Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Adam Serwer offers a hopeful take on how Minnesota is proving MAGA social theory wrong, showing that the vast majority of people are caring and supportive rather than willing to accept or encourage the dehumanization of immigrants. Eric Blanc interviews Aru Shiney-Sjay about the successful citizen organization in opposition to ICE. And Brian Beutler writes that Alex Pretti offered a shining example of positive masculinity - in contrast to the violent, bigoted goon squad which murdered him. 

- But Ta-Nehisi Coates highlights how the attempt to retroactively turn Pretti and Karen Good into "others" unworthy of life represents just one more front in the Republicans' deadly culture war. And Jake Spring reports on the Trump regime's censorship of basic factual information at national parks and monuments in an attempt to whitewash American history. 

- Charlie Angus points out the need to move on from any dependence on the U.S. as it once again seeks to impose intolerable burdens in exchange for a temporary retrieve from arbitrary abuse. Stephen Maher offers a warning about Steve Bannon's plans to stoke separatism and subjugate Canada if given the change, while Stewart Prest discusses the need for a firm response. And Don Braid discusses how the desire of Alberta separatists to tie themselves to the Trump regime looks like it will help limit the risk of voters getting bamboozled.

- Finally, George Monbiot examines a UK national security report showing how ecosystem collapse represents a serious risk to security and prosperity. And Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility calls out the Trump administration for trashing the Clean Air Act. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Heba Gowayed and Victor Ray discuss the need to go beyond merely calling to abolish ICE and other human rights abuses, and instead center the humanity of the people being singled out for collective punishment. Theresa MacPhail writes about the need to maintain hope and community to counter the dark times we're facing. And Charlie Angus calls for us to stop the spread of hate now, rather than hoping for future generations to clean up our messes. 

- James Plunkett highlights how it's possible to restore power to the people, while noting the dangers of instead hoping for a technocratic state to defend itself against populist threats. And The Citizens point out the need to stop relying on monopolistic corporate platforms for our information and communication as part of the effort to regain control. 

- David French identifies the "dual state" in which Donald Trump and his cronies are able to act with impunity - while most people continue on with business as usual until state overreach affects them directly. And Sarah Kendzior discusses what Minnesota is facing as Trump invades it with agents of violence and chaos, while Don Moynihan offers his take as a resident of occupied territory. 

- Kathryn Jezer-Morton comments on the need to create friction against bad actors who are counting on silent compliance to avoid answering for a lack of strength or justification. And Robert Rubin calls out business "leaders" for meekly and knowingly falling in line behind Trump's abuses. 

- Finally, Moul Dey reports on the connection between ultraprocessed foods and exacerbated aging processes. 

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Liz Dye writes that the only insurrection occurring in the U.S. is the Trump regime's attempt to overthrow democracy. Jeremy Berg highlights the need for a united resistance to that seizure of power, as anybody attempting to stay silent is sure to end up in the administration's crosshairs. And Brian Beutler discusses what people can do to contribute to collective action. 

- Paul Krugman examines how Trump's tariffs have already led to both higher prices and a distorted economy. And Tammy Ibrahimpoor reports on new polling showing a massive supermajority of Canadians still supporting boycotts against the U.S., while Curtis Fric likewise points out overwhelming opposition to Trump's continued threats of annexation. 

- David Eliot discusses the risk that tech giants peddling AI will hijack the concept of nation-building for their own corrupt ends just like 19th-century rail barons, while David Sirota notes that anti-corruption is a winning message for anybody who dares to challenge the greedy. And Ari Rabinovitch reports on new Statistics Canada data showing record levels of income inequality. 

- Kimberly Molina reports on the vital services beyond mail delivery which are current provided by Canada Post - but which stand to be cut as the Carney Libs look to hand new profit streams to private actors. And Aaron Vansintjan discusses the prospect of publicly owned grocery stores as a means of ensuring healthy food is accessible and affordable:

- Finally, Isaac Phan Nay discusses the potential for sectoral bargaining to give a voice to vulnerable workers who are far too easily exploited on their own. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Tom Engelhardt notes that Donald Trump's approach to the world at large has turned into one of seeking to exercise arbitrary power abroad as well as at home, while Anna Merlan writes about the danger of the U.S.' descent into authoritarianism proving contagious. And Thomas Geoghegan discusses how states can use their collective resources to set up a functional country even as the Trump regime looks to foment civil war. 

- Meanwhile, Francis Wilkinson wonders whether Canada in particular can survive the Trump regime. And Charles Rusnell highlights how Danielle Smith and the UCP have copy-and-pasted Trump's anti-immigrant bigotry into Alberta. 

