Musical interlude

The Paper Kites - Walk Above the City

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Jacques Poitras exposes how New Brunswick's end to public health measures in response to COVID-19 was based on a single flawed study linked to libertarian think tanks. Alexander Quon reports on both the worrisome substance of the Moe government's latest monthly COVID report as well as the continued degradation of information, while Zak Vescera reports that Dr. Saqib Shahab is finally recommending that people consider the value of wearing masks in public spaces. And CBC News reports on UBC research which hints at an exploitable weak spot in all existing COVID variants - though it remains to be seen whether politicians will once again allow anti-science cranks to undermine the effectiveness of any newly developed vaccines and treatments. 

- Meanwhile, Jacqueline Howard reports on new research showing that nearly half of cancer deaths could be preventable based on just a few underlying risk factors. And Lee Fang reports on Eli Lilly's use of a "community development" charity to lobby for insulin profiteering. 

- Nick Butler discusses how the oil industry has become all the more greedy and destructive over the past few decades - and how public control could ensure it doesn't operate as a barrier to a healthy environment and energy security. And Kyle Bakx examines both the windfall profits being reaped by Canada's oil sector, and the complete lack of any resulting social benefit as it uses the money to lobby against the climate and goose its own share prices. 

- Sonali Kolhatkar discusses how new labour organizing - particularly by young people, women and people of colour - can help improve workplaces for everybody.

- Finally, Luke LeBrun reports on a terrorism assessment confirming that the Flu Trux Klan - endorsed by so many of the Cons and their right-wing cousins - served as an organizing point for violent extremism. And Laura Osman reports on how the anti-reality convoy has taken root, and is now using pseudo-law to lay claim to a headquarters after it has been evicted. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Jason Gale reports on new research showing how COVID-19 can cause impacts on the brain for a period of years (with no apparent end in sight). And Saima May Sidik discusses the long-lasting cardiovascular problems which may also follow from an infection. But Sean Boynton reports that the choice to "let 'er rip" is resulting in even the acute measures of hospitalizations and deaths being higher than in the previous two years of the pandemic - while Isaac Callan and Colin D'Mello expose how the Ford PCs (presumably not alone among their right-wing cousins) were more interested in slashing costs and services than ensuring people had the tools to deal with COVID.

- Meanwhile, Brady Bouchard warns that family physicians won't be able to paper over the destruction of other elements of the health care system for long. And Jeremy Simes reports on the plight of one Regina patient wrestling with the possibility of seeking an MRI at his own expense, while CKOM reports on the Moe government's explicit choice to start diverting surgical patients to Alberta based on their ability to pay for their own travel. 

- Don Pittis discusses how workers shouldn't see an eventual drop in inflation as much of a win if it means their real income has been eroded by a combination of corporate-driven price increases and artificially suppressed wages. And Greg Jericho highlights how wages are falling far short of keeping up with theoretical labour demand in Australia. 

- Owen Jones writes about a rare but welcome step in unionizing a London nightclub - offering an example for all kinds of workers in precarious service jobs.  

- Finally, Erika Shaker offers a primer on student debt in Canada - and the value of removing the limitations faced by young workers as they complete their education with massive debt burdens. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Anne Sosin and Ranu Dhillon write that it's long past time to take the well-documented and devastating effects of long COVID into account as part of the measure of public health policy. And with a few provinces finally making second booster shots available, Prakash Nagarkatti and Mitzi Nagarkatti offer their take on the considerations to be taken into account in deciding whether to get boosted. 

- Fahad Razak et al. write that we can't begin to ameliorate a collapsing health care system without getting COVID-19 under control. And Kenyon Wallace reports on the warning from emergency room physicians about the crisis at the St. Joseph's Health Centre in Toronto, while Alexander Quon reports on the prospect that laboratory services disruptions in Saskatchewan are set to get even worse. 

- Isabella Weber and Mark Paul discuss how interest rate hikes will only exacerbate the difficulties faced by the working class as a result of corporate-driven inflation. Lana Payne writes that consumers should be angry at CEOs rather than workers for exploiting the opportunity to take windfall profits. And Adam King discusses how the left can find an opportunity in labour shortages. 

