Musical interlude

Phantogram - Running Through Colors

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Gloria Dickie reports on the UN's latest Emissions Gap report which shows that we're headed for a climate disturbance of 3.1 degrees Celsius by the end of the century based on our current policy trajectory. Madeleine Cuff points out the reality that carbon pollution is now increasing more than it was before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while John Timmer notes that we're a mere four years away from breaching the Paris temperature target. 

- Meanwhile, Jonathan Watts discusses the conflicting options in trying to motivate people to action - with distress seeming to serve as a better motivator than (implausible) hope. 

- Emma McIntosh explains how Doug Ford is planning to rush massive highway developments while destroying bike infrastructure, while Max Fawcett points out the absolute idiocy of doing so. And Alex Himelfarb discusses how the right's "common sense" con is intended to avoid any application of logic or evidence to antisocial policy positions which would never survive reasonable analysis. 

- Cloe Logan writes about the reality that consumer products are getting less durable and sustainable due to manufacturers' incentive to keep people replacing them - while pointing out that better information would at least allow people to determine how long their purchases will last. 

- Finally, DT Cochrane discusses how Canada's discussion of inflation (and the Bank of Canada's means of addressing it) has almost completely missed the cause and effect arising from corporate profiteering - meaning that even the lowering of interest rates now will leave people with eroded purchasing power. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Ian Welsh discusses how austerity doesn't offer a roadmap to economic development, but instead serves as a means of ensuring that the burden of economic failure is borne by the working class in the form of service and wage reductions, rather than the ownership class through the devaluation of capital. And Tannara Yelland highlights how it's investors rather than immigrants who are responsible for Canada's housing crisis. 

- Alex Himelfarb writes that the only defence against authoritarian demagoguery is a plausible path to ensure our public institutions actually work for people's benefit. 

- Keith Stewart juxtaposes Pierre Poilievre's anti-lobbyist rhetoric with his eagerness to convert oil industry donations into even more extreme forms of petropolitics. And Andrew Nikiforuk notes that British Columbia's election may have produced the only result which doesn't result in a full term of absolute capture by the fossil gas industry.

- Drew Anderson examines the respective platforms of the Saskatchewan NDP and Sask Party on the environment - again with little indication that either is prepared to wrestle with the scope of the climate crisis, but with the former recognizing the need to build clean energy and maintain healthy land and water where the latter offers nothing but destruction. 

- Finally, Saniya Ghaledhar writes about the dangers of bigoted populism focused on punishing minority groups. Aastha Shetty reports on sentencing submissions indicating that a stabbing rampage at the University of Waterloo was based on a deliberate intention to instil fear which right-wing purveyors of "tough on crime" spin seem to have no interest in counteracting. And Peter Smith warns that post-truth conspiracism no longer seems to be even a hindrance - let alone a disqualifying factor - for conservative political leaders in Canada. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Trevor Memmot and Christian Weller write about the long road to recovery from the trauma of hurricanes and other climate change-induced environmental disasters. Jack Peat reports on the torrential flooding hitting Bologna, Italy just after it hosted a climate change conference. And Chae Yeon Park et al. find that thousands of people have died from the added pollution caused by climate crisis-related wildfires. 

- Kate Dooley et al. examine how existing net-zero emission promises (which are already being discarded at an alarming rate) depend on overreliance on land and forestry plans which aren't likely to produce the assumed level of carbon removal, while Ayesha Tandon points out that the gains from past land use improvements have been effectively wiped out by increased fire activity resulting from hotter and drier conditions. 

- Meanwhile, Tim Smedley discusses the false promise of "waste-to-energy" schemes which ultimately amount to little more than a baseless excuse to keep expanding the production of fossil fuel-based products. And Esme Stallard, Matt McGrath, Patrick Clahane and Paul Lynch report on the UK's wholesale adoption of waste burning as a substitute for coal power even when it's no better from an environmental standpoint.

