Nuggets @ Suns

Love to all pikas and pika-lovers 🥰

I can't comment on the mutation risk, but about 1% of people can't get vaccinated for medical reasons. So, persons declining measles and polio vaccines for conspiracy reasons put immunologically susceptible people at greater risk of contracting these previously eliminated diseases. Also, I think we have some obligation to protect children from conspiracy-crazed parents who fail to get their kids immunized. The effects of polio contracted in childhood are lifelong

The case was brought by seven young people who argue Ontario's weakened emissions target violated the Charter.

They allege the target violated their right to life in part by committing Ontario to dangerously high levels of planet-warming emissions and discriminated against them as youth who will bear the brunt of the impacts.

Fraser Thomson, a lawyer representing the young people, says Ontario's application "opens the door to a generation-defining hearing before Canada's highest court."

The case dates back to when Premier Doug Ford's then-newly elected Progressive Conservative government repealed the law underpinning Ontario's cap-and-trade system for lowering emissions.

The government scrapped the system in 2018 and replaced the emissions target in that law — 37 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030 — with a new target of 30 per cent below 2005 levels.

The young people suggest the revised target allows for additional annual emissions equivalent to about seven million passenger vehicles.

Right on. I'm realizing that I think I've overestimated sport betting's current market share in the landscape of Canadian gambling, because 1) I'm into sports and 2) almost everyone seems to agree that sports betting ads too common. They're still still smaller than land-based casinos, government online gambling, lotteries, etc

I agree quite a bit with you, but the new 'legal' sports gambling is private (and really under-regulated).

The government has clearly failed to regulate sports gambling advertising enough.

I would guess that sports gambling companies only pay the corporate tax rate. If so, that is bullshit and there should be added tax on gambling profits. This can help fund treatment, research, and awareness-building about problematic gambling

Current governments (in Canada; e.g., Federal, Alberta, Ontario) seem very focused on protecting the current fossil fuel oligarchs and their profits and very underfocused on the green economy transition, sustainability, affordability, livability

Given the enormous stakes of our transition away from fossil fuels, I think we need more data - prepared independent of Western commercial interests - to conclude that tariffs (on Chinese EVs - I assume that's what you're referring to) aren't counter-productive. I do not trust Western automakers to prepare those data, and I would gladly to purchase an economical Chinese EV without any exorbitant tariffs myself. Otherwise, I'd buy an old ICE car. It's well documented how egregiously privacy-violating modern US-made cars are; no @#$%ing way would I buy one for $60k. I suspect we'll see a lot of NA automakers taking these EV funds from the Canadian government and deliver little in return. I'm not buying a flimsy Chinese boogeyman argument to prop them up and take them off the hook from innovating. China's leading the way in several sustainable energy endeavours as I understand it. Sure, there are a lot of problems with the country (like many other countries). I wish we'd focus on competing with them on sustainable energy efforts versus use protectionist policies that favour local corporations but disadvantage local consumers and slow down the divestment away from fossil fuels

I agree I think that's a bit optimistic after decades of anti- (democratic) socialism and pro neoliberalism propaganda. Off the top of my head, I like working classes (plural) for inclusivity, solidarity, and clarity. I would hope that someone with some investments that still works paid employment for their income realizes that they have far more in common with the more narrowly defined working class than they do the oligarch class that's bent on stealing our social services and driving political narratives

Well said!

This is a class war jfc

Totally. I think we need to coin a "war on the working classes" that will be useful in the messaging of what we expect from progressive governments. Because wealth inequality is at an all-time high and showing no signs of stopping and "war on X" language has historically been effective at getting people to recognize and understand structural issues