Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Jamie Ducharme examines the realities of a COVID-19 surge in progress – as well as the reason to worry that avoidable illness and death is being treated as the new normal. Kailin Yin et al. highlight the harm caused by systemic inflammation and
Continue readingTag: climate change
Susan on the Soapbox: The AESO Emergency Alert
Last night Alberta’s electric system operator (AESO) issued a province-wide emergency alert asking Albertans to immediately reduce their electricity use to minimize the potential for rotating outages across the province. First the good news, Albertans responded to the call. Within minutes usage dropped significantly and rotating power outages were avoided.
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Oil’s OPEC advantage over renewables
Oil companies have been up and down about investing more of their profits in green energy. Having made promises to do just that, recently they have backed off. The reason for the change of heart is simple. They make a lot more money investing in oil than they do in
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Nothing to see here!
A Berkely Earth email today reminds us that serious actions to address climate change should not be delayed. But like most Canadian political leaders, Detective Frank Drebin is indifferent…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Jessica Wildfire laments the great abdication of mutual responsibility which is resulting in countless preventable dangers being allowed to spread unabated. And Benedict Michael et al. study how COVID-19 is giving rise to sustained cognitive defects even as it’s being treated as a
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Who to believe, Pierre Poilievre or 28 Nobel Laureates?
Canadians are being led by the Pied Piper of pollution, Pierre Poilievre, away from the carbon tax. Whether it is indeed the Conservative leader with his “axe the tax” slogan and focus on cost-of-living concerns may be debatable, but Canadians’ support for the tax is flagging, down 11 points since
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Maura Hohman discusses how the U.S. is going through one of its most severe waves of COVID-19 (with very little attention), while Henna Saeed points out the spate of respiratory illnesses in Alberta. And Ashleigh Furlong reports that an attempt to work out a
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Squid Game
The UCP’s “bread and circuses”* approach to government is no longer working. The “bread” (low taxes and high employment) is no compensation for our crumbling healthcare, education, and social services. The “circus” of blaming the federal government for everything is wearing thin. And to make matters worse, the folks at
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Brent Appelman et al. study how mental and physical exertion in the midst of a COVID-19 infection can cause long-term damage. Tom Scocca discusses the devastating health and professional effects of his bout of COVID. And Nathaniel Weixel reports on the tens of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Julia Conley reports that Massachusetts’ referendum-approved millionaire tax raised substantially more income than projected, contributing both to greater equality and more funding for public priorities. – Charlotte Kukowski and Emma Garnett discuss the need to overcome multiple forms of inequality in order to ensure
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – David Macdonald highlights yet another record-breaking year of Canadian CEO income compared to the pay of the average worker. – Lisa Young’s wish for the new year is for better public health – though the hostility to the concept from Danielle Smith
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your 2023. – Shannon Hall discusses new research showing that the positive effects of COVID-19 vaccination include a reduction in long COVID in children. And Erin Prater warns about the building Pirola wave which is already causing record-high infection levels in some countries. – Meanwhile, Carly
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jessica Wildfire offers a reminder of the breadth and depth of harm continuing to be caused by COVID-19. Julia Doubleday calls out the role of the media in normalizing perpetual reinfection, while Arijit Chakravarty and T. Ryan Gregory discuss the importance of naming
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: What Seems Impossible Can Become Inevitable
George Monbiot talked with journalist Rachel Donald of Planet Critical. In a nutshell, Monbiot has many views in common with Chomsky: People with the money have become the people with the power, and the masses are voting based on “presumed consent,” which means we cast a vote before it’s clear
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jackie Ruryk reports on the push by public health officials to have people take precautions against COVID-19 and seasonal illnesses only after there’s already been a massive degree of uncontrolled spread. And Alanna Smith exposes how Danielle Smith’s UCP is so deeply
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Katherine Wu discusses how the U.S. is facing a particularly grim set of winter illnesses as people have failed to get vaccinated against known threats, while Lauren Pelley reports on the low number of Canadians who got new COVID-19 vaccines this fall. Ewen
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Ryan Meili discusses how a blinkered focus on austerian “efficiency” and exit strategies prevents the development of care systems capable of meeting long-term needs. And Dione Wearmouth reports on the fallout from the UCP’s insistence on putting performative politics over even those
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Geoffrey Johnston examines how the latest wave of COVID-19 is swamping Ontario’s health care system while its cumulative effect is reducing life expectancies. Philip Moscovitch discusses the dangers of repeat COVID infections. And Zaki Arshad, Joshua Nazareth and Manish Pareek offer a reminder
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Lookers and Thinkers
Can we teach how to think and problem solve our way out of a total collapse? I’m curious why some people are facing it all head on, reading the news and studies and watching the clips about Covid, climate and so many conflicts. I wonder if I’m one of the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: COP28 and the great transition
Maybe it took an oilman to do it. When Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber of the United Arab Emirates was appointed President of the UN Climate Change 2023 Conference (COP28), environmentalists threw up their hands in despair. Al Jaber was also head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. And the
Continue reading