Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Michael Savage points out the billions of pounds worth of pay and benefits being stolen from workers by UK employers every year. And The Breach reports that the same app being used to fix housing prices and gouge renters on the behalf of landlords in the U.S. is also being used by familiar landlords in Canada. 

- John Lanchester discusses the absurd amount of activity and nominal wealth based purely on financial speculation rather than the production or delivery of anything real or useful. Robert Reich notes that billionaires are looking to fund the end of democracy in the U.S. and elsewhere as they recognize that their continued accumulation of wealth and power will never stand if people have any say in the matter. And David Moscrop points out how learned helplessness from current governments has opened the door for fascist politicians to claim they can solve problems which other politicians won't. 

- On that front, Hayley Juhl writes that decades after Canada's Parliament agreed unanimously to end child poverty, its persistence and growth is leading to understandable skepticism among younger generations that the federal government is interested in their needs.

- Finally, Chris Lehmann discusses how Russian funding and direction is behind prominent MAGA influencers in the U.S. And Luke LeBrun highlights the Canadian connections (and in some cases roots) of Vladimir Putin's right-wing mouthpieces in North America.

Musical interlude

Elderbrook - Shallow Water

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Andrew Freedman reports on the extreme heat wave scorching the southwest U.S., while Costas Kantouris reports on Greece's unprecedented drought and water depletion. And Kang Jin-Yiu reports on South Korea's exceptionally hot summer, while Ian Livingston notes that Australia has seen summer temperatures exceeding 40 Celsius through what's supposed to be its winter season. 

- Josephine Lee interviews Greg Casar about the Biden administration's belated efforts to ensure workers have protection from extreme heat - while noting that it's an open question whether any rules will be allowed to take effect even next summer. And Shannon Waters offers a reminder of the health damage caused by wildfire smoke.  

- Hannah Daly suggests that we should treat carbon pollution like cigarette smoke in order to treat its reduction as a public health goal. But it's unfortunately far form clear that the corporate forces that be will allow the protection of public health to influence policy - as seen in Tess Finch-Less' plea to stop bullying people out of even the most basic of COVID-19 protection measures, and Julie Doubleday's comparison of the status quo to what an adequate response would look like. 

- Solomon Hughes discusses the cozy relationships between conscience-free corporate abusers and multiple brands of political party. Richard Murphy calls out neoliberalism as the key factor in the Grenfell disaster among other human catastrophes. And Adrienne Tanner highlights how nobody should trust the fakery of John Rustad and other avowed science denialists - even as British Columbia's business class has coalesced to try to install him in power. 

- Finally, Luke LeBrun reports on how the FBI's charges dealing with Tenet Media revealed Russian influence and funding behind dozens of alt-right propaganda videos in Canada. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Andrea Thompson reports on the record-breaking heat wave in the southwest U.S. as another stark example of a climate breakdown in progress. But Alex Crawford writes that while we've already done immense damage to our living environment, it isn't too late to limit how much more we inflict.  

- But Geoff Dembicki reports on how the oil industry has captured universities to ensure scientific research is aimed at perpetuating rather than ending carbon pollution, while Steve Rabey exposes Shell's funding of climate denialism through churches and propaganda mills. Jake Johnson notes that Texas has gone so far as to create a separate "business court" in order to ensure its corporate overlords are never subjected to justice. And Drew Anderson reports on the UCP's attempt to push energy regulators to lie about having been involved in Danielle Smith's decision to stop any renewable energy development. 

- Paul Willcocks points out how the business-backed B.C. Conservatives are engaged in a war against factual reporting patterned after that of U.S. Republicans. Thom Hartmann discusses how the U.S. has been overrun by bullies. And Parker Molloy laments that the U.S. media's response to being constantly trolled and gaslighted has been to "sanewash" the obviously-disqualifying utterings of Donald Trump and his acolytes. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow points out that the same right-wing mouthpieces who constantly claim that people without resources are only lacking long-term planning and self-control are the same voices insisting that the wealthiest people can't be expected to give up a shred of instant profit or gratification to preserve a liveable society or planet. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Andrew Nikiforuk discusses the immense economic and human cost of COVID-19 denial as another wave surges. And Matthew Frank et al. study how COVID produces lasting damage to the brain. 

- Robert Booth and Emine Sinmaz report on the findings of the UK's Grenfell inquiry, which find that the tragic fire was the result of systemic corporate dishonesty and government neglect. And Mo Amir discusses how B.C.'s government is failing to implement vacancy controls even while understanding they would benefit renters.

- Meanwhile, Myriam Durocher, Annika Walsh, Irena Knezevic and Madison Hynes discuss how charity isn't enough to eradicate food insecurity. 

- Ariel Silber reports on the less-than-surprising revelation that apps are listening in on users' smartphones without notice or consent in order to profit from the contents of their conversations. And Webb Wright reports on the FTC's study into "surveillance pricing" where unspecified personal information is used to present different prices to different consumers. 

