Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Ian Bremmer highlights how countries around the globe are hedging their bets rather than risking being taken down as the U.S. collapses. And Karen Attiah comments on the "dying mall vibes" being given off by the country. 

- Paul Bledsoe examines what needs to be done to stop catastrophic climate change without resorting to dangerous geoengineering. 

- Cory Doctorow points out how the Trump regime is allowing less-wealthy countries to get the jump on technological development by forcing a transition to cleaner energy which he's determined to squelch in the U.S. And Adrienne Tanner comments on Alberta's similarly self-destructive blocking of solar power in a province which would otherwise be at an advantage in building it. 

- Rory White reports on the proliferation of online "groups" which in fact serve as nothing but corporate propaganda outlets. 

- Finally, Nora Loreto examines the history of fascism in Canada - including how it was able to rise as laissez-faire governments elected not to deal with people's needs as they went unmet.  

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Paul Krugman writes that the U.S. is now the world's foremost petrostate - with disastrous results for it and for the world at large (with the exception of the group of countries including China who are leading the charge toward electrification). 

- Mary Stuart and Geoff Dembicki map out Gwyn Morgan's multimillion-dollar fossil fuel propaganda empire. And Amanda Bryant points out how the UCP has made a mockery of yet another supposed agreement with the Carney government by taking federal forbearance as an invitation toward unregulation methane pollution. 

- Niigaan Sinclair writes that spying on Indigenous peoples (invariably in the service of resource extraction) represents an intolerable threat to everybody's civil rights. 

- Katie Jagielnicka examines the misogyny behind the alt-right's relentless attacks on intellectualism. And Hanna Horvath writes that ubiquitous gambling is a demonstrable source of both intimate partner violence and social breakdown.  

- Finally, Victor Tangarmann examines the dangers of cognitive surrender in the face of authoritative-sounding-but-wrong directions from artificial intelligence. 

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Mark Kreidler notes that people from around the globe are staying away from the U.S. in droves - due to both the risk of being a foreigner in a country looking to detain anybody fitting that description, and the desire to avoid rewarding a rogue regime. And Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson write about the increasing number of Americans choosing to leave the U.S. rather than suffering under the violence and corruption of the Trump administration. 

- Sadiq Khan highlights how UK Labour has only hurt itself by imposing right-wing bigotry as policy rather than giving effect to the progressive values of its base. And Justin Ling questions Mark Carney's cheerleading for the U.S.' wars of conquest, while Lloyd Axworthy discusses how Carney has chosen to enable (and indeed embrace) U.S. aggression in violation of international law. 

- Ajit Niranjan reports on the shocking loss of marine life as a result of the climate breakdown, with drops in marine biomass of up to 20% in a single year. Greg Harman discusses new modeling showing that over 2% of all deaths in a Texas summer - numbering up to a thousand in any given year - can be traced back to extreme heat caused by global warming. And Sadie Harley examines how carbon dioxide levels in the human body are increasing dangerously. 

- Hayley Smith discusses yet another pernicious application of artificial intelligence, as fabricated "public comments" were used by a California environmental authority as reason not to phase out fossil gas appliances. 

- Finally, Erika Edwards reports on the tens of millions of dollars in traceable losses caused by the anti-vaxxers' choice to spread measles in the U.S. - while hinting at far more severe damage which may never be observable. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Casey Newton notes that repeated studies showing the distorting effects of X and other social media sites are making it impossible to pretend that major tech platforms deserve the protection of a presumption of neutrality. And Raphael Satter and Alexandra Alper report on the Trump regime's demand that other countries avoid asserting any protection for data integrity or public privacy where its tech giants think there's something to be exploited.

- Rory White investigates the consultants looking to overwhelm political conversations with AI talking points. And Brett McKay reports on the right-wing astroturf entities who are skirting or deliberately violating Canadian election laws in order to flood the airwaves with election ads without providing timely (or in some cases any) disclosure of who's funding them. 

- A.R. Moxon discusses why toxic masculinity is damaging to the people who succumb to it, while recognition of others' humanity is necessary to the flourishing of one's own. And Kelly Hayes writes that it's no surprise that people who have been systematically isolated are unable to understand the connections being made in Minnesota where people are building support networks. 

- Finally, Sharlene Gandhi examines data from 211 calls which shows that housing and mental health are the most glaring unmet needs among people calling for crisis support. And Simon Enoch discusses Saskatchewan's continued place as the province with the highest rates of child poverty - which is only becoming both broader and deeper under the Sask Party. 

