@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

BrunoMcGee

@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social

My Nom de Plume. Born when global CO2 concentration averaged 314.3 ppm. Native Texan at home in Northern California, on the unceeded ancestral lands of the Yocha Dehe Wintun. State civil service in #airquality, #fire emissions inventory. Prior affiliation #USForestService. Following #AtmosphericScience, #wildfire, #ecology, #climate, #GIS, #remotesensing, #socialdemocracy, #BIPOC, #Labor, #ImmigrationRights, #CalAggie

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Tengrain, to random
@Tengrain@mastodon.social avatar

And now, for the , the happiest of happy hours for me! when I listen in on my smartest pals talk politics!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVnsH4EdNzA

H/T @Karoli @socalmom @AlizaWrites

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@Tengrain @Karoli @socalmom @AlizaWrites It's noteworthy that this is 20 or so percent protest vote against TFG are Republicans who Show Up to vote in the primaries.

BrunoMcGee, to TeslaMotors
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

It seems Musk Melon isn't that interested in running a car company.
#EV
#tesla

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/04/tesla-to-lay-off-everyone-working-on-superchargers-new-vehicles/

NatureMC, to random
@NatureMC@mastodon.online avatar

Once upon a time, if you wanted to know something, you couldn't use Google & Co.
You had to move your whole body to one of the centers that offered the adequate technology: in form of objects called books, searchable by a catalog of written cards or even with the help of peoples' brains.

These people were called , the centers were called . Their datas were not forbidden or censored, and worked even without electricity.

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@NatureMC Reference librarians have occult powers and are wonderful to work with.

ai6yr, to Futurology

Some startup has built a million dollar robot to do the job of wildland firefighters being paid a mere $15 an hour. 🤔 https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/02/burnbot-raises-20-million-to-build-technology-for-wildfire-prevention.html
#wildfires #robot #firefighting

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@ai6yr I had an idea for a marching squad coordinated drill team with drip torches. Doing their routines in holiday street parades. Probably they would have to be followed by coordinated fire extinguisher drill team.

BrunoMcGee, to random
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

I'm a fan of dogs of Mastodon and cats of Mastodon. Anyone out there with photos of Koi carp to share? They're kind of cool. Some are even friendly.
#Fish
#Koicarp

BrunoMcGee, to journalism
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

Wow i did not realize a Murdoch protégé is managing editor at the Washington Post. I thought it was sketchy that Bezos owns the paper. But this feller is there in the day-to-day. I guess that helps explain the labor unrest at WaPo: jerk management.

#Journalism

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/21/1239682458/prince-harry-hacking-murdoch-tabloids-will-lewis-washington-post

BrunoMcGee, to Bloomscrolling
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

Mulberry (Morus alba) catkins are stepping up, ya'll. Pretty soon a surfeit of pollen puffs!

#BloomScrolling
#Trees
#Spring
#California
#SacramentoValley

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@geographile "Sneezefest" is right, lol. I do however get a trippy kick out of watching the puffs of pollen when things warm up. It's like watching footage from a documentary.

glightly, to cycling
@glightly@mastodon.social avatar

Ok, cranky old cyclist question, but here goes:

I have been cycling for decades. Not a trendy cyclist - I just commute, do errands, and when I can afford to I do touring. So I missed out on when/how gravel became a thing.

What is the big deal with "gravel" riding? How in hell is a gravel bike different than a hybrid bike? Just having knobbies on a mountain bike or a hybrid would seem to be enough to ride on a gravel road.

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@glightly I've wondered the same thing. As far as I can tell, gravel bikes have one chain ring in front, and a lot of sprockets in back. Still have dropped roadbike like handlebars, seat (ouch), and ok fatter tires than a roadbike. Not sure what the advantages are, if any, over a mountain bike or hybrid/commuter with sturdy tires. Doubtless someone will chime in...

BrunoMcGee, to GoldenStateWarriors
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

A good column by Sally Jenkins. Collegiate women teams have been playing #Basketball since at least the 70s. Apparently out of spite, the #NCAA doesn't "count" records set before 1981 (pre Title 9) by collegiate women athletes. This as Caitlin Clark closes in on a scoring record. I'm astonished by NCAA's erasure. Meanwhile, NCAA recognizes football records going back a hundred years, before there was an NCAA.

#Title9
#WomensSports
#CollegeSports
#WomensRights

https://wapo.st/42Psb9O

skykiss, to ukrainian
@skykiss@sfba.social avatar

A very good friend is a #Ukrainian defender. He has been fighting for 2 years +, and at 23 years young, he is a grandfather of this war.

Today, it is 2 years since the full-scale invasion of #Ukraine. It is a nation of broken hearts but strong spirit. #Ukrainians have been and are fighting for survival against barbarian russians.

Please send your message of support, and I will get it to the guys. What do you want them to know?

