Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- David Graham points out that what's being labeled "vaccine hesitancy" reflects little more than abject denial about the realities of a deadly disease.

- Peter Graefe and Mohammed Fredosi discuss how the CERB - limited though it was - exposed the grossly insufficient provincial social assistance people are expected to survive on in its absence. 

- Cole Webber notes that Doug Ford is using the pandemic to criminalize any tenant organizing, while facilitating the trampling of tenants' rights on an individual level.

- Damian Carrington writes about the difference between genuine climate policy and insubstantial greenwashing - with the latter description fitting the Trudeau Libs to a T. And Fiona Harvey reports on new research showing that developed countries are on pace to blow past any remotely acceptable emission threshold with their current policies and emission commitments.

- David McKenzie and Ingrid Formanek report on the plans of a Canadian oil company operating in Namibia to detonate yet another carbon bomb. Carl Meyer reports on a new legal opinion finding that Canada and other countries are putting themselves at risk by subsidizing and financing fossil fuel development. Meyer and Emily Holden call out Trans Mountain's refusal to name its insurers (in a move obviously aimed at avoiding the prospect of public organizing to reconsider the merits of providing support for a project with calamitous climate consequences).

- Finally, Simran Chatta reports on a new study showing that continents are drying out at an unprecedented pace as one of the consequences of the climate breaking down.

Musical interlude

 Wide Mouth Mason - Erase Any Trace

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Mickey Djuric reports on the growing surgical backlog resulting from the Moe government's willingness to let COVID-19 tear through Saskatchewan's health care system. And Joel Dryden and Sarah Rieger report on the pattern of outbreaks at Alberta meat processing plants which have been encouraged to keep operating with no regard for the health of employees and their families.

- Meanwhile, David Moscrop comments on what it means to be writing in the course of the pandemic - and particularly the need to situate political writing as a community-oriented rather than individual activity. 

- Samuel Preston and Yana Vierboom write about the causes of the "mortality penalty" which sees hundreds of thousands more Americans die every year than would be expected in a country with its standard of living. And Joshua Sharpe discusses the need to better recognize and account for the risks associated with driving.

- James Bloodworth writes that even as the pandemic has only highlighted longstanding problems with the UK's long-term care system, there's still no indication of any willingness to make improvements. And Shanifa Nasser reports that after promising to investigate the preventable deaths of people in are last year, Doug Ford's PCs are now announcing they never bothered to do so.

- Finally, Tom Parkin examines how it's possible for the federal government to take a leadership role in protecting our health and environment - and why we shouldn't accept "not their jurisdiction!" as an excuse for delay and inaction. And Gordon Cleveland writes that Andrew Coyne's refusal to acknowledge the value of building a child-care system (rather than merely handing money out to parents) reflects a misunderstanding of the value of care.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Leyland Cecco discusses how a combination of feckless government and decades of carefully-stoked anti-science sentiment has turned Alberta into North America's COVID-19 hot spot, while Max Fawcett writes that Jason Kenney's response has been the picture of cowardice. 

- Ediriweera Desapriya, Parisa Khoshpouri and Kamal Gunatunge write that the risks of long-haul COVID in particular highlight the important of ensuring that people get vaccinated, while John Michael McGrath makes the case to pay people to do so. But Yves Smith takes note of the reality in the Seychelles, where one of the world's highest rates of full vaccination is doing little to stop the spread of variants. And Allison Bamford talks to Kyle Anderson about the flaws in Scott Moe's reopening plan which cuts ongoing transmission and its impact on health out of the picture entirely.

- Andrea Reimer examines the psychology behind the propensity of people with power to use it foolishly and anti-socially. And Mitchell Thompson writes about the strike-breakers' playbook used to intimidate workers into abandoning efforts at collective bargaining.

- Benjamin Storrow exposes how actors in the natural gas sector are conspiring to delay the electrification needed as part of a just transition to a clean energy economy. And Jim Stanford highlights how Canada's progressive union movement is well ahead of the curve in fighting for a sustainable economy with good jobs.

- Finally, Linda McQuaig writes about the need for the Trudeau Libs to go beyond merely pushing back against deficit hawks, and also ensure that their use of public money serves to improve the lives of people rather than relying on discredited trickle-down theory.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Cushioned cats.

