse.  

Of course, that leaves the major avoidable failing of Mulcair's federal campaign, being the lack of a strong pushback against the Libs' messages about the relative progressive positioning of the two parties. That allowed Trudeau to win over far too many voters with a claim to progressivity which was entirely unwarranted based on the parties' actual platforms. 

But while the Ontario Libs are trying to similarly claim to be challenging the NDP from the left, Horwath's team has done plenty to ensure that type of attack is neither plausible nor successful.

Indeed, if there's anything that's gone glaringly unmentioned in most coverage of the Ontario election, it's the deep policy work already done (and yes, promoted) by the NDP in areas where the Libs have spent the campaign hastily cribbing a platform for themselves. 

Want to see Canada's most populous province actually be a leader in implementing a Green New Democratic Deal? The NDP has worked out how to get there (PDF). 

Think a party's commitment to increasing housing supply should be backed by a meaningful analysis of how to get there, as well as specific plans to ensure homes are available for vulnerable groups? The NDP has it covered (PDF). 

A detailed plan to bring long-term care under public control and protect residents from the neglect set up by decades of Lib and PC privatization? That's been developed (PDF) as well.

Want to see a promise to provide universal mental health care which is actually supported by a road map to get there? That's been done too (PDF). 

In each case, the NDP's detailed plans - supported by significant research and analysis - have been copied in part by the Libs in two- to four-page platform entries. But there's little room for dispute both as to which party has the more progressive policies, and which has put meaningful thought and analysis into how to implement them. 

Unfortunately, those plans won't amount to much if the broader electorate isn't convinced to vote the PCs out and the NDP in. But that's where it's essential to let people know that there is a viable alternative - and that it's ready to fix the most important issues facing Ontario if given the chance.  

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Mark Kline warns against accepting continuing denialism about the impact of COVID-19 on children. Andre Picard discusses Canada's grim milestone of 40,000 (reported) COVID deaths. And Dennis Thompson notes the reality that long COVID may be a chronic condition requiring constant treatment, while Sky News reports on the warning from Asthma and Lung UK that people are being abandoned to try to hunt down oxygen and other necessities through private channels rather than receiving the care they need through the NHS. 

- David Milstead reports that long-term care executives managed to rake in extra-large bonuses even as their residents were dying at unconscionable rates in the first year of the pandemic. And Mitchell Thompson exposes how PC assistant labour minister Deepak Anand sought to profit from privatized long-term care while his government was neglecting residents and grinding workers. 

- Jiaying Zhao and Lorne Whitehead rightly ask why a basic income to fully eliminate poverty remains in the realm of pilot projects and preliminary consultations rather than full implementation. 

- David Knowles reports on new research showing that we've reached a new record for carbon concentration in our atmosphere. And Serhii Plokhy writes that we only need to look at the historical dangers of nuclear power to see why it's not a viable answer to the need for a clean energy transition. 

- Finally, Juliette Kayyem discusses the dishonesty of treating the Buffalo mass shooter as a "lone wolf" when his plans and motivations are readily traceable to a large and organized group of white supremacist terrorists. And Talia Lavin recognizes that the underlying values are in fact shared and amplified by the entire Republican party. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Mustafa Hirji discusses how basic public health protections offer the best chance of controlling the spiraling harms from COVID-19 without resorting to lockdowns. Andrew Woo writes that the elimination of regular testing and reporting at the provincial level is making it impossible for people to know the level of risk they face. And John Smith comments on the absurd combination of a devastating wave of infections, hospitalizations and deaths in the midst of a global pandemic, and a government response aimed at denying the problem and demanding that citizens do the same. 

- Andre Picard weighs in on how the pandemic should have pushed us to ensure that long-term care actually provides for the health and well-being of residents. But Megan Messerly and Krista Mahr report that instead of the recognition of our shared fate pushing us to take better care of each other, the contrived backlash against public health measures is undermining longstanding protections such as standard vaccines.  

- Eric Holthaus discusses the challenges of communicating about the approaching and worsening dangers of climate change when we're still stuck in a pandemic. Bob Berwyn writes about the IPCC's warning that it's now or never to avert catastrophe. And Hannah Patros writes about the young climate activists stepping up to stop the exploitation of fossil fuels which otherwise stand to cause irreversible damage to our natural environment. 

