Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Ed Yong writes that the tragic legacy of the COVID-19 is one of policymakers repeating (and indeed increasing) the same mistakes at the expense of people's lives and health. And Stephanie Kampf and Adrienne Arsenault discuss the desperate situation facing emergency rooms as an unchecked pandemic is piled on top of an already-underresourced health care system. 

- Meanwhile, Molly Gill writes about the reality that the release of prisoners to limit the spread of COVID produced virtually no effect on public safety - raising the question of how many more people are being incarcerated at great expense without any social benefit. And Mikkael Sekeres explores what it took for regulators to remove ingredients including antifreeze from what were pitched as curative elixirs - offering a stark reminder of how dangerous it is to take a  manufacturer's word as to the effect of a product without a sound regulatory system. 

- Michael Green studies the connection between inequality in smoking rates and other related health problems including dementia. Elizabeth Chuck reports on the plight of U.S. students who are going hungry for want of eliminated school lunch programs. And Kat Eschner discusses how the housing crisis (driven by a political imperative to inflate property values for the benefit of wealthier voters) feeds into wider inequalities in Canada.

- David Borer offers a reminder that the best solution to a lousy job is a union, though Andrea Hsu reports that Starbucks is among the employers engaging in wanton law-breaking and retaliation in order to prevent workers from achieving that outcome. And Dylan Matthews discusses the need for "encompassing coalitions" (such as class-based unions) to ensure that public policy doesn't merely cater to smaller interests including the wealthy. 

- Finally, Marc Fawcett-Atkinson reports on the coordination between the Poilievre Cons, the alt-right noise machine and the fossil fuel industry to spread conspiracy theories about fertilizer bans in order to farm outrage. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Ed Yong offers an important look at what long COVID's "brain fog" means for the people suffering from it, while Peter Thurley discusses his personal experience with it. Mark Caro reports on the work being done - and the desperate need for more attention - in studying and treating long COVID generally. And Adam Miller discusses what it means for a large majority of Canadians to have now been infected - including the reality that some incremental immunity doesn't relieve us of the need to protect against avoidable infections and reinfections. 

- Vjosa Isai reports on the general crisis in Canadian emergency rooms as provincial governments have chosen to placed constant strain on already-struggling health care workers. But Gordon Guyatt warns against being scared into accepting privatized health services which only serve to further diminish their availability for anybody but the wealthiest few. 

- Steve Wamhoff points out the need for those with the most to pay taxes like everybody else, rather than being protected by preferential regimes won through political pay-for-play. Ben Butler and Nick Evershed report on the stark gap in pay increases between Australia's CEOs and its workers generally. And Jacob Lorinc reports on the growing recognition that sharp interest rate increases will cause a recession that mostly hits workers after capitalists have already locked in their gains. 

- Marc Fawcett-Atkinson discusses the gall of the right-wing provincial governments who didn't wait a day after accepting billions from the federal government for agriculture before spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation about supports for fertilizer efficiency. And Duncan Kinney reports on the Edmonton Police Service's plans to carry out mass arrests of counter-protesters while laying out the red carpet for the Flu Trux Klan. 

- Finally, Karl Nerenberg writes about Pierre Piolievre's predictable - if glaringly unsuccessful - attempt to pivot toward more moderate branding after spending the Conservative leadership campaign catering unabashedly to violent extremists. And Max Fawcett notes that some of his gratuitous fights - including one against any media which fails to serve as an unquestioning dispenser of his talking points - have only just begun. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Yasmine Ghania reports on the wastewater analyses showing that Saskatchewan is facing a new COVID-19 wave. Ed Yong discusses how the BA.5 wave looks to be the first one dominated by reinfections. Elliot Aronson and Carol Tavris highlight the cognitive dissonance which has undercut any reasonable evaluation of risk through an evolving pandemic. And Hannah Kuchler writes that more than a billion vaccine doses may have been wasted since they were developed, with the donation of expiring doses to lower-income countries looming as a major culprit. 

- Meanwhile, Andre Picard writes that Canada's shortage of family doctors won't be fixed with one-time cash incentives.

- James Dyke points out the need to recognize that we're on a trajectory to severely overshoot the 1.5 degree threshold of climate breakdown, and do everything we can to reduce our dirty energy use accordingly. But Helena Horton reports on the abysmal MP turnout for a special UK Parliamentary briefing which was seen by activists and party leaders alike as a profoundly important opportunity to build consensus on climate action. 