- Janetta McKenzie discusses how Mark Carney's insistence on pushing fossil gas (and spending billions of public dollars to move it) is absolutely contrary to any meaningful climate policy. And Isaac Callan and Colin D'Mello report on new documents showing that the dirty power preferred by Doug Ford is torpedoing Ontario's prospects of living up to its climate commitments - even as Jillian Ambrose reports on the rise of renewable energy ahead of coal power as a global energy souce, while Julian Spector reports on Australia's clear path toward 100% renewables. 

- Finally, Inayat Singh points out that this year's fall heat wave can readily be traced to an overheated Pacific Ocean. And Luca Ittimani reports on new research showing that the cost of extreme weather in Australia has tripled in the past few decades. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- William Davies writes about the systematic stupidity being imposed by the Trump regime, while Noah Berlatsky notes that it's a feature rather than a bug for a fascist government seeking to keep the populace uninformed. And Aditya Chakrabortty discusses how Javier Milei is yet another right-wing darling whose government has proven an utter disaster. 

- Toby Buckle writes about the role of reactionary centrists in clearing the way for fascism. Waleed Shahid offers a reminder that bending over backward to appear "moderate" has done nothing to help U.S. Democrats win elections (and everything to cede political territory to increasingly radical Republicans). And A.R. Moxon warns against allowing the Trump regime to define political choices as a series of trolley problems where other people's agency is limited to making deliberately cruel decisions. 

- N+1's Editors discuss the best-case scenario for commercial-scale artificial intelligence as involving the generation of junk to further enrich the wealthy few. Edward Zitron points out the laughable improbability of AI living up to its hype based on obvious and inescapable resource limitations. And MacKenzie Sigalos reports on the disproportionate effect of crypto money on the 2024 U.S. elections. 

- Bill McGuire laments that politicians are responding to a worsening climate crisis by pouring perpetually more resources into dirtier activities. Niklas Boers et al. discuss the connection between key climate components which are all destabilizing. And Damian Carrington reports on a new study showing a dramatic increase in extremely hot days in the world's major cities. 

- Finally, Ratina Omidvar and Sabina Vohra-Miller discuss the need for a tax system that ensure the wealthy contribute to the well-being of Canadians. And Dru Oja Jay discusses the stark choice of directions for Canada Post - which can either be shrunk into uselessness to allow corporate raiders to take over profitable operations, or treated as nation-building infrastructure to support communities and services. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Chris Mowles discusses how growing uncertainty requires our public institutions to develop redundancies and alternate means of providing services, rather than focusing on the false "efficiency" of austerity. Emiliano Brancaccio reports on France's "block everything" movement against austerity as an example for citizens elsewhere. And Miiki Ilomaki notes that other countries should be following Finland's lead in ensuring stockpiles of food and needed supplies to deal with foreseeable geopolitical shocks.

- Maia Mindel discusses how the dangers of inequality are manifesting themselves as the greediest, most power-hungry few systematically take over more decision-making power. And Iglika Ivanova notes that British Columbia is yet another example of a jurisdiction where revenue giveaways to the wealthy few are being treated as an excuse to cut services for everybody else. 

- Nicholas Grossman points out that Ezra Klein offers a lamentable example of how the corporate media has greased the skids for Donald Trump's fascist regime by simultaneously normalizing its cruelty and tone-policing anybody who dares to engage in principled criticism. Adam Bonica writes that abandoning minority groups to the predations of the Trump regime is no way to build a resistance movement or opposition party, while Katelyn Burns discusses the parallels in the treatment of anti-trans and anti-science disinformation. And Brian Beutler laments the prominent Democrats who are refusing to engage with a system increasingly stacked against them. 

- Finally, Gilbert Gaul notes that the climate breakdown is making home insurance increasingly unaffordable (or just plain unavailable). And Paul Krugman discusses how the Trump regime is planning to send health care insurance costs into the stratosphere in order to partially pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest few. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Naomi Klein discusses how Canada is failing the basic test of resistance to a fascist regime. 

 

- Meanwhile, Linda McQuaig recognizes that Canadians have every reason to be disappointed in Mark Carney's choice to veer to the right and into the U.S.' corporate orbit, rather than governing based on the "elbows up" message at the core of his campaign. And Dale Smith writes that it's long past time to stop pretending that there's any point in negotiating with Donald Trump.

- Mike Allen reports on the corporate loyalty ratings which have been developed to ensure that political favouritism is the defining principle in the Trump White House's decision-making. And Maximillian Alvarez warns that Trump and his corporate backers are turning the entire U.S. into a giant environmental sacrifice zone.

- Tammy Robert discusses how the Sask Party's standard operating procedure in dealing with agricultural approvals (among other choices) is similarly to hand favours out to cronies with no regard for the public interest.

