Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Roge Karma discusses how Donald Trump's tariff chaos is threatening to reinstate a consensus against any strategic decisions around trade. And Garrett Evans highlights how the contrast between free-flowing capital and constraints on public political influence results in distorted decision-making. 

- Hannah Natanson, Joseph Menn, Lisa Rein and Rachel Siegel report on the dangers of DOGE's illegal harvesting and pooling of sensitive personal information. And Jill Lawrence writes that one of the main uses Trump is making of government power is to wage information warfare - as full and accurate data sets are disappeared in favour of selectively-edited data and propaganda. 

- Marc Fawcett-Atkinson reports on the Moe government's choice to lobby on behalf of the corporate pesticide industry at the expense of people's health. And Andrew Mitrovica discusses how petropoliticians including Pierre Poilievre and Danielle Smith are undermining any unified Canadian response to the Trump regime. 

- Meanwhile, Bill McKibben notes that countries which don't act as fully-owned subsidiaries of the oil sector are making significant progress in transitioning to cleaner and more efficient energy sources. And Kate Yoder examines new research showing that it's possible to prime public support for climate action by focusing on binary indications of the climate breakdown rather than less-visible trends.

- Finally, Alex Cosh writes that the polarized Canadian election result is best seen as a temporary response based on strategic considerations, rather than a locked-in expression of approval or transfer of support toward the largest parties. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Jason Hickel discusses how capitalism is fundamentally in conflict with the idea of democracy - and how increasing democratic control over the economy is the only way to salvage any popular governance generally.

- Michael Tomasky calls out the new boundaries of corruption being pushed by Donald Trump's granting of access to those who hand him free money through his memecoin, while Amanda Marcotte discusses how Trump's crypto scam imposes costs on everybody. And Don Moynihan notes that Trump's budget, like virtually everything else emanating from his regime, consists entirely of propaganda rather than bearing any relationship to reality.

- Meanwhile, in case anybody was under the illusion that the only regressive action in the U.S. is originating with Trump and his administration, Tracy Wholf reports on the Republican Senate's unprecedented move to eliminate existing pollution controls.

- Charlie Angus discusses the continued MAGA threats to Canada even after we averted the planned coronation of the Poilievre Cons. And Dennis Pilon writes about the undemocratic results of strategic voting. 

- Finally, Marc Edge discusses how right-wing misinformation has come to dominate social media as a result of an attempt to slightly balance the interests of other media against tech giants. James Hoggan offers some suggestions as to what we can do at an individual level to counter rage farming and political deception. And Euan Thomson reports on the likely illegal - if less-than-surprising - monitoring of citizens' social media by Calgary police.

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. 

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. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Jill Lawrence discusses how the Trump regime's combination of corruption, greed and poor judgment is tearing the concept of the heroic tycoon to shreds. David Sirota et al. note that the plutocrat-sponsored revolt against taxes is likewise becoming untenable as a matter of public opinion. And Rob Jowett writes that one of Mark Carney's key weaknesses is his being embedded in the work of exploitative capital. 

- Zachary Basu writes about DOGE's unblemished track record of ignorance and self-destruction, while Matt Ford is the latest to point out that all Americans are in jeopardy when it's state policy to disappear people without due process. And Jared Yates Sexton writes about the importance of taking advantage of the openings created by the incompetence of autocrats.

- Jared Wesley calls out Pierre Poilievre's attempt to echo Trump's attacks on anything deemed "woke" without providing any coherent definition or reason why inclusion and empathy should be considered to be negatives. And David Olive notes that Canadian businesses haven't shown any inclination to abandon their own DEI programs in order to appease MAGA loons on either side of the border.  

- Finally, Juan Vargas notes that aspects of a youth climate corps have made their way into multiple parties' election platforms - while also pointing out the stark difference between a Lib "pilot" and the full plans of the NDP and Greens. And Seth Klein writes about the need for a war footing against the U.S.' threats to include commensurate taxes to fund our fight and avoid profiteering. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Francisco Ferreira discusses the collapse of the existing global economic order - and the need for countries other than the U.S. to take decisive steps to create any alternative which could improve on the flaws in the historical system. And Peter Crowley weighs in on the role a half-century of neoliberalism has played in laying the groundwork for dictatorship. 