- Kea Wilson discusses how the deaths of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau are just an example of the traffic violence resulting from a transportation system designed to prioritize single-vehicle convenience over pedestrian and cyclist safety. And Coral Davenport highlights how the U.S. will need to update its infrastructure one way or another due to the use of materials which can't withstand a changed climate. 

- Finally, Susan Wright contrasts the importance of unions in social cohesion and development against the solidarity denialism of the UCP. And David Moscrop writes that the Cons and their allies remain hostile to workers - even as they try to pretend otherwise. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Cuddled cat.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Tyne Logan examines how people react to the extreme heat which is becoming increasingly common. David Bowman discusses why we can no longer pretend that formerly "normal" temperatures will be seen again in our lifetimes. And Denise Chow notes that even the hardiest of desert-adapted plants are struggling to survive the climate breakdown. 

- Kenny Mendoza et al. study the effects of ultra-processed foods, and find a connections to cardiovascular disease. And Hiroko Tabuchi reports on the dumping of forever chemicals into the food chain via wastewater sludge which is used as a fertilizer. 

- Bronwyn Bragg and Jennifer Hyndman discuss how low wages are at the root of the problems with Canada's meat processing industry. And Janet Andrews and Stephen von Sychowski offer a reminder that workers have the power to build a brighter future by organizing, while Mick Lynch discusses the depths the corporate class will sink to in trying to prevent that from happening. 

- In a similar vein, David Moscrop interviews Jim Stanford about the uber-rich's angry and manipulative response to paying a slightly more share of the cost of a functional society. Anne Applebaum writes that kleptocrats aren't merely stealing money, but also trying to destroy any democratic means of furthering the public interest. And Rowan Moore discusses how the UK's Grenfell inquiry exposes the contempt of the wealthy few for the lives of everybody else. 

- Finally, Sheena Goodyear discusses Carol Off's work to reclaim the concept of freedom as a positive goal based on the ability to make meaningful decisions, rather than a cover for hate and exploitation.

Musical interlude

Miami Nights 1984 feat. Gunship - Only When It's Dark

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- David Climenhaga writes that nobody should be surprised by Danielle Smith's determination to privatize Alberta's health system - though her explicit declaration that she wants providers to be motivated by an ethic of fear rather than care lays bare what the UCP has in store. Alexander Quon reports on the patient-pays system for doctor access set up by one Regina medical clinic on the Moe government's watch. And Gretchen Morgenson reports on research showing how private equity involvement in health facilities results in asset stripping and worse service. 

- Nora Loreto calls out the right-wing push to maximize harm and deaths from public health challenges. And Jon Woodward reports on the large number of additional deaths anticipated from Doug Ford's shuttering of safe consumption sites alone. 

- Todd Feathers reports on the illegal denial of hundreds of millions of dollars of medical benefits by a malfunctioning AI system. And Michael Joel-Hansen reports on the known issues with the Saskatchewan Party's new payment processing system which is leaving workers unpaid and supplies unordered. 

- Suzanne Blake reports on the admission by one Kroger executive that it engaged in price gouging (while using inflation as an excuse for profit-taking).

- Finally, Emily Peck discusses how the U.S.' public perception of labour unions is at a multi-decade high.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Brittany Hopkins rightly argues that parents with any interest in providing a worthwhile future for their children should be motivated to combat the climate breakdown. Steven Lam and Gloria Novovic write about the need for climate impacts to be included as a matter of course in analyzing all types of policies. And David Zipper discusses the need to transition away from highway megaprojects - and notes that anybody who actually believes in fiscally responsible government should be happy to join a coalition to that end. 

- David Suzuki calls out the glaring gap in treatment between climate activists facing constant police disruption and severe sentences for attempting to ensure a liveable future, and corporate polluters who face no meaningful consequences (and indeed receive massive subsidies) for polluting both the public discourse and the Earth. 

- Nicolas Graham examines how the U.S.' fossilized right wing is operating in Canada - often with public funds and/or the imprimatur of academic credibility. And in the wake of the sudden departure of BC United from this fall's election, Luke LeBrun and Rumneek Johal offer a reminder that the B.C. Conservatives are unabashedly running against science and reality.  

- Finally, the Economist reports that the crypto firms courted by Texas in the name of economic development are making their money exploiting the terms of power supply agreements. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- The Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research discusses a new study showing that the effects of a climate breakdown could far exceed what has generally been treated as the worst-case outcome, with the potential for temperatures to increase by up to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Bob Burwyn writes about the dangerous feedback loop in which global warming results in the release of previously-trapped methane. And the Climate Historian observes that the uninhabitable surface of Venus is the result of a runaway greenhouse effect. 

- Daisy Dunne writes about the role climate change is playing in the outbreak of extreme heat events. Anna Betts reports on new research showing that the number of deaths caused by extreme heat in the U.S. has doubled over the past 25 years, while Ashifa Kasaam reports on a study showing that people with lower incomes bear a disproportionate share of the burden of heat waves. 

