Urban Larson
@urbanlarson.bsky.social
Sustainable investor, father of a teenager, lover of winter, part-time professor, proud Wisconsinite happily living in Massachusetts, volunteer for multiple organizations, lifelong UU and multilingual former world traveler settling into late middle age.
Reposted by Urban Larson
Pastor Jorge Bautista was telling a Border Patrol agent "we come in peace" when the agent fired toxic powder at him, leaving him struggling to breathe.
“No one should be assaulted for being out there protesting,” he says.
With @frontlinepbs.bsky.social
“No one should be assaulted for being out there protesting,” he says.
With @frontlinepbs.bsky.social
Trump’s Immigration Forces Deploy “Less Lethal” Weapons in Dangerous Ways, Skirting Rules and Maiming Protesters
Civil rights and weapons experts cite the consequences of federal agents’ use of crowd control weapons: religious leaders shot with pepper balls and noxious chemicals. A nurse nearly blinded by tear g...
www.propublica.org
December 2, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Pastor Jorge Bautista was telling a Border Patrol agent "we come in peace" when the agent fired toxic powder at him, leaving him struggling to breathe.
“No one should be assaulted for being out there protesting,” he says.
With @frontlinepbs.bsky.social
“No one should be assaulted for being out there protesting,” he says.
With @frontlinepbs.bsky.social
Reposted by Urban Larson
Global fossil fuel use slipped this year, while solar and wind kept pace with ever increasing demand.
Wind and solar are growing faster than new power demand globally. Big fan of @canarymedia.com's Chart of the Week series.
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
Chart: Solar and wind are meeting — and exceeding — new power demand
Through September, the two clean-energy sources outpaced growth in power demand. That trend needs to accelerate for the world to phase out fossil fuels.
www.canarymedia.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Global fossil fuel use slipped this year, while solar and wind kept pace with ever increasing demand.
Reposted by Urban Larson
In September last year, the online real estate marketplace introduced a tool showing the individual risk of wildfire, flood, extreme heat, wind and poor air quality for one million properties it lists, explaining that “climate risks are now a critical factor...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Zillow deletes climate risk data from listings after complaints it harms sales
Site deletes feature after real estate agents and some homeowners say scores appear arbitrary and hurt sales
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:00 PM
In September last year, the online real estate marketplace introduced a tool showing the individual risk of wildfire, flood, extreme heat, wind and poor air quality for one million properties it lists, explaining that “climate risks are now a critical factor...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Urban Larson
Contrary to popular reports, DOGE has “burrowed into the agencies like ticks,” government sources tell WIRED. www.wired.com/story/what-i...
DOGE Isn’t Dead. Here’s What Its Operatives Are Doing Now
Contrary to popular reports, DOGE has “burrowed into the agencies like ticks,” government sources tell WIRED.
www.wired.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Contrary to popular reports, DOGE has “burrowed into the agencies like ticks,” government sources tell WIRED. www.wired.com/story/what-i...
Reposted by Urban Larson
“I’m a grok guy” — Vance futurism.com/future-socie...
Grok Says It Would Kill Every Jewish Person on the Planet to Save Elon Musk
Faced with an incredibly lopsided ethical dilemma, Grok prioritizes saving Elon Musk at the expensive of millions of Jews.
futurism.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:50 AM
“I’m a grok guy” — Vance futurism.com/future-socie...
Reposted by Urban Larson
"World Economy Surprisingly Resilient to Tariffs, OECD Says" www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
"It estimates that without booming AI investments the US economy contracted by 0.1% in the first half as household consumption growth moderated and government purchases fell."
"It estimates that without booming AI investments the US economy contracted by 0.1% in the first half as household consumption growth moderated and government purchases fell."
World Economy Shows Surprising Resilience to Tariffs, OECD Says
The global economy is weathering Donald Trump’s trade tariffs better than expected as activity gets a boost from strong investment in artificial intelligence and supportive fiscal and monetary…
www.bloomberg.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:03 PM
"World Economy Surprisingly Resilient to Tariffs, OECD Says" www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
"It estimates that without booming AI investments the US economy contracted by 0.1% in the first half as household consumption growth moderated and government purchases fell."
"It estimates that without booming AI investments the US economy contracted by 0.1% in the first half as household consumption growth moderated and government purchases fell."
Reposted by Urban Larson
Russian propaganda in full force for the Witkoff visit: Putin is claiming to have captured Ukrainian cities that he doesn't control, and having himself photographed in military uniform
kyivindependent.com/putin-claims...
kyivindependent.com/putin-claims...
Putin claims Russian capture of Pokrovsk, Vovchansk as Kyiv warns of Kremlin propaganda blitz amid peace talks
"All of this is done exclusively for Western audiences and to raise the stakes in diplomacy," said Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation.
kyivindependent.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Russian propaganda in full force for the Witkoff visit: Putin is claiming to have captured Ukrainian cities that he doesn't control, and having himself photographed in military uniform
kyivindependent.com/putin-claims...
kyivindependent.com/putin-claims...
