Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Gaby Hinsliff highlights the need for the UK (and the rest of the world) to cut ties with an entirely unerliable U.S., while John Crace discusses the futility of any action based on Keir Starmer's apparent assumption that Trump is sufficiently sentient to be calmed down and reasoned with. And Paul Krugman implores American businesses to end their Faustian bargains with the Trump regime. 

- Kaamil Ahmed reports on Oxfam's latest research on the continued concentration of global wealth in the hands of a few billionaires - and how that's both a cause and effect of policy skewed to further enrich the wealthy. Harold Meyerson examines how the labour share of U.S. income is at an all-time low. And Julian Hinz et al. confirm (PDF) that the working class is bearing the brunt of Trump's tariffs out of its declining resources. 

- Lest anybody wrongly assume that Trump is the only North American leader looking to eliminate any consequences for corporate malfeasance (particularly for preferred donors and cronies), Sophie Elias-Pinsonnault and Silas Xuereb examine Mark Carney's plan to make the application of nearly all laws to corporations a matter of ministerial discretion. 

- Finally, Charles Ferguson warns that artificial intelligence is on the verge of taking over media as we know it. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- The American Institute of Biological Sciences weighs in on the growing scientific recognition that we're approaching - and indeed barreling toward - irreversible climate disaster. Benjamin Shingler reports on the International Energy Agency's projections that renewable energy will make cheap and abundant power available in the very near future - but that an "all of the above" energy strategy won't go far in reducing fossil fuel use or carbon pollution. And Marco Chown Oved reports on a new study showing that a switch to an electric vehicle can lead to significant cost savings at the individual level. 

- The Jamaica Observer highlights the multiple environmental problems posed by electronic waste. And Nathan Proctor discusses the findings from a study of community repaid events - showing that numerous products are already capable of being repaired, and that the vast majority could be if not for design or parts issues.  

- Nicholas Shaxson writes that Keir Starmer's whining about "red tape" represents a deliberate choice to serve corporate elites at the expense of public health and safety. And Cory Doctorow writes that governments are perfectly capable of applying fair taxes to billionaires' wealth if they haven't abdicated their responsibility for the general welfare, while Thomas Piketty discusses the importance of not overcomplicating fair tax plans (as the wealthy are of course eager to demand in order to delay implementation and create loopholes). 

- Finally, Jeremy Appel calls out several corporate media outlets for fueling authoritarian drug policies through sensationalized reporting on mental health and homelessness issues. And Zak Vescera reports on the Alberta oil money swamping British Columbia's election with ads in order to install the violently loony BC Cons in power. 

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.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Ed Broadbent discusses how economic equality is a precondition to freedom for the majority of the population. Chris McGreal reviews Angus Deaton's book on the role of the corporatist assumptions of economists in fomenting a war on the poor. And John McDonnell warns that Keir Starmer appears to be hoping for his opponents to hand him the UK's next election while neglecting the need for policy that would actually improve the material conditions of the working class. 

- Benjamin Shinger reports on the IEA's latest study concluding that fossil fuel consumption will peak in 2030 even without any policy steps to advance the transition to cleaner energy. And Fiona Harvey reports on a UN report calling for an end to new fossil fuel exploration by that time. 

- Simon Enoch and Charles Smith discuss the cynical political calculation behind the Moe government's use of the notwithstanding clause to attack trans children, while Trudy Keil points out the distractions included in the legislation to obfuscate the reality that its only real effect is to further endanger vulnerable youth. And the Economist offers its own take on Scott Moe's choice to import the U.S.' culture wars to Canada. 

- Finally, Adam Nichols reports on the contents of a leaked white nationalists' manual confirming the violent intent of the racist right. And Ryan Meili offers his take on how to respond to reactionaries. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Tonda MacCharles reports on David Naylor's justified call for an inquiry into Canada's pandemic response. And Peter Walker's report on the rapid spread of the B.1.617.2 variant in the (heavily-vaccinated) UK offers a reminder that the work of protecting public health is far from done.

- Seth Klein argues that after decades of polluting both our atmosphere and our polity in the name of instant profits, the fossil fuel sector can't expect a transition to a cleaner economy to cater to its demands. Geoff Dembicki exposes how Suncor in particular is dumping chemicals onto poor, heavily-Latino populations around Denver while trying to claim an interest in racial justice. Emma Graney reports on the IEA's new study showing that we can't afford any new fossil fuel development if we want to meet a 1.5 degree climate target. Agence France-Presse reports on new research showing that the Brazilian Amazon has turned into a net carbon emitter, rather than the needed carbon sink that it was historically. Paris Marx highlights why we should be skeptical of Apple's greenwashing campaign. And Michael Holder reports on the contribution of just 20 petrochemical firms to half of the world's single-use plastic waste. 

- That said, the Economist does discuss how parts of the global steel industry are shifting toward more sustainable operational models, rather than insisting on strip-mining whatever they can.

- Amira Elghawaby examines what defunding the police and redirecting resources toward non-violent incident response may look like.

- Finally, Luke Savage writes that a disastrous interview of Keir Starmer following disastrous election results only serves to highlight the hollowness of content-free centrism. And Jon Schwarz discusses how an obsession with deficits in the name of their impact on children only serves to ensure that they inherit an inequity and environmental destruction.