Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 7h

I'm indebted to @wudan.bsky.social for her top notch fact checking for my forthcoming book and saving me from my own unforced errors. She is also the book's first reviewer! "Beautiful and heart-stopping ... writing"
Thank you for the kind words and the amazing fact checking

Wudan's write up of The Earth Said Remember Me: "beautiful and heart stopping writing."

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Reposted by Jason Mark

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 7h

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

violent alien @blipstress.bsky.social · 8h

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 10h

Serious Question:
Who is Lee Greenwood?

Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 11h

The cruelty is the point ... even when it's phony, AI-generated cruelty
gizmodo.com/fake-protest...

Fake Protest Videos Are the Latest AI Slop to Go Viral in MAGA World

Trump supporters are doubling down on AI sadism.

gizmodo.com

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 14h

Sign of a healthy democracy ...
www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Professor who teaches about antifascism moves to Europe after death threats

A Rutgers University professor who wrote a book about antifa received the threats after he commented on President Donald Trump designating the movement a “domestic terrorist organization.”

www.washingtonpost.com

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 14h

Sometimes progress moves fast. Just 15 years ago, as the editor of @earthislandjournal.bsky.social, I published a special issue all about the fight against "King Coal." Today, coal has been knocked from its throne. In a recent US govt mining auction, coal sold for only 1/10 of a penny per ton

the summer 2010 edition of Earth Island Journal: "The People Vs King Coal"

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 14h

"From January to July, as noted by Reuters, solar generation delivered 39% of [California's] generation, a record level, while fossil fuels provided just 26%, a new low since the dawn of modern gas power."
www.canarymedia.com/articles/sol...

Solar is crushing gas power in California this year

The state’s combination of solar and battery plants have pushed clean generation of electricity to new heights, offering a welcome reprieve from high gas…

www.canarymedia.com

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Reposted by Jason Mark

Janet Hill @saskajanet.bsky.social · 1d

Look at her go!
#invertebrates 🌿

Screen shot of Project Monarch app map of progress of a monarch butterfly from southern Ontario to Oklahoma.

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Reposted by Jason Mark

Jake Higdon @jakehigdon.com · 1d

There are real people on the end of these grants. Rust belt autoworkers. Great Plains farmers and roughnecks. Coal communities looking to a new economic future.

It’s genuinely heartbreaking. They don’t have do this — the money is already obligated — but I guess they enjoy destroying lives.

Emily Pontecorvo @emilypont.bsky.social · 1d

Some additional info on the new list of axed DOE projects circulating.
- All 7 H2 Hubs
- All 13 IRA grants to convert at-risk auto plants to EV mfg
- 11 of 15 grants to speed domestic clean energy mfg in former coal communities
- 10 of 38 grants for battery materials
heatmap.news/politics/doe...

Trump to Axe All 7 Hydrogen Hubs, Bucking Bipartisan Law

A new list of Department of Energy grants slated for termination will hit clean energy and oil majors alike, including Exxon and Chevron.

heatmap.news

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Reposted by Jason Mark

Senator Patty Murray @murray.senate.gov · 1d

The scenes out of Chicago should outrage us all. These federal agents are out of control, committing senseless acts of violence & putting everyone at risk.

American citizens are being detained & brutalized.

This kind of immigration "enforcement" shouldn't be acceptable to anyone.

Immigration agents become increasingly aggressive in Chicago

Activists, residents and elected leaders say increasingly combative tactics used by federal immigration agents are sparking violence and fueling neighborhood tensions in the nation’s third-largest cit...

www.pbs.org

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 1d

It takes some real willful ignorance to write this column and completely fail to mention the US military's pioneering role in desegregation, which started in [checks notes] 1948 ... a full 16 years before the passage of the Civil Rights Act
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...

Opinion | That Hegseth Speech Was Actually Pretty Good

www.nytimes.com

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 1d

Yep! Which is why the work of Solarcycle is so vital. www.solarcycle.us

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 1d

THIS! Also ... community cider pressing at apple season
civileats.com/2025/10/01/o...