- Émile Boisseau-Bouvier and Laura Cameron highlight how the Libs are set to miss their deadline to end fossil fuel subsidies - and are hiding behind weasel wording to avoid any action at all. 

- Finally, Chris Hedges warns that the U.S. in particular is headed toward irreversible civilizational decline.  

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

 Upturned cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Eric Topol writes that the only sensible response to the increased death and sickness from COVID-19 is to dedicate our efforts to fully containing it. And Jessica Nelson reports on research from the University of Alberta showing the massive health care costs alone traceable to unvaccinated people, while Enxhi Kondi reminds us that photo ops dedicated to new beds is useless when it's paired with a plan to refuse to respect or support the workers needed to keep hospitals functioning. 

- Meanwhile, Nakia Lee-Foon examines some of the ways in which COVID and our corporate-driven responses exacerbated inequalities. And Katherine Scott finds that the federal government's all-too-temporary willingness to ensure people had some source of income led to a drastic drop in poverty. 

- Clare Coffey writes that people can't be blamed for finding it difficult to cope with a capitalist system designed to extract every possible resource from them. Jim Stewartson discusses the obvious problems with arranging our economy and society so as to systematically treat psychopathic traits as preconditions to positions of power and wealth. Jeff Sommer points out how a growing proportion of the U.S.' economy is devoted to stock buybacks rather than anything which does anything but enrich existing shareholders and corporate insiders. And Jeff Schurhke reports on Starbucks' union-busting crime spree - and the need for unions and workers alike to counter it. 

- Finally, Derek Eaton and Anik Islam write that the U.S.' climate change legislation can help lay the groundwork for a clean transition in Canada. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- CBC News reports on the rise of COVID levels in Saskatchewan cities' wastewater. David Axe reports on the development of the BA.4.6 variant which looks likely to represent an even greater threat than the currently-dominant version. And Bruce Mirken discusses how the failure to recognize and mitigate the risk of long COVID has resulted in the U.S. (and Canada) sleepwalking toward disaster. 

- Meanwhile, Zak Vescera reports that overburdened hospitals in Saskatoon are clogging up other elements of the health care system, including the availability of ambulances which are spending hours waiting to hand off patients.

- The Washington Post maps the extreme heat covering much of the U.S. Jon Henley reports on the extreme drought which is drying up rivers in Europe, while Darrell Roberts reports on the fires threatening communities in Newfoundland which are being exacerbated by a lack of moisture. And Chris Saltmarsh discusses how the privatization of water has made it more difficult to protect limited resources against the effects of a climate breakdown. 

- Jacques Gallant reports on the federal government's failure to act despite being well aware of the drug poisoning crisis.

- Finally, Aaron Saad wonders whether we've devolved to the point of living in post-empathy times, while noting that collective acceptance of the view that we don't need to care about each other is an obvious predictor of impending fascism. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Alexander Quon reports on the belated announcement that Saskatchewan adults will be able to get a second COVID booster vaccination. And Pratyush Dayal reports that the Saskatchewan Health Authority is finally warning people about the dangers of monkeypox and making some testing available. 

- Thomas Walkom discusses how privatization doesn't achieve any of its supposed goals, but instead serves only to direct money for essential services into corporate hands. And Alex MacIsaac reports on Catherine Smart's warning that vulnerable people will suffer the most as care is only available to those with the money and privilege to navigate a privatized system. 

- Meanwhile, Kate Aronoff reports on Jamaal Bowman's work to have inflation limited through price controls which keep necessities affordable for everybody, rather than wage crackdowns which harm workers while doing nothing to limit corporate profiteering. And Natasha Bulowski writes that calls for windfall profit taxes on oil giants aren't going away anytime soon. 

- Bill Curry reports on newly-released documents showing the cost of the Flu Trux Klan escalating into the billions of dollars. 

