Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Garrett Graff writes about the importance of good character as the ultimate check on the abuse of power - even as the Trump regime looks to purge anything of the sort. And Bruce Arthur notes that Pierre Poilievre's inability to act as anything but an arsonist is starting (at long last) to be seen as a liability both within his party and in the broader political scene. 

- Simon Nixon highlights how China is taking control over global supplies of critical minerals - with a boost from Trump's flailing trade policies. Steff Chavez and Antoine Gara report that the regime's response has been to try to cut shady deals with big capital. Jon Shell warns that the Carney Libs' approval of the debt-financed U.S. takeover of a major refiner and gas supplier signals that they're entirely willing to play along. And Tammy Robert writes about the capital takeover of Saskatchewan farmland - and the Saskatchewan Party's role in undermining any attempt to monitor, let alone manage, foreign and private ownership. 

- Ben Casselman and Colby Smith report on the chasm between higher-income Americans with absurd amounts of money to spend, and an increasingly desperate working class. Matt Egan and Chris Isidore report on new data showing a surge in defaults on subprime car loans as a leading indicator of an economy about to collapse. 

- Meanwhile, Greg Ryan reports that Massachusetts' wealth tax continues to bring in even more revenue than projected - confirming that more progressive tax policy can produce far more fair outcomes. And  in another example of the options to align revenue generation with intrinsically desirable policy, Graham Redfearn notes that Australia is looking at ensuring that companies can't profit from breaking environmental laws. 

- Systems Change Lab examines the state of climate action - finding that while there's been some work done with measurable impacts, the overall picture is one of a grossly insufficient response to a well-known crisis. 

- Finally, the University of Leeds discusses new research showing how UK children are dying as a result of poverty. And Zoe Grunewald rightly calls for the Labour government to prioritize children's well-being over an ideological commitment to austerity.