- Finally, Mel Buer notes that railroads are just another example of corporate-controlled logistical infrastructure being used to extract windfall profits at the expense of both workers' well-being and consumers' access to needed goods. And Joan Baxter reports on how Northern Pulp and its owners are using creditor protection to avoid meeting their own liabilities while simultaneously litigating to extract hundreds of millions of dollars from Nova Scotia. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Ed Yong discusses how we may have created a "pandemicine" era by fundamentally changing how viruses are able to mutate and spread. The Globe and Mail's editorial board is rightly aghast that Canadian governments are doing nothing to respond to another approaching wave of COVID-19, while the NZ Herald reports on an International Science Council study warning that we could still be facing regular waves in 2027 if it doesn't start taking the continued pandemic seriously now. And Nicole Lyn Pesce discusses how long COVID has spoiled the career and retirement plans of millions of Americans already. 

- Armine Yalnizyan writes that while a car might have reason to keep Ford in power, any human being should be looking to replace him with somebody more interested in people's well-being. Jessica McDiarmid highlights how the Ford PCs' destruction of climate policies is costing Ontarians billions of dollars (in addition to causing large amounts of needless carbon pollution). DT Cochrane and Toby Sanger examine (PDF) how Ontario's private long-term care operators were able to rake in massive profits with Ford's support while leaving vulnerable residents to die without necessary care. And Mitchell Thompson reports on the PCs' funneling of public money toward anti-union forces, while the Ontario Federation of Labour reminds us that the NDP is working to empower workers instead. 

- Josh Eidelson reports on the U.S. National Labour Relations Board's move toward prosecuting Amazon for intimidating workers. Robert Reich writes about the foreign wealth exerting increasing influence over U.S. politics. Brett Wilkins discusses the activist push for a windfall tax on oil and gas profiteering in addition to the call for an investigation which has already passed in the House of Representatives. 

- Finally, George Monbiot warns that our food system is on the verge of the same type of collapse as the global financial system faced in 2008 - and that it can't be so easily fixed with temporary liquidity. And Tom Perkins reports on Abbott's gigantic payout to shareholders while it failed to ensure that it was capable of production needed baby formula. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Zak Vescera reports on the combination of high rates of hospitalization and virtually nonexistent vaccination that's resulted from Scott Moe's surrender to COVID-19. And Nicholas Larsen et al. add autonomic dysfunction to the list of post-COVID symptoms which are common even among people fortunate enough to avoid a severe case. 

- Jonathan Josephs reports that the deliberate decisions of corporate vaccine manufacturers have resulted in a more severe pandemic due to a choice not to make supplies available more equitably. And Joel Lexchin discusses how the Libs have caved to big pharma in failing to keep their promise to rein in prescription drug prices. 

- Ed Yong writes that the systemic consequences of climate change include increasing the frequency and severity of infectious diseases. Oliver Milman reports that we're approaching a cataclysmic extinction of marine life. Shirin Ali reports on a new study finding that half of the U.S.' water is too polluted to be used for swimming, fishing or drinking. 

- Anders Fremstad and Mark Paul discuss how neoliberal ideology has been used to stifle meaningful action to protect our climate and planetary environment. And Jessica Scott-Reid reports on the obstruction by the meat industry seeking to stop the development of plant-based products. 

- Umair Haque discusses how the right in the U.S. has managed not only to shatter the Overton window with shifts not just off the political spectrum but outside objective reality, but also to convince itself that the exact opposite has happened. And David Sirota warns that an ineffectual and captured Democratic administration is only reinforcing that nihilistic sentiment. 

- Finally, Alex Himelfarb offers a message of hope and solidarity for collective action in a time which demands it. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Ed Yong rightly questions how the U.S. (like Canada) has come to see a large number of preventable COVID-19 deaths as normal. Hannah Rosenblum et al. study the effects of coronavirus vaccines and find that even reported adverse events were largely mild. And Pam Belluck reports on the growing body of research showing that COVID has can do lasting damage to the brain. 

- Meanwhile, Elizabeth Chuck reports on new research showing that about half of the U.S.' population has suffered neurological damage from lead in gasoline. And Andre Picard discusses how the COVID pandemic resulted in a surprising increase in traffic violence.

- Mark Howden, Joy Pereira and Roberto Sanchez discuss how we're falling further and further behind the steps needed both to avoid a complete climate breakdown, and to adapt to the damage we've already done to our planet. And  Keith Stewart writes that the way to put an end to wars caused by fossil fuel supplies is to stop relying on them. 

- Finally, David Moscrop notes that the #FluTruxKlan has offered us yet another indication of the need for a stronger response to right-wing extremism. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Katherine Wu, Ed Yong and Sarah Khang write that the Omicron COVID-19 wave is seeing governments make the same familiar mistakes in an accelerated time frame, while Umair Haque laments the continued combination of incompetence, ineptitude and indifference. And the Star's editorial board points out the chaotic set of responses at the provincial level, while Birgit Umaigba, Jesse McLaren and Naheed Dosani highlight the continued risks posed by the absence of adequate sick leave.

