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. 

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.

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.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Oliver Milman reports on a new study showing that the U.S. has inflicted $10 trillion in climate damage  just since 1990, with China ranking just behind. Emily Atkin writes that the true cost of oil far exceeds what people pay as a retail price. And Laura Paddison and Ella Nilsen report that the combination of the climate breakdown and rapacious corporations are producing a critical water shortage in Corpus Christi, TX.

- Ben Cooke discusses a report showing that Britain's food supply is in danger of collapsing by 2030. And George Monbiot writes about the broader risks to the global food system which are materializing before our eyes.

- Carol Leonnig and Jacqueline Alemany report on new revelations that secret information stolen by Trump after he lost the 2020 election wound up being sold off. And Anne-Marie Mediwake interviews Jeff Rubin about the oil market manipulations caused by the Trump regime's actions and messages surrounding the Iran war.

- Meanwhile, Joe Glanton reports on the Pentagon's orders to satellite firms to conceal the realities of the war, particularly where the U.S. has taken damage.

- Finally, Jaigris Hodson et al. examine the toxic misinformation which Pierre Poilievre disseminated during his appearance with Joe Rogan. And Max Fawcett weighs in on the reality that Poilievre insists on putting faith in the Trump U.S. which is both wholly undeserved, and contrary to the position of the Canadian public. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Stephen Marche discusses how the overriding objective of the U.S.' corporate elite is absolute impunity. Ariella Markowitz writes about the decades-long astroturf effort to undermine the use of taxes both to raise revenue and rein in inequality. Bob Lord points out how the rich are lying about paying their fair share of taxes. And Alec MacGillis discusses how the Trump regime is waging war on public data generally to make sure people can't see how they're being affected by a fascist kleptocracy

- Meanwhile, Katya Schwenk and Luke Goldstein note that Trump is facilitating the use of surveillance pricing to enable price gouging. And Raymond Patterson, Emily Laidlaw and Jian Zhang discuss how the result is the imposition of higher prices on the people who can least afford them, with the result being the deliberate exacerbation of inequality. 

- Jim Stanford examines the problems with treating per-capita GDP as a proxy for well-being as it rewards profits on paper while punishing the presence of people. Daniel Horen Greenford writes about the need for Canada's election to include a reckoning with the failure of neoliberal economics - even as Mark Carney promises more of the same turbocharged by the use of AI. And Peggy Nash notes that we should be moving past merely buying Canadian to pursuing public ownership of the necessities of life and strategic resources.

- Armine Yalnizyan examines the major parties' plans when it comes to affordability and the cost of living. And The Narwhal sets out what's on offer for environmental policy and resource management. 

- Calder McHugh highlights how Pierre Poilievre's choice to pattern his every message and policy after Donald Trump has come back to bite him as voters recognize the dangers posed by the Trump regime. Andrew Coyne warns that Poilievre is planning to undermine Charter rights as an end in itself, rather than a means to any policy goal. And Charlie Angus examines what would stand to be lost if a Canada version of DOGE is imposed. 

- Finally, Sinead Campbell reports on new research showing that a sixth of the Earth's cropland is comtaminated by toxic heavy metals. And Rhian Lubin reports on a far-reaching E.coli outbreak in American produce which was concealed from the public.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Cory Doctorow highlights how Thomas Piketty's work on the effects of capital concentration shows that both the "national" and "capitalism" parts of the Trump economic plan are ultimately self-defeating. John Ronquillo discusses how spin about efficiency is being used as an excuse for extreme unaccountable control over government operations (which will inevitably lead to far less effective services). And Dave Jamieson points out that the obviously-false boilerplate wording treating every new or newly-promoted employee in the U.S. civil service as having performance issues virtually ensures that the associated firings can't be defended in any functional legal system. 

- Anand Giridharadas calls out the people with power - including elected Democrats - who are choosing to collaborate with Trump's abuses. David Zirin writes that the same politicians who have chosen to be pushovers in the face of fascism still seem determined to fight against any progressive voices. And Joe Demanuelle-Hall notes that federal workers are starting to organize against the billionaire takeover of the U.S. 