- Finally, Caitlin Dickerson reports on the U.S.' family separation policy which has deliberately traumatized children in an effort to punish immigrants. And Zak Vescera uncovers the control the Christian Centre Church and Academy have exercised over children and families who are only now seeing an opportunity to tell their stories and fight back. 

Musical interlude

Metric - All Comes Crashing

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Irini Osaeivi et al. study the effects of long COVID and find that it continues to result in vascular damage for 18 months (or more) after infection. 

- Carly Weeks discusses how the combination of COVID misinformation and increasingly untenable workloads is imposing intolerable burdens on health care workers. And Armine Yalnizyan discusses what employers and governments should be doing to ensure the availability of needed workers - particularly in the care sector.  But Matt Lundy reports that employers are predictably pushing to import foreign workers rather than offering a reasonable quality of life to the ones already available, while Jo Constantz highlights how the "nobody wants to work!" talking point generally reflects employers refusing to offer reasonable pay. 

- John Woodside calls out how the Libs are looking to push fossil fuel-based hydrogen rather than renewable alternatives in order to keep money flowing to existing oil and gas giants. And Al Jazeera reports on new research showing that the Arctic region is warming even faster than previously recognized as governments allow climate change to veer out of control in order to serve their corporate benefactors. 

- Finally, Caitlin Johnstone writes that the U.S.' systemic problems can be traced to the consistent incentivization of viciousness. And both Michael Harris and David Moscrop discuss how the importation of a similar set of values and assumptions has resulted in Pierre Poilivre's presumptive ascent to the leadership of the federal Cons. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- David Quammen writes about the ongoing race between scientific discovery and an evolving coronavirus. And Heidi Sheehan reports on new research showing a similarity between long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome based on the inability of receptors to properly receive calcium. 

- Meanwhile, Sean Amato reports on the collapse of health care services in dozens of Alberta communities (matching the situation in Saskatchewan). And Liam Casey reports that the Ford PCs are announcing their interest in using the damage they've inflicted on public health care as an excuse to privatize. 

- B A Basten-Olvera et al. study how the effects of a climate breakdown may be even worse than previously modeled as global warming harms the determinants of growth. Camilo Mora et al. find that climate change figures to exacerbate the majority of infectious diseases. Steve Gorman reports on research showing that the Antarctic ice shelf is disappearing faster than anticipated, while Oliver Milman reports on how forests are becoming less resilient and more disease-prone. And Laurenz Bush discusses a new study documenting how more severe wildfires in California pose a particularly severe risk for the people least able to afford it. 

- Denise Balkissoon writes about Toronto's attacks on cyclists through both infrastructure choices and police crackdowns - even as the dangers of pushing people into cars become painfully clear. 

- Finally, Emily Leedham reports on the connections between the Richardson dynasty and the anti-vax convoy. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Maggie Mills discusses how an antisocial public health policy in the midst of an ongoing pandemic is producing a disastrous human cost (particularly for vulnerable people), while Pamela Heaven reports on CIBC research showing that even the economy to which people are being sacrificed is suffering from the continued spread of COVID-19. The Washington Post's editorial board calls out anti-vaxxers for their contribution to the continuing death toll. And Amber St. Louis warns from experience that anybody counting on the effects of COVID to be mild or brief may be in for a rude awakening. 

- Richard Wolff writes about the dangers of promoting corporate power with the type of religious fervor which all too often dominates our policy discussions. 

- Elliott Smith reports that the Cons' chaotic right-wing government is stripping the UK of the fundamentals of a developed society and economy. And the new Enough is Enough campaign is looking to build a movement to ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share to ensure people's basic needs are met. 

- Meanwhile, Bryce Covert discusses how even a modicum of investment in a functional revenue agency figures to improve both the U.S.' finances and its level of social equality. 

- Finally, Newsweeks weighs in on the UCP's essay contest which saw anti-equality, nativist rhetoric rewarded with a cash prize. And Dan Taekema reports on the private army being assembled by the same radicals whose armed occupation paralyzed Ottawa earlier this year. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Curved cats.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- CBC reports that Ontario transit is the latest major public service being paralyzed by the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19. And Ishani Desai reports on research showing the exacerbating effect of air pollution on the severity of COVID infections. 