 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Apoora Mandavilli warns about the looming prospect that the U.S. will be unable to reach herd immunity through vaccination due to right-wing cultural resistance to public health. Andrew Nikiforuk writes that Alberta's place as the COVID hotspot of North America is the result of the choices made by Jason Kenney and the UCP - both in stoking distrust of science generally, and refusing to protect the public as coronavirus variants have run amok. Dave Cournoyer contrasts Kenney's bluster against his utter ineffectiveness as he shuts down the Legislature while insisting that other workers in far less safe environments continue to put themselves at risk. And CBC reports on the call from Alberta's previous chief medical officer of health James Talbot for a province-wide lockdown to get the current outbreak under control.

- Alex Hemingway observes that the lack of public policy action on sick leave is all about the desire of the corporate sector to hold power over vulnerable employees. But James Dunne discusses how employers are better off ensuring their employees can take paid sick leave. 

- Jamie Swift and Elaine Power note that the supports developed in response to COVID-19 offer at least a hint of what a basic income could accomplish. And Michele Girash points out how our social safety net still has unacceptable holes, including for people suffering from long COVID. 

- Ellen Hoen argues that the arguments to privilege intellectual property monopolies over public health in the face of a pandemic simply don't add up. 

- Andre Picard laments the fact that even a myriad of preventable deaths doesn't seem to be enough for Ontario to fix its long-term care system.

- Finally, Adolph Reed Jr. writes that decades of concerted attacks on government have left far too little understanding of the importance of the public good.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Emma Paling discusses the reasons why repeated warnings about Canada's third wave of the coronavirus went largely unanswered. And Rachel Bergen reports on another national call among doctors for a COVID-19 circuit breaker, this time with a focus on stopping the spread of variants of concern while vaccinations take place. 

- CBC News reports on Dr. Andrew Bond's eminently sensible suggestion that the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine be used to reach unhoused people and others who may have difficulty following through with a second dose. And Nick Dearden notes that the need for vaccines to protect the health of all of humanity has only exposed the greed of the drug companies prioritizing profit over access.

- Doug Cuthand discusses how the pandemic has further exposed the dangerous effects of white privilege in Saskatchewan.

- Taylor Balfour writes about her sister as one of the victims of the opioid crisis. And Morgan Modjeski reports on a stark increase in the number of violent deaths of children under the province's care in 2020.

- The Canadian Press reports on the push by the NDP opposition parties across the prairies to ensure that provincial governments properly cushion farmers against drastic declines in income. 

- Finally, Toby Sanger examines (PDF) how much revenue Canada could bring in merely by matching Joe Biden's rate increases on corporations. And MercoPress reports that Bolivia has actually been bringing in twice as much revenue as initially anticipated from its wealth tax.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- A group of doctors and scientists offers an open letter calling for a strategy of maximum COVID-19 suppression.

- Matt Gurney writes about the latest report documenting the utter failure of Ontario's long-term care system. PressProgress notes that tens of thousands of violations of health and safety standards by Ontario employers in the midst of a pandemic gave rise to a paltry 24 stoppages of work. And Lynn Giesbrecht reports on the danger that the fallout from COVID may include an exodus of teachers (among other vital workers who have largely been abandoned by their governments).

- Rob Carrick highlights how soaring housing prices are making a small number of homeowners wealthy while pricing the necessities of life out of the reach of many people (and particularly younger workers). 

- The Canadian Press reports on the supply agreement reached between the NDP and the Libs in the Yukon - featuring a cap on rent increases, a public dental insurance plan and a minimum wage increase among other much-needed supports for citizens. 

- Finally, Leah Gazan discusses the importance of controlling the narrative around a basic income, and particularly the opportunity to treat it as a way of ensuring the protection of everybody's rights rather than an excuse for failing to do so.

Musical interlude

 Filo & Peri feat. Audrey Gallagher - This Night (Max Graham Remix)

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Miquel Oliu-Barton, Bary Pradelski, Philippe Aghion, Patrick Artus, Ilona Kickbusch, Jeffrey Lazarus, Devi Sridhar and Samantha Vanderslott examine how strategies aimed at eradicating COVID-19 - rather than aiming for it to spread at some non-zero level - produces better outcomes in terms of economic outcomes, public health and civil liberties. And Graham Thomson calls out Jason Kenney for allowing anti-vaccine sentiment to fester and endanger the health of his province's whole population.

