This and that for your Sunday reading. – Aditya Chakrabortty writes about the consequences of the UK’s choice not to fund its or social infrastructure: We are right in the middle of an infrastructure breakdown – we just haven’t named it yet. You’ll know what I mean when we list
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Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Ben Parfitt comments on the dangers of captured regulators such as B.C.’s Oil and Gas Commission who end up serving corporate “clients” rather than the public interest. And Bryan Walsh discusses the discounting effect which makes it all too frequent for people
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Andrew Jackson writes that bland centrism is no response to right-wing populism: Right-wing populism is a complex phenomenon which varies a lot by country. But most analysts agree that it is deeply rooted in material circumstances: rising economic inequality to often obscene levels,
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Well, Let’s Add This to Our Growing List of Dire Warnings
Another day another warning that humanity is pushing its luck, overstressing this Earth, our one and only biosphere. For those of you who can’t handle stress, don’t fret. It’ll be down the Memory Hole by the end of the weekend at the outside. Dirt. Who gives a damn about dirt?
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
This and that for your mid-week reading. – Noah Smith writes about the unfairness and inaccuracy in blaming people for finding themselves in poverty. And Sarah Kaine and Emmanuel Josserand call out the business sector’s concerted efforts to normalize and spread systematic wage theft. – Joelle Gergis points out that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – George Monbiot writes that the wealthiest few have responded to the rise of populism by funding their own killer clowns to assume power in place of anybody who might actually respond to the public interest. – And Chuck Collins calls for a 100%
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Osita Nwanevu describes the higher-brow forms of bigotry and wilful ignorance being pushed by U.S. Republicans for upper-class audiences. And Kate Aronoff discusses the racial undertones of yet another wave of red-baiting. – Meanwhile, David Climenhaga highlights how Canadian right-wing governments are
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On fanaticism
I’ve previously pointed out the connection between Andrew Scheer and an explicit effort to elevate the burning of fossil fuels to goal surpassing any interest in human well-being. But it’s worth noting how much more extreme the same forces are becoming in order to serve the cause of extracting oil
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – The Globe and Mail’s editorial board points out the gross dishonesty of Jason Kenney, Scott Moe and other spokesflacks for the oil sector who are looking to turn the slightest hint of consideration of the environment and Indigenous rights into grounds for a
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Open letter from an Albertan to his government
14 June 2019 The Honourable Sonya Savage, Minister of Energy Government of Alberta 324 Legislature Building 10800 – 97 Avenue NW Edmonton, AB Dear Minister: Recently I read in the news that you are establishing a “war room” to defend the oil and gas industry from criticism. I urge you
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Phil Dzikiy discusses how GE is already losing massive amounts of money due to its incorrect assumption that fossil fuels would be profitable. And Brad Plumer points out that far more corporations are recognizing the need to plan for the fallout from a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On transitions
I’ll offer a reply to Cam’s knee-jerk response to the federal NDP’s long-overdue push for the basic necessities of responsible economic and environmental policy – including real carbon emission reductions and an actual transition away from fossil fuel dependence. Simply put, there’s no reason to read every word of the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Eoin Higgins discusses a new report by Elizabeth Warren and Pramila Jayapal on a U.S. political system which is even more corporatist than ever under the Trump administration. – Meanwhile, Sarah Petz reports on Boots Riley’s recent talk in Winnipeg – including
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Global Warming Has Been Setting a Trap For Us Since the Early 1900s.
New research shows that global warming has been transforming our soil since the early 1900’s. The NASA-Columbia University study itself is available here. Global warming has been fueling droughts since the early 20th Century, when soils started drying out at the same time across parts of North and Central America,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Frank Clemente is the latest to point out how the Trump Republicans’ tax cut scheme served only to further enrich the already-wealthy. And Bess Levin discusses the average one-cent bonus to workers that resulted from billions poured into corporate coffers. – George Monbiot
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A "National Emergency" – Who’s Kidding Whom?
Change is afoot. The latest report on climate change in Canada is unsettling. It’s even ominous. The only surprising part is that anyone would be surprised by the report or its findings. They closely mirror reports that we’ve been getting, at least weekly, for the past several years. The CBC’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Evening Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Kate Aronoff highlights the lack of realism on the part of “adult” politicians demanding that the existential threat of climate breakdown be met with a grossly insufficient response. And Anders Fremstad and Mark Paul write about the dangers of an ideology of climate
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – David Roberts sets out the big picture surrounding the Green New Deal, as essentially nobody other than the activists supporting it has made any effort to deal with the reality of impending climate breakdown: (T)hat’s the context here: a world tipping over into
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Jemima Kelly highlights the massive amounts of revenue lost to tax evasion and tax avoidance in the EU – while pointing out the importance of recognizing the larger scale of the former. And PIPSC makes the case for e-commerce titans to pay their
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Chris Hedges points out how the obscenely rich few are trying to distract from their accumulation of wealth in order to avoid what would stand to be a massive public backlash. Emily Peck discusses the question of why our economic system is
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