Musical interlude

Elderbrook & Ahmed Spins - Waterfall

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Rhiana Gunn-Wright and Olufemi Taiwo discuss the importance of making the climate movement one that engages our shared humanity. But as a reminder of what that movement is up against, Carl Meyer reports on how fossil fuel companies have badgered the federal government into allowing them to conceal their climate risks, while George Monbiot discusses the absurdity of the BBC cancelling a podcast about heat pumps because it doesn't fit the agenda of the dirty energy lobby. And John Woodside writes that Mark Carney's plans are at best difficult to pin down - meaning that there figures to be a real risk that he too will let resource capital dictate public policy regardless of how it endangers our living environment. 

- Lauren Kirchner reports on yet another Trump regime attack on consumer protection as it tries to eliminate the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Tom Dreisbach sets out more than 100 examples of the regime using the power of the state to personally target its declared enemies - which is of course worth noting as Danielle Smith looks to copy Trump's playbook in setting the rules for elections. And Kate Aronoff discusses how Trump is making natural disasters far deadlier by eliminating response mechanisms and supports. 

- Adam Gopnik rightly argues that Canada's election result is best seen as a complete repudiation of Trump's plans to take us over (both formally and indirectly). But David Moscrop notes that the election  has left a jarring class dealignment. And Stuart Trew writes that there is an opening for Canada to shape what emerges from Trump's trade chaos - including by enshrining protections for workers, consumers and the environment. 

- Finally, Doug Horner writes about the Crowsnest Pass Herald's role in challenging the monopoly position of Google and Meta which has severely undermined independent media. 

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.  

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Robert Reich argues that the overriding theme of the new Trump regime is ineptitude, with Paul Krugman's observation that he's staking the U.S. economy on offers which other countries can't accept offering support for that conclusion. But John Slover et al.'s study on the millions of people who stand to die from Trump's wanton slashing of supports signals that cruelty still needs to rank at the top of the list, while Eli Hager writes that a war on children is a huge element of the regime's actions. 

- Harold Meyerson discusses how markets have brought Trump to heel at times - though it's also been worth noting how quick they've been to revert back to "normal" as the people in control of capital are desperate to avoid acknowledging the harm already done when they can find the slightest pretense to make numbers go up. And John Avlon highlights how Americans are demonstrably worse off than they were 100 days ago, with far more damage yet to come. 

- Cory Doctorow notes that Congressional Republicans are joining in the looting of the general public by looking to eliminate protections against corporate fraud and deception. And Dan Friedman and Russ Choma point out the actual dark money behind a political investigation seeking to undermine Democratic donation mechanisms. 

- Quinn Slobodian writes that techbros' temporary fixation with IQ is only a brief stop on the way toward the subordination of human-based knowledge and judgment. And Dell Cameron discusses how car subscription features are just one more piece of the burgeoning private surveillance state. 

- Adam King writes about CAPE's call for public pension funds to divest from Tesla - both to avoid propping up a particularly malevolent corporate actor, and for the sake of avoiding a foreseeable crash. And Michael MacKenzie, Simon Pek and Alex Hemingway make the case to favour democratic employee ownership of businesses rather than catering to the whims of billionaires and foreign capital.

- Finally, Taylor Noakes examines the right-wing propaganda machine which has bullied its way into Canada's political discourse. Max Fawcett writes that a proportional electoral system would offer an important defence mechanism against that threat - though it seems painfully unlikely that Mark Carney will have any more interest in reducing the polarization that brought him to power than Justin Trudeau or previous Lib leaders who have similarly wielded false majorities. And Jared Wesley writes that there are two possible paths ahead for conservatives in Canada - though the observation that there's a theoretical option to build bridges rather than destroying them seems hopelessly credulous in light of the constent track record of the Cons and their IDU co-conspiracists regardless of who's been at the helm.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Outreached cat.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your election day reading.

- David Moscrop discusses the dangers of allowing the Libs to claim the mantle of "left" while under corporate control. Martin Lukacs warns that the Poilievre Cons and their disinformation machine will have managed to push Canadian politics rightward even if voters reject them. And Jared Wesley writes about the need to approach any results with care, rather than knee-jerk anger or smugness. 

- Dustin Godfrey notes that both the Libs and Cons are pushing for drug policy based on puritanical punishment rather than harm reduction (in stark contrast to the NDP). And Katherine Scott discusses how young people facing a grim future with few supports have been largely ignored by the two largest parties, while Renee Sylvestre Williams offers a reminder that boutique tax baubles don't do anything to make life affordable for the working class. 

- Paul Kahnert writes about the red flags which confirm Poilievre is every bit as destructive and reality-averse as Donald Trump. And Guy Lawson comments on the absurdity of the Cons seeking to take power based on a campaign of absolute isolation - including but not limited to a complete failure to respond to the connections between them and the Republicans. 

- Steven Beschloss discusses how the Trump regime has made the U.S. a pariah rather than a magnet for international activity. Edward Harrison highlights the reality that American exceptionalism can't be salavaged in the wake of an irrational war against everybody. And Alan Elrod writes that the road toward anything positive depends on reversing the practice of politics based on vice. 

- Finally, Ben Smith offers a glimpse at the elite group chats which shaped the current U.S. conventional wisdom in the image of alt-right saboteurs. Philip Bump notes that one of the few consistent elements of the Trump regime is its refusal to listen to any message other than its own propaganda, while Eileen Sullivan reports on the elimination of a non-partisan civil service to allow only for Trump boosterism. And Ian Bogost and Charlie Warzel warn that the corporate information scraping and surveillance being put in place by Elon Musk may have repercussion for the general public long past Trump's stay in power. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Jim Stanford offers a reminder of the problems with treating raw GDP as a proxy for well-being or social development. Dario Radley highlights new archaeological research showing that inequality is a policy choice rather than an inevitability in larger and more complex societies. And William Finnegan discusses how the U.S.' one-time promise that work would lead to some measure of economic security has been swapped out for a system designed to facilitate extraction and precarity at every turn. 

- Joe Perticone notes that the Trump regime's combination of deliberate climate destruction and elimination of emergency supports may push people to demand climate action. And Mark Blyth and Nicolo Fraccatori write that the short-term impact of tariffs likely won't hold a candle to the inflation and shortages caused by a climate breakdown. 

- Meanwhile, Jill Filipovic discusses how many U.S. elites have capitulated to - or happily embraced - the human rights abuses of the Trump regime. And Thomas Zimmer writes about the continued rise of despotism under Trump. 

- Stephen Council reports on Mark Zuckberberg's belated recognition that Facebook is fundamentally broken now that it serves primarily as a conduit for misinformation. And Paris Marx notes that Canada's techbros seem perfectly happy to see Mark Carney (and his utterly credulous take on AI) rise to power even if it means their personally-sponsored Cons aren't elected. 

- Finally, Code Black writes about the dangers of health care privatization - and the need to stop conservatives determined to make health secondary to profit motives. John Woodside and Natasha Bulowski report on the deep ties between the Cons and dirty energy lobbyists as a strong indication of whose interests will - and won't - be taken into consideration if they get a chance to determine federal policy. And Emily examines a number of the Cons' connections to MAGA world, while pointing out the risks of allowing their worldview to dictate Canadian choices.