Unconscionable decision by the Northern Ireland High Court and Parade Commission. I hope everyone who approved this is haunted by the screams of the Quinn children for the rest of their lives.

RTÉ News@news.rte.ie · 5d ago

Around a thousand people are gathered at the lower end of the Garvaghy Road in anticipation of the Orange Order march which is set to come down the road after 8am | Follow live updates

Amazing long read of a small group of determined scientists and volunteers trying to maintain the bison population in Ukraine despite a desperate lack of funds and while also dodging Russian drones. #environment #ukraine

Saving Bison as Bombs Fall | bioGraphic

Amid the destruction of war, Ukrainian conservationists remain determined to help a European bison herd persevere.

biographic.com

I'm not found of the proliferation of drones but corporations don't deserve a right to privacy. Furthermore the language agribusiness is using to attack monitoring is the same they used in the 1990s when they accused animal welfare groups of being terrorist organizations. #environment

FAA Investigates Drone Pilot Who Films Animal Abusers

The cattle ranch at the center of the case asked the FAA for strict drone regulations, saying legal flyovers threatened “food security.”

theintercept.com

That federal, state, and local agencies were happily installing police-linked video cameras to spy on people while simultaneously dismantling sensors meant to ensure the air we breathe is safe is a dark illustration of where power and profit lie in this nation. #environment

America’s air monitors are disappearing. So is your power to expose polluters.

Across several states, a quiet chemical industry campaign is making it harder to hold polluters accountable.

floodlightnews.org

Clean water has to be a human right and there's a long, grim history of nations and empires that ignored that collapsing. I'm sure that if Kurt Engelhardt was forced to drink lead or PFAS contaminated water, he would quickly change his tune and maybe someone should look into that idk. #environment

You don't have a right to safe drinking water, US court rules

A Trump-appointed judge also said Americans have no “constitutional right to truthful information” during a public health crisis.

motherjones.com

"...a program called “PlastiVan” that travels from city to city teaching students about “the contribution plastics make to modern life." is something you expect in an Armando Iannucci movie, not something permitted in a functional nation suffering the poisonous effects of microplastics. #environment

When plastic companies write the lesson plans

The plastics industry is offering schools curricula that cast plastics as safe, recyclable, and a source of good jobs.

grist.org

These regulations were one of the very few successes that got past the Republican controlled Senate which addressed the staggering mortality rate in Cancer Alley. Now even these modest protections are under threat of being undone at the behest of chemical companies. #environment

A Hard-Won Rule to Cut Chemical Plant Pollution Is Being Unraveled

In 2024, the Biden administration enacted wide-ranging regulations to protect communities near petrochemical plants from air toxics. The Trump administration has since granted exemptions to scores of…

e360.yale.edu

If you ever want to feel angry, look for testimonies by Palestinians who tried to help a relative or loved one across the Israeli wall and how the IDF allowed them to bleed out, or fatally sicken, and die in the ambulance. There are thousands of these incidents stretching back decades. #israel

The Patients Israel Won't Let Leave Gaza

For many Palestinians in the territory, survival depends on a chain of administrative decisions over which they have no control

newlinesmag.com

You might think Israeli politicians wouldn't target dissidents for harassment, lawsuits, and threats of having their citizenship removed they echo the lead-up to the 1935 Nuremberg Laws but hey time is a flat circle. #israel

Israeli minister threatens to strip Israeli film-makers of citizenship over Gaza documentary NAZA

Miki Zohar accuses Oscar-winning directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor of ‘treason against the state’

theguardian.com

Climate change doesn't only manifest in the bleaching of coral reefs, it is a fundamental, verging on catastrophic change to where ocean species can survive and reproduce. While a few species will thrive, many risk devastating population loss and possible extinction. #environment

Gray whales are starving as the Arctic warms. Will the US protect them?

The population on the West Coast has plunged by half, and environmental groups might sue the Trump administration for ignoring their plight.

grist.org

Possibly the most succinct example of Christian Fascism (and how fascism is the endpoint of capitalism) where the environment and public health are sacrificed for corporate interests while the rights of women are stripped away and their lives monitored. #environment

The EPA would rather monitor abortion pills in water than pollution

The agency is easing climate rules for power plants while testing water for mifepristone.

motherjones.com

I see we've reached the holy relics stage of the failed war. #ukraine

Orthodox church sends medieval prince’s remains to Russian troops in Ukraine

Part of Dmitry Donskoy’s right hand sent to ‘spiritually strengthen’ soldiers

theguardian.com

I'm bemused how Saudi Arabia's war of choice with Yemen of America's war of choice with Iran will both backfire spectacularly with their opposition consolidating political power and geographic control of Arabia's two vital water routes.

The Bab el-Mandeb Problem

Houthi control of a Red Sea port brings Tehran closer to claiming another critical waterway.

foreignpolicy.com

There is absolutely no need to listen to claims from people who are working at the brain cooking factory.

The Independent@the-independent.com · 3w ago

Anthropic researcher quits over fears AI ‘could kill us all by the end of the decade’

It's amazing how much CSAM has been essentially normalized as something the public must accept as part of being online rather than something that would have the company dismantled and the executives in prison for decades long stretches.

“This is the AI men actually use”: Meta ads pushed apps nudifying real teens

Meta dragged its feet removing ads that nudify young girls' Instagram pics.

arstechnica.com

These influencers need to be slapped in prison for a decade to stop this dangerous, exploitative behavior. This entire class needs to start experiencing harsh consequences for trying to turn our lives into content.