- Andrew Whelton points out that the effects of increased wildfire activity extend to widespread water pollution and harm to agriculture. And Emma Bryce discusses how there's ample food production capacity to feed the whole of humanity (and reduce carbon emissions) if the wealthiest few people adjust their consumption patterns to fit what the Earth can support.  

- But George Monbiot notes that the factory farm lobby is looking to ban any form of food production that could endanger its existing profit margins by making a healthy diet more affordable and accessible. And Tom Perkins reports on the corporate-owned scientists trying to keep toxic forever chemicals flowing into drinking water. 

- Finally, Colin Bruce Anthes discusses how the treatment of land is at the root of our housing crisis - with fair taxes on land value and investment in building affordable housing serving as the most obvious means of turning a current policy oversight into a logical solution. And James Hardwick notes that the accumulation of housing as a store of wealth prevents the people who need homes from finding them. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Extended cat.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Matthew Rosza discusses the growing recognition that there's little chance of holding to our one-time target of 1.5 degrees of global warming - and that it will take a radical change of course to limit the damage to 1.6. But New Scientist rightly argues that we should be doing everything within our power to avoid any more climate breakdown than is absolutely inevitable. And both Matthew Taylor and Adrien Plomteux discuss how a turn toward degrowth and focused resource allocation can both reduce the harm we're inflicting on our living environment, and produce far better outcomes for people. 

- Meanwhile, Taylor Noakes discusses how Imperial Oil has faced a laughably insignificant penalty for dumping millions of litres of contaminated waste from a tailings pond into the natural environment. 

- Dougald Lamont writes about Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter - noting that in addition to serving as a cautionary tale about fascist control over media, it also reflect the culture of debt-funded speculation as a substitute for actual economic development. 

- Finally, Andrew Ewing et al. examine the expert consensus on long COVID - even as the ongoing pandemic has been largely hidden from public notice. Jason Gale notes that the business of death is booming as a result of COVID-19, while Flannery Dean asks why we've accepted constant reinfection as our normal state of being. And Tina Reed discusses how contrived anti-vaccine messaging is now leaving American children exposed to numerous diseases which had previously been eradicated. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Robert Rohde surveys yet another month of record-high temperatures from July 2024. And Richard Heinberg examines what a real energy transition would look like - including a meaningful effort to stop using energy unnecessarily as well as a shit to clean energy sources. 

- Jim Stanford points out that price controls can be one mechanism to ensure that corporate profiteering doesn't cut into the affordability of basic necessities. 

- But Jason Hickel writes about the main barrier to that effort, as our key economic decisions are made by capitalists acting unilaterally to keep up their resource profits rather than by any government or other structure with any meaningful capacity to determine and act in the public interest. And Prem Sikka likewise discusses how wealthy individuals and corporations have hijacked any democracy. 

- Linda McQuaig notes that Doug Ford is going far out of his way to ensure Ontarians don't know how factory farms are abusing animals. Jake Johnson discusses how the meat industry is yet another sector where corporate collusion and price-fixing are increasing the cost of living for consumers. And Sara Moniuszko and Meg Oliver report on new research showing that the majority of baby food sold in the U.S. falls short of WHO health standard. 

- Scott Martin discusses how Ford (and other premiers focused on harm maximization as policy) can only be seen as choosing a legacy of social murder. And David Climenhaga notes that Danielle Smith is adding gross cronyism to the mix, as anybody seeking addiction services in Alberta is required to disclose sensitive personal health information to a politically-connected provider. 

- Finally, Matt Motta and Kathryn Haglin find that the benefits of Alaska's basic income include greater use of primary and preventative health services. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Annika Stechemesser et al. study the effectiveness of various countries' climate policies - and find that while carbon pricing is a necessary element in achieving emission reductions, it needs to be part of a full policy mix in order to get us anywhere near a country's Paris commitments. Dana Nuccitelli offers a reminder that the climate crisis represents a collective action problem where it's essential for everybody to be part of the solution (rather than looking for excuses to refuse). And Lisa Friedman writes about Kamala Harris' rightful characterization of climate policy as an issue of freedom - with the fossil fuel industry wanting nothing more than to eliminate any choice other than to keep feeding it profits by blocking cheaper and cleaner energy alternatives.

- Meanwhile, Flora Graham discusses the role of flash droughts in contributing to Canada's catastrophic string of wildfires. And Luca Ittimani reports on the unprecedented "heat engine" resulting in summer weather in the middle of Australia's winter season,

- Northwestern University examines how COVID-19 has mutated to more easily infect the central nervous system.

- Finally, Ali Velshi highlights how Project 2025 sets out the U.S. Republicans plan to undermine the wages and bargaining power of workers if they get the chance. And Tom Wall discusses how life as a gig worker in the UK is only getting more precarious - as a decade and a half of eliminating protections for migrant workers has only resulted in deteriorating conditions for everybody.

