Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Alexander Haro reports on the scientific recognition that 2023 stands to be by far the hottest year in recorded human history (even compared to the elevated temperatures of other recent years). And Kate Aronoff wonders when the general public will start waking up to the glaring climate risks that are rendering massive amounts of land uninsurable. 

- Meanwhile, Nathasha Bulowski discusses how the federal sustainable jobs bill will would give labour some voice in the future of Canadian work - which represents one of the main reasons why the Cons and their provincial allies are determined to block it.

- Katherine Scott and Trish Hennessy examine how the low-barrier income provided through the CERB served not only as a temporary source of income, but also as a means for workers to improve their work circumstances. And Malone Mullin reports on Food First N.L.'s call for people to have the income they need to ensure a reasonable standard of living, rather than being forced to rely on food banks and other charities.

- Finally, Andre Picard discusses how the price of inaction and dithering in Canada's health care system is a deep decay. And the Canadian Health Coalition highlights why the NDP's push for pharmacare legislation is needed to ensure people don't face barriers to access to medicine.

Musical interlude

Flight Facilities feat. Grosvenor - With You

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Scott Dance reports on the scientific recognition that the Earth's oceans are warming far faster than previously feared, while Sid Perkins discusses the particularly large temperature increases in parts of the north Atlantic. And the American Geophysical Union points out that humanity's unanticipated effects on the planet include pumping so much groundwater as to have altered the Earth's rotational axis. 

- Damian Carrington reports on the World Bank's recognition that massive fossil fuel and agricultural subsidies are major contributors to environmental damage. And George Monbiot writes about the connection between fascist politics and climate change denial.

- But lest anybody think the problem lies solely in right-wing parties, Alex Ballingall reports on how the Trudeau Libs have failed to spend billions in promised climate funding. And Markham Hislop laments the state of Alberta's climate politics on all sides, while Martin Lukacs points out how fossil fuel lobbyists are largely dictating the direction of the provincial NDP in multiple provinces. 

- David Moscrop discusses how the Ford government is using glaringly inaccurate budget estimates to justify a failure to fund public services. 

- Lauren Weber, Caitlin Gilbert and Taylor Lorenz report on the systematic development of astroturf groups intended to establish naked reactionary bigotry as the basis for health policy. 

- Finally, Anand Giridharadas' commencement speech to Sidwell Friends School offers a compelling call to young people to work on fixing the institutions which are so profoundly broken. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Stephanie Soucheray discusses how many patients whose senses of taste and smell have been affected by COVID-19 never fully recover, while the University of Waterloo finds new evidence of lasting impact on the brain. And Carolyn Bramante et al. study how metformin can reduce the severity of COVID infection.  

- Mike Bebernes wonders whether the combination of COVID and wildfires could prompt advances in indoor air safety. But that will require the current generation of adults to take ownership of responsibility for improving matters, rather than planning to leave a smoking husk of a world to today's children.  

- George Takei interviews Robert Reich about the need to fundamentally change the balance of power which currently lies solely with the robber baron class. And Cory Doctorow points out how the largest corporations are as fervently opposed to competition and market factors as anybody when they have the opportunity to extract profits from monopolies. 

- Meanwhile, Junaid Jahangir discusses the need to rein in inequality, including by recognizing corporate taxes as a valuable tool both to bring in public revenue and to eliminate incentives for profiteering. And Richard Barnthaler and Ian Gough discuss the prospect of an economy based on sufficiency rather than excess. 

- Finally, Michael Kan reports that instead of looking to protect people's privacy from corporate manipulation, the U.S. government is buying up (and re-identifying) personal information for itself. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Fiona Harvey reports on Greta Thunberg's warning that a failure to stop burning fossil fuels amounts to a death sentence for people living in poverty - which would be a much more powerful message if the denial of environmental disaster and devaluation of human life weren't core principles of our corporatist governance model. Andrew Fanning and Jason Hickey model what climate reparations would look like if the wealthiest countries compensated the rest of the world for the cost of their carbon pollution. And Gary Mason discusses how Canada's response to the climate crisis would be different if we had any notion of sacrifice. 

- Geoffrey Lean is hopeful that a new treaty being reached by governments and backed by some business interests will result in an end to plastic pollution. But we should be wary of temporary corporate concessions intended to keep dirty business as usual going as long as possible - with Shell's reversal of plans for even tiny fossil fuel production cuts serving as just the latest example. 

- John Quiggin points out how Australia's grocery store duopoly has used the cover of inflation to goose its profit margins. And Holly McKenzie-Sutter reports on the Bank of Canada's needed recognition that corporate pricing and exploitation are at the root of Canada's inflation as well - though as Jim Stanford notes, it isn't following that to its logical conclusion by using tools less focused on reducing work and wages. 

