Jessica McKenzie
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jessimckenzi.bsky.social
Jessica McKenzie
@jessimckenzi.bsky.social
12K followers 3.6K following 2.7K posts
editing & reporting climate stories @thebulletin.org // outdoorsy newsletter: http://pinchofdirt.substack.com // tips: [email protected] or [email protected] or jessimckenzi.01 on signal
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jessimckenzi.bsky.social
ok doesn't look like much but these @ranchogordo.bsky.social beans with red onion, leeks, garlic, and assorted herbs smell sooooo good. also out of olive oil so i just threw in some tablespoons of butter.
swampy beans
December 8, 2025 at 11:49 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
"Stress."
The most common type of eyelid twitching, called myokymia, may be triggered by: Alcohol intake Bright light Caffeine excess Eye strain Fatigue Irritation of the eye surface or inner eyelids Nicotine Stress. Wind or air pollution
December 8, 2025 at 8:28 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
have been thinking about parallels between the ai-energy and the bitcoin-energy story, where some of the biggest pushback to bitcoin operators happened when electricity prices for locals began to rise, but i think one key difference is even the biggest bitcoin players were small time compared to...
A similar drama played out in upstate New York. The small city of Plattsburgh’s low-cost electricity attracted several large mining operations, but the city has only a limited supply of cheap hydropower each month. Once they use that up, the city must buy power from the grid, which is a lot more expensive (and more likely to come from fossil fuels). When that inevitably happened after the miners moved in, individuals and businesses saw their electricity bills soar (Lotemplio 2018). A working paper by Matteo Benetton, an assistant professor at the University of California at Berkeley, estimates that bitcoin mining in New York increased annual energy bills by $165 million for small businesses and $79 million for individuals across the state (Benetton 2021). In 2018, Plattsburgh also put a moratorium on new cryptocurrency operations, which was only lifted in 2019 after a new regulation was created to put the burden of overage costs on the miners (Delisle 2019). Chelan County’s moratorium was lifted after the utility set higher rates for cryptocurrency operations and made them cover additional capital costs necessary to maintain the grid (McDaniels 2018).
December 8, 2025 at 6:33 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
ai coming for your job but not in the way you think
Coincidentally, the largest tech companies spending billions of dollars on data centers have also led recent private-sector job cuts by laying off tens of thousands of their own workers—but observers such as Hetrick suggest that the tech companies are actually reducing workforces to help pay for their ongoing AI investments.
December 8, 2025 at 5:59 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
ah yes exactly the kind of damage you might expect from an "owl" or "turkey"
December 8, 2025 at 5:37 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
what's crazy is that she would have probably suffered zero consequences if she had just reported it immediately, because law enforcement is often eager to excuse drivers if victims can be blamed

unless, of course, she was driving while under the influence and had to hide that
On July 8, a witness reported to law enforcement that he had seen a person wearing dark clothing in the middle of the left lane on Highway 169 in that location. The witness stated he nearly hit the person, and they would have been difficult to see in the dark.
December 8, 2025 at 5:32 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
if this isn't a reason to never give up wired headphones idk what is
tiktok post about an airpod exploding in someone's ear!!!
December 8, 2025 at 3:58 AM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
also this one...
I was so disappointed in my alma mater after reading "Uncloaking Autism" that I promptly threw the entire magazine in the garbage. My husband and I are both alumni, and we have a 17-year-old son who has what we are absolutely convinced is "vaccine-induced" autism. There is no excuse for the information you printed stating that it has been proven that vaccines do not cause autism. On the contrary, there is a growing body of evidence that implicates vaccines in the current epidemic of autism, and in a host of other childhood illnesses and disorders. It is my hope that someone who writes for Stanford will take the time to read Vaccine Epidemic by Stanford alum Louise Habakus, '85, MA '85, and Mary Holland; The Age of Autism by Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill; and Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective? by Neil Miller. If anyone can read Vaccine Epidemic and not shudder at the vaccines they've allowed into their children's bodies, and their own, then I will be beyond shocked. I know what we saw in our own house. After every successive vaccine, our precious son slipped further and further into the abyss of autism. It wasn't just "coincidental timing," it was vaccine devastation at its worst. Please educate yourselves and do a follow-up article. Laura Hayes, '87 Granite Bay, California
December 5, 2025 at 5:55 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
but while googling around like i do i came across this letter to the editor after the stanford mag published an autism article in 2011
I am grateful for the commendable work by Stanford researchers to unlock the biological underpinnings of autism ("Uncloaking Autism," January/February). However, I must disagree with the assertion that understanding the biology is "more fundamental" than understanding why there has been a hundredfold increase in the rate of autism over the past two decades (and also why it preferentially affects boys in a > 4:1 ratio). I was also concerned that the article seemed to downplay the severity of the autism epidemic by stating that the explosion in cases is mostly due to an increase in awareness of the diagnosis. This complacent explanation contradicts the recent results of the UC-Davis MIND Institute [Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders] and undermines the urgency and anguish expressed in the names and periodicals of parents' groups (e.g., Generation Rescue, Age of Autism). The attempt to blame older moms and preemies (presumably those under three pounds) also rings false, since these don't add up to more than 5 percent of cases. When I learned I was expecting a baby boy four years ago, and read that boys have a 1 in 90 (now 1 in 70) chance of being diagnosed with autism, I naturally was concerned and asked an expert friend what was causing the epidemic. She said that nobody really knows, but that one leading theory is that an upsurge of marriages between "nerds" is producing genetically autistic children. This explanation caused me genuine anxiety until I realized it was preposterous. Ultimately, no genetically based theory can explain the exponential rise in autism (the human genome doesn't mutate that quickly) and it also leaves parents, especially those of little boys, feeling anxious and helpless to protect their children. It is puzzling that the bulk of autism research focuses on genetics rather than on environmental triggers, both pre- and postnatal. I deeply wish the Stanford scientists success in finding effective treatments for those already …
December 5, 2025 at 5:48 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
also really curious how uc boulder feels about all this. they hire a climate scientist and get a discredited autism researcher instead?? and then have to promote that work
“While autism was once considered a condition that occurs mainly among whites of high socioeconomic status, these data suggest that the brunt of severe autism is now increasingly being borne by low-income families and ethnic minorities,” said lead author Cynthia Nevison, PhD, an atmospheric research scientist with the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, who also studies environmental health.
December 5, 2025 at 5:39 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
The mean daily footprint in the vegan group was 1.38 kg CO2 eq., which was significantly lower than in the vegetarian (2.45), fish-eater (2.72), and meat-eater groups (3.62). For each 1000 kcal, the meat-eater diet generated 39.7, 58.3, and 93.9% more CO2 eq. than in the case of fish-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans, respectively.
December 4, 2025 at 7:46 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
kinda like this? but more so
Another factor is what you put in your coffee, especially if you like milk or cream. James Gerber, a senior scientist at Project Drawdown, a nonprofit group that evaluates climate solutions, estimated that the milk in a latte can generate twice as much emissions as the coffee itself.
December 4, 2025 at 7:45 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
it was a tough call but i have decided the worst person in the nuzzi/lizza/rfk debacle is actually keith olbermann