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Joshua Pearce discusses the reality that the climate crisis could carry a ten-figure death toll over the course of this century - which would give rise to an obvious responsibility to act among any but the most inhuman of leaders. Mario Alejandro Ariza reports on the connection between insurance costs rising as a result of the climate breakdown, and a resulting spike in people who can't pay their mortgages. And Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood highlights the need for Alberta and other jurisdictions currently under the thrall of petropolitics to prepare for reduced demand. 

- But Joakim Kulin examines how finger-pointing and blame-shifting have been used to translate nationalism into climate obstruction. Raphael Satter and Christopher Bing reports on the emerging revelations as to how Exxon Mobil and its corporate buddies have sponsored and made use of the hacked e-mails of environmentalists to disrupt climate litigation and activism. And Geoff Dembicki reports on the astroturfing efforts of the fossil gas lobby in its attempt to undercut Vancouver's ban on gas heating - though Seth Klein is relieved to note that attempt to drag the city backwards just barely fell short. 

- Henry Obanya discusses the immense amount of microplastic pollution caused by vehicle tires. 

- Negin Owliaei and Maya Schenway point out that the incoming Trump administration has a detailed and dangerous playbook to shut down progressive civil society. And Robert Reich offers a reminder that an ostensibly populist campaign has given way to a cabinet of plutocrats and their sycophants, while Gil Duran talks to Brooke Harrington about the tech bros' plans to exploit the power of the presidency. 

- Finally, David Moscrop discusses the belated recognition by some commentators that a "liberal" consensus which does nothing to challenge concentrated wealth and power will never earn the support of the working class. And Kim Siever reminds us that billionaires are an economic drain on society - not a goal to be pursued, or even a necessary evil to be accepted.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Ed Yong laments the U.S.' particularly dangerous spin through the pandemic cycle of panic and neglect as it is eliminating all federal funding even as the most dangerous COVID-19 wave yet begins to crest, while Phil Tank calls out Scott Moe's cherry-picked appeal to public opinion as overriding any sense of responsibility to keep people safe and healthy. And Maija Kappler discusses how the Omicron BA.2 variant is taking over as the dominant strain in Canada, while Chris Herhalt and CTV News report on its rise in Ontario and Alberta respectively. 

- Joel Dryden writes about the fallout from the #FluTruxKlan's heavily-armed assault on the Coutts, AB border crossing. And Jessica McDiarmid and Mark Fawcett investigate how much of the Facebook content claiming to reflect grassroots local concerns from a right-wing perspective is in fact the product of Conservative-affiliated political operatives, while Geoff Dembicki reports on the role of Canada Proud in particular in systematically disseminating climate misinformation. 

- Meanwhile, Thom Hartmann writes about the role of the libertarian message injected into the political mainstream by Ronald Reagan in enriching the already-wealthy while making life ever more precarious for everybody else. And Patrick Radden Keefe discusses how Vladimir Putin's oligarch cronies have found welcoming servants in London (and elsewhere) when throwing around the money extracted from their home country.  

- Finally, Victoria Gibson reports on new research showing that the Libs' model for privately-developed housing development is allowing private rental landlords to access federal funding while still charging above-market rents. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Katharine Wu examines how the effect of immunity is just one more area where people are seeing profoundly unequal results of the COVID pandemic - with a disproportionate burden being placed on those who were already facing disadvantages. Lauren Pelley reports on the current state of knowledge around long COVID, as well as the danger that many people may face symptoms and aftereffects for decades to come. And Ian Welsh discusses the example set by Western Australia in demonstrating that COVID has always been controllable - making for a particularly stark comparison to the resource-based provinces in western Canada which have instead chosen to let it run wild. 

- Jacob Lorinc points out that the workers who have left restaurant work during the course of the pandemic have done so for good reason. And Dan Darrah discusses the prospect of a four-day work week coming to Canada in the wake of successful trials elsewhere. 

- Diana Chen McNally and Naheed Dosani write that while we should be looking to eradicate homelessness altogether, we should at least ensure that all people have access to basic hygiene and sanitary services.

- Zoe Craig-Sparrow, Shelagd Day and Margot Young discuss how all levels of government in Canada have prioritized fossil fuel profits over Indigenous rights.

- Finally, David Climenhaga and Ryan Lindley each write about the combination of separatist fanaticism and cynical grifting behind the latest yellow vest convoy.