Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · 18h

I love a good carved pumpkin, but if people spent 1/10 of what they spend on “seasonal decor” and “lawn maintenance” on planting and watering a few native 🌳shrubs and trees🍃, imagine the 🌱biodiversity paradise we’d live in.

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · 1d

Clarity:

The one thing that should be in any budget deal to end the government shutdown should be ending the Trump administration’s illegal power grab of Congressionally mandated spending.

Any other deal is Congressional “suicide.”

The Quiet Shutdown Becomes Loud

Appropriations rupture exposes the constitutional stakes

open.substack.com

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · 6d

In my first real year of identifying volunteer native plants that I won’t “weed,” this bushy 🌱 plant that I think is a Small White Aster grew and grew, and finally bloomed this past week with what must be 800 tiny flowers.

I just counted about 8 different species of pollinators 🦋. It’s rockin’!

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · 11d

Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware collects, develops, and tests particularly good-looking cultivars of useful plants to make sure they’re still useful to nature.

One of their standouts is Solidago sphacelata ‘Golden Fleece’. We planted these 2 years ago.

And all the 🐝 bumblebees say yasss. 🌱

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Reposted by Ellen Qualls

Evan Frost @wildwoods.bsky.social · 12d

There is so much in the news cycle these days that the complete dismantling of the Forest Service -- so *our* forests can be auctioned off to Big TImber -- is unfortunately getting little air play. But if this happens, US landscapes may be almost unrecognizable in a decade, and never coming back. 🌍

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 12d

Using an emergency declaration, Trump’s timber production executive order would ease environmental protections so as to greatly expand logging in the national forests.

A report from our friends at @highcountrynews.org:

The dismantling of the US Forest Service is imminent

The public has less than a week remaining to comment on the administration's plans.

www.motherjones.com

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · 16d

The internet suggests this is Sparassis spathulata growing under our giant Chestnut Oak. First time I’ve seen one here. 🌱

We knew the forest has a brain, but this is just showing off!

Source: ultimate-mushroom.com/edible/221-s...

A 4“ x 2“ mushroom that looks like a coral or a human brain, a very light cream color. Growing among some brown fallen oak leaves on a hillside under a chestnut oak.

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · 20d

They’ve come for the ice cream.

Also, we are all now left wondering what that flavor was going to be named.

CNBC @cnbc.com · 20d

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield has stepped down from the ice cream maker after nearly 50 years.

Greenfield dubbed the decision “painful,” but said that the Unilever had silenced the company’s ability to speak up on global issues, including the conflict in Gaza.

Ben & Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield quits over social activism row with Unilever

Greenfield dubbed the decision "painful" but said that the Unilever had silenced the company's ability to speak up on global issues.

cnb.cx

Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · Aug 28

Uh oh

Red and white warning sign tacked to pole: DANGER DUE TO and someone hand wrote “FIERCE RABBITS”

Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · Aug 21

Always look up

#birds 🦅

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · Aug 9

DC Uber driver: It’s awfully quiet. Not many cars at all.

Me: Why?

Driver: Ain’t no federal workers no more. And no one coming here.
Feels like the pandemic.

Me: Maybe a political pandemic?

Driver: Ha, you could say that. He’s a mess.

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · Jul 28

This feels very Homer Simpson.

Climate change makes winter less cold. We use less natural gas to heat. So Washington Gas bills us more so we're not shocked by paying less. D'oh!

www.washingtongas.com/billing-and-...

Virginia Weather Normalization Adjustment - Washington Gas

The Weather Normalization Adjustment is designed to reduce the volatility of your natural gas bill due to changes in weather conditions.

www.washingtongas.com

Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · Jul 26

“‘Ignorance’ Is Most Pressing Issue Facing Ocean Conservation”

Baller ocean scientist Sylvia Earle blends snark, wisdom, and hope into a tight message about saving life on 🌎. 🌱

'Ignorance' Is Most Pressing Issue Facing Ocean Conservation, Says Sylvia Earle

The ocean conservationist on hope, and why, on the cusp of her 90th birthday, she keeps diving.

time.com

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · Jul 18

Boston’s @wgbh.org — which launched the TV careers of Julia Child, Vincent Price, Bob Vila — today

Jumbo screen on side of WGBH TV headquarters in Boston says “Local. Trusted. Defunded.”

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · Jul 18

This is a terrible thing but really good communication about it

NPR @npr.org · Jul 18

Congress has decided to claw back previously approved funding for public media.

This decision hurts people in communities across the country, but it has only strengthened our resolve to keep Americans informed and connected. (1/2)

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · Jul 12

Toronto Star giving big 🌮Taco Tuesday🌮 energy on Saturday morning

Toronto star front page headline “Newest Trump chaos scene as “noise”

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · Jul 4

without downloading any new pics, where are you mentally?

A fluffy white owlet with light brown markings over his eyes, appears to run on 2 legs across grass

Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · Jul 1

A Rorschach test for the 🌱 gardening feed!

If you’re gardening for nature, this is welcome proof that letting the volunteer redbud spring up in that bed was a good thing. 🐝🐝🐝

Nine perfect little circular bite marks all around the edge of a green heart shaped redbud leaf made by a leaf cutter bee

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · Jun 19

There’s so much we can do! 🌱

WWF UK @wwf.org.uk · Jun 18

The world’s tough on #insects, but a few simple steps can turn your space into a much-needed bug haven:

🌼 Plant a native flower
💧 Leave shallow water bowls
🌙 Turn off outdoor lights
🍂 Keep leaf litter & compost
🦋 Create balcony or window gardens

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Insects are dying: here are 25 easy and effective ways you can help protect them

From turning out the lights to letting leaves rot, these small steps can create big changes at home or in the wild

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Ellen Qualls

Senator Patty Murray @murray.senate.gov · Jun 12

This is a lie. We all saw the video. The Senator clearly identified himself, and he did not "lunge" toward anyone.

If these miserable propagandists will lie to you about roughing up a U.S. Senator in a room full of reporters, what won't they lie to you about?

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Reposted by Ellen Qualls

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · Jun 11

Meanwhile, @axios.com says LA is letting Trump "fuse power, politics and spectacle" on his "home turf" of immigration. NBC uncritically reports that WH sees this as a "winning issue."

This is a vile way to describe authoritarian/fascist lawlessness. 6/

newrepublic.com/article/1966...

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · Jun 3

I did not have 🌱 gardening for insects 🐛 my late-mid-life crisis bingo card.

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · May 29

It really is a death cult.

STAT News headline: “Breaking: HHS cancels nearly $600 million Moderna contract on vaccines for flu pandemics” over photo of Moderna sign on side of a building.

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · May 17

You’re really supposed to let them die back naturally after they have stored enough energy for next year, and then clip them, but this gang was leaning all over my Penstemon digitalis.🌱

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · May 16

I was struggling with my spent daffodil leaves 🌱 until my scrunchie came to the rescue so I could twine them.

Probably not how @gardenersworldmag.bsky.social does it!

Spent daffodil leaves folded over and secured with hair scrunchie

And voila, scrunchie removed and twine tie securely in place

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Ellen Qualls @ellenqualls.bsky.social · May 13

When you sneak that cherry tomato plant into your front garden bed and wait for neighbors to notice you’re actually farming 🌱

An 11 inch tall cherry tomato plant in a green tomato cage next to a native fern and black-eyed Susans, surrounded by arborist wood chips.

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