I love living in a community that votes to fund its parks, libraries, schools, zoos, etc.
Rebecca Dean
@rmdean.bsky.social
Anthropologist (archaeology, biological anth, ecology). Director of Assessment and Data Analytics. Former Michigan diaspora now home but missing Minnesota. UMich grad working at MSU. Never speaks for MSU.
“Departamento de Estado atribui medida à demora do Brasil em autorizar novo embaixador em Brasília” Contexto importante: Segundo levantamento da NBC do final de maio, mais da metade dos países do mundo está sem embaixador dos EUA jnascim.info/sgHCYT
Governo Trump anuncia ter revogado visto da embaixadora do Brasil nos EUA g1.globo.com/mundo/notici...
Breaking: Democratic primary voters narrowly voted to oust Representative Shri Thanedar of Michigan on Tuesday, nominating democratic socialist Donavan McKinney for a deep-blue, Detroit-area district in the latest sign of the party’s hunger for new blood. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/u...
Shri Thanedar Is Ousted by a Democratic Socialist in a Michigan House Primary
Representative Shri Thanedar is among a wave of Democratic incumbents in Congress whom primary voters have sent packing in a surge of anti-incumbent fervor this cycle.
nytimes.com
I understand why people worry about al-Sayed being able to win the general election. I was honestly worried that the opposite would be true. Stevens outspent al-Sayed by 9 to 1 and had the full weight of the normie Dems behind her. If she had won, it would have been by the narrowest of margins.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Abdul El-Sayed wins Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Michigan.
VoteHub projects Abdul El-Sayed to win the Democratic primary for Michigan U.S. Senate.
Abdul El-Sayed is outperforming his benchmarks in every county reporting so far, though all are areas where he was expected to run well. Unless Stevens significantly overperforms in the Detroit area, this is set to be an early night.
I had no idea where this race was headed. I didn’t see any polls. But…this is encouraging.
Michigan U.S. House District 7 Democratic Primary Eaton County, multiple vote types: 🔵 William Lawrence – 2,926 (47.3%) 🔵 Matt Maasdam – 1,654 (26.7%) 🔵 Bridget Brink – 1,600 (25.9%)
This is the early voting which was assumed to lean towards Stevens’ voters.
Michigan U.S. Senate Democratic Primary Kent County Absentee: 🟣 Abdul El-Sayed – 4,106 (55.4%) 🟠 Haley Stevens – 2,895 (39.1%)
Generally I would say that people accused of breaking the law should stay off the tv, especially if they lack the brains God gave inanimate objects. But I’m willing to make exceptions.
Had dinner at my mom’s house. Local tv is running frequent commercials for a hormone therapy center that name drops support from the FDA and smugly suggests only they can be trusted because most doctors don’t learn about hormone supplements. Yeah, no shit.
UMN Morris, which is a truly fabulous place to teach, is looking for someone to teach Intro to Biological Anthropology this fall. I know it's a last-minute request, but if anyone is available and interested, let me know. It's a 5-credit lecture and lab course. They are open to online asynchronous 1/
🔥 Here's Whitehouse's entire remarkable speech opposing Blanche: "What's left of this committee when we don't demand straight answers? How many times has DOJ been asked what became of the $50k that the FBI reported it handed to Homan? ... our R colleagues see no evil, hear no evil, & speak no evil."
Whitehouse on Blanche: "Today is a sad and embarrassing day"
YouTube video by Aaron Rupar
youtu.be
The Inclusive Impact conference was fabulous. I’m also completely wiped out.
I despise Substack and have previously said I will never read it (and I don't). But I will break my rule just for this eally disturbing piece of writing by Neko Case, who was / is in a band, The New Pornographers, who were supported by The Frames in 2002. nekocase.substack.com/p/in-what-fu...
IN WHAT FUCKING UNIVERSE?
This last week I was just cookin’ along minding my business when I suddenly found myself quite depressed.
nekocase.substack.com
Your astonishing artifact for the week is a crystal clear quartz tool found at a Neanderthal site in France. 🏺🧪
Rock crystal scraper: 45,000-year-old Neanderthal tool that shows they had an 'eye for beauty of form and color'
A chance find of rare rock crystal tools a century ago paved the way for a better understanding of Neanderthals today.
livescience.com
The Southern Three-Banded Armadillo (Tolypeutes matacus) is one of the only armadillo species capable of rolling into a completely sealed sphere: #AGoodPlace Source: www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFu...
TIL Lansing had a mob-initiated fruit war in the 1920s that included bombings and hit men.
Alrighty Then Meme
ALT: Alrighty Then Meme
static.klipy.com
14yo was watching a movie and said it must have been set a long time ago because, "they were watching a movie on a box."
Back In My Day Old People
ALT: Back In My Day Old People
static.klipy.com
It doesn't have to be subsidised livestock! See: "By bringing back grazing – not with livestock but with wild and semi-wild herbivores – the Rewilding Portugal team and local partners are significantly reducing wildfire risk..." rewildingeurope.com/blog/rewildi...
Europe turns to goats to prevent wildfires
As abandoned farmland ignites around Europe, livestock and their appetites could be key to preventing wildfires.
politico.eu
This is what I was trying to inexpertly say a few days back. Luckily here’s someone who actually knows what they’re talking about!
It's also a little ... surprising to hear these specific pronunciation of these vowels from a Gen X/Millennial woman from Rochester Hills - she sounds like a boomer male factory worker (aka: an earlier and more working class version of the dialect).
This is a really great question, and I'm gonna go... pretty in depth to answer it so buckle up (if you wanna come along for the ride)! (1/n)
Is there a general Michigan accent that's reliably distinguishable from that of the broader great lakes?
Downplay a book or movie: “A ways from the bonkers group”
Downplay a book or movie: "The ok Gatsby "