- Finally, Abbas Almulla et al. study the long-term effects of long COVID infections on the liver, and find that it tends to correlate with liver damage. Sabra Gibbens rightly questions how much of the medical community is determinedly ignoring COVID-19 as a continuing risk and health condition. And Canada's expert panel review of the initial COVID response includes plenty of recognition of the need to be better prepared, and more aware of social and cultural factors in addressing a public health emergency.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Feline outreach.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Will Hutton discusses how the growing gap between the rich and everybody else is eating away at Britain's collective well-being, while Phillip Inman warns the new Labour government of the problems with serving the business sector at the expense of the general public. And 350.org responds to the Cons' sloganeering with a campaign to stop allowing wealthy oil companies from dictating Canadian public policy. 

- Euan Thomson warns that a punitive approach to addictions and mental health is now being treated as received wisdom by right-wing parties across Canada - though there's some reason for optimism that voters are rejecting it along with other elements of the conservative culture war. Nik Barry-Shaw notes that Pierre Poilievre is parroting the talking points of big pharma in seeking to deny people access to affordable medication through pharmacare. Adam King points out how more and more health resources are being diverted to for-profit nursing agencies. And Kristina Olson, G.F. Raber and Natalie Gallagher study the results of gender-affirming medical care and find overwhelmingly positive outcomes. 

- Lora Kelley interviews Elaine Godfrey about the conditions which have facilitated the spread of election conspiracy theories. And Dave Karpf writes that Elon Musk's strategy as the outsourced voter turnout director for Donald Trump is to blatantly commit crimes such as making cash payments to voters - with what seems to be an entirely correct expectation that he'll never face any consequences. 

- Finally, David Angus Ness makes the case to build based on the principle of sufficiency which ensures that people have enough of what they need.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Jessica Glenza reports on a new survey showing that the overwhelming majority of U.S. youth are (rightly) worried about the climate crisis. Pamela Swanigan argues that an imminent existential threat needs to be met with a campaign of courage, rather than a mere invocation of hope. And Adam Hanieh reminds us that any effort to mitigate the climate breakdown in progress will be met with the accumulated wealth and clout of one of the most powerful industries on the planet - which is determined to keep up carbon pollution as usual regardless of the human cost. 

- Carl Meyer reports that Canada's federal government is set to meet its schedule in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its own assets - making it all the more damning that private action continues to keep the country as a whole far behind schedule. And Felicity Bradstock discusses the rightful outcry against the UCP's determination to stifle clean energy. 

- Drew Anderson takes a look at the Moe government's plans to pour money into a Lake Diefenbaker irrigation scheme based solely on wishful thinking about the value of corporate giveaways (coupled with absolute denial that clean water or a healthy environment matter at all). And Geoff Leo exposes how Jeremy Harrison and the Saskatchewan Party purged a Crown corporation of whistleblowers in order to allow cronies to take it over for their own profit while neglecting to mention their multiple conflicts of interest. 

- Sheila Regehr and Ben Earle highlight the ample data showing that a basic income helps improve people's health and well-being without reducing their efforts to find work. But Kenan Malik is rightly aghast that multiple UK governments have shown more interest in pumping drugs into unemployed people in the hope it'll push them back to work than in recognizing even an ounce of human dignity. 

- Finally, Gerry McGovern is justifiably frustrated with the proliferation of junk data, while Zachary Basu points out the deliberate spreading of disinformation from Elon Musk and the rest of the alt-right. And Julia Angwin decries the TikTokification of social media as people have lost the ability to see what they value rather than what tech giants want to serve up, while Geoffrey Fowler calls out Instagram and other platforms for stifling personal political messages. 

Musical interlude

Bob Moses, Kasablanca - Afterglow

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Blake Murdoch discusses how long COVID is harming a large number of children - and getting worse as constant reinfection has become the norm. Carly Cassaela discusses new research identifying the brain stem as a crucial site for its worst effects. And Heather Mallick writes about her experience with long COVID.

- Meanwhile, Sarah Boden writes that the public health measures taken at the start of the pandemic appear to have caused one strain of influenza to go extinct - showing again that the steps taken to limit the spread of COVID-19 also helped avoid other public health threats.

- Leslie Hart and Miranda Dziobak examine the growing body of knowledge as to the spread of toxic microplastics - which can be breathed in through the air as well as taken in through food and water. And Sandra Laville reports that most soft plastic collected for the ostensible purpose of recycling is instead burned, while Sean Amato reports on Alberta's choice to adopt the Beaverton's energy policy and encourage the burning of used tires. (Needless to say, the actual spin that "it's no worse for people than burning fossil fuels!" should be taken as a compelling reason to rein in the latter, not a basis to support the former.)