- Meanwhile, Angely Mercado discusses the unprecedented heat faced by the U.S. in July, while David Baker et al. examine the tens of millions of lives threatened by the loss of western U.S. snowpack and associated droughts. And Rosie Frost reports on research showing that ubiquitous "forever chemicals" have rendered rainwater unsafe for drinking around the globe. 

- Emma Thompson highlights how greenwashing serves as an obstacle to the steps we need to take to avert climate breakdown - and how government action is needed to prevent carbon polluters from controlling our political spaces. And Marc Lee offers a reminder that reduced fossil fuel production is a needed element of any effective transition to a clean energy economy. 

- Grace Blakeley is the latest to point out how the wealthiest few have seized on inflation as an excuse to inflict unemployment and artificially limited wages on workers, while rejecting any action which would limit or tax their own profiteering. 

- Finally, Jessie Anton reports that the abuses of power at the Christian Centre Academy (which the Saskatchewan Party government continues to fund and support) included mandatory student participation in right-wing politicians' campaigns. 

Monday Evening Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- CBS reports on the Walk to Remember intended to highlight the continued need for long COVID supports. And Elizabeth Thompson reports on the federal government workers who are rightly challenging the demand to return to offices for little apparent reason (and with no regard for their well-being).

- Salmaan Farooqi points out the epidemic of hospital and emergency room closures as an uncontrolled COVID wave slams into a health care system already set up to fail (to the point where nursing students are receiving specific instruction on the extreme stress of their future work environments). And Matt Gurney writes that the Ford PCs aren't willing to do more than issue self-aggrandizing press releases even as people in need of health care die from their neglect.

- Rosa Saba discusses how inflation is affecting people already struggling to get by on lower incomes - though it goes without saying that a round of wage and benefit suppression isn't any help. To the contrary, Samir Sonti recognizes that collective bargaining is one of the few means for workers to at least avoid falling further behind.

- Adam Johnson writes that a distinct increase in visible suffering is being used by the right as an excuse to promote state violence, rather than a reason to care for each other.

- Finally, Paul Dechene offers a reminder of the promise of housing which was used to sell public investment in Regina's football stadium - and which has apparently been fully discarded as opportunistic entertainment industries demand yet another round of shiny new buildings at the expense of people's basic needs.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Kayla Kuhfeldt et al. study the effect of a combined vaccine and masking policy, and find that those basic public health measures were almost entirely effective at stopping the transmission of COVID-19 at a large university. But Gregg Gonsalves writes that far too many political leaders are simply unwilling to do what they know needs to be done (and will work) to keep people safe from the multiple diseases posing new threats - as evidenced by a response to monkeypox which features the worst mistakes of the reaction to COVID without any precautions to balance them out.

- Matt Gurney calls out Doug Ford and the Ontario PCs for refusing to be honest about the crisis in the public health care system. Joey Chini reports on the story of one Albertan who had to perform medical procedures for a loved one due to a complete failure of hospital capacity. 

- Philippa Nuttall highlights the need to fight to save a habitable planet rather than giving up in the face of conveniently-placed doomism. Any Guy Quenneville reports on Canada's complete lack of a response to Antonio Guterres' call for fair taxes on the fossil fuel industry, while Geoffrey Morgan reports on the gigantic dividends being paid out by oil companies while they demand subsidies and concessions.

- M.V. Ravana writes that any attempt to push small nuclear reactors is a matter of hype, wishcasting and climate delay rather than realistic expectation.

- Paul Kershaw discusses how having wealthy homeowners pay their fair share can play a major role in ensuring people have access to the housing they need.

- Finally, Gary Mason rightly calls out the dangerous level of irrational hate and rage being fomented by the right in Canada.

Musical interlude

Jessie Frye feat. Timecop1983 - Faded Memory

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Elizabeth Yuko reports on the Biden administration's creation of an office to address long COVID, while Joe Middleton reports on the soaring number of Britons excluded from economic and social participation due to the disease. And Erin Prater reports on new CDC research finding large numbers of rare pediatric health problems caused by COVID-19. 

