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. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Samantha Hancox-Li writes about the need to build a new woke political movement that actively fights against the forces of reaction rather than assuming that merely exposing them will be enough to drive change. 

- Wajahat Ali and Ellie Leonard discuss how the Trump regime's plans to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell reflect its determination to let the Epstein class exploit its victims with impunity and without consequences. And Victoria Elliott reports on new whistleblower revelations indicating that Elon Musk's attack on USAID did even more humanitarian damage than previously known. 

- Melissa Bruntlett and Chris Bruntlett discuss the connection between the election of female mayors and the reclamation of public space for people's health and well-being. And Carl Meyer writes about the price we pay in worse health for our fossil fuel addiction. 

- Darius Snieckus reports on a new Ember analysis showing that Canada is falling behind by subsidizing dirty fossil fuels as most of the world transitions to clean energy, while Mitchell Beer discusses the seemingly laughable prospect that we might end up paying to build yet another oil pipeline based on the hope of locking in decades of exports to countries who have no interest in remaining reliant on fossil fuels that long. Jake Johnson calls out the Trump regime's use of war powers to line the pockets of oil tycoons. And Dharna Noor reports on the Republican corporate puppets trying to prohibit anybody from holding big oil and gas to account for the harm it's inflicted on the public. 

- Finally, George Monbiot writes about the imminent breakdown of the AMOC circulation system - and the money and power that have been brought to bear to suppress any discussion around it. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Andreas Rinke reports on the European countries working toward a windfall tax on yet another wave of predatory oil profits. And Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope report on the Just Transition conference which is providing a forum for cooperation on climate progress as a reaction to COP being completely co-opted by oil interests. 

- Julien Jreissati discusses the superior energy security offered by renewable power sources, while Jake Conley points out how smart actors are reducing their reliance on oil and gas accordingly. Matt Simon discusses how electric vehicles can be part of the solution to issues of grid reliability by providing a key source of backup battery power. And Bill McKibben writes about the emerging psychology of energy where dirty fuels can only be seen as being associated with scarcity and unpredictability compared to clean alternatives. 

- Janice Dickson reports on Ismahae Elouafi's admonition that Canada needs to invest in food security, not just military equipment. Andre Picard writes that it's only becoming more difficult to provide food for those who need it most. And Alissa Overend calls out the grocery giants for trying to substitute security theatre for action to make food available and affordable. 

- Finally, Frank Landymore notes that Meta's plans for glasses which automatically record an individual's food consumption (among other privacy violations by design) figure to cause far more problems than they solve. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Seva Gunitsky writes about the connection between cultivated toxic masculinity and the rise of Donald Trump and other authoritarian politicians. And Greg Sargent discusses how Trump's regime is cracking up as even the most debased toadies he can find are unable to meet the mad king's requirements for sycophancy. 

- Justin Mikulka discusses how fossil gas (and other dirty fuels) are absolutely doomed from an economic standpoint compared to cheaper, cleaner alternatives. And Scott Forbes weighs in on the folly of Canada in particular continually obsessing over (and publicly subsidizing) fossil fuel expansion. 

- Paula Simons is rightly worried by the particularly damaging combination of fossil fuel power being used to run AI disinformation factories. But Ed Zitron points out that we're far from there being any plausible argument that AI is too big to fail. And Joe Wilkins reports that nearly half of the data centres announced within the U.S. in 2026 have already been cancelled or delayed - offering reason for hope that economic realities and community organization can halt their spread. 

- Finally, Maia Silber discusses how the U.S.' welfare state is impossible to navigate legally and honestly - making it all too easy for governments to withhold benefits and point fingers at recipients. But Lex McMenamin reports on the movement to properly tax billionaires' wealth, as a growing number of Americans come to realize their economic system is designed for the benefit of those who already have too much

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Mike Gaworecki reports on new research showing how the climate breakdown is affecting everyday life. Aliyah Marko-Omene reports on warnings that Saskatchewan may be in store for another brutal season of wildfires. And P.W.J. Glover et al. study the risks of melting permafrost, finding that a melt cycle can result in significantly more releases of methane and other gases than is generally accounted for. 

- Amelia Pollard and Eric Platt discuss the threat of mass consumer debt defaults - as well as the vulture capitalists who already have a plan to exploit people's misery. And Michael Spence writes about the large number of choke points in the global economy - which in turn are under increasing threat due to both the climate breakdown and wanton violence. 

