Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Rita Bhowmick writes about the importance of care services both in keeping people healthy and ensuring equitable work opportunities. And Steven Lewis examines the dishonesty and gaslighting behind the destruction of public Medicare in by the UCP, while Kaylene Duttchen and Paul Parks point out the consistent body of evidence showing that private and for-profit medicine only draws resources away from the care people actually need.  

- Runting Li et al. study (PDF) the connection between the proliferation of microplastics and nanoplastics, and the proliferation of brain tumours. 

- Donal Gill offers a warning about the dangers of making political and social decisions to serve the interests of tech giants pushing AI propaganda rather than people. Jessica Winter highlights the community efforts to keep AI from take over education systems. And Nilay Patel discusses how "software brain" is causing immense changes without people recognizing what's happening. 

- The New York Times' editorial board rightly warns that the return of measles presages far worse diseases making a comeback due to the anti-science attack on vaccinations. And the Boston Globe reports on the growing number of Americans suffering from long COVID. 

- Finally, Heather Scoffield reports on the false promise of Canada's disability tax credit which (along with associated supports) has been designed to be unavailable to most people who actually qualify.  

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Ana Marie Cox discusses how Jeffrey Epstein was able to amass influence and commit atrocities by sharing the discriminatory and dehumanizing values with his targets. Solani Kolakhtar notes that the Epstein class consists entirely of wealthy and privileged people using anti-elite messaging to distract from their own contempt for and exploitation of the general public. And Jamelle Bouie talks to Andrea Pitzer about the nature of concentration camps as means of treating disfavoured people into things to be warehoused. 

- Sam Freedman highlights the challenges for governments in trying to reach any meaningful proportion of the public in a media environment which is both fragmented into numerous technical channels, yet still largely controlled by the wealthy few. And John Herrman weighs in on Elon Musk's deliberate choice to use X to breed hatred and bigotry, while Justin Hendrix talks to Jose Marichal about the importance of challenging the implicit algorithmic contract underlying our interaction with major social media sites.

- Joseph Stiglitz, Monica Geingos and Michael Marmot warn that inequality will make the next pandemic worse (even as the right's attacks on science and public health mean it will likely happen sooner). And McKenzie Beard offers a summary of how various communicable diseases spread, as well as how best to mitigate risk at the individual level. 

- Finally, Phillip Inman reports on a new study showing how the arbitrary elimination of remote work options has a disproportionate effect on people with disabilities as well as people relied upon to perform care work. 

 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that to end your year.

- Matthew Rosza examines how humanity as a whole is falling far short of its professed climate change commitments even though we have the technology to decarbonize rapidly. Tom Parkin and The Energy Mix each point out that the Trudeau Libs have both chosen to set weaker emission reduction targets than recommended by their own experts, and failed to produce a plan capable of even meeting those. David Vetter reports on the increased use of fossil carbon in infrastructure and consumer goods, creating yet another time bomb which will be released into the atmosphere. And Daryl Fairweather et al. find that homebuyers are eager to avoid floods and other climate-related risks - if they actually have information available to understand them. 

- Sammy Hudes discusses the need for a housing strategy to include more accessible accommodations. Larissa Kurz talks to frontline workers about the government choices which have exacerbated the homelessness crisis. And Andrew Boozary points out that homelessness comes at a steep economic cost in addition to its obvious damage to people's health and well-being. 

- Benjamin Mateus interviews Arijit Charkavarty about our failure to limit the foreseeable effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. And Shrabasta Bhattacharya points out new research showing that COVID substantially harms kidney function, while Aisulu Karkabayeva et al. discuss how it has given rise to widespread autoimmune diseases. 

- Meanwhile, Caitlin Rivers discusses the lessons we should be learning in advance of the next large pandemic. 

- Finally, AL Kennedy offers a year-end message on the need to maintain hope - and to act like citizens of the world we want to see.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Julia Conley reports on the continued accumulation of riches in the hands of a few, as the total wealth of billionaires has more than doubled worldwide over just the last 9 years. And Susan Riley points out that the right's supposed solution to economic anxiety will only make matters worse by diverting even more wealth upward. 

