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jackmcgovan.bsky.social
Freelance journo covering climate, conservation, food & animals @ Sentient, The Guardian, Hakai etc Hate mail: jackmcgovan(at)protonmail(dot)com 🇩🇪🇬🇧🏳️‍🌈
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What I find interesting about the Tesla boycott (and BDS) is that I haven't once seen "individual action is meaningless" in response, yet that pops up every single time behaviour change is mentioned r.e climate. It shows how dismissive the climate movement is of boycotts as a political strategy.

Once again, the rise of the AfD and its relatively greater popularity in the East has led to yet another round of discussion around the legacy of the GDR and contemporary German politics. A short thread:

I've been thinking a lot lately about how this is a problem that progressive, cishet men really need to take control of. You guys need to get out there and form community groups to show young men that there are more aspirational versions of masculinity.

I know we all love a dose of hopium, especially now. But the take, which I see all across here, that the far right was defeated in Germany tonight because 80% of Germans voted for other parties is very misleading and unhelpful. Understanding this really matters. 🧵

Imagine just how unfulfilling your existence has to be to dedicate all your time and energy to eradicating a tiny minority of people who just want to live in peace. It would be devastatingly sad if it wasn't so dangerous.

He boasts about being a sexual predator, he's been accused by 25 women of rape, harassment or assault, a jury found he "forcibly and non consensually penetrated Carroll's vagina with his fingers," he supports banning abortion. But he hates trans people and so the Times calls him "a feminist hero."

Every review of AI is like: This isn’t very useful and it makes it harder to do simple tasks than if I just did it myself. Riddled with errors. Can’t see anyone using this. I feel stupider having tried this. That said I believe it will soon make human cognition redundant and eradicate us all.

🇩🇪 For any queers in Berlin, me and some friends run a reading group for short stories and non-fiction texts written by queer authors (or featuring queer characters and themes). Our next event is on 11th of Feb and we're reading D.I.Y. by @wiswell.bsky.social: reactormag.com/d-i-y-john-w....

putting this call out again: are you a climate or enviro scientist whose work has been paused due to the change in admin? is your job impacted by the IRA/BIL freeze? do you work in decarb and have concerns about your job stability? hit my line: [email protected] i’m on signal too, dm for info.

"Perhaps the most obvious thing to do is to not put things that risk another zoonotic pandemic in our shopping baskets." Seeing so many posts complaining about egg prices that don't mention bird flu, this article by @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social explains very clearly why that's a big mistake.

I wrote this thing. It's far from perfect, but at least it's done. Feedback welcome, especially if you're actually doing something. jksteinberger.medium.com/a-few-points...

BREAKING 🚨: WE WON OUR CASE AGAINST ROSEBANK. The court has ruled the oil field UNLAWFUL and Rosebank’s approval has been overturned. This is a monumental victory in the fight for a liveable future for all.

As rare strain of bird flu now detected in poultry, we've got new reporting on the billion-dollar industry bailout: "...with few stipulations, the system has, inadvertently, lowered the economic risk of biosecurity lapses on farms, encouraging the virus’s spread." sentientmedia.org/us-taxpayers...

"Air pollution from animal farms is linked to almost eight times more premature deaths than coal-fired power plants." The animal ag industry gets away with such a massive amount of pollution that doesn't get anywhere near the attention it should.

Obviously the Gender Critical movement is going to welcome any and all fascism, especially when it is harming trans people Still grim they can claim that they're supporting material reality by claiming sex is determined at conception, which is unambiguously false, without any media pushback at all

If there was ever a time for climate professionals to get behind a collective boycott of the aviation industry, it’s now. Political change isn’t coming without massive uproar against moves like this.

Palestine

Flying is a justice issue. It's typically rich westerners who do the flying, and poorer communities across the globe that suffer (though the LA wildfires are showing that no one is immune to devastation of climate change). Take the #FlightFee2025 Challenge today for a fairer world: flightfree.co.uk

Really loved this piece on how whaling impacted stress levels in whales after the practice paused during WW2, yet more evidence that animals are beings with complex lives who deserve respect like humans do

This is why we need to start reclaiming Pride as a protest, not a big party funded by companies and multinationals whose pinkwashing and ‘allyship’ has always been transitory and conditional. Big fights lie ahead and, as a community, we need to get back to our roots of protest and activism.

Octavia Butler couldn’t see the future. She saw what was happening in front of her and, in addition to studying the past, was able to imagine where it would lead. It’s important to tell the truth about her because mythologizing her is a disservice to her legacy.

A column has been going around recently talking about how we have to learn to love factory farms, and this story is a clear rebuttal to that because H5N1 emerged on, you guessed it, a factory farm. Building arguments around cherry picked metrics like efficiency just isn't good enough.

In 2010, anti-copyright activist Aaron Swartz hanged himself after being prosecuted to the full extent of the law for making copyrighted academic publications freely available. Today, academic publishers are insisting those copyrights be lifted to feed the corporate AI slop machine.

17-year-long Scottish study of 82,000+ adults finds commuting by bike reduces your risk of: • early death • hospitalisation for any reason • cardiovascular disease • cancer mortality • treatment for mental health problems. Yeah, but those LTNs and bike lanes are *really* annoying.

Couldn’t agree more—don’t live in a city centre if you don’t like noise! I and many other people want to live near late night bars, clubs and neighbours having the occasional party. Move somewhere that’s more fitting to your needs if you don’t want those things, there are plenty of options.

Just how often does climate media mention animal agriculture? In a review of 100 climate articles published by 10 national outlets, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, Sentient and Faunalytics found that just 7 percent mention animal agriculture.

Labour health secretary Wes Streeting has permanently banned puberty blockers for trans children. There is no evidence they cause harm, which is why they are still available for cis children.