- Nehal Johri discusses how the Iran war in particular makes an especially compelling case to switch to renewable energy. But Jake Johnson notes that the oil tycoons behind the Trump regime (among other political formations) are making a killing from the price shock afflicting consumers. 

- Finally, Lindsay Tedds and Gillian Petit unveil a new tool to examine the value of public investment and counter the right's constant calls for austerity. But Facts Matter points out how right-wing governments manipulate public awareness to get away with a consistent pattern of worse services at higher costs. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Matt Seybold writes about the message sent at Davos that AI will be forced on people regardless of whether they want it (or whether it will do them anything but harm). And Michael Geist writes about the absurdity of the Carney government allowing the hallucinations of artificial intelligence to override the actual results of public consultation into AI itself. 

- Melissa Troutman and Rebecca Sobel highlight New Mexico's record levels of oil and gas spillage, as the dirty energy industry sees itself as ever more entitled to pollute everything around it. And Olivia Rosane discusses how Louisiana pipeline explosion offers another vivid example of the dangers of fossil fuels which are dumped on unsuspecting and/or marginalized populations. 

- Andrew Longhurst and Rebecca Graff-McRae examine how the UCP's two-tier health care is threatening the public medical system. And Sneh Duggal reports that Ontario's response to increasing levels of hallway health care has been to stop reporting on how often people are forced into it. 

- Finally, Jen St. Denis offers new details as to the far right's operations in Canada - including their sway over right-wing parties. And both Markham Hislop and Don Newman call out Danielle Smith for conjuring up and stoking a separatist threat rather than serving the interests of Alberta and its people. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Jonathan Last discusses how the U.S. economy is coming apart under a regime which is attacking progress and security in any form. Matt Johnson highlights how the general public is turning against Trumpism even in the areas where it once found some support, while Toby Buckle laments that the people who offered early warnings about his dangers were ignored. But Miles Taylor warns that the Trump regime's next step is to designate all opposition as "terrorism" which can be summarily suppressed, while David Dayen rightly questions why Congress is continuing to allow Trump to run roughshod over laws and appropriations alike. 

- Justine Calma writes that public backlash is succeeding in blocking expensive and dangerous data centres. And Joe Wilkins reports on the revelation that the contents of "private" ChatGPT conversations are being harvested for profit. 

- Science Magazine names the growth of renewable energy as the breakthrough of the year for 2025. But in case anybody thought that meant governments would stop going out of their way to push dirty fossil fuels, Rafi Schwartz reports on Donald Trump's intention to undermine climate science by trashing the National Centre for Atmospheric Research, while Catherine Garrett reports on yet another oil company leaving the Alberta public holding the bag after failing to pay its taxes. And Natasha Bulowski reports on Steven Guilbeault's painfully modest request that the federal government enforce the law when it comes to climate obligations, while Adrienne Tanner reports on Avi Lewis' far more ambitious plan to make Canada a clean energy leader rather than a fossil. 

- Finally, Ximena Gonzalez writes about the need for Alberta's housing policy to focus on building non-market homes rather than providing handouts to corporate developers, while Alex Hemingway points out the need for B.C. to invest far more in its own social housing. And Ludovic Viger discusses the value of co-ops as another housing model. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Lane Brown examines how key elements of cognitive ability may be degrading - including due to constant exposure to personalities selected for their vociferous ignorance. Bruce Bartlett writes about his experience at the Heritage Foundation as it learned to exploit the news cycle to plant conservative propaganda in opposition to actual research. Nicholas Hune-Brown investigates how AI is being used to generate scam articles for major publications. And Carl Meyer reports on the Carney Libs' plans to facilitate misinformation from fossil fuel purveyors. 

- Shannon Gibson discusses how past "climate finance" commitments have ranged from the frivolous to the thoroughly counterproductive - making it all the more worrisome that the apparent reality is that the COP30 climate summit is operating with wording that allows petrostates to provide equally toothless commitments in exchange for a lack of any agreement to transition away from fossil fuels. 

- Kathryn Harrison and Simon Donner highlight how Mark Carney's plans for increased reliance on dirty energy are as senseless economically as they are environmentally. And Gerald Butts, Peter Nicholson and Rick Smith warn against locking ourselves into a dying fossil fuel economy, while Sam Butler-Sloss and Kingsmill Bond discuss how solar power in particular is set to dominate global energy production over fossil gas. 