- The Hatchet discusses how price-fixing and profit-taking is the norm across the food supply chain - with manufacturers being no less guilty than major grocery chains. And Dustin Godfrey reports that independent grocers without the clout of a corporate conglomerate are struggling to survive the combination of supplier price increases and deep-pocketed competition.  

- Solarino Ho points out the inevitable consequences of putting housing in the hands of billion-dollar corporations who are both ruthless (to the point of collusion) in extracting the highest possible rent and fees, and utterly unconcerned with tenants' well-being. And Kathy Moreland writes that Doug Ford's plan to punish homeless people does nothing to help them. 

- Krista Carr discusses what the Libs' choice to exclude people receiving disability payments from their general rebate continues to say about erasure by design. 

- Alice Marwick writes that the concept of mainstream media is increasingly becoming obsolete, based on both the availability of viewpoint-driven sources (if currently tilted toward the right) and many people's decreased interest in accessing news as a separate category of content. And Andrew Potter muses about the implications of artificial intelligence being able to mimic any distinct or creative voice. 

- Ron Johnson highlights what cities lose when they purge bike infrastructure in favour of car-centric urban design. And Dan Sheehan calls out how American public space has long been set up to endanger pedestrians.  

- Finally, Catherine McKenna discusses her collaboration with the fossil fuel sector in what it pretended to be a commitment to long-term climate policy - as well as her subsequent realization (obvious though it seemed to some of us all along) that oil barons ultimately have no interest in being good-faith participants in averting climate disaster if it means the slightest haircut to their profit margins.  

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey document the dark-money false flag operation used by Republicans and their wealthy owners to depress Democratic turnout. And Justin Ling calls out Pierre Poilievre for relying on absurd claims to try to generate outrage within the Cons' low-information base. 

- Meanwhile, Thomas Zimmer laments how the U.S.' upper class is indicating its plans to accommodate Donald Trump's authoritarianism in order to preserve its position of privilege. 

- Clement Nocos discusses how Justin Trudeau's temporary GST giveaway is a poor substitute for removing consumption taxes from essential goods. And Danyaal Raza points out that Canadians in general are paying for the private health insurance that's prioritizing the wealthy and undermining our public health care system. 

- Mike Moffatt points out that mixed-use, walkable neighbourhoods can do wonders to both alleviate the housing crisis and minimize avoidable carbon pollution. And Iglika Ivanova and Anastasia French discuss how soaring housing costs are driving up the living wage needed to get by in Vancouver (among other cities). 

- Finally, Nadia Hasan writes about the need for real disability benefits to account for the fact that most people will be disabled at some point. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Crawford Kilian discusses how avoidable harms to people's health and well-being are inflicted on us as "costs of doing business". Patrick Miner et al. examine the harm cars cause to people and the environment - including a seven-figure death toll every year. Rishabh Chauhan highlights how the cultivation of consumerism is endangering our living environment. JTO writes that the emerging (and appalling) trend toward mask bans in the midst of an ongoing pandemic seems to be based in no small part on business' desire to encourage people to spend recklessly. 

- Meanwhile, the Club of Rome points out the widespread public demand for more fair taxes and stronger climate action across the G20. Jacob Nelson discusses how corporate control has undermined public trust in journalism. And Simon Spichak discusses how disabled people in Canada have been condemned to lives of poverty.

- The Associated Press reports on new research showing that the carbon emissions from Canada's 2023 wildfire season were four times those of every airplane in the world. And Ross Belot writes that the implications of Deloitte's recent report showing that carbon capture is non-viable include the reality that oil and gas development are similarly ill-fated. 

- Cory Doctorow points out that clean energy technology is at risk of falling into the same enshittified practices as every other form of commercial production. 

