Musical interlude

Romy - The Sea

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey document the dark-money false flag operation used by Republicans and their wealthy owners to depress Democratic turnout. And Justin Ling calls out Pierre Poilievre for relying on absurd claims to try to generate outrage within the Cons' low-information base. 

- Meanwhile, Thomas Zimmer laments how the U.S.' upper class is indicating its plans to accommodate Donald Trump's authoritarianism in order to preserve its position of privilege. 

- Clement Nocos discusses how Justin Trudeau's temporary GST giveaway is a poor substitute for removing consumption taxes from essential goods. And Danyaal Raza points out that Canadians in general are paying for the private health insurance that's prioritizing the wealthy and undermining our public health care system. 

- Mike Moffatt points out that mixed-use, walkable neighbourhoods can do wonders to both alleviate the housing crisis and minimize avoidable carbon pollution. And Iglika Ivanova and Anastasia French discuss how soaring housing costs are driving up the living wage needed to get by in Vancouver (among other cities). 

- Finally, Nadia Hasan writes about the need for real disability benefits to account for the fact that most people will be disabled at some point. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Sarah Johnson reports on Unicef's warning that children will face far more extreme heatwaves and other dangerous weather events in the decades to come. And George Monbiot writes that the "solutions" being relied upon to respond to the climate crisis are rarely any more plausible than the spin of the most stubborn head-in-the-sand denialists. 

- Ben Stockton and Hajar Medah expose how McKinsey & Company has been working on keeping people hooked on fossil fuels. Amy Westervelt and Royce Kurmelovs examine how fossil fuel giants have always been preventing COP conferences from achieving any meaningful progress - even if they're far more brazen about controlling the agenda now. 

- Graham Thomson discusses the obvious dangers of putting a partisan operative and fossil fuel zealot in charge of Albertans' retirement savings. But Angela Amato reports on the gap between the CPP's net-zero promises and its choice to invest in dirty energy. 

- Jon Milton examines the background to the CUPW postal strike - and particularly the difference in goals between workers committed to public service, and an employer determined to do less in order to claim false economies.  

- Finally, The Disabled Ginger points out how a refusal to mask in health-care settings further endangers vulnerable patients. Heidi Ledford examines the rise of bird-flu infections in humans which are being largely ignored as a matter of public policy. And Lisa Schnirring reports that anti-vaxxers have managed to cause an outbreak of polio in Warsaw. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jake Johnson writes about the growing recognition that we'll never avert a climate breakdown by putting all action at the mercy of petrostates and oil lobbyists. And Carl Meyer discusses how the Libs have spent far more time and political capital doing PR work for the tar sands than to work on developing an international framework to combat the climate crisis. 

- Luke LeBrun notes that Europe is taking steps to work around reliance on the U.S. over the course of another Trump presidency, and writes that Canada should be pursuing the same option.  

- Max Fawcett writes that the importance of the CBC has only been amplified by the spread of disinformation from elsewhere - meaning that the Cons' plans to trash it could have devastating consequences. And Mitchell Anderson warns of the dangers of allowing propaganda to overwhelm any sense of shared objective reality. 

- Jon Milton discusses how the U.S. Democrats' campaign serves as a painful example of how not to combat far-right demogoguery. And Sheima Benembarek discusses how the compulsive blaming of immigrants - which is currently being enabled by the Trudeau Libs - serves as an entry point to fascism.

- Finally, Jeremy Appel calls out Danielle Smith's attacks on trans people in Alberta. And Duncan Kinney reports on the UCP's use of for-profit nurses - coupled with its refusal to provide any information about the scope of the practice. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Geometric cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Oliver Milman reports on the warning from climate scientists that humanity has already missed the window to limit global warming to the agreed target of 1.5 degrees Celsius - making the continued posturing and heel-dragging as a substitute for agreement on action all the more indefensible. Damian Carrington reports on a new assessment showing that numerous heat waves and other severe weather events experienced over the past few years would have been impossible before the climate breakdown. James Riordon points out new NASA data showing a sharp drop in global freshwater levels over the last decade. And Victoria Gill discusses Jane Goodall's warning that the Earth is already well into its sixth great extinction event even as we continue with exploitation and pollution as usual.

- Nesrine Malik discusses how an authoritarian turn in politics can be traced to the enshittification of society generally and social media in particular - together with the lack of a compelling response from any competing alternatives. And Robert Reich notes that the inevitable result is that a Trump kleptocracy will loot the public and make the underlying reality even worse.

