Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week. 

- Gregg Gonsalves writes about the continued dangers of responding to COVID with wishful thinking rather than realistic public health measures, while Meredith Wadman reports on how the spread of the Omicron BA.2 strain has caught the scientific community off guard. The National Institute for Health Research points out new research showing long-term lung abnormalities resulting even from mild cases. And Zak Vescera reports on the desperate state of Saskatchewan's hospitals as Scott Moe declares it's open season for community transmission, while Scott Larson reports on the continued conversion of testing into a corporate profit centre rather than a public service. 

- Omer Aziz writes about #FluTruxKlan's assault on Canadian democracy. And Emma Jackson writes that the left can learn some lessons about outreach (while of course advancing an equitable vision rather than the destructive one of the right).  

- Grace Blakeley discusses the appalling level of control exercised by the wealthiest few over the economic and social structures that stand in the way of well-being for so many. And John Nichols suggests a 92% pandemic windfall tax to at least ensure that a public emergency doesn't serve to exacerbate the concentration of wealth and power. 

- Peter Nicholson highlights the three tragedies that stand in the way of the action we need to avert climate breakdown. And Georgina Rannard reports on satellite mapping showing that methane leakage is far worse than normally assumed - making the rate of climate destruction even more severe. 

- Finally, Ricardo Tranjan, Tania Oliveira and Randy Robinson discuss the need for new investment to enable schools and students to catch up after two years of near-constant disruption.