- Finally, the Center for Working-Class Politics discusses how it's possible to defeat the populist right by making a priority of genuinely challenging corporate power and meeting the needs of the working class. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Cats on parade.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Piers Forster reports on new research showing that both greenhouse gas emissions and temperatures continue to push past all recorded records. Andrew Freedman adds sea surface temperatures to the list of indicators setting off alarm bells for anybody bothering to pay attention. And Shannon Osaka, Michael Miller and Beatrice Rios write about the danger that we're sleepwalking into a "fire age" even as our corporate overlords command us to keep burning things. 

- Bryan Owens writes about the causes of what may be an entire season of wildfire in Canada, while  David Ball reports that British Columbia is among the provinces facing the prospect of a devastating drought. Caroline Mimbs Nice connects California's recent spate of fires to the effects of climate change. Justine McDaniel writes about the possibility that direct experience of the consequences of a climate breakdown will make people more eager to push for action - along with the risk that it will be minimized and memory-holed at the first opportunity. 

- Frank Jordan comments on the glaring gap between the corporate sector's empty "net zero" pledges, and its willingness to follow up in any meaningful way. 

- Vanmala Subramaniam discusses how temporary CERB benefits provided workers with a modicum of opportunity to seek out better positions - which explains why it was discontinued so quickly and has been attacked with such vitriol by the Cons and their anti-social base. And Nicholas Hune-Brown discusses how libraries have been turned into the social service provider of last resort and singular cost-free public space (without having been provided with the resources needed to fill those roles). 

- Finally, Chris Pepin-Neff points out how the bigoted right's anti-trans campaign fits into the history of violent moral panics. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Katrina vanden Heuvel writes that the same plutocrats who have chosen to value the lives of most of humanity at nil are pouring massive amounts of money into bizarre and expensive longevity treatments for themselves.  

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board deigns to point out that much of Canada is on fire, while Rebecca Falconer reports on warnings that that reality may last all summer. And Carolyn Kury de Castillo discusses how farmers in Alberta are looking at zero production due to the dry and pest-infested spring. 

- Matthew Yglesias points out that the effect of the wildfires has been to reverse hard-won (if apparently-forgotten) progress in reducing air pollution. And Will Bunch wonders whether a continent-wide blanket of smoke will serve as any more of a wakeup call than so many other disastrous effects of a climate breakdown, while John Vaillant isn't optimistic. 

- Robson Fletcher writes about the dehumanizing experience facing renters trying to find a home in Calgary. 

- Finally, Rachel Tompa discusses new research finding a connection between long COVID and persistent inflammation. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- The Canadian Press reports that the Ford PCs' COVID negligence includes shutting down a rapid test program still distributing hundreds of thousands of tests each week.

- Denise Balkissoon writes about the need for Toronto (like other cities) to elect representatives who recognize the severity of the climate crisis, while lamenting that most of its mayoral candidates are barely paying lip service to the great challenge of our time. And Imperial College London warns that we can't meet our climate goals without all current net-zero pledges being met in full - even as 90% appear to be based on little more than wishcasting.

- Irina Ivanova reports on new research showing how a climate breakdown is driving up the cost of food. Michelle Gamage discusses how wildfire smoke is making people sick. And the University of Reading explores how climate change is also causing increased airplane turbulence - in case mild inconvenience for the wealthy is a better driver of motivation to change than loss of the necessities of life for everybody else.

- P.E. Moskovitz discusses how the suburbanization of the U.S. has proven to be a breeding ground for fascism in taking away community venues while encouraging messages about excluding outsiders from isolated communities.

- Finally, Beth Mole reports on new research estimating the death count from just three of the U.S. Supreme Court's more antisocial decisions - with a conservative estimate suggesting that the partisan actions of half a dozen Republican hacks will personally cause 6,000 deaths over the next decade.

Musical interlude

Andain - Much Too Much (Zetandel Chill Remix)

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Umair Haque discusses the absurdity (and manufactured idiocy) that results in us continuing with extractive business as usual as we enter a palpable age of extinction. And Richard Eskow writes about the reasons why billionaires can't tolerate the prospect that most people would enjoy even a modicum of security and well-being. 

- Meanwhile, both Dharna Noor and Zeeshan Aleem discuss how the wildfire smoke blanketing the U.S. is just part of the new, broken-down climate we'll be living with thanks to oil barons continuing to dictate our social choices. 

- On that front, Fiona Harvey reports that the fossil fuel peddlers put in charge of the next major global climate talks are refusing to even talk about limiting dirty energy. Carl Meyer exposes how Suncor is being allowed to dictate Canadian federal climate policy (even as the official opposition spends its time complaining that such a thing even exists). And Mark Sweney reports on the UK Advertising Standards Authority's determination that Shell's greenwashing is "likely to mislead" the public about the harm it's causing to our planet.

- Finally, Harvey also reports on new data showing that greenhouse gas emissions continue to reach record highs. And Yvonne Gordon reports on the discovery of microplastics in even the most remote of ocean environments as we continue to use the Earth as a dumping ground.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Caitlin Johnstone offers a grim but fair evaluation of the barely-existent left in the U.S. and elsewhere - while recognizing that the obvious implication is the need to build capacity to demand systemic change. And David Suzuki discusses how an obsession with perpetually consuming more stuff - particular when linked to the fetishization of dirty energy sources - produces both personal dissatisfaction and disastrous environmental consequences. 

