Colleen Carpenter
@colleenmcarpenter.bsky.social
Author, educator, public speaker. Leaving academia (prof of theology + environmental studies) for the great wide world, with my rescue dog Marigold keeping me company. St. Paul MN resident; grew up in Chicago.
My editor asked me to write about what happened to summer:
We launched a war on nature. Now we are in a climate warzone | Rebecca Solnit
Summer is not what it once was. We have been robbed of one of life’s great joys
theguardian.com
i don't like to police genre, but it's not dark academia unless somebody gets squished in one of these bad boys
"Defying 4,200 years of conventional horse-breaking wisdom based on...violent methods of forcing an animal..., Mr. Roberts believed that a horse trained without fear would ultimately be a superior worker and equine companion. Respect and cooperation would inevitably trump forced servitude." 💗
Monty Roberts, Horse Trainer Who Preached Kindness, Dies at 91
His approach was in contrast to centuries of conventional wisdom and won the enthusiastic approval of Queen Elizabeth II, with whom he became friends.
nytimes.com
Last year the Trump administration revoked nearly $500k from San Francisco Asian Women's Shelter. That was just the start. The politicization of federal funding is hurting domestic violence organizations across the country — and maybe soon, everyone else. 19thnews.org/2026/07/san-...
This domestic violence shelter was told it no longer aligns with the Trump administration’s priorities
Trump’s war on ‘gender ideology’ and diversity is hurting San Francisco Asian Women’s Shelter's ability to help victims — many of whom can’t get help anywhere else. It’s already cost them nearly $500,...
19thnews.org
AI is a trap. It will sometimes give you great accurate info so your brain thinks it can rely on it and when you’re in a rush, you just skip some of the checks. But it’s just a pattern guessing tool and people need to stop believing AI KNOWS anything. Disappointing that Hank Green fell for it.
Brigitte Empire@brigitteempire.bsky.social · 6d agoHank Green admitting to using A.I. in research and scriptwriting does unfortunately explain why they released a video on HRT full of (sometimes outright dangerous) misinformation
“A model of roads trained on only grid cities won’t properly predict the street plans of Rome or Boston. Having the available data biased toward a well-organized structure is a problem. But it isn’t the big one.” James C Scott <<high fives>> ⬇️ this chemist
John Trant@trantteam.bsky.social · last mo.New sanctioned (t)rant about AI just dropped. On the limits of Alphafold and my worries about the disaster its use will cause for the literature and early-stage academic drug discovery. Look, they commissioned it. And by commissioned I don't mean I got paid, just invited. Awesome process btw.
They’re going after a religious studies professor at Macalester. For being part of a Signal chat, and attending anti-ICE meetings. The article is terrifying. And why is it in The Guardian and not the Star Tribune?
Sam Levin@samtlevin.bsky.social · last wk.A Minnesota religious studies professor is facing six years in prison, with the DOJ saying he is part of an "antifa" conspiracy against ICE Erik Davis speaks out about his prosecution, largely based on a handful of his comments in Signal chats. He's not accused of any violence “It’s petty revenge"
Ok, this is pretty scary. Turned out fine this time, but . . . water is not a great thing to be so vulnerable about.
Minnesota Star Tribune@startribune.com · last wk.A coordinated cyberattack has targeted more than 30 community water systems across Minnesota, including in Twin Cities suburbs Plymouth and South St. Paul.
“AI has become a blunt instrument in the enterprise to impose precisely this form of sanctioned ignorance about America’s past...Taken together, [Trump’s & Musk’s] plans amount to a one-two punch, history in the hands of the corporate state.” My latest on AI & history: www.salon.com/2026/07/28/t...
Trump and Musk both want to control America's history
The frenemies' strange obsession with historical "accuracy" has disturbing connections to big AI
salon.com
This is absolutely enraging. It’s a long article, and I got more angry the more I read and the more I learned. The greed and stupidity of DOGE and the Trump administration are endless, endless, endless. And we’re all paying for it.
