Wednesday Morning Links

This and that for your Canada Day reading.

- George Monbiot points out that the determination by petropoliticians to deny climate change and the heat stress it causes is a threat to everybody, while George Tsakraklides notes that far too much of the general public has taken to accepting and even embracing the boiling of our shared planet. And Jason Hickel discusses how the problems with fossil fuel politics are inherent to capitalism - making climate socialism the only effective response to both economic and environmental ills. 

- Meanwhile, Victor Tangermann notes that the capital class is primarily opposed to solar energy because it's too affordable for the masses, rather than offering the windfall profits and monopolies of dirty fossil fuels and similar extractive energy sources. And Maddie Stone, Amy Westervelt and Katie Worth expose how the main authority cited for the viability of carbon capture and storage was developed and marketed at the direction of British Petroleum. 

- Ed Zitron examines how the AI industry's combined hype machine and lobbying effort is falling short of reality by a sufficient margin to make its failure seem highly likely. And Joseph Cox points out the fairly hilarious direction that AI bots talk like cavemen to avoid having to pay for more common language. 

- Wyatte Grantham-Phillips reports on the revelation that U.S. egg producers colluded to drive up the exact prices that helped Donald Trump campaign on affordability - and have been handed a sweetheart deal by the Trump regime rather than facing meaningful consequences. 

- Finally, Saul Austerlitz writes about the necessity of rebuilding community as a response and counterweight to the isolation that's allowed for our exploitation. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Slumbering cat. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Gregg Gonsalves discusses the Trump regime's plan to politicize every single dollar of federal revenue and expenditure in the U.S., setting up a ruthlessly efficient mechanism for executive grift and extortion at the expense of democratically-determined decision-making. Which means that Americans already struggling to keep afloat can only expect matters to get worse as long as Trump and his courtiers hold power. And Will Saletan highlights how the U.S.' foreign policy is similarly aimed at enriching Trump rather than any national or humanitarian interest. 

- Meanwhile, Kim Kelly points out the dark historical parallels to the unconscionable sentences for guilt by association applied to the Prairieland political prisoners. Matthew Gault reports on the criminalization of dissent in the form of merely speaking out against data centres at a public meeting. And Sean O'Kane reports on yet another techbro - this time Peter Diamandis - stating the public intention to inflict unaccountable surveillance on the general public in order to keep people in line. 

- Julia Jacobo discusses the increasing number of people facing heat stress around the globe, while Ajit Niranjan comments on the lack of preparation for global warming which has long been predicted. And Michael Le Page warns that there's far worse to come due both to the damage we've already done to our living environment, and our absolute failure to rein in the carbon pollution that's causing it to break down. 

- Meanwhile, if anybody needed a reminder that responsible policy can eradicate avoidable risks, Aitor Hernandez-Morales reports on Helsinki's year without a single traffic-related death. And Alexandra Frost reports on the HPV vaccine's success in preventing UK deaths from cervical cancer. 

- Finally, Graeme Bayliss rightly questions why Mark Carney is consistently choosing to copy the Trump regime rather than resisting it as promised. 

Musical interlude

Arkells - Leather Jacket

 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Michael Sainato reports on the California referendum which will see struggling voters get the chance to have their say on taxing billionaires. And Jennifer Rubin points out that progressive policy remains immensely popular in the U.S. generally, even as it's generally ruled out as an option by two generally corporate-dominated parties. 

- The Solar Energy Industries Association notes that solar power is making up the vast majority of new U.S. generation despite the Trump regime's hostility to renewable energy. And CarbonBrief concludes that the UK has seen electric vehicle sales exceed those of ICE vehicles over the course of a full year. 

- James Murray writes about the World Weather Attribution Agency's conclusion that the deadly heat hitting Europe can only be explained by climate change. Zoya Teirstein highlights how the climate crisis affects the human body and threatens public health. And Harriette Boucher reports on the scientific warnings that the climate breakdown will lead to food insecurity in the UK and elsewhere. 

- Christopher Holcroft examines the connection between Mark Carney and the Trump-supporting broligarchy which wants to exacerbate inequality and make human needs subordinate to the desire to turn power over to privately-controlled AI. 

- Finally, Tom Goldsmith writes about the need to push back against the expectation that workers will accept burnout as the price of having a job at all. And C.J. Polychroniou interviews Costas Lapavitsas about the importance of the labour movement as a catalyst for action and change, rather than a mere voting bloc.

Thursday Night Cat Blogging

Spiraling cat.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Sonal Gupta reports on the detection of massive methane releases from the Kitimat LNG facility which aren't included in normal monitoring or reporting. But Marin Scotten writes that the fossil gas industry is trying to issue propaganda to schools to push students to see continued pollution as inevitable. 

