Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Dean Blundell discusses how the U.S. has been downgraded to an "obstructed" state in terms of civic freedoms by CIVICUS due to its use of arbitrary power both to suppress dissent and to generally terrorize vulnerable populations. Lawrence Freedman offers his take on how Europe should respond to the explicit adoption of white nationalism as the basis for the Trump regime's foreign policy, while Wesley Wark comments on the U.S.' concurrent treatment of Canada as a target. And Jillian Kestler-D'Amours writes about the necessary pushback against Mark Carney's choice to arm U.S.-allied perpetrators of genocide.  

- Zeke Hausfather examines the causes of the acceleration in global warming. And Tom Harris points out how melting permafrost looks likely to exacerbate the problem, while Kira Taylor warns that the takeover of EU environmental policy by climate denialists risks adding yet another blast of carbon pollution. And Inayat Singh discusses how petrostates are falling behind China and developing countries in adopting the energy sources of the future. 

- Andy Boneau laments the dedication of increasing amounts of land and resources to asphalt based on the unquestioned dominance of car culture. Timothy Fraser et al. find (PDF) that even the mild shift away from vehicular supremacy arising from New York City's congestion pricing is producing broad environmental and health benefits. 

- Finally, Rebecca Burns and Thomas Burningham report that the positive impact of tenant organizing is now being met with a predictable union-busting response by landlords. And the Council of Canadians calls out the corporate lobbying offensive which has stopped any progress on pharmacare in Canada. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Cathy Young and Cas Mudde each discuss how the Trump regime's "national security strategy" is based on pushing cronyism and bigotry over democracy and security - and seeking to impose that same prioritization on every country it can. 

- Meanwhile, Emmett MacFarlane writes that Trump has found an eager fellow traveler in Danielle Smith as she wields the notwithstanding clause at every opportunity to attack minority rights. And Saima Desai reports on the growing movement of unions and trans advocates fighting back against Scott Moe's discrimination against trans youth.

- Max Abelson et al. offer a detailed look at the documented connections between Jeffrey Epstein and numerous corporate and financial bigwigs. And Pema Levy discusses how Republicans are trying to give dark money even more power to manipulate American elections, while Phil Weiser and Javier Mabry note that it's possible to fight back through citizen intiatives at the state level. 

- Natasha Bulowski reports on Mark Carney's latest plan to hand power to the corporate class by allowing it to embed employees in the federal government, while Adrienne Tanner discusses how Carney has made a cynic out of her (and many more) in handing over climate policy to the fossil fuel sector. And Emma Arkell reports on Quebec's legislative attacks on the labour movement. 

- Rhoda Feng reviews Tim Wu's The Age of Extraction as a needed reminder of the rent-seeking business model behind the our tech overlords. And Judd Legum writes about the casino-fication of news as the next frontier of converting flows of information into profit centres. 

- Finally, James Hardwick writes about the reality of Canada's housing bubble - and the desperate need for large-scale social and not-for-profit housing to improve anything.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Festive cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading. 

- Jonathan Last discusses how the Trump regime is carrying out campaigns of murder based on known lies with both the purpose and effect of destroying any social order, while Matt Gurney writes about the participants at the Halifax International Security Forum who have quite rightly concluded the U.S. can never be trusted again. Daniele Renwick talks to activists from authoritarian regimes about the lessons they've learned, while Kimberly Prost discusses the effects of the U.S.' imposition of sanctions against people who dare to enforce international criminal and humanitarian law. And Charlie Angus writes about Trump's gangster regime, while Richard Goode discusses the alt-right forces seeking to impose similar lawless violence in Canada. 

- Hannah Murphy writes about the development of privately-owned cities to further entrench the power of the wealthy. And Alan MacLeod writes about the obvious distortion of our information environment when then most obscenely wealthy tycoons on the planet are all taking over major media outlets to turn them into personal megaphones, while Alexander Smith et al. study the dangers posed by politicised threats to science. 

- Taylor Noakes points out that Mark Carney is dutifully parroting fossil fuel billionaires' talking points rather than working on any climate policy, while Tzeporah Berman discusses how utter capitulation is being framed as "realism". And Jim Stanford and Kathy Bennett examine (PDF) how a just transition remains entirely possible as long as government isn't beholden to the oil sector. 

- Finally, Tianyuan Huang et al. study how inequalities are exacerbated by environmental disasters as rebuilding is carried out to suit those who have more resources to pay for it. And Lara Jauregui et al. find that price shocks similarly have a disparate impact on the people who can least afford to absorb them. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Jonathan Freedland discusses how the Trump regime is systematically corrupting law, government and morality alike, while A.R. Moxon discusses the challenges of trying to end a culture (and cult) of abuse.  Rebecca Solnit writes about Trump's intention to recreate a fictitious white America at the expense of anything that ever counted as a success. And Joe Wilkins reports on the techbros looking to legalize war crimes to line their own pockets. 

