Musical interlude

Elderbrook & Tourist - Howl

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Kate Irwin reports on new research showing that dozens of the U.S.' largest corporations are doling out more money to their five top executives than they paid in total federal income tax. And Robert Renger makes the case that windfall gains in British Columbia property values should be taxed to ensure the benefits aren't limited to those already wealthy enough to own land.  

- Seth Borenstein reports on yet another month of record-high temperatures, while Thor Benson notes that the fossil fuel sector's claim to be limiting methane emissions is proving as disingenuous as its other climate messaging. 

- Phillip Meintzer and Alienor Rougeot point out that if the UCP were actually interested in limiting the environmental impact of energy production, it would be focusing on the tar sands rather than selectively undermining renewables, while Jordan Kanygin reports on the lack of any return on massive public giveaways to major oil companies to clean up their own industry's messes. Bob Weber reports on the Alberta Energy Regulator's findings that there's no air of reality to Danielle Smith's attempt to paint renewables as a threat to agriculture or the environment. And Norm Farrell highlights how British Columbia is belatedly recognizing the value of investing in distributed clean energy rather than falling for the promises surrounding megaprojects. 

- Finally, Joel Lexchin highlights the dangers of an opaque financial relationship between big pharma and the health-care providers who can be induced to push its products. And Nicole Brockbank, Angelina King and Lori Ward report on the growing pile of documentation refuting Shoppers Drug Mart's claim not to have a plan to exploit public funding for medication reviews. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Melissa Lem and Samantha Green write about the push from the health care community to ensure that fossil fuel companies can't keep deceiving the public about the harm caused by their operations. And John Woodside reports on the majority popular support for a windfall tax on oil companies - even in the provinces where they've entirely captured the political class. 

- Meanwhile, Max Kozlov discusses new research showing that the oil industry's pivot to plastics stands to create a whole new set of harms to people's health. 

- Peter Walker reports on a new study showing that policies supporting low vehicle traffic produce immense fiscal and health benefits. And for anybody needing an additional push away from car culture, Kashmir Hill exposes how auto manufacturers are tracking and sharing details about drivers' activity with data brokers.  

- Ricardo Tranjan writes about the effectiveness of rent controls in reducing housing costs - while refuting the myth that they do anything to limit the supply of homes. 

- Finally, Kate Schneider reports on the private parties being held in millionaires' mansions to facilitate  Pierre Poilievre's pay-for-access fund-raisers. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Sprawled cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Brishti Basu reports on the ill effects of WorkSafeBC's decision to push people back to work while they continue to suffer from long COVID. And Alex Skopic calls out the CDC's choice to direct people back to work while they're still infected with COVID-19, while Reina Sultan talks to experts who point out the obvious and avoidable risks to others including workers and customers arising from that guideline. 

- Anita Hofschneider writes about the looming prospect that the effects of a climate breakdown will include the exposure of nuclear waste. And Mari Yamaguchi reports that 13 years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, authorities still have little idea of the condition of the damaged reactors or the status of the fuel waiting inside. 

- Meanwhile, Joseph Winters reports on the push to ban detergent pods due to their propensity to release microplastics into the environment - as well as the reality that the problem with microplastics generated by clothing goes far deeper. 

- Mouhamad Rachini discusses how teachers across Canada are barely getting by (while administrators have put more and more unqualified babysitters in charge of children as a substitute for providing adequate education resources). And Megan Ogilvie highlights how Ontario has been driving family doctors out of the profession while funneling money toward impersonal corporate substitutes. 

- Finally, Paul Willcocks rightly questions why a supposedly austerian Vancouver mayor and council are funneling tens of millions of dollars to a single private school. Jennifer Lee reports on the $97 million price tag to reverse the effects of the UCP's ideological decision to push lab services into the corporate sector. And Adam King points out the much higher cost of Doug Ford's attempt to suppress public-sector wages. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Bill McGuire discusses why anybody with an understanding of climate science is terrified of a living environment that's careening out of control. Carbon Brief notes that there's plenty of public support for meaningful climate action. But Andre Mayer observes that while the wealthiest and most powerful people are using their outsized influence to make matters worse, they're also spending large amount of money trying to insulate themselves from the consequences of a disastrous future.  