- Josh Halliday reports on a new study showing that nearly a quarter of the UK's population - and over a third of children - are currently living in poverty. And Torsten Bell writes about the desperate need for decision-makers to better understand the plight of the working class. Which of course means the political class is firmly focused on ensuring the inheritors of massive agricultural operations don't pay any tax.

- Finally, Adam Piore reports on a new study showing that up to a quarter of American adults may be suffering from long COVID. And City St Georges, City of London finds that the growing list of COVID-19's effects on children includes a 16% increase in heart defects. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Jeremy Appel reports on John Vailliant's warning about Alberta's addiction to oil which the UCP is looking to exacerbate. And James Wilt interviews Adam Hanleh about the difficulty transitioning to renewable energy - even when it's cheaper as well as cleaner - when so much entrenched wealth and power is being dedicated to keeping us hooked on fossil fuels.  

- Rebecca Solnit warns that a zombie apocalypse is here as people increasingly engage with the world around them only through manipulative big tech intermediaries. Andrew Nikiforuk writes about the need for the leftist movement to engage with both a general public which is understandably frustrated and disengaged with a political system which is unresponsive to its needs, and increasingly powerful corporate forces seeking to take advantage of that discontent to overthrow democracy. And Robert Reich similarly points out the need for U.S. Democrats (among other parties who purport to be progressive) to take on anti-establishment causes rather than focusing primarily on appeasing the rich and telling the working class it has no alternative.  

- Crawford Kilian discusses how Donald Trump is laying the groundwork for large-scale concentration camps. And Maude Barlow highlights need for Canada to be prepared for Trump's plans - including his intention to take control over limited water resources. 

- Finally, Adam King discusses the Trudeau Libs' continued trampling of the right to strike - and it's particularly noteworthy that they're regularly interfering in all kinds of job actions while refusing to give effect to the anti-scab legislation which was supposed to give workers a modicum of protection. 

Musical interlude

 MisterWives feat. PVRIS - Vultures

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- The University of California, Irvine examines the connection between air pollution and spontaneous preterm births. And Attracta Mooney and Jana Tauschinski discuss how the fossil fuel sector is far more interested in concealing its dangerous methane emissions than reducing them. 

- Hannah Brown interviews Faith Birol about the value of renewable energy in limiting our dependence on bad actors and vulnerability to crises - though it's well worth noting that the oil and gas sector which has amassed obscene amounts of wealth by preventing us from escaping won't be eager to see us take advantage. And Megan Gordon discusses the latest IEA report confirming that anybody focused on jobs should be supporting clean energy over fossil fuels. 

- Stéphane Leman-Langlois, Aurélie Campana and Samuel Tanner examine how the far right is expanding its reach in Canada. And Rachel Ward, Steven D'Souza, Andrew Culbert and Daysha Loppie report on the RCMP's video evidence showing the extremist ideology behind the armed insurrection at Coutts, AB. 

- Nick Falvo lists some of the gains made in homelessness and poverty policy in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic - though it's worth lamenting how those have been reversed (or worse) since. And Emmanuelle Bernheim writes about the flawed theory that involuntary treatment is a viable solution to homelessness. 

- Finally, Christopher Cheung talks to Rachel Bok about the self-serving corporate "solutions" being peddled to cities as a substitute for community-building. And Ian Welsh discusses how any nominal savings from Elon Musk's government destruction project are bound to be illusory as the corporate sector moves in to provide the same services at a marked-up price. 

Thursday Night Cat Blogging

Clutching cat.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Ajit Niranjan reports on Climate Action Tracker's latest assessment that we're making minimal progress toward any climate commitments, while Damian Carrington reports on new data showing that even the use of dirty fuels like coal, oil and gas continues to increase. 

- Bonny Ibhawoh writes about the need to address climate inequality if we're going to make any headway. Peipei Tian et al. study the relative share of responsibility for the overuse of natural resources - finding that the vast majority of environmental damage is caused by between 10-20% of people. And Phoebe Weston discusses how rapacious corporate conglomerates have taken over the COP biodiversity conference to an even more extreme degree than the fossil fuel-dominated climate version.

- Christina Pagel discusses new research showing that while COVID-19 still remains a problem for the general population, it leads to a particularly large increase in hospital admissions for babies (along with the elderly). Lian Duan et al. study the link between maternal infection and neurodevelopmental disorders. Katie Kerwin McCrimmon writes about the potential that COVID may increase the risk of cancer. Andn Josh Robertson reports that COVID-19 deaths are continuing to drive down general life expectancies in Australia.

- Ruth Patrick points out the unfairness and futility of demonizing people receiving social benefits as lazy - noting that conditionality and restrictions on benefits cause substantial harm to recipients while doing nothing to increase their rates of employment. 