- Brian Platt points out the challenge of trying to encourage the construction of new houses in the absence of sufficient workers to do the job - though that reality points out just another consequence of prioritizing resource exploitation over any other goal. And Margot Roosevelt reports on the success of unionized grocery workers in California who have successfully pushed for raises of up to 31% in new contracts. 

- Finally, Anya Zoledziowski reports on the right's continued genocide denial surrounding residential schools, as even a (however indirect) apology from the Pope hasn't put a dent in the determination of white supremacists to minimize or outright deny our past (and continuing) colonialism. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- The Star's editorial board weighs in on the reality that wishful thinking isn't a substitute for responsible public health measures as another COVID wave builds up, while the Globe and Mail rightly criticizes the politicians acting like the pandemic is over as the carnage reaches new peaks. Jillian Horton writes that governments have used the language of individual empowerment to leave us powerless. And Nancy Hansen and Shannon Sampert highlight how the irresponsible elimination of protections and accommodations is leaving disabled people behind. 

- Jeremy Appel writes about the need to take profit motives out of long-term care in Alberta (and elsewhere). 

- Deborah de Lange discusses the need to stop pouring money into fossil fuels, including through the gigantic carbon capture and storage subsidies being demanded by Canada's corporate establishment. Graham Redfearn calls out the blatant and false astroturf campaign aimed at extending the lifespan of combustion engines rather than transitioning to electric alternatives. And Justine Calma reports that instead of acquiescing in that type of fossil-driven policy, the Biden administration is invoking emergency legislation to facilitate the development and manufacture of battery technology. 

- David Olive rightly contrasts the proven and efficient renewable energy already available to us against the long-term, high-cost delay tactic of demanding we keep using fossil fuels until nonexistent small modular nuclear reactors magically become viable. 

- Finally, the Broadbent Institute highlights Ed Broadbent's comments on how Canada has long neglected economic, social and cultural rights. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Nora Loreto discusses the collective trauma which is following from the combination of a pandemic and a determined effort by our ruling class not to limit the harm it causes. And Dan Sinker writes about the impossibility of reaching anything approaching normal when war and disease are the leading factors shaping our lives. 

- Luke Taylor offers a warning to the Americans not to lower their guard against COVID. Brooklyn Neustaedter reports on the recognition that there's no going back to the way things were prior to the pandemic, while Jean Laroche reports on the expert pushback against lifting mask mandates in Nova Scotia. And Maria Godoy writes about the obvious potential for improvement in air quality standards in classrooms and elsewhere.

- Katherine Scott points out how the pandemic has confirmed the need to take profit motives out of long-term care - as the same businesses responsible for tens of thousands of deaths through resident neglect and poor planning managed to keep their profits at entirely typical levels. And Robert Williams reports on the organizing drive to keep Ontario's health care system from being sold off. But the Canadian Press reports that Loblaws is giving effect to the dangers of for-profit care under corporate control by buying up a major provider of uninsured services. 

- Meanwhile, John di Nino writes about the pattern of privatization of public transit, while Natasha Bulowski reports on the Libs' choice to continue that trend for a major VIA Rail corridor. 

- Finally, Jake Johnson observes that a massive majority of Americans wants to see corporations pay windfall taxes based on their jacking up prices and profits in the midst of a crisis. And John Nichols makes the case to apply that principle to the fossil fuel sector in particular. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Cory Neudorf asks that Saskatchewan not play Russian roulette with the Omicron COVID variant.  Rahul Suryawanshi et al. find that any theory of hoping for protection through infection is as foolish now as ever, since Omicron itself is limited in the immunity it encounters or provides against other variants. And Theresa Tam confirms the consensus that Omicron remains infectious for just as long as prior variants - making the push to shift people back to work sooner another example of wilful neglect of public health. 

- Meanwhile, Matthew Elmas discusses how Australia has slashed support payments to force gig workers to rush back to work rather than self-isolating. 

- Colleen Silverthorn reports on the desperate state of Saskatchewan long-term care homes fighting outbreaks among workers and residents alike. Laura Sang describes the brutal toll of a 16-hour hospital shift in the midst of a cresting COVID wave. And Laesa Kim is rightly outraged that her five-year-old daughter - like so many other people with other disabilities - is being sacrificed in the misplaced attempt to return to "normal". 

- Damian Carrington reports on new research showing that chemical pollution is yet another form of environmental damage which has crossed a boundary incompatible with a stable living environment. 