- Akela Lacy reports on Trump's admission that the cruelty of prison conditions is entirely deliberate. Amanda Marcotte reports on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s plans to eliminate access to medication for mental health conditions, and instead round people with psychological conditions up into labour camps. And Euan Thomson notes that Alberta's treatment of children being pushed into forced abstinence from substance use is little different - with the UCP going out of its way not to track outcomes which would show how harmful its ideology is. 

- Jen St. Denis reports on the American political operatives using X to advocate for the violent invasion of Canada. Steve Burgess offers his account of what happened when he dared to defend Canada on Elon Musk's toxic platform - serving only to raise the question of why anybody would want to remain there. Allison Hantschel discusses how it's entirely healthy to leave social media platforms which have been systematically turned into amplifiers for hatred and bigotry. And Luke LeBrun reports on Pierre Poilievre's plans to defund actual journalism while shoveling public money to fascist fever swamps. 

- Taylor Noakes reports on the fossil fuel funding behind "grassroots" groups pushing in tandem with the UCP and Sask Party us to keep relying on dirty energy. Jackie McKay reports on the judicial funding that the RCMP used excessive force and breached the Charter rights of Indigenous activists who dared to protest against the Coastal GasLink pipeline. 

- Finally, Carey Gillam, Margot Gibbs and Elena DeBre expose a corporate-funded database used to track environmental health advocates who dared to point out that pesticides could be harmful. And Reuters reports on the reality that Canadian farmers are largely at the mercy of corporate conglomerates which can't be trusted either to keep inputs affordable, or to pay for the food that's been produced.

Monday Morning Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Jessica Wildfire discusses how the Trump/Musk administration is meeting or exceeding the most damning predictions, while Ian Dunt points out the similar pattern following from Brexit as the same anti-social right undermined the public interest in the UK. Timothy Snyder writes about the effects of government based on the logic of destruction, while Taya Graham interviews Stephen Janis about the acceleration of the U.S.' decline already in progress. And Ezra Klein highlights the dangers of trusting Trump's false claims to dictatorial authority, while Thom Hartmann rightly calls out the seizure of invented power as a form of treason.  

- Alex Kirshner interviews Ed Zitron about the dystopian future we'll face if tech tycoons get their way.  Caleb Ecarma and Judd Legum report on the pillaging of Americans' personal information in government data banks by Elon Musk and his incel cultists, while Mike Masnick notes that Musk is following the playbook which destroyed Twitter in dealing with the U.S.' state apparatus. 

- Stephen Marche writes that Trump's threats to conquer Canada will come to nothing (at least as long as we don't let his apologists dictate our response), while David Moscrop comments on the type of nationalism which will best defend Canada's identity as a country capable of recognizing and improving upon its own failings. Adam King argues that the lesson to be drawn from Trump is to confirm the longstanding need to become less tied to the U.S. Blayne Haggart notes that nothing that happens with the current round of tariffs will change the reality that the U.S. is an unreliable actor, while Stewart Prest sets out some principles to deal with that lack of trust and credibility (including the need for other countries to work together). Jennifer Robson discusses how the public response to the COVID-19 pandemic offers lessons in how to structure supports in the wake of a tariff war, with a key consideration being to support workers' livelihood rather than to funnel money to businesses. And in another analogy to the pandemic, Nora Loreto offers a warning that we can fully expect unscrupulous businesses to profiteer off of the imposition of tariffs. 

- Luke LeBrun reports on the labour movement's call to hit back hard against Trump's attack on Canada, while the Climate Action Network sets out a civil society response looking to put people first and build resilience. Taylor Noakes discusses how Canada's long-term defence is best served by investing in a climate army. And Evan Scrimshaw notes that the corruption of the Trump regime sets up opportunities for a targeted response against his cronies. 