‘This is colonialism for clicks’: the influencers attempting to meet and film the world’s most isolated tribes

A new breed of adventurer is chasing internet fame by targeting uncontacted peoples. Critics say they are risking the wellbeing of these remote communities – and their own lives

theguardian.com

When this administration is finally overthrown there needs to be not just a full reversal of every vile piece of discriminatory ruling, law, and regulation, but punishment meted out against every religious organization that sought to remove rights from queer people. #LGBTQ

Christian Employers Can Now Discriminate Against Trans People

A settlement with the Christian Employers Alliance blocks the EEOC from ever investigating the group’s members for gender identity discrimination.

theintercept.com

Considering that Bluesky admins have a documented history of punishing transgender accounts for speaking out against bigotry on this site, this reeks of a new method deleting those accounts entirely.

Bluesky Safety@safety.bsky.app · 4w ago

Dogpiling or harassing users is unacceptable. We have taken recent action against accounts for this behavior, and we will be increasing our efforts, consistent with our Community Guidelines.

It's refreshing to see a news outlet take a principled stand on this issue, especially when many of the larger organizations like the NYT, WaPo, and Atlantic are publishing virulent transphobia.

The Verge@theverge.com · 4w ago

As a new Harry Potter trailer makes the rounds, it bears repeating that there’s no way to watch this show without supporting J.K. Rowling’s bigotry and the structural violence she’s inflicting on the trans community.

To their credit MapQuest also didn't change 'Gulf of Mexico' which has made it, along with Here Wego and OpenStreetMap, as an excellent alternative to the big three which have enabled Trump's Caligulian-phase.

MapQuest@mapquest.com · last mo.

We’re not changing it.

Ben-Gvir, the defense minister, out there making sure Israel isn't beating the Nazi comparisons. And no, don't come at me about it being out of context, when someone says, "They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people." that's the same things the Nazis said and wrote down. #israel

Israel's Ben-Gvir advocates killing '30 to 40' people in Gaza nightly while speaking to ex-hostage

An extremist official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet has advocated for killing “30 to 40” people in Gaza each night.

apnews.com

Israel has claimed that these incidents are either unintended or meant to deny cover for resistance fighters. The reality is that this is an arson campaign designed to make southern Lebanon unlivable, burning away forest and agriculture so the area can be made a free fire zone. #israel

Israel deliberately starting wildfires in southern Lebanon, firefighters say

Emergency services, residents and environmental groups say military dropping flares to destroy forests and crops

theguardian.com

Amazingly researched article that examines Israeli's missile strikes in Lebanon are done without any concern for civilian deaths and often seem to be done to effect maximum physical damage. Also telling is how Christian deaths get apologies from Israeli spokesmen while Arabs are ignored. #israel

Israel Called Its Beirut Strikes Precise. We Reconstructed Five of Them

New Lines investigates attacks in and around Lebanon’s capital, from a single destroyed room to flattened residential buildings, testing Israeli claims about distinguishing targets from civilians

newlinesmag.com

Lobbyists for Weyerhaeuser and IKEA bribed the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to submit new standards that claim that cutting down trees helps the climate, something in complete contradiction to every scientific paper published. #environment

Lobbyists push for declaration that felling trees helps the climate

The timber industry’s influence over forest carbon accounting rules risks derailing global carbon calculations, scientists warn.

source-material.org

The industry lobbyists whispering in Trump's ear want to go back to devastating clear-cutting and destroy the already delicate eco-system at a time when global warming is making huge fires more common and deadly. #environment

Trump administration moves to rescind rule that protects millions of forest acres

The Trump administration took a step ‌toward rescinding a decades-old rule that protects undeveloped forests on Tuesday in a move it says will help manage wildfire risk, but which environmental groups...

reuters.com

The USS Benfold was launched in 1993 and was retired from the Indo-Pacific, after a decade of service, last year but shoved back out because the corrupt procurement process has meant a Navy with decaying ships and systems that will fail the first time their is blue water combat.

US Navy destroyer spent four days without power last month in South China Sea | CNN

A US Navy guided-missile destroyer spent four days last month without working toilets, galley services and air conditioning in the blistering heat of the South China Sea after the warship lost power.

cnn.com

For some inexplicable reason I've found myself humming the theme to the old movie "Condorman" the last few days.

This idea that AI* can do research because it can handle data is a recycled from 2012-2013 when tech companies claimed their software solutions could crunch information to a degree that it negated the need for researchers in numerous scientific fields.

Jim Clifford@jimclifford.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Are we ready for machine written history? When given access to a well structured large historical dataset, Claude’s Fable 5 can identify a topic, complete the research and write a strong and original draft research paper. This has the potential to break peer review, graduate school, & job searches.

An excellent snapshot of the different ways Trump's illegal war on Iran has negatively affected people across the globe, pushing many into the margins and those already in trouble into poverty without an exit.

Across the world, the Iran war is reshaping everyday life

People share stories of spiking gas prices, goodbyes filled with fear, livelihoods pushed closer to the edge — and days that no longer looked the way they once did.

apnews.com

Bolsonaro's four years brought devastation to the already precarious ecosystem of the rainforest that will take decades of determined fighting and enforcement to repair. The soldiers on the front lines deserve all the support they need as well as recognition for their bravery. #environment

‘It’s total devastation’: inside the Amazonian war against illegal gold mining

The Guardian goes on the ground with Brazilian forces fighting to eradicate mining that has destroyed protected areas of Indigenous land

theguardian.com