Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Grey Moran @greymoran.bsky.social · 15h

must read reporting from @ninaelkadi.com

Nina B. Elkadi @ninaelkadi.com · 16h

Dispatches from La Paz County, Arizona: “There’s a lot of big straws sucking out the majority of the water,” Famiglietti says. “What I didn’t have the heart to say to residents is, you just spent $100,000 on a new well but you’re probably going to have to spend another $100,000 in a few years.”

In the Arizona Desert, Where Your Neighbor Is an Alfalfa Farm

Water resource “hedge funds” and corporate farms are running the desert dry.

sentientmedia.org

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Reposted by Grey Moran

ACLU @aclu.org · 6d

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.

Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

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Sentient @sentientmedia.org · 19d

When a realtor asked Merrill Cauble about selling his land to Innovative Livestock Services for their planned feedlot, he didn’t think about it: there was no way he would sell to the organizations he deems to be wreaking havoc on Kansas. @ninaelkadi.com reports:

Kansas Greenlights Mega Feedlot in “Sensitive” Water Area

Despite community pushback over groundwater pollution and health risks, the 88,000-head feedlot will be one of the largest in the state.

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Grey Moran @greymoran.bsky.social · 22d

Glad to see this article about scientists struggling to obtain field-level avian flu data, which the U.S. government collects from farms, republished in @undark.org
It's one of the reasons why avian flu surveillance remains very limited

undark.org/2025/09/16/a...

In Tracking Avian Flu, Data Privacy Stymies Researchers

Specific data about H5N1 outbreaks on farms has generally been deemed confidential by state and federal officials.

undark.org

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Reposted by Grey Moran

Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 23d

As I wrote about for @motherjones.com, people are already crossing state lines to get the Covid vaccine—which may become more common if the CDC vaccine advisory committee recommends limiting them this week. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Welcome to the new era of Covid vaccine tourism

Trump and RFK Jr.'s anti-vax crackdown is driving Americans across state lines—and making some pay out of pocket.

www.motherjones.com

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Reposted by Grey Moran

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 29d

I would sue if I found out my therapist was using AI during therapy. A total privacy nightmare.

"Suddenly, I was watching him use ChatGPT,” says Declan, 31, who lives in Los Angeles. “He was taking what I was saying and putting it into ChatGPT, and then summarizing or cherry-picking answers.”

Therapists are secretly using ChatGPT. Clients are triggered.

Some therapists are using AI during therapy sessions. They’re risking their clients’ trust and privacy in the process.

www.technologyreview.com

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Reposted by Grey Moran

Jenny Splitter @jennysplitter.bsky.social · Sep 7

Scientists studying avian flu are often denied access to on-farm data that could help them develop better surveillance tools. The reason? Government agencies cite privacy protections for farms and producers. Fascinating story by @greymoran.bsky.social sentientmedia.org/data-from-fa...

More Data From Farms Could Help Scientists Better Track Avian Flu, but Privacy Concerns Stand in the Way

Government agencies have refused to disclose farm locations, precise outbreak dates and other metadata associated with poultry and cattle that test positive for avian flu.

sentientmedia.org

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Grey Moran @greymoran.bsky.social · Sep 4

Scientists tracking avian flu are working in a vacuum of data.

Often citing the need to protect farm privacy, officials deny scientists access to data on the location of the farms with outbreaks, details on the infected animals, and precise dates of the outbreak.

sentientmedia.org/data-from-fa...

More Data From Farms Could Help Scientists Better Track Avian Flu, but Privacy Concerns Stand in the Way

Government agencies have refused to disclose farm locations, precise outbreak dates and other metadata associated with poultry and cattle that test positive for avian flu.

sentientmedia.org

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Reposted by Grey Moran

Sentient @sentientmedia.org · Sep 4

For years, veterinary researcher and @ucdavisvetmed.bsky.social associate professor Maurice Pitesky has attempted to obtain — but has been denied — state and federal data revealing the location of avian flu outbreaks on U.S. farms. @greymoran.bsky.social reports:

More Data From Farms Could Help Scientists Better Track Avian Flu, but Privacy Concerns Stand in the Way

Government agencies have refused to disclose farm locations, precise outbreak dates and other metadata associated with poultry and cattle that test positive for avian flu.