- Finally, Lois Ross discusses how the Libs have chosen to allow for still more concentration of wealth and power in the agricultural sector through a corporate merger. And Maura Forrest reports on new research showing that Canadian preschoolers get more than half of their calorie intake from ultra-processed foods. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Damian Carrington reports on Antonio Guterres' latest warning about the dangers of perpetuating our fossil fuel addiction - even as Donald Trump and a growing number of Canadian conservative quislings push to exacerbate it. Joshua Lappen discusses how the U.S.' fossil gas infrastructure is doomed - with Los Angeles providing a preview of what's in store across the country. Ember Energy examines (PDF) the EU's progress in transitioning to cleaner energy, with solar power overtaking coal for the first time and gas continuing to decline. And Conor Curtis points out how to talk about the reality that a transition to clean energy would be a plus for Canada's sovereignty as well as for our living environment. 

- Andrew Nikiforuk reports on the public outcry resulting from Danielle Smith's decision to declare open season for coal mining in the Rockies. And Joel Dryden talks to a member of the UCP's own coal policy committee who's rightly outraged that fossil fuel tycoons' whims are being given precedence over the product of a public consultation. 

- Shimly Rajendrakumar examines the effect of microplastics on agricultural systems, with a wide range of plastic products resulting in adverse consequences for the health of soil, animals and consumers. 

- Matthew Trevithick reports on the beginning of what could be a massive U.S. exodus to Canada as people flee the Trump administration, while David Baxter discusses the push from refugee advocates to ensure transgender people are able to make asylum claims rather than being told they're completely safe in a country that denies their existence. But Elizabeth Thompson reports that the response from the Libs so far is to assume everything's fine and maintain the fiction that the U.S. is safe. 

- Finally, Dan Rather discusses the firehose effect - and the need to withstand Trump's attempt to shock, awe and overwhelm people into compliance. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Isabella Weber points out the key elements in common between the governments which have survived the anti-incumbent trend over the past year - with both price controls on essentials and progressive tax policy serving as key elements in assuring voters that they weren't being sacrificed to corporate interests. Erica Ifill laments that the Libs appear to have decided their problem is a failure to concede to the Cons' racism and bigotry rather than a lack of action to address citizens' material conditions. And Aloysius Wong, Valerie Ouellet and Rachel Houlihan report on immigrant workers seeking to help provide care in Canada are being scammed by recruiters. 

- Ben Turner reports on China's developing plans to effectively end energy scarcity with a solar power array in space. And the foreseeable development of that type of energy source makes it all the more unconscionable that Danielle Smith and the UCP are putting oil industry profits ahead of country, including by using public money to guarantee oil producer profits and avoid any Canadian (but not American) tariffs. 

- Clare O'Hara reports on another record year of Canadian insurance losses from natural disasters in 2024, as well as the reality that more regions are becoming uninsurable. But Katya Schwenk discusses how developers in California (and elsewhere) have blocked any efforts to direct development out of harm's way. And Tom Perkins reports on the oil industry's attempt to stifle any legislation which would require it to pay a dime toward the damage it's inflicted on everybody else through wildfires, floods and other climate-connected disasters. 

- Finally, Evert Lindquist reports on one Nova Scotia plant trying to salvage some use out of garbage - though the plan to use material sources laden with plastics and other hazardous waste to produce fertilizer in particular seems sure to do more harm than good. And James Hannay writes about the need for an inclusive farm economy to replace the corporate-controlled monoculture that's become the current norm. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Jeremy Appel reports on a new study showing that Alberta has both avoided developing the capacity to manage tailings pond spills, and misinformed the public to minimize the harm from the oil and gas sector based on the data it actually has. And John Woodside notes that after over nine years in power, Justin Trudeau still hasn't bothered to set caps on fossil fuel extraction emissions. 

