Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Frances Woolley points out how the coronavirus pandemic is exposing the effects of decades of austerity on Canada’s health care system. Martin…
Health Care
coronavirus exposes, part 2: there is a bright side, and it’s socialism in action
A reader pointed out that my previous post is very negative, and doesn’t mention any of the very positive responses to the pandemic that are being rolled out. So: A…
coronavirus exposes the darkest sides of unchecked capitalism and the gaping holes in our society
We’re all struggling to take in the magnitude of coping with a global pandemic. Personally I’ve had to cancel a long-awaited vacation to vist family, and with libraries closed, I…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Emmanuez Saez and Gabriel Zucman call for (PDF) governments to act as buyers of last resort to minimize the economic fallout from the…
in which covid-19 accomplishes what revolution, unexplained plane crashes, and terrorism could not
I’ve never cancelled a trip because of external circumstances. Until now. In 1994 we were heading to Mexico — to travel through the country, not to stay in a resort…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan write about the U.S.’ choice between health care for all, or the spread of disease as people…
the 2020-21 Alberta budget
I’ve written a ‘top 10’ overview of the 2020-21 Alberta budget, tabled on February 27. The link to the overview is here.
Coronavirus discovered in Alberta just as politics trumps science in supervised drug clinic report
COVID-19 has arrived in Alberta. But first, we need to talk about how the United Conservative Party Government has found a nearly perfect formula for dealing with science when it…
Cost savings associated with Housing First
I’ve written a summary of a recent study I co-authored on savings to the health and justice sectors associated with Housing First (i.e., the immediate provision of subsidized housing, along…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Anand Giridharadas writes that with Bernie Sanders in position to win the Democratic nomination for president, the U.S.’ election will answer the question…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Eric Holthaus calls out any attempt by the uber-wealthy to paper over their profits from climate destruction with “philanthropic” donations. And David…
UCP launches blitzkrieg on physicians as health care in Alberta returns to its normal state of chaos
If you’ve been operating under the misapprehension the United Conservative Party is just the latest version of the Progressive Conservative Party that ran Alberta from 1971 to 2015, yesterday’s blitzkrieg…
help nominate tommy douglas as the face of the next $5 bill
There’s a movement to put the face of Tommy Douglas on the next Canadian $5 bill. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? And wouldn’t it be a kick in the pants to…
help nominate tommy douglas as the face of the next $5 bill
There’s a movement to put the face of Tommy Douglas on the next Canadian $5 bill. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? And wouldn’t it be a kick in the pants to…
help nominate tommy douglas as the face of the next $5 bill
There’s a movement to put the face of Tommy Douglas on the next Canadian $5 bill. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? And wouldn’t it be a kick in the pants to…
Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Don Pittis writes about Thomas Piketty’s take that Bernie Sanders may be exactly what the U.S. needs. – Laurie Penny wonders whether we’re…
On Being a “Boomer”
Generations When I was growing up in the 1950s and onward there was not all this talk about generations that seems to have become a fascination of the last twenty…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Robert Reich comments that Democrats who failed to recognize and respond to a rigged economic system share in the blame for the rise…
Ernst & Young review of Alberta Health Services gives UCP cover to do lots, flexibility to do little
We’re not closing any rural hospitals, have you got that? Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro strove to make that point perfectly clear at his news conference in Edmonton yesterday on…
Arbitrator’s decision awarding 1% pay increase to some AUPE members undermines UCP austerity arguments
An independent labour arbitrator yesterday awarded unionized Alberta government employees and health care support workers a modest 1-per-cent pay increase for 2019. Having gone into wage-reopener negotiations in the final…