- Guillaume Calline discusses new opinion research showing that European electric vehicle owners are avoiding the anxiety from oil price shocks which has afflicted most ICE vehicle drivers. Nick Carey and Divya Rajagopal point out that Canada is ideally positioned to develop a manufacturing industry for Chinese EVs which can be exported to the U.S. once it's governed by a regime which is less hostile to clean transportation.  

- That said, Ajit Niranjan highlights a new analysis showing how vehicles of multiple types are expanding and creating avoidable hazards for everybody else on the road. And Jack Fitzgerald discusses the similar effect of increasing vehicle heights in the U.S. 

- Finally, Rebecca Solnit rightly points out the through line between the systematic abuse of women by Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein and the Tate brothers. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- A.R. Moxon writes about the desperate need for a radical reshaping of both stories and substantive policy when even the most modest challenge to the impunity of villainous elites is treated as impossible. And Prem Sikka notes that the UK's real economy is being hollowed out in service to the dogma that financial interests matter more than people. 

- Victor Tangermann reports on the corrosive effect of AI at an organizational level as actual knowledge is replaced with a pale imitation. And Mariana Lenharo points out similar findings among individual professionals whose skills are degrading when artificial supports are unavailable. Which means it's readily understandable that university students are despairing - as noted by Frank Landymore - at being pressured to use it. 

- Mitchell Beer discusses how dependency on fossil fuel extraction is now a lose-lose proposition, as the windfall profits that follow temporarily from supply crises only drive people toward cheaper and readily available clean alternatives. Fiona Harvey points out the message emerging in advance of the Bonn climate conference that electrification results in far more efficient energy production and use than the outdated technology it replaces. Jan Rosenow highlights how Europe has benefited from its investments in energy efficiency by limiting the rise in energy prices. And Abby Hughes reports on the surge in electric vehicle adoption in Canada.  

- Finally, Leyland Cecco reports on the humanitarian costs of Mark Carney's refusal to acknowledge the realities of Donald Trump's regime, as asylum claimants continue to be told they have to pretend the U.S. is a safe third country even under a government which refuses to acknowledge their humanity. 

Musical interlude

CAKE - Love You Madly

 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Toby Buckle and Greg Sargent highlight the need for a global response to the race war being propagated by Elon Musk and other white supremacists. And Will Bunch explains his (however belated) exit from the media empire of a tycoon whose violent anti-humanitarism is absolutely inescapable. 

- Meanwhile, as the fascists among us try to pretend they're defenders of civilization, Moira Doneghan examines the parallels between the Trump regime and the despots who oversaw the decline of Rome. Robert Reich comments on the symbolism of Trump's use of the White House as the backdrop for cage fighting. And Judith Levine discusses the importance of an iconoclastic movement to tear down the monuments built for no purpose other than to assuage a dictator's ego, while Rev. Dr. William Barber II points out the need for a general deep clean as part of the U.S.' reconstruction. 

- Kevin Hardy reports on the increasing number of Americans going hungry due to a combination of evaporating social supports and soaring prices. And Ben Casselman points out the U.S.' general population is rightly peeved at seeing a perpetually increasing gap between income and expenses while a few hoarders amass unprecedented riches. 

- Dell Cameron and Yulia Almazova report on the connections between media, techbros and Trump regime figures in Peter Thiel's private "Dialog".   

- Finally, Brett McKay reports on the lobbying by DoorDash and Uber to pressure Alberta and Saskatchewan to refuse to provide the protections B.C. has offered to precarious workers. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Tuckered-out cat.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Gabriel Zucman discusses the dangers of an era of trillionaires, as well as the option available to rein in obscene wealth and power. Robert Reich notes that the key point in common between the wealthiest few people on earth lies in obvious assholery rather than any merit or accomplishment. Wajahat Ali talks to Gil Duran about the billionaire heist of wealth in the U.S., while Harold Meyerson writes about the desperate need for the U.S.' working class to start standing its ground in an ongoing class war even as both political parties seek to cede the field to the plutocrats. And Tim Bousquet rightly notes that there's precious little difference between Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre in their utter subservience to capital. 

- Adam Rogers laments that the Trump regime has turned U.S. public policy firmly against science and research. 

- Mitchell Beer writes that Ontario's latest power contract award shows that there's no justification for putting public money toward fossil gas rather than clean energy and battery storage. Lior Kahana notes that new modeling confirms that in Austria (among other countries) there's immense potential to make both power production and agriculture more efficient by integrating their operations. And Auke Hoekstra points out that the affordability of solar panels makes them a potential solution to extreme poverty (in contrast to the false promise of capital-focused extraction). 

