johnedwinmason
@johnedwinmason.bsky.social
Historian, curator, walker, player of antique French horns. Photography, music, South Africa. UVA Professor Emeritus.
Being against fair housing is a helluva position to take. time.com/article/2026...
The Next Fight for Fair Housing Is Online
“The growing acceptance of private listing networks by powerful real estate interests signals a shift in how the market operates,” warns Derrick Johnson.
time.com
"Many, perhaps most, of these students would not have been categorized as 'college ready' by traditional benchmarks. If anything, the research suggests that some states have set college admissions cutoffs that are too high, not too low." - @mattbarnum.bsky.social www.chalkbeat.org/2026/08/04/w...
The research on who benefits from college may surprise you
Studies in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Texas point in the same direction: Four-year college often helps students with modest high school records.
chalkbeat.org
The extreme heat & drought in Puerto Rico have gotten too little attention in the rest of the US. Things there are very bad. apnews.com/article/puer...
Puerto Rican cities hit with water rationing measures as record dry conditions persist
Puerto Rico will implement water rationing measures in San Juan and other major cities as a drought grips the U.S. territory with no relief in sight.
apnews.com
Coming soon to every airline, I imagine. apnews.com/article/jets...
Australian airline Jetstar will charge passengers to use the overhead lockers for their bags
Jetstar plans to charge passengers for using overhead compartments starting February 2027. The airline says this change aims to reduce stress at boarding gates by eliminating the need to weigh bags an...
apnews.com
It's too bad there are so few South Africans on this site. They'd great a good, but bitter & rueful, laugh out of the post below. It will sound all too familiar. #statecapture
ProPublica@propublica.org · 18h agoAn obscure Texas firm secretly connected to Donald Trump Jr. said it received at least $100 million from Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries. At the same time, the Ambani family secured major policy wins from the Trump administration. (Published June)
The US is governed by a racist regime. But you know that. "The State Department is making permanent a program under which citizens from 50 countries, mainly in Africa, are required to post bonds to apply for a U.S. visa, & raising the cost as well, to as much as $20,000." www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...
U.S. will make visa bond program permanent, affecting mostly African countries
A draft notice published Friday in the Federal Register says a nearly year-long review “provided sufficient data” to suggest the bond program effectively enforces compliance with visa conditions, and ...
pbs.org
The Freedom 250 Grand Prix is a Trump-backed IndyCar race. And Tyler is right that what it will do to access to public spaces is outrageous — for instance, turning the National Gallery of Art, where entrance is free, into a costly private space. Don't let this sh*t be normalized.
Tyler Green@tylergreenbooks.bsky.social · yesterdayFrom the NGA's website: "Due to our location, you’ll need a ticket to the Freedom 250 Grand Prix to visit us on August 22 and 23." It is outrageous that a private business can effectively shut down public access to public institutions. (Not the NGA's fault, obvz.)
The class war in one chart. Profit share of US GDP, 1970-2025. source: McKinsey note that McKinsey could have opted to use the 1970-1990 average instead of 1970-1999, which would have shown a near doubling rather than a 50% rise. this would line up better with the end of the Cold War...
This is your invitation to mark your calendar to preorder the new book... preorders in December; ships in January! pre-pre-order!
Mike@professorberry.bsky.social · yesterdayWait... the hardcover is how much?!!? www.routledge.com/Rap-as-Antir...
It’s much the same in Alberta. Police and traffic safety orgs have been doubling and tripling down on PSAs about speed limits since the province banned speed cameras. Crashes and fatalities are up, meanwhile the government’s priorities are increasing highway speed limits and removing bike lanes.
David Zipper@davidzipper.bsky.social · yesterdayA story of cause and effect: Last November, Ontario banned cities from using speed safety cameras to issue tickets. Reckless speeding immediately surged in Toronto, Ottawa, Guelph, and cities throughout the province. A 🧵 about my latest in Bloomberg (gift link)
The youth are all right.
Virginia Mercury@virginiamercury.com · yesterdayMicah Nielsen, 21, arrived at the polls wearing an “I hate AI” shirt and looking for a candidate who puts people over corporate profits. Nielsen lives in an area where data center development is a concern. “I’m trying to find ways to boycott AI,” he said. virginiamercury.com/2026/08/04/l...
"The instinct to punish Spain's liberal approach to migration is self-defeating."
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · yesterdayAn overdue show of EU solidarity with Spain ft.trib.al/ESt0s4Y | opinion
Palantir rides high on greed and fear — but mostly fear ft.trib.al/utspa8i | opinion
Palantir rides high on greed and fear — but mostly fear
Given its prodigious growth and the belief that this will continue, the anxiety many feel is the fear of missing out
ft.trib.al
"History involves sorting and organizing hundreds of thousands of facts" I remain astounded by how loud and wrong people are about what history actually is.