- Cara Buckley reports on the massive success of Iowa City's decision to make public transit free. And Jake Thomas reports on the drastic decline in homelessness (and ultimate cost savings) from an Oregon pilot program to give unhoused youths a small secure income. 

- Finally, Julian Richer discusses how we'd all be better off if people with privilege acknowledged our own good fortune, rather than presuming any advantages to be the result of merit (and demanding all the more special treatment as a result). 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Fiona Harvey and Jonathan Watts report on Antonio Guterres' warning at the start of the COP30 climate conference that we can't afford more delays and distractions. Zali Steggall writes about the need for our conversations to include serious talk about how to survive the breakdown we can no longer avoid (while also doing everything in our power not to make matters worse). Harvey also reports on André Corrêa do Lago's rightful objection to the by inaction of the countries most able to afford to contribute. And Kathy Mulvey discusses what a climate summit would look like absent the constant obstruction from dirty energy interests that have regularly blocked any progress.  

- Ember Futures examines the consistent trend of clean energy becoming more affordable and more secure than reliance on fossil fuels. Julian Beaulieu, Wren Montgomery and Jennifer Quaid argue against Mark Carney's choice to enable greenwashing by the oil sector. And The Juice Media offers up an honest ad about the latest LNG monstrosity intended to lock us into several more decades of fossil fuel dependence:

 

- Ang Li writes about the effect of the climate breakdown on our homes and health - including the need for housing to take into account extreme weather and increased threats of disasters. Leora Smith discusses how Doug Ford's housing policy is predictably aimed at handing even more wealth and power to landlords at the expense of people's access to a basic human right. And John Lorinc points out that the federal Libs have chosen to ignore the rental construction incentives which actually spurred the development of new units in the 1970s. 

-  Finally, Jesse Drucker discusses how the Trump regime (without following any valid process to change tax laws) is handing out immense of amounts of free money to the uber-rich. And Mark Niquette and Lauren Dezenski highlight how the Trump economy consists of utterly undermining working people, while hoping for multiple precarious assumptions to goose the value of stocks and capital interests. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Catarina Saraiva and Jaewon Kang warn that the U.S. economy is a Jenga tower in which pieces needed to support the middle class are being systematically removed. Bloomberg's editorial board examines the national scope of the U.S.' gambling problem - with sports betting as just part of the drain on workers. And Public Citizen traces the connections between Donald Trump's ballroom bribe solicitation and hundreds of billions of dollars in federal contract awards. 

- Meanwhile, Rebecca Schneid discusses how Zohran Mamdani has offered a vitally important reminder that oligarchs can't buy elections in the face of public organization. Emma Goldberg and Benjamin Oreskes highlight how Mamdani recognized and responded to the young voters who have been facing a loneliness crisis. Ian Welsh views Mamdani's focus on affordability - coupled with positive solutions  based on collective power rather than mere finger-pointing - as the model Democrats need to seize upon. And Moustafa Bayoumi writes that Mamdani was rewarded for defending his values, while Moira Donegan implores the rest of the Democratic Party to learn from his success. 

- Climate Action Tracker's latest evaluation of Canada's climate policy finds that we're headed in the wrong direction under the Carney Libs even as the cost of inaction becomes ever more stark. Markham Hislop discusses the dangers of letting the oil industry's false assumptions and empty promises take precedence over planning for an affordable and sustainable future. And Bob Weber examines how the UCP has set out to stick the public with perpetually more cleanup costs in order to ensure oil companies  operating in Alberta can escape responsibility for the messes they're making. 

- Finally, Katie Kavanagh offers a reminder that COVID-19 is still around even as basic measures to track and control it have long since been abandoned. And Michael Le Page reports on a new study showing that exposure to COVID raises the risk of heart issues in children - in contrast to the protective effects of vaccination. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- The UN Environmental Programme's Emissions Gap Report examines the painfully slow progress toward reining in global warming even as the technology to eliminate emissions has become cheaper than dirty energy. And Nick Hedley notes that over a dozen countries are on a path toward 100% renewable electricity even as our petropoliticians insist such a thing isn't possible. 