- Barb Mayes Boustead discusses what "normal" now means in the midst of a collapsing climate. Damian Carrington reports on a new study showing how the climate crisis is undermining the Earth's water cycle. Darrin Qualman warns that Canada's Prairies may face a grim future as hotter temperatures and increased drought exacerbate the already-volatile nature of agriculture. But Jeremiah Budin notes that agrivoltaic solar panels may help to make farming more productive in addition to generating clean energy, while Wade Thorhaug discusses how locally-supplied public markets can enhance food security. 

- Prem Sikka discusses how concentrated wealth and power are corrupting democracy in the UK and elsewhere. George Lakoff and Gil Duran offer their New Year's resolutions to respond to the second Trump administration and its corporate backers. And Gene Monin writes about the need for Canada to stand up to Trump rather than allowing itself to be bullied into acquiescence. 

- Finally, Taylor Lorenz exposes how Instagram has already gone out of its way to suppress LGBTQ-related content. And Robert Booth reports on Facebook's decision to eliminate fact-checkers while promoting (and lobbying to spread) hate speech. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Oliver Milman examines how insurance rates in the U.S. are pricing in climate risks - and pushing insurance out of reach for people facing the most severe effects of the climate breakdown. And Devi Sridhar reports on new research tracking the longer-term damage caused by climate disasters. 

- Anjali Appadurai writes that Canada has chosen to obstruct international efforts to reduce carbon pollution. But Megan Gordon points out that Canada has the ability to join a global surge in clean energy if it's willing to act in the interests of workers rather than oil tycoons. Bjorn Bremer, Jane Gingrich and Hanna Schwander write that it's not too late to turn the tide against the climate crisis. And Becky Robertson points out how non-car-centric infrastructure is both popular and effective where it's implemented - no matter how determined right-wing demagogues are to destroy it.   

- Charlie Angus offers a compelling take on the lamentable state of democracy in Canada, based particularly on a Con party which refuses to take a break from inane talking points regardless of the real issues at stake: 

- Michael Harris points out just a few of the glaring questions which Pierre Poilievre has brazenly ignored while seeking power. Max Fawcett offers a reminder that the corporate-funded branding of right-wing parties as fiscally responsible bears no relationship to reality. And David Baxter reports on the justified frustration of Indigenous leaders that the Cons chose to block legislation to ensure that First Nations have safe drinking water.  

- Meanwhile, Adam Serwer discusses how Donald Trump's supporters have taking to embracing outright villainy. Steve Schmidt notes that the plutocrats who control an increasingly-large share of the U.S.' press and access-based talking heads are both genuflecting before Trump rather than acting like an independent media. Paul Farhi and John Volk examine how Trump's electoral victory was based largely on running up the score in news deserts. And Marcy Wheeler points out the embarrassing lack of context and background being presented in stories seeking to treat a pardon arising out of the politically-driven prosecution of Hunter Biden as a far larger scandal than an entire regime built around corruption.

- Finally, Anelyse Weiler and Tayler Zavitz discuss how the agricultural lobby is pushing draconian ag-gag laws in Canada - and how their implementation creates avoidable health risks for animals and people alike. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Mark Harris examines the competing pressures which will determine how a climate breakdown in progress affects our food supply, while Fiona Harvey discusses how European farm policy has provided subsidies to big agriculture while failing to achieve environmental goals. Friedereke Otto comments on climate denialism as a major cause of deaths and destruction in Spain, while Kelsey Lahr writes that Asheville, North Carolina is still months away from having potable water after the damage wrought by Hurricane Helene. And Michael Harris points out how Canada will soon be under major pressure to export water to increasingly parched areas of North America - even as our own supplies are under threat from global warming and industrial pollution.  

- Patrick Greenfield and Phoebe Weston report on the seeming recognition by governments at this week's Colombia biodiversity conference that the climate and our natural environment are inextricably linked - but follow up by noting the absence of meaningful action as a result. 

- James Danckert and John Eastwood discuss how car-centric cities are boring as well as isolating. And Adam King highlights how the prioritization of house-based wealth over income security undermines social solidarity. 

