Don Curren 🇨🇦🇺🇦

In your face: The brutal aesthetics of MAGA Does proximity to power rely on a specific look?

“Noem is one of several figures—a few men, but mostly women—in President Donald Trump’s orbit to undergo striking physical transformations as the boundaries that once delineated #celebrity and #politicalpower fully disintegrate.” www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

A BMO table showing US jobs data details for Feb.

1 BMO: The February #Employment report will change the narrative in the #markets of a resilient and possibly improving #U.S.labormarket, highlighting the two-sided risks the #Fed faces as we digest the #economic impacts from the %war in #Iran. 🧵
#usecon #jobsdata #NFP

In the same way, his appetite for destruction and self-aggrandizement has driven him to the point where the #USEconomy, remarkably resilient so far, starts to cave under the conflicting pressures his incoherent actions have unleashed …
#Trump

Canada Could Be a Formidable Bastion Against Fascism

“Canada's founding insight is that unity does not require uniformity. That we can share a country without conforming to a single identity.” - #MarkCarney. Relates to my piece on #Fascism in #Canada, where I argue that militates against it taking root here doncurren.blogspot.com/2026/01/cana...

3 Bloomberg: #Gasoline futures in the US are up 27% this week and prices at the pump have surged. #Dieselfutures are headed for a weekly gain of more than 40%.

2 Bloomberg: #Brent has rallied 18% this week, with #futures above $85 a barrel even after #Trump signaled “imminent action” to reduce pressure on prices, and the #TreasuryDepartment eased curbs on India’s ability to buy Russian #oil. 🧵

2 CIBC: … and for the #unemploymentrate to remain steady at 4.3%. #Joblosses were relatively widespread across industries, with #leisure/hospitality (-27K), #health/socialassistance (-19K), and #manufacturing (-12K) seeing the biggest drops.
#NFP #jobsdata #employment #labormarket #usecon

1 CIBC: #US #labormarket deteriorated sharply in February, with #employers shedding 92K #jobs, compounding negative revisions to the prior two month job count that totaled -69K. That resulted in the #unemploymentrate ticking up to 4.4%. That compared to the consensus expectation for +55K … 🧵

Chart showing moves in Brent oil prices since the early 2020s.

1 Bloomberg: In many ways, it’s the only #market that matters right now: Crude #oil prices are headed for their biggest weekly surge since 2022 as the #war in the #MiddleEast disrupts #energy supplies. 🧵
#markets

🇺🇸 #BREAKING U.S. Feb. Nonfarm Payrolls: -92K, [Est. 59K] Feb. Unemployment Rate: 4.4%, [Est. 4.3%] Feb. Average Hourly Earnings (MoM): 0.4%, [Est. 0.3%] Feb. Average Hourly Earnings (YoY): 3.8%, [Est. 3.7%] #US #NFP #Nonfarm

a set of graphs of US jobs data

NEW US JOBS DATA:

Non-farm Payrolls: -92k
Unemployment Rate: 4.4% (+0.1%)
Prime Age (25-54) Employment-Population Ratio: 80.7% (-0.1%)
Average Hourly Earnings: +0.4%

Bloomberg: The #selloff in #global #bonds deepened and #stocks fell after another jump in #oil prices fanned fears over #inflation.
#markets

Physics versus sociology

You’re welcome.

Canada-U.S. trade talks resume for 1st time since Trump scrapped them last fall — CBC News For the first time since U.S. President Donald Trump called off negotiations last October — ostensibly over a TV ad — Prime Minister Mark Carney's point man on trade, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Domini...

“For the first time since U.S. President Donald #Trump called off negotiations last October — ostensibly over a TV ad — Prime Minister Mark Carney's point man on #trade will meet face to face with his #WhiteHouse counterpart.” stocks.apple.com/A-dDVQy5LS5S... #Canada

“The direction of #technological #innovation is not a fact of nature; it is subject to our choices and priorities.”

“As the divide between winners and losers has widened, #markets have expanded into areas such as health, education, personal relationships, law, and the media, where they crowd out important #non-marketvalues.”

small white dog with giant puff ball head

the dog looked at me!

this dog sat across from me in the train and the whole ride I tried to get him to look at me. he finally did after 1.5 hr

Reclaiming Democracy From the Market Michael J. Sandel & Daron Acemoglu discuss the breakdown of civic life and the need to restore trust in public institutions.

“ #Capitalism, by the way, is a word I hate, not just because it’s highly #ideological, but because it creates the impression that there is just one kind of #marketeconomy” www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/savi...

“During the #pandemic, we briefly recognized how deeply we depend on delivery and warehouse workers, grocery clerks, nurse assistants, and child-care workers. It could have been a moment for a public debate about how to realign #pay and #recognition with … Instead, we went back to business as usual”

I think this point about the need for #institutional #renewal in the #US is extremely well taken. Without a push to reform its many failed core institutions, it will remain a dangerously unstable force in the world.

Reclaiming Democracy From the Market Michael J. Sandel & Daron Acemoglu discuss the breakdown of civic life and the need to restore trust in public institutions.

“ #Philosophy is not a matter of applying a one-size-fits-all, a priori principle. That impulse would be deeply unphilosophical. The kind of engaged philosophy you and I are drawn to moves back and forth between specific dilemmas and …” www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/savi... Syndicate Newsletter

Mark Carney signs deal to strengthen Canada’s trade and military links with Japan Prime Minister Mark Carney and Japan's Sanae Takaichi inked a new "strategic partnership" on Friday that signalled the next step in a recent drive to deepen military and trade co-operation

“With similar agreements to those #Carney announced earlier this week in #Australia, Friday’s accord with #Japan was meant to showcase a shared desire to work closer in areas like the #military and #armsproduction.” #Canada www.thestar.com/politics/fed...

Canada Could Be a Formidable Bastion Against Fascism

On July 4, 1938, a crowd of about 1,500 gathered to hear #Fascists speakers at Massey Hall in #Toronto. A few blocks north at Maple Leaf Gardens, 10,000 to 12,000 massed for an #AntiFascist rally. Read my piece on #Fascism in #Canada. doncurren.blogspot.com/2026/01/cana...

The Outliers Torn between two unattractive models of human civilization

“Until #America shows some capacity for institutional renewal, it seems fated to unleash its devils upon the world.” open.substack.com/pub/josephhe...

An excellent and important read

“The #American #armedforces will be sent hither and thither, as suits the chancy whimsy of the #oligarchical huddle, but what they do will be untethered from anything that is substantively #American.”

“At a time when civilization is hurtling toward irreversible #climate #breakdown, to overlook the climate consequences of three of the deadliest militaries on Earth going to #war would be journalistic malpractice.” www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/05/o...

“The #Patriot has exceeded all expectations in #Ukraine these last two years. But if the #UnitedStates wastes the stock of #Patriots in its #Iran adventure, then it will be hard to protect #Ukrainian cities, or for that matter anything else”

“Let us accept Trump’s own account that the only limitations to what he does are inside his “own mind.” That too just begs the question. What things are inside his head, and how do they get there?” open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...