Op-ed: Let’s Preserve Our Communities Through Canning Food

Community canneries can bring people together, encourage food sovereignty and healthy local food systems, and even mitigate climate change.

civileats.com

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 1d

This is a moment of world-historical importance:
"Renewable energy overtook coal as the world's leading source of electricity in the first half of this year - a historic first, according to new data from the global energy think tank Ember."
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Renewables overtake coal as world's biggest source of electricity

Developing countries lead the historic clean energy charge but the US and EU rely more on fossil fuels than before, a think tank study shows.

www.bbc.com

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 1d

Supermoon, Lake Padden, Bellingham WA. #lunatic

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 2d

Now do book publishing. Also, freelance magazine journalism.

Shahan Ali Memon @shahanmemon.bsky.social · 4d

The future of peer review is here.

Introducing Nature Instant!

We've automated rejection so you can get disappointed faster. Because why wait 6 months for reviewer 2 when you can get roasted by an #AI in seconds?

Here is how it works.

#AI4Science #PeerReview #FictionScience #FiSci #AAAI #ScAISci

Showing a fictitious system for submitting manuscripts called "Nature Instant" showing bot choices for authors to choose from as initial AI-based peer reviewers. The bots are trained on real human reviewer data.

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 2d

I’m glad to see the folks at my local Forest Service office know how to communicate the shutdown in neutral language: “The office will reopen once Congress restores funding.”
(Plus a glamour shot of Mt Baker)

Currently closed sign at a Forest Service office

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 2d

Yep, this is a great article, and written by the legendary AZ journalist Tony Davis, which is reason enough to give it a read.

Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 2d

The past and future of water, primarily groundwater, and housing in the Phoenix metro. I learned some new things - including that it took 39 years (!) for Arizona's 1980 groundwater law to halt any growth. Thorough reporting from Tony Davis @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/issues/57-10...

The dried-out subdivisions of Phoenix - High Country News

A groundwater crisis halted the construction of thousands of homes and pitted affordability against environmental concerns.

www.hcn.org

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 2d

Paging Governor Bob Ferguson...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

It’s time for soft secession

How blue states can use their economic clout to stand up to Trump’s agenda—starting with California.

www.motherjones.com

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 4d

“Untethered to the Facts” is like Trump’s Wu Tang name

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 4d

NEW: Federal judge blocks Trump's National Guard mobilization in Oregon.

"The President’s determination" that the Guard was needed "was simply untethered to the facts," Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, found. DOJ is appealing.

Overnight, at Law Dork:

Federal judge blocks Trump's National Guard mobilization in Oregon

"The President’s determination" that the Guard was needed "was simply untethered to the facts," Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, found. DOJ is appealing.

www.lawdork.com

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Reposted by Jason Mark

David Bier @davidjbier.bsky.social · 6d

Holy hell. DHS just openly stated that its agents use “reasonable suspicion” to make ARRESTS. This is blatantly unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is clear that you need probable cause to arrest someone, as opposed to stop them to ask them a question or two. This is huge b/c…

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 4d

"Progress that isn't sustainable isn't really progress--it's borrowing against the future."
Glad I finally made the time to watch this overview of the environmental impacts of #AI
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/o...

Opinion | A.I.’s Environmental Impact Will Threaten Its Own Supply Chain

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Jason Mark

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 4d

war-ravaged

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 5d

Federal officer blasts chemical spray into vocal but nonviolent Portland protester, video shows

The interaction illustrates how federal law enforcement officers do use aggressive tactics against protesters who yell and needle officers but don’t appear to present clear physical threats.

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 5d

Twas Ever Thus:
"Affluence and courage have become negatively correlated; the wealthy have too much to lose. Thus, their fortune makes them less, not more, secure."
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/o...

Opinion | What I Learned From My Days in Russia: Silicon Valley Needs to Start Speaking Out About Trump

www.nytimes.com

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Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 5d

Morning Mood:
The girl-dads group chat trading notes about “The Life of a Showgirl”
#TS

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