- Caroline Preston discusses the gains made by U.S. teachers' unions to show how it's possible to use collective bargaining as a means to secure climate action. Adam King calls out Danielle Smith for summarily obliterating the Charter rights of Alberta teachers to bargain for the best interests of their students. And Sanya Burgess' investigation into massive numbers of injuries at UK Amazon warehouses offers a reminder as to how workers suffer when employers are able to impose their disregard for health and safety without collective pushback.  

- Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood and Davis Legree each note that Mark Carney has chosen to go in exactly the wrong direction in his first federal budget, underming already-insufficient climate plans while catering to oil tycoons. Marc Fawcett-Atkinson notes that Carney's decision to facilitate oil companies' climate denial and false greenwashing is as unpopular as it is indefensible. And David Macdonald and Mertins-Kirkwood rightly question more generally why any opposition party would support the Libs' corporatist budget. 

- Anita Balakrishnan reports on the push from university leaders for support to find places for the scientists who are being driven out of the U.S. by the Trump regime. 

- Finally, Jason Linkins calls out the U.S. media for sanitizing Donald Trump's shredding of the rule of law as well as individual rights - making for a particularly galling contrast compared to Hamilton Nolan's observation that the corporate media has treated Zohran Mamdani's simple suggestion of helping people as grounds to declare him unfit for office. But the repudiation of that party line by voters offers reason for hope that the oligarchy isn't going to go unopposed. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Jonn Elledge discusses how the right in the UK (like in the U.S. and Canada) is building its public messaging around explicit racism and bigotry. Progressive Magazine laments that U.S. Democrats are trying to appease Trump sycophants and attacking anybody who speaks up for human rights, rather than serving as an opposing force against the movement toward authoritarianism. And Brian Beutler points out what the Democrats could advocate for as part of a "No Kings" agenda, while John Nichols discusses how cities can Trump-proof themselves as much as possible. 

- Eva Roytburg reports on Diane Swonk's warning that the uber-rich are the only people benefiting in a U.S. economy that's otherwise on the precipice of disaster. 

- Andrew Macintosh et al. discuss (PDF) the fundamental flaws with carbon credits as a central climate policy. Jessica Green highlights the particular futility of trying to build "net zero" policies around the interests of oil barons who are structurally committed to continued carbon pollution, while Daisy Dunne examines how only a minority of countries' climate plans involve any transition away from dirty energy. Naveena Sadasivam reports on the Trump regime's intimidation tactics to prevent even a slight step forward in accounting for shipping emissions. And Tik Root examines how drought may overtake all other effects of the climate breakdown in its effect on local resources. 

- Meanwhile, Dana Drugmand reports on a new French court decision finding a major oil company to have misled the public about its climate policies as a matter of consumer protection. And Kristian Nielsen et al. study the factors which serve to influence consumer choices, with both accessibility and influence on well-being serving as important determinants based on the actions involved. 

- Finally, Jonathan Cohn writes about the CDC alumni who are working to stand up for public health even as the Trump regime undermines it at every available opportunity. And Charles Rusnell discusses how Alberta's health care system is overwhelmed, with the UCP's anti-vax policy choices serving as one of the three main factors in the developing crisis. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Shiri Pasternak examines the history of enemies lists as a mechanism to oppress minority groups and stifle dissent. And Adam Serwer distinguishes between cowardice which is at least based on genuine fear, and the chickenshit elites who are eager to sell out to fascists to avoid the slightest inconvenience. 

- Rachel Abrams talks to Eric Lipton about the corruption involved in the Trump regime's sellout of U.S. tech policy. And Kate Niederhoffer et al. discuss how AI "workslop" is trashing productivity, while Victor Tangerman writes about new research showing that the excess power consumption from AI is even worse than anticipated as longer and more complex requests give rise to increased incremental energy usage.

- Julia Conley discusses a new report showing how a small group of fossil fuel producers (including Canada) are planning dirty energy expansion which on its own will place existing climate commitments out of reach. And John Woodside reports on Catherine McKenna's warning that we can't trust the oil industry to live up to its climate promises. 

- Finally, Arthur Bledson points out how remote communities are increasingly turning to renewable energy as both a more affordable and more secure option than clinging to a fossil fuel addiction. And Patrick Commins reports on a new study showing that Australia's power costs would be soaring if it had limited itself to dirty energy. 