- Finally, Dougald Lamont warns that governments today are making the same mistakes that led to the rise of fascism in the 1930s - particularly in prioritizing laissez-faire doctrine over the well-being of citizens. And Greg Sargent notes that one of Donald Trump's most important weaknesses for electoral purposes may be his brazenly corrupt pandering to plutocrats. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Nicole Grether writes about the hundreds of thousands of young people orphaned by COVID-19 in the U.S. alone, while Kyodo News reports on research in Japan documenting how acute brain syndrome following infection can be fatal for children. Lisa Riley Roche tells the story of a teacher facing the lasting effects of long COVID, while Heather Stewart discusses the fight for fairness in the workplace for people already suffering from the condition. And Lizz Schumer highlights how the lack of action to help people dealing with long COVID fits into the wider pattern of failing to acknowledge and accommodate invisible disabilities. 

- Selena Simmons-Duffin discusses the U.S.' collapsing life expectancy due to multiple avoidable causes of death. Tom Krisher reports on new research showing that ever-larger SUVs and trucks are causing escalating numbers of pedestrian fatalities. And Bonnie Allen offers a memorial for the 1,200 Saskatchewanians who have died of drug poisonings in just the last three years (as the Moe government has gone out of its way to eliminate any harm reduction options). 

- Kim Willsher writes about the role of women on the front lines of France's pension protests in refusing to be told they'll have to work until they die. And Jason Resnikoff discusses how solidarity - not automation - is the key variable in determining whether workers will have the leverage to protect their interests. 

- Andrew Longhurst, Amit Arya and Lesley Barron point out that Western Canada's experience with for-profit surgery has provided nothing but a cautionary tale - even as Doug Ford is determined to barge ahead with corporatized medicine in Ontario. And Patrick Rucker, Maya Miller and David Armstrong expose how one major U.S. health insurer is simply denying claims as a matter of course, ensuring that patients facing medical difficulties are systematically forced to fight their insurer at the same time. 

- Finally, Saber Chowdhury and Ed Markey comment on the need to phase out fossil fuels now, rather than looking for excuses to keep dumping carbon pollution into our atmosphere. And David Schlissel discusses how nuclear reactors are a thoroughly inadequate alternative, costing more and taking far more time to build than renewable energy sources and storage options. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Hannah Davis et al. review what we know so far about long COVID - and how much work remains to be done in making treatments and support available. And Phil Tank discusses some of the myths and distortions which continue to distract people from an ongoing pandemic in Saskatchewan. 

- Meanwhile, Bill Hodgins reports on a staff report from Peterborough Public Health pushing for improved indoor air quality to deal with COVID and other health issues. 

- Anupriya Dasgupta examines how fossil fuel companies are allowed to disseminate blatant disinformation through mainstream media channels. And Dana Drugmand reports on the appointment of an oil CEO to oversee the next round of global climate talks.

- David Schlissel examines the inordinate cost of modular nuclear reactors compared existing clean energy options. Yet as the Moe government insists on pouring money into nuclear vaporware, Carla Shynkaruk reports on a Saskatoon group home which is shutting down and displacing nine residents due to a lack of provincial funding.

- Finally, Andrea Pinochet-Escudero writes about the limitations of organizing solely for an election campaign. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your Boxing Day reading.

- Robert Reich discusses the dangers of relying on - and indeed building a political and economic system to favour - the social costs of extreme greed. And the Canadian Press reports on the Trudeau Libs' plan to take foreign aid even further in that direction, prioritizing funding for privatized infrastructure projects over humanitarian resources.

- Meanwhile, Peter Zimonjic, Tyler Buist and Arielle Piat-Sauve report on Justin Trudeau's refusal to consider windfall taxes on the corporations profiteering at the expense of Canadians - even as Portugal joins the numerous countries showing it can be done.

- Benjamin Mateus writes about new research showing that COVID-19 was the leading cause of death worldwide in 2021. And Emily Putman reports on the expert recognition that an ongoing pandemic and other infectious diseases highlight the value of a true national pharmacare program, while Yvette Brend points out the need to ensure (sorely-needed) funding for health care is put toward preventative measures.  

- Michael Janz writes about the value of dedicated bike lanes to ensure healthier communities for cyclists and drivers alike. And Carlton Reid reports on the revelation that electric car batteries are generally lasting longer than anticipated, meaning there's less need for churn and reprocessing than once expected. 