- Finally, Dan Cohen and and Dillon Mahmoudi point out how surveillance pricing is already the norm in Canada. Carl Anthony discusses how our cars are regularly spying on us - as even the large cost of a vehicle doesn't make us any less the product whose data is being collected and sold. And Michael Geist warns that the Carney Libs are slashing the minimal privacy enforcement which currently exists in Canada, with the bare promise of starting a new regulator from scratch as an afterthought in a digital policy regime fixated on AI hype.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Robert Hunzicker discusses the galling juxtaposition between unprecedented heat and a set of U.S. policy choices which could hardly have been designed to exacerbate matters more. 

- Brett Wilkins points out how major corporations have been able to leverage lobbying costs into avoiding any taxes which would result in their supporting the public interest. And Jake Johnson notes that the two businesses which have inflated Elon Musk's wealth into trillion-dollar territory are among those which loudly proclaim they're avoiding any tax contributions. 

- Robert Reich points out that Elon Musk's wealth accumulation model bears absolutely no resemblance to the theoretical ideal of being rewarded for delivering products to consumers - as it instead relies almost entirely on a combination of hype and public subsidies. And Claudie Moreau reports on the U.S.' blocking of two Anthropic AI models as showing the dangers of relying on the whims of a regime determined to enrich cronies and punish anybody who doesn't fall in line.  

- But in case anybody thought Canada was maintaining an "elbows up" stance toward the threat to our south, Todd Coyne reports on yet another example of Mark Carney tying us even more tightly to the Trump regime, this time by joining in a U.S. Pacific military exercise for the first time since Stephen Harper was in power. 

- Finally, Dougald Lamont discusses how the cottage industry around attacking internal "trade barriers" in the name of general deregulation is based entirely on laughably false assumptions. 

Musical interlude

Frédéric Soulard & Piers Faccini - Disarray  

 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Caitlin Johnstone writes about the reality that the whole of humanity is largely being used solely as a profit-generating machine for the benefit of a wealthy few. And Paul Waldman comments on Elon Musk's SpaceX IPO as the ultimate juxtaposition of greed and hate, while Tom Goldsmith discusses how the mere possibility of an individual accumulating a trillion dollars represents an indictment of our political and economic systems. 

- Ann Larson writes about the impact of inequality on workers in U.S. grocery stores - including seniors forced to stay in menial roles far past retirement age in order to try to eke out a living. James Chappel's review of Samuel Moyn's Gerontocracy points out the problem with trying to portray fundamental issues of oligarchic hoarding of wealth along lines other than class. And Sam Freedman discusses how pouring additional resources into a fundamentally imbalanced system won't resolve inequality in education. 

- Janetta McKenzie points out new polling showing that while the UCP and its political cousins try to paint utter obeisance to oil tycoons as a must to keep Alberta in Canada, the fact is that most Albertans reject their demand for guaranteed profits at the expense of everybody else. And Energy Live News highlights survey data showing broad UK interest in installing solar panels as a means of reducing dependency on volatile fossil fuel supplies. 

- Finally, Geoff Dembicki and Jen St. Denis discuss how Mark Carney's push for AI data centres is specifically aimed at exacerbating the extraction and burning of fossil gas. And Darren Major reports on Carney's decision to eliminate the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise who offered the sole means of monitoring the human rights abuses of resource extraction firms around the globe. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Henry Miller calls out the Trump regime's sabotage against American science and research. Matthew Yglesias writes that the return of screwworm to the U.S. is just another predictable consequence of the wanton destruction of state capacity. And Jason Sattler rightly argues that Elon Musk's reward for mass murder shouldn't be adding yet another zero to the most obscene fortune ever hoarded. 

- Meanwhile, DPA reports onMusk's role in promoting and fueling anti-immigrant pogroms in Belfast and elsewhere.Bryce Covert writes that the immigrant and minority populations who have been terrorized by the Trump regime's police state are now facing the economic fallout from being forced into hiding. And Rachel Gilmore calls out the Canadian wing of the elite-funded white supremacist formation that's trying to impose racism around the globe.  

- Jonathan Watts reports on unprecedented heat in Antarctica as another indicator of a climate spinning wildly out of control.

