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Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Will Noel, Lia Codrington and Scott MacDougall examine the lessons to be learned from jurisdictions who have been making a successful transition to renewable energy. David Roberts talks to Cory Doctorow about the need to avoid letting clean energy fall into the enshittification trap that's ensnared so many other parts of our economy and society. Mark Paul, Holly Caggiano and Emily Grubert discuss a new survey showing that there's strong public support even in the U.S. for curtailing fossil fuel extraction. 

- Grant Smith reports that even OPEC is grudgingly acknowledging that demand for fossil fuels is headed for a precipitous decline - though the oil-soaked Canadian right figures to be the last group of people willing to acknowledge that reality. Peter Kalmus discusses the desperate need to stop giving oil barons and their lobbyists a veto over climate action. Ecojustice exposes how CNRL alone is blatantly violating its obligations to report carbon pollution at hundreds of Alberta sites, while Mike de Souza reports that even when the UCP government is aware of violations by oil companies its priority is to suppress the truth rather than enforcing the law. And Yue Qui, Aaron Sojourner and Paolo Volpin examine how mergers and acquisitions tend to signal more dangerous work environments in mines. 

- Jack Marley discusses how increasing desertification of land demonstrates the need to rapidly contain the climate breakdown. And Harriet Reuter Hapgood reports on new research showing how that the reach of drier conditions extends to over three quarters of the Earth's land.  

- Kate Yoder wonders whether talk of tipping points serves to encourage or demoralize people in the pursuit of climate action. And Paul Waldman warns of the dangers of politics based on shapeless disgruntlement. 

- Derek Robertson writes about the tech sector's plan for the Trump administration to foster a culture of impunity and corporate waste. Jarrett Renshaw, Rachael Levy and Chris Kirkham report on a particularly noteworthy example in Elon Musk's plans to eliminate reporting requirements for car crashes to ensure Tesla's carnage on the roads can't be studied or regulated.  

- Finally, Dhruv Khullar writes about the new gilded age of medicine in a system increasingly designed to exploit patients rather than treating them or supporting their health. Annie Waldman reports on UnitedHealth's choice to systematically limit access to treatments for autism. And Christina Jewett and Sheryl Gay Stolberg report on the attempt by one of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s associates to cancel any approval for polio vaccines as RFK is set to assume control over public health in the U.S. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Crawford Kilian reviews Richard Seymour's Disaster Nationalism as setting out the problem of fascists using emergencies both real and contrived as an excuse to shut down democratic processes and single out invented enemies for punishment - while recognizing that there's no easy way to inoculate against it. Steven Hill discusses how that analysis largely explains Donald Trump's election in the U.S. Jen St. Denis reports on the Russian influence being used to try to break down democracy in Canada and elsewhere. And Joseph Thomas offers his suggestions as to how to fight misinformation like a doctor in a one-on-one setting. 

- Maurice Mitchell comments on the need not to give up on electoral politics as a means of improving the well-being of the general public, while Marc Elias offers his take on how to build an opposition movement. Jared Yates Sexton discusses the predictable outcome if peaceful and democratic means of change appear to be completely blocked off. And Tara Raghuver and Ruthy Gourevitch discuss the potential for the growth of tenant unions as a mechanism for organization and collective action.  

- Chris McCahill writes about new research showing that higher levels of car dependence produce reductions in life satisfaction as well as health. Catie Gould discusses how parking requirements are a major obstacle to the availability of affordable housing. And John Michael McGrath examines the Charter case for a right to bike lanes, while Matt Hansen reports on the dooring of a cycling advocate on the day of a hearing into Ontario's anti-bike legislation.

- Katie Dangerfield reports on the dangers facing striking postal workers in their day-to-day employment (which Canada Post is seeking to exacerbate by making work even more precarious). And Tom VanHeuvelen, Xiaowen Han and Jane VanHeuvelen study the impact of unionization on mortality - finding that union membership leads to a longer and healthier life. 

- Finally, Oxfam America highlights the social and health benefits of a guaranteed income, while noting that it's possible to work toward one at any level of government. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Laurie Laybourn and James Dyke comment on the developing doom loop as fear, hardship and political instability created by a climate breakdown in progress make it harder to coordinate efforts to ameliorate it. And Gaby Hinsliff writes that Storm Darragh taught her family and community how poorly prepared they were for climate disaster, while Matthew Ballew et al. examine how psychological distress appears to be a spur toward climate activism. 

- Fiona Harvey warns that a COP29 outcome more attuned to Vladimir Putin's political ends than the preservation of a liveable environment may be only the beginning. David Suzuki laments how the oil industry undermined any effort to agree on a plastics treaty. Eamon Ryan discusses how the oil industry and other corporate forces poisoned public opinion against a successful push to reduce carbon pollution in Ireland. And Joe Vipond makes the case to treat the fossil fuel industry like big tobacco - i.e. as a dishonest and destructive actor impeding work which is necessary for the public good.  