- Dave Davies talks to Steven Levitsky about the dire state of U.S. democracy. And Brian Beutler discusses how Donald Trump courts disaster to force everybody else to use their resources preparing for the fallout from his whims. 

- Mark Olalde reports on the threats being made against U.S. civil servants that they face criminal prosecution for whistle-blowing or providing accurate information about the Trump regime's actions. Victor Tangerman reports on Elon Musk's similar pattern of threatening to arrange for the deportation of anybody at Tesla who dared to point out problems with the brakes in their vehicles. And Canada Healthwatch points out that the U.S. has deliberately set up a system for the reporting and intimidation of Canadian health care providers who dare to provide gender-supportive care, abortion, contraception or other care which runs afoul of Trump's ideology. 

- Jason Sattler discusses how Musk deliberately trashed the concept of verification at X - and how important it is to reinstate it through Bluesky and other social media. And Alex Himelfarb writes about the dangers of denialism in undermining the collective action needed to respond to a polycrisis. 

- Finally, Natasha Bulowski highlights how the Cons are flipping the bird to the concept of climate action. Nicholas Hune-Brown discusses how J.D. Vance has become a key focus of the election in Bowmanville-Oshawa North where his buddy Jamil Jivani is trying to take a place in a Con cabinet, while Michael Harris identifies the influence of the Trump regime as just one of several unusual aspects of the federal election campaign. And Justin Ling discusses how Pierre Poilievre is shutting out any but the most sycophantic of media outlets - making for just one more indication that he's following the Trump playbook to the letter. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Toby Buckle notes that the most accurate predictions for Donald Trump's second term have been the ones which warned about the worst (and even then may have underestimated the dangers). Marina Kelly and Vittoria Elliott report on DOGE's theft of massive amounts of data which is being turned into an unprecedented surveillance tool. Brittany Gibson notes that anybody who merely speaks up for the people disappeared by Trump's goons is being threatened with criminal prosecution. And Radley Balko writes that Trump's regime is imposing direct costs on basic human decency - making it all the more important for people to defy the powers that be by caring for one another. 

- Dan Froomkin argues that accurate coverage of the Trump regime needs to start from the premise that it's a criminal enterprise. Paul Krugman notes that major policy announcements are now being made in private meetings with corporate executives. And Will Bunch examines how Trump's second inaugural fund was turned into a nine-figure shakedown and grift which received scant media attention. 

- Frank Langfitt reports on a survey of political scientists finding broad agreement that Trump is tipping the U.S. into authoritarianism. And Robert Reich writes about the billionaire class' ongoing efforts to secede from society at large rather than contributing a nickel to its success. 

- The Canadian Press reports on a push by professors to offer safe haven to American academics and researchers. Dat Nguyen warns against allowing Pierre Poilievre to import Trump's war on science to Canada, while Aaron Wherry and Catherine Cullne report that the Cons' plans to exercise political control over research are intact even after they were left out of the first version of the party's English platform. Geoff Dembicki examines the Cons' plans to mimic DOGE, while Adrienne Tanner reports on their similar mirroring of the Republicans' culture war. Harrison Mooney talks to Martin Lukacs about Poilievre's plans to trash the welfare state and civil society. 

- Finally, andrea bennett interviews Enda Brophy about the class politics of the Canadian federal election. Emmett Macfarlane takes a look at the plans offered by Canada's political parties on democracy and governance - though it's unfortunate that the far more substantive plans of the NDP receive far less attention than the lack thereof of the Cons and Libs. Jen St. Denis examines how and why extreme-right propagandists were able to hijack the election debates. And Gillian Steward points out that the real goal of Western separatists is merely to maintain a grievance culture that serves as a roadblock to climate action and clean energy development. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Adrienne Lafrance discusses how the clock is ticking - but not quite yet run out - to check Donald Trump's assertion of absolute power before the U.S. falls into authoritarianism. Will Stone reports on the Trump regime's gutting of the Department of Health and Human Services' injury prevention team, while Hiroko Tabuchi reports on the cancellation of research grants to address the effects of pollution and toxic chemicals on children. And Laurie Udesky and Jack Leeming write about the beginning of a massive scientific brain drain. 

