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. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Cats hanging on.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board writes that we're being left to navigate an ongoing pandemic in the dark as governments choose not to provide either resources or information to protect public health. Riley Acton et al. study (PDF) how vaccine mandates reduced COVID spread at U.S. colleges, while Prabir Purkayastha notes that everybody is suffering for the WTO's decision to prioritize pharmaceutical profits over the availability of vaccines. Emily Clark discusses how habitual mask-wearing has allowed Japan, Singapore and South Korea to avoid the death toll of the Omicron COVID wave experienced elsewhere. And Sky News reports on the emerging recognition of multiple forms of long COVID.

- Kevin Wasko writes about the lessons we should be taking from the calamitous failures of Canada's senior care system. But Chris Hannay reports that provinces are instead enabling more of our health care system to fall into profit-motivated corporate hands, while Tom Yun reports on the worsening staffing shortages in our public health care system. 

- George Monbiot writes that a pattern of unprecedented heat waves should make clear that we can't count on small actions to avert a climate breakdown, while Damian Carrington reports on the warning from climate scientists that societal collapse and even human extinction represent increasingly foreseeable scenarios if we keep spewing carbon pollution. Christy Climenhaga examines how climate change is altering Canada's forest regions, while Nouran Salahieh and Claudia Dominguez report on the latest wildfires in California. And Peter McKenna points out the looming prospect that an increasingly parched U.S. will look to Canada to divert water for its use. 

- Émile Boisseau-Bouvier and Laura Cameron call the bluff of the Libs' weasel wording by setting out a framework which a fossil fuel subsidy would have to meet in order to avoid being "inefficient". And Aitor Hernandez-Morales writes about the success of Pontevedra, Spain in prioritizing car-free development.  

- Finally, Anna Cooban reports on the results of the UK's trial with a four-day work week, along with earlier pilot programs which showed it's possible to maintain productivity without demanding the work days currently required of most workers. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your long weekend reading.

- David Macdonald writes that if there's a risk of a recession being caused by interest rate hikes, it's because people with wealth and power have chosen to engineer one on purpose. And Ken Klippenstein and Jon Schwarz report on an internal Bank of America memo stating that the hope is to undercut labour strength at a point when people are in a position to demand higher wages and better treatment.

- Zeke Hausfather discusses how we're on track for yet another summer of record-breaking heat as a result of a worsening climate breakdown, while Robin McKie writes about Bill McGuire's observations on both how much had gone awry already and how much worse matters will get if we don't reverse course immediately. And Julia Conley reports that catastrophic flooding in Kentucky represents another extreme weather event traceable to the climate crisis.

- Justin Mikulka writes about the hopeful signs that the gas industry won't lock us into methane-dependent "blue" hydrogen due to the lower cost of renewable alternatives - though we still need to be wary of fossil fuel sector lobbying to have governments put a thumb on the scale. And Paris Marx writes that a shift to electric vehicles alone won't be anywhere near enough to make a dent if it's not paired with policies to reduce car dependence.

- Meanwhile, Paul Dechene offers a reminder of the City of Regina's broken promises to address people's core needs eventually after funneling money toward shiny megaprojects - as it's now looking at a new round of sports and entertainment spending after doing nothing to work on the housing and revitalization which was supposed to be paired with the construction of a brand new Mosaic Stadium.

- Finally, Andrea Hsu discusses the millions of Americans suffering from long COVID, and the ripple effects of their being unable to work as before in an environment where employers don't bother offering required accommodations.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Matthew Sitman writes about the fundamentally anti-social values being pushed by U.S. Republicans and their right-wing cousins - as well as the desperate need for pushback from progressives who actually value communities and the people who live in them. Gregg Gonsalves writes that the U.S.' political system as a whole is painfully prepared to let people die, whether based on explicit greed or simply a lack of willingness to fight to value their lives. And Jim Harding discusses how the health care crisis in many Canadian provinces is entirely the result of right-wing premiers' political distaste for public care services.

- Jessica Corbett analyzes how hikes in U.S. gas prices are the result of oil industry profiteering rather than any increase to its own costs. And Brent Jang reports on the predictably soaring price tag on the Coastal Gas Link pipeline - as well as the demand that carbon-polluting gas exports be subsidized in order to ensure the pipeline operator walks away with its expected profit. 

- Meanwhile, Paris Marx discusses how big tech's posturing as the only available provider of green development opportunities often serves as one of the primary obstacles to progress.

- Zachary Carter is rightly aghast at the theory that interest rate hikes with the purpose and effect of slashing jobs and wages would serve as anything but a disaster for the economy (as it affects the majority of people). 

- Finally, Max Fawcett offers a reminder that Pierre Poilievre's attacks on "gatekeepers" in fact reflects a desire to demolish institutions which protect people against abuse by the wealthy and powerful. 

Friday Night Cat Blogging

Laundered cats.

Musical interlude

PVRIS - Anyone Else

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Rhythm Sachdeva reports on research which has documented the effectiveness of COVID-19 testing in advance of events (just in time for governments to take that tool away from people as well). And Andrew Gregory reports on the prospect of a vaccine which might eventually be effective against COVID as well as the common cold. 

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board points out that public dashboards may be one of the best ways of ensuring our health care system is functional - though it's telling that the COVID versions used as an example have themselves been dismantled due to the preference of far too many governments to keep their citizenry uninformed. And Alexander Quon reports on a Saskatchewan Union of Nurses survey which fills in some of the province's information gap with a finding that an overwhelming majority of nurses are reporting staffing shortages in their workplaces. 

- Rebecca Solnit and Terry Tempest Williams write that there's no room for delay or equivocation in putting a halt to climate breakdown. And Gary Fuller discusses how increasing heat is even more deadly when connected to air pollution and other environmental factors. 

- Aidan MacNab reports on the litigation being used as a means to hold the oil industry accountable for its contribution to (and enrichment from) the climate crisis. And Carbon Tracker points out the dangers of allowing oil producers to grab windfall profits while deferring any holdback for cleanup obligations. 

- Finally, Gary Warth discusses the reality that homelessness is caused in large part by a lack of available and affordable housing, rather than by the personal circumstances of the people who suffer it. And Ramenda Cyrus' point that social housing should be treated as the equivalent of public health care is particularly apt in a country which prides itself on a commitment to the universality of the latter.