Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Barry McMullin

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 2h

Portland is ... right there. It's a real place. People live in it. People can go look at it. You could call someone there right now.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2h

Trump: "I don't know what could be worse than Portland. You don't even have stores anymore. They don't even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows."

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Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · 6h

Greta Thunberg jumps with joy as ‘Free Palestine’ chants ring out upon her arrival at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm, Sweden.

(Source: Alkompis/Instagram)

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Laratheescapeartist @lescapeartist.bsky.social · 4h

'..the wealthiest 10% of Britons generate more emissions from aviation alone than do the poorest 20% from all their activities combined' #flightfree

Leo Murray @crisortunity.bsky.social · 1d

I know nobody wants to hear this. But we cant meet climate goals (aka survive the century) without policies to reduce demand for flights

Flight from reality: sustainable aviation, Jet Zero, and the technofix

This paper argues that rising aviation emissions, which are disproportionally driven by the wealthy, pose a serious threat to climate goals. Using the UK’s Jet Zero strategy as a case study, it exp...

www.tandfonline.com

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Current Affairs @currentaffairs.bsky.social · 5h

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Saoirse McHugh @saoirsemc.bsky.social · 4h

😭 help . I planted a beefsteak tomato thinking it was going to grow bits of cattle flesh but it was just tomato. I'm so confused, the EU parliament needs to help me. I've been tricked and mislead

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 2h

Being in opposition to Trump is necessary but not sufficient for me to like you. It's ok to have standards that are higher than "against Trump" for our leaders.

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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 13h

This is devastating but hard to think of more important journalism. 18,457 children have been killed in Gaza (many more not accounted for). Here, The Guardian prints their names and beautiful faces and tells us what they were like before Israel stole their lives. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead

Every name on a list compiled by health authorities in Gaza of the child victims of Israel’s offensive

www.theguardian.com

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Barry McMullin @autofac.bsky.social · 4h

Well ... if we're going to talk about "sustainable funding models" for transport, I'm *really* looking forward to hearing when aviation and ICE vehicles will start paying for their utterly unsustainable pollution damage...

Irish Examiner @irishexaminer.bsky.social · 4h

Minister 'not writing off' future bus and train fare hikes

Darragh O’Brien says there must be a 'sustainable' funding model for public transport systems

dlvr.it

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John Gibbons 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 @thinkorswim.bsky.social · 4h

All perfectly normal. Nothing speaks of a sector’s confidence in its produce than its panicked efforts to cancel competitors, real and imaginary and stifle public choice.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

‘Veggie burgers’ could be off EU menu as MEPs back renaming plant-based foods

Proponents say move would strengthen position of farmers in supply chain but critics dismiss it as ‘hotdog populism’

www.theguardian.com

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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 6h

Without the EU cover, I think this is also likely the end (for the moment anyway) of the Irish Minister for Justice’s plan to require software companies and platforms to break encryption.

Though he may not issue a press release to say so.

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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 6h

“A beef tomato doesn’t contain any beef … Ladies’ fingers are not made of actual ladies’ fingers. Let’s trust consumers and stop this hotdog populism,” says Austrian MEP Anna Stürgkh

Ditto Shepherds pie

Feel free to add your own below 👇

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

‘Veggie burgers’ could be off the menu as MEPs vote to ban plant-based food terms

Vote is victory for MEPs who want to strengthen position of farmers in food supply chain

www.theguardian.com

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Saoirse McHugh @saoirsemc.bsky.social · 6h

WHAT ABOUT CATERPILLAR CAKES? PERCY PIGS? CREAM FLOUR? this is so stupid and embarrassing for any MEP who voted for this

Elaine McGoff @elainemcgoff.bsky.social · 6h

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

‘Veggie burgers’ could be off EU menu as MEPs back renaming plant-based foods

Proponents say move would strengthen position of farmers in supply chain but critics dismiss it as ‘hotdog populism’

www.theguardian.com

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Amy Westervelt @amywestervelt.bsky.social · 7h

This story from @rishpardikar.bsky.social for @drilledmedia.bsky.social on how Modi's oil & coal cronies are pulling all the strings in India is *wild* not least for the story of the oil baron's son who is going around the world poaching endangered species 🤯 drilled.media/news/modi-ad...

75,000 Endangered and Exotic Animals, SLAPP Suits, and Zero Oversight

How oil and coal billionaires with close ties to the Modi government escape judicial and media scrutiny in India.

drilled.media

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Barry McMullin @autofac.bsky.social · 7h

Yes, "the stupid hurts", and I certainly feel that pain. But ... against all that, the future is open, and people are fundamentally good (IMHO). For all its flaws, humanity and human knowledge of itself is a cosmic miracle, worth preserving. So: I go on, and fight for a better future anyway.

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Barry McMullin @autofac.bsky.social · 8h

[An implication of this is that the cost-optimal level of dispatch down is significantly above zero in general: i.e. a non-zero sweetspot of "excess RE", which will vary from system to system. Novel flexible demand MAY emerge to chip away at this, albeit against challenge of low capacity factor.]

Christian Breyer @christianonre.bsky.social · 1d

1/ New research @lut.fi presents the first global analysis of inter-annual storage for #100RE systems in 145 regions doi.org/10.1016/j.ap.... Strategic generation overcapacity is a significantly more cost-effective solution than building massive storage.

