Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Phil Tank writes that the Saskatchewan Party has only reluctantly held off on eliminating even what little information it still provided the public about ongoing COVID-19 infections in the midst of a new wave, while Laura Sciarpelletti reports the Moe government is ignoring the science demonstrating the importance of additional booster vaccines.  

- Ian Sample reports on the UK's belated recognition that it allowed companies to profiteer off of the COVID pandemic. And Melanie Bechard and Jasmine Gite write that we shouldn't let the underfunding and mismanagement of our public health care system be used as an excuse for privatization which will only further undermine service provision. 

- Matt Phillips reports that corporations managed to rake in record profits in 2021, while Alex Henderson discusses how the Koch brothers' fortune continues to be used to secretly undermine any attempt at democratic decision-making. Josh Bornstein notes that structural attacks on organized labour have exacerbated inequality in Australia, while Robert Reich writes about the emergence of the particularly dangerous class of mega-billionaires thanks to the consistent upward redistribution of wealth. And Michael Hiltzik makes the case for the type of billionaires' tax being proposed by Joe Biden. 

- Natasha Bulowski reports on the glaring flaws with the federal government's plan to rely on carbon capture and storage as a substitute for a transition away from dirty energy, while Max Fawcett writes that an industry which actually wanted to live up to its own PR would be doing far more to meet its environmental responsibilities. And Damian Carrington reports on the continued prevalence of "ghost flights" spewing carbon pollution for no reason.

- Meanwhile, Clean Energy Canada finds that electric vehicles are already more affordable to own than their fossil fuel-dependent equivalents. 

- Finally, May Bulman reports on the stark increase in deaths among homeless people in the UK. Rogan Bowen-Harper highlights the connection between food insecurity and pain-related hospital visits. And the Canadian Press reports on Saskatchewan Children's Advocate Lisa Broda's call for desperately-needed mental health and addictions services in order to avert the suicide crisis among teens in particular.