- Charlie Angus points out how the conservative multiverse - including allied elements among the Repulicans, Cons and their allies - is bent on destroying Canada. Allan Woods reports on the Trump regime's admission that it's determined to turn Canada into a vassal state, while Nathalie Tocci discusses how Europe is also coming to terms with the fact that the U.S. is an adversary. But Alex Cosh reports that Mark Carney is refusing to apply basic human rights law to military exports which may be used by the U.S. or its axis of authoritarians to commit humanitarian atrocities. 

- Seth Sandronsky writes that the real source of the U.S.' affordability is the suppression of wages. And Josh Gerstein discusses how the Trump regime plans to exacerbate that by eliminating any remaining protections for workers. 

- But in case anybody was under the misapprehension that Carney is appreciably more concerned with workers' well-being, Natasha Bulowski reports on his slashing of any federal capacity to track climate disasters, while Josh Pringle reports on yet another back-to-office mandate which will serve only to make work more costly and less efficient (while driving away some public servants). And Althia Raj reports on the Libs' plan to make every single federal regulation subject to being instantly nullified for the benefit of any pet project. 

- Finally, Ella Nilsen and Samuel Hart write about the rapid transitions to clean energy which are possible when a country focuses on investing in sustainable energy technology, rather than fixating on dirty fossil fuels. And Markham Hislop comments on the distinction between renewable tech and commodity extraction:

Musical interlude

Romy - Love Who You Love

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Stacie Goddard and Abraham Newman discuss the neo-royalism emerging as the Trump regime tries to turn the enrichment of a self-proclaimed god-king into a legitimate basis for the exercise of state power. And Toby Buckle highlights how Elon Musk (among other megalomaniacal billionaires) is a fascist under even the strictest possible definitions of the term.

- George Monbiot points out how "trade" agreements continue to be used to allow corporations to both dictate public policy and extract public wealth on dubious grounds. And Paul Krugman writes that the Trump regime is setting up the U.S. economy for a readily-foreseeable crash, while Eduardo Porter contrasts China's progress in reducing poverty against the U.S.' choice to exacerbate it. 

- Juan Cole reports on new research showing that all new electricity demand around the globe is now being met by solar and wind power, making it abundantly clear that there's no future in expanding or extending the use of dirty fossil fuels. And AFP reports on Norway's establishment of a commission to plan for a post-oil economy. 

- Meanwhile, Rachel Salvidge reports on new research showing that large portions of southern Europe are about to run out of water due to the climate breakdown. And Damian Carrington discusses an analysis showing the nine-figure annual costs of lost harvests already in the UK due to heat and drought. 

- Finally, Stewart Prest writes about the folly of Mark Carney's hope (as a best-case explanation for ramming through a new pipeline) that a theoretical policy concession will do anything to address a manufactured identity crisis, while Charlie Angus notes that Danielle Smith didn't even let the ink dry on the agreement before picking new gratuitous fights with him. Amanda Stephenson reports on the UCP's pressure on the Alberta Energy Regulator to undermine the enforcement of gas flaring limits even as Carney banks on it developing and enforcing its own rules. Andrew Nikiforuk talks to David Hughes about the lack of any economic case for more dirty energy infrastructure. And John Woodside reports that two members of the federal Net Zero Advisory Body felt compelled to resign in protest of Carney's reckless support for emission increases. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- David Oliver de Leth reports on the fossil fuel barons using their wealth and influence to trash the EU's human rights and environmental laws, while Ella Nilsen points out how the real estate industry is trying to suppress accurate information about properties facing climate risks. Hannah Daly discusses the folly of accepting "too small to matter" as an excuse for avoidable carbon pollution - particularly when the size of the problem demands that everybody do what they can. Guido van der Werf examines why carbon emissions from fires are proving even worse than expected. And Ian Gill discusses the need to keep telling stories about the impacts of the climate crisis. 

- Amy Janzwood writes about the reality that Mark Carney's pipeline deal with Danielle Smith is purely a matter of concessions rather than remotely rational tradeoffs. And Bradley Lafortune notes that the UCP is once again planning to allow strip mining of coal in the Rockies in the face of constant public pushback and repeated assurances that it wouldn't do so. 

- Investigate Europe reports on the environmental risks posed by thousands of landfill sites across the continent. And Sandra Laville reports on Pew Charitable Trusts' recognition that plastic pollution is set to double over the next 15 years if we don't take readily available steps to stop it. 

- Yasmin Khan calls out corporate food operators for using dubious intellectual property claims to restrict access to food around the globe. And Dave Lewis notes that the corporate food industry is no more immune from environmental risks than anybody else. 

- Dennis Raphael and Toba Bryant rightly argue that Canada's plummeting place in global life expectancy rankings represents an inescapable signal that we're not adequately protecting people's health. 