Musical interlude

Stoto - Afterlife

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Paul Rogers discusses the imminent threat of more extreme weather events, shortages of the necessities of life and increased division and inequality if the climate crisis is allowed to continue unchecked - while trying to find some hope in more widespread awareness of the dangers we face. Michael Mann writes about the place of the Republicans' Project 2025 as part of the right's attempt to block global climate action. And Patrick Greenfield reports on Susana Mohamed's warning that even meeting our greenhouse gas emission targets is only a small part of the work to be done in restoring our living environment to balance. 

- Meanwhile, Bob Weber reports on the pleas from Alberta municipalities for the UCP to stop allowing the dirty energy industry to extract resources and spew pollution without contributing to its own cleanup costs. 

- Phil Tank discusses how unsafe commercial transport trucks remain the norm in Saskatchewan as commercial transporters have carried on business as usual even after the Humboldt Broncos tragedy. And Gabriela Calugay-Casuga points out that the main demand of the railway workers who have since been deprived of a place at the bargaining table by the federal government is to avoid the type of catastrophes caused by corporate railways' disregard for worker and public safety. 

- Nadia Khan reports on a new Centre for Future Work report showing that racialized workers continue to be underpaid compared to other Canadian workers - but that union organization helps to close the gap. And Lucy Uprichard compares the cultural funding and organizational models in Montreal and Toronto, noting that the corporate-focused version in the latter is leading to the steady erosion of community-level activity. 

- Finally, Sarah Butler reports on the false "discounts" being peddled by big retailers who grossly inflate prices, then demand that consumers hand over personal information in order to access the previous price as part of a membership program. And Jim Stanford points out the gross dishonesty of the Poilievre Cons in peddling selective or outright false information about the state of Canada's economy. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Anna Betts reports that the fallout from the climate crisis may include threats to blood donations, while Zoe Schlanger writes about the dangers of relying on steel-based infrastructure which will fail under the temperatures which are becoming the norm. James Dyke, Robert Watson and Wolfgang Knorr discuss the folly of making choices which deliberately overshoot past emission targets in the short term based on the bare hope that carbon pollution can be captured or reduced later. Kate Yoder writes that action on climate change is far more popular than one would think from corporate-captured governments' reluctance to carry it out. And Richard Sandbrook is right to note that Canada can't use other countries' climate sabotage as an excuse for doing nothing - though it's unduly generous to characterize a track record of stagnation and delay as something to be continued rather than improved upon. 

- Betsy Agar and Raidin Blue examine the renovations and retrofits needed to make buildings safe amid a warming climate and more extreme weather, while Carissa Wong writes about new research showing that the temperatures which humans can survive are lower than previously assumed. And Adam Thorn points out that any transition to an electrified fleet of vehicles will require buildings to be EV-ready. 

- Douglas Main reports on new research showing that the ubiquity of microplastics now extends into the human brain. 

- Finally, William Brangham interviews Eric Topol about the current state of the COVID pandemic, including a summer surge in infections which has been met with no policy response. And Clovis Palmer et al. find that the effects of COVID-19 can include type 2 diabetes - but that there's a prospect that post-infection vaccination can reduce the risk.  

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Concentrating cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Jeff Masters sets out some of the anticipated timelines for climate change to fundamentally reshape life in the U.S. - with immense disruption expected in a matter of just a few years. Vikas Parashram Mekram discusses how climate change is threatening groundwater supplies, while Darrin Joy points out the risk that melting permafrost will unleash massive quantities of mercury into the environment. And Hope Lompe reports on a new study showing how migrant workers in British Columbia are suffering from extreme heat in housing not designed to protect against it, while Stuti Mishra writes about the dangers and stresses of life at 50 degrees Celsius in India. 

- Meanwhile, Mostafa Henaway discusses how both the Cons and Libs have chosen to turn Canada's temporary foreign worker program into constant supply of cheap, powerless labour for corporate masters. And Prem Sikka sets out some suggestions to rein in extreme executive pay and income inequality. 

- Nojoud Al Mallees reports on new research showing that corporate capital gains have nothing to do with the creation of jobs in Canada. And Judd Legum offers a reminder that the inflation make life unaffordable for consumers has been primarily the result of corporate price-gouging which Republicans have now decided is fundamental to their way of life. 

- Finally, David Moscrop discusses how Doug Ford has thrown any concern for health and well-being out the window in directing his government's attention (and massive amounts of public money) toward alcohol liberalization as a top priority. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Ayesha Tandon discusses a new study showing that the limiting factor in averting a climate breakdown is public policy rather than technological limitations. Aaron Wherry rightly points out that there's no either-or choice between mitigation and adaptation - and that indeed investment in the former can make the latter more manageable. And Natasha Bulowski reports on Danielle Smith's predictable decision to put an oil industry insider in charge of climate policy (and obstruction), while Kyle Bakx notes that the UCP is also actively pushing the construction of fossil fuel-powered data centres.

- Meanwhile, David Climenhaga highlights how the UCP is looking to turn limited addictions treatment into a donor profit centre. And Joel Dryden reports on the its choice to use public money to turn urgent care and other core health services over to private control. 