- Finally, Dominique Charron and Cate Dewey write that a One Health plan would provide Canada with a needed knowledge network to address risks to our health and well-being. But it seems far too likely that the attitude of the powers that be will continue to be to demand that people "pretend to be well" - no matter how destructive that expectation provides to be.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Amy Goodman calls out the media's failure to connect the devastation of Hurricane Helene with the global warming which is exacerbating extreme weather, while Jessica Corbett talks to experts who recognize that it would serve as a blaring wakeup call if the powers that be were at all willing to let such a thing be heard. And Andrew Dessler and Kiara Alfonseca each discuss the grim reality that one of the cities hardest hit by Helene is Asheville, NC - which was previously theorized to be one of the safest cities in the face of a climate breakdown. 

- Meanwhile Keira Wright, Bernadette Toh and Charlotte Hughes-Morgan write about the impact extreme weather will have in pushing up the price of food. 

- Carl Meyer reports that fossil fuel executives are predictably demanding that Canada do nothing whatsoever to limit carbon pollution from the oil and gas sector. And Julia Conley reports on yet another example of oil-sector price fixing which has ensured that consumers pay through the nose no matter what climate policies are or aren't in place.  

- Jeremy Corbyn discusses how corporations focused on nothing but concentrating their own wealth and power have become the dominant governing entities around the globe. And Jamie Mann reports on new data from the Tax Justice Network on the world's most notorious tax havens - with UK territories continuing to rank among the worst offenders in allowing for corporate tax evasion. 

- Finally, Adam King writes that a strong labour movement in Canada needs to fight for the interests of Indigenous workers who continue to face systemic barriers. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Robert Rohde surveys yet another month of record-high temperatures from July 2024. And Richard Heinberg examines what a real energy transition would look like - including a meaningful effort to stop using energy unnecessarily as well as a shit to clean energy sources. 

- Jim Stanford points out that price controls can be one mechanism to ensure that corporate profiteering doesn't cut into the affordability of basic necessities. 

- But Jason Hickel writes about the main barrier to that effort, as our key economic decisions are made by capitalists acting unilaterally to keep up their resource profits rather than by any government or other structure with any meaningful capacity to determine and act in the public interest. And Prem Sikka likewise discusses how wealthy individuals and corporations have hijacked any democracy. 

- Linda McQuaig notes that Doug Ford is going far out of his way to ensure Ontarians don't know how factory farms are abusing animals. Jake Johnson discusses how the meat industry is yet another sector where corporate collusion and price-fixing are increasing the cost of living for consumers. And Sara Moniuszko and Meg Oliver report on new research showing that the majority of baby food sold in the U.S. falls short of WHO health standard. 

- Scott Martin discusses how Ford (and other premiers focused on harm maximization as policy) can only be seen as choosing a legacy of social murder. And David Climenhaga notes that Danielle Smith is adding gross cronyism to the mix, as anybody seeking addiction services in Alberta is required to disclose sensitive personal health information to a politically-connected provider. 

- Finally, Matt Motta and Kathryn Haglin find that the benefits of Alaska's basic income include greater use of primary and preventative health services. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jonathan Watts reports on the unprecedented number of heat records being set in 2024, while the University of East Anglia examines how climate change has raised the risk of the wildfires we've seen in recent years. And Environmental Defence notes that oil industry lobbying is also reaching new highs. 

- Jonathan Safran Foer and Aaron Gross discuss how factory farming is a major vector for disease - meaning that any work to prevent future pandemics should include healthier food production models. Kevin Jiang reports on the imminent declaration of a global mpox emergency - and the refusal of Canada and other wealthier countries to help stop the spread in regions which have already been hard hit. 

- Anja Karadeglija reports on the findings of UN Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata that Canada's temporary foreign worker program is a breeding ground for contemporary slavery. And David Moscrop writes that it's long past time for the Libs to stop allowing their corporate buddies to use temporary foreign workers to make work worse for everybody. 

