Welcome to the #assholocene, where our activism must change fundamentally. Tactical escalation produces more irrationality and assholery, while not escalating leads to nothing at all. Nothing we can do will lead society to make rational and ethical choices.
We must *prepare* for the worst.
Strong piece from Gary Fields of UCSD on how the IHRA definition of antisemitism is being weaponized on our campuses and in our K-12 schools.
www.counterpunch.org/2025/11/17/a...
Very glad to hear our paper is of interest to UK activists. Onwards!
Understanding and Accelerating Collective Climate Action
Important new report from @fdabl.bsky.social, @jksteinberger.bsky.social, @swaziadam.bsky.social, @berglundoscar.bsky.social and other leading thinkers in the climate movement
A must read for all climate activists
zenodo.org/records/1758...
We show that pouring knowledge & beliefs about the climate crisis into students' heads DOES NOT RELATE to their collective action
🫨Thus knowledge/beliefs are insufficient for action, as Albarracin & Kahan have long shown
🤜We employed verified collective action rather than hypothetical intentions
Great to see 'Activating Academia for an Era of Colliding Crises' is now available as a FREE eBook📖
Thanks again to Dr. Alison Green, @swaziadam.bsky.social and @jamesgdyke.info for expertly shepherding this collection into this fantastic volume
Available here:
www.frontiersin.org/research-top...
New poll shows public want energy prioritised for housing and essential services, not data centres.
People see data centre growth as threat to Ireland’s energy and water supplies, and ecosystems, and want Big Tech to be regulated
www.friendsoftheearth.ie/news/new-pol...
A woman sits on her couch and watches a television depicting a building in shambles. A man standing behind her asks, "More senseless destruction in Ukraine?" and the woman responds, "East Wing of the White House"
Governments know that they can only retain power by sugar coating the climate story with fantasies about solar and wind powered utopias.
This story was just covered by Science Magazine!
www.science.org/content/arti...
"they fail to link climate action with things that matter to people: food poverty, fuel poverty, air pollution, inequality, job insecurity, lack of housing, unfordable or non-existent healthcare... they are constrained by only being able to offer pragmatic, ‘politically feasible’ centrism?"
🔴 REPORT | 11 Days After Ceasefire Declaration Only 520 Trucks of Food Have Entered Gaza: WFP 🔑 Gaza Aid Assessment: 🇺🇳 World Food Program says aid deliveries into Gaza are increasing but remain far below target, with just two crossings open. No crossings are open into the famine-hit north, and Rafah remains completely closed. 📊 Aid delivery: Since the ceasefire began on October 10, the UN said overall it has collected 10,638 metric tonnes of essential supplies through the UN mechanism. ▪️ WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa said at a separate Geneva briefing that the deliveries remain far below target: Since the ceasefire on October 10, just 520 trucks have entered Gaza carrying 6,700 tonnes of food—enough for about 500,000 people for two weeks. ▪️Daily deliveries average 750 tonnes of food aid, well short of the 2,000-tonne target needed to meet basic demand.
▪️ Limited reach and urgent needs: WFP has 26 active food-distribution points—it used to have 400 and is rapidly aiming for 145—for now, mostly in central and southern Gaza. It also supports nine bakeries serving bread to half a million people. The agency says up to 30 bakeries and wider wheat-flour access are needed, while digital vouchers are being issued to help the most vulnerable, including women-headed households and the elderly. ▪️From October 17-19, only 303 trucks carrying 6,455 pallets were offloaded—two-thirds food, one-fifth water and hygiene items. ▪️🇵🇸 Gaza authorities earlier said on average 89 trucks had entered Gaza daily over 11 days since October 10, as opposed to the 600 mandated under the ceasefire deal. ▪️”To be able to get to this scale-up, we have to use every border crossing point right now,” WFP’s Etefa said, noting that only Kerem Shalom (Karem Abu Salem) and Kissufim are operating. ▪️UN on the ground: More than 15,000 households in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis received parcels with rice, lentils, chickpeas, tomato paste, and sunflower oil. 21 partner groups provided nearly 944,000 cooked meals through 178 community kitchens, a 40% increase in three weeks. Video: UN Briefing. October 21, 2025. Geneva.