- Damian Carrington reports on new research which concludes the climate breakdown has reached the point where there's no longer any prospect of saving Arctic ice in the summer (with more extreme weather expected to result from its loss). 

- Aaron Wherry writes that Canada's Parliament is largely fiddling as the country burns, while Greg Pyle discusses how the UCP is determined to make matters even worse in order to keep short-term profits flowing to its oil backers. And Jacob Knutson discusses how Canadian wildfires are resulting in dangerous levels of air pollution in large swaths of the U.S. 

- Mary Vallis offers an explainer on rent strikes as organized tenant resistance is becoming more common in the face of intolerable rent extraction. 

- Finally, Angela Satni explores the roots of patriarchy - along with the anecdotes and debunked theories used to try to present it as an inevitability. And Tandeep Sidhu writes that the militarization of Canadian police is destroying public trust and making everybody less safe. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Floored cats.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Thom Hartmann offers a reminder of the broad-based growth and social progress which is possible when capitalists are required to pay reasonable tax rates. And conversely, Cory Doctorow examines the utterly destructive practices of private equity - which is being catered to with a business model of taking windfall profits at the expense of workers, infrastructure and business sustainability. 

- Meanwhile, Fiona Harvey reports on new Oxfam research showing how wealthy and polluting countries are trying to profit off the damage wrought through the climate breakdown. Benjamin Shinger reports on the difficulty and complexity people are facing trying to get insurance as insurers account for increasing climate risk. And Francesca Fionda discusses what's needed to ensure the victims of climate disaster have an opportunity to heal and rebuild. 

- Andrew Nikiforuk discusses the lie of "clean" tar sands production, as environmental standards have been regularly degraded and ignored in order to keep money flowing to oil barons. And Joseph Winters points out how we need a massive reduction in our reliance on plastics as part of any effective climate plan. 

- Kyle Bakx reports on Suncor's slashing of 1,500 jobs within days after the UCP bamboozled voters into believing their hold on power could maintain oil jobs. And David Climenhaga writes that it similarly took Danielle Smith no time at all to start undermining any pretense of democracy after securing her own re-election. 

- Finally, Jonathan Montpetit reports on the fundamentalists looking to mimic the U.S.' imposition of extreme religious views through the political system. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Laura O'Callaghan writes about new research showing how the NHS (like other health systems) is facing staff shortages based in part on the loss of thousands of workers to long COVID. And Mary Van Beusekom discusses a study finding that 40% of foodborne illness outbreaks in the U.S. can be traced back to worker illness. 

- David Spratt writes about new research from James Hansen and others warning that we may be operating based on gross underestimates of both climate sensitivity to changes in temperature and greenhouse gases, and the consequences of failing to reverse the feedback loops already in operation. And Thom Hartmann asks why we're not seeking to hold accountable the fossil fuel industry responsible for defrauding the public and endangering our living environment in order to accumulate short-term profits. 

- Steve Lafleur points out that the only solution to traffic congestion is to make it possible for people to function without constantly needing to drive personal vehicles. And Megan Robinson notes that an increase in greenwashing as part of marketing clothing can't hide the reality that the best way to reduce the environmental impact of what we wear is to ensure that it lasts rather than requiring constant replacement.

- Finally, Andrew Nikiforuk asks how much damage we can expect from another term of the UCP's petrostate populism. But in case anybody is tempted to draw the lesson that there's no alternative but to give into the constant demands of exploitative capital, Cory Doctorow points out that Washington state has offered a valuable example of how a capital gains tax can reduce inequality and fund public services. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Beth Mole reports on research showing that U.S. children suffered a spike in brain abscesses after COVID protections were removed - and that the levels continue to be elevated long after everybody has been told not to bother doing anything to avoid the spread of COVID-19. And Nicole Ireland reports on a new study finding that brain inflammation in long COVID patients (accompanied by debilitating symptoms) can linger for months after an initial infection. 

- Seth Borensen writes about the Earth Commission's recognition that our planet is operating at dangerous extremes on nearly every measurable front. And IANS reports on the danger extreme heat and drought pose to the global wheat supply. 

- Damian Carrington reports on belated efforts to stem Turkmenistan's methane "super-emitter" releases - though it's well worth noting how much more other countries need to do in reining in methane emissions as well. And Sarah Miller weighs in on the absurdity of treating carbon capture and storage as the primary option to address carbon pollution, rather than actually reducing the use of fossil fuels in favour of zero-emission alternatives. 

- Meanwhile, Matthew Rosza writes about the harm plastic pollution is doing to our living environment - and the reality that recycling programs billed as a solution are of minimal help at best. 

- Finally, Armine Yalnizyan discusses how the escalation of Toronto's housing crisis can be traced directly to the diversion of tens of thousands of homes to AirBNB and other temporary purposes. 