- Christo Aivalis discusses how both Justin Trudeau and Doug Ford are sacrificing workers' health and safety in the name of corporate profits and control. The members of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table study the positive effects of sick leave in reducing the spread of the coronavirus. Rick Salutin calls out the insistence of Ford's PCs (among other governments) on setting up barriers to access to sick leave and other income support in the midst of a pandemic, while Josh Rubin reports on the quick response recognizing that the belated offer of three days of leave is far from enough. And Rita Trichur notes that anybody with any belief in the concept of corporate social responsibility should expect paid sick leave to be one of the minimum requirements to pursue it.

- Wyatt Schierman writes that India's desperate situation highlights the need to prioritize access to vaccines over intellectual property monopolies.

- Hiroko Tabuchi and Nadja Popovich point out how environmental racism results in minority groups being exposed to more dangerous pollution than the people choosing to impose the risks. And Rosanna Xia reports on the discovery of DDT dumped into a far larger swath of the Pacific Ocean than previously known as an example of the environmental harm that's been concealed from the public so far.

- Finally, Robert Hackett and Hanna Araza highlight how Canada's media gives large amounts of space to the oil industry to dictate the terms of any discussion about its harm to the planet. And George Monbiot calls out much of the UK's media for facilitating Conservative corruption and cronyism - especially in the areas where they've resulted in failing services and direct human suffering.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Andrew Nikiforuk calls for us to learn from over a year's worth of experience with COVID-19 and guard against aerosol spread to limit the development and transmission of variants. And Ian Sample reports on new findings showing that children are at risk of long COVID effects even if they're able to avoid initial symptoms.

- Donya Ziaee writes about Justin Trudeau's choice to bow to investor pressure and break his promise to set national standards for long-term care residents and workers. And Paisley Sim points out how it's possible to fix Canada's current patchwork of paid sick leave requirements. 

- Donald MacPherson discusses Scott Moe's inhumane choice to endanger people's lives by refusing to fund Prairie Harm Reduction and other supervised consumption sites. But Jeremy Hainsworth's investigation points to the type of solution the Saskatchewan Party and its would likely support - as the B.C. Libs funded an addiction rehab clinic which turned its patients into political labour.

- Carbon Tracker examines how solar and wind power can replace non-renewable energy in full over the next few decades. Inayat Singh and Alice Hopson report that Unifor is on board with emission cuts to rein in the climate breakdown combined with a transition plan for workers. But Emma McIntosh discusses Doug Ford's continued place as a roadblock standing in the way of any modernization of Ontario's power grid.

- Finally, Liz Walker and Shanice Regis-Wilkins point out why anti-worker employers go so far out of their way to prevent their employees from unionizing. And Jerry Dias notes that it's executives rather than front-line workers who have picked up large amounts of pandemic pay. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jason Warick reports on how the lack of enforcement of public health rules has emboldened anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers to impose their disregard for community safety on the people around them. Guy Quenneville highlights the Moe government's decision to do absolutely nothing in the face of a COVID-19 surge hitting Saskatoon (despite the efforts of the people who best understand the crisis). Mia Rabson reports on the deployment of military personnel to coronavirus hot zones - as well as Theresa Tam's recognition that any responsible government would a long way from talking about any return to "normal". Joe Roberts calls for the Libs to invoke the Emergencies Act rather than sacrificing lives to provincial callousness and incompetence. And Canada News Central writes that the governments responsible for ineffective pandemic responses deserve to be wiped out at the polls - while Nova Scotia continues to demonstrate that there's an alternative to letting short-sighted corporate interests and anti-science wingnuts dictate public policy.

- John Paul Tasker reviews the history behind Canada's lack of domestic vaccine production capacity - which is particularly unconscionable when the publicly-owned Connaught Labs was once one of the world's leaders. And John Queally reports on Bill Gates' insistence on prioritizing big pharma's monopoly rights over the availability of vaccines worldwide, while Devi Sridhar observes that global vaccination is a must for any country to be safe from COVID-19.

- Paul Waldman writes that George Orwell underestimated the amount of hate which would underlie a turn toward fascism, as the Republicans essentially offer nothing else 24 hours a day. Alex Pareene discusses the Republicans' choice to legalize running over protestors with cars. And Eric Levitz comments that those provisions are just part of a general conservative attempt to stifle speech through both individual violence, and the power of the state.

- Finally, Kenan Malik writes that the U.S.' general philosophy of policing involves controlling the poor rather than protecting the public.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

 Illuminated cats.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- John Paul Tasker reports on new data from the Public Health Agency of Canada showing how public health measures have slowed the transmission of the coronavirus, while Selena Ross reports on an informal count showing that air purifiers may substantially reduce the spread of COVID-19 in schools. Connor O'Donovan talks to employees working in the Cornwall Centre about the avoidable risk they face when anti-maskers bring disregard for public health into their workplaces. And Jeff Gray reports on the reality facing health care practitioners having to triage patients in desperate need of care - and then explain that decision to the families affected. 