- Finally, Amber Rolt points out that electric vehicle owners are already seeing massive cost savings from having shifted away from combustion engines, while Kana Iganaki reports on BYD's planned buildout of ultrarapid charging infrastructure in Europe. Fiona Harvey reports on the UK government's plan to rein in power prices by reducing reliance on fossil gas both as a fuel and as a pricing indicator. And Emily Forgash reports that even in the U.S., solar power has passed coal for the first time as an energy source. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Couched cat.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Matthew Dowd discusses how opposition to data centre construction is a rare issue where U.S. voters are almost entirely in agreement rather than having been polarized based on partisan or demographic alignments. Neha Gour, Ed Maibach and Luis Ortiz highlight just a few of the many reasons communities have to be apprehensive. 

- Meanwhile, Julianna Kowlessar argues that students are going to be best served learning to question artificial intelligence rather than relying on it.  

- Paige Collings writes about the dangers of age-restricted internet access generally, while Michael Geist offers a Q&A about the particular problems with the Carney Libs' version. 

- Kelly Hayes writes about the U.S.' heist state which has been designed to do nothing more than loot the country's resources on behalf of Donald Trump and his cronies. Casey Michel highlights how Jared Kushner is using his nepotistic placement in international relations to siphon up foreign wealth. And Tom Bergin, Michelle Conlin, Koh Gui Qing and Tom Wilson report that the Trump family's enrichment through crypto self-dealing is entirely mirrored by losses borne by investors. 

- Finally, Jim Stanford offers a reminder of the need to focus on our long-term social and economic development in the face of both the Trump threat and the clean energy opportunity, rather than obsessing over short-term economic indicators.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Danny Kennedy discusses the progress being made in the energy transition globally, as wind and solar exceeded fossil gas power generation for the first time in April. Jan Rosenow notes that Pakistan in particular has managed a rapid deployment of solar power without any particular planning, while Adam Tooze observes that China has plenty more capacity to produce affordable solar panels which is idling in the midst of an energy crisis. And Claudia Steiner examines how even a partial switch over to electric vehicles is saving hundreds of thousands of lives in China due to reduced air pollution. 

- Tim Murphy discusses the grab for even more obscene levels of wealth and power behind the techbro drive to install AI everywhere and in everything. Oliver Milman reports on a new study finding that a majority of the U.S.' planned AI data centres are being positioned to use massive quantities of water in areas already suffering from droughts, while Frank Landymore points out new research showing how data centres look to crowd out water use by a substantial chunk of humanity in the next few years. Sheldon Fernandez writes about new research finding even higher cognitive costs to reliance on artificial intelligence than previously understood. And Mark Ramzy reports on the Carney Libs' plans to put Canadian prisoners under the full control of AI based on the apparent view that incarcerated people haven't been dehumanized enough.  

- Fred Wilson rightly argues that any attempt to build up a strong Canada needs to empower workers to pursue collective bargaining and be treated with respect. And Leyland Cecco reports on the success of workers in achieving the first collective bargaining agreement at a Walmart warehouse. 

- Finally, Eric Szeto, Jordan Pearson and Christian Paas-Lang report on the pervasive foreign influence behind Alberta separatism. 

Musical interlude

Blu Attic - Traces

 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Monica Potts writes that Americans' dissatisfaction with their economy has never been about vibes or temporary price spikes, but reflects a lack of both breathing room and security in a system designed for maximum exploitation and minimum support. John Schroyer notes that even limiting one's focus to businesses, there's a radical difference between the profits being hoovered up by a well-connected few and the struggles of smaller actors And Wajahat Ali talks to Chris Smalls about what can be done to organize against the billionaire class and their sycophants. 

- Sarah Todd reports on the American Journal of Public Health's call for governments to make healthy food a policy priority, rather than leaving people to navigate a marketplace of unhealthy slop on their own. 

- Susanna Twidale and William James report on the UK's announcement of plans to drastically cut carbon pollution by 2040. And The Canadian Press reports on the push by Canadian Indigenous groups demanding that the Carney Libs stop trashing federal environmental and climate policy. 

- Finally, Jamelle Bouie writes about the lasting damage being done by the combination of American voters offering Donald Trump a second term, and Trump taking the opportunity to eliminate the concept of government by and for the people. And Thom Hartmann offers a reminder that the background to the U.S.' current decline can be traced back through decades of increasing corporate control. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Engrossed cat. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Julian Spector writes that renewable power sources and battery storage are becoming ensconced as the best energy supply option for any government which isn't bent on subsidizing dirty fossil fuels regardless of cost or consequences. 