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Reposted by Grey Moran

Nina B. Elkadi @ninaelkadi.com · Aug 27

In case you're wondering how biodigesters are doing at saving the world: In Wisconsin, private equity convinced a tiny town to serve as a conduit for almost $42 million in municipal bonds. The massive project, developed tax-free, just missed their principal payment.

Sentient @sentientmedia.org · Aug 27

Pitched as a boon to small towns, WI RNG Hub North, a manure methane digester project, financed $41.5 Million via the town of Gillett, promising jobs and future tax revenue. In June, the project defaulted on their $1.7 million principal payment. @ninaelkadi.com reports:

A Small Wisconsin Town Bet Big on a Biodigester. Now the Project Is Defaulting on Its Loans.

Pitched as a boon to small towns, the biodigester financed $41.5 Million via the town of Gillett, promising jobs and future tax revenue.

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Reposted by Grey Moran

Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · Aug 25

It’s up to the discretion of RFK Jr to define what ”medically frail” is when it comes to potential Medicaid work requirement exemptions—which may play a huge role in deciding which chronically ill and disabled people could qualify. My latest for @motherjones.com.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

RFK Jr. is getting personal authority over who to kick off of Medicaid

“It's just a way of cutting people off of coverage and then blaming them for it.”

www.motherjones.com

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Reposted by Grey Moran

Chance Phillips @chancephillips.bsky.social · Aug 23

This great story from @sentientmedia.org just underlines the point I was trying to make in my article for @currentaffairs.bsky.social.

The Trump admin is going to spend the next few years giving meatpacking companies a pass on food and worker safety requirements.
sentientmedia.org/former-tyson...

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Sentient @sentientmedia.org · Aug 12

Canadians and Americans are working together to stop the construction of two new mega-dairies in North Dakota. At the core of the fight? Clean water.

@jesslsr.bsky.social shares how advocates and residents are fighting against factory farms.

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Reposted by Grey Moran

Casey Seiler @caseyseiler.bsky.social · Aug 15

Homeless people in Auburn say they were paid $30 to falsely attest to making $250 donations to a young Republican’s state Senate campaign — fake donations that reaped many multiples in state matching funds. A shocker from @emiliemunson.bsky.social www.timesunion.com/capitol/arti...

Homeless people say they got paid to be donors in Senate campaign

Law enforcement are investigating whether Caleb Slater allegedly paid people in exchange for donations to get money from the New York State Public Campaign Finance Program during the 2024 election.

www.timesunion.com

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Reposted by Grey Moran

Philip Bump @pbump.com · Aug 13

Trump has always cherry-picked data. But now he's poised to use the power of the federal government to grow his own cherries. www.pbump.net/o/donald-tru...

Donald Trump, ‘numbers’ guy

The day Donald Trump announced his 2016 presidential candidacy at Trump Tower, I was tasked with evaluating the factual claims he made in his speech. I did so … for the first couple of inaccurate clai...

www.pbump.net

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Reposted by Grey Moran

Just Kevin @kevinleecaster.bsky.social · Aug 13

The modern GOP:

Justin Ransom helped launch Tyson’s label for “climate friendly” beef, which has been pulled from the shelves and accused of misleading consumers.

Now, Republicans have put him in charge of the federal agency charged with overseeing meat labeling.
sentientmedia.org/former-tyson...

A Former Tyson Executive Now Oversees the Safety of the U.S. Meat Supply

Justin Ransom helped launch Tyson’s controversial label for “climate friendly” beef. Now he leads the federal agency charged with meat label oversight.

sentientmedia.org

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Grey Moran @greymoran.bsky.social · Aug 13

Justin Ransom helped launch Tyson’s label for “climate friendly” beef, which has been pulled from the shelves and accused of misleading consumers.

Now he leads FSIS, the federal agency charged with overseeing meat labeling.
@sentientmedia.org

sentientmedia.org/former-tyson...

