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Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Jun

18

2017

This and that for your Sunday reading. – Nina Shapiro comments on the price of privatizing public goods. And George Monbiot weighs in on how the Grenfell Tower fire confirms that what corporatist politicians deride as “red tape” is in fact vital protection for people: For years successive governments have built what they call a ...

Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links

Jun

17

2017

Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Danny Dorling sets out how a more equal society leads to benefits for everybody. And Annie Lowrey discusses Richard Reeves’ take on the separation between the top 20% of the income spectrum and the rest of the U.S. – particularly in preventing social mobility. – Meagan Gilmore points ...

Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links

Jun

14

2017

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Ellie Mae O’Hagan writes about Jeremy Corbyn’s much-needed work in addressing the loss of hope by young people in the UK: For the first time in a good few years, I’ve stopped worrying about money. I can imagine living somewhere nice without having to move to another country. ...

A Puff of Absurdity: Lymphedema: A Research Study Overview

Jun

11

2017

I’m cancer free, but very anxious about lymphedema. It’s become a bit of an obsession, so, for anyone googling it, here are all the studies that I really should have researched before consenting to the Axilliary Lymph Node Dissection (ALND) surgery that half my doctors told me I didn’t need, and the other half convinced ...

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Jun

11

2017

This and that for your Sunday reading. – David MacDonald discusses the need to start tackling some of Canada’s most expensive and least justifiable tax handouts to the rich: The richest 10 per cent of Canadians enjoy an average of $20,500 a year in tax exemptions, credits, and other loopholes. That’s $6,000 more than in ...

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links

Jun

8

2017

This and that for your Thursday reading. – Christopher Hoy reminds us that as much as people are already outraged by inequality, we tend to underestimate its severity. And Faiza Shaheen writes about the dangers of unchecked inequality which erodes social bonds. – Meanwhile, Andrea Hopkins discusses how Canadians are taking significant financial risks in ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

May

23

2017

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Patrick Butler writes about the increasing number of UK families mired in poverty and insecure housing even with one or more people working. And Ali Monceaux and Daniel Najarian discuss the importance of a fair minimum wage in providing people with a basic standard of living. – ...

A Puff of Absurdity: On Mistakes

May

20

2017

Okay, so maybe just one more post about doctors… I know it’s awfully boring. The last one was in play format to make it more palatable. But it’s tedious because I feel so middle class to just now awaken to the fact that the health care system is in crisis. My ignorance is embarrassing. (So ...

Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links

May

20

2017

Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Dalia Marin argues that in order to avoid corporate dominance over citizens and workers around the globe, we should be developing international competition policies and systems to combat the concentration of wealth: Two forces in today’s digital economy are driving the global decline in labor’s share of total ...

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links

May

18

2017

This and that for your Thursday reading. – Owen Jones discusses UK Labour’s true social democratic platform as a model for progressive parties around the globe. And Simon Wren-Lewis points out that contrary to the spin of opponents and uninformed presumptions of much of the media, Labour’s plan is entirely affordable. – Meanwhile, as part ...

A Puff of Absurdity: Another Trip to ER

May

18

2017

Me: So, I have letter from my doctor. I was hoping that would make things go faster. It still took two full hours to get to this point, though. Triage Nurse: I wish family doctors would come to the hospital once in a while. They have no idea how things work here. A letter doesn’t ...

Accidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links

May

8

2017

Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Dean Baker notes that a reduction in required work time could go a long way toward ensuring that workers share in productivity gains. – Meanwhile, Max Ehrenfreund writes about new research on the state of the U.S.’ middle class – showing that lifetime wage earnings peaked for people ...

My journey with AIDS…and more!: The flight was brief, the landing less than graceful

May

2

2017

I was on my way for a hair-cut this morning when, at the corner of Sherbourne and Gerrard Streets, I momentarily took flight. Picture Peter Pan on his worst day. While still airborne I thought of Craig, of the 24th of April, 2007. But I was still conscious. I managed to land without breaking my ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

Apr

25

2017

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Andre Picard talks to the Current about the need to start demanding more from our universal health care system, rather than being persuaded to put up with less. And Canadian Doctors for Medicare offers its support to the Ontario NDP’s pharmacare plan, while Chris Selley writes that ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: A Response to the 2017 Saskatchewan Budget

Apr

23

2017

I have an opinion piece on Saskatchewan’s recent budget in the Regina Leader-Post. Points raised in the opinion piece include the following: -Reductions in personal and corporate income taxes help the rich more than the poor (and this budget cut both personal and corporate income taxes). -Increases in sales tax hurt the poor more than ...

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links

Apr

20

2017

This and that for your Thursday reading. – Martin Patriquin takes Saskatchewan’s increasing recognition of the Wall government’s institutional corruption to the national stage: Politicians who navigate a corrupted political system have some of the easiest jobs in the world. With the weight and legitimacy of the state behind them, they need not sell anything ...

Accidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links

Apr

17

2017

Miscellaneous material to start your week. – The Star’s editorial board writes that it’s long past time for governments to stand up for people facing precarious work: (P)recarious workers, many of them millennials, have been largely left behind by legislators who say the shift is inevitable and there’s nothing much that can or ought to ...

Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links

Apr

8

2017

Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Ethan Cox reports on new polling showing that Canadians are highly concerned about inequality – even if our governments aren’t doing anywhere meaningful to address it: Of Canadians surveyed, 73 per cent said their and their family’s economic situation had stayed the same or gotten worse over the ...

Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links

Apr

5

2017

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Owen Jones writes that excessive reliance on corporate profiteers is the reason why the UK’s trains don’t run on time. And Nora Loreto argues that postal banking is needed (among other reasons) to rein in abuses by Canada’s biggest banks. – Shannon Daub examines what British Columbia’s voters ...

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Apr

2

2017

This and that for your Sunday reading. – Andrew Jackson writes about the opportunities missed when governments restrict their economic policy to propping up the corporate sector, rather than seeking to innovate directly in the public interest: The received wisdom among economists used to be that governments should just set broad “framework” policies such as ...

Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links

Mar

29

2017

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Scott Clark and Peter DeVries point out that with interest rates still at historically low levels, Canada would be far better off funding infrastructure for itself rather than locking itself into privatized structures: But that is not true at all at the federal level. The federal government funds ...

Views from the Beltline: World’s richest country and it can’t even do health care. Sad!

Mar

28

2017

Watching the Americans thrash about trying to put together a decent health care system prompts much head-shaking and eyeball-rolling. The Republicans have bitched and moaned about Obamacare for seven years, but in all that time haven’t been able to come up with a plan they can agree on. “It’s complicated,” wailed President Trump. But of ...

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links

Mar

23

2017

This and that for your Thursday reading. – In the wake of a thoroughly disappointing budget day at both the provincial and federal levels, it’s worth taking note of Ivan Sigal’s view on the importance of building trust – rather than limiting citizens to either fake news or fake policies: How do we begin to ...

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Mar

19

2017

This and that for your Sunday reading. – Heather Whiteside discusses how the privatization schemes being toyed with at all levels of government represent nothing more than reckless gambling with public money and goods: When a federal, provincial, or municipal government builds a bridge, a highway, a school, or a hospital, we know who owns ...

Accidental Deliberations: Friday Evening Links

Mar

17

2017

Assorted content to end your week. – Linda McQuaig discusses the need to fight fake news about Canada’s health care system (and the corporate raiders trying to amplify it): (I)t was with some pleasure last week that I watched as a Republican congressman tried to insist that Canadians routinely flock to the U.S. for health ...