Geoff Pfeifer

New England's last coal plant has stopped operating, according to its owners Merrimack Station has been winding down its operations for years. But in September, they announced they would cease operations of their coal-fired generators.

The last coal-fired power plant in New England, Merrimack Station, has stopped running.

With the closure of that facility, the region is poised to become the first in the United States without a coal plant on its grid. https://bit.ly/4nxOcna

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

I teach a history of antifascism course @ruhistorydept.bsky.social and figured I'd start an ongoing thread this semester to share some insights from course readings and recommend some great works on antifascism.

🧵

I don't think it's hyperbole to suggest Greta Thunberg is literally, in every meaningful way, tougher & a better leader than any elected official. Every single one. Some much more than others.

Methods, policy, practicalities, those are all beside the point. You need passion, drive & humanity

1. BREAKING

Judge Immergut, who was nominated by President Trump, has just granted a request by Oregon and California to block the deployment of National Guard troops from Texas and California to Portland.

Portland never stops being Portland.

A judge on Saturday ordered the Trump administration to halt its mobilization of 200 Oregon National Guard troops to protect the ICE building in Portland and its officers amid nightly protests.

www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

I visited the apartment building ICE raided on Tuesday today. Story to come, but you can walk right in. Half of the apartments have no doors on them. Children's stuff abandoned in some flats. *Citizen* residents told me they were arrested and held for hours in zipties. This is America

The absolutely horrific reports of inhumane and degrading treatment that the courageous people abducted from the Sumud Flotilla have been subjected to should jolt the Prime Minister Albanese and Minister Wong into action.

This is so good.

I see we are now at the stage of topsy-turvy authoritarianism where we are calling armed masked brownshirts with the full backing of state power a ‘vulnerable group’

Pretty cool how traffic in a car on the morning commute means you go slower but when there are a lot of other cyclists on my morning bike commute, I get where I am going a few minutes faster because cars have to wait for us more.

AI Coding Is Massively Overhyped, Report Finds The AI industry's claims about AI coding assistants boosting productivity significantly appear to be massively overblown, per a new report.

‘“we find that when developers use AI tools, they take 19 percent longer than without — AI makes them slower”’

i do not regret to inform you that we are going to win

University leaders keep saying we need to prepare our students for an AI future. But this is basically what the technology is good for. This and burning up the environment while raising everyone’s utility costs.

👇👇

CEDDANNE!!! Red Sox are going to the playoffs!!!!!

One example of how government can m, in fact, make people’s lives better if we want it to.

Michelle Wu, the Boston Beacon of Progress Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s first-term achievements shine, but numerous challenges persist after her re-election.

Terrific profile of Mayor Wu touches on a 3rd rail of Boston politics: Privileged access to the mayor’s office (and by extension, variances) that had been enjoyed by politically-connected developers under Menino and Walsh. Access is increasingly equitable. prospect.org/politics/202...

whoa. Every single one of the Sinclair advert buyers on this list is automotive or automotive related (insurance). That is one aspect of the power in our society held by car companies that I haven't seen studied enough.

Hell yes.

Is the AAUP Too Partisan? Its President Doesn’t Think So. Todd Wolfson has taken heat for some of the organization’s political stances during his tenure. Here’s what he makes of the criticism.

"higher ed is an economic engine, health-care engine, technological-innovation engine.

it should be a common public good for everyone. the vast majority of Americans of any political stripe need education for their kids, their families, in order to move forward."
www.chronicle.com/article/is-t...

Trump Cancels Trail, Bike-Lane Grants Deemed ‘Hostile’ to Cars The Trump administration canceled grants for street safety measures, pedestrian trails and bike lanes in communities around the country this month, each time offering a simple rationale for yanking ba...

Car cultures are authoritarian cultures.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...

"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."

www.computerworld.com/article/4059...

OK, I started this related critical AI list too here: olivia.science/ai#allies with allies & resources — @jsanofranchini.bsky.social @annakornbluh.bsky.social @ehayot.bsky.social (let me know if I failed to tag anybody)

and importantly, feel free to contact me to add more! 🤍

Noticing resistance to AI among students over here also. Many nodding along and snapping to reasons given for classroom bans.

This question is a great way to frame things also! Thank for it.

If anyone ever thought that businesses were anything other than authoritarian organizations the current conditions in the US, which is now finally being run like a business as it has fantasized about for so long, ought to put that to bed.

National Academy of Sciences rebuffs Trump EPA's effort to undo regulations fighting climate change The National Academy of Sciences says evidence supporting a 2009 U.S. government finding that climate change threatens public health is “beyond scientific dispute” and that evidence supporting that finding has only grown stronger.

Science is antifascist

apnews.com/article/clim...

The union representing the musicians from Jimmy Kimmel’s band releases a statement calling the FCC’s pressure on Disney “state censorship.”

Large Language Muddle | The Editors The AI upheaval is unique in its ability to metabolize any number of dread-inducing transformations. The university is becoming more corporate, more politically oppressive, and all but hostile to the ...

“Put plainly, you should feel bad for using AI.”

Great piece here by the N+1 editors.

www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...