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- David Lurie writes about the Trump regime's Potemkin populism - as well as the increasing speed with which his fabrications are coming undone. Sarah Kendzior discusses the importance of finding meaning and purpose in ways that can't be undermined by a mafia state. And Sam Bagenstos highlights the importance of a plan for what comes after the civil service has been destroyed.

- Meanwhile, George Monbiot points out the continued failure of centrist parties and politicians to offer any hope when that's exactly what stands to motivate citizens who don't see anybody working toward anything better. And Andrea Houston talks to Linda McQuaig about Mark Carney's betrayal of voters who expected a defence of progressive Canadian values rather than a collaborationist Conservative government in Lib clothing. 

- Oliver Milman and Dharna Noor report on the work done by dozens of top climate scientists to refute the denialist propaganda of the Trump regime. And Alexandra Keeler warns that while our research system may not have been wholly hijacked for political purposes, it's still under threat from fake science. 

- Kevin Anderson, Chris Jones and Gaurav Gharde discuss the deep failures of climate policy in the UK which are only being exacerbated by a spate of dirty energy-based policies. Jonathan Watts highlights Tzeporah Berman's work on a fossil fuel phaseout treaty to stop every dirty energy producer from insisting it will be the last to stop. Russel Norman writes about the rise of insurance costs in New Zealand due to the ongoing climate breakdown. And Nina Lakhani reports on the rise of indoor heat deaths in Arizona as a result of extreme heat, while Marc Fawcett-Atkinson notes that tree-planting efforts which are pitched as emission mitigation measures haven't been able to keep up with the effects of wildfires.

- Josh Robertson, Michael Slezak, Jack Fisher and Mark Doman report on the decades-long cover-up of a massive methane leak from a major Australian gas project. And Martha Pskowski and Mark Olalde report on Texas' reflexive approval of greenhouse gas releases. 

- Finally, Richard Larouche discusses how the safety and freedom of children has been sacrificed in the name of prioritizing cars over bike lanes. Trevor Goodyear points out the UCP's attacks on the safety of LGBTQ+ children and other marginalized youth based on the theory that kids are nothing more than parents' property. And Dave Cournoyer writes that Alberta's teachers are standing up for children's well-being and education as the Smith government looks to undermine their classroom conditions and access to books.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Daniel Ziblatt writes about the dismal history of past efforts to collaborate and negotiate with authoritarians. And Stuart Benson discusses how Mark Carney's lack of respect for workers at home has combined with his appeasance of Donald Trump to undermine public confidence. 

- Paris Marx warns against giving in to Trump's demands to allow tech giants to run roughshod over people's privacy and civil rights. And David Reevely examines how the AI being presented by the Carney Libs as a substitute for actual economc strategy is unfit for purpose, while Chris Lang discusses how former Microsoft employees are calling out the use of AI to exacerbate climate damage. 

- Calvin Trottier points out how stronger climate policy would allow Canada to better engage with countries around the world aside from Trump's band of environmental vandals. But Carl Meyer reports on the lobbying being carried out by oil insiders to undermine what little climate plan we still have on the books. 

- Meanwhile, Max Fawcett discusses how any increased oil sands production is being designed to avoid any benefit to workers. And Kyle Bakx reports on the skyrocketing orphan well liabilities being dumped on the Alberta public by oil barons who have extracted their profits and fled the scene. 

- Dean Blundell responds to the news of the U.S.' covert influence in Greenland by noting that its efforts to poison Canadian politics to have been far less subtle. 

- Finally, Daniel Currell discusses how worsening inequality and concentration of wealth have made the financial well-being of working-class Americans irrelevant to many major industries. Isaac Phan Nay reports on Statistics Canada's latest data showing Canada's wealth gap getting worse. Hana Kiros reports on the destruction of value and rank profiteering flowing from the Trump regime's gutting of USAID. And Gareth Hughes questions whether our current economic edifice can remain standing while insurance becomes unaffordable or unavailable due to the climate crisis. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Don Moynihan concludes that the U.S. has lost any pretense to being a functioning democracy. And Zachary Beau discusses how Donald Trump is being allowed to undermine any institutions which would provide a check on an out-of-control executive. 

- David Dayen writes about the need to judge Trump based on his actual policies and their consequences rather than some convoluted effort to validate them, while Paul Krugman warns that the apparent willingness of markets to tolerate Trump's arbitrary actions in the short term doesn't mean the eventual consequences won't be dire. Jason Koebler examines the U.S. impact of Trump's attack on small international trade, while Campbell McDiarmid reports on the Canadian retailers looking to route their business elsewhere. And Jon Henley reports on the numerous postal services which have simply decided to stop making parcel shipments to the U.S. 