- John Balbus examines the health risks posed by AI data centres - including the reality that they're being given a priority to needed power from grids with the predictable effect of making people all the more vulnerable to extreme heat. Jason Koebler and Emanuel Maiberg expose Microsoft's explicit plan to try to get people addicted to an artificial "personal assistant". And Deirdre Bosa and Jasmine Wu chime in on the corporate recognition that AI isn't worth the cost once trial period economics are taken out of the picture. 

- Meanwhile, Gabrielle Gurley discusses Virginia's example of public pushback against the attempt to impose data centres. And Kyle Tharp notes that the fight against data centres is a rare issue which not only cuts across partisan and ideological lines, but also inspires passion among people who otherwise aren't politically engaged. 

- Meagan Gilmore reports on the health programs which are being left for dead as the Carney Libs and far too many provincial governments dedicate public resources to fossil fuel subsidies and militarization instead. 

- Finally, Jim Wilson reports on Adam King and Niall Harney's observation that sectoral bargaining could simultaneously address the problems of declining union density and deteriorating working conditions. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Alistair Alexander discusses how AI has been turned into a multi-trillion-dollar collapse machine, while Benjamin Lopez Steven and Kate McKenna report on the Carney Libs' plans to tie Canada's economy and public service into that collapse as it happens. And Jason Koebler reports on the latest comical failure of AI to handle even menial chatbot functions, as hackers were able to take over major Instagram accounts just by asking Meta AI to let them do so. 

- Bill McKibben points out that the Trump regime's attacks on climate scientists are entirely in keeping with decades of Republican anti-fact policy. And Steve Akehurst discusses how the oil industry's investment in climate denialism has undercut what was previously a policy consensus in the UK.   

- Stephan Bisaha reports on new research from the Brookings Institution showing that American workers are falling further behind in covering basic expenses. And Sebastien Martinez Hickey offers an FAQ about the effects of increasing the minimum wage - highlighting how improved wage floors produce immense social benefits at no real cost. 

- Finally, Courtney Martin writes about the need to treat care for aging residents as a social priority and program, rather than forcing individual families to bear unmanageable costs on their own. But of course, there's always somebody - most recently Grady Munro and Jake Fuss - ready to send seniors off on ice floes in order to leave more fiscal capacity for top-end wealth hoarding. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Paul Campos examines how workers of all education levels in the U.S. have seen their wages stagnate over the past 25 years while capital value has nearly quintupled. And Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman make the case for wealth taxes in California and elsewhere to rein in the obscene fortunes which allow the uber-wealthy to dictate terms to the general public. 

- Jody McPherson reports on the large number of Albertans fighting against the imposition of massive AI data centres. And Dave Karpf discusses the ultimate importance of that cause to avoid having a high-damage, low-employment industry treated as being too big to fail due to the amount of capital relying on it.

- Adam Morton and Petra Stock write about Australia's battery storage revolution which is leading the way toward what responsible energy policy will look like in the decades to come. And Jan Rosenow writes that we're reaching the point where far more industry can be electrified than seemed possible just a few years ago. 

- Clotilde Cerdan Amiard discusses how the climate breakdown is creating large uninsurable areas even in countries which are supposed to be avoiding its worst effects. 

- Finally, Mitchell Labiak reports on the effects of privatization on the UK's Royal Mail, which is both more expensive and significantly worse for the loss of public infrastructure. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Ajit Niranian discusses Europe's unprecedented spring heat wave which is putting large number of lives at risk, while Neha Bhatt reports on the even more extreme and dangerous heat engulfing India. And Seth Borenstein reports on new projections from the World Meterological Organization to the effect that there's far worse on the way in the next five years. 

- Susan Racine makes the case for oil companies to start compensating the world for the damage they've done to our living environment (while concealing or lying about it). 

- David Powell writes about the land grab which is seeing tech giants take over large and environmentally sensitive tracts of UK wilderness in order to slap up data centres. And Bradley Olson notes that the corporations who are supposed to represent the source of long-term revenue for AI providers are recognizing they're not seeing returns worth anything close to the actual price of artificial intelligence. 

- Robert Shpiner offers a reminder that the American health system model which Canadian conservatives are so determined to copy costs twice as much as the average for comparable countries while leaving large numbers of people without care. 

- Meanwhile, Andrew Gregory reports on a breakthrough research injection which has the potential to eradicate entire cancerous tumours in three doses.  

- Finally, Cory Doctorow discusses how Mark Carney epitomizes Third Way liberalism in the most derogatory of ways. 

Musical interlude

Elderbrook - Is It Over Now?

