Samuel Workman | Lightnews

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 4h

"Dems have to use power" is carrying a lot of water there. Not a well honed skill for them.

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 5h

"FERC rejected a call by the PJM Interconnection’s market monitor ... to assess how Amazon’s data center could affect capacity and energy costs for ratepayers as well as grid reliability, saying those issues were outside the scope of the proceeding." 😮
www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-pe...

FERC approves PECO-Amazon data center transmission agreement

The pact raises “significant questions” about how the agency and states will protect existing customers from the costs of adding large loads to the grid, FERC Commissioner Judy Chang warned.

www.utilitydive.com

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 6h

Yes, it should be the same as federal and state elections.

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 6h

Couldn't agree more and I see this up close. Off-cycle elections are an abomination. There is no good-faith pro-democracy argument for them.

Emily Farris @emayfarris.bsky.social · 6h

And to be clear- this wouldn’t just help one party over the other, as municipal unions (teachers, police, fire…) often play a major role in these elections. Research shows that off cycle elections benefit special interests.

But it would be a good way to show Democrats are pro democracy.

Emily Farris @emayfarris.bsky.social · 6h

And to be clear- this wouldn’t just help one party over the other, as municipal unions (teachers, police, fire…) often play a major role in these elections. Research shows that off cycle elections benefit special interests.

But it would be a good way to show Democrats are pro democracy.

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 22h

Yes, and none of this is ever accounted for in the balance of payments discussions we see on here all the time.

Grace Hill @gracehill.bsky.social · 22h

Why is WV so poor? Well, part of it is that the corporations got good at economic extraction, keeping miners in debt peonage with scrip into the 1950s. Tough to build long term economic security when you have to buy from the company store. Even today, a third of Clay County students are homeless.

Angelo @mrangelof.bsky.social · 23h

And a piece of Coal Scrip.

This piece if brass scrip was minted for J.W. Hanson & Son in 1951. In Queen Shoals, W.VA. This was for a mine community in Clay Co. Only a little east of Clendenin, WV.

Grace Hill @gracehill.bsky.social · 22h

Why is WV so poor? Well, part of it is that the corporations got good at economic extraction, keeping miners in debt peonage with scrip into the 1950s. Tough to build long term economic security when you have to buy from the company store. Even today, a third of Clay County students are homeless.

Angelo @mrangelof.bsky.social · 23h

And a piece of Coal Scrip.

This piece if brass scrip was minted for J.W. Hanson & Son in 1951. In Queen Shoals, W.VA. This was for a mine community in Clay Co. Only a little east of Clendenin, WV.

A brass coin with the letter H cut out of its center. The text around the edge reads, “J.W Hanson & Son” “Queen Shoals, W. VA.”

“Payable in merchandise only” “not transferable” “1951”

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 2d

There is a little place called Reims, fount of Kings and the Nectar of the Gods. No cocktail surpasses it's straw glow. Happy TG everybody. 🍾 #champagne

Taittinger Champagne in a vintage champagne flute atop a wooden table.

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 3d

"Inevitable" is the word, I think.

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 3d

Norms aren't restored by application of or "rule of law" but by meeting defection with defection.

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 4d

Not sure about AROD, but Bonds and McGuire, and definitely Clemens, were HOFers already before their heads were so large. And Rose should be in there too. It's a joke otherwise.

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 4d

I don't know about the veracity of any of these arguments. But, I do know that if Dems could lose 60-40, or even 70-30, instead of 80-20, the world would be a very different place. #rural

Democrats plan a new investment in winning rural voters, who've fled the party

Democrats are announcing a new investment to win over voters in rural areas — where the party has suffered deep losses in recent elections — by leaning on an economic message.

www.npr.org

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 5d

Working with @verasight.io, this will be the most comprehensive assessment of perceptions and perspectives on an important policy issue in the state. Our survey design allows us to reach more granular descriptions of residents' perceptions of energy policy than have been possible previously.

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 5d

I am excited to partner with the West Virginia Office of Energy on a project beginning soon to assess West Virginians' attitudes on investments in the energy sector, their connections to the state's leading industries, and their views on the mix of energy sources in the Mountain State.

