Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Steve Tornes

Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · 5h

I’m so damn spooked by this headline

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

National Guard poised to enter Chicago as Trump calls for jailing Democratic leaders

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Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 2d

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival/Mooncake Festival!

Mid Autumn Moon Festival - Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

vancouverchinesegarden.com

Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 2d

A fun map I made of the Kootenay Region
With elevation, rivers, and major roads
Zooming in, you can see all the rivers and ridges

#rstats #rayshader #britishcolumbia #bc

Map of the Kootenay Region, BC
With elevation, rivers, and major roads

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Reposted by Steve Tornes

Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders @movementyvr.bsky.social · 5d

We’ve got a special treat for Go By Transit Week! Our amazing volunteer Ritapa just released a transit-themed album.

Listen to Lost in Transit, an album by Sukhi Sukhi / সুখি সুখি on Soundcloud!

on.soundcloud.com/ka...

Ritapa's album cover. She stands on a SkyTrain platform, looking to the side, with the text “Lost in Transit” above her.

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Reposted by Steve Tornes

The Tyee @thetyee.ca · 5d

This year’s Vancouver Writers Fest features an electrifying slate of 130 authors from Canada and around the world, including bestselling novelists, poets, memoirists and thought leaders. #TyeePresents #Sponsored

thetyee.ca/Presents/202...

CONTEST: Win Tickets to the Vancouver Writers Fest | The Tyee

Three lucky Tyee readers will get to enjoy a can’t-miss literary event of their choosing.

thetyee.ca

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Reposted by Steve Tornes

Rebecca Bollwitt @miss604.com · 6d

Get your tickets for Megaphone’s fundraiser on October 16th

🎟️ Hear a keynote from Am Johal on non-profit sustainability during periods of incredible uncertainty
🎟️ Celebrate recipients of the Catherine Ludgate Vendor of the Year and Angel Gates Memorial Awards

@megaphonemagazine.com

Megaphone's Annual Fundraiser: The Evening Edition

Join us as we celebrate our annual Vendor of the Year award recipient and Angel Gates Memorial award winner!

www.eventbrite.ca

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Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 6d

I would like to live in a world without forced family separations
Some basic values that should inform our politics
- All humans are worthy of dignity and respect
- We should do everything we can to protect the well-being of children
Separations are a horrible violation on human life by the state

Trump revives family separations amid drive to deport millions: ‘A tactic to punish’

Family separations were the hallmark of the first Trump administration’s border policy. Now advocates allege migrant families are being split up again as a retaliatory measure

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Steve Tornes

Catie Gould @citizen-cate.bsky.social · 6d

In good news, I got this book just in time to bring to Shoup’s memorial service at UCLA tomorrow. Very special that he got to read & edit these essays in tribute to his work before he passed away last year. 🥹

Shoup Doctrine, book about Donald Shoup’s work on parking reform.

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Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 14d

Just finished reading "Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea" by Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor
And it was fantastic, I've read Taylor before, and her writing is a great mix of political theory and contemporary issues
I always learn a lot
I recommend you check it out

Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea by Leah Hunt-Hendrix, Astra Taylor

From renowned organizers and activists Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor, comes the first in-dep...

app.thestorygraph.com

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Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 14d

Had some extra time this past week, so for fun, made a map of the Fraser Valley - Census Division

Made using #RStudio

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Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 15d

So excited!
I'm reading Solidarity right now, and it is so good

This is a dream team of progressive writing, and I can't wait to see the result

Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 16d

Can these folks slow it down just a titch? I'm trying to write a book about End Times Fascism with @astra.bsky.social!

Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 16d

@jentaub.bsky.social is this why you texted me about the Rapture? LOL

www.forbes.com/sites/danidi...

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Reposted by Steve Tornes

brennan @brennan.computer · 16d

huh, the entire alberta energy grid was free for 16 hours yesterday

wind power was overproducing, so it just... goes to zero apparently

For 16 hours on Sunday, Sept. 21, the entirety of power generation in Alberta, from Zama to Taber, and from Lloydminster to Edson, went for a price at less than one singular Timbit.

That’s right – the entire province (except for there they may be a side deal or two), every pumpjack, streetlight, factory, hospital, hard-wired welder, refinery, LRT, air conditioner, computer and hair dryer was powered at a cost of precisely zero dollars for two-thirds of the day.

That’s because during that time, the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) pool price was $0 per megawatt-hour. And one Timbit at least costs something.