- Meanwhile, Maya Goodfellow writes that contrary to the bigotry spread by right-wing parties, there's no legitimate basis to blame immigrants themselves for societies designed to exploit them. And Simon Wren-Lewis discusses how the UK Cons' dehumanization of immigrants and minority cultures has served an open invitation to violent repression.  

- Finally, Cory Doctorow notes that the obscene power held by the likes of Wal-Mart and Amazon can be traced back to the Reagan-era decision to allow for monopsony control of purchasing in essential industries. And Larry Elliott reports on a new study showing that inflation disproportionately affect the poorest households who have fewer means to avoid the effects of corporate profiteering. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Bryn Nelson offers a call to action against the anti-science, anti-reality industry seeking to blast out propaganda to keep corporate coffers spilling over at the expense of public health and safety. And John Woodside sets out the greenwashing plan being used to try to force through even more dirty energy development in the tar sands, while Nina Lakhani reports that the journalists seeking to offer full and accurate information about climate issues are under constant threats of violence.

- Meanwhile, Yongxiao Liang, Nathan P. Gillett and Adam H. Monahan find that we're already on a path toward more than 2 degrees of global warming once we account for variability in ocean temperatures. Gabriel Rau et al. warn that warming groundwater poses threats to life both above and below the surface. And Dylan Baddour and Alejandra Martinez report on the escalating costs of droughts in Texas (and elsewhere) which are borne by publicly-subsidized insurance programs. 

- Mike Savage offers a reminder that wealth inequality remains a crucial issue for the general public in the UK - even as Keir Starmer has purged anybody who might advocate on the issue from his caucus in the name of bland corporatism.

- Finally, Jared Wesley and Alex Ballos point out how Danielle Smith is following the Republicans' playbook to prevent people from exercising their right to vote. And Jason Foster and Rebecca Graff-McRae write that the seemingly random acts of arbitrary governance from by UCP can generally be traced back to an attempt to dissolve any civic institution or source of information which could possibly check the exercise of partisan power.

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Jillian Ambrose reports on a study showing that there's no reason to approve any new fossil fuel development to meet current demand forecasts - and every reason to reject new projects as they push us toward further climate breakdown. 

- Gordon McBean discusses the need to hold the oil and gas sector accountable for decades of lying about climate change. And Max Fawcett writes about the perpetual dishonesty of the dirty energy industry in misrepresenting scientific research - but as Amanda Follett Hosgood reports, the public is being punished for the release of findings of misleading advertising. 

- Meanwhile, Naveena Sadasivam reports on the dangerous quantities of methane being emitted by landfills. 

- Mariana Mazzucato weighs in on the immense waste of resources involved in using massive amounts of energy on AI data centres. And Asaf Tchazor et al. warn that inaccurate information in AI-generated agricultural advice could precipitate food shortages - though it's apparently not yet at the point of recommending Brawndo for irrigation purposes. 

- Dalmeet Singh Chawla reports on Japan's move to make all publicly-funded research subject to open access.

- Finally, Martin Lukacs writes about the class war pantomime which clouds any real discussion of wealth and power inequality in Canada - including the fact that the Cons' corporate backers know better than to take Pierre Poilievre's posturing seriously:

The establishment media, in turn, have either amplified his anti-corporate message, or reinforced it by bemoaning it. In the Toronto Star, Susan Delacourt tut-tutted about the unfortunate “demonization” of “big business” (before admitting she’s close buds with lobbyists).

They’ve thus let Poilievre wear his chosen mantle, despite all the contradictory evidence: nearly half his governing council are lobbyists, every other week he is hobnobbing and fundraising in their presence, and his main advisor owns not one but two lobby firms.

But he’s keeping up the schtick because it’s working. A few weeks ago, he continued the corporate bashing in an op-ed in the National Post, telling business leaders to “cancel your lunch meeting at the Rideau Club,” “fire your lobbyist,” and “go to the people.”

A rare journalist at iPolitics decided to solicit the view of lobbyists themselves.