- Finally, Geoff Dembicki looks in depth at the manipulative police tactics and massive amount of public resources used to abuse women and undermine environmental activism. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Sarath Peiris discusses the Saskatchewan Party government's utterly feckless pandemic response - which they've apparently decided to keep in place for the rest of the Omicron wave. And Abdullah Shihipar points out the folly of expecting individual choices to resolve a collective action problem. 

- Wallis Snowdon reports on the UCP's laughable decision to let employers dictate when employees are required to work even while infected with COVID. Rachel Bergen reports on the spate of outbreaks in Winnipeg care homes. And Cathy Crowe discusses how Toronto's system of shelters has collapsed due to preventable neglect. 

- John Michael McGrath writes about the issues the pandemic has raised about capacity in our health care system. And Stephen Magusiak points out how privateers are seizing on the lack of resources in the public system to push for even more profit-based health services.  

- Finally, Luke Savage discusses how workers have been suffering the ill effects of COVID while their bosses get even richer. Amira Elbaghawy reminds us of the problems with relying on the corporate sector to decide what social and environmental work should be done. And Molly Murphy examines the RCMP's Community-Industry Response Group which has been using the force and surveillance of the state to in the service of fossil fuel barons fighting against Indigenous and environmental activists.  

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Katherine Wu, Ed Yong and Sarah Khang write that the Omicron COVID-19 wave is seeing governments make the same familiar mistakes in an accelerated time frame, while Umair Haque laments the continued combination of incompetence, ineptitude and indifference. And the Star's editorial board points out the chaotic set of responses at the provincial level, while Birgit Umaigba, Jesse McLaren and Naheed Dosani highlight the continued risks posed by the absence of adequate sick leave.

- Isabel Teotonio flags the desperate need to ensure that residents and workers in long-term care homes get booster shots to prevent another massacre. And Lisa Cordasco reports on the imminent overwhelming of British Columbia's health care system (like those across Canada). 

- Sander van der Linden discusses the importance of inoculating the general public against the type of misinformation that's served to undermine any effective response. And PressProgress highlights how Twitter has decided to treat bounties on Canadian doctors as an acceptable use of its platform.

- Laura Osman reports that instead of treating the pressures of a pandemic as a reason to question how we overpay for prescription drugs, the Libs are allowing big pharma to delay (if not avoid altogether) even minor steps to rein in the cost of needed medications.

- Finally, Mitchell Thompson points out how the Weston family's fortune is built on exploitation. And Ben Burgis writes about the importance of democratic equality in political and economic power to ensure that concentrated wealth doesn't dictate public policy decisions.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Mark Lipsitch et al. examine the current state of knowledge about COVID breakthrough infections and the public health measures still needed to avoid them. Kenyon Wallace and Ed Tubb highlight the dangers of new waves of deadly viral spread in long-term care homes which are wrongly assuming that vaccination is the only protection residents need, while Carly Weeks notes that experts are calling for limitations on mass gatherings. 

- Mariana Mazzucato and Ilona Kickbusch discuss the consequences of putting insufficient resources toward public health on a global scale. And Nora Loreto writes that media misdiagnosis has made it far more difficult to encourage people to contribute to the prevention and cure of COVID spread.

- Meanwhile, Steven Lewis writes that even before taking account the looming fifth COVID wave, the Moe government's insistence on throwing money at corporate operators is doomed to failure as a means of addressing surgical waitlists.

- D.T. Cochrane discusses the continued income inequality and wealth concentration which are allowing the rich to exercise ever more control over the rest of us. And Michael Roberts writes about the multiple dimensions and global reach of inequality. 

- David Sirota, Julia Rock and Andrew Perez report on the efforts by Amazon and other employers to ensure they can coerce employees to stay in unsafe work environments under penalty of termination - a power which resulted in the death of six Amazon workers this week.

- Finally, Kristin Annable, Josh Hoffman and Caroline Barghout investigate hundreds of deaths in police custody, and find dozens of examples of people detained while intoxicated"for their own safety" who died as a result. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Supriya Dwivedi writes about the Groundhog Day-style loop we're trapped in due to a pandemic which is being allowed to continue and evolve. And while Daniel Wood and Geoff Brumfiel point out how the politicization of the pandemic is resulting in systematically higher death rates among Trump-supporting counties, Gaby Galvin reports on new polling showing that even in the U.S. a strong majority of the public favours doing far more to keep people healthy and safe - making the continued reluctance to do anything other than cater to the anti-social few all the more inexcusable. And Roni Caryn Rabin discusses how the pandemic has led to higher blood pressure among the public beyond anything traceable to the spread of the coronavirus.  