 

Thursday Night Cat Blogging

Observant cat.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Beth Kowitt discusses how the inequality and exclusion deliberately exacerbated by the wealthiest few are only ensuring that CEOs have no idea how angry the public is with them. David Higginbottom writes about the capital class' increasingly sophisticated and thorough extraction of labour and value from the rest of us. And Nora Loreto discusses how the Libs have always been on the side of capital rather than the environment. 

- Madison Mills notes that the businesses who have poured the most faith and funding into AI are starting to realize that they're not getting anything close to the value promised by its purveyors. And Patrick Galey delves into the lies which have been used to lure them in. 

- Raphael Satter reports that the U.S. government's neglect of personal privacy and data protection has reached the point where its own troops are being targeted thanks to information handed to unscrupulous data brokers.  

- Jonathan Liew rightly questions why anybody who considers themselves progressive would want to contribute content and eyeballs to a Nazi recruitment tool like X.  

- Finally, James Goldston and Natasha Arnpriester write that the Trump regime's dehumanization of refugees and asylum claimants is utterly intolerable - and needless to say the same should go for any other country's willingness to pretend that the U.S. is a safe landing place for immigrants. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Bill McGuire discusses what the next few decades figure to look like as what's currently considered extreme heat becomes all too normal. And Andrew Gregory reports on the growing recognition that the damage caused by the climate breakdown includes the accelerated spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.  

- Stella Levantesi writes about the myth of "green oil" promulgated by Norway's oil industry - which applies equally to greenwashing in Canada's fossil fuel sector. And the Sierra Club points out that a strong plurality of Canadians want to see stronger climate action including a strengthened industrial carbon price - even as Mark Carney goes in the opposite direction. 

- Chris Hoffman discusses the problems with online age verification requirements even in the hands of well-meaning organizations and officials. And Matt Novak writes about new polling showing strong U.S. public opposition to surveillance pricing.  

- Nico Schmidt, Ella Joyner and Conor O'Carroll highlight how tech giants have lobbied to conceal basic facts about the environmental damage done by data centres. And Don Moynihan writes that the Trump regime's sense of entitlement to total secrecy and impunity has reached the stage of demanding a non-disclosure agreement from every single U.S. federal employee. 

-  Finally, Wes Streeting rebuts Blair's demand that human well-being be left entirely in the hands of distorted and irrational markets rather than being a crucial purpose of democratic government. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

This and that for your weekend reading.

- Genevieve Guenther and Michael Mann offer a reminder that climate denial - from Donald Trump or anybody else - won't avert the consequences we're already seeing as a result of carbon pollution. And Marta Serafinko reports on the threat climate change poses to biodiversity as natural habitats are eliminated. 

- Meanwhile, Gaye Taylor discusses how clean energy is replacing dirty diesel in remote Canadian communities. And Susanna Twidale reports on new data showing that wind and solar power contributed more to global power supply than fossil gas in April, showing that a transition is well underway even as we're told we have no option but a choice between fossil fuels. 

- Ken Collier discusses how Mark Carney's choice to wind down pharmacare threatens Canada's wider public health care system. And Bruce Campbell writes about the risks to the public interest posed by deregulation and privatization. 

- Thor Benson talks to Chris Hayes about the dangers of artificial intelligence - with the erosion of human intellectual development looming as an inescapable result no matter how many of the logistical problems are waved away. Don't Surveil Me is encouraging Canadians to take action to protect privacy online in the face of yet another "lawful access" bill intended to eliminate anything of the sort. And Mike Benson discusses how public opinion is turning against mass surveillance once its presence is identified. 

- Finally, Justin Briley writes about the need to defend and promote fair taxes as the price of community and civilization, rather than echoing anti-social talking points in pursuit of the false hope of temporary political gain. 

Musical interlude

Chromantis - Cold Like The Silence

 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Paul Krugman discusses how some of the wealthiest men on the planet have supplicated themselves before Donald Trump in the hope of stifling both economic redistribution and freedom of critical speech. And Karl Bode notes that the rightful popular outcry against artificial intelligence is connected to the unabashed dishonesty and greed of its main promoters and profiteers. 

- Rei Takver calls out TikTok for sponsoring climate deniers while claiming to hold to climate promises. And tante points out how Google is now declaring war on the distributed World Wide Web, while seeking to replace it entirely with its own AI slop (which may not include the ability to process basic English words, while bearing a suspicious resemblance to paid ads). 

- Matt Gurney highlights how forward-thinking countries are planning for a future freed of domination by an unstable and uncooperative American empire. But in case anybody was under the illusion Canada was engaged in that necessary planning Nessie Nankivell reports on the U.S.' Department of War's takeover of critical mineral resources in Canada (to no apparent objection from the Carney government). 