- Don Lee discusses how work from home has allowed for an increase in workforce participation by people with disabilities - at least until arbitrary rules about office work are reinstated.

- Finally, Catherynne Valente writes about the longstanding pattern of corporatized sites and apps trying to push people to buy things and/or hurt each other - as well as the potential for a return to online relationships better focused on sharing meaningful information.

Saturday Afternoon Links

 Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading.

- Jim Naureckas discusses the absurdity of the New York Times (among other outlets) criticizing the idea of saving millions of lives from COVID rather than choosing to act in denial of it. Paige Ouimet points out the widespread long-term damage long COVID is inflicting on the U.S.' workforce. And Rachel Jobson interviews Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha about the need to recognize both the reality of people with disabilities generally, and the importance of listening to them in caring for those newly disabled by the pandemic.

- Becky Kane writes that an obsession with quantifying worker productivity through constant surveillance is serving mostly to undermine its theoretical purposes. 

- Justin McCurry writes about the popularity of Kohei Saito's Capital in the Anthropocene as a rallying call for degrowth and greater equality. And Owen Schalk offers his own reminder of the dangers of pursuing growth for its own sake.

- Finally, Audrey Nilson discusses new research showing that gratuitously lengthy prison sentences don't lead to community safety.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Fiona Small writes about the hope that one of the responses to COVID-19 will be a shift toward inhaled vaccines. But for those expecting that efforts will be made to address an ongoing pandemic, Melody Schrieber reports on new research showing the U.S.'s case count is off by a multiple of 30 or more. And Bill Kaufman reports on the documents showing how the UCP was fully aware of the effectiveness of mask mandates in preventing school outbreaks when it decreed that nobody in Alberta's public schools would be protected by them. 

- John Loeppky discusses the problem with a system of supports for people with disabilities which fails to take into account the inevitable transition from childhood to adulthood. And John Clarke highlights how our governments currently regulate people living in poverty more than they make any effort to ensure an acceptable standard of living. 

- Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan offer a reminder that the corporate sector is no help whatsoever, as oligopolists have managed to endanger the supply of food for babies by pushing short-term profits over the supply of needed nutrition. And Leilani Farha writes that the right to a home is similarly being unmet due to the financialization of housing. 

- But as Zak Vescera reports, the Saskatchewan Party is looking to push a for-profit health care model which will ensure that public money flows to their cronies (not that people receive the services they need). And Hasan Sheikh and Brandon Doucet discuss the need for dental care to be publicly delivered to ensure access. 

- In case there was any doubt as to the need to build up progressive organizing infrastructure, Alexander Sammon reports on the Republicans' secretive efforts at sophisticated outreach in only the few minority communities which fall within swing districts, while Jonathan Chait exposes Donald Trump's institutionalized efforts to disrupt and overturn elections which don't suit his purposes. 

- Finally, Joan Walsh is right to be concerned about the future of democracy in the U.S. And Cassie Miller discusses how the problem is as much one of public opinion as partisan action, with large number of Americans buying into racist "great replacement" messages. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Aekkachai Tuekprakhon et al. study how the Omicron COVID-19 subvariants are evading both previous immunity and existing treatments. And Zak Vescera reports on Dr. Saqib Shahab's recognition that misinformation and apathy are key factors keeping Saskatchewan's vaccination rates low - though both government policy and messaging have played a substantial role in their development. 

- Meanwhile, Dr. Kevin Wasko discusses the five key areas where Saskatchewan's health care system is in the most need of improvement.

- Isaac Callan reports on the Ford PCs' refusal to make any effort to even discuss accessibility improvements for people with disabilities. And as Vanmala Subramaniam reports, that contrasts thoroughly against their choice to grant virtually every item on the wish list of Uber and other exploiters of precarious workers seeking to avoid normal employment responsibilities. Luke Lebrun exposes the PC's approval of a candidate whose background involves scamming students through an unaccredited career college. And Randy Robinson discusses the state of the Ontario election campaign - including the strong demand for change among women.  

- Alex Hemingway highlights how an investment in public housing can be self-financing while meeting people's essential needs. 