- Meghan Bartels discusses the limited availability of COVID-19 vaccines this fall even as a new wave is set to surge. And Charlie McGill points out that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s priority seems to be to turn all citizens into data collection devices for corporate use, rather than paying any attention to the policies which would keep people healthy. 

- Nitasha Tiku, Will Oremus, Elizabeth Dwoskin report on the nine-figure propaganda campaign being assembled to avoid any meaningful regulation of AI in the U.S. And Joey Grostern discusses how AI is contributing to the generation of climate denialist slop.  

- World Weather Attribution examines how the climate breakdown is exacerbating wildfires in Turkiye, Cyprus and Greece even in the face of mitigation measures, while Nicole Mortillaro reports on new research showing that wildfires are resulting in worsening air pollution in Canada. And Dale Smith notes that increased droughts represent another key reason to pursue immediate climate action, while Rosa Galvez points out that any government with an iota of respect for the rule of law may soon have little choice. 

- But needless to say, the Trump regime is no such government - and Lisa Friedman reports on its attempts to bully the rest of the world into extending the use of dirty fossil fuels. And while Linda McQuaig points out that reliance on market forces has been a major problem in our climate policy to date, Tom Parkin highlights the absurdity of talking about additional oil export pipelines when the previous emission-increasing boondoggle is still far from full capacity. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Charlie Angus discusses how MAGA is recognizing the effects of Canada's resistance - so long as our leaders don't sell us out. 

- But Martin Lukacs and Nikolas Barry-Shaw warn that there's little reason for confidence Mark Carney plans to treat the U.S.' threats as anything but an excuse to impose a corporate agenda. And David Macdonald predicts the scale of public-sector job cuts we can anticipate based on Carney's plans to waste any available fiscal capacity on military spending and tax cuts.

- Scott Forbes discusses how Canada has become a petrocracy, where the plans of oil barons to extract resources and leave the public with the bill are consistently put first over social well-being. And Chris Severson-Baker highlights how the UCP's obsession with dirty energy pipelines which will never be economically viable is resulting in Alberta missing out on far better opportunities. 

- Finally, Adam Barnett reports on a new study showing how Alex Jones and other denialists are drowning out needed information about climate catastrophes as they occur. And Brian Beutler highlights the dangers of allowing fascists to exploit liberal principles to demand the respect they deny to their perceived out-groups while disseminating their propaganda.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Qasim Rashid offers a reminder that the U.S.' deficit and debt are the result of a political system controlled by and for the oligarch class. Paul Krugman writes that Donald Trump's use of punitive tariffs to try to interfere in the Brazilian criminal justice system for the benefit of his crony Jair Bolsonaro represents a new level of abuse of power. Brian Beutler rightly argues that an essential element of any Democratic plans for a post-Trump government will need to include a plan to hold people accountable for their criminal activity. And Toby Buckle warns that moderation and conflict aversion in the face of fascism serves only to exacerbate the danger. 

- Antonia Juhasz reports on Trump's giveaways to dirty energy - which are even larger than generally assumed. Seth Klein questions why governments can always find immense amounts of money for military spending, but won't invest anything close to what's needed to deal with the imminent security threat of climate change. And Sophie Hurwitz writes about the widespread support for carbon prices in affluent countries even as their governments shy away from defending anything of the sort. 

- Bill McKibben writes about the ongoing transformation of energy systems as solar power proves itself to be far more affordable and more stable than fossil-fuel based energy. And Zachary Shahan writes that past projections for oil production and use are grossly outdated as a result, while Max Fawcett points out that Alberta's insistence on trying to vastly increase production lacks any grounding in reality. 

- Carlo Dade writes about the folly of rushing into a trade agreement with a Trump regime which couldn't care less about holding up its end of any bargain, while Sophia Harris reports that Canadian consumers are still eager to boycott U.S. products (but are facing increased difficulty as the corporate class tries to normalize Trump's abuses). 

- Finally, Christo Aivalis calls out Mark Carney's plans to bring DOGE to Canada by another name. And Nora Loreto writes that Carney is following the Chretien-era Libs' legacy of austerity for its own sake even after we've seen the consequences of defunding necessary services.