- Stephen Magusiak talks to Geoff Dembicki about the close connections between Pierre Poilievre's Cons and the corporate forces responsible for Trump's entrenchment in power. Christopher Holcroft examines a half-dozen of the crucial policy areas where Poilievre is consistently parroting Trump. And Washim Ahmed warns that Poilievre's determination to mimic Trump's deportation of people for the exercise of free speech and assembly is particularly dangerous. 

- Ximena Gonzalez rightly questions why neither of the main parties is showing any interest in tackling poverty or inequality. And Danyaal Raza writes about the crisis in primary health care which is likewise receiving short shrift from the Libs and Cons alike. 

- Finally, Christo Aivalis writes about a principled approach to strategic voting for left-wing Canadian voters (in stark contrast to the "Dear Leader requires a crushing majority!" message coming from the Lib camp). And Tom Parkin offers a data-driven approach to electing the most progressive Parliament possible. 

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.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Doug Saunders discusses how Trump has made "anti-woke" messaging toxic around the globe by demonstrating how evil and destructive it is in practice - even as Pierre Poilievre insists on trying to peddle it in Canada. And Leyland Cecco reports on the increasingly pervasive and sophisticated misinformation being disseminated in the course of Canada's election campaign.

- Jorge Barrera reports on the unsubtle and unconscionable stunts from Ezra Levant and company in spreading misinformation and disrupting the leadership debate scrums for Poilievre's benefit. And Taylor Noakes points out how Poilievre functions as a useful idiot for the oil sector. 

- Joe Vipond and Seth Klein lament the lack of discussion of climate change in the course of an election campaign which is supposed to involve charting Canada's course in the world for decades to come. Clean Energy Canada highlights the massive opportunities available if we joint our non-U.S. trading partners in focusing on building a renewable energy economy. And the 89 Percent Project is set to launch some much-needed coverage as to how the vast majority of people support climate action which is being held back only by a few greedy fossil fuel tycoons and their political puppets. 

- Nick Pearce discusses the possibility of establishing social democratic zones as a counter to the perpetual corporate push for non-democratic areas. 

- Finally, Erin Reed rightly argues that countries need to be prepared to accept transgender refugees from the U.S. in the face of a regime which treats their existence as a crime. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Matthew Yglesias implores the business sector which is increasingly recognizing the danger of Donald Trump's trade policy to notice that the balance of his plans are equally ill-founded. Will Saletan discusses the Trump regime's selection of cabinet officials based entirely on their willingness to propagandize and flatter, rather than the possession of any knowledge or competence. Charlie Angus highlights how book burning and information suppression fits into the fascist playbook. And Greg Sargent talks to Jonathan Friedman about the weakness in strongarm tactics which depend entirely on a lack of coordinated resistance.

- Bryan Tau, Joshua Goodman, Garance Burke and Brian Slodysko report on the DOGE takeover of the U.S.' General Services Administration which has resulted in effectively all public property and information being turned into playthings for Elon Musk. And Corbin Trent worries that most resistance so far has been based on inspiration in the absence of infrastructure, even as a fascist regime entrenches itself in power based on the groundwork laid by external structures. 

- Paul Wells highlights Pierre Poilievre's bragging about never changing his mind, whileLinda McQuaig writes that Poilievre's attempt to rebrand and partially reorient the Cons' campaign is likely doomed because of his inability to do anything of the sort. 

- Emma Paling and Alex Cosh examine how Poilievre has been treated with kid gloves by the media even while treating them with nothing but hatred and contempt. And Luke LeBrun reports on the Cons' laughable attempt to treat their own astroturfed attempt at polling denialism as being the result of a conspiracy involving both the Libs and Doug Ford (along with presumably various Freemasons, Roswell aliens and fake birds). 

- Finally, David Coletto examines the factors which have resulted in a shift among left-wing voters - with the main reason for any shift from the NDP to the Libs being a matter of transactional politics rather than changes in underlying beliefs. And Will Shelling discusses the importance of identifying and supporting strong NDP candidates, rather than complying with Lib partisans' demands for a crushing majority which would enable Mark Carney to sideline progressives inside and outside his party.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Jared Yates Sexton writes about the unambiguous wrong embodied in the Trump regime's claim to be able to disappear anybody it chooses to. Timothy Snyder rightly categorizes that position as the deliberate use of state terror. Coral Davenport reports on Trump's plan to treat the law as inoperative to the extent it doesn't suit the interests of him or his cronies, including by ignoring regulations which are seen as inconvenient. And Jason Sattler discusses how Elon Musk is attempting to enshittify Social Security out of existence (as an alternative to the Republicans' repeated attempts to eliminate it as a matter of law).