gleefully reveling in the downfall of your ex—who you started dating when she was 18 and you were 52—is so repugnant, not to mention tasteless...anywho, kudos to the dark horse villain
Keith Olbermann ‪@olbermann.bsky.social‬ omg the review/vivisection of Nuzzi's book in The Washington Post begins "I am told that writers used to be interesting."
December 2, 2025 at 5:16 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
i don't actually think this is a terrible observation idk idk don't come for me
On Page 15 of this 303-page bafflement we get to the astrology (“a Gemini nation, under a Gemini ruler”).
December 2, 2025 at 4:03 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
oh here's another one

✔️started on linkedin, the primordial soup for all of humanity's best ideas
“People who are in the center have no political home. They are adrift. There is no brand. There is no slogan,” Libby said in the interview. The title emerged from a LinkedIn essay he posted in 2018, prompting friends to encourage him to keep writing about it. He began sketching out the book during the pandemic. While it was written for those across the political spectrum, it lands at a time when Republicans are oozing confidence after President Donald Trump’s win last year, and Democrats are adrift as they search for a new rallying cry to appeal to voters.
November 30, 2025 at 6:04 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
yummmmmmmmm
November 28, 2025 at 12:07 AM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
cranberry tart with ginger cookie crust (variation of nyt recipe); jalapeño honey cornbread (improvised riff on the laurel's kitchen cornbread my mom makes)
November 27, 2025 at 9:07 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
happy thanksgiving!
November 27, 2025 at 8:42 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
& i resent that the collective internet algorithm rewards selling people shit above all else. i actually did my own gift guide in my newsletter in 2023 (i won't link because everything over a year old is paywalled & you can't even pay to subscribe rn cause i'm on hiatus)

it's still my top post ever
November 25, 2025 at 9:56 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
NYT: Pallets of overstock, returned, and undelivered-mail packages are an indicator of just how much stuff there is in the retail ecosystem.

Also NYT: Amazon's Black Friday sale is live, with deals on skin care, Apple products, games, toys, kitchen appliances, and more.
November 25, 2025 at 9:31 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
can't believe that the "all the news that's fit to print" newspaper is recommending buying a plastic gag blanket
Casofu Burritos Tortilla Throw Blanket Gift-pick quirky throw blanket Read review
November 25, 2025 at 9:20 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
you know you've fallen into a rabbit hole when...
This article is more than 16 years old
November 25, 2025 at 7:07 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
...this feels revisionist

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/u...
In floating the idea to extend the subsidies, the Trump administration has the opportunity to gauge the response from lawmakers, including conservative Republicans who have long targeted the Affordable Care Act for failing to sufficiently constrain health care costs.
November 25, 2025 at 3:40 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
this headline strikes a nerve.

why does it make the story about our feelings about the practice instead of the slimy problems with the practice

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/b...
Why ‘Surveillance Pricing’ Strikes a Nerve The practice is at the intersection of two things people hate: feeling watched and feeling ripped off.
November 21, 2025 at 11:22 PM
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
adobe acrobat keeps forcing ai on me. i've unchecked this box multiple times and every time i relaunch the app, it's rechecked
November 21, 2025 at 5:31 PM