Musical interlude

Shallou - Save Some Room

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Kelly MacNamara writes about the slowing of Antarctic ocean circulation as a calamitous consequence of climate change which is happening far sooner than predicted. And Alex Cooke reports on the state of emergency in Nova Scotia reflecting the immediate impact of extreme weather and unprecedented levels of heat. 

- Meanwhile, Timothy Gardner reports that the U.S.' plans for new nuclear power include the use of bomb-grade uranium - meaning that the dangers of fixating on nuclear energy include the readily foreseeable risk of weapon proliferation. 

- Talmon Joseph Smith and Joe Rennison report on the growing recognition that inflation is primarily the product of a profit-price spiral, with corporations all taking advantage of talk of limited supplies to pad their bottom lines at public expense. 

- Pete Evans reports on the CMHC's warning that household debt now exceeds Canada's entire gross domestic product - meaning that Canadians are in a far more precarious position than even their peers in other corporate-dominated countries. 

- Finally, Jessica Hamzelou reports on the plight of patients who benefited from a brain implant to help warn of epileptic incidents - only to lose the benefit of a valuable medical tool to a corporate shutdown and the failure of anybody to support its continued use. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Helpful cats.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Martin Sandhu writes about the development of degrowth as a viable economic organizing principle. And Kevin Drum offers a reminder that the growth we've been trained to demand has been entirely funneled into corporate coffers for over four decades, rather than creating any improvement in workers' personal incomes. 

- Meanwhile, Justin McCurry reports on the experience of Nagi, Japan showing that investments in child care and support for parents is the key to increasing birth rates for anybody treating population growth as a goal. 

- Alex Lawson reports on the EPA's findings of environmental violations by Amite BioEnergy in its wood pellet operations - reflecting a business based on claiming emissions credit for shipping and burning dirty fuel falling short of even its cynical operating model. 

- Finally, Rebecca Speare-Cole reports on the unsurprising - but still-important - reality that the corporate sector's priorities involve controlling the world first and ensuring it's liveable last. And Simone O'Donovan writes that action is ultimately the only solution both to the climate breakdown and to the anxiety it's provoking in generations who see their futures being burned for short-term profit.

Sunday Evening Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- David Cox talks to Akiko Iwasaki about the reality that we're still far from being done with major harm from COVID-19. Keith Muziguchi discusses the stories of some of the people living with long COVID and finding few receptive listeners for either their experiences or their warnings. And Dylan Lubao points out the connection between the removal of mask mandates in health care facilities, and another fully-preventable COVID surge. 

- Ian Austen discusses the choices facing voters in Alberta's election - though the apparent belief of people who recognize the dangers of the UCP that they can accomplish as much by destroying a ballot as by voting for a viable alternative bodes poorly for the province's prospects. 

- Meanwhile, Jim Stanford highlights how the UCP's corporate tax giveaway (which Danielle Smith is pushing to lock in) was utterly counterproductive, gutting public revenues while showing no evidence of encouraging investment or economic development. And Nojoud Al Mallees reports on new data from Statistics Canada which suggests that any business complaints about a labour shortage are both overblown, and based primarily on their own refusal to provide decent work. 

- Tom Sanzillo writes about a new study showing how what little major oil companies are doing to claim to reduce emissions often involves selling high-emitting assets to others to continue operations.. 

- Finally, John Cartwright and Bianca Mugyenyi make the case for investing our public resources in butter rather than guns - particularly as the greatest threats we face involve social and environmental needs rather than plausible military confrontations. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Gil McGowan highlights how the UCP's intolerable plans for Alberta include another four years of systematic wage suppression in order to further enrich the donor class.

- Cory Doctorow writes about the importance of having "ideas lying around" to respond to an obviously unacceptable status quo - though it's worth noting that the neoliberal exploitation of that principle has been paired with consistent corporate funding to keep ever more extreme ideas front and centre while shouting down any alternatives. And Manuela Fernandez Pinto and Daniel Fernandez Pinto explore how corporate funding distorts scientific research.

- Nikolaos Christidis, Dann Mitchell and Peter Stott study the rapidly increasing risk of extreme heat in Europe and the Middle East due to climate breakdown. And Leslie Scism reports that the combination of escalating wildfire risks and increasing construction costs has led a major insurer to stop offering home insurance in California.

- Bethany Lindsay and Christine Birak report on new research showing that access to free prescription medication more than pays for itself as a public investment. And the Canadian Press reports on the call for free school meals as a similar investment in health and well-being which would be more than worth funding even based on calculable financial returns (to say nothing of the importance of children being fed).

- Finally, Heather Mallick offers her account of life with long COVID (in case anybody was lacking for examples as to why it's to be avoided).

Musical interlude

Manchester Orchestra - The Way

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Beth Mole writes about the work being done to better define, diagnose and treat long COVID - even as different symptoms appear to be the result of different factors arising out of COVID-19 infection. And Markus Eyting et al. study the connection between infectious diseases and the development and dementia - along with the potential that vaccination could help prevent the latter.