“The entire public affairs community in Canada smiled knowingly reading that National Post article,” one veteran lobbyist said . “A government led by Pierre Poilievre with his ministers will absolutely continue to engage the way they have with corporate Canada.”

In other words, they got Poilievre’s message: rest assured, the circus is for the rabble.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Emily Eaton, Andrew Stevens and Sean Tucker discuss how the corporate fossil fuel sector is blocking workers from pursuing sustainable jobs as part of a just transition. And Kate Yoder writes that there's an entirely plausible basis to hold big oil accountable for climate homicide. 

- Darrin Qualman writes that governments should focus on actual carbon emission reductions rather than treating agricultural "offsets" as a meaningful response to the climate crisis. And Julia-Simone Rutgers reports on Manitoba farmers who are taking wetland preservation into their own hands. 

- Dorothy Woodend reviews Food Inc. 2 - and concludes that the only problem with an updated look at the horrors of corporate food production is the apparent need to shoehorn in notes of optimism which seem wholly unwarranted. And Bill Marler discusses the gob-smacking revelation that children are suffering from lead poisoning due to a supplier's decision to add lead to cinnamon to increase the weight of its product. 

- Finally, Cory Doctorow discusses the dangers of the concentration of wealth and power in corporations which are too big to care about actual competition. And Doc Burford offers a thorough review and critique of the anti-social management philosophy which is taken as gospel among our current corporate class. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Oliver Milman reports on new research showing that shipping, aviation and industry are the three areas where carbon emissions are remaining at their existing levels or growing on a global basis. But Barry Saxifrage notes that Canada is a climate scofflaw as the only G7 country to be spewing more emissions than we were in 1990, while Theresa Beer calls out the provincial governments spending public money trying to demolish the few substantial climate policies which exist to date based on false spin about affordability. 

- Uday Rana discusses how parking mandates are contributing to a lack of affordable housing. But Rachel Cohen notes that many U.S. municipalities are moving past a passive approach, and instead building their own social housing intended to create communities which include all walks of life. 

- Judith Graham writes that the callous decision-making around COVID-19 raises questions about whether the U.S. cares about older adults at all - though it's worth noting the question is probably equally valid if applied more widely to caring about people period. 

- Sean Illing interviews Elizabeth Anderson about the damage wrought by a neoliberal "work ethic" which paints compliant subservience to the interests of capital as the ultimate virtue. And Adam King discusses the need for anti-scab legislation at the provincial level. 

- Finally, Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman reports on the spread of Fixit Clinics as a means of giving effect to the right to repair in California. And Currey McCullough discusses how farmers are being exploited for billions of dollars every year through the greed of equipment providers who exercise monopoly control over repairs and maintenance. 

Friday Morning Links

 Assorted content to end your week.

- Damian Carrington confirms the consensus among climate experts that the outcome of the fossil-dominated COP28 was an utter failure, while Paige Vega interviews Bill McKibben about the reality that it's long past time to be counting on empty and vague words to reverse a breakdown in progress (and the continued carbon pollution which is exacerbating it). And Alaa Al Kourdajie, Chris Bataille and Lars Nilsson warn that weasel wording is likely to be used as an excuse to actually expand production and pollution. 

- Rob Miller discusses how carbon capture and storage is far less effective and more costly than shifting to existing renewable energy technology - meaning that the fossil fuel stooges hyping the former and seeking to suppress the latter can only be treated as climate vandals. And Anna Aglietta highlights how the addiction to constantly growing extraction is at the root of both the climate crisis and the failure of efforts to combat it.  

- Tammy Robert exposes how the Saskatchewan Party has destroyed the province's crop insurance system by taking insurance premiums into general revenues - even as it's also managed to blow up the provincial budget and destroy public services. 

- Finally, Yan Jie, Taeyoung Choi and Ziyad Al-Aly find that the long-term outcomes from COVID-19 remain far more severe than those from seasonal influenza. And the John Snow Project points out Statistics Canada's survey results showing that nearly everybody will know somebody who has suffered from long COVID - even if that reality has rarely been acknowledged.