Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Catarina Saraiva and Jaewon Kang warn that the U.S. economy is a Jenga tower in which pieces needed to support the middle class are being systematically removed. Bloomberg's editorial board examines the national scope of the U.S.' gambling problem - with sports betting as just part of the drain on workers. And Public Citizen traces the connections between Donald Trump's ballroom bribe solicitation and hundreds of billions of dollars in federal contract awards. 

- Meanwhile, Rebecca Schneid discusses how Zohran Mamdani has offered a vitally important reminder that oligarchs can't buy elections in the face of public organization. Emma Goldberg and Benjamin Oreskes highlight how Mamdani recognized and responded to the young voters who have been facing a loneliness crisis. Ian Welsh views Mamdani's focus on affordability - coupled with positive solutions  based on collective power rather than mere finger-pointing - as the model Democrats need to seize upon. And Moustafa Bayoumi writes that Mamdani was rewarded for defending his values, while Moira Donegan implores the rest of the Democratic Party to learn from his success. 

- Climate Action Tracker's latest evaluation of Canada's climate policy finds that we're headed in the wrong direction under the Carney Libs even as the cost of inaction becomes ever more stark. Markham Hislop discusses the dangers of letting the oil industry's false assumptions and empty promises take precedence over planning for an affordable and sustainable future. And Bob Weber examines how the UCP has set out to stick the public with perpetually more cleanup costs in order to ensure oil companies  operating in Alberta can escape responsibility for the messes they're making. 

- Finally, Katie Kavanagh offers a reminder that COVID-19 is still around even as basic measures to track and control it have long since been abandoned. And Michael Le Page reports on a new study showing that exposure to COVID raises the risk of heart issues in children - in contrast to the protective effects of vaccination.