Reposted by Urban Larson
Another reason the damage from this administration will long outlive it.
Jay Bhattacharya and Matthew Memoli aren't bringing "gold standard science" to the #NIH, they are gutting research slowly but surely. When this time is over, they should be hauled before Congress, and shunned for the rest of their lives. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article)
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Another reason the damage from this administration will long outlive it.
Reposted by Urban Larson
""With customers delaying purchases until tariff policies stabilize, ISM leaders say there’s little near-term relief in sight, even as inventory drawdowns and quicker supplier deliveries hint at some underlying recalibration." www.businessreport.com/article/what...
What US factory activity is signaling about the manufacturing sector
U.S. factory activity slid deeper into contraction in November, underscoring a manufacturing sector still stuck in a long slump, Bloomberg writes. The Institute for Supply Management, or ISM, index…
www.businessreport.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:13 PM
""With customers delaying purchases until tariff policies stabilize, ISM leaders say there’s little near-term relief in sight, even as inventory drawdowns and quicker supplier deliveries hint at some underlying recalibration." www.businessreport.com/article/what...
Reposted by Urban Larson
In Massachusetts, 74% of working-age recipients of food stamps are employed, half of them full-time. Nearly 2,500 work for Amazon and another 2,300 work for Walmart. Uber, DoorDash and Tempus Unlimited each have more than 1,400 workers who rely on SNAP www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/28/m...
‘The government is subsidizing corporate profits’: Who employs the most SNAP recipients in Massachusetts? - The Boston Globe
In Massachusetts, 74 percent of working-age SNAP recipients have jobs.
www.bostonglobe.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:25 AM
In Massachusetts, 74% of working-age recipients of food stamps are employed, half of them full-time. Nearly 2,500 work for Amazon and another 2,300 work for Walmart. Uber, DoorDash and Tempus Unlimited each have more than 1,400 workers who rely on SNAP www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/28/m...
Reposted by Urban Larson
What’s the matter with her?
December 2, 2025 at 2:54 AM
What’s the matter with her?
Reposted by Urban Larson
The DJT administration fired 8 immigration judges in NYC today.
All the judges were dismissed from the immigration court’s offices at 26 Federal Plaza, a building that houses the NYC headquarters ICE and has become the epicenter of migrant arrests in the city.
All the judges were dismissed from the immigration court’s offices at 26 Federal Plaza, a building that houses the NYC headquarters ICE and has become the epicenter of migrant arrests in the city.
December 2, 2025 at 2:31 AM
The DJT administration fired 8 immigration judges in NYC today.
All the judges were dismissed from the immigration court’s offices at 26 Federal Plaza, a building that houses the NYC headquarters ICE and has become the epicenter of migrant arrests in the city.
All the judges were dismissed from the immigration court’s offices at 26 Federal Plaza, a building that houses the NYC headquarters ICE and has become the epicenter of migrant arrests in the city.
Reposted by Urban Larson
Straight white nationalist language now posted by the Dept of State.
This follow the white supremacist "remigration" language used by DHS and the 11 stars of the Confedracy around Lincoln shared by Dept of Labor.
Laura Loomer is right: The GOP has a Nazi problem.
This follow the white supremacist "remigration" language used by DHS and the 11 stars of the Confedracy around Lincoln shared by Dept of Labor.
Laura Loomer is right: The GOP has a Nazi problem.
December 2, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Straight white nationalist language now posted by the Dept of State.
This follow the white supremacist "remigration" language used by DHS and the 11 stars of the Confedracy around Lincoln shared by Dept of Labor.
Laura Loomer is right: The GOP has a Nazi problem.
This follow the white supremacist "remigration" language used by DHS and the 11 stars of the Confedracy around Lincoln shared by Dept of Labor.
Laura Loomer is right: The GOP has a Nazi problem.
Reposted by Urban Larson
“And, as it also turns out, much of the reality-based press is doing a poor job of even acknowledging that they have a role in saving democracy, much less doing anything about it.” @sulliview.bsky.social brings the receipts. open.substack.com/pub/margaret...
Do better, Big Journalism. Please do much, much better
Low points from the New York Times, the BBC, the Washington Post and the New Yorker. And some highs.
open.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 11:19 AM
“And, as it also turns out, much of the reality-based press is doing a poor job of even acknowledging that they have a role in saving democracy, much less doing anything about it.” @sulliview.bsky.social brings the receipts. open.substack.com/pub/margaret...
Reposted by Urban Larson
📌⚖️🇺🇸👇🏾 Denaturalization has a horrible history in the United States. It has been used against women who married to foreign men for sexist reasons and it’s been used against people of color for racist reasons.
Reporter: You said that you might denaturalize American citizens?
Trump: If we have criminals that came in and were naturalized through Biden or somebody that didn’t’ know what they were doing—if I have the power to do it… I would denaturalize
Trump: If we have criminals that came in and were naturalized through Biden or somebody that didn’t’ know what they were doing—if I have the power to do it… I would denaturalize
December 1, 2025 at 3:39 AM
📌⚖️🇺🇸👇🏾 Denaturalization has a horrible history in the United States. It has been used against women who married to foreign men for sexist reasons and it’s been used against people of color for racist reasons.
