Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Kent Sepkowitz examines the many and severe symptoms of COVID-19 which are emerging long after initial infections have been treated as "mild". 

- Gabriel Fabreau discusses how the overflow tent in emergency at the Peter Lougheed Centre (like other Canadian health care facilities) is a testament to the fact that the pandemic is far from over. And Zak Vescera reports on the miserable circumstances facing Saskatchewan residents whose surgeries have been delayed or canceled by the Moe government's added burdens - and who now see themselves as being invited to pay out of pocket to cut a line designed to go on forever.

- Jonas Mahm, Scot Miller and Johannes Urpelainen highlight how promises to "build back better" in the wake of COVID have led to vanishingly little investment in a transition to a clean economy. And Raul Grijalva calls out fossil fuel barons for trying to use a petro-state's war of conquest as an excuse to lock in decades of avoidable harm to our planet.

- Meanwhile, Eleanor Boyle writes about the value of collective action while pushing for it as a response to the climate crisis.

- Finally, Luke LeBrun exposes the deliberate intention of #FluTruxKlan organizers to break the law by occupying Ottawa (while also ignoring the promises they made to authorities in exchange for cooperation). And Sunil Sarwal and Tan-Nee Ng discuss how Ottawa's police upheld a social order based on white male privilege rather than the law.

Musical interlude

Bob Moses & ZHU - Desire

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Reuters reports on research showing that public health measures implemented in response to COVID-19 also saved hundreds of thousands of lives by limiting the spread of dengue fever. Nadia A. Sam-Agudu, Boghuma Kabisen Titanji, Fredros Okumu, and Madhukar Pai discuss how wealthier countries are "moving on" from COVID with no regard for people or countries who can't escape its effects, while the World Health Organization highlights how the harm from the ongoing pandemic is falling disproportionately on women. And Bartley Kives reports on the recognition by public health experts that the premature elimination of even basic protections like self-isolation is foolish in Manitoba and other Canadian provinces. 

- Gina Miller discusses how Russian money has corrupted the UK's political system - and the need for concerted action to re-empower citizens over oligarchs. And the International Energy Agency offers a ten-point plan to reduce Europe's reliance on Russian fossil fuels - with alternative sources of natural gas representing only a small part of the overall picture. 

- Markham Hislop writes about that based on its contribution to carbon pollution and environmental destruction, Alberta's oil is anything but ethical by any reasonable measure. And Natasha Bulowski reports on Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux' recognition that the Trans Mountain pipeline is a money loser for the federal government rather than an investment to fund any transition to clean energy. 

- Finally, Omayra Issa discusses how Saskatchewan's social support system falls far short of providing people with a reasonable standard of living - and is falling behind all the more as the Moe government refuses to index or update income levels. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- C Raina MacIntyre offers five reasons to keep wearing a mask even after mandates are removed - and the arguments are even more compelling in areas where waves of infections are still in progress. And Elizabeth Yuko reports on the victims of long COVID who have lost their homes as well as their health, while Mark Melnychuk reports that Scott Moe has predictably declared that homeless people in Saskatchewan are on their own once they become ill. 

- Justin Marchand and Ene Underwood ask how it's at all fair for people who own homes in established neighbourhoods to have the ability to deny access to housing to others. 

- Katharina Pistor examines how Vladimir Putin and the surrounding Russian oligarchy are the direct result of an ill-advised choice to prioritize privatization and wealth accumulation over the development of a functional society. 

- Charlie Angus discusses how the #FluTruxKlan and the ecosystem of disinformation behind it highlight the difficulty in trying to reach people who have disconnected fully from reality. 

- Finally, M. Chamoun et al. study the respective costs of drugs under public and private plans, finding that patients pay significantly more under the latter.  

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- The Max Planck Society explores how COVID-19 has developed to hide out and mutate within the human body. Tami Luhby discusses how even a receding Omicron wave has continued to have devastating effects on millions of Americans. And Jessie Anton reports on the concerns of Saskatchewan teachers about having to try to assess risk in the dark, while Mickey Djuric reports that what little Scott Moe is allowing anybody to see includes a spike in emergency room visits by children under 5. 

- Debra Satz and Stuart White write about the damage income inequality does to the fundamental underpinnings of democracy. And Elise von Scheel exposes Jason Kenney's selective calls to insulate Alberta-connected Russian oligarchs from sanctions, while Duncan Kinney reports on the money the AIMCo pension fund has invested in Russian assets. 

- Nick Gottlieb writes that a U.S. court reviewing the Biden administration's cancellation of oil and gas leases has recognized the folly of claiming to be addressing climate change by subsidizing and expanding fossil fuel production - and calculates how Canada's own choices are indefensible when that factor is taken into account. John Woodside discusses how Canada is both contributing to and suffering from the climate breakdown in progress based on the IPCC's most recent findings. And Rebecca Leber discusses the need for climate policy to be informed by social science research in order to be effective. 