- Isabel Teotonio flags the desperate need to ensure that residents and workers in long-term care homes get booster shots to prevent another massacre. And Lisa Cordasco reports on the imminent overwhelming of British Columbia's health care system (like those across Canada). 

- Sander van der Linden discusses the importance of inoculating the general public against the type of misinformation that's served to undermine any effective response. And PressProgress highlights how Twitter has decided to treat bounties on Canadian doctors as an acceptable use of its platform.

- Laura Osman reports that instead of treating the pressures of a pandemic as a reason to question how we overpay for prescription drugs, the Libs are allowing big pharma to delay (if not avoid altogether) even minor steps to rein in the cost of needed medications.

- Finally, Mitchell Thompson points out how the Weston family's fortune is built on exploitation. And Ben Burgis writes about the importance of democratic equality in political and economic power to ensure that concentrated wealth doesn't dictate public policy decisions.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Greg Jericho writes that the latest IPCC report confirms that we're running out of time to avert climate breakdown, but still have a narrow window in which to do so. Damian Carrington reminds us that the cost of climate negligence is far higher than that of planning for a just transition while we still have the chance. Simon Lewis discusses how the fossil fuel industry bears responsibility for endangering our future. Bill McKibben highlights the deliberate pollution of our political and social discourse which has only complicated any attempt to set us on a sustainable path. And Elizabeth Leier argues that we need to match the urgency applied to our initial COVID-19 response in addressing the climate crisis. 

- But in case there was any doubt how determined many people are to avoid dealing directly with any matter of public well-being, Max Fawcett points out the glaring gap between widespread public demand for vaccine passports, and a refusal to act by most Canadian political leaders. Jim Harding writes that Saskatchewan (among other jurisdictions) needs to demand better than the short-sighted government which has allowed COVID to run wild. Bruce Anderson examines the composition of Canada's as-of-yet-unvaccinated population, and finds that a substantial number of reluctant people would open up to vaccinations under the right circumstances. And Alexander Wong and Sean Tucker make the case for mandatory vaccinations in workplaces.  

- Kanecia Zimmerman and Danny Benjamin Jr. discuss the success of mandatory masking in limiting the spread of COVID in schools. And Lisa Schick reports on the rising number of cases among Saskatchewan children just as school is set to resume - together with Paul Merriman's complete lack of concern about the likelihood of outbreaks in schools. 

- Guy Quenneville provides a damning timeline of the Extendicare outbreak which killed 39 Saskatchewan residents. 

- Karen Weintraub and Adrianna Rodriguez write about the open question as to whether the Delta variant actually causes more severe symptoms than other forms of COVID-19 (in addition to being far more transmissible). And Ed Yong takes a general look at the current direction of the pandemic - including the certainty of "exit waves" as governments eliminate public health protections, and the eventual prospect of endemicity following whatever human toll we choose to accept in the meantime.  

- Finally, ProPublica exposes how the Republicans' tax cuts for the rich were not only a massive giveaway to the .1% generally, but specifically designed to hand extra goodies to a few closely-connected donors. And Alex Ballingall reports on the NDP's plan to apply a wealth tax to fortunes over $10 million in order to fund a functional set of social and health supports. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Ed Yong sets out the three simple rules of COVID-19 at this stage - with the spread of variants among unvaccinated people threatening to undo the success achieved so far in limiting the risk to vaccinated populations. James Tapper and Robin McKie report on the WHO's warnings that a failure to ensure vaccines are available globally is allowing the Delta variant to gain the upper hand. And Robert Hart discusses the vulnerability of children to the Delta variant - even as that risk seems to have been largely ignored in a rush to slash public health protections.

- William Lindsley et al. find that masks and HEPA air cleaners - both individually or particularly in combination - are highly effective in reducing the transmission of COVID-19. And Sarah Addleman et al. confirm (PDF) that  it's essential to limit the spread of airborne particles.

- Angela Dewan discusses how the climate crisis is frying the northern hemisphere. And Robinson Meyer highlights how the U.S.' infrastructure isn't yet built - and indeed isn't being planned - to deal with the extreme weather resulting from a climate breakdown, while CBC News reports on the similar reality in Alberta.

- Sarah Kaplan reports on the direct human toll of extreme heat in the U.S.' Pacific Northwest. And John Vaillant writes that nowhere is safe from similar effects of climate change.

- Finally, Henry Giroux writes about how the sanitization of history reproduces longstanding inequalities. And Duncan Cameron argues that Canada can't allow a whitewashed national identity to prevent us from recognizing and acting to remedy historical violence and genocide against Indigenous peoples.