Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- A.R. Moxon discusses the problem with the concentration of power in the hands of a few tycoons who see no purpose for most human life other than to maximize the efficiency of their own wealth accumulation. And Anis Heydari reports that Canada now has its own group of millionaires to recognize the need for their cohort to contribute a fair share to the public good. 

- Wen Stephenson talks to Olúfémi Táíwò about the need to think like an ancestor in addressing both social relations and the climate crisis. Luke Grant et al. examine the increasing probability that today's children will experience unprecedented climate extremes in the course of their lifetimes. And Mark Gongloff points out that the social cost of carbon pollution from U.S. companies alone figures to reach the high 14 figures by 2050. 

- Meanwhile, Peter Aldhous reports that the Trump regime's war on science includes eliminating the collection of sea ice data which has provided crucial information about the climate crisis. Ariel Wittenberg reports on Elon Musk's dumping of smog without permits on vulnerable neighbourhoods in Memphis. And Nina Lakhani reports on the risk that the climate breakdown could threaten banana cultivation in the coming decades. 

- Kevin Maimann discusses how the fomenting of secessionism by Danielle Smith and Scott Moe may cause economic disaster based on Quebec's experience, while Jen Gerson offers her personal take on the folly of undermining the national interest for the sake of a few oil executives. 

- Finally, Shara Cooper points out that a proportional electoral system would resolve the problem with regions lacking an effective voice in the federal government. And Mario Canseco finds that Canadian voters are still on board with the idea even after Justin Trudeat broke his promise to make every vote count.

Musical interlude

Tony Igy - Change (Chillout)

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- David Suzuki and Ian Hanington write about the importance of a courageous approach to climate change policy, while Nature's editorial board discusses the desperate need for decision-makers to start acting like adults. But it should come as no surprise that the Trump regime's responses to a threat to our living environment boil down to YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! and LALALALAICAN'THEARYOU!. 

- Meanwhile, Drew Anderson points out that the posturing about separatism from Danielle Smith (and Scott Moe) is aimed solely at strongarming the federal government into letting fossil fuel tycoons dictate policy. And Dharna Noor reports on new revelations into how oil and plastics producers have been lying about the limitations on chemical recycling. 

- Eric Wickham reports that major Canadian grocers have refused to provide even basic information to the federal government as they claim their ability to seek out windfall profits takes precedence over people's access to food. And that contempt for affordability has obvious political effects, as Emma Paling reports that cost of living was a major input into Pierre Poilievre's Con rage farm. 

- Saira Peesker reports on new research showing the links between ultra-processed food and numerous health risks. 

- Finally, Katya Schwenk reports on airlines' sale of passenger data to ICE in the U.S. And Alison Northcott reports that in addition to diverting resources out of the public health care system, private clinics in Canada have been selling health data to big pharma to further goose their profits. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way and Daniel Ziblatt discuss how the Trump regime has used the power of an authoritarian state to impose costs on any opposition - and how it's nonetheless essential for people to resist rather than going along to get along. Robert Reich writes about the need to build a populist progressive movement to ensure people know there's a viable alternative to Trump's corruption and corporatism. And John Baglow's review of new books by Alex Himelfarb and Denise Hearn/Vass Bednar examines how neoliberalism has come to dominate our economic and social foundation - and the difficulty countering the power of capital in trying to make change.

- Attracta Mooney reports on new data showing that global warming has exceeded the 1.5 Celsius threshold for nearly all of the past two years. And Andreas Sieber and Stela Herschmann discuss the futility of holding climate talks while skirting any discussion of the fossil fuels which are the cause of three quarters of greenhouse gas emissions.  

- Isaac Sevier and Winston Yau write about the impending summer of shutoffs as outdated infrastructure and worsening extreme weather events make it inevitable that dirty energy sources will shut down. Euronews Green examines new polling showing that Europeans recognize the need to transition to clean and secure energy sources rather than relying on fossil fuel imports. And Eleni Courea reports on England's requirement for solar panels on new homes as a key example of the transition in progress. 

- Mariah Blake discusses how untested synthetic materials came to be so ubiquitous as a long-term consequence of a corporate PR campaign. 

- Finally, Brint Milward examines how the hollowing-out of the U.S.' federal government will have disastrous effects on state- and local-level services linked to what DOGE is destroying. David Armstrong reports on how a cancer drug which can be produced for 25 cents per pill is being sold for 4,000 times that cost, resulting in people being unable to afford the treatment they need.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Roge Karma discusses how Donald Trump's tariff chaos is threatening to reinstate a consensus against any strategic decisions around trade. And Garrett Evans highlights how the contrast between free-flowing capital and constraints on public political influence results in distorted decision-making. 

- Hannah Natanson, Joseph Menn, Lisa Rein and Rachel Siegel report on the dangers of DOGE's illegal harvesting and pooling of sensitive personal information. And Jill Lawrence writes that one of the main uses Trump is making of government power is to wage information warfare - as full and accurate data sets are disappeared in favour of selectively-edited data and propaganda. 