- John Vaillant writes about the parallels between the growth of corporations and that of wildfires. Katharina Richter discusses the value of developing our political and economic systems around principles of sustainability and well-being, rather than growth at the expense of those more important measuring sticks. And Pamela Heaven points out how a boom in oil prices and profits has provided virtually no benefit to Alberta as a whole as fossil fuel operators have become ruthlessly efficient at taking any gains (and more) for themselves. 

- Jamie Mortin discusses new research showing that extreme El Nino and La Nina weather patterns have increased as a result of climate change. And Billie Sheridan offers a first-hand account of the experience of fleeing a home and community in the path of a wildfire. 

- Finally, Holly Mathias reports on the plight of rural Albertans dealing with addictions who have effectively been told by the UCP that they can't expect any treatment or support unless they're willing to move to urban, abstinence-based centers. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- David Wallace-Wells writes that the U.S.' neoliberal political consensus may finally have dissolved - though that possibility is of little comfort when the party continuing to push it is able to block change. 

- Ian Hudson examines how income inequality is worsening in Manitoba. And Richard Burgon discusses how inflation has mostly been driven by corporate profiteering in the UK just like in Canada. 

- David Moscrop points out how Doug Ford's plan to pave over prime agricultural land to funnel money to his developer cronies threatens Ontario's food supply. 

- Carl Meyer reports on the federal government's choice to suppress the fact that a TD-led consortium was pouring money into the Trans Mountain pipeline to deal with escalating construction costs. And Matt Simmons documents how the Coastal GasLink pipeline is dumping sediment into vital waterways before even being completed. 

- Finally, Erin Reed discusses how the willingness of major corporations to give in to hate campaigns demonstrates the emptiness of corporate LGBTQ+ branding as a substitute for movement-building. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Emmett Macfarlane discusses how the stakes in Alberta's election are no less than democracy and the rule of law - as Danielle Smith has made her contempt for both abundantly clear. But Andrew Nikiforuk points out that nothing in the current campaign holds any prospect of loosening the hold of petropolitics on the province.  

- Jennifer Lee reports on an open letter from 200 emergency room physicians pleading for recognition that hospitals are collapsing for lack of resources, while Taylor Lambert discusses Red Deer's overloaded facilities and exhausted providers as being emblematic of the province's health care system as a whole. And Annie Waldman's report on privatized vascular services in the U.S. offers a reminder of what happens when politicians choose treat the medical system primarily as a source of profit rather than a means of caring for people. 

- Nina Lakhani reports on new research from Corporate Accountability showing that most of the carbon offset credits claimed by Chevron as its excuse to keep pollution are worthless (if not actively destructive). And Patrick Greenfield reports on the resignation of the CEO of the world's largest provider of carbon credits Verra as its business model was shown to be a sham. 

- Finally, Emily Peck writes about the belated recognition by the economic powers that be that inflation rooted in price gouging is the main reason people are struggling with affordability - no matter how antithetical the very concept is to free-market idolatry. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Aligned cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Antoine Flahault et al. offer a reminder that we can't afford to be complacent about an ongoing COVID pandemic which continues to cause serious and sustained harm on a mass basis. And in case we needed another reminder of the aftereffects of infection, Andreas Weiss et al. study the connection between COVID-19 infection and the development of type 1 diabetes in children. 

- Katharine Hayhoe writes about the twin crises of the climate breakdown and plummeting biodiversity - with both reflecting the desperate need to plan based on environmental well-being rather than profit motives. But Julia Steinberger's discussion of the important work being done at Beyond Growth 2023 (h/t Alison) includes recognition the near-total media blackout on the idea that our society could be shaped by anything but the ideology of the cancer cell. 

- Therese Raphale reports on the exodus of doctors fleeing the UK Cons' deliberate destruction of public health care - and their arrival instead in Australia where they're being promised that their work will be valued. 

- Finally, Naama Weingarten reports on the flood of false information in Alberta, as both the public safety emergency created by wildfires and the ongoing provincial election have been turned into opportunities for propaganda and disinformation. And Trevor Harrison writes that Danielle Smith's laughable denials shouldn't persuade Alberta voters that a UCP win will result in anything but the destruction of national institutions and benefits based on the whims of the fanatical fringe. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Fiona Harvey reports on the World Meteorological Organization's warnings that we're more likely than not to breach 1.5 degrees of global warming over the next five years. And Alex Wigglesworth reports on new research concluding that 40% of the land burned by wildfires in western Canada and the U.S. is the direct result of fossil fuel production and use.  

- Meanwhile, David Thurton reports on the recognition by Health Canada and Environment Canada that "forever chemicals" are making their way into Canadians' bodies, and the first steps to start regulating their spread.