- Joseph Stiglitz and Lori Wallach discuss the folly of prioritizing intellectual property monopolies over the manufacture and distribution of COVID vaccines. And Teagan Johnston notes that nobody should be surprised to see Doug Ford (or any of his right-wing cousins) valuing profits over people's health and well-being.

- Meanwhile, Andrew Gregory points out that the search for treatments and cures for long COVID will remain a vital area of research even as vaccines offer some protection to the population at large.

- The Climate Action Network (among other groups) highlights how Canada can reach a far stronger greenhouse gas emissions target than the one on offer from the Libs while reducing our energy costs in the process. And Royce Kurmelovs reports on the drastic decline in the price of solar power which is making it far more efficient than fossil fuel energy.

- Finally, David Madland writes about the renewed push for sectoral bargaining to ensure that gains made by workers are broadly shared. And Barry Eidlin discusses how the requirement for votes in employer-controlled workplaces represents an unfair barrier to the exercise of workers' rights.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Rich Mendes reports on new research showing that the longstanding focus on physical distance as a means of avoiding the indoor transmission of COVID-19 has been misplaced. Erin Anderssen and Marcus Gee examine some of Canada's hardest-hit intensive care units to show the day-to-day disaster caused by the spread of the coronavirus. And Denise Lu reports on the U.S.' excess death total which is higher than the one caused by the 1918 pandemic.

- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus writes about what should be a fairly simple choice for wealthier countries who can either keep the population of the entire world at unnecessary risk by prioritizing intellectual property rights over vaccinations, or help protect everybody at the cost of a few windfall profits. And Stephen Buranyi likewise argues that patents shouldn't stand in the way of vaccines for everybody.

- Andrew Nikiforuk discusses how Jason Kenney's UCP has provided a laughable excuse for consultation in order to push ahead with coal mining in the face of public opprobrium and the complete absence of an economic case for it. Ubaka Ogbogu and Lorian Hardcastle criticize Kenney's choice to protect the profits of long-term care operators responsible for the spread of COVID-19 among their residents, rather than at least allowing families to seek to hold them accountable. And David Climenhaga notes that the conservative "resistance" in Canada has lost both any influence it once claimed over climate policy, and any credibility with voters who have seen the consequences of its negligence in governing through COVID times. 

- Hiroko Tabuchi reports on a new U.N. study which concludes that methane leaks - and reliance on natural gas - are incompatible with our achieving any reasonable climate targets.

- Finally, Kerry Black takes the insolvency of Laurentian University as a starting point to question our refusal to properly fund universities generally.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Fahad Razak, David Naylor and Arthur Slutsky discuss how it's not too late to pull our health care system back from the brink of catastrophe. But Ryan Tumilty writes that we can't avoid a third wave merely by wishing for vaccines to be a magic cure-all.

- Robert Benzie offers a behind-the-scenes look at the utter mismanagement of the pandemic by Doug Ford and his caucus, while Bruce Arthur rightly points out that crocodile tears and unfocused apologies are no substitute for action to actually improve people's health and well-being. And Alexander Quon notes that Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan have been doing a far more effective job of controlling the spread of COVID-19 than the provincial government. 

- PressProgress highlights the push for sick leave in British Columbia (which sadly has gone unanswered by a government which should know better), as well as the broad support for paid sick leave across the country.

- Bill Henderson reports on a review which concludes that the Libs' climate change plan is more about checking boxes than actually reducing emissions to a level consistent with averting climate breakdown. Aaron Wherry's question as to whether the latest set of emission reduction targets can be taken seriously offers an implicit answer in the negative. And Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood and Clay Duncalfe examine how the supposed climate change funding in the Libs' budget includes far less than what's being advertised.

- Finally, Alex Himelfarb discusses what we'd expect to see in an actual transformational budget (as opposed to a cynical election platform by another name).

Musical interlude

 London Grammar - Lose Your Head

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Michael Mechanic discusses how the promise of noblesse oblige represents nothing more than an excuse for a system designed to encourage the greedy accumulation of wealth and power. Laura Davison reports on the IRS' estimate that the U.S. is losing a trillion dollars annually to tax evasion. And Alex Boutillier and Robert Cribb report that Canada's federal budget includes some (albeit small and belated) steps to ensure that corporate ownership is traceable in order to ensure capitalists pay their fair share.