Best reporting I've seen on what sparked the massive wave of desperate migrants who entered the Spanish colony of Ceuta from Morocco last week. Most have since returned, but the episode has been good for the European right & bad for Spain's progressive prime minister. apnews.com/article/ceut...
Runaway online rumors sparked frantic rush by migrants to the Spanish territory of Ceuta
By the time authorities reacted, an estimated 60,000 people had reached Ceuta in just a few days, the largest migration surge between Morocco and Spain in years.
apnews.com
An underwater explosion in the Danube River in Izvoarele village aims at deepening the channel and diverting water to the cooling systems of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant. Critically low water levels caused by a heatwave has forced Romania to close two nuclear reactors 📸 Daniel Mihailescu
am I really going to have to write my fucking Senators about how I majored in the French horn and am also a contributing member of my community
The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 2d agoPresident Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/aaAEu6v
Thread on some pretty cool presidential trivia. 👇🏽
100 years ago news@100yearsagonews.bsky.social · 2d ago103 years ago today- the dramatic start to the Coolidge presidency
Comment dit-on Evel Knievel en français ?
Mémoire2cité@memoire2cite.bsky.social · 2d ago67 Strasbourg Rétro cars voitures 🚘 ► Automobiles, cascadeur Pierre Muller www.dna.fr/edition-de-s... Dans l’après-midi du jeudi 27 novembre 1969, sur l’aire de stockage d’un garage de Souffelweyersheim, détrempée par les premières chutes de neige, une ancienne Traction Citroën
I've been playing the horn 📯 for 56 years. That's long enough to learn a few things. For instance, how my chops feel when I first pick up the instrument is a bad predictor of how they'll feel when I've been playing for a while. Tonight, for instance, they went from lousy to mediocre to not bad. 😄
It requires expertise to be able to say, “I do not know the answer to that question, and that is becauae thus far scholarly consensus is that we do not have the knowledge needed at this time to answer that question.” Sometimes “I don’t know” is a far more rigorous answer than people might think.
Me on the AAU "The AAU claims to be comprised of America’s leading research unis...But if the member presidents choose the guise of institutional neutrality as a way to gain political cover, they may now be leading higher ed toward greater authoritarianism." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
How Elite Colleges Aided Censorship During the Red Scares
Powerful organizations during the Red Scares crafted a world where “academic freedom” was conditional on political allegiance.
insidehighered.com
Over at the toxic place, they're enjoying the fall of a Black academic, who's accused of plagiarism & lying on their CV. It's easy enough to see the tut-tuting for what it really is. (I logged in for the first time in months. I miss my music/arts & motorsports lists. Can't reproduce them here.)
I hiked here in June. What a lie. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/c...
Documents Undercut Trump’s Claims About Bears Ears National Monument
President Trump said recreation in Bears Ears National Monument was virtually impossible. Documents reviewed by The New York Times show officials knew otherwise.
nytimes.com
Former neo-Nazi activist selected as Tory candidate for Somerset council election
Former neo-Nazi activist selected as Tory candidate for Somerset council election
Joshua Bonehill-Paine, creator of satirical Crewkerne Gazette, has convictions including for harassing a Jewish MP A former neo-Nazi activist with convictions including for harassing a Jewish MP has been selected as a Conservative candidate for a local election in Somerset. Joshua Bonehill-Paine, the creator of the viral Crewkerne Gazette series of AI clips, is due to stand for election to Somerset council next year in a new Crewkerne South district. He told the Guardian he was an executive member of the Tories’ Yeovil branch, working as an events organiser. Continue reading...
theguardian.com
One of the most popular songs on African social media over the World Cup is an AI generated remix of a popular French song “Pilé”. Unclear if the original musician is receiving royalties from the use of the AI remix. Same thing has happened with Stromae’s “Papa Ou Te” - the gospel remix is AI.
Jake Kastrenakes@jake--k.bsky.social · 2d agothe real question is why this morrissey ripoff rap is on the charts at all www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Makes perfect sense if you know anything at all about Uganda's bloodthirsty president-for-life, Yoweri Museveni & his brutal authoritarian regime. apnews.com/article/ugan...
Uganda's military unveils statue of Netanyahu's brother who died in 1976 Entebbe hostage rescue
Uganda’s military has unveiled a monument to Yonatan Netanyahu, the older brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
apnews.com
"don't make enough money" is a fig leaf All those degree programs--social work, art, etc.--have disproportionately female student bodies. This is designed to make it harder for women to attend college--college education being a key factor in women's autonomy from men & left-leaning voting pattern.
The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 2d agoPresident Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/aaAEu6v
That the world and its financial structures are being held hostage by the bizarre social media posts of one man is what you get when the dynamics of celebrity culture merge with real political power. It was kind of inevitable.
Governor Tim Walz@governorwalz.mn.gov · 2d agoHappy Market Manipulation Monday - brought to you by the most corrupt family in American history. www.wsj.com/finance/stoc...