- Ajit Niranjan reports on new research showing how the oil industry has been systematically undermining clean energy for over a half a century. And Aaron Regunberg and David Arkush write that there's a compelling case to prosecute fossil fuel companies for homicide as a result. 

- Meanwhile, Elizabeth Chuck reports on new research showing widespread harm caused by exposure to leaded gasoline. And Drew Anderson points out how fracking is a major contributor to Alberta's looming water crisis. 

- Gleb Tsipursky discusses how return-to-office mandates are all about employer control (with no consideration for anybody's well-being or even productivity). And Ashlie Stevens highlights how Kellogg's and other corporate food producers are rightly getting called out for greedflation to line their own pockets while consumers' expenses spiral out of control. 

- Taylor Noakes writes that Brian Mulroney's death should serve as reason to remember how he imposed corporate control at every turn - not to paper over the damage. And Michael Sainato reports on the growing push by U.S.' corporate overlords to outlaw any labour organizing and collective action which might create a check on their power.  

- Finally, David Moscrop discusses the growing movement for a global weath tax on billionaires. 

Musical interlude

Disaster Pony - Dead Neon & The Noon Sun

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Oshan Jarow discusses Sapien Labs' work measuring mental health levels around the globe - and the resulting conclusion that "conveniences" including smartphones and ultra-processed foods may contribute to a lower level of mental wellness. And Michelle Gamage writes about the plummeting life expectancy of Indigenous people in British Columbia, along with the solutions based in ethics of care and community. 

- Julia-Simone Rutgers writes about the damage global warming is causing to the ice roads which have historically served as vital lifelines for Canada's North. And Arthur Zhang and Anna Kanduth discuss the readily-available options to shift Canada to a cleaner electrical grid and reduce our ongoing carbon pollution. 

- Meanwhile, Charles Rusnell reports on the lengths the UCP is going to to prevent Alberta from knowing how little support their is for their plan to hijack CPP funds to be handed to dirty energy operators. 

- Brittany Trang discusses a new study showing how nursing home operators are able to hide the majority of their profits in order to paper over higher prices and deteriorating care. And Cory Doctorow calls out the NHS' choice to pay massive amounts of money to corporate operators - and share of sensitive personal health information with them - rather than setting up secure open-source research databases. 

- David Moscrop offers a warning about Pierre Poilievre's intention to impose "ordered liberty", with the primary intention and effect of ensuring the freedom of those with more wealth and power to control and exploit anybody with less privilege. 

- Finally, Linda McQuaig makes the case for Canada to support and sign onto the G20's plan to ensure billionaires can't avoid paying taxes. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Basket case cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Julia Doubleday highlights how the continued unmitigated spread of COVID-19 is collapsing hospital systems around the globe. Priyanjana Primanik examines how the coronavirus leads to long-lasting cognitive deficits, while Isabella Cueto discusses new research confirming a connection between COVID and autoimmune disease (which is partially ameliorated by vaccination). 

- But then, Richard Luscombe examines how Florida's anti-science response to the pandemic is resulting in the spread of measles and other easily-preventable diseases as quackery replaces any pretense of public health policy.  

- Rochelle Baker reports on the growing calls to at least limit how fossil fuel corporations lie to us about their contribution to the climate breakdown. But Markham Hislop notes that Danielle Smith (among other petropoliticians) is an eager participation in the misinformation campaign intending to promote the continued spewing of carbon pollution over any clean energy transition. 

- Meanwhile, Frederic Cyr points out that the list of alarming effects of the climate crisis now includes radical changes to seasonal patterns of ocean algae blooming. 

- Pete Wilde discusses the largest-ever review of the effects of ultra-processed foods, with the result being a stark connection between UPFs and numerous health problems.

- Finally, Adam King points out how governments are interfering with collective bargaining (particularly in the public sector) to prevent workers from achieving gains for themselves and the people who depend on them.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Alan Urban writes about the reality that establishment institutions are working on normalizing civilizational collapse - as well as the need to fight back against that process. And Cory Doctorow discusses the appalling results of the juxtaposition of predatory private equity and health care.