- Finally, Ophélie Dénommée-Marchand discusses how Mark Carney is opening the door for Donald Trump's police state to threaten our rights and lives in Canada. And Supriya Dwivedi writes that Carney's eagerness to appeal to tech bros and misogynist regimes is threatening women's rights everywhere. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Askew cat.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- David Suzuki writes about the desperate need to loosen the grip a few megalomaniacal billionaires have over political and economic decision-making. And Matt McManus' review of The Democratic Marketplace examines how policies which cater to capitalism are undermining democracy. 

- Paul Krugman discusses what affordability really means in the eyes of the public - with inclusion, security and fairness ultimately meaning more than snapshots comparing immediate income to prices. And Robert Renger points out the obvious imbalance when corporations are routinely treated as too big to fail, while people (and marginalized groups thereof) are treated as too insignificant to be worth helping. 

- Patricia Cohen writes about the implausible valuation of AI-based corporations - together with the reality that any prospect of their producing returns commensurate with their current prices depends on further undermining the position of workers. And so when the Economist notes that businesses haven't been taking up AI at the pace its evangelists demand, the result is likely better in any event. 

- Meanwhile, Chris Hannay reports on the lack of reason to think the UCP's enabling of private medicine will do anything but shift resources away from an already-overloaded public system. 

- Finally, John Woodside discusses how Mark Carney has been using a past (if questionable) reputation for climate concern as cover to govern for the oil industry. And Carl Meyer and Drew Anderson examine how Carney's pipeline deal with Danielle Smith undermines multiple climate policies to rely solely on weakened industrial emission rules, at a time when the default to keep our planet habitable should be "all of the above". 

Musical interlude

London Grammar - Hey Now

 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Robert Reich talks about the glaring gap between the wealthy elite who are being catered to by the U.S.' economy and the many who are being left behind - and how even businesses are beginning to notice people can't afford to spend the money they count on to make profits:

- Cara Ence Morse and Eric Lau examine how the wealthiest few are distorting American elections, while Dean Baker discusses their cultivation of other conflict (including between generations) to avoid answering for their own class warfare. And Josh Bivens writes that requiring the ultrarich to pay their fair share is a necessary first step in getting back to some semblance of democracy. 

- Meghan Bartels charts the course of carbon pollution and global warming since the signing of the Paris agreement. Jackie Flynn Mogensen and Henry Carnell ponder whether it's possible to achieve global progress in the climate fight when the U.S. and other petrostates are marshaling every available resource to maximize the damage, while Gabriela Calugay-Casuga points out that the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is continuing to short the future of humanity by pouring money into dirty investments. And Max Fawcett rightly calls bullshit on any spin about treating fossil gas exports to developing countries as compatible with responsible energy policy, while Jessica Clogg writes that the only product on offer in the Carney/Smith back-of-a-napkin pipeline deal is snake oil. 

- David Roberts interviews Georgia Lagoudas about the obvious room for improvement in indoor air quality practices. And Jenna Banfield reports on a push from dozens of Senators to ban sports betting advertising. 

- Finally, Markham Hislop discusses Danielle Smith's wholescale adoption of exclusionary and corrupt MAGA politics. And Sean Speer offers a warning about the dangers of accepting state-imposed conservative culture. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Bruce Campbell discusses how Canada continues to be both a laggard in its own climate action, and an obstacle to international cooperation. And Patrick Greenfield and Kristi Greenwood discuss the growing danger of zombie fires in the Arctic due to a warming and drying climate. 

- Michael Green examines the problems with treating the U.S. poverty line as a measure of sufficiency rather than deprivation - meaning that while steps to reduce measured poverty like Rashida Tlaib's Economic Dignity for All Agenda would represent progress toward economic security, they shouldn't be taken to be adequate. And Will Parker reports on the first months of operation of Atlanta's government-funded supermarket in providing accessible and affordable food where it presviously wasn't available. 

- Abdullah Khan et al. study the immense social benefits of vehicle safety technology which the Trump regime is looking to deregulate. And John Lorinc examines (note: post from July) the lack of any evidence to support the Ford government's attacks on bike lanes - in stark contrast to the clear evidence that they save lives. 

- Luke James reports on the steps insurers are taking to avoid being stuck with liability for AI catastrophes. And Tina Nguyen examines big tech's lobbying to have the Trump regime prevent any regulation or liability by fiat.

- Finally, Markham Hislop discusses how Danielle Smith and the UCP are attacking the very idea of democracy in Canada by seeking to import Trump's corruption and authoritarianism.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Wide-eyed cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Robert Reich weighs in on the absolute moral rot within the Trump regime and its corporate cronies. Bill McKibben points out that the corruption of the U.S.' political system parallels the barely-opposed takeover of the concept of Christianity by self-promoters looking to exploit it for their own ends. And Heidi Stevens writes that Donald Trump's boorish cruelty toward female reporters offers a reminder as to how survivors of sexual violence are being scared into concealing their truth.  

