Musical interlude

CamelPhat & Rhodes - Healing

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Damian Carrington reports on a new warning from scientists that we're on pace to exhaust humanity's carbon budget in the next two years, while also pointing out a report on how misinformation is feeding into the climate catastrophe. Umair Irfan discusses how the climate breakdown stands to worsen hunger by reducing agricultural yields. And Laurence Tubiana writes about the desperate need for political leaders to respond to the climate crisis with ambition rather than denialism and excuses. 

- But sadly, Alexander Quon reports on Scott Moe's decision to keep spewing coal emissions for no apparent reason other than to stoke disputes with the federal government, while Adrienne Tanner discusses how Doug Ford is using distant and implausible promises of nuclear power as an excuse to avoid transitioning to cheaper, cleaner energy. David Dayen reports on Republicans' plans to shovel free money to big oil. Jillian Ambrose notes that Keir Starmer is doing the same for UK gas plants, while Sam Bright points out that UK Labour is also promising the oil industry that it alone will be granted an effective exemption from paying a windfall profits tax. And Mitch Anderson discusses how the UCP has failed to advance climate policy an inch even by its own hand-picked (and meaningless) "intensity" targets. 

- Joshua Dean and Robert Hilton discuss how rivers are releasing large amounts of previously-stored carbon dioxide. And Inayat Singh and Tess He report on new estimates indicating that inactive wells produce seven times more methane pollution than previously assumed. 

- Molly Taft reports on the refusal of AI companies to provide any accounting for the energy they plan to burn through. And Andrew Chow reports on a new study showing how the substitution of ChatGPT for actual research and writing results in the erosion of critical thinking skills. 

- Finally, Charlie Angus calls out the social and environmental destruction being pushed by Mark Carney, while Alex Himelfarb and Craig Scott write about the joint effort by the Libs and Cons to ensure a lack of scrutiny into legislation designed to disempower the public. And Randy Thanthong-Knight reports that the Libs' cuts to immigration have resulted in a zero population growth rate for Canada, serving to marginalize us rather than allowing us to stand up for our country on a global scale.

Wednesday Night Cat Blogging

Reaching cat.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Owen Jones discusses how the new outbreak of war-mongering toward Iran is indistinguishable - both in its insistence and its utter lack of connection to reality - from that which led to disastrous results in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

- Stephen Maher writes about the new nationalism which reflects Canada's public mood in the wake of the threats and abuses of the Trump regime. And Justin Ling writes about the folly of trying to make deals with a wholly irrational actor who has proven he has no interest in living up to his agreements - though sadly that recognition doesn't seem to be stopping Mark Carney from wagering Canada's future on tying us even more tightly to the U.S.' economy and defence apparatus. 

- On that front, Benjamin Muller warns that Carney's Bill C-2 sets us up to be used as an extension of the U.S.' anti-immigrant policies. And Kate Robertson examines how it also creates a mechanism for Canadians' sensitive personal data to be shared with the Trump regime - despite the virtual certainty it will then be misused, both through government action and through theft by the Republicans' techbro cronies. 

- Joel Morris writes about the parasite economy turning other people's work in creating content into a source of constant rent. Helena Horton reports on the reality that England is facing foreseeable water shortfalls as data centres plan to soak up massive amounts of water without having to account for it. And Benji Edwards notes that there's now an active movement to try to preserve pre-AI content before all publicly-accessible material turns to artificial slop. 

- Finally, Jim Stanford highlights an expert letter on the value of Canada's public health care system - and the need to strengthen it, rather than accepting the argument of profiteers that we have no choice but to replace it with pay-for-play medicine. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Niko Block writes about the desperate need for Canada to devote resources to income supports and industrial strategy, rather than hoping that corporate tax giveaways will do anything other than further enrich those who already have the most. And David Moscrop interviews Laurent Carbonneau about our long history of corporate welfare bums who have consistently turned access into wealth without holding up their end of any bargain to pursue economic development. 

- Curtis Fric reports on the rightful skepticism Canadians thus have about corporate and media elites - with the problem being that the outrage is then often being directed toward the least powerful. And Emma Paling discusses how Mark Carney is only sowing further distrust by utterly capitulating to Donald Trump's authoritarian agenda after campaigning on the promise of standing up to him. 

- Meanwhile, Marcy Wheeler points out how the Trump regime's belief in white supremacy can't survive contact with reality - as epitomized by Pete Hegseth's absolute incompetence. 

- Michael Mann et al. study how the climate breakdown is contributing to extreme weather events. Brendan Haley points out how energy efficiency should be a critical resource in both reducing Canada's carbon pollution, and offering us a more secure energy foundation. And Emily Chung reports on the role electric vehicles can play in reducing emissions from at least some (largely suburban) demographics - even if they're far from a cure-all. 

- Finally, Agam Shah reports that if we didn't have enough tech giants seeking to turn themselves into omnipresent surveillance mechanisms, Grammarly is seeking to elbow its way into the picture.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Paul Krugman writes that the combination of anti-fascism protests and Donald Trump's crackdown on them could be crucial in determining whether the U.S. sees an end to even the pretense of democracy. G. Elliott Morris notes that Saturday's "No Kings Day" protests were attended by millions of people. And both Toby Buckle and A.R. Moxon discuss how the contrast between the widespread and energetic anti-regime protests and the desultory Trump birthday parade shows the power of popular outrage and dissent. 

- Shawn Micallef notes that this year's Pride events are particularly important as a means of protest. And Dale Smith discusses how book-banning and online age verification - both of which are being pushed as part of an anti-LGBTQ agenda - each serve as tools of authoritarianism.  

- Desmond Cole is the latest to highlight how Mark Carney is adopting Trump's mass surveillance and hostility toward immigration even while pretending to defend Canada against them. Karl Nerenberg  notes that Carney is using the U.S. threat as an excuse to bypass democracy on behalf of corporate interests, while David Thurton reports on the justified backlash against the flattening of Indigenous rights and environmental protection in the name of megaprojects. And Mitchell Beer reports on Simon Donner's warning that Carney's theory about "decarbonized" fossil fuels is patently absurd to anyone with so much as a grade-school understanding of chemistry. 

- David Dayen writes about the damage Trump's signature economic bill will do to the U.S. - exacerbating inequality, stifling productivity and worsening public health - if it passes. And Ryan Ermey reports on new research showing that Americans are already seeing declining spending power and quality of life. 

- Issie Lapowsky interviews Megan Greenwell about the harm done by private equity as it undermines functional businesses in the name of short-term wealth extraction. And Jason Hickel makes the case for economic democracy as a necessary system to ensure that human survival and well-being are given any weight in political decision-making.

- Finally, Yei Ling Ma reports on the choice by Wal-Mart and other major companies to pull out of an agreement on reducing plastic contamination before it takes a penny out of their immediate profits. And Kaylie Tiessen warns that sellers' inflation figures to be making a return to Canada soon as corporate retailers turn confusion about inflation and tariffs into windfall profits.