- Jacelyn Wingerter discusses her chaotic experience as a newly-employed nurse in a collapsed Saskatchewan health care system. And Madeline Smith reports that Edmonton is the latest home of systematized hallway medicine as emergency rooms struggle to cope with their case loads.  

- Paul Sinclair writes that nobody can afford continued delay in working to avert a climate breakdown. Damian Carrington examines how the global warming already locked in is exacerbating the effects of extreme weather. And David Gelles reports on the Republican climate destruction zealots who are not only refusing to take any action to rein in climate change, but setting out to punish anybody who tries. 

- Jason Warick follows up on the growing list of students reporting abuse at the private schools which have been promoted and funded by the Saskatchewan Party, even as the government provides its tacit approval by refusing to lift a finger to protect students unless a police investigation results in criminal charges. 

- Finally, Nathan Robinson reviews Luke Savage's The Dead Center as making a compelling case against establishment liberalism which couples a professed commitment to positive social change with a determination to put barriers in its way. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Bedir Alihsan et al. examine the effectiveness of face masks in preventing COVID-19 infections in both health care and community settings. And Taiyler Simone Mitchell and Catherine Schuster-Bruce note that the loss of smell may be returning as a signature symptom in the Omicron BA.5 wave.

- Andrew Jackson reviews Stephen McBride's Escaping Dystopia, and writes that while it's not too late to escape the dystopian results of neoliberalism run amok, we need a strong reassertion of the role of the state to serve the public interest in order to get there. And Tom Blackburn calls out Keir Starmer's choice to attack labour rather than ensuring that working people see their voices and interests represented by his party.  

- Penny Daflos reports on the increasing intrusion of private agencies even in staffing British Columbia's public health care system. And Tzeporah Berman makes the case for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty to avoid the familiar refrain of oil and gas interests complaining that no jurisdiction can be any more responsible than the most destructive regimes around the globe, while Antonio Guterres calls out the grotesque greed which is putting humanity at risk in the name of carbon pollution and windfall profits. 

- Yasmine Ghania reports on Saskatchewan's continued ranking as the Canadian province with the highest rate of homicides. And Myrna Dawson writes about the need to recognize and address femicide as a distinct form of violence. 

- Finally, David Moscrop highlights how a safe supply policy would rein in the drug poisoning crisis which continues to run out of control.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Andre Picard writes that COVID-19 remains an imminent and severe threat to our health - no matter how many people are choosing to operate in denial. Jianlyu Lai et al. examine how COVID has been transmitted, and find that aerosol transmission has been the dominant source of spread throughout the pandemic. Wency Leung writes that vaccines alone don't have any realistic prospect of bringing the pandemic to an end. And Brendan Ellis reports on a spike in COVID rates in Regina's wastewater.

- Brian Callaci and Sandeep Vaheesan discuss how a moment of inflation should represent an opportunity to consolidate gains for workers, rather than an excuse to shackle them to real income losses. And Bradley Hughes offers a reminder that strike activity may be needed to ensure workers can pursue their fair share. 

- Meanwhile, Carl Cannon examines Americans' attitudes toward billionaires - which include a stark rejection of the "greed is good" mantra which serves as the primary underpinning of capitalist planning. 

- Hamilton Nolan writes that there's an inescapable "us or them" choice between the oil companies profiting from carbon pollution and political instability, and the rest of humanity which needs a life-sustaining planet to have any future. And Jasper Jolly confirms that fossil fuel concerns themselves have no interest in averting climate breakdown. 

- Stan Cox writes about the connection between the extraction economy, white supremacism and creeping fascism. And Susan Delacourt discusses how the forces behind the Flu Trux Klan's violent occupation of Ottawa are now trying to establish a permanent presence in the city (and elsewhere). 

- Finally, Jason Warick reports on both the Saskatchewan Party's funneling of public money toward a private school with a history of abusing students, and the government's false denial of being aware of the problem.