- Michael Mann discusses the painful failure of the COP30 climate conference to chart a part away from climate catastrophe, while Genevieve Gunther notes that the best hope for progress is developing among countries who aren't limiting themselves to what the world's climate villians will agree to. And Emily Sanders calls out "native advertising" as yet another way in which dirty energy tycoons are polluting the public discourse. 

- Fiona Harvey and Jonathan Watts report on a new analysis showing that keeping three promises alone  - on renewable energy, efficiency and methane emission cuts - could eliminate close to a degree Celsius of projected global warming. And Prinz Magtulis and Soumya Karwa discuss the reality of the U.S.' insurance of last resort which is becoming increasingly expensive while still often failing to cover the cost of recovering from climate disasters. 

- Nicholas Weaver writes about the laughable implausibility that money burned on massive AI data centres will produce any meaningful return. Varsha Bansal reports on the AI workers warning people not to rely on it. And Justin Brake exposes the spate of consultant-generated policy reports for the Newfoundland and Labrador government which have been found to contain false, seemingly AI-generated citations and information. 

- Shannon Rieger et al. study the connection between social isolation and privilege in the U.S., finding that advantaged groups actually have somewhat higher levels of social isolation. 

- Finally, Danny Parys writes that any effective plan for Canadian sovereignty needs to keep our economic engines under our own control. And Amy Judd and Aaron McArthur report on Nutrien's choice to route potash exports through a U.S. port and put them at Donald Trump's mercy - with Scott Moe's full support as his idea of "Team Canada" involves being a puppet for foreign resource capital. 

Monday Morning Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Trenz Pruca examines how tax policy biased toward the wealthy has exacerbated the U.S.' already-toxic economic inequality. And Dean Baker interviews Joseph Stiglitz about the other policy levers, including bankruptcy and intellectual property, which have also been torqued to benefit the rich in the name of the freedom of the few to exploit the many:

- The Economist offers a warning about the U.S.' acceptance (and the Trump regime's encouragement) of corruption. Paul Krugman examines how institutional forces are making money off cryptocurrency while consumers see their assets drained by a deflating bubble. And Anand Giridharadas discusses the revelations in the Epstein e-mails as an example of general elite impunity. 

- Peter Brannen warns that existing climate policies have humanity on track for a calamitous 3 degrees of global warming, with a real risk that deliberate climate obstruction and subsidies for dirty fossil fuels will send us careening past even that level. Royce Kurmelovs and Fiona Harvey et al. each highlight the failures of the COP30 climate conference as oil lobbyists blocked any agreement on a transition to clean energy. And both David Roberts' interview with Kingsmill Bond and David Suzuki's commentary discuss how a few more decades of avoidable carbon dumping won't stop the ultimate trend toward clean electrification. 

- Jonathan Vanian reports on new court filings showing how Meta cancelled and cloesd its eyes to internal research demonstrating the harmful effects of social media. But Craig Lord reports that Mark Carney's attitude toward megalomaniacal techbros is to let them dictate policy, rather than allowing for any question as to whether their interests are the same as the public's. 

- Finally, Raywat Deonandan discusses how the resurgence of measles in Canada reflects a deeper social illness. 

Musical interlude

Deftones - Infinite Source

 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Lane Brown examines how key elements of cognitive ability may be degrading - including due to constant exposure to personalities selected for their vociferous ignorance. Bruce Bartlett writes about his experience at the Heritage Foundation as it learned to exploit the news cycle to plant conservative propaganda in opposition to actual research. Nicholas Hune-Brown investigates how AI is being used to generate scam articles for major publications. And Carl Meyer reports on the Carney Libs' plans to facilitate misinformation from fossil fuel purveyors. 

- Shannon Gibson discusses how past "climate finance" commitments have ranged from the frivolous to the thoroughly counterproductive - making it all the more worrisome that the apparent reality is that the COP30 climate summit is operating with wording that allows petrostates to provide equally toothless commitments in exchange for a lack of any agreement to transition away from fossil fuels. 

- Kathryn Harrison and Simon Donner highlight how Mark Carney's plans for increased reliance on dirty energy are as senseless economically as they are environmentally. And Gerald Butts, Peter Nicholson and Rick Smith warn against locking ourselves into a dying fossil fuel economy, while Sam Butler-Sloss and Kingsmill Bond discuss how solar power in particular is set to dominate global energy production over fossil gas. 

- Cara Buckley reports on the massive success of Iowa City's decision to make public transit free. And Jake Thomas reports on the drastic decline in homelessness (and ultimate cost savings) from an Oregon pilot program to give unhoused youths a small secure income. 