- Amanda Marcotte points out the theocracy embedded in Marco Rubio's attempt to treat any differing views as "anti-Christian bias". Saketh Sundar discusses how hospitals stand to be hard hit by Trump's attempt at a hostile takeover of universities. And Taylor Noakes writes that the rest of the world (including Canada) will suffer from the fallout of RFK Jr.'s gutting of public health. 

- Sushan Singh writes about the connections between right-wing authoritarian regimes around the world, including through the Modi government's interference to promote Pierre Poilievre and the Cons. Taylor Owen talks to Aengus Bridgman and Nina Jankocwicz about the broader reality of foreign information manipulation. 

- Patrick McCurdy and Kaitlin Clarke offer a reminder as to who stands to suffer from Poilievre's war on "woke" (i.e. any attempt to identify and correct injustice). Mel Woods points out the anti-trans messages being injected into the election campaign by the Cons. And Jen St. Denis reports that Canada's alt-right techbros are desperately trying to distance themselves from Elon Musk's DOGE (with all the credibility of Donald Trump's bald-faced lies about his connections to Project 2025). 

- Finally, Nino Antadze writes that Canada can draw important lessons from Georgia as to how to defend its sovereignty against a hostile superpower. And Charles Smith discusses how the new strain of Canadian nationalism emerging in response to Trump's threat may chart a path for our future development. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Nesrine Malik writes about the need for the rest of the world to imagine - and then build - an international order which routes around the U.S. as an entirely unreliable partner. And the Economist discusses how the U.S. itself will lose out immensely by ending the use of the dollar as an international default currency. 

- Anne Applebaum writes about the systematic kleptocracy being installed at breakneck speed. Paul Krugman and Dan Moynihan each note that Trump has turned the IRS into a tool to allow the wealthy to avoid taxes, while punishing the working class in any way possible. And Jenna McLaughlin reports that the confidential information raided by DOGE for Elon Musk's personal enrichment includes sensitive labor data held by the National Labor Relations Board.  

- Chris Hatch rightly notes that the climate breakdown is in progress - and will continue absent a drastic change in course - whether Trump and his ilk govern in denial of it or not. Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado discuss the scourge of air pollution which kills millions of people every year. And Helena Horton reports on a study finding hundreds of dangerous pesticides in European homes, while Bartosz Brzezinski discusses Bas Bloem's research into the connection between glyphosate and Parkinson's disease. 

- Sumathi Reddy reports on the growing awareness among doctors that COVID-19 can produce cognitive difficulties which last for years. And Baran Erdik studies the effect of COVID on driving in particular, finding a significant association between infections and subsequent car crashes. 

- Finally, Schmutzie offers a survey of the Cons' most recent policy declaration - and notes in particular the similarities to Project 2025 which Donald Trump falsely disclaimed before making it the basis for his regime. Dougald Lamont writes that no government in Canada should be pushing austerity in the face of a teade war which makes it all the more laughable to preach a doctrine of self-sufficiency. And Seth Klein offers his take as to what a genuinely strategic vote would look like. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor write about the rise of end-times fascism - and its connection to the long-standing project among the wealthiest few to survive environmental and social destruction from gated communities. Sam Freedman discusses the authoritarisn bent of self-professed "libertarians" who want the vast majority of people to be stripped of any agency to maximize their freedom to exploit the general public. Noah Berlatsky writes that the Trump regime's constant lying and gaslighting serves as an end in itself by making it difficult to combat abuses with facts. And Greg Sargent talks to Leah Litman about the public threat of politically-motivated prosecutions of elected officials who represent their constituents rather than allowing themselves to be used as tools of an autocrat. 

- Paul Krugman examines how Donald Trump's perpetually-shifting tariffs could hardly have been designed to avoid accomplishing any of their theoretical goals - particularly in light of Hafiz Rashid's report that nobody's actually collecting them. And Jessica Wildfire discusses the difference between progressive development based on ingenuinty and hard work, and the capitalist idea of "success" based on variance and leverage. 