- Barry Saxifrage examines how Canada (like other countries) fell far short of its Copenhagen climate change commitments, while AFP reports on InfluenceMap's research showing how the fossil fuel sector is trying to use Russia's attack on Ukraine as an excuse to keep ignoring any climate responsibilities. And Damian Carrington reports on Antonio Gutteres' call for young people to refuse to pursue work with climate wreckers. 

- Finally, Clint Smith rightly opines that nobody should have to live through the losses caused by the U.S.' refusal to avoid readily-preventable mass shootings. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Smriti Mallapaty reports on new research indicating that a two-thirds of U.S. children short of vaccination eligibility have been infected with COVID-19. Hannah Farrow reports on the U.S.' preparations for another wave this fall and winter (even as Congress refuses to fund vaccines or treatments), while Ian Welsh discusses the effect of China's zero COVID policy compared to the defeatism of so many other governments.  

- Ricardo Tranjan laments the lack of willingness among Ontario's political parties to eliminate poverty. And Brennan Doherty reports on the grassroots push for a liveable income for people with disabilities. 

- Matt McGrath reports on new research showing we have at best a 50/50 chance of even limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees over the next 5 years. The Chicago Sun-Times' editorial board endorses the passage of the Biden administration's climate change investment plans. And Natasha Bulowski offers a look at the type of lobbying efforts which have undermined the type of action needed to avert a climate breakdown, while Rachel Thrasher, Blake Alexander Simmons and Kyla Tienhaara point out that the oil industry is using the threat of exorbitant claims under free trade agreements to strongarm less-compliant governments. 

- Mark Vosler offers an overview of the health effects of relying on gas for energy. And Roberta Staley examines how livestock are both affected by and contributing to the climate crisis. 

- Mike de Souza and Matt Simmons report on the RCMP's false cover stories for their violent attack on Wet’suwet’en pipeline protestors and the journalists trying to provide an accurate account of the circumstances. 

- Finally, Vanessa Balintec reports on the alarming number of Canadian workplaces which offer no safety training whatsoever to employees. And Alex Hemingway discusses how British Columbia's reintroduction of one-step certification for unions will help to ensure workers are better able to stand up for their interests.

[Edit: fixed typo.]

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- William Haseltine writes about the long-lasting and severe cognitive effects of long COVID, while Danny Altmann discusses the urgency of developing effective treatment given the reality that vaccines do little to prevent it. Katherine Wu warns that the U.S. is rapidly losing any window to set up a relatively safe summer, while Yasmine Ghania reports on the prospect that Saskatchewan could be in for months of high transmission to come. And Phil Tank rightly criticizes Scott Moe's choice to deprive people of any current information about the spread of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan even as he claims he wants them to manage their own risks. 

- Brigitte Pellerin points out the Libs' failure to live up to their promise of a disability benefit for Canadians even as provincial governments eliminate any pandemic supports or protections. 

- Naveena Sadisavam writes about the IPCC's conclusion that it's not too late to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius if countries live up to their climate commitments immediately. And Mia Rabson discusses the problem with a climate change policy which is designed to allow the largest emitters to pay the least for their carbon pollution. 

- Qi Yang, Mohsen Mosleh, Tauhid Zaman and David Rand study the familiar gripe that Twitter content management is biased against conservatives, and finds instead that content moderation is consistently based on the level of misinformation being shared by users of any political leaning.  

- Meanwhile, Stephen Magusiak discusses how Jason Kenney is trying to import Republican culture wars - including an attack on any recognition of historical or systemic discrimination - into Alberta's curriculum and education system. 

- Finally, David Dayen writes about the risks of making global trade dependent on China's monopoly in shipping container manufacturing. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Shiven Taneja writes about the glaring need to keep masking to avoid the spread of COVID-19 even if governments have abandoned their role in ensuring that happens. Andrew Nikiforuk discusses how public health strategies built around herd immunity through natural infection were abject failures from the beginning, while Devi Sridhard notes that they're particularly worthless now that reinfection is known to be a regular occurrence. And Miriam Stoppard, Imogen McGuckin and Josh Luckhurst examine some of the new research showing the harm even a supposedly mild case of COVID can do to major organs.

