Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Robert Hunzicker discusses the galling juxtaposition between unprecedented heat and a set of U.S. policy choices which could hardly have been designed to exacerbate matters more. 

- Brett Wilkins points out how major corporations have been able to leverage lobbying costs into avoiding any taxes which would result in their supporting the public interest. And Jake Johnson notes that the two businesses which have inflated Elon Musk's wealth into trillion-dollar territory are among those which loudly proclaim they're avoiding any tax contributions. 

- Robert Reich points out that Elon Musk's wealth accumulation model bears absolutely no resemblance to the theoretical ideal of being rewarded for delivering products to consumers - as it instead relies almost entirely on a combination of hype and public subsidies. And Claudie Moreau reports on the U.S.' blocking of two Anthropic AI models as showing the dangers of relying on the whims of a regime determined to enrich cronies and punish anybody who doesn't fall in line.  

- But in case anybody thought Canada was maintaining an "elbows up" stance toward the threat to our south, Todd Coyne reports on yet another example of Mark Carney tying us even more tightly to the Trump regime, this time by joining in a U.S. Pacific military exercise for the first time since Stephen Harper was in power. 

- Finally, Dougald Lamont discusses how the cottage industry around attacking internal "trade barriers" in the name of general deregulation is based entirely on laughably false assumptions. 

Musical interlude

Frédéric Soulard & Piers Faccini - Disarray  

 

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. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Henry Miller calls out the Trump regime's sabotage against American science and research. Matthew Yglesias writes that the return of screwworm to the U.S. is just another predictable consequence of the wanton destruction of state capacity. And Jason Sattler rightly argues that Elon Musk's reward for mass murder shouldn't be adding yet another zero to the most obscene fortune ever hoarded. 

- Meanwhile, DPA reports onMusk's role in promoting and fueling anti-immigrant pogroms in Belfast and elsewhere.Bryce Covert writes that the immigrant and minority populations who have been terrorized by the Trump regime's police state are now facing the economic fallout from being forced into hiding. And Rachel Gilmore calls out the Canadian wing of the elite-funded white supremacist formation that's trying to impose racism around the globe.  

- Jonathan Watts reports on unprecedented heat in Antarctica as another indicator of a climate spinning wildly out of control.

- Finally, Amber Rolt points out that electric vehicle owners are already seeing massive cost savings from having shifted away from combustion engines, while Kana Iganaki reports on BYD's planned buildout of ultrarapid charging infrastructure in Europe. Fiona Harvey reports on the UK government's plan to rein in power prices by reducing reliance on fossil gas both as a fuel and as a pricing indicator. And Emily Forgash reports that even in the U.S., solar power has passed coal for the first time as an energy source. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Couched cat.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Matthew Dowd discusses how opposition to data centre construction is a rare issue where U.S. voters are almost entirely in agreement rather than having been polarized based on partisan or demographic alignments. Neha Gour, Ed Maibach and Luis Ortiz highlight just a few of the many reasons communities have to be apprehensive. 

- Meanwhile, Julianna Kowlessar argues that students are going to be best served learning to question artificial intelligence rather than relying on it.  

- Paige Collings writes about the dangers of age-restricted internet access generally, while Michael Geist offers a Q&A about the particular problems with the Carney Libs' version. 

- Kelly Hayes writes about the U.S.' heist state which has been designed to do nothing more than loot the country's resources on behalf of Donald Trump and his cronies. Casey Michel highlights how Jared Kushner is using his nepotistic placement in international relations to siphon up foreign wealth. And Tom Bergin, Michelle Conlin, Koh Gui Qing and Tom Wilson report that the Trump family's enrichment through crypto self-dealing is entirely mirrored by losses borne by investors. 

- Finally, Jim Stanford offers a reminder of the need to focus on our long-term social and economic development in the face of both the Trump threat and the clean energy opportunity, rather than obsessing over short-term economic indicators.

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. 