- Akielly Hu and Joseph Winters write about the impossibility of decoupling a growth-based economic model from increasing carbon pollution, while Science X points out the warning from the UN Environment Programme's International Resource Panel that resource usage is projected to surge from an already-unsustainable starting point. But while trying to graft care for our living environment onto the ideology of the cancer cell is futile, Deborah de Lange notes that a focus on renewable energy development and innovation produces improved better economic outcomes.

- Marina von Stackelberg reports on the demand from communities for support in dealing with increasingly frequent and severe climate disasters. And Sarah Miller and Zach Carriere comment that we need to direct new housing development to areas which steer clear of the most imminent risks. 

- Sarah Wild writes that over two millions research papers have disappeared from the Internet - meaning that the store of real knowledge is eroding even as AI-generated junk proliferates. And Glyn Moody points out that copyright laws are among the structural factors driving an insufficient policy response to climate change, as scientifically-accurate studies are ignored in favour of more-accessible fossil fuel propaganda. 

- Finally, David Wren discusses how Google's business model relies on shaking down governments and refusing to contribute to the jurisdictions which provide it with its profits. And Natasha Bulowski highlights how even after decades of lessons in the effects of corporatism, the Libs are continuing to lock Canada into "free trade" agreements which give corporate profits precedence over people's health and well-being. 

Musical interlude

Strontium - Phenomenon

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Ziyad Al-Aly offers a reminder of the immense body of evidence showing that COVID-19 leaves a lasting impact on the brain. And Hannah Devlin reports on new research on the sustained impact of "brain fog" in particular. 

- Ryan Meili writes about the syndemic effects of communicable diseases and poverty. And Scott Santens exposes the billionaire-funded campaign to prevent local governments in the U.S. from alleviating poverty through basic income projects. 

- Drew Anderson examines the absurdity of Danielle Smith's ban on clean energy, as the same government pushing through open-pit coal mining on the side of mountains declares that renewable energy will be stifled in the name of "pristine viewscapes". And Jason Wang writes that the attack on renewables is contrary to any desire to keep utilities affordable, while Duane Bratt points out that it's also irreconcilable with any interest in economic efficiency. 

- Meanwhile, Anderson also notes that the nasty surprises in the UCP's budget include making Alberta the latest province to target a specific tax toward emission-free vehicles, confirming their desire to subsidize carbon pollution. And Graham Thomson observes that the UCP is managing to break promises and defy belief by simultaneously imposing austerity, borrowing more and relying more heavily on one-time resource royalties. 

- Finally, Andrew Gregory reports on new research into the large number of health risks from ultra-processed foods 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Susan Riley points out the glaring gap between the urgency of the climate crisis, and the Canadian political response which (Charlie Angus aside) ranges from mealy-mouthed corporatism to outright sabotage. And Gillian Steward calls out the UCP's continued climate denial which is preventing Alberta from responding to fires, droughts and other disasters caused by the climate breakdown. 

- Meanwhile, Andrew Nikiforuk discusses the UCP's insistence on barging ahead with a coal mine repeatedly rejected by the courts as a painful example of how petropoliticians will never accept any environmental regulation on fossil fuel extraction, while Amanda Stephenson reports on the continued escalation of the up-front cost of the Trans Mountain pipeline which the Libs insist on funding at public expense.

- Max Fawcett discusses why a federal wealth tax would represent both good politics and good policy. 

- Linda McQuaig highlights how the Cons' claims to care about responsible public spending and affordability are utterly irreconcilable with their determination to shovel public money into the military-industrial complex as a sop to Donald Trump. And Rhianna Schmunk, Angelina King and Lori Ward report on the exploitation of Doug Ford's corporatist health care plans by systematically billing for unnecessary medication reviews (at rates far higher than doctors receive for prescribing). 

- Finally, Luke LeBrun exposes how Ottawa's police once again allowed right-wing extremists the run of the city - and are only now reviewing their lies about that course of action after they've been exposed in the media. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Trapped cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Andre Picard highlights the dangers of treating the return of measles (and other threats to health exacerbated by anti-science zealotry) as something to be mocked rather than taken seriously. And John Paul Tasker discusses the widespread frustration Canadians are experiencing trying to get access to primary health care in an overwhelmed and undersupported system.

