Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

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

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

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

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

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

Musical interlude

Manchester Orchestra - The Way

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

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

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

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

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

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

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

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

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

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

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Aligned cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

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

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

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

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

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

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

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

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

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

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

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

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

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

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

Musical interlude

Royksopp - Me&Youphoria

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Grounded cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

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

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

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

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

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

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

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

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

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

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

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

Musical interlude

Tove Lo - Borderline

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

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

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

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

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

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

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

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

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

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

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