- Finally, Julian Richer discusses how we'd all be better off if people with privilege acknowledged our own good fortune, rather than presuming any advantages to be the result of merit (and demanding all the more special treatment as a result). 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- G. Elliott Morris examines what voters want out of a political party independent of the platforms being presented to them - and finds both that there's reason to apply an affordability/ideology axis, and that the general preference is for left-leaning policies to the extent the traditional ideological spectrum is taken into account. And Paul Krugman discusses how Americans are recognizing how the Trump regime is hurting their material interests. 

- Meanwhile, Clement Nocos and Nathan Prier point out how the Carney Libs' cuts to public services are both unnecessary and dangerous. And Angella MacEwen highlights why we should be embracing and benefiting from public ownership and investment, rather than engaging in the right-wing impulse to put everything in corporate hands:

- Carole Cadwalldr writes that some of the most prominent techbro billionaires are signaling their own recognition that AI is a bubble rather than a sustainable focus for economic activity, while Nicole Einbender reports on the extreme exploitation of labour being pushed at another of Sam Altman's corporations. Bryce Elder rightly draws a distinction between past tech successes which became more efficient at scale, and AI which has seen nothing of the sort. Peter Rudegeair, Nate Rattner and Sebastian Herrera report on Oracle's fall from AI darling status to failed business. 

- Anne Plourde discusses new research showing how health care privatization leads to worse mortality rates. And David Climenhaga calls out Danielle Smith for looking to sacrifice Albertans' health in the name of imposing two-tier care.  

- Mel Woods offers a fact check against the excuses the UCP is peddling for going nuclear against trans people and their Charter freedoms. And Dale Smith warns against normalizing the use of the notwithstanding clause as a matter of convenience and avoiding evidentiary justification for policies which attack rights. 

- Finally, Tanayott Thaweethai et al. study the trajectory of long COVID in Americans, including a large number of people with persistently high or continuing symptoms. And Malin Spetz et al. examine the connective between COVID-19 severity and cardiovascular risks.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Marisa Kabas discusses the moral rot in corporate, access-based media - which in turn looks to be a contributor to the decline of human decency in the political and social realms. And Perry Bacon talks to Adam Bonica about the obvious opportunity for leaders and movements who pick up on the public demand to combat corruption.

- Jonathan Cohn interviews Atul Gawande about the cruelty of the Trump regime's obliteration of foreign aid programs which kept hundreds of thousands of people alive. Nat Lash reports on the potential for a bird flu pandemic as a result of the Republicans' anti-vaccine ideology and destruction of the U.S. public health system. Freddy Brewster and Luke Goldstein report on the U.S. Senate's gutting of regulations around food contamination as part of the price of reopening government is to ensure it doesn't protect people from corporate damage. 

- Meanwhile, both Andrew Gregory and Amina Zafar report on new studies showing the harm that ultra-processed food can do to the human body. 

- Lest anybody think Mark Carney isn't fully onside with destructive deregulation and corporate control, Marc Fawcett-Atkinson reports on the Libs' choice to eliminate protections around pesticides. Marc Lee discusses how the Libs' economic plans are limited to corporate handouts rather than any vision for future development. And Jim Thomas implores Carney not to let an already-worrisome obsession with artificial intelligence as a panacea turn into a bailout for tech sector tycoons. 

- Finally, Shanna Hanbury reports on Colombia's warning that corporate-biased trade agreements act as a dangerous barrier to needed climate action. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Insider cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Moira Doneghan writes that the Jeffrey Epstein e-mails released over the past week provide a window into the anti-morality of the wealthy and powerful few who think the world exists solely to serve their whims. And Timothy Snyder discusses how the Trump regime's grift bubble looks to be a major contributor to the ultimate collapse of the U.S. 

- Robert Reich documents the failing Trump economy and the first steps needed to reverse the damage, while A.J. Schumann discusses how mass deportations are contributing to the economic collapse. Beth Mole traces the fallout from the Republicans' attacks on health, as over 74,000 participants in 383 clinical trials immediately lost access to treatment while countless more people will lose the benefits of study data. And Lesley Blume and Chloe Shrager discuss how the deregulation of nuclear radiation exposure may be catastrophic. 

- Rosie Hampton writes about the need to develop new physical spaces which allow for organizing within - and particularly between - progressive causes. Amanda Marcotte rightly notes that to the extent there is a crisis of men's loneliness, it can be traced directly to capitalist exploitation and isolation (which only stands to be exacerbated by the replacement of human interaction with manipulative AI). Jessica Winter discusses Scott Galloway's hope to develop an aspirational version of masculinity. Schuyler MItchell points out how the bigoted right is using the language of "gender ideology" to blame trans people for everything. And Adam Bonica and Jake Grumbach note that contrary to lazy pundit assumptions, Gen Z is far less inclined toward racial resentment and other forms of prejudice than earlier generations. 