- Finally, Steven Lewis notes that the choice to build the medical system around private physician practices has long limited the effectiveness of social-level health planning - and is at the heart of a failing primary care system today. And Kevin Jiang discusses how people facing long COVID rightly feel like they've been forgotten by the health care system (and by governments generally).

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Robert Reich discusses the challenge of trying to live ethically and morally under circumstances where bullying and cruelty are being systematically normalized. And V discusses some of the options available to resist the tide and strengthen a sense of purpose. 

- Shawn Donnan writes that Donald Trump's erratic tariffs are causing real damage to the global economy while being shrugged off by markets. And Alan Beattie is rightly perplexed at the EU's willingness to sign off on a worthless deal at the expense of validating Trump's tariff policy. 

- Paris Marx comments on Mark Carney's choice to give the U.S. tech giants who have bent the knee to Trump everything they want in deciding not to regulate artificial intelligence. And Joe Mullin discusses how Carney's surveillance legislation is everything the Trump regime could have asked for in allowing people's online activity to be monitored and used against them. 

- Stephen Magusiak reports on the direct connections between the Trump regime and the Alberta separatist being promoted by Danielle Smith and the UCP.

- Finaly, Carbon Brief looks in detail at the significance of the International Court of Justice's decision holding that governments can be held responsible for climate damage, while Michael Byers highlights how the ICJ's conclusion is incompatible with Canada's insistence on subsidizing the extraction of dirty fossil fuels (including Alberta's choice to stick the public with cost of reclamation to make sure oil operators don't pay for the messes they've made). Zoe Daniel writes about the "intergenerational bastardry" involved in pushing for continued carbon pollution at the expense of the future of humanity. And Tim Sahay and Kate McKenzie note that China is well on its way to fostering a transition to clean energy - meaning that the countries who drag their heels figure to be left behind in short order. 

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. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Jessica Wildfire discusses the importance of not letting the Trump regime and its corporate backers take away people's righteous anger, while Ava Kofman highlights how Trump's administration is deliberately using over-the-top evil as a means of domination. And Jonathan Last comments on the proliferation of secret police violently carrying out illegal orders, while Gregory Magarian examines some of the less direct (but still dangerous) tactics being used to stifle free speech. 

- Anna Merlan points out the absurdity of the claim that Elon Musk is anything but fully entangled in the Trump regime even as far too much of the American media buys into a laughable PR tour. And Scott Waldman reports that Musk has torqued his AI chatbot to spout climate denialist talking point in addition to doing massive amounts of environmental damage itself.

- Madeleine Cuff discusses the looming prospect that we may see warming of 2 degrees Celsius before the end of the decade. David Chandler et al. examine the likelihood that the Antarctic ice sheet could unleash a gigantic sea level rise. Tess McClure reports on the recognition that insect populations are dwindling in large areas as part of a climate-related ecological collapse. And EHN reports on a study connecting rising temperatures to increased cancer and death rates among women in the Middle East and North Africa. 

- Ratwat Deonandan discusses the foolishness of RFK Jr.'s cancellation of funding for Moderna's flu vaccine in particular. And Katie Herchenroeder reports on the Trump regime's cuts to research which was on the verge of breakthroughs in developing an HIV vaccine. 

- Finally, Katherine Scott examines how racialized workers are continuing to face disproportionate barriers as employment structures have change in the midst of an ongoing pandemic. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Paul Krugman examines the regressiveness and cruelty of the Republicans' planned budget which imposes massive costs on those who already have the least in order to fund tax cuts for the uber-wealthy. Sam W writes about the "let them skip meals" demand being made of people suffering already in poverty. And Jessica Donati et al. report on the amount of food aid currently rotting away due to the Trump regime's callousness, instead of going to people in developing countries who relied on it to survive. 

- In case there was any doubt whether the American public is on side with being under constant attack in a one-sided class war, Aaron Sojourner and Adam Reich note that public opinion is simultaneously supportive of unions and enraged at big business. But Josh Marshall rightly criticizes the establishment Democrats who are refusing to fight. 

- David Suzuki discusses how the concentration of wealth can be traced to the destruction of our living environment.  Amanda McKenzie notes that emission targets mean nothing if they're not paired with action to meet them (and through actual emission cuts rather than accounting tricks). Marc Lee writes that B.C.'s choice to lock in decades of fossil gas exports is nothing to celebrate, while Fenner Stewart examines how Canada's dirty energy industry has foisted the cost of its operations off on the public. And Mitchell Beer points out Mark Carney's stark choice between taking a golden opportunity to work toward a just transition, and allowing oil and gas magnates to saddle us with a dying and unsustainable economic policy. 

