Joe Mason
@moreorloess.bsky.social
UW Madison Geography, opinions are mine. Geomorphology, soils, dunes, loess, in the Midwest, Great Plains, northern China. He/him. Living on Ho-Chunk lands.
Put away my phone and read Agnes Chase's comments on the inflorescences of buffalo grass: "the pistillate inflorescence is so highly specialized as to be quite unrecognized as a grass inflorescence." And forms burs that stick in your clothes and skin when you lie down in buffalo grass.
Tensions between the Madison community and police hit a tipping point last night after protesters managed to chase officers out of the Willy and Baldwin Street encampment and reclose the street. Madison365's Omar Waheed reports.
Protesters respond after Madison police clear encampment honoring Corey Ruiz
Tensions between the Madison community and police hit a tipping point after protesters managed to chase officers out of the Willy and Baldwin Street encampment and reclose the street Aug. 4. Protests…
madison365.com
They could always sign up to give comment at a public meeting.
The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 16h agoNew York City’s business elites are long accustomed to direct access to City Hall, where even Democratic mayors felt the need to court the city’s wealthiest and most influential corporate leaders. That access is getting shredded by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
New video on the geology of the Baraboo Syncline in Wisconsin,: youtu.be/y5e3aeGDiQU?... ⚒️
Geology of the Baraboo Syncline, Wisconsin
YouTube video by Callan Bentley
youtu.be
"Imagine AI was suddenly banned. Would you actually be willing to give it up?" Talking about AI like an addictive drug.
Learning about the Wisconsin portion of the VORTEX-USA project, seeing how the state compares to others with respect to how we receive and respond to weather warnings. After this is a panel discussion about the 2025 flooding.
Congregation leaving after services. Preacher in doorway. Dead Ox Flat, Malheur County, Oregon #MalheurCounty #Oregon #DeadOxFlat #DorotheaLange #undefined #photography #DorotheaLange https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017773868/
I know there are *at least* three or four people here who will be interested in this. An article on Carlos Bates, who ran the well-known USFS study on forest cover and runoff at Wagon Wheel Gap, CO, by Richard Sartz, who studied runoff and erosion in the Wisconsin Driftless Area for decades.
FT: UAE's imperial push into Africa UAE is now a bigger investor in Africa than China,UK,France,US! UAE's dark king MBZ is supporting/extracting from african actors (particularly in north africa) with investments in logistics, gold, copper, arms, farming www.ft.com/content/a4c6...
Took the Hiawatha from Chicago to Redwing with my dad, sometime around 1962-3. Sat in the observation car part of the way. Yes, it was exciting.
Vince Mpls@vincempls.bsky.social · yesterdayGood Morning! #OnThisDay Aug 4 1937: Chicago Milwaukee St Paul & Pacific Train No. 100 "Hiawatha" departs the Milwaukee Road Depot in downtown Minneapolis, heading for Chicago. At top speeds of over 100mph, these were the fastest scheduled trains in the world.
From Rocciamelone (3,538 m, Graian Alps) Aug. 2026 | Aug. 2013 Astonishing demise of one of the main glaciers in the Upper Maurienne Valley over last decade View towards Pte de Charbonnel (3,752 m asl), highest peak in the Graian Alps (see also: bsky.app/profile/subf...) 📷Via @meteoinpiemonte
Melaine Le Roy@subfossilguy.bsky.social · 3w agoLove this view of the Avérole Valley showcasing the perfect pyramid of the ice-capped Pointe de Charbonnel (3,752 m asl), the highest peak in the Graian Alps! 🏔️🧊 Background left is Baounet Glacier, one of the largest of the Upper Maurienne Valley 📷 Paul Helbronner (first decade of the 20th c.) ⏳
Many Europeans are as freaked out about black & brown migrants as American conservatives are. Just like Trump, right & far right politicians are exploiting their fears. More here. 👇🏽 f24.my/C5Wn
Ceuta migrant influx reignites immigration divisions in Europe
The arrival of 60,000 people into the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco last week has created serious tensions within the EU over immigration. Spain has called for a meeting of EU in...
f24.my
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
Widespread carbon accumulation in mature forests remains underestimated by satellite observations "Satellite estimates indicate near-neutral biomass changes over recent decades, whereas forest inventories estimate an increase of 102 TgC yr−1" www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Widespread carbon accumulation in mature forests remains underestimated by satellite observations - Nature Ecology & Evolution
The authors combine satellites, repeat airborne lidar, dynamic global vegetation models and field plot monitoring across the conterminous USA to show widespread continued carbon accumulation in mature...
nature.com
Check out this new paper we have in @pnas.org ! It’s got some big findings about glacial erosion. Namely that quarrying is ~5x more efficient at eroding bedrock than abrasion and that power based erosion laws are the most appropriate for modeling erosion www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
pnas.org
Morning thoughts on bedrocks steps and steep edges in glacial valleys.