- Finally, Mary Stuart reports on the deep connections between the Flu Trux Klan and the BC Cons, while Peter Smith examines the sources of some of the conspiracy theories being peddled by the corporate class' choice of parties. And Pratyush Dayal reports on Scott Moe's sudden campaign announcement that using the power of government to bully trans kids is far higher on the Saskatchewan Party's priority list than such trifling considerations as health, welfare and affordability.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Saskia O'Donoghue reports on the continued recognition by both risk experts and the general public that the climate crisis is the most important risk to life on Earth. And Laura Paddison reports on the observation by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water that the global water cycle is out of balance for the first time in recorded history, while Lori Dajose writes about new research showing that melting permafrost could cause rapid changes of course for rivers in the Arctic region. 

- The Climate Historian examines the manipulative individualization of responsibility for environmental issues that can only be met at the societal level. And Jean Schmitt et al. study how a transition to electric vehicles could produce population-level health benefits - as long as it's accompanied by a shift to clean power as well.

- David Climenhaga calls out Danielle Smith for using public money to serve as an outside advertiser for the federal Cons, while Max Fawcett notes that the ad campaign itself is based on false math. Jen St. Denis documents who's behind the BC Cons, including their word-for-word adoption of a platform developed by a right-wing pressure group assembled by people found to be too extreme by the former BC Libs. And Luke LeBrun reports on the warning from the BC Teachers' Federation as to the BC Cons' plans to attack LGBTQ+ students. 

- Ricardo Tranjan writes that the desperate lack of affordable housing can be traced largely to the decision by governments to cater to developers seeking "market" profits rather than building homes directly. And Mike Moffatt notes that there's some opportunity to reduce the cost of home construction by updating a GST rebate program. 

- Finally, Adam King discusses how the federal government's decision to force workers back to the office was based on complete disregard for the benefits of remote work.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- The American Institute of Biological Sciences weighs in on the growing scientific recognition that we're approaching - and indeed barreling toward - irreversible climate disaster. Benjamin Shingler reports on the International Energy Agency's projections that renewable energy will make cheap and abundant power available in the very near future - but that an "all of the above" energy strategy won't go far in reducing fossil fuel use or carbon pollution. And Marco Chown Oved reports on a new study showing that a switch to an electric vehicle can lead to significant cost savings at the individual level. 

- The Jamaica Observer highlights the multiple environmental problems posed by electronic waste. And Nathan Proctor discusses the findings from a study of community repaid events - showing that numerous products are already capable of being repaired, and that the vast majority could be if not for design or parts issues.  

- Nicholas Shaxson writes that Keir Starmer's whining about "red tape" represents a deliberate choice to serve corporate elites at the expense of public health and safety. And Cory Doctorow writes that governments are perfectly capable of applying fair taxes to billionaires' wealth if they haven't abdicated their responsibility for the general welfare, while Thomas Piketty discusses the importance of not overcomplicating fair tax plans (as the wealthy are of course eager to demand in order to delay implementation and create loopholes). 

- Finally, Jeremy Appel calls out several corporate media outlets for fueling authoritarian drug policies through sensationalized reporting on mental health and homelessness issues. And Zak Vescera reports on the Alberta oil money swamping British Columbia's election with ads in order to install the violently loony BC Cons in power. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Perky cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Alan Rusbridger highlights the glaring gap between the devastating extreme weather events caused by a climate breakdown in progress, and the complete lack of a meaningful response by the powers that be. Samuel Oakford, John Muyskens, Sarah Cahlan and Joyce Sohyun Lee discuss how the U.S.' existing flood maps fail to account for the more severe weather that's becoming commonplace. And Patrick Greenfield writes about the growing recognition by scientists that the Earth's natural carbon sinks are becoming less effective in a drier and warmer environment caused by greenhouse gas emissions. 

- Meanwhile, Matthew Zeitlin discusses Daron Acemoglu's observation that any transition away from carbon pollution will require a combination of large investment in clean technology, and restrictions on the continued use of dirty energy. 