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 5d

One of the central problems with opinion polling in West Virginia, and even more so with national polls about West Virginians, is that they represent a few folks from our larger cities. West Virginia is a hard place to poll for geographical and infrastructure reasons. Quick 🧵. 🏛️🌐🗺️

Policy Studies Journal @psjeditor.bsky.social · 5d

Explore this PSJ article from our latest issue examining how local agendas evolve in response to national signals, population growth, and institutional change.

By Peter B. Mortensen & Brooke Nicole Shannon

Read more here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#PSJ #PolicyStudiesJournal

JA Westenberg @joanwestenberg.com · 5d

In every dystopian novel: the government bans books.

In reality: we gave up reading voluntarily.

Line chart showing US teen reading habits since 1985: daily readers fall sharply while those who "hardly ever" read rise to about 48% by 2024.

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 5d

Should also note that the engine for this 1% mobility has a lot more to do with networking than education (which is great no doubt).

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 7d

🧵 🛟

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 7d

1. #Flu 🧵: #CDC reports that #influenza activity has been "trending upward slowly" in the US over the past few weeks. This could change markedly after Thanksgiving, with all the cross country travel & intergenerational mingling. Right now only 2 places are reporting moderate activity, LA & PR.

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 7d

1. #Flu 🧵: #CDC reports that #influenza activity has been "trending upward slowly" in the US over the past few weeks. This could change markedly after Thanksgiving, with all the cross country travel & intergenerational mingling. Right now only 2 places are reporting moderate activity, LA & PR.

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 9d

Interesting paper 🔌💡

Robert (Bob) Kubinec @rmkubinec.bsky.social · 9d

🚨 New draft 🚨

We built an LLM-enabled system to measure greenwashing scores in 1 million worldwide Facebook ads.

We found vast networks of Facebook pages sharing pro-fossil fuel messages & show that ads are targeted at left-leaning areas with fossil fuel investments.

Link: doi.org/10.48550/arX...

links of pages with connections to fossil fuel companies and similar types of climate change messaging

Robert (Bob) Kubinec @rmkubinec.bsky.social · 9d

🚨 New draft 🚨

We built an LLM-enabled system to measure greenwashing scores in 1 million worldwide Facebook ads.

We found vast networks of Facebook pages sharing pro-fossil fuel messages & show that ads are targeted at left-leaning areas with fossil fuel investments.

Link: doi.org/10.48550/arX...

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 9d

Cosign. And let's be honest, this perpetual campaign that rewards great campaigns and terrible governors, is a large reason we are where we are.

Shobita Parthasarathy @shobitap.org · 10d

🚨New report!🚨 Small modular reactors are seen as neat, carbon-free solutions to the problems of energy-hungry tech like AI. But our analysis @stpp-um.bsky.social argues it will have serious environmental, social, and justice impacts and offers 12 policy recommendations across the nuclear fuel cycle.

The Reactor Around the Corner: Understanding Advanced Nuclear Energy Futures

stpp.fordschool.umich.edu

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 10d

Behavioral lock-in. Abysmal.

Pew Research Center @pewresearch.org · 10d

A majority of U.S. adults (59%) say they don’t want to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine. This is roughly identical to the share who said in October 2024 that they probably wouldn’t get the updated vaccine.

A series of blue and green stacked horizontal bars on a chart showing that about 6 in 10 Americans say they don’t want to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine and opinions differ by age and political affiliation

Pew Research Center @pewresearch.org · 10d

A majority of U.S. adults (59%) say they don’t want to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine. This is roughly identical to the share who said in October 2024 that they probably wouldn’t get the updated vaccine.

Pew Research Center @pewresearch.org · 10d

44% of Americans say they have heard nothing at all about the CDC’s changes to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations (issued in early October). Among those who have heard at least a little, 63% say the changes have had no influence on their decision whether to get an updated vaccine.

A pie chart and a horizontal chart in grey, blue, and green showing that few Americans say that new CDC guidelines have influenced their decision on whether to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine

Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 10d

It'll be interesting to see whether these turn out to be intraparty resistance or realizing there is a credible threat of retaliation in tit-for-tat.

Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 10d

The Indiana State Senate rejected President Donald Trump’s call for a special session to redraw the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms. The move preserves Indiana’s current map and represents yet another rebuke of Trump’s national gerrymander push.

Indiana GOPers Defy Trump, Vote Against Gerrymander Session

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