"We live in a political economy where innovation is not being pursued for the general good of all, but for the financial gain of only a few." Tom Goldsmith, The Politics of Innovation Orbitpolicy.substack.com

What if instead of innovation driven by fear of falling behind, we instead pursued innovation rooted in care? Care for our neighbours, care for our communities, care for people across the globe, care for our planet itself?

open.substack.com/pub/orbitpol...

La réponse est oui! Avec un #RetourAuFutur.

#DéjàVu: fruits, légumes, pain, fromages, poissons/viandes facilement emballés en papier. Boissons en verre/canettes. Etc.

À nous citoyens + consommateurs d’exiger et de montrer le chemin à nos commerces et gouvernements.

#SansPlastique, c’est facile!

NOUVEAU : Les bourses de formation en recherche du Canada ‒ Suppléments pour séjours de recherche offrent 9 000 $ aux titulaires de bourse de maîtrise et de doctorat qui souhaitent effectuer un séjour de recherche à l’étranger. sshrc-crsh.canada.ca/fr/nouvelles...

in the middle of this, Astronaut Christina Koch says that when she looked back at earth, she “didn’t just notice the planet, but the darkness around it—

like a lifeboat”

we are really all we’ve got out here

Cartoon by Gábor Pápai, a well-known Hungarian political cartoonist.

From Getty: BEIRUT, LEBANON - APRIL 08: A firefighter walks through destroyed cars as a building burns after an Israeli airstrike on April 08, 2026 in Beirut, Lebanon. Israel has stepped-up its attacks on Lebanon following President Donald Trump's announcement of a two-week ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran, conditional on shipping being allowed to resume through the Strait of Hormuz. Israel says it will observe the ceasefire with Iran but insists Lebanon was not included in the deal, and has since launched the "largest coordinated strike" on Hezbollah targets since the cross-border war began on March 2. Iran and Pakistan - which has been coordinating peace talks - have said that the ceasefire would include Lebanon, while the US has yet to weigh-in. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Photos coming out of Beirut today look like the opposite of a ceasefire

Sigh

Commerce and Its Discontents in Eighteenth-Century French Political Thought Cambridge Core - Political Theory - Commerce and Its Discontents in Eighteenth-Century French Political Thought

The #DouxCommerce thesis was contested well before A.O. Hirschman gave it its name. A pre-history to Piketty’s, and a reminder we were warned… #AuriSacraFames #HistoireDesDeuxIndes Merci! www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...

It causes no end of trouble. A simple consultation would save so many resources.

Exactly, a dangerous omission.

E.g. “Women’s right to vote challenged” is a headline that keeps the right clear?

I’m partial to the “ let me fix this for you “ approaches!

Agreed, well put. But let’s please stop circulating the problematic headline itself; we know from neuroscience that doing so has the (unintended) effect of cementing the faulty proposition in people’s minds.

Adam Hanieh, Petrochemical Empire, NLR 130, July–August 2021 A materialist history of capital and empire, through the lens of the German-American petrochemical industry. What does it mean to see oil, not just as an energy source or transport fuel, but as primar...

(1/3) Adam Hanieh on petroleum as plastics: "From the 1950s onwards, a wide array of naturally derived substances – wood, glass, paper, natural rubber, natural fertilizers, soaps, cotton, wool and metals – were systematically displaced by plastics, synthetic fibres, ...

doi.org/10.64590/kbq

“I have one word for you son, plastics.”

While Washington wages war on science, NASA just sent humans to the Moon's vicinity for the first time since 1972. Bravo #TeamNASA — proof that public science, when it's funded and trusted, still does extraordinary things.

Picture of the day today is from Cheryl McKenzie of grandmother moon over the Manitoba Interlake region.

And wishing safe travels to the crew of Artemis II after their successful launch as they travel to this beautiful space rock for their 10-day voyage!

Pink Pessach Moon. Chag sameach to all who celebrate. [Pink Moon over Water, Georgia O’Keeffe, c.1924]

Governments must act now to manage AI for the public good

We reject claims that governments cannot or should not regulate AI: because technology moves too quickly, because companies will regulate themselves, because geopolitical competition matters more than public safety. These narratives are all misleading.

CALL TO ACTION | Governments must act now to manage AI for the public good

Elders and leading Artificial Intelligence experts urge governments to tackle escalating AI risks to ensure technology serves humanity, rather than endangering it.

Read in full: theelders.org/news/governm...

It’s time for the UN to formally recognise the transatlantic slavery trade as a crime against humanity | John Dramani Mahama This is not about assigning collective guilt to present generations. But injustice does not simply fade with time – it requires deliberate effort to address and redress, says Ghana’s president, John Dramani Mahama

It’s time for the UN to formally recognise the transatlantic slavery trade as a crime against humanity | John Dramani Mahama

Same happened to our father. And in the public service, too.

Take good care.

Meet Eleonora Susette || The previously unknown sitter of Portrait of a Lady Holding an Orange Blossom has been identified.

shorturl.at/OEbYN

Journée internationale de la Francophonie | Remettons les droits de la personne au cœur du projet francophone La Presse

Vive la #Francophonie, qui, en promouvant les #DroitsHumains + la diversité linguistique, nourrira davantage le bien-être et l’ #innovation de toutes nos sociétés.

Un honneur de cosigner cette tribune @lapresse.ca .

Chapeau Pascale Fournier‬⁩! #Mon20Mars

www.lapresse.ca/dialogue/opi...

Healing Ourselves: Why Healthcare Is a True Test of Canadian Sovereignty Introduction: The Hidden Frontier of Independence

Healing Ourselves: Why Healthcare Is a True Test of Canadian Sovereignty, by @erichoskins.bsky.social medium.com/@eric_35843/...

Hear, hear. There are signs in our window at home too. Let’s not take them out of the window. Let’s live up to them!
#CanadaStrong #ViveLeCanada

What a tail!

I’m pleased to share my latest article in @uk.theconversation.com

It asks what overheated apartments, flooded rice fields, & invisible policy failures have in common, & how preventable harm becomes the slow violence of necropolitics in the Chthulucene.

Here's a short thread on some key points 🧵

Volume 8 Issue 2 | Critical Times | Duke University Press

new from @criticaltimes1.bsky.social:
special issue “Race & Caste: Hierarchy and Universality” on racialized & caste subjugation in Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean as well as anticaste & antiracist archives and scholarship - check it out (open access):

read.dukeupress.edu/critical-tim...