- Meanwhile, Karl Nerenberg calls out Canada's refusal to lift a finger to make vaccines more available around the globe. And Adeoluwa Atayero reports on Scott Moe's choice to put gratuitous barriers in the way of vaccinating children in schools. 

- Heather Rust exposes how the U.S.' corporate health care system is using worker burnout as an excuse to make conditions even worse for those trying to continue caring for patients, while Francis Racine reports on a warning from the Ontario Health Coalition that the Ford government is only increasing reliance on the private long-term care businesses who have caused so much avoidable suffering and death. And David Helps and Alexander Stephens point out that increased union organization and better conditions for workers are musts in order to rebuild a function economy and society. 

- Andrew Leach discusses how Alberta is past perceiving temporary oil price spikes as actual booms - suggesting that the fossil fuel industry's spin about being a source of wider prosperity has run its course everywhere but in the halls of power. Taylor Noakes rightly argues that we should be investing in a transition to a clean economy, rather than permitting and even subsidizing the continued destruction wrought by the existing oil and gas industry. And Kyle Bakx reports on the grim choice between maintaining the tailings ponds which have done so much damage to Alberta's land and wildlife, and allowing the companies responsible to release the water back into the broader environment.   

- Finally, Garret Ellison reports on the EPA's developing conclusion that there may be no safe level of several commonly-used bio-persistent chemicals. And Sasha Abramsky warns that the western U.S. may be on the verge of a drought that never ends. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Sarath Peiris rightly calls out Scott Moe and his government for making it a goal to punish the poor within Saskatchewan. 

- Marco Ranaldi and Branko Milanovic study the connection between inequality of income sources and of income totals. And Ricardo Tranjan writes that we can't expect the pandemic (or any other event) to produce the end of neoliberalism, but instead need to fight for it against forces who remain determined to extract value from both the general population today, and the future of generations to come. 

- On that front, PressProgress exposes how private long-term care homes in Ontario profiteered off the pandemic by charging extra to move residents out of the risk of four-to-a-room overcrowding. Guy Quenneville reports on the prospect that it may take over a year and a major resource boost to make up the backlog in Saskatchewan's health care system - which is particularly problematic given the Sask Party's desire to hand health services over to the corporate sector.

- Michael King and Morgan Black report on the escalating death count from opioid poisoning in Alberta even as the UCP tries to ignore the options which would most obviously save lives. And in contrast, Michelle Ghoussoub reports on British Columbia's move toward decriminalization to ensure people don't fall victim to toxic drug supplies.   

- Environmental Defence examines how the oil industry's attempt at greenwashing with "net zero" spin falls far short of anything resembling a viable climate plan. And Megan Gibson and Phil Clarke Hill interview Jagmeet Singh about the work needed to push Justin Trudeau to fund a just transition to a clean economy, rather than decades of fossil fuel infrastructure.  

- Chen Zhou writes about the need for wealthier countries to pull our weight in funding global climate action. And Brian Kahn's survey of climate scientists show that the people best informed about our climate breakdown are begging our leaders to avert an imminent catastrophe.

- Finally, for those interested in a deeper look at climate change issues, a couple of new sites worth visiting have recently gone live: the David Suzuki Foundation's Climate Emergency Unit as a road map for action, and Amy Westervelt's Rigged as a source on corporate disinformation. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Adam Hunter points out the stark gap between public health officials emphasizing the need for protections against community transmission of COVID-19, and Scott Moe's stubborn refusal to apply them. Alexander Quon writes about the hundreds of Saskatchewan patients missing out on surgeries every day. And Jacqueline Howard reports on the new research confirming that children face no less risk of infection than adults.

- Rhitu Chatterjee points out the large number of people in the U.S. losing essential caregivers to COVID-19. And Matt Sedensky discusses how nursing homes are losing staff - and the ability to care for residents - as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

- Umair Haque warns that the supply chain breakdowns seen in the course of the pandemic are just the beginning of a state of perma-crisis.