- Kevin Scott discusses how the benefits of a guaranteed income include allowing people released from incarceration to overcome the traps which would otherwise deprive them of freedom and dignity. 

- Finally, Paul Willcocks points out how John Rustad is anything but a serious person (even though he's an entirely serious threat to take power in British Columbia). And Luke LeBrun traces how a group of anti-science cranks and conspiracy theorists became the political wing of B.C.'s corporate class. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Charlie Warzel warns that the level of disinformation saturation in the U.S. has reached the point of organized violence and sabotage. H. Colleen Sinclair notes that much of the spread of disinformation is the result of cynical opportunism rather than any belief in its truth, while Mike Caulfield points out that willing recipients tend to accept it in order to avoid challenging their existing belief system. Mary Annaise Haglar writes about the intersection of anti-science propaganda and emergencies caused by the climate crisis. Luke LeBrun reports that the BC Cons' detachment from reality includes peddling conspiracy theories about a United Nations takeover while supporting right-wing dictators. And Justin Ling reports on David O'Brien's work to try to bring dangerously-programmed extremists back from the brink - while noting the lack of resources for that effort (particularly compared to the immense disinformation machines pushing people in the opposite direction).

- NASA unveils the first methane and carbon dioxide emission plumes detected by its new imaging spectrometer - and its ability to point out concealed carbon pollution is surely one of the reasons why Republicans are determined to kneecap NASA in particular and scientific observation generally. Cami Ferrell discusses a new report showing how the harm from fossil fuel pollution falls disproportionately on already-marginalized groups. And Evan Halper reports on the continued use of dirty coal power plants which were supposed to have been shuttered in Omaha (and elsewhere) to serve corporate data centres.

- The Guardian makes the case for the UK's Labour government to ensure the rich pay their fair share to support public well-being and growth, while Huw Evans offers a reminder that wanton deregulation has been the cause of immense harm under the previous Con regime. And Simon Fletcher laments that Labour has thus far operated as a right-wing government with no interest in addressing either inequality or the public interest - and lost public trust in a hurry as a result.

- Susan Elizabeth Turek reports on new research examining the most dangerous of ultra-processed foods.

- Finally, Rachel Aiello reports on the release of preliminary pre-approved housing designs - though the combination of a lengthy consultation process and a lack of resources to move past the design stage raises reason for doubt that much affordable housing will come from them.

Musical interlude

Shallou feat. The Knocks - Endless

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Emily Atkin writes about the importance of continuing to highlight the dangers of climate change even if - and indeed because - our political class refuses to fully engage with it. And Nature weighs in on the folly of planning to overshoot our planetary limits and trying to pull back only after the fact, while Discover points out that "deep warming" will continue to undermine habitability even if we're later able to zero out carbon emissions. 

- Arielle Samuelson discusses how Hurricane Milton became far more severe as a result of a warmed Gulf of Mexico. And Victoria Gill and Helen Briggs report on a jarring 73% drop in global wildlife populations over just the last half-century. 

- Michael Bachelard reports on the absolute fiction of Australia's largest source of carbon offsets. George Monbiot warns that UK Labour's plan to pour tens of billions of dollars into carbon capture and storage (while pleading poverty when it comes to anything that could actually help people) will inevitably turn into a similar fiasco in the making. And Jody MacPherson reports on a plea from Alberta's municipalities for the UCP to stop handing out money to oil companies while simultaneously relieving them of any responsibility for the costs of environmental degradation and cleanup. 

- Chris Hedges interviews Monbiot about the history and impact of neoliberalism as a means of undermining democracy:

- Ken Shirriff examines the continued concentration of wealth in the U.S., while Darren Major reports on the similar escalation of inequality in Canada. And David Olive discusses how workplace abuse is the norm in a society which treats workers as disposable commodities rather than people deserving of consideration and respect.

