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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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). 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Alec Luhn warns that the potential consequences of the breakdown of the AMOC current include the release of far more of the carbon pollution that's already causing it to collapse. And Claudia Vorbeck points out that our current reliance on fossil fuels to produce fertilizer is unnecessary, with localized alternatives offering both a more secure supply and a reduced environmental impact. 

- Sabrina Tavernise notes that opposition to data centres has become one of the most universal areas of bipartisan agreement in the U.S. And Brian Merchant examines what the organizing against data centres may presage in the wider political system. 

- Alissa Quart discusses how fear and uncertainty have been propagated and weaponized by the corporations who are able to profit from them. And Johnnie Kallas et al. examine the reduction in strike activity which has seen American workers do less to assert their power over exploitative employers. 

- Finally, Althia Raj discusses how Mark Carney has forgotten - or at least chosen to ignore - the progressive voters who lent their support to elect him. The Star's editorial board highlights how Carney's plans for privatization serve nobody's purposes but those of corporate wealth extractors. And Lucy Hamilton offers similar observations from Australia, where a nominally progressive governing party is mostly using its power to cater to the wealthy few. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- John Rapley highlights Canada's choice between tying ourselves to a dying and decaying American empire and its petropolitics, or instead investing in our future as part of a global clean energy economy. But Murray Brewster reports on Mark Carney's choice to secretly lock us into a billion-dollar military deal as a reminder that the Libs' inclination is to appease and support the Trump regime in substance even while occasionally posturing against it for the cameras. 

- Meanwhile, Natasha Tusikov and Blayne Haggart discuss how Canadians stand to lose out from Carney's plans to deploy artificial intelligence to replace a functional public service.  

- Erin Anderssen and Yang Sun discuss how the lack of available and affordable homes is the main factor driving unhappiness among young Canadians. 

- Cameron Micallef reports on the effort by Australian unions to make gains for workers on a scale not seen in decades, including though a shift to a four-day work week. And Jacob Fuller highlights Arindrajit Dube's research showing that there's plenty of room to increase minimum wages with effectively no impact other than to improve labour's share of income (and perhaps improve social indicators tied to income). 

- Finally, Leni Spooner writes about the dangers of surveillance pricing - and the choice of Libs and Cons alike to let greedy corporations use personal information to extract every possible nickel from consumers. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Robert Kagan is the latest to notice that the U.S. is a rogue superpower whose capricious action under the Trump regime has undermined the international system that previously served its interests. And Paul Krugman observes that the oil crisis precipitated by the Iran war is about to get physical in the form of real shortages (rather than merely being a matter of rationing and anticipated effects), while Neil Irwin recognizes that the U.S. won't avoid the ill effects of its aggression.  

- Waterloo University has released new modeling showing that the effects of climate change will result in upwards of a hundred million people facing regular air quality alerts in the coming decades. And Forrest Smith points out the trillion-dollar price to remediate the damage oil drilling has done to the U.S.' living environment even without accounting for the climate crisis. 

- Meanwhile, Anthony Cuthbertson reports on a new breakthrough which may make solar energy even more efficient than previously thought posssible. And Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado update their previous findings as to how more affordable batteries are making electric vehicles into by far the superior option for consumers. 

- Finally, Rebecca Solnit looks at the realities of Cesar Chavez' personal sexual abuse in the context of the farmworker movement as a compelling reason to memorialize collective action rather than idolized heroes. 

Leadership 2026 Candidate Profile - Heather McPherson

What We Knew

McPherson entered the leadership campaign with both the  advantage and the burden of being the first choice of the party establishment at a time when the party itself isn’t seen especially positively, and when that establishment itself is made up disproportionately of a niche (urban contenders for government in two-party Western provinces) which fall far short of covering the ground the federal party needs to win.

What We’ve Learned

McPherson has predictably won a slew of endorsements throughout the campaign. But her experience as an MP hasn’t translated into an advantage in either organization or communication. Instead, she’s tried to walk a fine line between avoiding being seen as the pro-dirty energy candidate, while trying to benefit as the alternative to Lewis’ more focused commitment to a clean energy transition.

What She’s Proposing

One standout proposal from McPherson however is her combination community work placement program as associated job transition plan. While it’s important to deal with the loss of hope throughout the working class, there’s a particular need to offer young voters reason to think they have a path forward - and McPherson has done well on that front.

What to Watch For

Ultimately, McPherson hasn’t been able to turn her advantages into a great deal of momentum for herself - so while to would be a surprise to see her rank below second on the first ballot, her prospects will likely come down to the efforts of the other two main contenders. 

There’s a chance Lewis could take an insurmountable lead early with his greater appeal beyond party lines, or conversely if he can’t match his fund-raising momentum with motivated voters there’s a chance McPherson could win out as the default alternative. Or it’s possible that Ashton could pave the way for her to win by both mobilizing labour, and persuading members not to support Lewis (particularly in down-ballot rankings).

But it’s hard to see what would change for the better in the NDP with McPherson at the helm and the current powers that be left in place. 

Leadership 2026 Candidate Profile - Rob Ashton

With voting set to begin tomorrow in the federal NDP’s leadership campaign, I’ll take the opportunity to offer candidate profiles - focusing on what we knew at the start, what we’ve learned over the course of the campaign, and what’s worth keeping an eye on in their skills and policy proposals. 

What We Knew

At the beginning of the campaign, Rob Ashton was the political neophyte in the race. That meant we had relatively little to go on in terms of his personality, plans and prospects - other than the general impression that he had ample support from the labour movement.