- We Don't Have Time points out how global temperatures continue to soar due to carbon pollution, while Chris Hatch notes that we're likely to see another summer of extreme wildfires. And Brendan Montague comments on the need for climate policy to reflect the worsening risks and realities. 

- Finally, Laurent Carbonneau discusses how Canada is handing out more and more corporate subsidies compared to its investment in people - while seeing no apparent benefit. 

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Robert Reich discusses how Donald Trump's absolute lack of inhibition is responsible for the disastrous effects of his regime - and how a public revolt which threatens Republicans necessary to his sense of impunity is the most plausible means to set the boundaries which are otherwise lacking. 

- Bob Lord highlights how the U.S.' tax system in general and treatment of capital gains in particular are both highly regressive. But Bobby Kogan and Greg Sargent each point out that the Republicans' current plan is to make matters far worse. 

- Dell Cameron reports on the Trump regime's plans to allow data brokers to profit off of sensitive personal information with no regard for the public, while Joseph Cox reports on the dangerous amounts of data being collected (and sold to the U.S. government) from license plate readers. And Luke Goldstein and Katya Schwenk report on a Republican push to shield a landlord oligopoly from answering for price-fixing.  

- Meanwhile, Simon Enoch rightly asks whether we trust unreliable and easily-distorted artifical intelligence to control access to vital social programs.

- Linda McQuaig offers a reminder that public investment has been the only proven means of building a strong Canadian economy which benefits everybody. Marc Lee discusses the importance of federal support for housing construction in particular. And Tom Goldsmith points out that Canadian businesses have never turned immense profits into meaningful investments in research or innovation, while Mario Toneguzzi reports on Loblaws' plan to extract even more profits out of consumers based on claims of tariff uncertainty. 

- Finally, Jen Gerson writes that Danielle Smith's pandering to separatists is the antithesis of leadership, reflecting an abandonment of the public good out of what can at best be characterized as cowardice. And Lisa Young points out how the UCP's belated amendments to the referendum legislation it's rammed through the Legislature confirm their utter failure to recognize the effect of treaty rights and constitutional responsibilities on the exercise of trumped-up grievance politics. 

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. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Daniel Drezner examines how the Trump regime's (nearly) worldwide tariff announcement confirm the complete ignorance and incompetence of everybody involved. Paul Krugman notes that the policy process underlying the tariffs is if anything even less rationally explicable than the tariffs themselves. And Jonathan Chait writes that the best one can say about the deliberate crashing of the U.S. economy is that it will limit Trump's ability to consolidate power, while Ian Dunt theorizes that Trump's paranoia and rage will ultimately be his undoing.  

- Robert Reich suggests that Canada and other countries can strengthen their position in the face of the U.S.' destruction by joining together to develop new trade blocs. Angella MacEwan rightly notes that nobody can treat Trump's latest whims as the last word on anything - making it all the more important to build more reliable economic structures without relying on the U.S. And Seth Klein discusses the importance of recognizing and bolstering public institutions which aren't subject to foreign takeovers or domination. 

- Rebecca Solnit discusses how the Trump regime represents a true test for Americans as to whether they're prepared to work for a democracy or drift toward authoritarianism. And Robert Reich offers some rules in dealing with Trump's demands, while noting how some of the organizations best positioned to resist have chosen to cave or even comply in advance. 

- Andy Rowell and Nina Lakhani examine how Trump is planning to enrich fossil fuel donors while encouraging them to cook our planet even more. Damian Carrington reports on the growing recognition among insurers that our economic system can't survive the damage we're inflicting on our living environment. 

- Finally, Mehdi Hasan writes that it's both wrong and destructive to treat people (regardless of their immigration status) as being illegal. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

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

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

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

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

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your new year.

- Michael Mann and Peter Hotez write about the combined threat posed by climate change, pandemics and an anti-science message which makes it far more difficult to deal with real problems. Katharine Hayhoe offers a year-end summary of the state of the climate - featuring the juxtaposition of a climate breaking down faster than previously assumed with growing recognition that we have (but are failing to implement) means to stop the harm. And Holly Elser et al. study how the effects of wildfire smoke include increased risks of dementia and other brain damage. 

- Andrew Egger highlights how Republicans have become trained to reward chaos agents while seeing actual governance as a problem. Stephen Hanson and Jeffrey Kopstein discuss how the plan for Donald Trump's second term is to replace any trace of public service with patrimonialism based solely on Trump's connections and interests. 

- Jared Yates Sexton offers his take on how Americans need to prepare for Trump's ascension to power. And Ian Dunt notes that the most important individual action will be to act with decency even in the face of a government bent on cruelty. 

- Finally, Paul Krugman discusses how social media fits into the culture of generating profits from addictions. And Thor Benson interviews Ryan Cooper about the options available to build a new information ecosystem beyond the poisoned social media giants.