- Meanwhile, the Guardian offers an insider's look at how the UK's ambulance service is collapsing due to a Con government desperate to avoid acknowledging there's still a pandemic in progress. 

- Randy Robinson writes that any response to temporary inflation needs to be targeted toward the people who have the least ability to protect themselves against its effects. And Kim Samuel and Maria Rio make the case for a living wage. 

- Joseph Tunney reports on the Lib government's choice to develop a budget which strongly favours men over women. Ted Raymond reports on its concurrent failure to help people with disabilities who were promised far better. And John Paul Tasker examines the multiple campaign promises (which would have been fully supported by the NDP) which didn't make the cut in the Libs' priorities. 

- Peter Ewart, Alex Hemingway and Dawn Hemingway discuss the need for improved public intercity transit in British Columbia. 

- Finally, Marin Cogan talks to Jessie Singer about the reality that we need to stop treating injuries and damage as "accidents" when they're readily traceable to systemic causes and choices. 

Friday Morning Links

 Assorted content to end your week.

- Carly Weeks examines why so many Canadian children still haven't been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. John Loeppky asks that we not eliminate the digital solutions which have allowed people with disabilities to participate on somewhat more equal ground. Zak Vescera reports on Saskatchewan's ballooning waitlists for surgery and other medical treatment as the Moe government piles more and more COVID cases on the health care system. And Sean Amato reports on the Kenney UCP's plans for privatized surgeries in Alberta - and the fact that Saskatchewan is already serving as a cautionary tale.   

- Abacus Data examines the widespread burnout among Canadian workers. And Quentin Fottrell writes that the large number of resignations in the U.S. can be traced to an attempt to regain some agency and time. 

- Cameron Fenton makes the case for a just transition to undercut the rage machine funded in part by and for the fossil fuel sector. And Harvey Kaye and Alan Minsky call for an economic bill of rights to ensure everybody has a base level of economic security. 

- But Mark Melnychuk reports on changes to CRA requirements which are making it needlessly difficult for homeless people and people living in poverty to file their taxes - creating a gratuitous obstacle to the receipt of benefits which depend on tax returns being filed.

- Paul Krugman suggests that money laundered overseas may be a crucial weakness for Vladimir Putin and his cadre of oligarchs. But Julia Rock and David Sirota note that sanctions won't be effective as long as corporate lobbyists undermine them with carve-outs for the schemes and sectors which benefit the wealthy the most. 

- Finally, the Associated Press reports on the International Energy Agency's recognition that methane emissions from fossil fuel production are far more severe than admitted by the fossil fuel industry or the governments who are supposed to be regulating it. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- BBC reports on the justified fears of medically vulnerable people that they're being left behind by the UK Cons' decision to eliminate all COVID protections, while Kendall Latimer takes note of the similar situation facing Saskatchewan's seniors. Rohan Smith reports on the emerging evidence that the Omicron BA.2 variant - which is being allowed to spread freely as governments abandon any interest in public health - may be the most dangerous one yet. And Apoorva Mandavilli reports on the hope that a single booster vaccination may prime a body's immune system to respond to existing and future variants for some time to come. 

- Michael Harris writes that we shouldn't understate or euphemize the threat posed by the #FluTruxKlan - particularly by treating its hostile occupation of a civilian population as being comparable to legitimate protest. And Andrew Nikiforuk points out the foreign propaganda machine which was activated to exacerbate the insurrection. 

- Pete Evans examines some of the structural causes behind higher food prices. But Ellen Ioanes reminds us that corporations are positively bragging about their extraction of higher profits under the cover of "inflation". 

- Finally, CBC News reports on the recommendations of Newfoundland and Labrador's Health Accord panel - which include familiar themes about ensuring a basic income and better addressing the social determinants of health. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Jonathan Koltai et al. study the mental health effects of COVID vaccination - finding a justified decrease in stress among people who have been vaccinated, if flagging at the same time the continued mental health burden being imposed by governments who are determined to tear down vaccine passports and other public health protections. And Elizabeth Payne reports on the spread of the more severe and contagious BA.2 Omicron variant in Canada even as the most basic of public health measures are being stripped away.

