Assorted content to end your week. – Alex Himelfarb reviews Quinn Slobodian’s Crack-Up Capitalism as a valuable account of the myths and rationalizations underlying the propagation of inequality to serve the uber-rich. Cory Doctorow highlights how the attack on Social Security by Republicans and their donors represents a form of class
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Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jingwei Li et al. offer an update on the current state of knowledge surrounding long COVID, including the need for far more work dealing with its wide range of harmful effects. Kavita Bajeli-Datt reports on a new survey from India finding an
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Compassion Challenge
One of my favourite short stories is Tolstoy’s “The Godson.” It’s the story I revisit whenever I find myself thinking that this whole world has turned a wrong corner. I’ve changed a few details to make this super-abridged version make sense, taking out all the hows and whys of it
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Larry Patriquin reviews Nancy Fraser’s Cannibal Capitalism, with a focus on explaining how we’ve been pushed into a system based on squeezing people and the planet alike in the name of greed. And Cory Doctorow discusses the six categories of corporate bullshit used to
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Danielle Smith Goes to the Pembina Climate Summit
Perhaps Danielle Smith forgot she where she was when she told the attendees at the Pembina Climate Summit that clean electricity by 2035 was impossible and anyone who thought otherwise was a fantasist. The Summit attendees paid $400 to $600 for the one-day event which brings together “thought leaders from
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Derek Lynch writes about the need to recognize that humanity isn’t separate from the living environment it needs to survive. Eric Ralls points out how the climate breakdown and dwindling biodiversity are part of the same crisis. And Katie Surma highlights how climate
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Sultan al Jaber and Vanessa Kerry offer a reminder that a climate breakdown in progress represents a foundational danger to human health and well-being. Geoffrey Diehl observes that the root causes of the crisis are greed and strictly-enforced ignorance. Miki Perkins points
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Canada lags on renewable energy
In Canada, more than $100 billion is now being spent to expand fossil fuel production. Meanwhile, other nations are working to mitigate climate change and enable long-term human survival. For example, Airbus ordered new vessels to transport aircraft subassemblies across the Atlantic. The low-emission ships are powered by dual-fuel engines
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Ed Broadbent discusses how economic equality is a precondition to freedom for the majority of the population. Chris McGreal reviews Angus Deaton’s book on the role of the corporatist assumptions of economists in fomenting a war on the poor. And John McDonnell warns that
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: We are Afraid
That was a headline in Forbes yesterday, followed by: “Scientists Issue New Warning as World Enters ‘Uncharted Climate Territory.’” The Forbes article summarize an article from BioScience: “The 2023 State of the Climate Report: Entering Uncharted Territory,” a follow-up on a 2020 report co-signed by over 15,000 scientists from 163 countries that called on government
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Jessica Wildfire examines the continued threat of COVID-19 even as governments have largely decided to stop recognizing its devastating effects on public health. And Tom Kitchin points out how the same phenomenon has played out even in New Zealand (which was once
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Sonia Sodha discusses how children will bear the brunt of COVID’s effects for years due to decision-makers have prioritized short-term profits and frivolities over their futures. And Clare Wilson reports on new research showing how investing in air filtration can limit the ongoing
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Canada is one of the world’s leaders
Canada a world leader? Sometimes that headline is good news. This time it is not…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Sigal Samuel discusses the potential to better target investments toward well-being – though it seems odd to criticize measures of health as a standard alongside GDP. And Cory Doctorow writes about Deb Chachra’s observation that we should view infrastructure as a form of
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Boundless, scalable, clean energy
Decarbonization is a catchword used by the fossil fuel and nuclear power industries. But each of those groups cannot eliminate inherent dangers. Unless we develop safe, carbon-free energy sources, we cannot sustain current standards of living. And, perhaps we cannot sustain human life in the long-term. But, as billions of
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: The difficult path to a green economy
Since 1990, Canada’s emissions have decreased by a modest 3.1 tonnes per person. However, when we look at the distribution of emissions, we find that the bottom 90% reduced their emissions by almost 5 tonnes per person, while the top 1% increased their emissions by 34 tonnes per person.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Arijit Chakravarthy and Martha Lincoln offer a reminder that COVID-19 isn’t about to go away just because we’re refusing to deal with it. And CBC News and Adam Toy report on renewed masking requirements in Manitoba and Alberta health care facilities respectively.
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Protecting the Environment: There has to be a better way
In 2019 the federal government enacted the Impact Assessment Act which regulated “designated projects” (think: oil sands, mining and other major projects within provincial boundaries). The Kenney government tagged it the “No More Pipelines Act” and brought a reference case to the Supreme Court of Canada arguing that the IAA
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Somasetty Suresh examines the symptoms associated with long COVID, while Elizabeth Cooney reports on new research hinting at the depletion of peripheral serotonin as one of its causes. And Jamie Ducharme points out that the CDC (and other public health authorities) still has
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: It’s Going to Get Worse Before it Gets Even More Worse
Times are dark. Try to find moments of calm and humour to get you through the day. Covid is out of control. It’s nothing new, but more and more are being affected in irreparable ways, taking out teachers and doctors and all sorts of necessary workers. It’s harder to avoid
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