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Christian Breyer @christianonre.bsky.social · 1d

1/ New research @lut.fi presents the first global analysis of inter-annual storage for #100RE systems in 145 regions doi.org/10.1016/j.ap.... Strategic generation overcapacity is a significantly more cost-effective solution than building massive storage.

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Barry McMullin @autofac.bsky.social · 10h

[Where on earth does #KierStarmer think he is going with this? When he should be moving heaven and earth to stop the livestreamed #GazeGenocide, he chooses silencing *protests* against it as his priority?]

Duroyan Fertl ᚇᚓᚑᚏᚐᚇᚐᚅ @dfertl.bsky.social · 10h

“ #KeirStarmer has threatened to crack down on the chants used at pro- #Palestine protests in England”

A literal - and chilling - attack on free speech.
#Starmer is paving the way for an authoritarian #farright Farage government by setting up one of his own.
www.thenational.scot/news/2552642...

Keir Starmer threatens crackdown on pro-Palestine protest chants

KEIR Starmer has threatened to crack down on the chants used at pro-Palestine protests in England.

www.thenational.scot

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Barry McMullin @autofac.bsky.social · 10h

[Real "end times" feel about this one. Apropos of which: "The Age of Stupid" was supposed to be a warning, not a prophecy. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age... 🤦‍♂️]

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 11h

I have not actually read the new climate obstruction book yet but my mate sent me this really excellent extract

www.routledge.com/Climate-Obst...

Corporate Ventriloquism

Corporate ventriloquism is a rhetorical process by which companies transmit messages through other entities, usually of their own creation, to construct and animate an alternative ethos, voice, or identity that advances their interests.

Some companies have used corporate ventriloquism to advance their agendas through support for community organizations.

Ventriloquism Companies may create front groups and information campaigns, but also leverage corporate social responsibility strategies that invest in community development. Such strategies have been used for decades as a means for industry actors to underscore their legitimacy and to shore up the perception that they are positive social contributors to the environments in which they operate.

Research has shown how extractive industries such as coal have invested heavily in local communities to sow solidarity and support for the industry.

Material investments such as parks, community centers, sponsored events (concerts, car shows, etc.), and museums are not only a means of winning support through material investment in communities (a form of philanthropy or bribery), but also of symbolically “branding” the community and of making it more difficult for the community to oppose industry goals.

Similarly, investor-owned utilities sponsor sports stadiums and museums—branding efforts that double as philanthropy—in their efforts to effectively blur the line between public and private interests.

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The Climate Alarm Clock @climatealarmclock.bsky.social · 11d

The Climate Alarm Clock was delighted to record our first-ever live podcast at the incredible Earth Rising Festival at @immaireland a couple of weeks ago, and the episode is now live! 🌍🎙️

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Daryl FÉTH FÍADA Feehely 🎃 @darylfeehely.com · 16d

A nice surprise this morning to hear that the @climatealarmclock.bsky.social gang are back dropping truth & pragmatic laughs about #ClimateChange.

Maith sibh 👏

the-climate-alarm-clock.captivate.fm/episode/publ...
#ClimateAction

Public perception and the hottest summer yet - LIVE at Earth Rising 2025 - The Climate Alarm Clock

The Climate Alarms Clock is back with a couple of special episodesTodays episode was recorded live at The Earth Rising Festival in the Irish Museum of M...

the-climate-alarm-clock.captivate.fm

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 13h

- Grim that media barons are buying up mainstream media and making them fascism-enabling propaganda engines

- ULTAGRIM that so many of the big-name journalists escaping that fire are voluntarily leaping directly into a completely separate newsletter website trap set by the same fascists

Substack’s “Nazi problem” won’t go away after push notification apology

Substack may be legitimizing neo-Nazis as “thought leaders,” researcher warns.

arstechnica.com

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Patrick Freyne @patrickfreyne.bsky.social · 13h

This is a beautiful tribute to her friend Manchán Magan from Roisin Ingle www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...

Manchán Magan was a great man for a video message. You’d never know what you might get

One of the most precious gifts cancer has given me is a deep friendship with this extraordinary Irish man

www.irishtimes.com

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Barry McMullin @autofac.bsky.social · 1d

*Ireland's* "one-sided approach to Israel"... file under #BeyondSatire! 🤦‍♂️

Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 1d

“As friends of Ireland and strong advocates for a close relationship between Ireland and the United States, we write to express our deep concern over Ireland’s one-sided approach to Israel, a vital ally of the United States,” say 23 members of Congress.

www.irishtimes.com/politics/202... #otb

US lawmakers intensify warnings to Taoiseach over Occupied Territories Bill

Politicians warn of problems for US firms in Ireland if law conflicts with American antiboycott rules

www.irishtimes.com

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Friends of the Earth Ireland @foeireland.bsky.social · 1d

#Budget2026: Some initial reaction🔎
It’s impossible to “prepare for tomorrow” while ignoring the climate crisis
Small steps towards addressing energy poverty welcome but overall Budget 2026 fails to tackle the interlinked climate & cost of living crises
🧵1/
www.friendsoftheearth.ie/news/impossi...

Budget Reaction : Impossible to “prepare for tomorrow” while ignoring climate crisis

Small steps towards addressing energy poverty welcome but overall Budget 2026 fails to tackle the interlinked climate and cost of living crises

www.friendsoftheearth.ie

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