Please explain again why your insistence that we need to build more pipelines is valid, given these facts: A new world record price for electricity set earlier this month signals a radical disruption in global energy markets — and Canada, whose economy was once powered by some of the world’s
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The Canadian Progressive: David Suzuki: Corporate influence inflames political cynicism
Even though elected politicians, especially those who end up holding cabinet positions, often prioritize corporate interests over those of their electors, David Suzuki still encourages us to overcome political cynicism and participate in the democratic process. The post David Suzuki: Corporate influence inflames political cynicism appeared first on The Canadian
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Kevin McKean discusses how inequality undermines the goal of ensuring a healthy population. Matt Bruenig examines new data showing that the concentration of wealth in the U.S. is getting more extreme by the year. Steven Pearlstein writes about new polling showing that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Naomi Klein examines how climate change has contributed to a summer of extreme weather disasters, while David Suzuki highlights how we can work with nature to respond to increased flooding. And Emily Atkin discusses the outsized damage 90 corporate behemoths have done to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Amira Elghawaby comments on the loss of empathy in Canadian politics – particularly due to a disproportionate focus on the perceived self-interest of a narrow group of upper-middle-class swing voters, rather than speaking to and about the people with the greatest need
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Noah Smith offers a reminder that market principles don’t work for everything. And Amelie Quesnel-Vallee and Miles Taylor note that in the health sector in particular, the use of private providers to supplement an underfunded public system is leading to inequitable disparities in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Evening Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Diane Cardwell points out how carbon politics are threatening renewable energy just at the point where it would win a fair fight against fossil fuels. And J. David Hughes finds that any case for Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline falls apart in the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2017 Links
The latest from the NDP’s federal leadership campaign. – The Canadian Press reports on Pat Stogran’s official campaign launch. And Alex Ballingall highlights Stogran’s criticism of Justin Trudeau’s empty-suit governance, while Jeremy Nuttall focuses on his message about challenging politics as usual. – Charlie Smith interviews Peter Julian about his
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Abi Wilkinson writes about the importance of making social benefits universal in order to reflect a sense of shared interests and purpose: Universal aspects of the welfare state tend to be thought of as the fruit of common endeavour. The NHS tops
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Donald Trump’s Insane War on Wind Turbines
Of all the horrible things Donald Trump is threatening to do, and there are so many, his promise to end the war against climate change is the worst.For there is no greater threat to the future of humanity, and his claim that climate change is a hoax is not just wrong, it's
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Vincent Bevins interviews Branko Milanovic about the economic roots of the working-class revolt against neoliberalism, while pointing out that there’s nothing inevitable about globalization harming large numbers of people in the developed world: Let’s start with the obvious question. Does the elephant graph
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Thomas Piketty discusses our choice between developing models of global trade which actually produce positive results for people, or fueling the fire of Trump-style demogoguery: The main lesson for Europe and the world is clear: as a matter of urgency, globalization must be
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – In The Public Interest studies how the privatization of services leads to increased inequality: In the Public Interest’s analysis of recent government contracting identifies five ways in which government privatization disproportionately hurts poor individuals and families… Creation of new user fees: The creation
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Scottish Independence and Some Lessons For Alberta
Last Sunday was the second anniversary of Scotland’s independence referendum, which as you may know, was for me a day of great disappointment.
And one I’ll always remember.
But I haven’t dared even mention the anniversary when talking to my family in the Scottish highlands, because for them it’s a day best forgotten.
They don’t want to talk about it. It’s too traumatic.
And they all voted NO.
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Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading.
– Arthur Neslen points out how new trade agreements figure to make it impossible for governments to meet their environmental commitments. And Corporate Europe Observatory highlights how the CETA will give investors the ability to dictate public policy.
– The Economist discusses the effect of high executive compensation in the U.S., and finds that corporations that shovel exceptionally large amounts of pay to their CEO get sub-par returns for their money.
– Penney Kome writes that the sugar industry’s work to mislead the public about its own health represents just one more example of the dangers of presuming that an undiluted profit motive is anything but antithetical to the public interest.
– On the bright side, Giles Parkinson notes that on a level playing field, solar power has become more affordable than any alternative no matter how dirty.
– Finally, Owen Jones discusses how a strong progressive movement needs to respond to being unfairly dismissed and derided by the corporate media:
Continue readingA defeatist attitude – and a condescending one, too – says that the media programme people with what to think, reducing the electorate to Murdoch-brainwashed zombies. But a clever approach can neutralise media hostility. Take Sadiq Khan: he was subjected to one of the most vicious political campaigns in postwar Britain, portrayed by the press – including London’s dominant newspaper, the Evening Standard – as the pawn of Islamist fundamentalist extremists. He could have bellowed his frustration every single day, and would have been more than entitled to do so. But he didn’t. He focused on a positive, optimistic message, and not only won the election – he had glowing personal ratings, too.
Momentum, too, presented a masterclass last weekend in dealing with hostile media. Rather than taking aggressive swipes at the media, it framed a response to Dispatches before it was even aired. It projected disappointment rather than fury; it gave a platform to Momentum activists who contrasted sharply with the media portrayal; it was witty; and it showcased what it actually did, using the attack as an opportunity to get its own message across. And there is a lesson there. The left is bitterly accustomed to living with almost farcically hostile media in a country where the press is as much a sophisticated political lobbyist as a means of information. A natural response is to become grouchy, to shake fists angrily, or simply boycott the media altogether. It’s an approach that fires up some of the most dedicated leftwing activists, but it’s a strategic mistake. And both Khan and Momentum show the left can rebut media hostility – and even thrive.
Accidental Deliberations: New column day
Here (via PressReader), on how the North Saskatchewan River oil spill may not lead directly to a needed reevaluation of the risks of pipelines – but a public expectation that we’ll shift away from dirty energy may be more significant in the long run.Fo…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading.- Lana Payne comments on the combination of low wages and nonexistent security attached to jobs for younger workers. And Catherine Baab-Muguira examines the spread of the side hustle economy as a means of bare sur…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- Mary O’Hara reviews Daniel Hatcher’s new book on the U.S.’ poverty industry which seeks to exploit public supports for private gain:(A) new book published last week by law professor and advocate Daniel…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading.- Noah Zon points out that while it’s impossible to avoid rhetoric about eliminating “red tape” for businesses, we’ve seen gratuitous barriers put in place to prevent people from accessing needed public support:It…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading.- Phillipe Orliange discusses the significance of inequality in the developing world as a problem for both fairness and economic development:The question of inequality has become so important because societal …
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