#SlavaUkraini 🇺🇦
#StandWithUkraine They need our support.

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@skykiss I would like them to know that (1) ordinary Americans support their struggle and aspirations, (2) that a minority yet influential segment beholden to Russia is working to undermine US support for Ukraine, and (3) that the Biden administration is plowing ahead. Also: hard work and a good ground game by Dems in the Fall should unseat enough pesky Putin-loving Republicans.

Saltssaltgirl, to random
@Saltssaltgirl@mas.to avatar

I need book recommendations for something I won't be able to put down.

I enjoy suspense, but not gore, multigenerational novels, autobiographies, time travelish books, but not science fiction, historical fiction, & some fantasy.

So, what ya' got for me?

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@Saltssaltgirl I'm giving Braiding Sweetgrass a read. It's a kind of autobiography by Robin Wall Kimmerer, an #ecology professor and member of the Potawatomi tribal nation. She writes about growing up a rural kid immersed in the natural world but without much awareness of her #Indigenous roots, gravitating to the sciences as a young adult, then rediscovering her roots and forms of Indigenous ecological knowledge. On the lighter side, anything by Carl Hiassen.

JuanWild, to random
@JuanWild@newsie.social avatar

The Saviour
@stairwayto3dom
·
4h
Why is the former CIA Director Mike Pompeo dancing with Israelis near the Gaza border?…
https://twitter.com/i/status/1757516156649275588

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@JuanWild It's because he's a "Christian Zionist". His ilk believe that by uncritical "support" of the state of Israel, they can hasten The End Times. Where Beejus descends to Earth, all the unbelievers perish except the Jewish folk, who are given a Last Chance to convert. It's nuts that people like that are allowed anywhere near levers of power.

Toastie, to random
@Toastie@journa.host avatar

State trust lands just might be one of the best-kept public secrets in America.

WSU runs on timber sales extracted from stolen Yakama lands.

Texas A&M runs on oil and gas extracted from 4.2 million acres of Kiowa, Comanche and Mescalero Apache lands.

UArizona runs on oil and gas extracted from the lands of at least 10 #Indigenous nations.

NMSU runs on oil and gas extracted from lands siezed from various Apache bands during the longest war in US history.

🧵

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@Toastie @grist Yes I think the "Land Grab" universities have a lot of unfinished business on this front. If Georgetown University can find the living descendents of enslaved people sold over a hundred years ago to raise money for the university, and start to figure out steps (however modest or paltry) toward restitution, why not for #Indigenous nations.

Kleen, to hiking
@Kleen@sfba.social avatar

A walk in Purisima Creek Redwoods was a banana slug festival. A couple of them not on the ground. In the last photo, see if you can find all seven.

#hiking #redwoods #PurisimaCreek #bananaSlug

Head-on shot of a banana slug munching on some greenery. Four stalks protrude from its head, and there is a ruffly edge along its bottom side. It is bright yellow except for the brownish head. There are dead leaves, ferns, and live leaves all around it.
A banana slug is attached to a tree trunk, head down. The trunk is about 9 inches across, and there are many growth of a white fungus on it.
Wide shot of a steep bank along the side of a trail. The bank is covered with leafless vines and sticks, as well as ferns and low-growing greenery. There are seven yellow banana slugs scattered across the image.

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@Kleen Making me think of the beloved UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs!

ai6yr, to random

Oil company hopes to drill an exploratory well in the middle of a vineyard in Cuyama. #oilwell #SantaBarbaraCounty #fossilfuels https://www.edhat.com/news/dreaming-of-oil-in-cuyama-next-to-harvards-grapes/

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@ai6yr "This pinot noir has a tangy benzene finish."

ai6yr, to random

NPR: U.S. military launches another barrage of missiles against Houthi sites in Yemen

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/17/1225294463/houthis-yemen-us-airstrikes-red-sea-israel-hamas

Me: "Hmm, I wonder how I'd mount a rocket launcher on that onto the Toyota truck. Does that require welding, or did they just drill some holes and bolt that in there? I guess I'll figure that out if we ever need to..."

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@vinc @ai6yr The HiLux is quite popular with militias and insurgencies in that part of the world. Rugged, dependable etc.

ai6yr, to solar

AP: The Pentagon will install rooftop solar panels as Biden pushes clean energy in federal buildings https://apnews.com/article/solar-panels-pentagon-biden-clean-energy-hawaii-d26968cc67fdd085d710d1a2b31959a2

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@ai6yr @andybrwn Parking lot overhead PV is almost common here in the Central Valley of California. It's so hot in the summer and folks like the shade for their cars I reckon. Many municipalities have old ordinances that require commercial parking lots have a modicum of shade from trees. No enforcement mechanisms though. Maybe what I'm seeing is PV in place of trees.