- Severin Carrell reports on the increased concentration of land ownership in Scotland as an expected driver of worsening inequality. And Lauren Klein reports on the development of Rate The Landlord as  an important means for tenants to share information - though the effectiveness of mere reporting figures to be limited when rental housing is increasingly concentrated in a limited number of corporate hands.

- Finally, Len Gillis offers a warning for Ontario as to what it can expect from privatized surgical care based on Alberta's experience.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Karl Nerenberg writes about the Parkland Institute's research showing how privatization has undermined  Alberta's health care system. And Mitchell Thompson warns that the UCP has a similar plan to turn what's already a housing crisis into a profit extraction extravaganza at the expense of the people living in what little public housing already exists.

- Meanwhile, Brandon Drenon reports on the disastrous wildfires sweeping across Alberta, while Ian Austen points out the provincial election campaign's glaring lack of discussion of the climate breakdown which is causing them. And John Vaillant writes that there's no excuse for feigning surprise that a refusal to rein in global warming is producing exactly the effects which have been predicted for decades. 

- Julia Simon reports on the damage caused by a ruptured CO2 pipeline in Satartia, Mississippi. And Mark Olalde notes that taking into account only site cleanup (and thus excluding air pollution and climate damage), the liabilities created by California's oil industry far exceed its profits - meaning that the perception of economic value is purely the result of failing to account for real costs. 

- Jonathan Barrett reports on new research showing how Australia's grocery giants have used the pandemic and associated inflation to goose their profit margins. And Delphine Strauss points out a similar story in the UK's milk market, which has seen an unprecedented gap between retail prices and the amount paid to producers.

- Finally, Cory Doctorow discusses how any reasonable utilitarian evaluation of well-being would focus far more on how policies affect a wider range of people, rather than treating the accumulation of extreme wealth by sociopaths (disguised as "GDP" or other cumulative wealth measures) as the most important consideration.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Nicolas Banholzer et al. study the dramatic impact of COVID-19 measures in schools - with a mandatory mask policy reducing transmission by nearly 70%, and air cleaners by 40%. And Maryam Zakir-Hussain discusses new research showing the unequal impacts of long COVID, with people working in the health and education sectors and/or living in poorer areas facing a greater burden.

- Bob Woods discusses the work to be done to ensure that the products of wind and solar energy are themselves recycled - though the potential to do so signals another massive advantage over dependence on non-renewable power sources. 

- Nina Lakhani reports on research showing that if oil companies made reparations for the harm they've caused to communities, they'd be paying at least $209 billion per year (instead of rolling in public subsidies to keep polluting). And Bill McKibben warns that we're in the midst of a dangerous experiment on the effects of rapidly-warming oceans which may exacerbate the expected effects of climate change.

- Finally, Nathaniel Meyersohn writes about the immense impact of mandatory parking requirements on the development of car-dependent culture in the U.S.

Musical interlude

Royksopp - Me&Youphoria

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- David Slater and Charles Rusnell write about the unconscionable lack of any meaningful discussion of the climate breakdown in Alberta's provincial election even as much of the province has been ablaze and/or facing extreme air quality warnings. Brad Plumer reports on a new study showing how temperatures are likely to soar even further in the next 5 years even as emission targets are pushed far past that point. And Nicole Kearney and Hannah Blair discuss the health impacts of fossil gas as its pushers try to avoid any discussion of either its harms or the obvious alternatives. 

- Meanwhile, Deonie Allen, Melanie Bergmann and Steve Allen examine how microplastics have collected in shockingly large quantities in Arctic ice algae, offering a reminder that there's nowhere on the planet that's escaping the effects of the reckless disposal of waste without regard for its impact on the environment. 

- Sam Pizzigati points out that the wealthy haven't always run roughshod over workers in the U.S.' class war - and that in fact the country isn't far removed from an era where the working class made massive gains (until the full weight of the rich was focused on taking those off the table). But Gillian Petit and Lindsay Tedds note that the UCP is planning to distort Alberta's tax system to further favour wealthy males over everybody else. 

- Corin Faife reports on the dystopian prospect of AI-driven debt collection, simultaneously reducing the cost of constant harassment to near zero and taking any hint of humanity out of the drive to squeeze money from people already lacking it. 

- Finally, Linda McQuaig highlights how the Ford PCs' health care privatization schemes - like those in other provinces - are making care both more expensive for the public and worse for patients. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Omar Mosleh discusses the growing damage being caused by repeated wildfires in Canada, while David Wallace-Wells writes that there's no escape from the air pollution being spread across the continent. And Don Pittis points out how public accounts which don't assess the non-pecuniary costs of climate change have resulted in a grossly distorted framework for discussion of climate policy.  

- Meanwhile, Frank Corini discusses Rhode Island's version of secretly-funded fossil fuel lobby groups who are polluting any effort to move to clean energy. 

- Angela Symons reports on a new UN Environmental Programme report showing how an 80% cut in plastic waste is entirely feasible by 2040 - though again getting there will require pushing back against the self-serving spin of the pollution industry. 