- Finally, Diana Chan McNally offers a perspective on the real needs of people who have had to resort to tent communities - and the importance of treating them as human beings rather than as objects to be stripped of all rights in the name of denial.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Fiona Harvey, Damian Carrington, Ajit Niranjan and Dharna Noor report on Antonio Guterres' warning to the COP29 climate conference that 2024 has been a masterclass in destruction - though there's reason to worry that even worse is in store. And Paige Bennett reports on new research from the International Chamber of Commerce showing the cost of the climate breakdown is already upwards of $2 trillion per year. 

- Noor also reveals that the fossil fuel sector's private awareness (and self-serving public obfuscation and denial) of climate science dates back at least 70 years. And Bruce Huber discusses how commitments to reduce subsidies for dirty energy have all too often been discarded. 

- Kim Siever points out how Alberta's corporate sector relies disproportionately on low-wage temporary foreign workers. And Cory Doctorow discusses the importance of the labour movement in ensuring that employers can't exploit the most vulnerable workers.  

- Finally, Stephanie Swensrude examines how Canada's current housing crisis can be traced to the decision to abandon the construction of non-market homes.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The Guardian's This is Climate Breakdown series offers first-hand accounts of the current catastrophes arising out of the climate crisis. And Michael Mann writes that it's possible to avoid the worst anticipated effects of climate change - but only if we stop spewing carbon pollution in a hurry. 

- But Sehoon Kim discusses how the corporate sector is buying cheap and meaningless credits rather than taking steps to reduce its own environmental harm. Fatima Syed reports on Enbridge's laughable attempt to avoid any regulation of emissions by claiming that greenwashing is more than enough. And Angela Amato and Carly Penrose examine Alberta's plans for fossil fuel propaganda in schools - even as Breene Murphy notes that oil and gas aren't viable long-term investments.  

- John Clarke writes about the importance of cultivating truth and understanding against the entrenched interests seeking to drown out anything that might threaten their accumulation of wealth and power. But Charlie Warzel points out the immense resources being used to try to push people away from reality-based media, while Carole Cadwalladr discusses the especially dangerous combination of media and government power currently coalescing under the impending Trump regime. And Zak Vescera reports on Stockwell Day's role in building an alt-right echo chamber to try to install the BC Cons in government. 

- Finally, David Climenhaga reports on Danielle Smith's summary termination of the pension board it wants to put in charge of all Albertans' retirement income - while Paula Sambo, Layan Odeh and Dawn Lim confirm the UCP's plans for AIMCo are so political that they're planning to hand it over to Stephen Harper.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- The Climate Historian writes that COP climate change conferences are now far more a matter of theatre than of action. Justin Rowlatt reports on yet another COP conference being hosted by a fossil fuel operative seeking to use the cover of climate action to cut oil and gas deals. And David Suzuki offers a reminder that fossil gas is a bridge to nowhere rather than any solution to the climate crisis.

- Meanwhile, James Dyke notes that the disastrous floods in Spain should remind us that even the most developed countries are far from equipped to deal with the catastrophe that's in store if we don't avert more of a climate breakdown.

- Stockholm University studies the harmful effects of plastic pollution on other environmental dimensions including the climate crisis, biodiversity and water safety. And Miriam Freedman and Heidi Busse note that microplastics may be responsible for unusual cloud formation (and resulting increases in precipitation).

- Steven Staples warns that Donald Trump is coming for Canada's already limited and threatened fresh water.

- Finally, Steven Waldman examines how voters' news sources are a strong indicator of their voting preferences - with voters who rely on social media or cable news unsurprisingly repeating the positions of right-wing echo chambers. And Don Moynihan points out that the loudest forms of identity politics are those seeking to maintain while male supremacy - even as they're normalized so as to make the public falsely perceive marginalized groups as having outsized influecen.

Musical interlude

Orbital - Nothing Left 1-2

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Michael Harris offers some lessons about the U.S.' values based on this week's election results. Rebecca Solnit opines that the largest failing of American progressives was to presume that the U.S. is a better country than it actually is, while Geoffrey Deihl writes that Donald Trump's election represents a descent into madness. Harrison Mooney discusses what it means about the dangers of majority rule - though it's worth a reminder that the U.S.' political system is warped so as to allow his party to exercise unchecked power even with minority levels of support. And Michael Mann notes that the U.S. figures to become even more of a petrostate under Trump.

- Meanwhile, Martin Lukacs, Lucy Uprichard, Tannara Yelland and Amanda Siino highlight some of the threats that Trump's ascent will pose to progressive politics in Canada. 

