Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Jonathan Last writes about the perfect storm in which economic, financial and constitutional crises - all originating from the deliberate choices of the Trump regime - are hitting the U.S. all at once. And Noah Berlatsky points out the eight-figure global death toll which figures to be traceable to Elon Musk's destruction of USAID alone. 

- Talia Lavin interviews Deborah Blum about the need for collective efforts to protect the public from unsafe food supply - and the immense dangers of the Trump regime's decision to shred anything of the sort. Sarah Zimmerman reports that Trump's callous disregard for public health includes the repealing of a plan to limit salmonella in raw poultry. And KFF releases polling showing a strong majority of the U.S. public opposed to major cuts to public health staff and programs. 

- Olufemi Taiwo rightly notes that an effective protest needs to backed up with the potential for mass action to manifest itself in other ways. And Eric Blanc writes about the need to extend labour organizing across the workforce, rather than hoping that traditional unionized manufacturing jobs will make an unlikely comeback if their owners are handed enough public resources.  

- Finally, Luke Savage writes about how the attempt to respond to a U.S. threat has resulted in the unfortunate Americanization of Canadian politices, while Alex Hemingway offers a plea not to force voters into artificial polarization again when a proportional electoral system can eliminate the problem. Nora Loreto questions whether the Libs will have any interest in addressing the crisis of corporate control without a strong external push. And Linda McQuaig discusses how a disappointing election result hasn't removed the NDP's leverage to push the Libs toward progressive action at a time when it could have the most long-term effect.