Luke Zoet@lzoet.bsky.social · yesterdayCheck out this new paper we have in @pnas.org ! It’s got some big findings about glacial erosion. Namely that quarrying is ~5x more efficient at eroding bedrock than abrasion and that power based erosion laws are the most appropriate for modeling erosion www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Not good timing, but some extremely important points in this now unredacted part of the 2024 Autopsy: -loss more about Dem turnout decline than swing voters -Dem consultants extracting huge $ for bad advice -Biden shouldn'ta run -spam PACs ruining fundraising www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...
Author of Democrats’ 2024 Autopsy Says Party Left Out Key Chapter
A dispute over the chapter between the author and the Democratic National Committee has added to the party’s turmoil as it tries to look forward, not backward.
nytimes.com
Helpful piece from fire scientists Mojtaba Sadegh and John Abatzoglou on why the Spokane fires were so extreme and what can be done to reduce wildfire risk across the West.
Why the Spokane wildfires became so catastrophic
Extreme fire conditions converged in suburban neighborhoods built into the forests, shrubland and grasslands and quickly spread.
theconversation.com
There's flies in the kitchen, I hear 'em buzzin. Just like John Prine wrote it.
I have no stories like this. I visited Madison with my cousin and a friend over a weekend, thought it seemed like a cool place, never talked to anyone from UW.
Kevin Cantú@killerswan.bsky.social · 2d agoI remember when another kid and I chose Iowa State we met at an engineering summer camp and had a ball doing brainy stuff then Nebraska (UNL) had an event where they talked to us about engineering and then took us to a football game
in the car on the way we compared notes “we’re gonna be engineers, not football players, WTF is all this”
I remember when another kid and I chose Iowa State we met at an engineering summer camp and had a ball doing brainy stuff then Nebraska (UNL) had an event where they talked to us about engineering and then took us to a football game
Handy Dani Dyke@sharpdresseddyke.bsky.social · 2d agoA memory of high school was my father trying to sell me on going to Penn State by taking a trip there during which he endlessly emphasized the athletic facilities and the HUB. He ended up frustrated that my concern was "what's their CS program?" unable to grasp why that would matter more to me.
There is a great article in this issue about the Treaty of Point Elliott, subject of the Boldt Decision among other things. Images of the treaty manuscript are interwoven with a conversation among two HCN writers, tribal treaty rights directors, and others. May need to be a subscriber to access now.
High Country News@highcountrynews.org · 2d agoWhat can flowers, fungi, weather, treaties and human resilience teach us about communication? Our August issue explores the many ways we connect and what happens when those connections break down. buff.ly/BxYA7PW
It is certainly a debatable claim that the Wisconsin is the nation's hardest working river, but I really should have included a photo of this marker when I talked about stream power. www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=4132
The Wisconsin River Historical Marker
From its source at Lac Vieux Desert to the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien, the Wisconsin River descends 1,071 feet in 430 miles. (A historical marker located near Lyndon Station in Juneau Coun...
hmdb.org
It's really too bad Wisconsin Rapids changed its name from Grand Rapids. It is in fact at the Grand Rapids of the Wisconsin River, a river with many dramatic rapids. And people promoting data centers could mistakenly travel to one of two other Grand Rapids in the upper Midwest.
Joe Mason@moreorloess.bsky.social · 2d agoPromoting a data center on the site of the former paper mill that was a major employer in Wisconsin Rapids
Promoting a data center on the site of the former paper mill that was a major employer in Wisconsin Rapids
Anna Merlan @annamerlan.bsky.social · 2d ago“‘Let me tell you something: My name is Eric Adams,’ he continues, as the boos begin to rain down.” hellgatenyc.com/eric-adams-i...
“‘Let me tell you something: My name is Eric Adams,’ he continues, as the boos begin to rain down.” hellgatenyc.com/eric-adams-i...
Eric Adams Is Selling Data Centers in Wisconsin Now
The former mayor had a wild weekend, and other links to start your day.
hellgatenyc.com
The whole "let's treat government like a business" is such a con. You mean, the businesses that pay CEOs record bonuses for going under? That have extravagant spending with no oversight for the c-suite? That rigorously enshittify and hike prices while posting record profits? Those businesses?
Oh geez, hippy Christmas is already underway (furniture, roaches, bedbugs, etc. left on the curb as tenants move out; August 15 is typical lease end date in student neighborhoods here)