- Finally, Aaron Richterman et al. study the effects of cash transfers and add to the pile of research showing how a social income makes people healthier. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Connie Loizos warns that the growth of "buy now, pay later" financing for the essentials of life parallels the wider use of unsustainable debt as a substitute for improvements in standards of living. And Umair Irfan discusses how the Trump regime's hostility to electric vehicles is making all kinds of car ownership even more expensive. 

- Carole Cadwalladr weighs in on the glaringly obvious artificial intelligence bubble, while Ketan Joshi discusses how Meta is polluting our physical and information environments alike with its AI garbage. And Laura Rodriguez Salamanca points out how Microsoft and Google data centre projects (which normally proceed only due to massive public subsidies) predictably produce far fewer jobs than promised.  

- Geoffrey Johnston highlights the urgent need to rein in a worsening climate crisis, while Donna Lu reports on a new simulation suggesting that the damage carbon pollution has already done to our planet  in the form of extreme heat waves will be felt for a millenium. Anupreeta Das reports on the devastating general effects of heat stress on women in India, while Anuradha Nagaraj tells the story of one worker in particular about the realities of living in temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius. Andn John Harris discusses how the UK is building large amounts of new housing in areas which will soon be flooded due to the climate breakdown. 

- Harrison Samphir discusses how Canada's civil service is bracing for the effects of a Carney austerity budget, while Nancy Wilson points out that one of the anticipated effects of slashing public jobs is to prevent women from receiving pay equity payments. And Aaron Wherry notes that Carney's choices can plausibly be seen as those of a small-c progressive conservative. 

- Finally, Charles Rusnell examines how Alberta's obsession with privatized surgery continues to enrich donors while underming the public health care system and its patients. And Eva Uguen-Csenge, Shelley Ayres and Steven D'Souza report on Health Canada's rejection of expert advice about the effectiveness of safe supply programs (and the carnage which is resulting from their elimination). 

Musical interlude

Grum feat. Natalie Shay - Stay

 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Oliver Milman and Damian Carrington report on Climate Action Tracker's recognition that we're headed toward 2.6 degrees of global warming without major policy changes - and that dirty fossil fuel emissions are continuing to increase. Nina Lakhani reports on a study showing that fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber every non-host delegation at the COP30 conference. And Ian Urquhart notes that the Mark Carney Libs are are among far too many governments serving as fossil fuel lobbyists rather than good faith actors - meaning that there's little reason for hope that Carney will take up the mantle of climate leadership as pitched by Shawn McCarthy. 

- Meanwhile, Jillian Ambrose and Fiona Harvey report on the IEA's recognition that a clean energy transition is inevitable - meaning that the people shilling for fossil fuel interests are only exacerbating both the climate breakdown, and the severity of an eventual economic crash. And Jameson Dow discusses how a corporate media narrative of electric vehicle denialism bears no relationship to reality. 

- George Monbiot discusses how the control of media by the ultra-rich is fueling an epistemic crisis. Timothy Caulfield notes that the normalizing of anti-vaccine ideology (which is resulting in the reemergence of diseases like measles which had previously been contained) is a direct result of political calculation by right-wing actors looking to undermine the concept of the public good at every turn. Jon Cohen examines how the Trump regime is actively destroying humanity's capacity to respond to the next pandemic. And Grey Moran exposes how Tyson Foods used Palantir surveillance to develop plans for the known results of the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 - but not to actually lift a finger to keep its workers healthy. 

- Cora Lewis writes about the spread of online sports betting, as well as the obvious risks which have been foisted on the people least capable of managing them. And John Herrman points out how both gambling and resulting patterns of media coverage are spreading into the political sphere.

- John Stapleton points out the absurdity of the Libs trying to claim "inefficiency" as a reason for ending taxes on the wealthy while it pursues grossly disproportionate litigation to recover tiny amounts of social benefits. 

- Finally, David Moscrop joins the group of voices recognizing that it's absolutely futile for Canada to pursue a trade deal with a U.S. which is utterly incapable of being trusted either to accurately portray what's being negotiated, or to honour any deal which might be announced. And Dan Gardner writes that it's long past time for Canada to move past the "safe" position of deferring to the U.S., and instead take a leadership role in shaping the world we want. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Prem Sikka discusses how any prospect of meaningful change for the better depends on prying power out of the hands of the wealthiest few, while David Wallace-Wells writes about the first signs of progress on the part of the working class. And Sam Ellefson talks to Herbert Chang about the systematic abuse of offshore tax havens as one of the mechanisms the ultra-wealthy are using to avoid making any fair contribution to the countries that have made them rich.

