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Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

@fkearns.bsky.social

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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · Aug 15

The Dragon Bravo Fire at the Grand Canyon hit a water system facility, setting off a dangerous chlorine gas leak that halted the firefight at a critical time.

That was just one of many water-related challenges on this fire, and is indicative of a larger pattern across the western US.

New, from me.

Grand Canyon’s Dragon Bravo megafire shows the growing wildfire threat to water systems

Water systems are vulnerable to melting plastic components, toxic contamination and failures that can leave firefighters without flowing water.

theconversation.com

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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 5h

My brother says same last week. He was even home and saw the guy stand up and deliver nothing. So strange!

Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 5h

The politics of groundwater subsidence: “Already heated tensions flared Friday when a southern Tulare County dairy farmer noticed what appeared to be signs illustrating subsidence levels being affixed to a telephone pole across the street from his ranch in the Pixley Irrigation District.”

Daniel Siegel @dcgull.bsky.social · 8h

Called the sheriff on someone taking a photo on a public road. “This was sabotage. This was a hit.”

mavensnotebook.com/2025/10/14/s...

SJV WATER: Subsidence photo op stirs bad feelings in already bitter groundwater clash

By Lisa McEwen, SJV Water Already heated tensions flared Friday when a southern Tulare County dairy farmer noticed what appeared to be signs illustrating subsidence levels being affixed to a telephone...

mavensnotebook.com

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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 13h

The amount of skill - listening, multilingual communication, care, collaboration - that goes into working on household-level water issues in Arizona’s diverse rural communities is impressive. Entering people’s homes, interviewing them, testing their water, such a vulnerable thing for all involved!

Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 5d

Such complex and much-needed work my colleagues are doing to address water insecurity in rural communities and colonias in Arizona - great mix of social science and engineering approaches from @awutich.bsky.social’s group. A joy to write about! news.asu.edu/20251008-env...

Addressing water insecurity and building trust in rural Arizona | ASU News

In rural Arizona, access to safe and affordable drinking water is not guaranteed. Households in rural communities often rely on private wells, small treatment systems or hauled water, all of which can...

news.asu.edu

Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Ian James @ianjames.bsky.social · 17h

Gov. Newsom vetoed a bill that would have tracked data centers’ growing water footprint. He says California is “well positioned” to support the AI-driven data center boom, and he is reluctant to impose “rigid reporting requirements.” www.latimes.com/environment/...

California cracks down on water theft but spares data centers from disclosing how much they use

Gov. Newsom vetoed a bill that would have required data centers to report their projected water use when applying for a business license.

www.latimes.com

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

genna @genna.bsky.social · 1d

the practice of giving books a star rating out of five has degraded literary culture profoundly and ought to be wiped from the face of the Earth

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Sára 🍞 @ndntacocat.bsky.social · 1d

Happy Indigenous People's Day! I'm a Karuk food sovereignty advocate, traditional food gatherer, food writer & old nerd. My people are on the Klamath River & I grew up in the Hupa Valley. I wrote a cookbook about the way I use tradish foods in my family: tinyurl.com/4dufbvux

Chími Nu'am: Native California Foodways for the Contemporary Kitchen — Quiet Quail Books

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 1d

After getting zero firm commitments to this point from the first nine invitees, the Trump administration is extending its proposed compact to all colleges. Expect some red-state publics to say yes.

Trump Offers All Colleges Preferential Funding Plan Rejected by MIT

The Trump administration is inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact — initially rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that would grant preferential federal funding in re...

www.bloomberg.com

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Lydia Jennings, PhD @1nativesoilnerd.bsky.social · 1d

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day! Sharing a few photos from hosting my first campus event “From Ashes to Spores: Indigenous Women Restoring Land Relations”; we had a panel facilitated by student leaders with 2 incredible early career scholars, as well as a day spent creating outside with earth pigments

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 1d

Western Alaska was hit hard by the recent storms. Houses floated away in Kipnuk, houses flipped over, people lost everything from the flooding that came with the storms. Please donate if you can. This group has a long history of supporting AK communities.

alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Victor Asal @victorasal.bsky.social · 1d

Historic wave of retirements is putting huge strains on the government

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Historic wave of retirements is putting huge strains on the government

Tens of thousands of federal employees have taken retirement or other voluntary departures on top of the Trump administration’s latest layoffs.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

erin mccann @mccanner.bsky.social · 6d

The public works director of Oakland would like to get MC Hammer to record a song called "U Can't Dump This" as a way to help solve the city's trash problem www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

How a City Awash in Garbage Is Trying to Take Out the Trash

www.nytimes.com

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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 2d

Thank you for posting what you’re reading. I’ve read or have to read quite a few of your recommendations!

Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Angutekaraq Qakvalria @angutekaraq.bsky.social · 2d

From accounts with relatives from Kipnuk, the village is a total loss. One of my Elder relatives says it's wiped out. Those rectangular dots in the distance? Houses floating away

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 2d

Most of these people are deeply trained, or at least highly educated, in humanities. Knowing isn’t being.

brasidas @brasidas.bsky.social · 2d

Anyone who claims that Silicon Valley would be better with more humanities education has to grapple with the fact that Peter Thiel was a philosophy major.

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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 2d

“I’m a senior citizen. I’m tired.”

Truly a devastating story about people unable to recover from disasters, even using all their retirement savings. I fear this for so many of us.

In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 2d

As climate change increasingly becomes a threat not just to homes, but to the very foundations of retirement, even the most careful savers are finding personal effort can’t outpace the risks woven deeply into the financial system.

@adamlmahoney.bsky.social reports

inthesetimes.com/article/clim...

Climate Change Puts A Generation’s Retirement On The Line

Early retirement withdrawals for hardship have tripled since 2020, as disasters strike and insurance fails–leaving workers on their own in old age.

inthesetimes.com

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 2d

Oh my god

Claire Zagorski, MSc, EMT-P @clairezagorski.bsky.social · 3d

A student on TikTok has been documenting her journey with a professor who “wrote” the anatomy textbook and it’s all a bunch of AI hallucinations.

She’s saying that, understandably, the students are doing super poorly!

Behold what we’re teaching the healthcare professionals of tomorrow:

A diagram of the bones and (some) deep muscles of the hand and forearm. AI says that we only have four digits. It’s also identified a tendon as the median nerve, another tendon as the ulnar nerve, among other issues.

An AI generated diagram of the muscles of the neck. It hallucinated the “ennocleidomasid” muscle, and the “anterior scalpalin muscle”.

An AI generated diagram of the muscles of the lateral thigh. It says that the gluteus Maximus (the big juicy butt muscle) is on the anterior side. It also points to the quadriceps muscle and says “attattment”. It also says that the same structure is the tibia AND the deep fascia of the leg.

An AI generated diagram of the bones of the hand and forearm. This time AI says we have 6 digits. It also says that the radius is the ulnar artery. Among other many issues.

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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 2d

Had I not just met one of these “kids,” this piece might have been confusing, but it’s a wild ride either way nymag.com/intelligence...

The AI Kids Take San Francisco

Brilliant, workaholic teenagers are flooding the city — and reshaping our future in their image.

nymag.com

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒 @marspidermonkey.bsky.social · 12d

We can remember Goodall’s accomplishments and legacy while recognizing that National Geographic created a narrative that erased the local people who contributed to her research. Her African colleagues deserve to be credited, not erased (10/10).

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Grumpy D. Kelson @grumpykelson.myatproto.social · 2d

“One in 5 community college students in [California] has been homeless in the past year, a recent study found.”

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

He was a homeless college student. He found hope in a parking lot.

Long Beach City College reserves 15 spots in a parking lot for homeless students. For Edgar Rosales Jr., the program has been a lifeline.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Sylvia Chi 齊思涵 @sylviachi.bsky.social · 3d

I hadn't been following this bill, but just saw that Gov. Newsom vetoed AB 93, which imposed certain water use reporting requirements on data centers, as part of the business licensing process (including for annual renewals).

calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202...

AB 93: Water resources: data centers. | Digital Democracy

Digital Democracy overview of bill AB 93: Water resources: data centers.

calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 3d

Did you miss it this week?

I have a new job: president of News Creator Corps. Goes like this.

Via the people now called creators, audiences are migrating to the social layer in the internet stack. Maybe there's a way to move with, rather than against that.

newscreatorcorps.org/2025/10/news...

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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 3d

Some people I just think will never die. So sad!

Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 3d

Terribly sad news about one of the greats. Diane Keaton has died at 79.
people.com/diane-keaton...

Diane Keaton, Famed for Roles in 'Father of the Bride,' 'First Wives Club' and More, Dies at 79 (Exclusive)

Diane Keaton has died at age 79. Keaton was best known for roles in movies like 'Annie Hall,' 'The First Wives Club,' 'Something's Gotta Give' and 'The Godfather.'

people.com

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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 3d

Oh man! Definitely give it a listen - you’re not alone, sadly

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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 3d

100% recommend listening to Bundyville - one of my favorite podcast series of all time.

Brett Zimmerman @b-zimm.bsky.social · 3d

And if you’re wondering how the eff we got to where we are today, the Bundyville podcast is artful and unflinching in its examination of the self-righteous, grievance-fueled sovereign citizen movement.

The persecution that never was.

longreads.com/bundyville/s...

www.opb.org/news/article...

Listen: OPB's 'Bundyville' Podcast

From Longreads and Oregon Public Broadcasting, “Bundyville” returns for a second season to pick up where the first season left off. "Bundyville: The Remnant" is a seven-part series th...

www.opb.org

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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 3d

Hadn’t thought about that, but seems important! Good to know on your observations re: locals. I’ve gotten the strong sense many folks are imported.