Mark Basnage

Big news! Looking forward to seeing what's next for you.

Very important

Understanding, managing, leveraging, and distributing power. The public session workshop format provides an opportunity for us to examine skills and habits that benefit from being discussed candidly. These live sessions allow people to explore these topics outs...

Hey y'all, my company Brava is making our trainings free through the end of the year. Our sessions cover:

- Deepening alignment w/ your beliefs
- Getting good @ discerning strategic priorities and sacrifices
- Sharpening our communication around hard decisions
www.bravaleaders.com/public-sessi...

Pope Leo on 10th anniversary of Laudato Si: “There is no room for indifference or resignation. God will ask us if we have cultivated and cared for the world that he created…we cannot love God whom we cannot see, while despising his creatures." www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

The wing that includes its founder. And, after our Lord’s rebuke, his apostles as well.

For folks interested in the whole interview, which is 90 mins long and with Katie Couric: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kT_...

Ranking Member Jamie Raskin Prepared Remarks for the Judicial Conference September 16, 2025 Thank you, Chief Justice Roberts, for the invitation. Forgive my directness here but the times are serious, as you know, our time is short. I have just five minutes and don't want to trespass on Senator Cruz's time. Sometimes these days I feel as if all the foundational principles are being trampled and lost. Often, I hear my colleagues in the House, and these are fellow Democrats, get up to protest some Executive usurpation of legislative power and they begin their lament with the plaintive cry, "We are a coequal branch of government..." And I always feel they have lost the argument right there just by repeating that fifth-grade dogma. First of all, co-equal is not even a word. It's an embarrassing redundancy like "very unique" or "irregardless. "

But there's a reason all legislative power is vested in the Congress and there's a reason it's in Article I. The Founders had a revolution against monarchy and its constant assaults on liberty. In America, the Framers determined, only the representatives of the people would have power to declare wars, pass budgets, impose taxes and tariffs, and so on. Article lis pages and pages of all the powers vested in Congress. Then you get to Article Il, which is tiny. The key paragraph says a president shall be removed from office upon impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors. If we are co-equal, why do we have the power to impeach, try, convict, remove and permanently disqualify the president and he doesn't have the power to impeach, try, convict, remove and disqualify us? The core job of the president is plain: "To Take care that the laws are faithfully executed." That's it. Not abused, not thwarted, not impounded, not redirected, but faithfully executed. A lot of the cases entering the federal courts are variations on this theme.

Here's the remarkable thing: Americans have brought over 300 cases in federal district courts against the Administration so far for usurping legislative powers, defying federal laws, or violating the rights of the people. This summer, researchers found that plaintiffs were winning an astonishing 77% of the cases in the district courts. Moreover, they found that President Trump was losing about equally before Republican-appointed judges (72%) and Democratic-appointed judges (80%). The numbers in the federal circuit courts of appeal are similar, with plaintiffs against the Administration winning overwhelmingly and again without a sharp partisan valence to the appeals courts' voting. A good example is the birthright citizenship case where four district court judges, two appointed by Republican presidents and two appointed by Democratic presidents, all struck down the President's purported negation of birthright citizenship. Then, on appeal, three circuit courts again all ruled against the Administration. But everything is flipped when the cases come to the Supreme Court.

This rules - @raskin.house.gov straight up called out Roberts to his face.

democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center...

Her Uncle Immortalized Her as a Pig. The Book Sold 10 Million Copies. How Does She Feel About It? An interview with the little girl—now all grown up—who inspired Olivia.

This is a charming conversation with the real-life Olivia who inspired the book Olivia. slate.com/culture/2025...

i made a helpful reference

I Thought I Knew Silicon Valley. I Was Wrong Tech got what it wanted by electing Trump. A year later, it looks more like a suicide pact.

"Maybe that’s the thing I got most wrong about Silicon Valley. Those Davids I wrote about seemed fearless and full of verve as they challenged what was possible and rode the power of the chip and the net. I mistook this for character." www.wired.com/story/silico...

Let me propose a more resilient working definition of morality: morality is simply the mycelia that connects each of us to the earth and one another. 6/6

Let me clear up a few objections, though. Morality has a bad reputation, thanks to a couple generations of fundamentalist scolds and their “don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t dance” notions, focused on individual behavior. 5/n

The idea of amoral leadership is appealingly compatible with efforts to justify unpopular decisions, act in self- and organizational preservation, and pursue market position and rewards. 4/n

Or the decision to stay officially silent as events outside our organization are impacting our employees and customers. 3/n

As Gianpiero Petriglieri says, leadership can be a form of love.

But we routinely see organizations posit an amoral vision of leadership. Think about the decision frameworks media corporations and universities use as they respond to authoritarian gestures from governments. 2/n

Ultimately there is no such thing as amoral leadership. At least over the course of any season in an organization, and certainly in the course of a career, leadership has a moral valence. How could it not? Leadership is work among people. 1/n

The words we use to talk about nature are disappearing. Here’s why that matters. We’ll need to do more than ‘touch grass’ to revive them.

The words we use to talk about nature are disappearing. Here’s why that matters.

We’ll need to do more than "touch grass" to revive them.

grist.org/language/nat...

