This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Jessica Wildfire laments the great abdication of mutual responsibility which is resulting in countless preventable dangers being allowed to spread unabated. And Benedict Michael et al. study how COVID-19 is giving rise to sustained cognitive defects even as it’s being treated as a
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Alberta Politics: Expect more chaos in health care, already overwhelmed and at the brink, as AHS ‘senior leaders’ get orders to cut costs
With Alberta’s overwhelmed public health care system once again teetering at the brink, a memorandum from Alberta Health Services’ acting chief financial officer to its “senior leaders” telling them they must find ways to cut costs has surfaced. Michael Lam, Alberta Health Services acting chief financial officer and vice-president of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Maura Hohman discusses how the U.S. is going through one of its most severe waves of COVID-19 (with very little attention), while Henna Saeed points out the spate of respiratory illnesses in Alberta. And Ashleigh Furlong reports that an attempt to work out a
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Covid Won’t Go Away On Its Own
I’m feeling a bit frantic today (even more than usual) as it’s two days before school opens again, and wastewater indications show we’re really in the thick of it in my part of the world: Across Ontario, we’ve hit the third highest number of daily hospital admissions since this pandemic
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Brent Appelman et al. study how mental and physical exertion in the midst of a COVID-19 infection can cause long-term damage. Tom Scocca discusses the devastating health and professional effects of his bout of COVID. And Nathaniel Weixel reports on the tens of
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: McKinsey’s Effect on Public Health
Almost two years ago, the Canadian government published a Covid response plan that they appear to be largely ignoring. The 3rd edition of the guide was published in March 2022, and it appears to be the most recent edition. They outline the “worst case scenario,” and it’s pretty much what
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Can We Get Some Leadership Here?
Hopefully more people will start paying attention to the dangers of Covid and wear a simple N95 to protect themselves and others now that JN.1 seems to be in the news more. But leadership would help. The concern with JN.1 is that the “variant appears to have an increased affinity
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – David Macdonald highlights yet another record-breaking year of Canadian CEO income compared to the pay of the average worker. – Lisa Young’s wish for the new year is for better public health – though the hostility to the concept from Danielle Smith
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your 2023. – Shannon Hall discusses new research showing that the positive effects of COVID-19 vaccination include a reduction in long COVID in children. And Erin Prater warns about the building Pirola wave which is already causing record-high infection levels in some countries. – Meanwhile, Carly
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Long Covid Tag
Mentioning Long Covid symptoms to people can set off a series of other stories from people with similar symptoms. It’s out there, but we don’t want to talk about it. This is from Nikki S’s thread, a founding member of Long Covid Support in the UK: “I was at a get-together
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Ryan Meili discusses how a blinkered focus on austerian “efficiency” and exit strategies prevents the development of care systems capable of meeting long-term needs. And Dione Wearmouth reports on the fallout from the UCP’s insistence on putting performative politics over even those
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: You Had One Job! On IPACs Refusal to Prevent or Control Infection
The Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) of Canada is a registered charity making some questionable decisions recently. They promote themselves as, “Focussing on infection prevention and control in the community and in healthcare facilities.” Their mission is “to advance infection prevention and control by advocating for our members and providing
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jessica Wildfire examines how employees are being illegally forced to put their health at risk by employers determined to impose policies which facilitate the spread of COVID-19. And Craig Ellingson and Chelan Skulski report on the Alberta Medical Association’s warning that the province’s health
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the invisible kingdom: reimagining chronic illness
The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O’Rourke is a important book. I would even call it a landmark. For ten years, O’Rourke suffered from a debilitating condition that was either misdiagnosed or dismissed. Her search for answers forms the structure of this book. Although the author writes about her
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Matthew Rosza reports on the continued toll of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including over 1,000 deaths per week in the U.S. alone along with massive numbers of hospitalizations. Lauren Pelley highlights how health care workers are being burdened with unmanageable case loads and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: United Conservative Party Government tells Alberta nurses: Don’t worry, there’s no list, and you’re not on it!
VICTORIA, B.C. – Are you wondering why Alberta Health Services would threaten nurses with layoffs in the middle of an international nurse shortage and a national health care crisis at the very moment the province’s governing United Conservative Party is trying to reassure everyone things in health care are just
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Mark Sumner discusses the World Health Network’s recognition that the damage from COVID-19 includes harm to people’s immune systems which has made the effect of other diseases more severe. – Patrick Metzger examines how the climate crisis is accelerating faster than anticipated. And
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Danielle Smith delivers more promised chaos in health care with purge of six senior AHS executives
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith – she basically promised chaos in health care and she’s delivering it (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). The politically inspired purge of senior Alberta Health Services officials by the United Conservative Party that has now begun is likely to paralyze decision making throughout the provincial health care system. The
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Al Jazeera reports on the World Meteorological Organization’s analysis showing that greenhouse gas emissions reached yet another new high in 2022. Fiona Harvey reports on the findings in the World Resources Institute’s State of Climate Action report, including the reality that transitional steps are several times
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Cory Doctorow discusses how the concentration of wealth and power in corporate hands represents a threat to individual freedoms and the pursuit of social justice. And Pete Evans reports on new Statistics Canada showing that the gap between the wealthy few and
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