- Finally, in the face of imminent government crackdowns on labour, Felix Cauchy-Charest offers a reminder that labour rights have generally been won through activism rather than reliance on political systems. And Michael Sainato points out a new report documenting the billions of dollars spent every year by corporations to try to bust unions. But the AFL-CIO rightly celebrates a new International Court of Justice ruling confirming the right to strike in international law. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Judd Legum discusses how Donald Trump's corruption includes such blatant market manipulation as buying stocks then using speeches to promote the companies involved. 

- Meanwhile, Samantha Michaels reports on the Trump regime's "full-blown occupation" of Memphis - as well as the lack of attention it's received due to a compliant state government and a difference in spin as to the purposes for militarizing a major city.  

- Sarah Cox reports on the warnings of environmentalists that Mark Carney is going far beyond anything proposed by Stephen Harper in treating species' extinction as an acceptable price for extractive development. Harry Glasbeck writes that if anything, Carney is demonstrating just how predatory capitalism tends to be. And Rishika Paridkar points out the denial, misinformation and spin around dirty energy in India - including the attempt to create an identity out of being uniquely adapted to the harms of polluted air. 

- Barry Saxifrage highlights how Canada has made little progress in transitioning away from fossil fuel dependency (and is actively going backwards under the Carney Libs). And Leonard Hyman and William Tilles report that utilities are starting to recognize the folly of pouring money into fossil gas as renewable energy and storage become far more affordable as well as healthier. 

- Finally, Luke Savage discusses how the proliferation of gambling as the primary lens for analyzing sports is now giving way to the commodification and gamification of everything. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Curled-up cat.

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Samantha Hancox-Li discusses the need to ensure the rampant violence and corruption of the second Trump term is met with prosecutions, rather than another round of calls to sweep criminality under the rug yet again as long as it's being committed from sufficiently powerful positions. Alan Elrod points out the need for the Democratic Party to lead that effort (no matter how much more comfortable its legislative leaders are trying to pretend that Republican fascists are their friends). 

- Jonathan Watts discusses the dangers of trying to keep countries addicted to fossil fuels by force even as cleaner and more affordable options become readily available. And Carl Meyer examines the similarities between the anti-regulation, pro-dirty energy structures put in place by the Trump regime and the Carney government. 

- Sophie Hurwitz weighs in on the reality that opposition to data centres is one of the few truly unifying issues across party lines in the U.S. And Tom Chivers points out that young voters are particularly skeptical of artificial intelligence.

- Joseph Cox reports on the FBI's plans to buy U.S.-wide license plate reading technology to effectively allow for total surveillance of anybody with their own vehicle. And Michael Geist writes about the Carney Libs' continued push to impose absolute online surveillance on Canadians. 

- Finally, Luke Savage calls out the small-c conservative demand that the plebes work until they drop (toward the purpose of further enriching the ruling class). 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Michael Mechanic examines the new depths of corruption being reached by the Trump regime in using public money to reward his violent supporters. But Bearly Politics points out the significance of an alt-right formation which relies on being paid off rather than on holding any principles or values. And Elizabeth Spears notes that even the billionaire class is engaged in a campaign of pitiful whining to proclaim its own lack of motivation as an excuse to avoid making the most modest of contributions to funding public services. 

- Althia Raj points out Mark Carney's new pesticide plans which involve multiple steps to give corporate interests precedence over public health and safety. And Lloyd Axworthy discusses how the Libs have moved into purely conservative territory under Carney. 

- Mark Gongloff highlights the massive global wealth transfer being used to paper over the known and avoidable costs of the climate breakdown. And Mitchell Beer writes about the path forward toward climate progress as federal and provincial governments alike have given up on the task in favour of petropolitics.  

- Dean Baker examines the realities and dangers of the artificial intelligence bubble. And Joe Wilkins reports on the plight of Lake Tahoe, where residents are having their power cut off so it can be diverted to data centres. 

- Finally, Andrew Coyne calls out Danielle Smith and the other separatists looking to destroy Canada. And Dale Smith rightly argues that a small, extreme minority even within Alberta shouldn't be able to hold our national agenda hostage. 

Musical interlude

Counterpoint - While The Universe Unfolds

 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Simon Mundy examines the growing recognition that the combination of solar power and batteries - both of which are plummeting in price - makes for a more reliable and efficient power supply than relying on fossil fuels. And Dan McCarthy zeroes in on the rapid installation of grid-scale batteries in particular. 

- Karl Nerenberg writes about Mark Carney's determination to subsidize dying industries rather than working toward a transition toward the energy sources of the future. And Jimmy Thomson calls out the Orwellian nature of the attempt to label export subsidies and emission deregulation as a climate policy. 