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@ai6yr @andybrwn I remember when then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed his Million Solar Roof initiative, it became a good talking point for when a coterie of state agencies were trying to secure funding to acquire statewide, wall-to-wall high resolution aerial imagery from the USDA NAIP. To analyze the imagery to assess the technical potential for large-scale roof-top solar. Also to assess urban forest tree canopy cover. Fun stuff.



Swede1952, (edited ) to ilaughed

Soaring Scavenger

There are so many of these turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) as well as black vultures around that I could post a photo everyday if I was so inclined. I do photograph one or more almost every day, I can't help it, they fly right over my yard. Just checking I guess 😂.

Because you want to know ;):

"When it’s hot outside, Turkey Vultures will defecate on their feet to cool off." - allaboutbirds.org

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@Swede1952 Excellent strategy!

Swede1952, to ilaughed

Good morning. 🥶❄️☕

16 January 2024

This morning is the coldest day of winter so far where I live, it's 17° (F) or -8° (C) outside It even snowed a bit yesterday, not much, just enough to frost the rooftops. The high today is 32°/0° (F/C). Almost shirt sleeve weather in Minnesota 😆.

Hmmm ... when I lived in Minnesota, many people noted that I talked funny. They thought I had a deep southern accent, which I thought was hilarious because I'm from California, originally. My Californian accent though, if there is such a thing, is tempered by decades in the military where we tended to blend. Anyway, I thought Minnesotans had accents similar to Canadians, which is subtly different from other places in the US, that I've lived the accent quickly became undistinguishable to my ears.

"There is no such thing as an ugly accent, like there's no such thing as an ugly flower." - David Crystal

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #morning #forest #foliage #accents

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@Swede1952 I can attest to Minnesotans and folks from Wisconsin sounding like a Canadian variant. I'm married to a Badger from an extended family scattered across the two states (mi Esposa and i live in California however). Long vowel sounds, dontchaknow. Love it.

ai6yr, to random

Random things I learned today. #random

  1. The local E-Bike dealer seemed hostile to me talking to them about e-bikes today, and I'm wondering if it's because I was wearing a bike helmet / jacket. Is there some natural animosity of e-bike people to non e-bike people? Or maybe they're just a grumpy person, naturally, LOL.

2, Ethernet punch down tools I have does not include a built in cable stripper, which is annoying.

(continued)

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@ai6yr Hhmm...my German work buddy likes his Chevy Bolt. The way he sees it, it meets 95% of daily driving needs (wife's commute, errands around town) and it's affordable: He parlayed California state direct subsidy and federal tax incentives, rendering the car a 20-something $K purchase. Charging is NBD (and cheap) at home. As part of the buy, the local utility installed a dedicated 220V charger. If he's in a hurry to go farther afield (once in a while to Oregon), he merely takes his Sube.

Swede1952, to random

Good morning. ⛈️🌧️🌦️

12 January 2024

I used to be kind of obsessive compulsive. When something bothered me, I couldn't shake it, it was just there building up pressure. I called it a broken record or infinite loop, the thing that worried me just went round and round until it exploded, sometimes finally went away, or I the solved the problem. I'm not like that anymore, in fact, I'm so laid back, you'd miss me in tall grass. Those things that used to bother me end up on my growing list of things to do tomorrow. The downside is that my productivity is low, I realized that most of the things I used to worry about were not so important. My desktop is dusty and cluttered, so what. There is a light out in one of our bathrooms, it's on the list. My motorcycle has been disabled for months, well that one I finally got around to addressing. I need another cup of coffee.

“I'm tired of being inside my head. I want to live out here, with you.” - Colleen McCarty, Mounting the Whale

#morning #worry

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@Swede1952 I'm working on this too (sans motorcycle).

MisuseCase, to random
@MisuseCase@twit.social avatar

Amanda Marcotte writes on how arrests and convictions for January 6th have pretty much destroyed the Proud Boys, and the idea of a “backlash” for imposing legal consequences on fascists because it “emboldens” them or their movement is total crap.

https://www.salon.com/2024/01/11/the-proud-boys-are-collapsing-surprise--legal-consequences-do-hurt-authoritarian-movements/

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@MisuseCase It kind of reminds me of how back in school, the bully would fall to pieces if you just poked him once in the snoot.

skykiss, (edited ) to random
@skykiss@sfba.social avatar

Israeli pro-fascist Benjamin Netanyahu, left, close ties to Russian wanted war criminal despot, former public toilet robber Vladimir Putin.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/06/israel-ukraine-war-russia-hawk-air-defense-netanyahu/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/12/israel-and-russia-may-forge-closer-ties-under-netanyahu

BrunoMcGee,
@BrunoMcGee@newsie.social avatar

@skykiss IMO, this also serves to sow discord, generate breathless reporting about inevitable and largely peaceful student protests, and otherwise stir the American pot to try and make things difficult for Biden.

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