This and that for your Sunday reading. – Lana Payne offers a reminder (with reference to Lars Osberg’s new book) that extreme and growing inequality is a choice rather than an inevitability – but that it also represents a self-reinforcing trend: “The Age of Increasing Inequality: The Astonishing Rise Of
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Scripturient: Water: Our most precious resource
Did you know there were water restrictions in Collingwood this summer? No? Well, there were. And that underscores the vulnerability of our community to climate change when a community situated on the Great Lakes has water restrictions. The notice on the town’s web page said we were “experiencing drier than
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Linda Solomon Wood comments on the absurdity of the federal cabinet meeting in a province facing rampant wildfires and not planning to utter a word about climate change. Will Steffen discusses how environmental feedback loops may make inaction even more costly and
Continue readingThings Are Good: How the Aral Sea got its Flow Back
Perhaps one of the best examples of human destruction of water resources the Aral Sea, and now it’s becoming an example of how humans can repair the damage we’ve done to our natural bodies of water. We’ve looked a the sea’s restoration before since it’s such a fascinating example. The
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Michael Laxer writes that Doug Ford’s attack on people who stood to be helped by a basic income demonstrates the cruelty of austerian politics. But we shouldn’t take the callousness of right-wing parties as reflecting the preferences of most voters, as the Angus
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – The CCPA offers some questions and answers on the problems with “social impact bonds” designed to turn the delivery of needed programming into a source of corporate profits. And Andy Blatchford reports on the Trudeau Libs’ secretive attempt to undermine any prospect of
Continue readingThings Are Good: Don’t Waste Your Time Showering Everyday
Every year it seems showering is brought up on this site and the theme is always the same: shower less. Indeed, back in 2006 we looked at a device called an air shower and in 2012 it was a shower that recycles water (cleanly). This year the people over at
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Vanessa Brcic offers some observations on the connection between poverty and health, including the importance of ensuring marginalized people are treated with respect: The economic argument for poverty reduction is clear, but we see in health care what is more plainly obvious
Continue readingThings Are Good: Don’t Give up on Desalination
How we manage local water sources drastically alters how we grow crops and get drinking water. Cape Town is currently experience a water crisis that was in the making for decades because of poor water use policies. Desalination plants can help coastal cities provide water to their populace by separating
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Faiza Shaheen discusses the UK Cons’ attempts to paper over the harmful effects of austerity. And Amir Fleischmann points out that while the human cost of cuts to public services is all too real, the supposed fiscal benefits are usually illusory: Many social
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: On Energy & First Nations, politicians want to have their cake and eat it too
Jonathan Ramos cartoon Canada can fight climate change and build more climate-ravaging pipelines. First Nations’ rights should be respected – just not at the expense of these pipelines, dams and other major projects they oppose. Got it? It’s hard to fathom, but these are the positions of our provincial and federal leaders.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Joseph Stiglitz discusses the apparent destructive belief among Davos’ elites that irrational exuberance and top-heavy economic gains are remotely sustainable: The world is plagued by almost intractable problems. Inequality is surging, especially in the advanced economies. The digital revolution, despite its potential, also
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The bitumen hits the fan in Alberta and Ottawa as British Columbia moves to restrict pipeline and rail flow
PHOTOS: B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman, foreground, with members of his environment and climate change strategy council last fall (Photo: Province of British Columbia). Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan (Photo: Wikimedia Commons). I’m not going to try to go all
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Seth Klein finds cracks in Site C Dam economics
Seth Klein, B.C. Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Check out this January 17, 2018 opinion piece from Seth Klein in The Georgia Straight, debunking the economic argument in favour of building Site C Dam. There is no question that the new B.C. government’s decision to proceed with the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Maia Szalavitz writes that the atmosphere of competition and status signalling which prevails in unequal societies is directly connected to increased homicide rates: While on the surface, the disputes that triggered these deaths seem trivial – each involved apparently small disagreements and a
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Swain: Building Site C would harm BC’s credit rating; cancelling it would not
The head of the Joint Review Panel on the controversial Site C Dam, Harry Swain, is dispelling the notion that cancelling Site C would somehow harm BC’s credit rating. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, he warns: Terminating Site C means paying back the money that’s already spent in order
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Why approving Site C could sink NDP
Illustration by Jonathan Ramos It’s getting down to the wire for the NDP-led government to announce its decision on Site C Dam. The corporate media and Big Labour’s big guns have been making a sales push to keep the beleaguered project alive, and many fear they could succeed. That would
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Ed Broadbent discusses how Bernie Sanders offers an example to emulate – and in some cases a source of ideas well beyond what Canada has implemented so far: It was clear to everyone watching that Canadians, in fact, have a few things
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Brent Patterson discusses how the Libs are putting the hands of their already-dubious “infrastructure bank” in the hands of people with a track record of turning public services into private cash cows. – David Suzuki takes note of another U.S. government climate
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Edward Harrison comments on the business-backed push to rebrand corporate control and crony capitalism as freedom. And Ryan Cooper points out that the concept of deregulation ultimately serves only to concentrate power in the hands of the wealthy few: Government regulations can be
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