Alas, I’ve reached the life stage in which one needs a magnifying glass to read a map. CC @potamologist.bsky.social

This used to be the story for Missouri and Iowa but we (IA) now allow the sale of fireworks and preempt several local regulations. We have also been gutting public schools with (eg w/ vouchers). The roads aren't too good. I guess we look forward to Minnesotans driving down for fireworks these days.

On this day, it would be a good thing for people in Iowa and surrounding prairie states to read (or read again) this essay by Báxoje (Ioway) Elder Lance Foster, who passed away last year far too soon.

just asked our dogs what they think about those fireworks you're setting off

With the rain the heat has broken. Herons, hummingbirds, bald eagles, vultures, geese and lots of songbirds on this walk. Not to worry though, the Iowa River still looks like an Iowa river.

The Argentinian national team is worth about 1/3 of Cape Verde’s entire economy. Absolutely insane.

Once again, Argentina struggles to subdue a small chain of Atlantic islands

Saw my first corn tassels today on the first field we planted this year. I think that is the first time I recall that it started tasseling before Independence Day.

To celebrate/atone for the 250, y'all should donate to Indigenous causes and/or buy stuff from Indigenous artists. I'll list some below, but if you know of any, feel free to add. Bc I'm Inupiaq, this is going to be Alaska Native heavy....

This weekend in particular, I suggest that US citizens who are immigrants or descendants of immigrants do some research. What do the Native American nation/s whose land you are living on think of this holiday & US independence? The constitution? How Native ppl are being treated? Non human nature?

The symbolism is a bit too much

I wonder how many people at Iowa State University know that the Grant Wood murals were actually painted at the University of Iowa! (Other Arts Follow Agriculture Panel, the finished version on the right photo)

Did you know that though USDA reports there's over 56,000 hog farms in the US, the largest 7,636 of them generate > 94% of the sales (~ 227 million 🐖). And that the highest sale category in the ag census is "sales of 5,000 or more 🐖", but on average these operations sell ~ 30,000 hogs each?

Yet another fantastic exhibition at CUNY’s James Gallery: Sovereign Acts III, the third installment of a series, began in 2012, exploring Indigenous performance. I’m so glad to have learned about Cara Romero’s work.

I think one of the biggest disappointments of my professional life has been to see how people I truly looked up to in my early years never really learned anything. Same old small science in different shades. But then I come from the ag/natural resources econ tree, which was made to be small.

"European when you win, immigrant when you lose."

Fwiw, a few years ago I published a piece about the political history of drinking fountains

oh man

Phishing for phools

A big deal for higher ed but very likely a huge one for Iowa City/Johnson County where ACT is the largest private sector employer according to the latest data I found, only the university and its hospital system, the school system and the VA are bigger. www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov/sites/defaul...

Government regulation of pollutants is a very good thing in general, and banning totally unnecessary ones such as fireworks makes sense in economic, social and environmental terms. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

fireworks show to be 17 to 35 times higher than EPA air quality standards

That poll also shows Rob Sand in the lead for the gubernatorial race. I'm still eating humble pie on the gop primary, I thought the President-endorsed candidate would win. The facts so far show that the mood is shifting on the ground: anti big ag polices, lackluster or problematic candidates...

Come talk to me about FORBIDDEN SCIENCE and raise money for voting rights with @romancingthevote.com! I study how race, gender, and money impact whose health matters and who gets left behind. Public health, academia, and even more reasons to despise Elon M www.32auctions.com/organization...

🚨 I’m pleased to share a new open-access article published today in the Review of Environmental Economics and Policy: “Managing Unpriced Climate Risks in US Housing Markets” 🚨

The Ponca Nation just became the first Tribe in the U.S. to endorse the Fossil Fuel Treaty—a global agreement for an equitable phaseout of oil, gas & coal. 37 Indigenous nations & 18 countries have now joined.

Defund science now!

Agrodemia is a terrific term - and the article, while focusing on Brazil, shows how US land grant universities are a pillar of the system at a global scale. It is after all what they were designed to do. Environmental stewardship, local control and cooperation have never really been on their agenda.

every genre is folktales. kids, it's folktales all the way down

Obligatory "guy having fun" pic, of course.

As the immigrant mother of two Native American children I very much get this.

I have been tasked with finding vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Toronto for a crowd traveling on a budget (yes that includes a kid of mine). Please send suggestions! They are staying in the Summerhill/Yorkville area. 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

"happens to be born in this country" whew these people really do not want to acknowledge how we got here 🙄

Not linking to it for obvious reasons but the NYT “I’m gay not queer” and “queer people’s message lacks clarity and moderation” article is a top ten NYT piece IMO. Between that and the rufo platforming today’s edition is not fit for composting.

That this is descriptively true about how to change the US Constitution as of 2026 is all the evidence you need that judicial supremacy—which makes the Supreme Court the *sole* judge of constitutionality in the political system—is plainly incompatible with constitutionalism & the rule of law as such

With this ruling, the birthright issue is not going away. The right hasn't really begun *organizing* around getting rid of the citizenship clause. Like Roe, this will be their fight for a generation. And if the Democrats just say "we won" and ignore it, like Roe, the Republicans will eventually win.

If Nina Totenberg accidentally published her pre-write before she was supposed to and blew Alito's retirement announcement, I am going to die laughing at my desk

Slaughter will encourage corruption. It’s easy to compare it to spoils system of the robber baron age. But there is a HUGE difference: our fed govt is powerful, centralized & personalized under one man. Vs 100s of corrupt politicians across dozens of states pulling the levers of a weak state.

Sick. There is literally no good at all that can come from betting on wildfires. The one saving grace we have is that most arsonists are idiots and if they're going to bet in favor of death and destruction, doubly so. No prison sentence would be too harsh. 1/ www.hcn.org/articles/peo...

Not getting into the data center issue, but on top of everything, that is the kind of operation that USDA used to call a "lifestyle" farm. It can be used as a tax write-off and recent changes to livestock and forage insurance mean it's likely highly subsidized. I wrote about some of it here:

Can relate

One of Thailand's most powerful conglomerates is pushing ahead with a new LNG power plant after local communities spent 18 years opposing it due to fears it will exacerbate existing water shortages and air pollution. My latest for @mongabay.com w. photos by @andyball.bsky.social

Thinking about Amurikan farmers and all the algae their publicly subsidized activities generate 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

The Cheaps Elysee.

The climate hoax strikes again

Improving diets is up there with solar and wind deployment and yet the subject is largely avoided in most US land grant university colleges of agriculture. So are the policy trajectories that would help farmers and rural communities transition towards more sustainable and healthy food production.

Some Sunday Black Boy Joy

An astonishing waste of money, causing absolutely unnecessary pollution and trauma to humans and non humans alike.

It’s five years this week since the PNW heat wave killed hundreds, wreaked havoc on ecosystems, and left Lytton BC in ashes after hitting 49.6 °C / 121.3 °F. As adaptation and mitigation lag, loss and damage - the things climate change takes from us that we can’t get back - will continue to grow.

The ceasefire that never was continues not to be. thehill.com/policy/defen...