- Finally, Mitchell Thompson highlights how Doug Ford's plan for gig workers is to strip them of benefits and protections which would otherwise be available to them. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Lounging cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Andre Picard discusses the reality that long COVID will result in lasting aftereffects even if we eventually manage to get the spread of new variants under control (which is of course itself a long way off). Thomson Reuters reports on new research showing the limitations of the Pfizer vaccine in limiting infections in younger children. And Juliette Unwin et al. study the lives lost to COVID so far, concluding that over five million children have lost caregivers to the disease we're now letting run rampant. 

- Jonathan Overpeck discusses how a shift to renewable energy would help to take power out of the hands of Vladimir Putin and other petro-dictators in addition to averting a climate breakdown. And Brad Plumer and Raymond Zhong report on the IPCC's new assessment report as showing a climate changing far faster than humanity is able to adapt. 

- But Rick Smith notes that the fact that we're falling far short of the mark in both limiting climate change and adapting to its effects only highlights the need for immediate action. And Mark Hertsgaard, Saleemul Huq and Michael Mann write that we can still stop rising temperatures with a rapid shift away from carbon emissions. 

- Finally, Jeremy Appel calls out how police forces have enabled far-right extremism including the #FluTruxKlan - which makes for a particularly stark contrast against Valera Voce's report on Colorado Springs' police infiltration of mutual aid groups and tenant unions to inhibit anybody seeking to improve the lives of citizens. And David Climenhaga writes about the retaliatory complaints of Edmonton's police association against City Councillor Michael Janz - and the revelations the investigation has produced about the list of "known critics" singled out for monitoring. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- The Canadian Press interviews Dr. Saqib Shahab about the need for Saskatchewan's citizens to act responsibly in getting vaccinated and taking public health precautions in the absence of any remaining government protections. And Melissa Fuller writes about her conclusion that it's untenable to work in a province whose government is so fundamentally opposed to science and health. 

- Meanwhile, Global Justice Now highlights the vaccine profiteering by Moderna even as most of the world continues to lack for the most basic protection against COVID. And Luke Allen, Simon Wigley and Hampus Holmer study how corporate money in politics results in watered-down or nonexistent public health policies in all kinds of areas. 

- Daniel Suhonen discusses Olof Palme's legacy as the last social democrat able to earn and hold power based on the explicit goal of ensuring public autonomy over economic choices. 

- Fiona Harvey reports on the IPCC's latest assessment report indicating that the window to avert catastrophic climate breakdown is rapidly closing. And Rishikesh Ram Baudry discusses how the same wealthy countries emitting the most carbon pollution are breaking their promise to help fund the costs of mitigating the damage done to poor countries. 

- Finally, Heather Campbell writes that the #FluTruxKlan was always grounded in white supremacy rather than genuine concerns about COVID policies. And Ted Raymond reports on the charges against a convoy organizer with roots in the anti-immigration group La Meute. 

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Phil Tank calls out the Moe government for concluding that Saskatchewan's citizens should be deprived of the information we need to make decisions about risk. Zak Vescera reveals that the province crossed thresholds for a medical triage protocol due to Moe's disregard for public health in 2021, but stopped just short of actually activating it. And Adam Miller talks to experts about how the failure to test and trace leaves us all the more vulnerable to more (and worse) variants, while Jennifer Lee discusses the folly of eliminating public health protections as the BA.2 Omicron variant becomes the dominant strain.

- Meanwhile, Jonathan Jarry writes that the fearmongering about kids being harmed by wearing masks to protect themselves and others has proven to lack any basis in reality.

- Jamie Henn writes about the danger that the oil and gas lobby will use Russia's invasion of Ukraine to lock in climate-destroying fossil fuel infrastructure. And Bill McKibben writes that the way to defeat Vladimir Putin and other resource-fueled dictators is to ensure nobody has to rely on their supplies of non-renewable energy, while Roger Harrabin reports on the UK government's recognition that increased use of renewables would be better for consumer prices as well.

- Fiona Harvey reports on the IEA's recognition that fugitive methane emissions could be eliminated at no net cost (and indeed as a benefit to many producers). And Markham Hislop points out the IEA's conclusion that methane emissions are 70% higher than reported - even as the Jason Kenneys aof the world insist on refusing to allow them to be fully monitored or regulated. 

- Finally, Saamia Ahmad, Simon Enoch and Inez Hillel discuss the false promise that privatization somehow saves money, rather than adding transaction costs as well as an expensive profit share to be handed over to the corporate sector.