- Charles Rusnell offers a reminder that the UCP's history of bullying and dehumanization dates back to its founding and entire time in office. And Joel Dryden reports that even a normally-placid ethics commissioner accepting the UCP's preferred version of events without question has found Danielle Smith to have violated conflict of interest legislation by attempting to interfere in the prosecution of anti-public health extremists. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow discusses how the U.S. has eventually reached the point of providing a free tax filing service (over the furious objection of the corporate monopolist which was otherwise taking a massive tithe on mandatory tax returns). And Tom Malleson writes that Canada has the ability to ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes - as long as we don't accept the excuse that it's not worth the political will to make it happen. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jakub Hlavka and Adam Rose examine the $14 trillion just in direct economic costs of COVID-19 in the U.S. - making clear how much long-term damage is being done even on an economic front in a futile attempt to avoid taking responsible steps to protect public health. And Geoffrey Johnston writes that the resurgence of tuberculosis reflects both structural inequality and a failure to provide targeted resources which could eradicate it altogether.

- Kathleen Dean Moore discusses how the fossil fuel industry has manipulated public opinion about climate change, while Jessica Scott-Reid reports that industrial meat producers are following the same playbook. But Emily Lowan reports on new polling showing that the Canadian public isn't buying the oil industry's demand to expand carbon pollution - meaning that the main effect of its lobbying has been to pressure governments to act contrary to both the interests and wishes of their citizens. 

- Marc Lee examines British Columbia's new housing plan - including some steps toward availability and affordability, but also a continued failure to build non-market housing at the necessary scale. And Cory Doctorow points out the ample evidence that rent control is both viable and essential to ensure people have homes. 

- David Climenhaga discusses the Parkland Institute's new study showing that the UCP's privatization of surgical procedures has actually reduced Alberta's surgical capacity at massive expense (while doing nothing to improve wait times).

- Finally, David Macdonald and Martha Friendly point out that the promise of $10 per day child care remains an illusion for many parents in child care deserts. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Grounded cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Lisa Young writes about the stark difference in how Alberta's main party leaders approach the role of women in politics and society. But Drew Anderson laments the lack of a meaningful willingness on the part of any substantial party to engage in an adult conversation on the climate crisis.

- On that front, Clifford Krauss reports on the fossil governments who are standing in the way of a needed clean energy transition, and in fact using their power and the public's money to keep pollution spewing.

- Damian Carrington reports on the IPCC's affordable and achievable path to meeting the promise to limit climate change to 1.5 C - with a shift to less expensive clean energy as the core task. And Nathasha Bulowski reports on the Canadian Labour Congress' push for an ambitious climate plan. 

- John Burn-Murdoch notes that while the pervasiveness presence of guns explains the difference in gun suicides between U.S. states, the rate of homicides also reflects differences in the social trust which Republicans have been working feverishly to destroy.

- Finally, Krista Hessey reports on the benefits of a right to repair - while noting that it's manufacturers who are standing in the way of ensuring products can be maintained and restored to use.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Susie Madrak writes about the continued recognition by experts that the COVID pandemic is far from over. Chengliang Yang et al. examine how COVID-19 may be persisting (and causing havoc) in patients' bodies long after it ceases to be detectable through current testing. Libby Smith reports on the challenges facing young people afflicted with long COVID. 

- David Climenhaga points out Danielle Smith's longstanding plans to trash universal public health care in Alberta. And Bethany Lindsey reports on the growing use of exorbitantly-priced private labour suppliers to provide nurses as a result of conservative governments' refusal to fund long-term positions within the public health care system. 

- Meanwhile, David Thurton reports on the continually-growing cost of the Trans Mountain pipeline - and the certainty that the Libs' early promises of it paying for itself are far out of reach, meaning that they've instead chosen to subsidize fossil fuel use. 

- Jamie Bradburn writes about the privatization of Ontario's Highway 407 as a prime example of public resources and assets being turned into a private monopoly to gouge the citizenry. And Henry Belot reports on yet another example of a major accounting firm using its insider knowledge obtained by working for governments to allow private clients to game the system. 

- Finally, Mitchell Thompson discusses why landlords and speculators (and the politicians who put their demand for ever-increasing profits ahead of the right to a home) are to blame for Canada's housing crisis. 

Musical interlude

Tove Lo - Borderline

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Dave Davies interviews Jason C. Jackson about the widespread damage from long COVID - and the lack of remotely sufficient efforts either to prevent its spread, or respond to its effects. And Crawford Kilian weighs in on what we've failed to learn while normalizing avoidable harm to large numbers of people.  

- Manpreet Gill discusses how hallway medicine dehumanizes patients - and how the UCP has chosen to force health care workers to make it the norm. And the Canadian Press reports on the Ford PCs' legislated push to divert public health care resources toward private surgical providers. 

