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Donna Shelton

@donnashelton.bsky.social
327 followers 629 following 548 posts

Emerita professor of Spanish, now adjunct, reader of history and sci-fi, climate change worrier, master gardener. Third Act Upstate New York. Born at 315 ppm. She/her.

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Reposted by Donna Shelton
Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 19/09/2026
The AI industry wants you to say "the AI just did that thing on its own!" Like, United Health's AI that's denying a shitload of claims with a 90% error rate? They wanted you to think it's just the AI.
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Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I'm so happy to say my new book on #water, #war, and #peace is available for pre-order! Bill McKibben kindly says: "We finally have a comprehensive account of the building water crisis... with workable ideas for addressing it. Gleick speaks with utter authority here." thenewpress.org/books/when-t...
thenewpress.org
When the Well Is Dry - The New Press
A comprehensive look at the relationship between water and violence, and how we can move from conflict to cooperation and peace, by one of the world’s leading water experts The first major water war e...
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 30/07/2026
I genuinely don't know what to do about this. In our diseased information environment, one MAGA-adjacent "influencer" can do more to shape public opinion than mountains of studies or facts. Where are the pro-clean-energy influencers to counter this shit?
heated.world
The influencer teaching millions to fear solar
Alexandra Fasulo says she’s protecting farms and wildlife. How much of her rhetoric is actually true?
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 08/08/2026
‘I hate what AI is doing to the minds and happiness of the young’: Katherine Rundell on the view from the classroom
theguardian.com
‘I hate what AI is doing to the minds and happiness of the young’: Katherine Rundell on the view from the classroom
Education is at a crossroads, argues the author and academic. Should we embrace new technology in the name of efficiency, or is it time to fight back?
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Joanne Freeman @jbf1755.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
In the well-over 100,000 documents written by founders included in the Founders Online database from the National Archives, no one uses the phrase "God's noble experiment." No one.
Chuck Schumer: "The founding fathers called America God's noble experiment. I believe in all three words to this day: we are one nation under God, we have clung to noble ideals for longer than any other nation, and we are an experiment always changing, trying to make ourselves better.
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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 28/06/2026
Here’s what the air conditioning discourse illuminates: to deal with climate change we need to electrify & we need zero carbon electricity, we also need more electricity- like double or triple what we have. And we need more cooling & cooling equity. There will be folks fighting against all of that.
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Lawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I had a good time working at E&E back in the day. Its demise is sad, although not unexpected. The new focus on the "e" in energy and not the "e" in environment says a lot about where we are right now. www.semafor.com/article/06/0...
semafor.com
Exclusive: Politico folds E&E News ahead of broader energy push
In September, Politico plans to launch a series of energy-focused newsletters.
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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
In this year, in 2026, in this Age of Global Fascism, the think pieces I do not have the slightest interest in are any flavor of: ‘Has the left gone too far?’ ‘Has ‘woke’ ruined everything?’ ‘Have the left ruined the humanities/academia?’ ‘Are white men really the real really real victims?’
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Norm Wilner @normwilner.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
oh for crying out loud
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Canary Media Inc. @canarymedia.com · 27/05/2026
Say your final goodbyes to New York's nation-leading climate law.
canarymedia.com
New York state gives up on its most ambitious climate targets
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat up for reelection in November, pushed hard to water down the state’s 2019 climate law. With a new budget vote, she’s…
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Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Posting this screenshot because Boguslaw is not on BlueSky. www.wired.com/story/us-law...
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Daniel Boguslaw @DRBoguslaw
X.com
BREAKING: The federal government is targeting Anti-Al and data center activists. They are formulating a new threat category: anti-tech violent extremism. Full article in replies.
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Micah @rincewind.run · 25/05/2026
this is why I find climate dooming so frustrating there is no point - none - at which throwing up your hands and going “well we’re fucked” is the correct response every tenth of a degree matters and can make a big difference and is worth fighting for
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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Today, the University of Maine's Vice Chancellor for Finance and Strategic AI Integration (who made $243,000 last year) sent UMaine campuses an announcement that we have partnered with OpenAI with a contract for ChatGPT Edu. I sent him the following questions:
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The Jer Witch Project @neveronbrand.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
How it feels doing literally any task right now.
Viral photo from some years back of a man nonchalantly mowing his yard with a tornado on the horizon .
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Kraut @derparrot.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
The fact that the Hungarian opposition waited until the moment J.D Vance arrived in Hungary to leak a recording of this conversation between Orbán and Putin, is soooo delicious.