- Marc Fawcett-Atkinson reports on the Moe government's choice to lobby on behalf of the corporate pesticide industry at the expense of people's health. And Andrew Mitrovica discusses how petropoliticians including Pierre Poilievre and Danielle Smith are undermining any unified Canadian response to the Trump regime. 

- Meanwhile, Bill McKibben notes that countries which don't act as fully-owned subsidiaries of the oil sector are making significant progress in transitioning to cleaner and more efficient energy sources. And Kate Yoder examines new research showing that it's possible to prime public support for climate action by focusing on binary indications of the climate breakdown rather than less-visible trends.

- Finally, Alex Cosh writes that the polarized Canadian election result is best seen as a temporary response based on strategic considerations, rather than a locked-in expression of approval or transfer of support toward the largest parties. 

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Cushioned cat.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Tim Dickinson interviews Naomi Klein about the oligarchy's escalating war against the general public, while the Guardian's editorial board points out that warehouse and transport workers are the first groups to face decimation as a consequence of the Trump regime's class war. And Lauren Leffer discusses how the normalization and rationalization of death is the primary common theme to Robert F. Kennedy's actions while in charge of U.S. public health. 

- Marc Elias discusses the need for U.S. courts to stop treating the Trump regime as a normal litigant as it repeatedly ignores rulings and seeks to intimidate judges. And Brian Beutler calls for Democratic governers (and anybody else who might be tempted to appease Trump) to avoid becoming an object of scorn like Paul Weiss.

- Jonathan Last writes that the essence of a fascist view of law enforcement is to encourage state violence against perceived enemies while demanding that allies be treated as entirely above the law. And Will Sommer discusses how the MAGA right's moral compass has been so thoroughly warped that it's treating the direction of the "n" word toward a child as a cause deserving of crowdfunding.  

- Andrew Nikiforuk talks to Ece Temelkuran about the predictable steps from democracy toward autocracy - and the importance of acting in the early stages to avoid being pushed down the path. And Zoe Yunker interviews Alexis Shotwell about the need for collective action in response to large-scale problems. 

- Edward Keenan points out how multiplex construction can be a key element in resolving the housing crisis - but that Toronto and other municipalities have effectively banned it in favour of single detached buildings. 

- Finally, Colleen Fuller writes that Canada needs a public insulin manufacturer to ensure that an essential medication doesn't disappear due to arbitrary action by a few corporations.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Jason Furman discusses how Donald Trump's economic obsessions are in fundamental conflict with one another - meaning that the only result of trying to pursue all of them will be to make matters worse for the U.S. And Brian Tyler Cohen notes that Trump's ultimate concession of defeat to Maine Governor Janet Mills reflects just one more example of the value of pushing back against him. 

- Jason Sattler writes that Americans have no way to avoid being sucked into Elon Musk's surveillance vortex as he steals their data wherever it's controlled by a government agency. And Lauren McGaughy and Berenice Garcia report on Musk's being handed a city of his own based solely on votes from his own employees. 

- Joe Wilkins reports on Sarah Wynn-Williams' revelation that Facebook's ad algorithms included the exploitation of "moments of psychological vulnerability", including by targeting beauty product ads to teen girls who had merely deleted a selfie. And Dean Blundell writes that female travelers are particularly at risk as the U.S. hands unchecked power (and arbitrary quotas) to immigration officials. 

- Gil Barndollar and Rajan Menon discuss how the U.S. is throwing away the strategic advantage of friendly neighbours throug Trump's constant attacks on Mexico and Canada. But David Pugliese points out one of the complications in Canada's effort to extricate itself from U.S. control, as spare parts for the F-35s we've already committed to buy will be controlled by the U.S. government even after they've been delivered.  

- Finally, Euronews reports on now research showing how more trees in cities could save large numbers of lives by limiting heat-related deaths. And Jessica Wildfire discusses how any preparation for a climate breakdown (or other predictable disaster) needs to account for the mental health effects of a deteriorating living environment. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Jason Hickel discusses how capitalism is fundamentally in conflict with the idea of democracy - and how increasing democratic control over the economy is the only way to salvage any popular governance generally.

- Michael Tomasky calls out the new boundaries of corruption being pushed by Donald Trump's granting of access to those who hand him free money through his memecoin, while Amanda Marcotte discusses how Trump's crypto scam imposes costs on everybody. And Don Moynihan notes that Trump's budget, like virtually everything else emanating from his regime, consists entirely of propaganda rather than bearing any relationship to reality.

- Meanwhile, in case anybody was under the illusion that the only regressive action in the U.S. is originating with Trump and his administration, Tracy Wholf reports on the Republican Senate's unprecedented move to eliminate existing pollution controls.

- Charlie Angus discusses the continued MAGA threats to Canada even after we averted the planned coronation of the Poilievre Cons. And Dennis Pilon writes about the undemocratic results of strategic voting. 

- Finally, Marc Edge discusses how right-wing misinformation has come to dominate social media as a result of an attempt to slightly balance the interests of other media against tech giants. James Hoggan offers some suggestions as to what we can do at an individual level to counter rage farming and political deception. And Euan Thomson reports on the likely illegal - if less-than-surprising - monitoring of citizens' social media by Calgary police.