St. Pauliner@stp-mn-guy.bsky.social · last wk.@startribune.com if you haven’t already, you should be running this story on the front page. There is a direct link between DOGE cuts and the BWCA fires. Every Minnesotan needs to understand this. www.adn.com/nation-world...
What if we mapped the U.S. without state boundaries? An article co-authored by #NASmember and archaeologist Torben Rick explores how nature’s maps—from ancient seas & migration routes to watersheds & biomes—reveal the connections shaping our landscapes. theconversation.com/where-nature...
Where nature draws the map – here are 5 ways to look at the US, without state boundaries
State lines are one way to picture the US, but natural history provides another – one that shows the ancient and living connections running across the landscape.
theconversation.com
If you live anywhere downstream of the proposed nickel mine along the Mississippi Watershed, you should definitely participate in public comment between now and Sept 14. www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/enviro...
Link to public comment form:
Tamarack Mining Project Environmental Impact Statement
dnr.state.mn.us
trash panda extraordinaire@gnomecasserole.bsky.social · 2w agoProposed nickel mine near Cloquet MN is a high risk water contaminate into the Mississippi Watershed, and would likely be providing raw material primarily to Tesla for battery manufacturing. Many reasons to oppose this, but I’m currently going with the don’t support anything that supports Musk.
A little journey through some colours I love and ways I use them - Cobalt Blue #Colour #Painting #CobaltBlue
This is Ender. He pressed the belly rub button and assumed the position. Now it's time for your end of the deal. 12/10 (TT: enderthehavanes)
"In the crane's dance, there is a story of balance—between the earth and the sky, between the past and the future.” Traditional Native American Proverb Sandhill Cranes #Photography #Photo #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #Birds #Nature #Wildlife
we are watching our treasures burn down and still having to convince people that now is the time to take climate action
Minnesota Star Tribune@startribune.com · 3w agoWith dangerous heat and several wildfires burning, the U.S. Forest Service is closing the Boundary Waters starting Tuesday.
Erling Haaland and the rest of the Norwegian men's team are paid the same as the women's team. In 2017, they took a voluntary pay cut to allow the women's pay to be increased. The move came from the players' union, not management.
MANY of us are deeply grieving these losses. 💔💔💔 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
We know how to mourn other humans – but what about ecological grief?
In Iceland, people commemorated its first glacier formally declared lost to climate change. Western culture needs more of these rituals
theguardian.com
Two key thoughts: 1. Our regime is actively targeting & killing anyone they want without repercussions 2. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo wasn’t the target but they thought it was ok to use deadly force on ANYONE? Deadly force was never OK for anyone! They must be charged.
Man killed by ICE agents not intended target of immigration arrest, DHS says
Agents seeking different person when they killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Mexican who had lived in US for 35 years
theguardian.com
This is Oreo. He will eventually eat the blueberry. But first he must establish dominance over it. 12/10 (TT: oreominibernedoodle)
There are more of us, we are better than them, and we will win.
Daniel Suitor@danielsuitor.com · 2mo agoWhat's starting in Minneapolis today is going to be just like the Broadview 6 case. A desperate attempt at a show trial pursued by dumb, vicious prosecutors performing for an audience of one. An attempt to discourage and scare people from fighting back. It's not going to work.
Here's the final optimized version of western grebes rushing on water lesser-compressed: youtube.com/shorts/lfLao... 🪶
Brett "Solidarity 2026" Banditelli@banditelli.org · 2mo agoDown at the Grebe Factory interviewing the new apprentices for the Western Grebe Taxi Service, I'll thread in stills/video as I process them As a primer, here's THE BEST WESTERN GREBE MATING RITUAL FOOTAGE OF MY LIFE Warning on this thread: too cute for doom Skip to :41 for just rushing. 🪶 🐣
My day job is at a rural branch of a public library, and we have a Pride display. Yesterday I was at the desk when a man came in. Fifties, maybe, or sixties. Plaid shirt, mesh trucker cap, suspenders. He went up to the display and just stood there for a long moment. Then he came up to the desk. 🧵 1/