I'm sure that we all heard Premier Smith claim that she has consulted widely on the draconian anti-transgender policies that she announced last week. Now it starts to come out exactly whom she consulted with – and surprise, surprise, it's not exactly a group of people well-qualified to help guide
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The Cracked Crystal Ball II: Alberta’s Proposed Trans Policy
It's been 3 days since Premier Danielle Smith dropped a bomb on Alberta's transgender community, and I'm still reeling. I'm alternating between being angry with the government, and grieving for the youth that will be most deeply affected by these policies. Before I dive into a deeper analysis of what
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Ian Welsh discusses how COVID-19 is the second-most important story in the world – and how our failure to respond with appropriate regard for human life and well-being mirrors our inability to address any social challenge. And Ruth Link-Gelles et al. find that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg examines why seemingly healthy macroeconomic indicators – and even positive personal expectations – haven’t translated into public satisfaction with political economic leaders. But Dougald Lamont is setting out how our economic system has been torqued at the behest of corporate robber
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Tim Murphy discusses the many similarities between Russia’s oligarchs and the U.S.’ – including how both take advantage of deliberate policy choices to facilitate the concentration of wealth in secret. And Kevin Kharas’ interview with Bertrand Monnet includes the recognition that their shared
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
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 readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Sara Moniuzsko reports on the World Health Organization’s recognition that COVID-19 is still causing nearly 10,000 reported deaths per month (to say nothing of unreported deaths and disabilities). And Michelle Ghoussoub reports on research confirming that access to prescribed opioids results in dramatic
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: 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: 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: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jessica Wildfire examines how employees are being illegally forced to put their health at risk by employers determined to impose policies which facilitate the spread of COVID-19. And Craig Ellingson and Chelan Skulski report on the Alberta Medical Association’s warning that the province’s health
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Adam King discusses how governments and employers have memory-holed some of the most important lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic as to the need for paid sick leave to ensure workplaces don’t exacerbate the spread of dangerous diseases. – Debbie Cenziper, Michael Sallah
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Nandini Gautam discusses the World Health Organization’s research showing how COVID-19 damages the human immune system. And Adam Kucharski takes a look at historic accounts of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic as a grim foreshadowing of how history books will look back on the public
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Stephanie Soucheray examines how COVID-19 can cause lasting damage to the brain even without causing severe initial symptoms, while the British Heart Foundation points out the soaring rates of cardiovascular disease during the course of the ongoing pandemic. And Lisa Lundberg-Morris et al.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Cory Doctorow discusses how the concentration of wealth and power in corporate hands represents a threat to individual freedoms and the pursuit of social justice. And Pete Evans reports on new Statistics Canada showing that the gap between the wealthy few and
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This and that for your Thursday reading. – Bryan Harris, Steve Bernard and Chris Campbell discuss the danger that a drying Amazon rain forest will accelerate the climate breakdown. – Jordan Omstead reports on Canada’s place of shame as one of the countries looking to increas carbon pollution in the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Ajit Niranjan reports on the Copernicus Climate Change Service’s findings that 2023 is on pace to be the hottest year on record, with October’s temperatures at 1.7 degrees above the pre-industrial level. – Damian Carrington highlights a UN report warning of the destructive insistence of
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: UCP Resolution 29 – No Males in Female Prison – Hallelujah!
Thank you to Eva Kurilova for finding this resolution. There is hope that we can have a return to sanity here in Alberta.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Peter Zimonjic reports on the latest audit from the federal environment commissioner showing that Canada is falling far short of meeting its greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments. And Brendan Haley discusses how a focus on a transition to heat pumps could provide
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to start your week. – Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon reports on the less-than-surprising revelation from New Brunswick’s departing chief medical officer of health that political preferences were a major factor in COVID-19 decision-making. And Liz highlights how the rich, powerful and well-connected are still insisting on COVID precautions to avoid
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