#Climate #Language #Words #Dictionary #Environment #Culture #Librarians

The morning session for this course starts in one week.

Cultivate a mindful birding practice, learn creative coding techniques, and be part of a community that embraces art, data, and environmental care.

🐦❤️📊

Important work!

Here are 10 provocations on climate and energy. Tell me if you agree, disagree or have a nuanced take. Drop your own provocations in reply or quote post.

Start:

1. By 2030, the use of air conditioning will lead to greater increase in electricity demand than data centers. And it's not even close!

Opinion | They Don’t Want to Live in Lincoln’s America

wrote about the “national conservative” vision for america

Some good things are happening.

www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/new-...

I am so inspired by your work, and hope I can afford to join one of your programs this year.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO As we look ahead to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Iam filled with excitement and gratitude for the incredible work underway. It's inspiring to witness how much passion and dedication is fueling this endeavor, and Ican already see how the commitment of our team members and partners wil transform not only our city, but the world of sport. The planning, the vision, the people-it's all coming together, and we are moving forward with purpose. One of the core principles that will guide us through this journey is unity. More than just a global sporting event, the LA28 Games will be an opportunity to bring together communities from all walks of life. We believe in the unifying power of sport and its ability to bridge divides, foster connection and inspire collective purpose. But the LA28 Games are more than a celebration of athletic achievement —they are also a model of resilience, from athletes reaching the pinnacle of their sport to a region scarred by wildfires rising stronger to welcome the world in 2028. In honor of the resilience that drives the Games, and our community, I'm excited to announce that LA28 will launch the Resilient by Nature initiative,a program designed to invest in a more resilient Los Angeles while showcasing scalable nodels and best practices that can inspire global action. Our Impact and Sustainability Plan si a key part of making this vision a reality. Through this Plan, we will ensure that the Games leave a positive, long-term legacy for our city, our region and the world, from elevating local businesses and small businesses to expanding access to a healthy environment for those most vulnerable in our community. But we cannot do this alone. LA28 is a massive undertaking that requires collaboration at every level. It's about teaming up with partners in government, community organizations and the private sector. It's about engaging with people who call this city home, and those who wil come ot experience ti for the f…

SPOTLIGHT: Resilient By Nature, Stronger through Sport In recognition of the resilience that drives the Games, LA28 will launch the Resilient by Nature initiative, a program to invest in a more resilient Los Angeles while demonstrating models and best practices that can help drive global action. Resilient by Nature will deploy a range of tools - from grantmaking to volunteerism to educational campaigns - to pursue positive impacts across focus areas tied to the land, water and sun that make the Games possible: Focus Areas: • Wildfire Resilience and Nature Restoration: Coming out of the devastating 2025 wildfires, LA28 will support projects that help build greater wildfire resilience and restore nature, such as planting fire resilient native plants or pursuing bio-remediation. Ocean Protection: With the Pacific Ocean as the iconic backdrop to sports like Sailing and Beach Volleyball, LA28 will support replicable solutions that enhance ocean health, such as beach cleanups or kelp restoration. • Cooling Solutions: In the lead-up to welcoming the world in the height of summer, LA28 will support projects that help keep Los Angeles cool, such as native tree planting or shade structures. Resilient by Nature will be anchored by the LA28 Community Resilience Fund, which will provide grants to local nonprofits to support projects across all three focus areas. The Fund will launch by early 2026 to ensure that projects begin well before the Games. LA28 will announce additional elements of the initiative in the lead up to 2028 and provide a comprehensive update in the Impact and Sustainability Pre-Games Report. Resilient by Nature will deepen collaboration between LA28, local nonprofit organizations, local government and LA28's commercial partners, leveraging the Games to increase investment in building a more resilient Los Angeles. Through these collective efforts, LA28 aims to leave behind a positive legacy that benefits Angelenos long after the Games.

LA28's long overdue sustainability plan will be presented at Thursday's ad hoc Olympic and Paralympic committee meeting. Resilient by Nature is a new initiative focused on post-fire nature restoration, ocean protection, and cooling solutions.

Report is up here: lacity.primegov.com/viewer/previ...

BREAKING: A new experiment in Philly shows cash rental assistance slashed homelessness rates by 57–67%.

My favorite

Every day

Street greening transformation before and after in Paris

New forest in front of Paris city hall

New “school street” with greening in central Paris

According to the City of Paris, in the last 10 years 150K trees have been planted & 45ha of parks created in the already hot city, all intended to not only improve quality-of-life today, but also help the city adapt to & manage summer heatwaves of 50℃ (122F) by 2050.

Just the start.

Common sense.

The renewable energy revolution is a feat of technology | Rebecca Solnit An energy revolution is underway in this century, though most people have not noticed it

An energy revolution is underway in this century, though it’s unfolded in ways slow enough and technical enough for most people not to notice (and I assume it’s nowhere near finished). It is astonishing – a powerful solution to the climate crisis... [Wrote it a while ago; came out yesterday.]

This graphic alone is like a fucking dissertation. Incredible stuff. Master class.

Blows a massive hole in every govt's excuse that their level of gov't has no control over freeway spending.