- Bob Weber reports on the UCP's pathetic - if perhaps not surprising - announcement that oil companies won't be contributing a dime of their massive windfall profits to cleaning up their messes. And Isabella Kaminsky highlights how fossil fuel giants have put massive chunks of the legal industry to work in attempting to avoid responsibility for the damage they've done to people and our natural environment.

- Meanwhile, Christian Schimpf et al. find that confidence in the long-term future of fossil fuels (however misplaced) translates into a refusal to accept climate action. 

- Finally, the Guardian's editorial board discusses the connection between the UK Cons' pay-to-play political schemes and the tax loopholes shown to be exploited in the Pandora Papers.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Don Braid discusses how Alberta's health care system and polity are both collapsing under the weight of a UCP government which has utterly failed to protect either from readily-preventable damage. And Emily Pasiuk reports on Jason Kenney's continued excuses for letting COVID-19 run rampant rather than doing anything to stop a catastrophe in progress. 

- Meanwhile, Allison Jones reports on the comparative success of continued public health measures in reining in a fourth wave in Ontario. Carly Weeks reports on the new research confirming the reality that children are far more vulnerable to the Delta variant than to previous iterations of the coronavirus, while Ontario's Science Table studies the lasting symptoms and disabilities facing people who suffer from long COVID. 

- David Pugliese reports on the latest revelations showing that Canada's military treated the pandemic as an opportunity to push a propaganda and surveillance campaigns against citizens without authorization or oversight. 

- Jongsay Yong et al. study how Australia's push to privatize long-term care predictably resulted in worse results for residents. And the AP reports on Berlin's move to bring thousands of apartment units under public control to ensure they're used to benefit people. 

- Rest of World surveys the realities facing gig workers around the globe. And Laura Lam and Kam Phung discuss the need for Canadian labour and employment policy to respond by empowering the workers involved. 

- Finally, Robert Reich offers a reminder as to why "corporate social responsibility" is a delay tactic aimed at allowing capitalists to continue their exploitation, not a means of solving social problems. 

#Elxn44 Roundup

The latest from Canada's federal election campaign.

- Christo Aivalis discusses Jagmeet Singh's much-needed willingness to take on the power of the rich to fight for a country that works for everybody. And Shelly Hagan writes about the resulting possibility of greater social contributions being required of those who can most afford to make them.  

- In contrast, Luke Savage highlights how Justin Trudeau's promises - particularly those aimed at progressive voters - are made to be broken. And the Centre for Canadian Progress offers (PDF) takes a look at the options for left-oriented voters on the key priorities of housing, climate change and pharmacare. 

- Richard Saillant reviews the parties' housing policies and finds the NDP's to be the one best suited to meeting the needs of people in precarious situations. And Richard Cuthbertson and Alaina Luck report that the Libs' idea of an "affordable housing" plan is to provide private developers with preferential terms to build units which cost up to double double the average rent within a community. 

- Meanwhile, Jackie Brown, Amit Arya and Andrew Longhurst discuss how to reach the NDP's goal of ensuring that long-term care homes are focused on care rather than profit. 

- Finally, David Akin examines the state of the race and concludes that we're likely headed for another minority Parliament. 

#Elxn44 Roundup

This and that from the federal election campaign.

- Canadians for Tax Fairness sets out its platform for a fair and equitable tax system. And Katrina Vandenheuvel makes the case for a tax on windfall pandemic profits in particular. 

- Sue Capon reports that Revera's response to being required to provide basic protections to people in long-term care has been to start slashing staff. Which makes it particularly significant that Jagmeet Singh is pushing to nationalize Revera in particular as part of a plan to take for-profit operators out of the long-term care system. 

- PressProgress reports on just some of the appalling statements of Con candidate Arnold Viersen which have been deemed acceptable by Erin O'Toole, including denouncing even basic COVID response measures as "tyranny" while doubting whether there is any pandemic at all. And the Canadian Labour Congress points out how O'Toole is speaking out of both sides of his mouth in pretending to care about pension protections after working to eliminate them both in Stephen Harper's government and in the most recent Parliament. 

- Meanwhile, Aaron Wherry discusses how Justin Trudeau is failing to making any case for himself to remain in power. And Olivia Stefanovich notes how Singh has presented a compelling contrast to Trudeau for progressive voters in particular. 

- Finally, Luke Savage interviews Avi Lewis about the prospect that this election may prove a turning point toward a Green New Deal for Canada.