Reposted by Urban Larson
@hcrichardson.bsky.social Has any GOP Senator spoken against this?
Why would a professional architect disgrace himself by participating in this outrageous and illegal project, whether or not it complies with norms of design?
December 1, 2025 at 2:28 AM
@hcrichardson.bsky.social Has any GOP Senator spoken against this?
Reposted by Urban Larson
"The Trumps’ most natural allies – first in business, now also in politics – have long been the rulers of the Gulf’s petro-monarchies, who see no distinction between their states’ interests and their families’." www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
All the president’s millions: how the Trumps are turning the presidency into riches
From Vietnam to the Balkans, Donald Trump’s family has launched a global dealmaking blitz since his re-election
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:03 AM
"The Trumps’ most natural allies – first in business, now also in politics – have long been the rulers of the Gulf’s petro-monarchies, who see no distinction between their states’ interests and their families’." www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Reposted by Urban Larson
Trump Frees Fraudster Just Days Into Seven-Year Prison Sentence
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Reposted by Urban Larson
Reposted by Urban Larson
We have a cabinet level Secretary of State, a diplomatic corps, Special Envoys, and Defense team to do this work.
“Son-in-law” is not a government job. Kushner does not represent us.
“Son-in-law” is not a government job. Kushner does not represent us.
November 30, 2025 at 11:25 PM
We have a cabinet level Secretary of State, a diplomatic corps, Special Envoys, and Defense team to do this work.
“Son-in-law” is not a government job. Kushner does not represent us.
“Son-in-law” is not a government job. Kushner does not represent us.
Reposted by Urban Larson
The Peleus World War II War Crimes Trial :Nazi naval officer in command ordered grenades and machine guns to sink and kill survivors. If the facts are as reported, is Hegseth’s order any different? (At least there was no doubt Germany was at war.) open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
War Crime...or Murder?
Killing shipwreck survivors is patently illegal and morally abhorrent
open.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:26 PM
The Peleus World War II War Crimes Trial :Nazi naval officer in command ordered grenades and machine guns to sink and kill survivors. If the facts are as reported, is Hegseth’s order any different? (At least there was no doubt Germany was at war.) open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Reposted by Urban Larson
In a 3-0 decision, the Court of Appeals rules against the Trump administration on the appointment of Alina Habba as interim US attorney in New Jersey www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
December 1, 2025 at 2:05 PM
In a 3-0 decision, the Court of Appeals rules against the Trump administration on the appointment of Alina Habba as interim US attorney in New Jersey www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
Reposted by Urban Larson
Trump: The stock market is booming! Only I could do this and it’s all because of me!
December 1, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Trump: The stock market is booming! Only I could do this and it’s all because of me!
Reposted by Urban Larson
Worth remembering now
Protest by the United States Against Attacks by Japanese Naval Forces on Survivors of Torpedoed American Merchant Vessels June 1944
"The United States Government protests most emphatically against this inhuman form of warfare ..."
Protest by the United States Against Attacks by Japanese Naval Forces on Survivors of Torpedoed American Merchant Vessels June 1944
"The United States Government protests most emphatically against this inhuman form of warfare ..."
December 1, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Worth remembering now
Protest by the United States Against Attacks by Japanese Naval Forces on Survivors of Torpedoed American Merchant Vessels June 1944
"The United States Government protests most emphatically against this inhuman form of warfare ..."
Protest by the United States Against Attacks by Japanese Naval Forces on Survivors of Torpedoed American Merchant Vessels June 1944
"The United States Government protests most emphatically against this inhuman form of warfare ..."
Reposted by Urban Larson
It is true that no one has grasped this scope.
But there are ways to deal with it.
First, track the way that Kristi Noem is converting it to personal grift, like her propaganda campaign.
Next, illustrate how this is a funding shift, from things Americans like to body snatching they hate.
But there are ways to deal with it.
First, track the way that Kristi Noem is converting it to personal grift, like her propaganda campaign.
Next, illustrate how this is a funding shift, from things Americans like to body snatching they hate.
The news has entirely failed to grasp the unprecedented scope of the ICE and DHS budgets. Nothing like it in modern history. A galaxy of public/private surveillance and caging institutions for $100,000,000,000s unleashed on a public that will be forever changed. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
ICE Wants to Go After Dissenters as well as Immigrants
The Trump administration is being open about its plans to violate Americans’ First and Fourth Amendment rights.
www.brennancenter.org
December 1, 2025 at 1:06 PM
It is true that no one has grasped this scope.
But there are ways to deal with it.
First, track the way that Kristi Noem is converting it to personal grift, like her propaganda campaign.
Next, illustrate how this is a funding shift, from things Americans like to body snatching they hate.
But there are ways to deal with it.
First, track the way that Kristi Noem is converting it to personal grift, like her propaganda campaign.
Next, illustrate how this is a funding shift, from things Americans like to body snatching they hate.