- Dharna Noor reports on new NOAA data showing that the Arctic is now a net emitter of carbon pollution, rather than serving as a carbon sink. Max Fawcett discusses Kevin O'Leary's attempt to play Alberta for a fool by seeking out public money for a highly-polluting, zero-benefit AI project - and the danger that the UCP will be happy to play along. And Rewiring America studies the effects of converting to electrical power - finding that a shift to electric appliances produces demonstrable benefits to air quality both inside and outside the home. 

- The Angus Reid Institute finds that a strong majority of Canadians see corruption and tax evasion as a major cause of the affordability crisis - potentially signaling a strong appetite for a credible plan of attack against them. Paul Krugman (on his new site after his retirement from the New York Times) discusses how the right's anti-public sector rhetoric facilitates actual fraud and abuse by corporations and the righ. David Macdonald points out that a time-limited GST holiday isn't a particularly good use even of a temporary windfall, while glaringly failing to address the structural factors that are stressing people's finances. And Paul Kiel reports on a tax loophole which wealthy Americans are using to avoid contributing a cent of a Medicare tax paid by workers. 

- Jason Sattler writes that Donald Trump's main political skill is setting up an alternate reality for himself and a maddeningly large number of voters. Oliver Willis notes that he's been able to get away with denialism in large part due to the refusal of Democrats to engage in a meaningful fight as to the controlling narrative. And Simon Wren-Lewis rightly argues that progressives shouldn't fall into the trap of echoing and reinforcing the politics of stupid. 

- Finally, Ryan Romard writes that public sector strikes in Canada (spurred by years of relatively high inflation paired with pay freezes) are helping to set up opportunities for all kinds of workers to seek better wages and working conditions. 

[Edit: added link.]

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Feline takeover.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Julia Conley reports on the continued accumulation of riches in the hands of a few, as the total wealth of billionaires has more than doubled worldwide over just the last 9 years. And Susan Riley points out that the right's supposed solution to economic anxiety will only make matters worse by diverting even more wealth upward. 

- The Hatchet discusses how price-fixing and profit-taking is the norm across the food supply chain - with manufacturers being no less guilty than major grocery chains. And Dustin Godfrey reports that independent grocers without the clout of a corporate conglomerate are struggling to survive the combination of supplier price increases and deep-pocketed competition.  

- Solarino Ho points out the inevitable consequences of putting housing in the hands of billion-dollar corporations who are both ruthless (to the point of collusion) in extracting the highest possible rent and fees, and utterly unconcerned with tenants' well-being. And Kathy Moreland writes that Doug Ford's plan to punish homeless people does nothing to help them. 

- Krista Carr discusses what the Libs' choice to exclude people receiving disability payments from their general rebate continues to say about erasure by design. 

- Alice Marwick writes that the concept of mainstream media is increasingly becoming obsolete, based on both the availability of viewpoint-driven sources (if currently tilted toward the right) and many people's decreased interest in accessing news as a separate category of content. And Andrew Potter muses about the implications of artificial intelligence being able to mimic any distinct or creative voice. 

- Ron Johnson highlights what cities lose when they purge bike infrastructure in favour of car-centric urban design. And Dan Sheehan calls out how American public space has long been set up to endanger pedestrians.  

- Finally, Catherine McKenna discusses her collaboration with the fossil fuel sector in what it pretended to be a commitment to long-term climate policy - as well as her subsequent realization (obvious though it seemed to some of us all along) that oil barons ultimately have no interest in being good-faith participants in averting climate disaster if it means the slightest haircut to their profit margins.  

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Stefan Labbe reports on new research showing how the business-driven use of lead in gasoline resulted in large-scale poisoning in the U.S. (and in other countries including Canada). Shanti Das reports on the pesticide poisonings in Brazil caused by chemicals which are banned in the UK but still approved for export. And Topher Sanders examines both the levels of cancer-causing formaldehyde people encounter in everyday life, and some steps that can be taken to reduce exposure. 

- Ralph Nader writes about the silent violence of corporate control over our health and well-being. Omar Ocampo reports on the latest Forbes wealth data showing that a mere 12 American tycoons have over $1 trillion in concentrated riches between them. Jake Johnson reports on the Congressional Budget Office's findings that tax cuts for the wealthy purportedly intended to spur economic growth will in fact produce economic shrinkage for everybody but those at the top. And Harold Meyerson talks to Randi Weingarten about the need to offer working-class voters something more promising and responsive than a continuation of the neoliberalism that has turned people into resources to be exploited. 

- David E. Sanger, Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman report on the cartoonish conformity test being imposed on applicants for positions in the next Trump administration, while Robert Reich notes that the cabinet is being filled out based on absolute subservience and flattery. Ray Fisman writes about the dangers of running government like a business. And David Shiffman discusses what scientists can expect based on lessons learned when Stephen Harper was imposing the Cons' policy of employee muzzling and science denialism in Canada. 

- Finally, Alex Boyd examines how the right-wing noise machine is attacking Canada to inflame fascists in the U.S. Sarah Kendzior asks whether the U.S. is following the path of one of its most prominent celebrities - and approaching its death on the toilet phase. And Tim Miller implores people not to respond to the idiocy of the Trump regime with an "LOL Nothing Matters" ideology which exacerbates its damage.