- Which isn't to say some windfall profits aren't being made while people are trapped in fossil fuel dependency. On that front, Amy Fan and Rebecca Elliott discuss the winners and losers of the oil price shock caused by Donald Trump's war of choice in Iran - with the U.S. and Russia emerging as the main profiteers. 

- Anna Bawden reports on an expert recommendation that the climate crisis be labeled and dealt with as a global public health emergency. 

- Finally, Charlie Warzel warns that the plan of AI carnival barkers is to overwhelm us so we can't resist reliance on it - even as he highlights the absurdity of its supposed benefits. And John Ainger reports on the sharp power price increases being inflicted on the public as AI data centres use far more energy than can manageably be spared. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Carl Meyer explains how the Carney Libs are looking to push resource extraction at the expense of social and environmental realities to an extent beyond even the Harper Cons. And Corporate Europe Observatory criticizes the European Commission for likewise trashing needed regulations and subsidizing fossil fuels. 

- Meanwhile, Keith Brooks calls Mark Carney out for managing to turn even an electrification strategy into a means of prolonging fossil fuel dependency. And Alex Ballingall reports that after scrapping nearly every other means of limiting carbon pollution other than the industrial carbon price, Carney is now allowing Danielle Smith to undermine that.

- And in case anybody was under the illusion that there aren't superior alternatives to fossil fuels already available, Ben Feshbach, Ellie Garland and Julia Meisel highlight how the U.S. (like Canada) has immense geothermal power potential which is going unused due to the policy choice to favour dirty energy. 

- Elizabeth Elder and Neal O'Brien study the polarization of health outcomes in the U.S., as the anti-science ideology of Republicans is systematically resulting in shorter and sicker lives. And Joe Vipond, Dick Zoutman and Kashif Pirzada warn that the scattered response to the ongoing hantavirus outbreak signals that we've utterly failed to learn necessary lessons from previous contagions. 

- Finally, Maximillian Alvarez discusses how the wealthiest few are using their riches to try to untether us from reality. And Atrios rightly notes that in the case of Donald Trump and his ilk, the only responsible media response is to preface any coverage with a warning about their history of lying. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Paper-pushing cats.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Nicholas Kristof rightly characterizes the Trump/Musk demolition of US foreign aid as reflecting the world's wealthiest and most powerful men attacking the world's poorest children. And David Dayen points out the childishness of the thinking of the financiers gathered at the Milken Global Conference on Iran and other serious issues. 

- Ross Macfarlane discusses how to end silence on the urgency and importance of addressing the climate crisis. And Chris Rapley rightly argues that we should treat our living environment with no less respect than astronauts - who would never think to voluntary pollute or destroy the life support systems they rely on. 

- Jan Rosenow examines how Spain's shift to renewable energy has given it some of the lowest power prices in Europe. And Allan Olingo reports on the shift toward electric vehicles in Ethiopia and other African countries as the combination of improved EVs and fossil fuel shortages makes a transition inevitable.

- Finally, James Hannay points out that the forces seeking to let corporate-friendly market forces dictate the availability and affordability of food are no more beneficial for agricultural producers than for consumers. And Gustova Indart discusses some of the advantages of publicly-operated grocery stores as a means of meeting people's needs.  

Musical interlude

Bob Moses - Leave Like This

 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Disheveled cat.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

 This and that for your Tuesday reading. 

- Olufemi Taiwo discusses how the political and corporate elite have declared that consequences for bad decisions will apply only to the plebes - even as events make clear that's not a viable strategy. And Rachel Louise Ensign and James Benedict point out the fifteen-digit wealth stash in the hands of older Americans - along with the reality that most of it figures to stagnate rather than being transferred or put to any positive use. 

- Natalie Donback reports on the efforts of cities to plan and rehearse for the most predictable climate disasters even as national governments subsidize their causes. And Oliver Milman reports on a new study finding that New Orleans for one will likely be swallowed up by the sea within a matter of decades. 

- Meanwhile, Jack Ewing reports on Costa Rica's success in fostering electric vehicle adoption by ensuring people have ready access to charging infrastructure.  

- Josh Taylor notes that public opposition to data centres is as strong in Australia as in much of the rest of the world. And Robert Walton writes that while the strain from power usage has drawn more attention so far, large data centres can be equally problematic in causing rapid load reductions which aren't accounted for in grid planning. 

- Finally, Erin Weir discusses how Saskatchewan is giving away its potash resources - and indeed incentivizing the shutdown of mines which pay more royalties.