A Former Tyson Executive Now Oversees the Safety of the U.S. Meat Supply

Justin Ransom helped launch Tyson’s controversial label for “climate friendly” beef. Now he leads the federal agency charged with meat label oversight.

sentientmedia.org

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Reposted by Grey Moran

Sentient @sentientmedia.org · Aug 13

Justin Ransom helped launch Tyson’s controversial label for “climate-friendly” beef. Now, he leads the federal agency charged with meat label oversight. @greymoran.bsky.social reports:
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A Former Tyson Executive Now Oversees the Safety of the U.S. Meat Supply

Justin Ransom helped launch Tyson’s controversial label for “climate friendly” beef. Now he leads the federal agency charged with meat label oversight.

sentientmedia.org

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Reposted by Grey Moran

19thnews @19thnews.org · Jul 25

Native American groups say tribal sovereignty trumps state and federal efforts to restrict or ban gender-affirming care for their LGBTQ+ and two-spirit citizens.

From @kffhealthnews.org:

Native tribal leaders push back on gender-affirming care restrictions for their citizens

Native American groups say tribal sovereignty trumps state and federal efforts to restrict or ban gender-affirming care for their LGBTQ+ and two-spirit citizens.

19thnews.org

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Grey Moran @greymoran.bsky.social · Jul 21

great reporting by @ninaelkadi.com into how two leading pork producers touted their use of anaerobic digesters to capture methane. But an excess of gas led to the flaring of methane & release of dangerous sulfur dioxide into the air

sentientmedia.org/iowa-pork-pl...

At an Iowa Pork Plant, Piles of Dead Pigs and Wafting Sulphur Dioxide

When climate technology breaks down, the results can be deadly.

sentientmedia.org

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Grey Moran @greymoran.bsky.social · Jul 16

JBS is poised for explosive growth in the coming years. Its brazen tax avoidance schemes--such as shifting money to a network of 18 shell companies in Luxembourg--allow the meat giant to retain more profits while dodging taxes in the U.S. & elsewhere
sentientmedia.org/jbs-the-worl...

How JBS — the World’s Largest Meat Company — Avoids Paying Taxes

By utilizing intercompany loans and dividends, and a network of shell companies based in Luxembourg, JBS has been able to dodge paying taxes where it conducts business.

sentientmedia.org

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Grey Moran @greymoran.bsky.social · Jul 7

I wrote about how an outpouring of community support has helped free 3 detained farmworkers in VT

“The speed and efficacy of the response is due to the groundwork that we’ve been laying now for over a decade,” -Rachel Elliott of @migrantjustice.bsky.social

sentientmedia.org/vermont-resi...

In Vermont, Residents Are Fighting to Free Their Dairy Farmworker Neighbors

The dairy industry in Vermont relies heavily on immigrant hires, workers who are now being detained and deported. And sometimes freed.

sentientmedia.org

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Sentient @sentientmedia.org · Jul 7

An estimated 1,000 undocumented migrants form the backbone of Vermont’s dairy industry. Those workers are now being detained and deported. And sometimes freed, with the help of organizations like @migrantjustice.bsky.social. @greymoran.bsky.social reports:

In Vermont, Residents Are Fighting to Free Their Dairy Farmworker Neighbors

The dairy industry in Vermont relies heavily on immigrant hires, workers who are now being detained and deported. And sometimes freed.

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Grace Hussain @gracehussain.bsky.social · Jun 11

"These ads reflect a rhetorical trend in rightwing political campaigns: the use of language invoking meat to dehumanize transgender people — and then justify extreme anti-trans laws...This grotesque language is trafficking in a common form of disinformation." reporting by @greymoran.bsky.social

Why Anti-Trans Campaigns Keep Returning to the Politics of Meat

Recent anti-trans political ads were funded in part by meat industry trade groups, including multiple ads comparing trans people to cattle.

sentientmedia.org

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Reposted by Grey Moran

Jenny Splitter @jennysplitter.bsky.social · Jun 10

New reporting from @greymoran.bsky.social traces the disinformation in anti-trans political ads in the 2024 cycle, and the funding back to cattle and meat industry trade groups. sentientmedia.org/anti-trans-c...

Why Anti-Trans Campaigns Keep Returning to the Politics of Meat

Recent anti-trans political ads were funded in part by meat industry trade groups, including multiple ads comparing trans people to cattle.

sentientmedia.org

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