Miscellaneous material to end your week. – Amy Peng et al. examine the profound positive impact of mask mandates in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in Ontario. And Sheena Cruickshank warns about the avoidable harm we can expect as so many respond to the political and social signals to abandon
Continue readingTag: Homelessness
Scripturient: Another Housing Debacle in Cwood
A recent story in CollingwoodToday leads me to believe Council has made yet another misstep in its fumbling and bumbling efforts to deal with affordable housing. As the story notes, Council decided to sell an already affordable property near the downtown where people are currently living in rental units, and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Edmonton mayor to ask city councillors to declare housing and homelessness emergency on Monday, ruffling UCP feathers
In a blog post published yesterday, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he has called a special meeting of City Council Monday to ask for a declaration of a housing and homelessness emergency in the city. Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). The United Conservative Party Government was clearly
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Letter implores Edmonton mayor and council to intervene to halt ‘violent and disruptive decampment’ planned today
With Edmonton Police Services ready to start breaking up some of the homeless camps in downtown Edmonton this morning, opponents of the mass clearances will circulate a letter to Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and City Council imploring them to intervene to seek a moratorium on the rousts. An EPS mobile
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Edmonton mayor appears to have been blindsided by city police plan for Christmas roust of eight homeless encampments next week
What is the goal of this week’s intended Christmastime mass roust of downtown Edmonton homeless encampments by city police, and why did they unilaterally spring it on city officials and social agencies while ignoring the city’s encampment response strategy? Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). The EPS plan
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Amy Goodman interviews Peter Kalmus about the need to start treating the climate breakdown as an emergency, while Joelle Gergis points out that the extreme destruction from catastrophic climate-caused events in the summer of 2023 represents just a taste of what we can
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Michael Klare writes about the growing indications that the climate breakdown is pushing us toward a civilizational collapse. Jeff Renaud discusses new research showing that climate change could cause over a billion deaths over the next century, while William Skipworth reports on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Joseph Choi reports on new research showing that updated COVID-19 vaccines help build immunity against the Eris strain. And Keenan Sorokan reports on both Eris’ spread into Saskatchewan, and the strong recommendation from the experts still interested in public health that people get
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: See No Evil
The evil would be the visibility of homeless people. The ‘solution‘ that had been sought by Barrie City Council was an odious bylaw that would have outlawed individuals giving food, drink and other succour for those living on the streets. Essentially, it was a “don’t feed the wildlife” approach,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Mitchell Beer writes about the Canada Energy Regulator’s recognition that the future will involve far less fossil fuel use than the oil industry and its spokespuppets want us to believe. And Marc Fawcett-Atkinson discusses how biomethane is just another distraction intended to turn
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Alex Hemingway offers a reminder of the urgent need for a wealth tax – and the opportunity to fund important social priorities by implementing one. But Cory Doctorow points out how our economic system is structured to favour people seeking to get rich
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: On Crime Waves and Policy
Much ink (most of it virtual) is being spilled these days about how “dangerous” our cities have become. Shootings, assaults and so on seem to take place on our transit systems on a nearly daily basis. I’m not here to say that there is no problem – there clearly is
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Nina Lakhani reports on the latest data showing greenhouse gas emissions rising at an alarming rate. Bill McKibben discusses the math of climate change – including the vanishing budget for continued carbon pollution if we want to avoid catastrophic outcomes, and the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – David Moscrop discusses how the Trudeau Libs have chosen to funnel money to cutthroat corporate consultants rather than building a functional public service. Alex Kerner follows up by pointing out how that choice reflects the class politics of a neoliberal state. And
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: It’s Not Going Away
In my post about homelessness the other day, I wrote, In Toronto, a motion that would have kept warming centres open from November to April was defeated, despite shelter space being at a premium. Homelessness is not going away, and many citizens are acutely aware of that fact and the immorality of Toronto’s decision.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Face of Homelessness
I have been thinking a lot about the homeless for quite awhile now. It is a problem difficult to ignore given the proliferation of people ‘living rough,’ attested to by the increasing common tent encampments that are frequently rather gleefully taken down with alacrity by city officials. Are there alternatives? In Toronto,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Jennifer Rigby report on the World Health Organization’s recognition that COVID-19 remains a global public health emergency even as far too many jurisdictions pretend otherwise. Andrew Nikiforuk examines the dangers of an evolving set of variants, while David Axe points
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Matthew Agius reports on the growing body of evidence indicating that long COVID may produce lifelong aftereffects. Henna Saeed reports on the large number of Canadians now suffering from long COVID symptoms. And Lee Han-Soo discusses new research showing that a reinfection
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Ed Browne examines the differences between the Kraken variant and the forms of COVID-19 which have come before. Char Leung, Li Su and Munehito Machida study how transmission different types of venues in Japan was reflected in further spread. And Benjamin Mateus
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – David Wallace-Wells examines a few of the false narratives which are limiting our response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Sarah Wulf Hanson and Theo Vos write about new research showing that most cases of long COVID have arisen out of seemingly mild initial infections.
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