- Angella MacEwen offers a warning about the dangers of "polite austerity" as Mark Carney's plans for cuts in real social funding for receive little attention. And Luca Caruso-Moro reports on new Statistics Canada data showing that investors cleaned up in 2024 while wages dropped. 

- Adam King writes about the need for the Canadian left to rebuild electoral power. Armine Yalnizyan writes that the "Canada is not for sale" movement needs to reckon with the important institutions which are already under the control of foreign capital. And Max Fawcett points out that any Con posturing about standing up to the Trump regime is utterly implausible when their plans involve being tied even more tightly to the U.S. 

- Finally, Will Adams offers a peek at the concentrated racism and hatred at the core of the Cons' public events. Olivia Bowden examines how the younger manosphere has become the one significant addition to the Cons' electoral coalition. And Deirdre Mitchell-Maclean points out that the separatists being encouraged by Danielle Smith and the UCP are just as much a threat to Alberta as they are to Canada.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Jason Sattler rightly notes that by the time Donald Trump is removed from power in the U.S., there's going to be no meaningful amount of pre-existing "normal" government to return to. Jerusalem Demsas writes that the same principle applies to economic relationships as trade partners have little choice but to route their plans around an entirely unreliable partner. And Will Hutton points out that Europe (like Canada) can treat the destruction of U.S. hegemony as an opportunity to shape a new international order.

- Bruce Arthur highlights why nobody can feel safe traveling to the U.S. under Trump. Daisy Dumas reports on the detention and deportation of an Australian worker with a valid visa - along with the gleeful cruelty of the border officers given the responsiblity to round up and eject immigrants. And Sherrilyn Ifill writes about the importance of fighting for the rights of the prisoners being rendered to offshore gulags.

- Stephen Maher discusses how Pierre Poilievre's involvement with the Flu Trux Klan has made him unpalatable to far more voters than he can afford. And Brian Owens notes that Poilievre's plan to silence science which doesn't fit his regressive worldview is indistinguishable from Trump's.

- Geoff Girvitz discusses how health and well-being should be central goals of public policy - and how only the NDP is offering any prospect of improving Canada's performance in those areas.

- Finally, George Monbiot writes that the only truly effective means of challenging right-wing discriminatory populism is to reduce the inequality that fuels it.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Gil Duran examines the false claim of an "emergency" underlying Donald Trump's tariff manipulations - along with the dangers of allowing a dictator to manufacture false excuses for drastic measures. And Bill McKibben notes that plenty more of Trump's destructive executive orders are similarly based on contrived or false claims of emergency circumstances. 

- Miles Klee, Andrew Perez, Asawin Suebsaeng and Meagan Jordan discuss Elon Musk's gleeful destruction of every part of the U.S. government that falls under the notice of the DOGE team. And Josh Marshall discusses the effects of substantially shuttering the Department of Justice's tax division as being a massive handout to wealthy tax cheats, while Tom Scocca and Joe MacLeod note that people who have complied with their tax obligations are being punished by having their information used against them for other purposes. 

- Paul Darren Bieniasz warns about the Trump regime's destruction of science in the U.S., while Daniel Altmann and Angela Rasmussen discuss how to respond to threats against public health. Mary Van Beusekom highlights how a substantial proportion of the U.S.' population is suffering from long COVID even as Trump guts public health capacity. And Paul Krugman points out the parallel rise of the quack-industrial complex providing self-serving and wrong answers to exceedingly important questions. 

- Mitchell Beer discusses how the world at large can move on from being tethered to an unreliable U.S. Mitch Anderson talks to Seth Klein about Canada's path to a war footing to respond to the U.S. threat and the climate crisis together. And Christo Aivalis points out that neither the Libs nor the Cons are defending Canadian workers in their plans to limit how Trump's threat affects the corporate class. 

- Finally, Maddi Dellplain examines the structure of Canadian health care, and the policies on offer from the federal parties to address it. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Osita Nwanevu writes that Donald Trump has fundamentally changed the story of the U.S. from one of (however unfulfilled) promise to one of chaotic evil. Adam Clark writes about the "sell America" movement coursing through every market and economic structure that has relied on some measure of stability, while Paul Krugman points out the direct costs that will impose on the U.S. And Julia Carrie Wong weighs in on the war against empathy being waged by the worst people in the world. 

- Jonathan Cohn examines the wide range of products which stand to become unaffordable for Americans due to Trump's tariffs on China in particular. 