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Adam Bonin @adambonin.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
The winner of this year's WaPo Peeps Diorama Contest is "A Shaming of the Shoes." www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...
a bunch of peeps in a gaudy Oval Office wearing too-big shoes.
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Tom Kimmerer, PhD @tomkimmerer.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
I discuss "invasive species" in my next book, currently in progress.. I'll certainly read your essay. The issue of invasive species is never connected to the true culprit, the horticulture industry (and hence capitalism). There is also more than a hint of racism in this subject.
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The Bee Guy @thebeeguy.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
It’s that time of year - folks asking us about #bumblebees - WHY THEY’RE SEEING THEM ON THE GROUND - so here’s a thread to explain. Please #repost! Every queen that survives means a new colony that gets to exist and produce new queen #bees for next year! So important to #share! 1/9 #nature #caring
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Naomi Kritzer @naomikritzer.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
I've gone a few times to help stand watch during prayer times at this mosque and the people who go there are so effusively appreciative of the support they've gotten from their neighbors. (By which I mean, hugs, tea, sambusas, and people yelling "WE LOVE YOU!" from their car windows as they pass.)
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Jake Wright @bcnjake.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Here’s my faculty argument for my “right to refuse AI”: I have academic freedom. I’m not fucking doing that. Thank you.
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Hamilton Nolan @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
I know this is an obvious thing to say but we should talk more about what a racist this guy is. He’s as racist as George Wallace or Strom Thurmond but unlike them he often escapes having racism mentioned as a leading cause for all his decisions.
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David Sacerdote @davidsacerdote.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Gift link so people can (mostly) read the first article in the thread www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/n...
nytimes.com
Hochul Moves to Delay and Alter Climate Law, Citing Energy Prices
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Colin Kinniburgh @colinreports.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Hochul’s big reveal on proposed climate law changes: She wants a seven-year extension on issuing rules to meet emissions targets, tied to a new 2040 target instead of 2030. And she wants to change how NY counts emissions. Still working on getting more details but here it is in Hochul’s words:
empirereportnewyork.com
Climate Action and Affordability Can and Must Go Hand-In-Hand
New York's front page for political news. Latest NY politics news, reports, and columnists
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Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
“The sergeant of arms told me it is because I was standing up. Silently. No buttons, no facial expressions, no gestures, no signs. Not one sound … There are only two things you can do at the State of the Union, and they are sit down and stand up! All kinds of people were standing up all night.”
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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
The student-author of this piece is Grace Kaste, who should be widely applauded for writing it. www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2026...
columbiaspectator.com
To incoming University President Mnookin: Please don’t let artificial intelligence devalue the liberal arts
Last month, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin <a href="https://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2025/12/uw-receives-approval-to-move-l-ss-largest-majors-to-new-ai-focused-school...
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Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
THE UNBOXING IS UPON US
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Larisa LaBrant @larisa-labrant.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Stress Break, Cool Science
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 29/01/2026
Fascinating: "We identify a risk of collapses in service availability as specific elements of fossil infrastructures reach what we term 'minimum viable scale,' a level of throughput past which existing physical, financial, & managerial infrastructures can no longer effectively operate as expected."
science.org
Fossil energy minimum viable scale
Unseen infrastructural threats to safety and decarbonization may arise as fossil energy systems are phased out
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Alan Elrod @aselrod.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Important not to lose sight of what’s starting up in Maine right now.
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Nina Lakhani @ninalakhani.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
If ICE is emboldened to carry out extrajudicial killings of American citizens in broad daylight, imagine what's happening to the tens of thousands of people being held in makeshift detention camps across the US without cameras, attorneys and organizers
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Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Stop calling it an immigration crackdown! That is not what is happening here. That is not what has been happening here. Revise your style guide!
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Ezra Levin ❌👑 @ezralevin.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
My honest best take on what's happening with ICE funding. I got it down to 10 points: 1) Trump/Miller/GOP want more ICE funding 2) Dem leadership doesn't want it but also doesn't see a way to stop it without focusing attention on it. 3) Dems consultants say focus on ICE is a political loser.
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Megan is one of our great historians writing deeply researched but entirely accessible history. BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ
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brian nam-sonenstein @bson.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
There have been confirmed reports from local organizers in Portland ME that ICE is knocking on doors claiming to be from MaineCare and “offering help“
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Kaitlin Is Just Getting Started @gothamgirlblue.com · 17/01/2026
The fact that Gavin Newsom is even talking to the likes of Shapiro is a sign that he’s a non-starter. I’ve never forgotten how Shapiro said that Trayvon Martin deserved to die. Not fucking ever.