- Jennifer Ludden notes that the Trump regime's choice to abandon people to go hungry figures to cause lasting anger and anxiety among the people deemed unworthy of even the most minimal standard of living. Benedict Vigers and Julie Ray report on new polling showing that 40% of younger women in the U.S. would understandably be happy to leave permanently. And Greg Sargent discusses how the U.S. general public has no interest in Republican cruelty when it's inflicted for its own sake rather than being attached to false promises of material gains. 

- Nina Lakhani reports on a new Amnesty International study showing that even setting aside the climate crisis, two billion people have their health threatened by pollution emanating from fossil fuel projects. And Dan Collyns reports on new archeological research documenting a coordinated effort to escape severe drought in Peru thousands of years ago - including warnings left behind for future generations. 

- Bob Berwyn discusses how UN climate talks are now designed to obstruct progress rather than to achieve it. Olivia Rudgard reports that the scientists who have done the most work on carbon capture are now warning against unduly relying on it as a substitute for effective climate action. And Rick Smith writes that the best-case scenario for Mark Carney's narrow climate plan is to see a meaningful industrial carbon price implemented quickly and effectively.

- Finally, Pippa Norman reports that Carney's plans to tie Canada even more tightly to the corporate elite includes pouring resources into a defence bank to finance military spending. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Daniel Drache and Marc Froese offer a reminder that we know all too well what a Donald Trump "trade deal" looks like - making the continued Lib/Con obsession with a new one into an exercise in either self-destruction or self-delusion. And Peter Zimonjic reports on Mark Carney's decision to follow the U.S. in prioritizing cryptocurrency schemes over actual economic development. 

- Curtis Fric discusses new polling showing that the U.S.' polarization doesn't extend to public views of control by the wealthy, as a massive supermajority recognizes that billionaires pay too little tax and have too much power. Will Bunch writes about the painful contrast between a public that's emerging to take action against the abuses of the Trump regime and wealthy Democratic Senators who see fascism as presenting new opportunities for supplication, while Adam Bonica notes that the Republicans have repeatedly gotten their way by making laughable appeals to comity and compassion in order to better entrench their arbitrary cruelty. David Sirota and David Resnikoff each discuss how Zohran Mamdani's successful mayoral campaign offers a template for what an opposition party should be doing. 

- Michael Copley et al. examine how home insurance is becoming unaffordable (or outright unavailable)  in the U.S. as the most sophisticated risk managers around decide it's not worth carrying the losses from a climate breakdown. 

- Katharine Hayhoe offers her tips for dealing with climate dismissives on social media. And G. Elliott Morris makes the case to quit social media (particularly on the platforms whose content is determined by top-down algorithms).

- Finally, Susan Helper et al. study the effects of the U.S.' modern slavery in the form of prison labour, and find that it systematically undermines wages and working conditions for workers generally. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Helpful cat.

 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Fiona Harvey and Jonathan Watts report on Antonio Guterres' warning at the start of the COP30 climate conference that we can't afford more delays and distractions. Zali Steggall writes about the need for our conversations to include serious talk about how to survive the breakdown we can no longer avoid (while also doing everything in our power not to make matters worse). Harvey also reports on André Corrêa do Lago's rightful objection to the by inaction of the countries most able to afford to contribute. And Kathy Mulvey discusses what a climate summit would look like absent the constant obstruction from dirty energy interests that have regularly blocked any progress.  

- Ember Futures examines the consistent trend of clean energy becoming more affordable and more secure than reliance on fossil fuels. Julian Beaulieu, Wren Montgomery and Jennifer Quaid argue against Mark Carney's choice to enable greenwashing by the oil sector. And The Juice Media offers up an honest ad about the latest LNG monstrosity intended to lock us into several more decades of fossil fuel dependence:

 

- Ang Li writes about the effect of the climate breakdown on our homes and health - including the need for housing to take into account extreme weather and increased threats of disasters. Leora Smith discusses how Doug Ford's housing policy is predictably aimed at handing even more wealth and power to landlords at the expense of people's access to a basic human right. And John Lorinc points out that the federal Libs have chosen to ignore the rental construction incentives which actually spurred the development of new units in the 1970s. 

-  Finally, Jesse Drucker discusses how the Trump regime (without following any valid process to change tax laws) is handing out immense of amounts of free money to the uber-rich. And Mark Niquette and Lauren Dezenski highlight how the Trump economy consists of utterly undermining working people, while hoping for multiple precarious assumptions to goose the value of stocks and capital interests. 

Monday Morning Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Tim Wu discusses how the richest few have come to dominate our politics (with our health and well-being paying the price), while Ian Welsh examines the obscene concentration of wealth in the U.S. Jeff Horwitz exposes how Meta's business model includes the deliberate facilitation of scams as a major revenue source, while Harrison Mooney interviews Gil Duran about the rise of techno-fascism. And Jared Yates Sexton writes that oligarchic buyup of politicians and ad blitzes hasn't succeeded in winning over the public.