- Finally, Dale Smith calls out Danielle Smith's pitiful attempt to treat systemic denial and dehumanization of trans youth as being for their own good. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- William Ripple et al. provide an update on the state of the Earth based on 2024 data, and warn that we're continuing to spew carbon pollution even as it precipitates an active global emergency. Ripple and Thomas Newsome also discuss the implications of a projected path toward nearly 3 degrees Celsius of global warming. And each of Wim Carton and Andreas Malm and Peter de Kruijff warn that even leaving aside the folly of procrastinating on the preservation of a liveable environment, any planned "overshoot" of climate targets is highly likely to produce consequences that can't be reversed. 

- Peter Hannam reports on a new study showing that in Australia (as in many other jurisdictions) the fossil fuel industry is emitting far more methane than it's reporting. 

- Ajit Niranjan reports on the Clean Air Fund's observation that wealthy countries are pouring foreign aid into further fossil fuel development. And Isabella Kaminski points out the justified shock and outrage at the UK's plan to claim the burning of biomass fuel from North Korea and Afghanistan as a credit based on the inexplicable design of emission credit systems. 

- Amber Bracken documents how people in Fort Chipewyan are fighting for their lives in the face of water pollution and government denialism. And Will Falk discusses how Utah's response to the destruction of the Great Salt Lake by data centers has been to try to stop anybody from advancing rights of nature. 

- Finally, Ashleigh Fields reports on new research showing that the increases in the risk of strokes and heart attacks caused by COVID-19 can last for years after a single infection. And Sheryl Gay Stolberg discusses how U.S. Republicans are planning to make hostility to public health a foundational governing principle. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Darius Snieckus reports on a new International Institute for Sustainable Development study finding that Canada is still spending three times as much subsidizing fossil fuels as supporting renewable energy - signaling that we're not only far away from achieving net zero emissions, but actively making matters worse in terms of current spending to serve oil barons. 

- Jake Johnson reports on an analysis showing that global warming has made the conditions feeding into Hurricane Milton 800 times more likely than they would have been otherwise. And John Morales warns that those changed underlying conditions mean that we need to treat constant extreme weather as the new normal. 

- Amy Westervelt discusses the reality that a crisis caused by the climate breakdown may only serve as a breeding ground for new forms of denialism. And Geoffrey Deihl asks when we may hit a point of no return with a climate in full breakdown and a political system oriented more toward exacerbating the problem than alleviating it. 

- Finally, Johannes Emmerling examines how the solutions to climate change and inequality are inextricably linked. And Mona Holmes reports on yet another minimum wage increase which has resulted in far better circumstances for workers without affecting jobs or prices. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Clingy cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Elizabeth Kolbert discusses the immense damage and disruption which we can anticipate if Greenland's massive ice sheet melts due to global warming, while Monica Machicao and Daniel Ramos report on the unprecedented wildfires burning through Bolivia. And Brad Johnson points out that repeated hurricanes devastating their strongholds aren't making an iota of difference in getting Republican denialists to recognize the risks of a climate breakdown.  

- Oliver Milman reports on new research showing that the gas exports which are constantly pushed by the fossil fuel sector as a climate benefit are in fact more harmful in the medium term than coal power. Drew Anderson writes about a provincial election campaign featuring an unchallenged assumption that  Saskatchewan's economy should be defined solely in terms of non-renewable resource extraction. And Ross Belot writes that the delay tactic of demanding that China rein in its emissions before the rest of the world is running into the reality that it's succeeding - and setting itself up to dominate the world's renewable energy market - in doing so.

- Chris Hedges discusses the corporate class' core priorities of burning the planet and locking up anybody who would dare to challenge that plan. Joan Westenberg highlights how obscene wealth and power tend to lead to the evaporation of any sense of morality, while Tom Nichols discusses the phony populism wielded as a weapon to further entrench the control of the uber-rich. And Sidney Blumenthal calls out Donald Trump's deliberate adoption of Hitlerian eugenicist rhetoric, while Alex Nguyen reports on Elon Musk's funding of Stephen Miller's dehumanization of immigrants and minorities. 

- Jeremy Appel discusses how the corporate media has accepted and entrenched messages about mental health and drug policy which favour authoritarian responses. 

- Finally, Robert Reich points out the desperate need for health and safety laws and enforcement mechanisms which won't simply be ignored by employers - particularly bad actors who would rather threaten to close up shop than take steps to keep their employees safe.