- Marc Bou Mansour examines how even a "featherlight" wealth tax could produce $2.1 trillion in annual revenue for public purposes. Ann Pettifor writes that the UK (like other countries) can afford to do what it has the will to do - making any focus on austerity in the name of growth an utterly counterproductive impulse. And Richard Murphy warns that the Starmer government seems inclined to pursue "balance" over a single term at the expense of underdevelopment and corporate control in the longer term. 

- Finally, Tory Shepherd discusses how the pathological fixation on growth in the name of perpetual profit generation includes a demand to increase birth rates and population levels on a planet whose resources are already overextended. 

Musical interlude

WaltR Melody - Creation

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Jonathan Watts reports on the effort by scientists to account for the unexpected acceleration of global warming. And Fiona Harvey reports on the immense carbon pollution from last year's wildfires in Canada, even as a new round blankets much of the country in smoke (which may be causing dementia among other health problems). 

- Meanwhile, Hannah Ritchie discusses how increased air conditioning use is both a consequence of rising temperatures, and a cause of additional greenhouse gas emissions. Nina Lakhani reports on the workers collapsing from extreme heat in Florida due the combination of global warming and localized political attacks on workplace safety. And Geoff Dembicki exposes how a Shell-associated foundation has been pouring money and resources into both climate denialism and fascist politics. 

- Laura Brown reports that it has taken a feature article in the New York Times for any elected New Brunswick politician to push for any action on a cluster of neurodegenerative disease which has otherwise been firmly suppressed. And Lisa Song writes about the obvious problems with allowing the plastics industry to define what's recyclable - particularly when it bears no resemblance to what actually gets recycled. 

- Paul Prescod offers a reminder that much of the inflation people have experienced over the past few years is the result of corporate profiteering - and that voters are eager to opportunities to see a political response. And Cory Doctorow highlights the numerous collective action problems which are being continuously more brutally exploited by bad actors to accumulate wealth at the cost of public health, safety and well-being. 

- Finally, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety examines how both traffic fatalities and numerous risky behaviours have soared above previous levels since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Thursday Night Cat Blogging

Embedded cat.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Joan Westenberg writes about the insistence by Elon Musk and others that people be forced to listen to bigotry in the name of "free speech" - along with their dissatisfaction that people keep developing new communication systems to avoid their hate-filled channels. Athmeya Jayaram points out how extreme wealth is used to threaten decision-makers not to consider any interests other than the demands of the richest few individuals and corporations. And Ajay Parasram discusses how solidarity and cooperation have served as the most effective message to stop the political rise of the regressive right.  

- Kate Yoder discusses how politicians (and even the general public) drastically underestimate the popular support for climate action - due in no small part to anti-clean energy astroturfing funded by fossil fuel tycoons. Rebecca Hersher reports on the reality that our oceans are warming significantly faster than projected, producing even more severe weather than anticipated. And Jack Simpson reports on the effect of extreme weather on insurance payouts. 

- Everett Kehew highlights the folly of blaming a housing shortage on lower-income immigrant workers rather than the capital class which refuses to build homes which most people can afford. And Alex Lord discusses the reality that the UK (like other countries) needs to reverse decades of neglect to meet housing targets - though it's telling that the needed number of homes isn't unprecedented, merely unfulfilled due to a lack of public investment.  

- Jason Foster, Bob Barnetson and Susan Cake study how governments have meddled in public-sector collective bargaining in Canada. 

- Finally, Gus Speth discusses the need to focus on well-being as the basis for our policy choices, rather than fetishizing growth for its own sake. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jonathan Watts reports on the unprecedented number of heat records being set in 2024, while the University of East Anglia examines how climate change has raised the risk of the wildfires we've seen in recent years. And Environmental Defence notes that oil industry lobbying is also reaching new highs. 

- Jonathan Safran Foer and Aaron Gross discuss how factory farming is a major vector for disease - meaning that any work to prevent future pandemics should include healthier food production models. Kevin Jiang reports on the imminent declaration of a global mpox emergency - and the refusal of Canada and other wealthier countries to help stop the spread in regions which have already been hard hit. 

- Anja Karadeglija reports on the findings of UN Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata that Canada's temporary foreign worker program is a breeding ground for contemporary slavery. And David Moscrop writes that it's long past time for the Libs to stop allowing their corporate buddies to use temporary foreign workers to make work worse for everybody. 

- Meanwhile, Maya Goodfellow writes that contrary to the bigotry spread by right-wing parties, there's no legitimate basis to blame immigrants themselves for societies designed to exploit them. And Simon Wren-Lewis discusses how the UK Cons' dehumanization of immigrants and minority cultures has served an open invitation to violent repression.  

- Finally, Cory Doctorow notes that the obscene power held by the likes of Wal-Mart and Amazon can be traced back to the Reagan-era decision to allow for monopsony control of purchasing in essential industries. And Larry Elliott reports on a new study showing that inflation disproportionately affect the poorest households who have fewer means to avoid the effects of corporate profiteering. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Syris Valentine writes about our severe and chronic environmental overshoot in using far more resources than the Earth can replenish. Clayton Page Aldern discusses how global warming is already having a measurable impact on our health and behaviour. And Kait Parker notes that climate change is making people sick directly as extreme weather diverts sewage and pollution into the waterways we rely on.  