- Gabriela Calugay-Casuga discusses how the Bank of Canada's undue obsession with inflation resulted in an increasingly glaring wealth gap. And Alex Hemingway warns that tax giveaways are just as corrosive to public services when they originate with the NDP as when they're offered by the right. 

- Carl Meyer offers some takeaways from the long-delayed proposal for a federal oil and gas emission cap - with the predictable result being that a modest policy is being met with shrieks of contrived outrage by those who believe the only purpose of government is to ensure fossil fuel giants can rake in profits with no regard for our planet. And the Canadian Press reports on the Parliamentary Budget Office's finding that the Trans Mountain pipeline (which was bought and completed by the Trudeau Libs while emission regulations were held not to be a priority) isn't worth its cost of construction, leaving the public to take a loss on it. 

- Finally, Meyer parallels the current spin from the oil sector against its precedent from tobacco companies who likewise denied and buried their own scientific knowledge in order to maximize the harm their products inflicted on the public. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Martha Gill offers a reminder that the stakes of any climate change policy are nothing less than our ultimate survival. And Julia Musto discusses the warnings from climate scientists as to what a deliberately destructive U.S. climate policy may mean around the globe. 

- Meanwhile, George Monbiot makes the case for a progressive revolution to save a habitable Earth from an increasingly powerful array of forces bent on destroying it. And Teen Vogue offers some thoughts of empowerment and encouragement in light of the challenges to come.  

- Aditya Chakrabortty writes that the ultimate failure of U.S. Democrats was the lack of any apparent escape from the trap of a corporate-controlled economy and society - even as Donald Trump intends to make matters far worse. And Jeet Heer points out how a choice to act as the party of establishmentarianism left the Democrats with little to say to voters who wanted change.

- Emmett MacFarlane discusses what a Trump administration acting with absolute impunity will mean for Canada - while noting that at least some of our critical institutions haven't yet been undermined like their American counterparts. And Owen Schalk recognizes that Canada has too often served as a lackey to American imperial power - though it's hard to imagine a more important time to work on breaking that pattern.  

- Finally, Daniel Kudla discusses what has made Housing First an effective plan for eliminating homelessness - while noting that the typical neoliberal obsession with tying it to market mechanisms and punitive screening criteria undermines its value.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Oliver Willis writes about the dangers of a second Donald Trump presidency - and the importance of not conceding core values out of deference or convenience in the face of an abusive state. Daniel Hunter discusses the importance of resisting the autocratic impulse to isolate and exhaust any opposition. And Hamilton Nolan rightly suggests that the labour movement should be a vital centre for organization. 

- Tim Rauf examines the source of the UCP's promotion of carbon pollution and other absurd statements of public policy. Crawford Kilian discusses how distrust and division produce direct damage to health and well-being. And Sander van der Linden and David Robert Grimes model how misinformation is passed between people - suggesting that it's similar to the spread of viruses, with the implication that prevention can limit both the spread and resulting damage. 

- But then, Kevin Quigley notes that public health is one of the areas where Trump is determined to inflict as much damage as possible - meaning that it will fall to Canada and other countries to develop our own capacity to monitor and manage risks. 

- Finally, James Wilt interviews Brett Christophers about the proliferation of asset managers who control many of the necessities of life - and are constantly extracting more out of the citizenry in order to boost owners' returns. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Dreamland cat.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

-  Pep Canadell and Gustaf Hegelius examine the carbon emissions from melting Arctic permafrost - finding that the near-term effects based on the release of methane figure to exacerbate the climate crisis. Mari Yamaguchi reports on the first time in 130 years that Mount Fuji has lacked a snow cap in November. And Monique Keiran reports on new research showing that exported fossil gas is even worse for the climate than coal.

- Rodielon Putol discusses a new study showing how microplastics are becoming increasingly concentrated in fresh water. And Elizabeth Whitten reports on the less-than-surprising news that previously-unidentified blobs on the east coast of Newfoundland appear to be an industrial adhesive dumped in the ocean.

- Ruth Talbot, Asia Fields, Nicole Santa Cruz and Maya Miller highlight how "sweeps" against homeless people are nothing but destructive and punitive toward the people who already have the least. Which means that it's especially cruel for right-wing politicians to be lining up to use the notwithstanding clause to trample homeless people's rights. 

- Oliver Heath and Laura Serra write that the main class divide in British politics isn't so much between party supporters as between voters and non-voters.

- Finally, Andrew Nikiforuk attempts to answer the question of how to define fascism - on a day when the world is holding its breath as to the danger the U.S. will become a laboratory for it.