- Markham Hislop highlights how China's long-term plans to ramp down the use of fossil fuels makes the UCP's plan to entrench dirty energy (including by stifling the development of renewables) into a fool's errand. But David Climenhaga notes that Danielle Smith's priority isn't so much to develop a sustainable economy so much as to ensure the public pays the long-term price for the oil industry's extraction of profits. 

- Roland Berger examines how the most carbon-intensive industrial activities on the planet can be converted to less harmful alternatives.

- Adam Cseresznye et al. study the ubiquity of persistent organic pollutants in electronic waste even in Europe where disposal of electronics is subject to some regulation. 

- Finally, Joan Westenberg asks how politicians who are determined to shut down any reliable income supports (including basic income programs) can claim to have any interest in affordability and economic security. And Crawford Kilian discusses Ingrid Robeyns' Limitarianism as providing a model to rein in income and wealth inequality while also ensuring the resources are available to meet people's needs. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Kevin Jiang reports on the results of the largest-ever study into the effects of COVID-19 vaccines - which concludes they've been extremely safe (while serving to prevent far worse outcomes). But Gregg Gonsalves laments that public health authorities are under attack by the forces of ignorance - and taking a dangerously defensive posture as a result. And sadly, Patrick Butler's summary of issues facing children in England reinforces the false and anti-health message that the effects of a pandemic on child development should be blamed solely on public health measures to control the spread of COVID, rather than the dangers and effects of the disease itself. 

- Leigh Phillips discusses how wealthy countries are sabotaging work on a global pandemic treaty by insisting that drug manufacturers' profits take precedence over people's health. And Helen Santoro reports on new research showing that big pharma has made over $70 billions in profits off of $11 billion in public research expenditures to develop ten drugs - and has the gall to be demanding that it be entitled to avoid negotiating those drugs' prices to make them remotely affordable to patients. 

- Mark Olalde and Nick Bowlin examine how the oil industry's profits are similarly based entirely on extracting subsidies from, and dumping environmental costs on, the general public. 

- Matthew Rosza weighs in on the need to stop treating ineffective recycling programs as an excuse for permitting the mass pollution generated by plastics. And Gerry McGovern notes that the default assumption that we should accept waste in the name of convenience serves as a source of easily-avoidable energy use. 

- Gil McGowan writes that the UCP's corporatist zealotry represents a grave threat to basic public services. And Joan Westenberg calls out "side hustle" culture for seeking to squeeze even more out of workers while the rich accumulate more and more unconscionable fortunes. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow offers a much-needed response to the establishmentarians who spout "horseshoe theory" to falsely equate work at building equality with its polar opposite. 

Musical interlude

Dash Berlin feat. Hoyaa - Aviation

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Gary Fuller reports on the European Environment Agency's estimate that EU countries alone are responsible for 238,000 deaths a year arising from their failure to meet World Health Organization air pollution guidelines.  

- Adam Lowenstein discusses the Center for Climate Integrity's report tracing the plastics industry's half-century-long pattern of deceit about the inability of recycling programs to avert a plastic waste crisis. And Francesca Fionda, Jeffrey Jones and Chen Wang report on the massive unfunded mining liabilities which stand to be absorbed by the public in British Columbia. 

- Robert Frank reports on new figures from the IRS showing that tax evasion by U.S. millionaires costs upwards of $150 billions every year. And Christine Wen et al. highlight how tax giveaways to already-profitable businesses have starved education systems and other social supports. 

- Cory Doctorow notes that Google has long since broken the "monopolist's bargain" of claiming that perpetually increasing dominance is necessary to preserve long-abandoned claims to security and functionality. And Steven D'Souza et al. report on the effects of monopoly food pricing in Canada's North - as well as the Libs' utter lack of interest in doing anything but subsidizing the problem. 

- Finally, Mike Elgan points out how return-to-office mandates have resulted in immense losses to workers without producing any discernible benefit for the employers imposing them.