- Ed Struzik reports on the effects of climate change in cutting off the food supply of communities in the Northwest Territories which can no longer be accessed by boat. And the Canadian Press discusses how extreme weather is raising food prices generally. 

- Phillip Inman reports on the growing movement to ensure the uber-rich pay at least some taxes to support the societies which allow them to accumulate their fortunes, rather than being able to play governments against each other in search of special favours. And Colin Bruce Anthes and Nathan Olmstead make the case for a focus on building community wealth as a general principle - not merely as a mechanism to alleviate extreme poverty. 

- Adam King discusses how Canada's measures of unemployment serve to overestimate the number of jobs available while underestimating the number of workers who could fill them (with the effect of providing misleading support for policy which favours employers' interests over workers). And Randy Thanthong-Knight reports on the systematic use of temporary foreign workers in the service sector even as scores of young workers are unable to find jobs. 

- Finally, David Climenhaga writes that Danielle Smith's latest salvo in the war on health is the shuttering of long-COVID clinics without any warning or available alternative for patients. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Richard Sandbrook makes the case for a Green New Deal as combining the ambition and the feasibility needed to halt climate change. And Stewart Elgie and Kathy Bardswick argue that we can still build a cleaner climate, rather than focusing solely on trying to hide from the effects of continued breakdown. 

- But then, Bill Hare rightly notes that Australia - like Canada and other fossil fuel exporters - is severely harming the cause of climate protection by subsidizing carbon pollution that's intended to be spewed without being counted as part of any global carbon budget.  

- James Faris discusses how a shortage of housing only figures to get worse as climate impacts make existing cities uninsurable and unliveable. Geoffrey Deihl observes that the harm we've already done our living environment is causing wildfires and other effects which cancel out our modest mitigation efforts. And Lou Robinson and Angela Dewan report on CarbonPlan's research showing that most of the world will be too hot to host an Olympic Games by 2050 if we don't change course. 

- Meanwhile, Troy Farah writes that the Olympics have become a painful reminder of collective denial around COVID-19, both through highly visible impacts on the athletic events themselves and on the mass infection which inevitably follows from large crowds doing nothing to mitigate spread. 

- Finally, A.R. Moxon points out the value of making a positive case for caring for other people as the only viable counter to the well-funded spread of fascism. David Moscrop discusses the absurdity of Pierre Poilievre's attempt to paint Justin Trudeau's neoliberalism as communism in order to bring conspicuous cruelty into the middle of Canada's Overton window. And Gerry McGovern notes that one of the main effects of artificial intelligence - and one of the ones which makes it particularly appealing to the techbro right - its role in outsourcing accumulated bigotry and prejudice to machines which can be treated as neutral. 

Musical interlude

Royksopp feat. Susanne Sundfor - Never Ever

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Ian Urquhart writes that while it's well and good to insist that the oil and gas industry stop attempting to greenwash its contribution to climate destruction, Canada also needs to reckon with its own unsupported claims to climate progress. Alienor Rougeot and Stephen Thomas discuss how Canada is falling behind the rest of the world in building clean energy capacity (while subsidizing continued fossil fuel emissions). And Marc Lee offers a reminder that British Columbia's carbon tax system is set up to favour polluting businesses over the public.  

- Gabriel Zucman writes that it's both feasible and necessary to make sure the rich pay their fair share. And Linda McQuaig calls out how the Fraser Institute and the Cons are teaming up to misrepresent how Canada's tax system works to ensure that never happens.  

- Gaby Hinsliff discusses how shrunken public services only end up imposing ever-more-unmanageable burdens on people to provide health and social care for relatives and loved ones. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow points out that when private equity sets out to extract wealth from an existing business, its marks include the people who invest their money based on the false promise that there's any plan to operate more efficiently (or at all) in the long term. Danyaal Raza and Karen Palmer write about the particular dangers of letting private equity take over health care services. And Audrey Guay highlights just a few examples of how privatization has undermined the public health care system while doing nothing to sustainably reduce waiting lists. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Fiona Harvey reports on the UN's warning that fossil fuel propagandists are engaged in a massive disinformation campaign to keep us spewing carbon pollution, while Petra Stock discusses new research showing how false denialism is seen as more credible the more often it's repeated. And John Woodside reports that Canada's oil and gas sector is predictably trying to suppress any reporting and sharing of accurate information about greenhouse gas emissions. 

- Meanwhile, Carl Meyer reports on the constant contact between pseudo-populist Pierre Poilievre and fossil fuel lobbyists. And Matt Simmons and Mike de Souza report on TC Energy's attempt to work political channels within the B.C. premier's office after a report emerged on its multiple environmental violations. 