- Jeff Lagerquist reports on Suncor's plans to slash its workforce no matter how many policy concessions it takes or how much windfall profit it accumulates. Diane Orihel, Chloe Robinson and Chris Elvidge report on the harm caused by Imperial Oil's hidden tailings pond leaks - along with the virtual certainty that there are many more similar incidents that have remained concealed from public view. And Emma Jackson writes about the desperate need for political vision to put an end to the damage caused by dirty energy operators, even as Alberta goes through a provincial election where the spectrum of positions on the wanton destruction of our planet ranges from "friendly acquiescence" to "championing with religious zeal".  

- Finally, Andrew Perez exposes how pension fund money is being used to buy and operate facilities using child labour. And Anjeanette Damon, Byard Duncan and Mollie Simon report on the manipulative and deceptive business model used by home flippers to exploit seniors. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Alex Hemingway offers a reminder of the urgent need for a wealth tax - and the opportunity to fund important social priorities by implementing one. But Cory Doctorow points out how our economic system is structured to favour people seeking to get rich off of avoiding responsibility - including through the same firms being responsible for performing audits as for advising corporations on how to beat them. 

- Gwynne Dyer writes about the threat to our living environment posed by warming oceans, while Isla Myers-Smith notes that the release of greenhouse gases from permafrost stands to accelerate the cycle of warming and extreme weather. 

- But while the world burns, Carl Meyer reports on how the UCP has allowed oil lobbyists to take any discussion of even distant and loophole-riddled net-zero emission targets off of their policy agenda. And Trina Moyles reports on the direct connection between the UCP's cuts to firefighting and the calamitous wildfires which struck last week.

- Meanwhile, Jason Markusoff discusses how the UCP under Danielle Smith is now controlled by Take Back Alberta, which is pushing the limits of anti-science and authoritarianism even compared to both the UCP and the past Wildrose party. 

- Finally, Emma Bowman comments on how the dehumanization of homeless people results in many avoidable deaths - even if few receive as much publicity as Jordan Neely's.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Slumbering cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Matthew Oliver, Mark Ungrin and Joe Vipond write about the overwhelming evidence that masks offer protection from airborne viruses - even as anti-public-health forces attack them as part of their general denialist project. And Dan Diamond reports on expert warnings that in the absence of precautions, the U.S. may face another massive COVID wave in the next couple of years even from a far higher baseline. 

- Matthew Rosza offers a grim look at what humanity's next century looks like if we don't avert a climate breakdown. Michael Barnard discusses the absurdity of Alberta's establishment refusing to mention fossil fuels as a cause of devastating wildfires - while the anti-science movement stoked by the people profiting off ignorance is turning its denialism to those as well. Geoffrey Diehl writes about the illusion that fossil fuels are a necessary part of our social and economic fabric, rather than an avoidable source of damage to both. And Mitchell Beer notes that far too many people are already facing energy poverty, and stand to benefit immensely from a shift to less dependence on dirty and volatile fuel sources. 

- Meanwhile, Nikki DeMarco reports that Florida's sacrifice of citizens' health to corporate interests has reached the level of allowing corporations to use radioactive waste in road construction. And Michael Grabell examines the price of tires as a case study in the factors which have caused inflation - with corporate concentration and price gouging of consumers who lack any practical choice as a major piece of the puzzle. 

- David Moscrop interviews Cory Doctorow about tech giants' deliberate enshittification of the Internet.

- Finally, Dru Oja Jay discusses how a strong public sector workforce produces spillover benefits for the population as a whole. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Will Stone writes about the role viral reservoirs may be playing in both prolonging individual long COVID symptoms, and allowing for the development of new variants. Simran Purewal, Kaylee Byers, Kayli Jamieson and Neda Zolfaghari highlight the need for people talking about the effects of long COVID to be believed rather than dismissed. But Apoorva Mandavilli reports on the CDC's choice to simply stop observing the effects of an ongoing pandemic.

- Meanwhile, Pete Evans reports on the latest push by employers to take away the benefits of remote work in order to force daily commutes and constant control on workers. David Macdonald discusses how public sector strikes have represented primarily an attempt to defend real wages from the effects of inflation, while Mitchell Thompson reminds us that Danielle Smith has made clear that the infliction of pain is the point in dealing with education and health care workers. And Paige Oamek talks to some of the younger workers organizing to ensure they're not at the mercy of callous employers.

- Eva Wiseman writes about the folly of trying to match even the most banal forms of consumption by the obscenely wealthy. And Paul Waldman discusses why the right to repair movement may be the unifying point for all kinds of people with a healthy skepticism of corporate control over our lives.

- Tom Perkins reports on research showing that toxic "forever chemicals" are included in the pesticides sprayed on crops.

- Charlie Angus writes that the push toward a clean energy economy has passed the point of theoretical transition to reach the development of large-scale employment. And Brian Potter discusses how nuclear power has done nothing but become more costly with time - making it absolutely useless in the context of plummeting prices for renewables and storage. 

- Finaly, Linda McQuaig writes that Doug Ford's to turn the public Ontario Place into a for-profit spa may eclipse the Highway 407 debacle as the most appalling handover of public assets for private profit in Ontario's history.