This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Sarath Peiris discusses the foolishness of prioritizing the self-indulgence of the grossly uninformed over the protection of the vulnerable. For those looking for a thoughtful discussion of how to avoid recklessly gambling with public health, Andre Picard discusses how protections could be removed responsibly. And Yasmine
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Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Emma Farge and Mrinalika Roy report on the World Health Organization’s warning that it’s dangerous to act like the COVID pandemic is over. Davide Mastracci observes that governments who have been willing to bother protecting citizens against substantial community spread have been successful even
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Katharine Wu writes that contrary to the continued attempt by right-wing talking heads to equate mass viral transmission with immunity, we can’t assume that the spread of the Omicron COVID strain will offer substantial protection from future infection. Kayla Rosen reports on new
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Claire Horwell highlights how masking and other continued public health measures to rein in spread to the extent possible are the only way to avoid catastrophic results from the Omicron wave. Mickey Djuric reports on leaked modelling reaching the same conclusion based on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Anthony Fernandez-Castaneda et al. examine the long-term neurological and cognitive damage caused even by “mild” cases of COVID. Sally Cutler discusses the implications of the Omicron COVID variant remaining transmissible longer than previously assumed even as governments and employers are adamant about forcing
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Gloria Novovic writes about the desperate need to start planning ahead to control the damage done by the COVID pandemic, rather than reacting only to calamities already in progress. Ed Yong highlights why there’s no reason to minimize the effect of the
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The Minister of Housing’s Mandate Letter
On 16 December 2021, mandate letters for Canada’s federal ministers were made public. The letter for Canada’s Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion contains an important set of marching orders. I break it down in this ‘top 10’ blog post: https://nickfalvo.ca/the-minister-of-housings-mandate-letter/
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Trevor Herriot and Cathy Holtslander write about the Saskatchewan Party’s climate position which can’t be treated as anything but implicit denialism. John Woodside points out that the Libs’ fuel regulations seem designed to lock us into decades of avoidable fossil fuel use,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – David Wallace-Wells discusses the alarming warning indicators from our still-developing understanding of the Omicron COVID variant. Nazeem Muhajarine writes about the importance of booster vaccines in limiting the damage, while Wallis Snowdon reports on the justified frustration of Alberta doctors faced with
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – John Paul Tasker reports on Dr. Theresa Tam’s warning that cases of the Omicron COVID variant are set to escalate rapidly. Blake Murdoch and Christopher McCabe discuss why waiting for full confirmation of Omicron’s dangers before responding will result in action being
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Ben Cohen writes about the expert consensus on the need for booster shots and public health measures to slow the spread of the Omicron COVID variant. – Juliana Kaplan and Andy Kiersz write about the latest World Inequality Report, which shows ever
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Bruce Arthur warns that the worst of the COVID pandemic may be just around the corner as the far more transmissible Omicron variant spreads throughout Canada, while Karen-Marie Elah Perry and Shila Avissa discuss the perpetual gaslighting effort aimed at persuading us the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Alejandro Jadad studies the social murder traceable to politicians’ flawed responses to COVID-19 and other known causes of sickness and death, while Tara Moriarty points out the incomplete reporting of deaths across Canada. And Solarino Ho reports on the new federal modelling showing that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Bruce Arthur writes about the need for governments’ responses to COVID to adapt to the increased risk posed by the Omicron variant. And Charles Blow writes that he’s understandably lost patience with anti-vaxxers who are endangering us all in the service of
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: COVID and Homelessness: Ten things to know
I was recently invited by the The Economics Society of Northern Alberta to speak at their 2022 Outlook Conference about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on homelessness. Here’s an overview of my presentation: https://nickfalvo.ca/covid-and-homelessness-ten-things-to-know/
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Ivan Semeniuk reports on the response to the Omicron COVID variant both globally and in Canada. But Eric Topol writes that the U.S. is kidding itself in pretending that a wave hitting Europe won’t affect it as well, while Lauren Pelley highlights how
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Michaeleen Doucleff offers an FAQ on the causes and consequences of long COVID in its various forms. Guy Quenneville reports on the need for COVID cases to keep declining just to get Saskatchewan’s health care system back to its already-precarious state from the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Doug Saunders writes that Europe’s devastating new wave of COVID – like those elsewhere – can be traced directly to politicians pandering to antivaxxers rather than making responsible decisions to protect public health. Yushi Nomura et al. study the retention of antibodies
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On priorities
While I’ve pointed out the absurdity of yet another round of anti-coalition scaremongering, it does seem clear that any discussion between the NDP and the Libs will instead involve a confidence and supply arrangement. And that may well be for the best, as it maximizes the policy outcomes the NDP
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: More supportive housing for semi-independent seniors
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives asked me for a ‘big idea.’ I wrote about the need for more supportive housing for semi-independent seniors. Here’s my submission: https://nickfalvo.ca/more-supportive-housing-for-semi-independent-seniors/
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