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Hester Blum @hesterblum.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Yes in thunder. My syllabus statement:

Generative A.I.
This class helps you to be a better writer and thinker. Generative AI (ChatGPT, Copilot, and other platforms) is neither writing nor thinking. Any use of Al in this class (whether to write, brainstorm, outline, or summarize) will be considered a violation of academic integrity. It undermines your intellectual development, for one: AI content is often inaccurate or hallucinatory and is always boring, banal, and average. This is by design, as generative Al works by predicting the most obvious or basic sequencing of words. Good writingwriting that is persuasive, powerful, lively, funny, surprising, rousing, insightful, transformative, provocative-requires human work. Human creativity is weird and variable and uneven, but it holds the capacity for growth, revelation, empathy, and brilliance. We urge you not to abandon the glorious experiential potential of human messiness and transformation for the tedium of robot sentences.
One further reason to abjure generative Al, especially in a class on environmental literature: in addition to its counterproductivity to your work as a writer and thinker, Al is enormously environmentally destructive.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
i hope all the people resisting ICE on the ground know how fucking inspiring they are. minneapolis right now, and chicago and LA and charlotte and DC and portland before them, you’re setting the blueprint for the future battles sure to come. thank you.
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ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 10/01/2026
god, there’s apparently ICE agents in Bemidji, in northern MN. Bemidji is between my reservation and two others. there is very little diversity besides the Indigenous population. truly terrifying with how vulnerable Native women especially already are.
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Sara Spector @miriam2626.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
In light of what happened to Renee Good, I thought it important to reiterate my grandmother's advice.
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ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Democrats will continue to vote for Republican judges (like this guy, who refused to say who won the 2020 election) until Democrats are punished for voting for Republican judges
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Congresswoman Robin Kelly @robinkelly.house.gov · 08/01/2026
I am impeaching Secretary Kristi Noem, who is an incompetent leader and a disgrace to our democracy. She wreaked havoc in the Chicagoland area and has brought her reign of terror to Minneapolis. One of her rogue ICE agents shot and killed an innocent woman today. It must come to an end.
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 07/01/2026
Renee Nicole Good
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Primordial Platypus @perfectclarity.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Gonna shout out @nysfocus.bsky.social for great state-level reporting for New York State. Extra helpful because nothing helps me beat rancid vibes like going offline and working on a good cause. Good local and state reporting helps me find those causes!
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Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her) @moudhy.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Some of the most gorgeous and interesting nonfiction books I’ve read this year. First — Bonnie Lander Johnson’s Vanishing Lancscapes: The Story of Plants and How We Lost Them I’ve never enjoyed a nonfiction book this much. I felt nostalgic for a time I never lived in. The world feels different now
Photo of a book cover, “Vanishing Landscapes: The story of plants and how we lost them” by Bonnie Lander Johnson. There is a quote on the cover “Rich and replenishing…I felt lovesick for it after it was done — Eleanor Catton”. There is a drawing of a small branch of an apple tree and a bird
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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 24/12/2025
Thanks for sharing this document, @rweingarten.bsky.social. I read it, and I believe it's inexcusably inadequate and will not prepare teachers or schools to confront the very real dangers of the "A.i." products pushed by your partners, including OpenAI. A few thoughts for your consideration...
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Robert "The Bobby Yaga" McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
“But I am a hater, which is a kind of integrity. It means I am willing to disagree with anyone, even if it is rude.” It was one of the best things I read this year, in any format, and I am glad it is circulating again.
anthonymoser.github.io
I Am An AI Hater
I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater.
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Nicola Griffith SHE IS HERE out now! @nicolaz.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
If all goes to plan, there’ll be two more books. I’m pondering timelines right now…
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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 24/12/2025
This is an almost shockingly wise essay. I'm glad I've finally read it.
open.substack.com
There Is No Mary Problem in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
George’s vision of his wife without him is essential to the film, but critics continue to miss its true—and profound—meaning.
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larelli @larelli.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Here is a link that still works! Bari Weiss just failing upwards in the most ridiculous manner possible archive.org/details/insi...
archive.org
Inside CECOT | 60 Minutes : CBS News : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Sharyn Alfonsi's Inside CECOT for 60 Minutes, which was censored by Bari Weiss, as it appeared on Canada's Global TV app.
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