- Phil Tank reports on the secretive anti-vaxxers who are now setting Saskatchewan's public health policy thanks to Scott Moe. And PressProgress highlights the role of far-right evangelical churches in promoting and stoking the #FluTruxKlan.

- Gabrielle Peters discusses how the convoy and its demands to surrender to the coronavirus represent a unique threat to disabled people. Rachel Snow writes that the racism laid bare and amplified by the kid-glove treatment of violent white occupiers is all too familiar for Indigenous people. And Vinay Menon laments that Canadian governance has been turned into just another symbol in the U.S.' perpetual culture wars.

- Drew Anderson reports that Alberta is well aware that the province's list of contaminated sites is far more severe than publicly admitted - but that the Kenney UCP is fighting tooth and nail to prevent the public from finding out. Justine Calma discusses how the false promise of carbon capture and storage is being used almost exclusively to paper over the continued extraction and burning of fossil fuels. And Melissa Aronczyk notes that oil industry PR holds far too much sway in determining both our terms of reference and policy choices in trying to avert climate breakdown.

- Finally, Grace Blakeley discusses why it's essential for workers to demand wage increases in the face of both increased demands on employees and corporate-imposed price inflation.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Arundhati Roy writes that pandemics may herald new political directions - though that reality makes the exploitation of compassion fatigue by corporate extractive forces all the more alarming. Gregg Gonsalves discusses the risks of declaring a premature end to a pandemic, while Dan Lett highlights how Manitoba's declaration of a "new normal" is only courting disaster. Adam Taylor reports that Africa may have already seen widespread infection which wasn't documented due to a lack of testing. Ed Stannard reports on new research showing the long-term symptoms of COVID include limited absorption of oxygen from blood. Laura Spinney notes that long-term disabilities are an entirely foreseeable outcome of a pandemic which is allowed to run out of control. And Brenda Goodman reports on the growing evidence of the increased severity of the BA.2 Omicron variant. 

- Meanwhile, Zak Vescera reports on the tuberculosis outbreak in northern Saskatchewan which the Moe government is treating with the same strategy of denial as the COVID pandemic. 

- Joyce Green and Gina Starblanket discuss how police deference to the #FluTruxKlan highlights a grossly unequal view as to whose interests matter, while Anya Zoledziowski writes that the effect of the convoy has been to make BIPOC people all the less safe in their own cities. And Justin Ling reports that authorities allowed the occupation to take hold despite having received ample warning that it was serving as a cover for violent extremists.  

- Finally, Abdul Al-Sayed discusses how corporate greed is the main driver of the inflation currently being used as an excuse to suppress wages and social supports. And Alex Hemingway reminds us about the importance of public planning and investment to ensure outcomes that benefit everybody - not only the few with the wealth and power to dictate decision-making behind closed doors. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Cory Neudorf asks that Saskatchewan not play Russian roulette with the Omicron COVID variant.  Rahul Suryawanshi et al. find that any theory of hoping for protection through infection is as foolish now as ever, since Omicron itself is limited in the immunity it encounters or provides against other variants. And Theresa Tam confirms the consensus that Omicron remains infectious for just as long as prior variants - making the push to shift people back to work sooner another example of wilful neglect of public health. 

- Meanwhile, Matthew Elmas discusses how Australia has slashed support payments to force gig workers to rush back to work rather than self-isolating. 

- Colleen Silverthorn reports on the desperate state of Saskatchewan long-term care homes fighting outbreaks among workers and residents alike. Laura Sang describes the brutal toll of a 16-hour hospital shift in the midst of a cresting COVID wave. And Laesa Kim is rightly outraged that her five-year-old daughter - like so many other people with other disabilities - is being sacrificed in the misplaced attempt to return to "normal". 

- Damian Carrington reports on new research showing that chemical pollution is yet another form of environmental damage which has crossed a boundary incompatible with a stable living environment. 

- Finally, Geoff Dembicki looks in depth at the manipulative police tactics and massive amount of public resources used to abuse women and undermine environmental activism.