Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Andrew Gregory reports on new research showing that tens of millions of adults may already be facing long-term loss of smell and/or taste as a result of COVID even as further waves are allowing to run rampant. And Kevin Woodward implores us to get control over monkeypox before it too is able to harm people through uncontrolled spread. 

- Linda McQuaig discusses how hikes in interest rates in the name of fighting inflation serves primarily to enrich the already-wealthy at the expense of everybody else, while Robert Reich similarly criticizes the U.S. Federal Reserve for rate boosts which serve none of their intended purposes. And Sarah Butler reports on some of the food staples which are increasing in price with the primary effect of goosing corporate profits. 

- Justin Vassallo discusses why progressives shouldn't be shy about trade policy - both because it's a necessary element to an equitable economy, and because we've been absolutely right about the effects of reckless deregulation and corporatization.  

- Meanwhile, Joshua Schneyer, Mica Rosenberg and Kristina Cooke expose how Hyundai has been using child labour in its Alabama manufacturing facilities. 

- Ramenda Cyrus discusses the need for social housing as both a countercyclical economic force, and a right all too often being denied to the people who need it most. 

- Finally, Monique Welch reports on the certainty that Texas inmates will die from extreme heat in facilities which aren't equipped with needed air conditioning. PA Media points out new research showing that air pollution is likely to raise dementia levels and exacerbate cognitive decline in an aging population. Ketan Joshi writes that in the face of a supposed consensus on the need to avert climate breakdown, Australia's new government is planning on pushing exports whose carbon pollution will far exceed any reductions from domestic use. And Sandy Garossino makes the case for suing major fossil fuel companies based on their knowing damage to our planet, combined with the deliberate cover-up and misinformation which continue to create obstacles to amelioration.