- Fonie Mitsopoulou reports that Trump's demands abroad include ensuring that major carbon polluters (in the shipping industry and elsewhere) are never required to pay for their damage to our planet. Deborah Brum discusses the U.S.' ugly history of tainted food which Trump is looking to restart by eliminating any effective regulation. And Kat Lay warns that the evisceration of public health programs in the developing world projects to result in a surge of diseases which had largely been contained. 

- Finally, John Woodside discusses new polling showing that Canadians are looking for a vision to disentangle us from the U.S. and chart a path for the future. Ayaka Naganuma examines some of the options available to ensure a just transition to a clean energy economy. And David Moscrop theorizes that the combination of competitiveness, policy implications and general interest could lead to a higher turnout than we've seen in decades. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Paul Krugman discusses how the U.S.' oligarchy was entirely willing to back Donald Trump as long as he was merely devastating other people's rights and well-being, while Nicholas Grossman comments on the profound denial of an executive class which ignored 40 years of Trump's ravings about tariffs. Nick Cohen notes that Trump is providing a rare but frightening example as to how a dictator's whims can be given priority over capital owners' desire to accumulate more. And Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims report that U.S. corporations are cowering rather than acknowledging the obvious reality that they're worse off under Trump. 

- Meanwhile, Michael Barnard reports on China's response to the latest set of tariffs which includes restricting supplies of critical minerals. 

- Jennifer Robson discusses what Canada needs to do to insure ourselves against the vagaries of Trump's regime. And Charlie Angus highlights how Trump's Canadian subsidiaries are looking to undermine one of the key goals by declaring their disloyalty to Canada to try to bully the rest of the country into handing power to Pierre Poilievre.

- Justin Ling reports on Poilievre's plans to mimic Trump's indiscriminate slashing of foreign aid - even as the WHO warns that the effects of aid cuts could kill thousands of women annually based on complications in pregnancy and childbirth alone. 

- Finally, Adam King reports on the Canadian labour movement's priorities in the ongoing federal election. And Joan Baxter talks to Julia Levin and others about the glaring lack of climate policy being discussed even as a rethinking of trade relationships offers an obvious opportunity to focus on a clean and just transition. 

On distinction

I've noted before that we shouldn't be too quick to assume that general electoral trends will overcome the strength of NDP incumbents in particular. But it certainly doesn't bode well that the party's plan seemed to have been based on the hope that the main issue on voters' minds could be entirely ignored:

When Singh’s campaign arrived in Hamilton — a city which prides itself on being known as Canada’s Steeltown — the NDP leader faced questions about whether he “missed the moment” by not making tariff-specific policy proposals or visiting a factory floor.

Party staff told journalists they expected media coverage to focus on Singh’s economic policies and did not think tariffs would dominate so much of the discussion.

In effect, the NDP's plan for a long-anticipated election seems to have mirrored the strategy from the much-lamented 1988 campaign in looking to wave away the primary issue on the public's mind - with the added problem that this time, the party couldn't plausibly have thought it had an advantage in leadership favourability to justify that choice of focus. 

Now, it might be fair to say that there's room to push the focus beyond tariffs alone. And I'd argue that the NDP's best chance to differentiate itself from the Libs remains the ability to call attention to the fact that the Trump regime poses additional threats beyond its impact on bankers' profits. 

Since Mark Carney was elected the Libs' leader, U.S. states have been taking steps to declare existence as a trans person to be illegal.

The Trump regime has gone out of its way to disappear people for exercising free speech. And we've learned that Canada has been involved in at least one instance of immigration detention, as the application of Canadian immigration policy as usual led to Rebecca Burke's being seized.

And the Trump regime's attacks on education and science have continued apace, with weather and climate science ranking among the areas where the U.S.' denialism will have international implications.

The Libs have done little to address those and other developments that bear more on human rights and public interests as opposed to corporate profits. And there's still some time to highlight the fact that we're far outside the realm of what's normal in those areas too - and need strong NDP representation to protect interests going beyond trade. 

Unfortunately, it sounds like the NDP has wasted far too much time sticking to a predetermined domestic platform, rather than what's right in principle or likely to resonate in a Trump-dominated news environment. And the result may be significant losses both in terms of seats, and in terms of Canada's overall response to Trump.