- Climate Central examines how the effects of a warming planet include dangerously high nighttime temperatures. And Michelle Gamage discusses how poverty more than doubles one's risk of dying from extreme heat - though it's worth noting the converse that relative wealth doesn't bestow immunity either. 

- Michael Phillis reports on the Environmental Protection Agency's emergency order against the use of a pesticide which harms fetal development. And the Canadian Press reports on research showing that ultrafine air pollution particles were responsible for 1,100 deaths in Toronto and Montreal alone over a 15-year span. 

- Diane Taylor discusses how truth is the antidote to racist violence. But Luke LeBrun highlights how Pierre Poilievre is deeply committed to lying in order to preserve potential support on the lunatic fringe. And Joan Westenberg writes that there's no more sure path to to far-reaching platforms and consistent income than to claim  have been "canceled" for one's bigotry. 

- Finally, Kevin Watkins reports on the prospect that the G20 could lead the way in eliminating hunger and extreme poverty - though there's reason to be concerned that international discussions won't be matched by budgetary resources. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Clingy cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The Technical University of Munich highlights the uncertainties involved in putting a timeline on particular climate tipping points - even if their arrival is certain if we don't stop spewing carbon pollution. And Meghan Bartels discusses how the climate breakdown is damaging all kinds of infrastructure designed for a temperature range which is entirely in the past. 

- Meanwhile, Alexis Simmerman and Doyle Rice report that an oxygen-depleted "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico caused by industrial pollutants has expanded to over 6,700 square miles. 

- Emilia Belliveau and Nola Poirier discuss how oil tycoons are perpetually lobbying to avoid cleaner energy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. And David Climenhaga points out how the UCP's hostility to renewable energy was able to shut down enough planned projects to power every house in Alberta - making it clear that Canada's right isn't interested in making energy available, but in ensuring that we have to pay off their dirty energy donors to access it. 

- Tom Perkins writes about the connection between increased food prices and blatant corporate profiteering.  

- Finally, Joe Mulhall rightly calls out against any attempt to legitimize racist violence. And Gil Duran warns that Twitter has been weaponized to favour exactly that - meaning that any responsible users need to be developing an exit strategy (if they haven't already). 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Gillian Steward asks how many communities need to be destroyed for the UCP and other climate denialists to start even pretending to care - though I'm not optimistic there's any level of real-world destruction that would dislodge a well-funded and deeply-ingrained culture of fossil fuel zealotry. Doug Cuthand writes that Canada's increase in wildfire activity is one of the many harms caused by climate change. And Erin Martin-Jones discusses how the same phenomenon has been observed around the globe, while Brian Owens points out the increase in "fire clouds" as a particularly severe form of fire activity.

- The University of Amsterdam examines how scientists are responding to the climate breakdown, and finds that the people who know the consequences of carbon pollution best are doing far more to try to avert it. And The University of the Basque Country finds that the oil industry's fraud on the public isn't limited to denying its longstanding knowledge of the climate crisis, but includes suppressing research into damage to biodiversity.

- Michelle Gamage offers a reminder that the COVID pandemic remains an ongoing crisis - even if British Columbia has joined other jurisdictions in treating it as less than an emergency. And Craig Brierly discusses new research showing that COVID-19 vaccines have helped people to avoid heart attacks and strokes.

- Cory Doctorow rightly questions why we allow the finance sector to loot the productive economy.

- Finally, Sarah Krichel discusses how Mark Zuckerberg's selective ban on Canadian news (allowing the right-wing pseudo-news echo chamber to reverberate while suppressing any journalism with standards of accuracy) is poisoning the flow of public information.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Julia Simone-Rutgers highlights how extreme heat (which is only getting worse) already looms as a major cause of death and disruption in Canada. Alison Snyder discusses how the climate breakdown is contributing to the spread of wildfires, while Li Zhou points out how wildfires are exacerbating the housing crisis as people are driven from their homes. And Mark Gongloff discusses how the inability to insure against climate disaster stands to chip away at housing values.

-  Meanwhile, Maanvi Singh reports on new research showing that the drying out of saltwater lakes may result in yet another unaccounted-for carbon bomb.

- Nili Kaplan-Myrth offers a reminder that we should be taking care of each other in the midst of an ongoing pandemic. And Cynthia Porter et al. confirm that basic precautionary steps like getting children vaccinated can significantly reduce the effects of COVID-19, while Bobo Wing-Yee Mok et al. find that the consequences of letting supposedly mild strains run rampant may include increased cardiac dysfunction among other dangers.

- The Daily Hive discusses how corporate greedflation is behind increasing consumer prices. And Dean Baker notes that the explanation for lower restaurant patronage seems to be based largely on extreme price-gouging - even if NPR's reporting insists on blaming other nebulous causes rather than identifying the connection.

- Finally, Cory Doctorow points out that the more we accept obviously-exploitative practices aimed at perceived out-groups, the more likely we are to see the same normalized and applied to everybody.