- Carl Beuer writes that the devastating results of Trump regime's withholding of food stamps demonstrate the need for effective government to provide social supports, while Kristen Crowell offers a reminder that the long-time plan of the Republicans and their anti-social cronies has been to eliminate anything of the sort. Marisa Kabas talks to SNAP recipients about their experience having minimal supports stripped away. And Rene Sylvestre-Williams discusses how there's more governments can do to ensure necessities are affordable, including by directly providing basic needs so people aren't stuck paying corporate markups for everything. 

- Luke Savage discusses the stark difference between a future where people have an option of pluralistic social democracy, and one where neoliberal acquiescence is the only perceived alternative to fascism.  And Jason Sattler comments on the importance of a politics based on people taking action rather than merely being acted upon, while Taylor Noakes highlights how Canadians can draw inspiration from Zohran Mamdani's mayoral victory. 

- George Goehl writes about the need to give people clear calls to action at a time when they're eager to make a difference. And Katherine Wu discusses the large number of scientists stepping up to run for office as their life's work has been negated by ignorant political choices. 

- Finally, Karl Nerenberg comments on Mark Carney's choice to focus the federal investments on militarism and little else. Alex Hemingway points out a few of the most glaring missed opportunities,  while Emmett MacFarlane notes that the budget misses the real causes of Canada's problems. And Rachel Samson points out the mismatch between Carney's supposed goals and the level of resources provided, while Carl Meyer examines the particular reduction in both rules and funding for environmental priorities. 

Musical interlude

Matthew Good Band - Going All The Way

 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Kaitlin Tosh and Michelle Inez Simon examine how Elon Musk's takeover of X has led to the systematic pushing of right-wing propaganda on users whether they have any interest in receiving it or not. And Mickey Djuric discusses the farce of the Trump regime and its Canadian puppets becoming more interested in preventing the culling of ostriches being raised for meat than in people's well-being, while Angela Rasmussen notes that even the end of the matter in substance will do nothing to stop the concerted spread of anti-science crankery.

- Meanwhile, Samantha Hancox-Li discusses the need for a determined, war-time mindset in responding to the right's wanton attacks on reason. And Jael Holzman points out the potential to form alliances in pushing back against the tethering of social and economic development to corporate-controlled AI. 

- Stuart Braun comments on the fossil fuelk propaganda mill and its disinformation surrounding the COP30 climate talks, while Emily Atkin examines Bari Weiss' pattern of denialism now being imposed on CBS News. Joelle Gergis writes about the need to move past nebulous "net zero" promises and actually use affordable clean energy to cut down on carbon pollution. And the Economist discusses how China is doing just that by focusing on clean energy development while the U.S. pins its hopes on ever-more-implausible snake oil schemes. 

- Finally, Ricardo Tranjan writes that Ontario's fall economic statement is predictably loaded with freebies for the corporate class but devoid of supports for people. And Katherine Scott notes that Mark Carney's first federal budget follows a similar path (even after he was elected based largely on a margin of progressive votes). 

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. 

Wednesday Night Cat Blogging

Slushy cat.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- The UN Environmental Programme's Emissions Gap Report examines the painfully slow progress toward reining in global warming even as the technology to eliminate emissions has become cheaper than dirty energy. And Nick Hedley notes that over a dozen countries are on a path toward 100% renewable electricity even as our petropoliticians insist such a thing isn't possible. 

- Caroline Preston discusses the gains made by U.S. teachers' unions to show how it's possible to use collective bargaining as a means to secure climate action. Adam King calls out Danielle Smith for summarily obliterating the Charter rights of Alberta teachers to bargain for the best interests of their students. And Sanya Burgess' investigation into massive numbers of injuries at UK Amazon warehouses offers a reminder as to how workers suffer when employers are able to impose their disregard for health and safety without collective pushback.  

- Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood and Davis Legree each note that Mark Carney has chosen to go in exactly the wrong direction in his first federal budget, underming already-insufficient climate plans while catering to oil tycoons. Marc Fawcett-Atkinson notes that Carney's decision to facilitate oil companies' climate denial and false greenwashing is as unpopular as it is indefensible. And David Macdonald and Mertins-Kirkwood rightly question more generally why any opposition party would support the Libs' corporatist budget. 

- Anita Balakrishnan reports on the push from university leaders for support to find places for the scientists who are being driven out of the U.S. by the Trump regime. 

- Finally, Jason Linkins calls out the U.S. media for sanitizing Donald Trump's shredding of the rule of law as well as individual rights - making for a particularly galling contrast compared to Hamilton Nolan's observation that the corporate media has treated Zohran Mamdani's simple suggestion of helping people as grounds to declare him unfit for office. But the repudiation of that party line by voters offers reason for hope that the oligarchy isn't going to go unopposed.