🔴 REPORT | 11 Days After Ceasefire Declaration Only 520 Trucks of Food Have Entered Gaza: WFP
🔑 Gaza Aid Assessment:
🇺🇳 World Food Program says aid deliveries into Gaza are increasing but remain far below target, with just two crossings open. No crossings are open into the famine-hit north, and...
Not cynical. These large scale events are an opportunity to connect people around an affirmative agenda, and that is being missed. We can learn.
W/ @genevievelakier.bsky.social, the @aaup.org today released a letter to the Offices of the General Counsel at US colleges & universities. We detail why the Compact violates the Constitution & urge that no one signs it.
www.aaup.org/sites/defaul...
No Kings was again a predictable disappointment.
Yes - the good is making visible the scale of dissent; that’s important.
The bad is No Kings is mere theater, leading to no apparent connecting-up of groups, grassroots or political movement.
Reasons:
quartzevelyn.substack.com/p/no-kings-b...
Happening in half an hour: webinar with @swaziadam.bsky.social on the role of social science in collective climate action 👇
Thanks for your kind remarks. Helena Rambler asked good questions.
UC unleashes Big Brother on faculty computers: open.substack.com/pub/drkev/p/...
⚛️ 🔭 🧪 #highereducation
🤣🤣 Left-Wing Groups Too Disorganized to Infiltrate🤣🤣
theonion.com/left-wing-gr...
Criticizing the "elder statesman" of the climate movement won't be popular, but it's necessary
"It is not a mystery why people would choose to release themselves to the fantasy of a solar-powered status quo. What’s baffling is McKibben’s decision to join them"
newrepublic.com/article/1997...
UC Berkeley releases names of 160 staff, faculty, and students to Trump administration for "“potential connection to reports of alleged antisemitism.” Including Professor Judith Butler, much of whose family was murdered by Nazi’s during the Holocaust. Shameful. www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...
An honest analysis shows that:
- our valiant climate mobilization has been too tiny
- fossil extraction & finance are at record highs
- the green technical transition for-profit is deeply inadequate
- we are superseding 7 of 9 planetary boundaries.
We propose a new strategy for climate mobilizers.
"Every moment spent in environments designed to fragment rather than cultivate focus, every interaction with AI designed to replace rather than support human relationship ... all ... erodes the cognition that makes democratic resistance possible."
www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/the-attent...
City planners in Paris say they are preparing for days of 50 C (122 F) heat.
@charliejgardner.bsky.social @thierryaaron.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/w...
Sorry if it hurts your feelings, but tech is competing for your electricity- and YOU will pay to subsidize them. Now that zealots stopped offshore wind and are blocking battery storage and new transmission, where will YOUR energy come from if they take yours?
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/b...
Moving words from veteran activist George Lakey:
"I think in order to be pessimistic, I would have to be more arrogant than I am, more of a know-it-all than I am. All the victorious struggles I’ve looked into deeply have had moments when it really looked hopeless."
gridphilly.com/blog-home/20...
Historic heatwave unfolding in France.
Bordeaux just observed its hottest day on record with a provisional 41.6°C (107°F) — data since 1920. Red level extreme heat warnings are in force for the south of the country.
Sadly, this heatwave is far from over...
Good piece outlining how Big Tech companies' carbon emissions are soaring due to the AI boom, but it overlooks a huge piece of the puzzle
It's not just the energy use of AI hurting the planet, but the fact that many tech companies are selling AI to oil companies to help them drill more
Is there a shift happening in the US jewish mainstream?
This was a fantastic performance by Peter Beinart on Jon Stewart's show.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5kX...