The sense of the unknown them built further when Ashton declined to offer policy proposals, stating instead that he’d develop those in talking to people over the course of the campaign. But he did start off strongly on the organizational front, getting successful events organized from the early stages of the race.

What We’ve Learned

If any candidate’s position has improved meaningfully over the course of the campaign, it’s Ashton’s. He’s managed to win coverage delivering an oppositional message against Avi Lewis’ front-running campaign, elevating him above the other lesser-known candidates to the point of having a plausible path to benefit from an effective candidate alliance with Heather McPherson.

Yet if Ashton’s organization has built up over the course of the campaign, his personal appeal hasn’t done the same. He’s still a distinctly less effective communicator than the top tier of candidates, as a middling speaker in English and a write-off in French. And while he’s gone further than I would have expected in winning labour support, he hasn’t moved meaningfully past its boundaries.

What He’s Proposing

For the extra time Ashton took in presenting his policies, he hasn’t offered much that doesn’t echo other candidates. Perhaps the most distinctive proposal he’s put forward is to tie an explicit tax surcharge to pay disparities between the CEO and median worker of a single company - but that looks to be a relatively minor piece of puzzle in addressing inequality which largely arises out of disparities both between organizations, and between types of income and wealth. 

What to Watch For

At this point, the best guess for Ashton’s result is to finish a solid third, with the ability to direct much of his support to McPherson to put her over the top. An extreme best-case outcome for Ashton would be to have those standings reversed to allow him to win as the leading alternative to Lewis, while a drop to fourth or lower would be a disappointment.

But perhaps more important will be his choices after the campaign is over. 

Ideally Ashton and his labour movement supporters will want to stay involved in building the party no matter who wins, including by having him take a prominent role going forward. But his relatively negative messages again Lewis raise the risk he’d choose to do so if the leadership campaign doesn’t turn out as he hopes - and that could only further attenuate the connections between the NDP and its labour base.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Brian Beutler comments on the Trump regime's absolute lack of distinction between war and politics, and what that means for any hope of a peaceful transition to reflect electoral choices. And Robert Reich discusses the absurdity of the U.S. launching increasingly destructive wars without having the slightest clue what their endgame is in any of them. 

- Dave Levitan writes about the dangers of allowing people to gamble on choices and outcomes in war. 

- Meanwhile, Alexander de Croo points out that development is no less an exercise of hard power than military action - while providing a much-needed prospect of positive outcomes. 

- Surya Sakhar-Suot writes about the myriad benefits of remote work - and the concurrent folly of imposing return-to-office mandates. 

- Finally, Ben Steverman discusses how the rise of 19th-century billionaire robber barons is being reflected in the emergence of the trillionaires of the near term. And Hugh Gusterson writes about the elite gifts and manipulations that tied together Jeffrey Epstein's network of influence and control. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Ana Marie Cox discusses how Jeffrey Epstein was able to amass influence and commit atrocities by sharing the discriminatory and dehumanizing values with his targets. Solani Kolakhtar notes that the Epstein class consists entirely of wealthy and privileged people using anti-elite messaging to distract from their own contempt for and exploitation of the general public. And Jamelle Bouie talks to Andrea Pitzer about the nature of concentration camps as means of treating disfavoured people into things to be warehoused. 

- Sam Freedman highlights the challenges for governments in trying to reach any meaningful proportion of the public in a media environment which is both fragmented into numerous technical channels, yet still largely controlled by the wealthy few. And John Herrman weighs in on Elon Musk's deliberate choice to use X to breed hatred and bigotry, while Justin Hendrix talks to Jose Marichal about the importance of challenging the implicit algorithmic contract underlying our interaction with major social media sites.

- Joseph Stiglitz, Monica Geingos and Michael Marmot warn that inequality will make the next pandemic worse (even as the right's attacks on science and public health mean it will likely happen sooner). And McKenzie Beard offers a summary of how various communicable diseases spread, as well as how best to mitigate risk at the individual level. 

- Finally, Phillip Inman reports on a new study showing how the arbitrary elimination of remote work options has a disproportionate effect on people with disabilities as well as people relied upon to perform care work. 

 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Brian Beutler writes that the events of Super Bowl weekend show how Donald Trump - even with the support of most of the country's plutocrats and their media outlets - has absolutely failed to take over U.S. culture. But A.R. Moxon writes about the need to avoid normalizing or legitimizing MAGA's culture of hate. 

- Garrett Graff discusses how the Trump security state's masks and secrecy are all about impunity rather than legitimate safety concerns, as immigrant enforcement officers are at less risk of a violent death than a U.S. elementary school student. And Hanna Zlady reports on Transparency International's new corruption perception index - showing the U.S. predictably falling to unprecedented lows even as the Trump regime looks to drive it down further. 

- Alex Clark points out how a continuing obsession with GDP (detached from human well-being) remains one of the most significant obstacles to averting a climate breakdown.

- Meanwhile, Cory Doctorow highlights how the Epstein class is determined to turn ruin for everybody else into an opportunity to extract even more undeserved wealth for itself. And Alexander Hertel-Fernandez and Alix Gould-Werth discuss the perverse incentives around employers blocking worker access to employment benefits. 

- Finally, Nora Loreto rightly argues that Mark Carney's rhetoric about building an international system based on mutual support will be entirely empty if Canada fails to step up and assist Cuba as the U.S. seeks to starve its population. 

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.