Assorted content to end your week. – Oshan Jarow discusses Sapien Labs’ work measuring mental health levels around the globe – and the resulting conclusion that “conveniences” including smartphones and ultra-processed foods may contribute to a lower level of mental wellness. And Michelle Gamage writes about the plummeting life expectancy of
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Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
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: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Dave Davies interviews Jason C. Jackson about the widespread damage from long COVID – and the lack of remotely sufficient efforts either to prevent its spread, or respond to its effects. And Crawford Kilian weighs in on what we’ve failed to learn while
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Jia Li et al. study the causal associations between COVID-19 and numerous types of cancer – finding generally that COVID is associated with increased cancer risk. And Erin Prater reports on the spread of the Arcturus variant as the most transmissible version yet.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Naomi Grimley, Jack Cornish and Nassos Sylianou report on the World Health Organization’s recognition that COVID-19 deaths far exceed official totals, while Sheryl Gay Stoberg reports on the Biden administration’s warning that there are more deadly waves to come. Ian Froese reports that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Eric Topol describes how COVID-19’s infectiousness has been steadily increasing with time even as so many governments have gone out of their way to declare it to be over, while Reuters reports on new research showing that the Omicron variant is no
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Michaeleen Doucleff offers an FAQ on the causes and consequences of long COVID in its various forms. Guy Quenneville reports on the need for COVID cases to keep declining just to get Saskatchewan’s health care system back to its already-precarious state from the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Nora Loreto writes about the need for governments to make COVID management plans which take into account pockets of anti-vaxxers who will create significant risks for the general population. Andre Picard discusses why parents will need to ensure their children get vaccinated,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: #Elxn44 Roundup
The latest from Canada’s federal election campaign. – David Climenhaga offers a warning against Conservatives bearing gifts, both generally and in their plan for token representation on corporate boards. And the Canadian Labour Congress highlights how the Cons’ interest in gig workers is limited to saddling them with far less
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Statistics Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force examines new data as to the spread of the coronavirus prior to the third wave – with the results including higher rates of infection among young people and visible minorities. Wency Leung and Chen Wang report on the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Behind Bars No More
As we have become increasingly aware these past several years, institutional investments matter. And as public awareness has grown, so has pressure for the big funds to divest from ethically and environmentally suspect parts of their portfolio, be they holdings in fossil fuels, tobacco, firearms or gambling, to name
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Anna McMillan reports on the disproportionate effect COVID-19 has (predictably) had on First Nations reserves in Saskatchewan. And Maan Ahmidi reports on the appearances and realities arising out of the Libs’ continued appeals against orders to stop withholding equal access to services from
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Pensioner and the Pandemic
This is the post I was going to write before I was rudely interrupted and told to lock myself in my room. I may indeed be the least affected person on the planet by this pandemic, and the only one that it seems to be not such a big deal,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On meritless demands
Mitchell Anderson is right to question why Jason Kenney is so obsessed with betting the pensions of every Albertan on dirty fossil fuels. And that goes doubly when his government’s previous exercise in gambling with provincial wealth has produced massive losses due to a grossly flawed risk evaluation strategy. But
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Is Kenney Coming After Our Pensions?
Premier Jason Kenney, ardent free market conservative, has started sounding a little like Peter Lougheed, a former premier with more progressive conservative leanings. Indeed Lougheed was once labelled “Peter the Red” by B.C. Premier Dave Barrett after he bought Alberta an airline. Lougheed never hesitated to dive into socialism when
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: 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 Wallace-Wells notes that while a response to our climate crisis is possible using the resources of society as a whole,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Joseph Stiglitz, Todd Tucker and Gabriel Zucman write about the need for governments to bring in sufficient revenue to act in the public interest. And Sophie Alexander points out some of the millionaires who want their class to contribute their fair share. –
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – James Bradley writes about the range of responses to an increasingly threatening climate. And Emma Morris offers some suggestions as to how to become part of the solution to the climate crisis. – Adrienne Buller discusses why the popular and necessary prospect of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Sarah Schulman discusses the importance of sleep as a determinant of health, arguing that a safe bed is the first step toward addressing all kinds of social ills. – Laura Lynch interviews Adria Vasil about the massive amount of avoidable waste generated
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Abby Innes writes that the UK’s general election reflects a decision point as to whether to discard neoliberalism to serve the public, or democracy for the benefit of plutocrats. And Trish Hennessy looks at Cleveland’s move to ensure a democratic economic system, including
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