- Meanwhile, Steve Randy Waldman highlights how an appropriate corporate tax rate does nothing to affect which investments are profitable, but creates incentives to hire employees rather than hoarding money.

- PressProgress expands on Chartwell's decision to reward executives responsible for countless deaths, while rejecting fair wages for the staff actually performing work on the ground.

- Eric Doherty discusses how the Biden administration's significant action on climate change exposes the hollowness of the Libs' comparative response. And Joel Laforest reminds us that the Libs' carbon pricing scheme is falling far short of matching the climate impact of its regressive moves to subsidize the oil and gas sector.

- Finally, Amelia Williams talks to Don MacPherson about the lives that could be saved if we responded to the overdose crisis with any urgency at all.

Inputs and outputs

There's rightly been plenty of pushback against the Cons' sad excuse for a climate change plan. But it's worth highlighting that there's one way in which the principle behind it could accomplish more than the Libs' one-sided approach to carbon pricing.

It would seem too obvious to bear mention that the way to get the most bang for any given amount of carbon price collected would be to ensure that it operates to reduce emissions at both steps of its operation: creating incentives for people to reduce their own emissions to avoid having to pay it in the first place, and also ensuring that money collected gets put into emission-reducing activity. 

In 2019-2020, the total amount collected by the federal government was about $2.8 billion, with that amount increasing with the carbon price in the years to come. But there's nothing additional to ensure - or even incentivize - the use of that money to actually reduce emissions, as most of it has instead been returned in the form of an unrestricted rebate.

That means the Libs' choice has been to limit the effect of the current carbon price to the first step. There's an incentive to minimize carbon-intensive activity to avoid paying the initial price - but nothing to ensure the amount collected actually gets reinvested in emission reduction.

In contrast, the Cons' plan at least somewhat addresses the second step. In theory, the money collected as a carbon price would be used specifically for the purchase of carbon-efficient products.

Of course, it would take some work to design a manifestation of that theory less efficient or fair than the Cons' proposal for individual savings accounts tied to carbon levies actually paid. The Cons are insisting on creating a corporate-administered bureaucracy to dictate individual decisions, while doing nothing to ensure that money collected in the name of emission reductions is applied on a scale sufficient to make a difference.

And more importantly, the Cons are dedicated to keeping the carbon price at so low a level as to be counterproductive in the broader fight against a climate breakdown. There's value in trying to double the impact of each dollar of carbon price collected, but it pales in comparison to the demand to keep the actual price at under a third of the amount included in the Libs' plans.

All of which is to say that while the Cons' plan is predictably the worst on offer among the major federal parties, it also highlights one of the longstanding weaknesses in the Libs' scheme as well. And that should open the door for alternatives which use the strengths of both - rather than limiting our climate change discussion to a debate over the merits of the Libs' one-sided price.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Max Fawcett discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inability of simplistic right-wing populism to respond to any complex problem. And Laura Sciarpelletti reports on one of the consequences of political leaders who are willing to feed into anti-science quackery, as anti-public-health propaganda is being allowed to run on Estevan billboards. 

- Mike Crawley exposes the horrifying preferences of Doug Ford's PCs to do nothing or even relax public health rules in the midst of a catastrophic health system failure, while Dan Darrah writes about the right's entrenched belief that profits are more important than people's health and well-being. John Michael McGrath is duly appalled that Ford is just now starting to pay attention to the most basic facts about COVID-19. Kenyon Wallace and May Warren report on new research showing how the coronavirus has spread more severely in already underprivileged communities. Roberta Bell talks to Susan Shaw about the imminent danger that Saskatchewan may need to start turning away emergency patients, while Elizabeth Payne discusses the growing number of pregnant women in intensive care as a result of COVID. And Hannah Ellis-Pederson reports on the uncontrolled outbreak of a new variant in India as the worst-case scenario.

- Jacob Lorinc notes that it's taken this long for a substantial portion of the corporate class to recognize that even it's better off if people have sick leave to allow them to limit their risk to the people around them. And Randy Robinson writes that the Day of Mourning for lost workers should offer a rallying point for labour to press the demand.

- Finally, Alexander Panetta writes about the reason for skepticism that Canada's latest greenhouse gas emission reduction commitment will be taken any more seriously than the previous rounds which have led to increases in carbon pollution. 

[Edit: fixed formatting.]