Musical interlude

Our Lady Peace - Starseed

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Matt Simon discusses the continued escalation of global temperatures to record highs (which only figure to be exceeded in the years to come). Arno Kopecky writes about the haunting spectre of a burned-out Jasper, while Katharine Gammon warns that we're all test subjects for the dangerous health effects of wildfire smoke. And Pepukaye Bardouille highlights how disaster response mechanisms for vulnerable areas are woefully inadequate for the new baseline for climate-related events. 

- Meanwhile, Richard Schiffman interviews Kristie Ebi about the reality that already-appalling heat death tolls likely represent significant undercounts. And Valerie Volcovici reports on research showing that industry-reported methane emissions likely represent only a quarter of the actual fast-acting carbon pollution being spewed by fossil fuel operators. 

- Andrew Nikiforuk points out the risks of eliminating early-warning systems for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, while Trish Greenhalgh discusses the unpredictable and jarring course of long COVID. And while Tamara Schneider's reporting on the potential development of an effective nasal vaccine to prevent COVID transmission, it's not clear that policymakers determined to operate in denial will bother to facilitate and encourage its use. 

- Muneeb Javaid and Silas Xuereb discuss how the affordability crisis facing the Canadian working class is the result of corporate greed rather than carbon pricing. Rowan Burdge, Anastasia French and Véronique Sioufi warn that the good intentions behind British Columbia's anti-poverty strategy aren't being matched with action. And Rebecca Plavin and Dakota Smith reports that a basic income trial in Los Angeles is just the latest example of how a modicum of income security can produce immense benefits for recipients and society at large. 

- Finally, Justin Ling reports on the costly and conflict-ridden consultants being used by the Trudeau government as a poor substitute for a properly funded and supported civil service. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Simon Lee, Hayley Fowler and Paul Davies discuss how the climate breakdown has undercut the basis for existing models and assumptions about the type of extreme weather we'll face. And Kiley Price writes about the connection between the climate crisis and worsening wildfires. But Tim Bousquet points out that decision-makers are reacting by shrugging their shoulders and continuing to spew carbon pollution, while  Susan Riley asks how long we'll keep barging ahead with climate denial as our core operating principle. 

- David Zipper discusses how car-free neighbourhoods avoid the noise pollution (and other health hazards) which we accept as a given within a car-based culture, while also pointing out that the U.S. is funding massive highway expansions based on the laughable assumption that inducing more care use will somehow reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  

- George Monbiot highlights the numerous environmental and social benefits of a wealth tax, while asking who will back Brazil's push to implement one on an international scale. And Aaron Boley and Samantha Lawler note that the level of entitlement of the billionaire class has reached the point of endangering anybody on the surface of the Earth with uncontrolled falling space debris. 

- Philippa Roxby examines the connection between ultra-processed foods and poor health, while also noting the difficulty in demonstrating direct cause and effect. And Carl Bergstrom and C. Brandon Ogbunu write that social media is the junk food of information ingestion. 

- Finally, Jon Milton calls out the scam of "working-class conservatism" which uses the language of class politics as a means to further enrich and empower those who already have the most. Geoff Leo exposes the small- and large-C conservative connections of the shadowy group trying to take over Regina's city council. And David Climenhaga reports that Take Back Alberta is descending into the morass of criminality and internal bickering that represents the usual end point for a combination grift and right-wing ideological project. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Curled-up cat.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Jess Thomson points out a new NASA video showing the movement of carbon pollution in our atmosphere, while Oliver Milman reports on new research showing that methane emissions are rising at the fastest rate in decades. Peter Prebble calls out the Moe government's insistence on fighting any action to combat the climate crisis. And Amy Westervelt et al. weigh in on the fossil fuel sector's dishonesty and mendacity in painting carbon capture and storage as a panacea demanding massive public investment when it's never offered a viable pathway to meaningful emission reduction. 

- Christopher Holcroft writes that the wildfires which tore through Jasper (and continue to threaten it) represent a compelling example of climate denialism made policy. Andrew Nikiforuk discusses the difficulty in responding to the increasingly imminent and widespread threat posed by global warming-fueled forest fires. And the Associated Press reports on new research suggesting that wildfire smoke may be even more harmful to our health (particularly our brains) than other forms of air pollution. 

- Jason Hickel and Dylan Sullivan examine the relationship between material production and existing human needs, and find that we have plenty of global output to meet a desirable standard of living for every human on the planet if it were properly planned and fairly distributed. Christopher Ketcham exposes how billionaires are funding a statistics institute intended to equate high-end wealth accumulation with human progress. And Cory Doctorow writes about the warped definition of property which makes consumer purchases of goods subordinate to corporate interests in controlling their use.

- Meanwhile, Hickel, Morena Hanbury Lemos and Felix Barbour find that similar work is subject to gross variances in pay around the globe. And Joan Westenberg calls out hustle culture which tries to blame individual workers for the intolerable systemic demands placed on them. 

- Finally, Adam King discusses the need for improved social supports to enable people (and disproportionately women) to meet the unpaid care demands being foisted on them.