AESO pool price on Sept 21. AESO

Some people have questioned why Pipeline Online doesn’t report a lot about the times when wind power generation does well. The reality is there aren’t many days when wind output exceeds 50 per cent. but when it does, such as on Sunday, Sept. 21, there are other impacts. Wind did exceptionally well in Alberta throughout most of the day. And as a result, all power generators on the Alberta grid who received the pool price got paid precisely zero for 16 hours (and counting at time of writing.)

At 8:44 a.m., the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) declared a supply surplus in effect, but it ended at 10:12 a.m. Another supply surplus was declared at 10:14 p.m. It ended at 12:08 a.m.

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Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 16d

Facebook is pretty much unusable at this point
Had to scroll through 19 different ads before I reached an update from a friend
Though just mentioning Facebook, even to complain, makes me feel so uncool, I should probably remain silent instead

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Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 17d

I have a new blog post, “How to deal with election loss.”

If you have ever worked or gotten involved in an unsuccessful campaign, I’m sure you can relate to how demoralizing it can feel.
I hope that everyone can take some of these capacity building lessons to heart

#politics

How to Deal with Election Loss

Every election cycle, political junkies, activists, and campaigners stay up and watch as votes trickle in, ridings flip, and parties either…

medium.com

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Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 17d

Absolutely depressing to be reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, and coming across this article
It feels like so many of the same issues, where we are making consumerist choices that affects ecosystems, before doing the careful research and making data-informed health policies

Rebecca Altman, PhD @rebecca-altman.bsky.social · 19d

Plastics found inside vegetable tissues: www.earth.com/news/plastic...

Plastics found inside vegetable tissues for the first time

Nanoplastics from plastic pollution can enter vegetables, raising new concerns about food safety, human health, and environmental impacts.

www.earth.com

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Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 17d

Statement by Prime Minister Carney on Canada’s recognition of the State of Palestine

Since 1947, it has been the policy of every Canadian government to support a two-state solution for lasting peace in the Middle East.

www.pm.gc.ca

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Reposted by Steve Tornes

How-Sen Chong @how-sen.com · 18d

Someone took the chip from their Presto Card and put it into a magic wand.

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Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 18d

I struggle with her writing style, but Orlando was interesting, and I especially love a film inspire by the book

Orlando, My Political Biography - The Criterion Channel

Directed by Paul B. Preciado • 2023 • France Starring Oscar-Roza Miller, Yanis Sahraoui, Liz Christin “Come, come! I’m sick to death of this particular self. I want another.” Taking Virginia Woolf’s ...

www.criterionchannel.com

Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 18d

"The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists." - Joan Robinson

Reposted by Steve Tornes

🎃 Iva Cheung 🍗 @ivacheung.com · 19d

youtu.be/LsToZlTBeGc?...

Did Scientists Just Figure Out Why People Die A DECADE Earlier in the Southeast US?

YouTube video by PBS Terra

youtu.be

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Reposted by Steve Tornes

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 20d

Here is my best guidance, rendered beautifully by the great John Lithgow. I first published these lessons nearly nine years ago, in late 2016. They open the twenty chapters of "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century."
snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...

Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow

Key selections from On Tyranny, for viewing and sharing

snyder.substack.com

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Reposted by Steve Tornes

John Vaillant @johnvaillant.bsky.social · 20d

www.livescience.com/health/canad...

Canada's 2023 wildfires contributed to 87,000 early deaths worldwide, study estimates

The health impacts from Canada's worst wildfire stretched into Europe, Asia and Africa, a new study reveals.

www.livescience.com

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Reposted by Steve Tornes

Professor Scruffymatt @scruffymatt.bsky.social · 21d

The Atlantic has a handy feature to check if your YouTube videos are being used for this. @outsidextra.bsky.social, thought you might want to know that I found you on here. :(
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Search Millions of YouTube Videos Used to Train Generative AI

Inside the data sets training new video-creating tools

www.theatlantic.com

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Reposted by Steve Tornes

Vancouver Writers Fest @writersfest.bc.ca · 22d

It’s day 1 of ticket sales at #VWF2025, and a few events have already sold out. If you’ve got your eye on any of these four fast-selling events, get your tickets before you regret it!

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Steve Tornes @stevetornes.bsky.social · 24d

Q
Any tips for building/joining an online community of peers writing in the same genre

For example, if I like writing horror, but it is more niche in the real life, general writing community I found, how can I find other writers interested in the same genre

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