Musical interlude

Blu Attic - Traces

 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Monica Potts writes that Americans' dissatisfaction with their economy has never been about vibes or temporary price spikes, but reflects a lack of both breathing room and security in a system designed for maximum exploitation and minimum support. John Schroyer notes that even limiting one's focus to businesses, there's a radical difference between the profits being hoovered up by a well-connected few and the struggles of smaller actors And Wajahat Ali talks to Chris Smalls about what can be done to organize against the billionaire class and their sycophants. 

- Sarah Todd reports on the American Journal of Public Health's call for governments to make healthy food a policy priority, rather than leaving people to navigate a marketplace of unhealthy slop on their own. 

- Susanna Twidale and William James report on the UK's announcement of plans to drastically cut carbon pollution by 2040. And The Canadian Press reports on the push by Canadian Indigenous groups demanding that the Carney Libs stop trashing federal environmental and climate policy. 

- Finally, Jamelle Bouie writes about the lasting damage being done by the combination of American voters offering Donald Trump a second term, and Trump taking the opportunity to eliminate the concept of government by and for the people. And Thom Hartmann offers a reminder that the background to the U.S.' current decline can be traced back through decades of increasing corporate control. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Engrossed cat. 

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. 

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. 

Musical interlude

Elderbrook - Is It Over Now?

 

Thursday Night Cat Blogging

Observant cat.

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. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Bill McGuire discusses what the next few decades figure to look like as what's currently considered extreme heat becomes all too normal. And Andrew Gregory reports on the growing recognition that the damage caused by the climate breakdown includes the accelerated spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.  

- Stella Levantesi writes about the myth of "green oil" promulgated by Norway's oil industry - which applies equally to greenwashing in Canada's fossil fuel sector. And the Sierra Club points out that a strong plurality of Canadians want to see stronger climate action including a strengthened industrial carbon price - even as Mark Carney goes in the opposite direction. 

- Chris Hoffman discusses the problems with online age verification requirements even in the hands of well-meaning organizations and officials. And Matt Novak writes about new polling showing strong U.S. public opposition to surveillance pricing.  

- Nico Schmidt, Ella Joyner and Conor O'Carroll highlight how tech giants have lobbied to conceal basic facts about the environmental damage done by data centres. And Don Moynihan writes that the Trump regime's sense of entitlement to total secrecy and impunity has reached the stage of demanding a non-disclosure agreement from every single U.S. federal employee. 

-  Finally, Wes Streeting rebuts Blair's demand that human well-being be left entirely in the hands of distorted and irrational markets rather than being a crucial purpose of democratic government. 

Saturday Afternoon Links

This and that for your weekend reading.

- Genevieve Guenther and Michael Mann offer a reminder that climate denial - from Donald Trump or anybody else - won't avert the consequences we're already seeing as a result of carbon pollution. And Marta Serafinko reports on the threat climate change poses to biodiversity as natural habitats are eliminated. 

- Meanwhile, Gaye Taylor discusses how clean energy is replacing dirty diesel in remote Canadian communities. And Susanna Twidale reports on new data showing that wind and solar power contributed more to global power supply than fossil gas in April, showing that a transition is well underway even as we're told we have no option but a choice between fossil fuels. 

- Ken Collier discusses how Mark Carney's choice to wind down pharmacare threatens Canada's wider public health care system. And Bruce Campbell writes about the risks to the public interest posed by deregulation and privatization. 

- Thor Benson talks to Chris Hayes about the dangers of artificial intelligence - with the erosion of human intellectual development looming as an inescapable result no matter how many of the logistical problems are waved away. Don't Surveil Me is encouraging Canadians to take action to protect privacy online in the face of yet another "lawful access" bill intended to eliminate anything of the sort. And Mike Benson discusses how public opinion is turning against mass surveillance once its presence is identified. 

- Finally, Justin Briley writes about the need to defend and promote fair taxes as the price of community and civilization, rather than echoing anti-social talking points in pursuit of the false hope of temporary political gain. 

Musical interlude

Chromantis - Cold Like The Silence