https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer Back when I was studying environmental policy around the turn of the century, the greenhouse effect seemed like it was about to be wrapped up nicely similar to acid rain and the hole in the ozone layer but the really hard problem looked like the collapse of the Ogallala Aquifer and all of the farming that depends on it in the western U.S. Best I can tell both remain a big problem. #climate #CleanWater
Ha, just occurred to me that I used sneakernet. It still works! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneakernet
Got it! I downloaded the MP4 to an old external USB drive and then plugged that into the back of the TV. I was expecting a bunch of codec troubles but it was relatively painless
The PBS app was my best idea, no dice
I'm interested to show the little one the original 1980 Cosmos with Carl Sagan on a modern television. Is this possible? I see it on archive.org https://archive.org/details/cosmos_202209/S01E01+-+The+Shores+of+the+Cosmic+Ocean.mkv #Cosmos #CarlSagan #PBS #PublicDomain
At a tasting the other day I had a good glass of Petite Manseng and an old story jumped to mind that Charlemagne was baptized in Petite Manseng. I think I read it in an ancient French wine book years ago and see no evidence of this on the English speaking internet. Did I hallucinate this? #wine
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy026edpw8lo “The £2.4m project on Adams Road in the west of Cambridge - said to be used by 3,000 cyclists per day - gives cyclists and pedestrians priority over motorists.” #Cambridge #BikeTooter #SafeStreets
Meanwhile south of the Sahara we see similar problems. Struggle, slave raids, and a growing trade. We start to see enslaved Africans thrown on the front lines of the forever war in Spain and we get some new proto-Eugenicist ideas in the Arabic speaking world arguing that enslaving Africans is in some way natural and normal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Saharan_slave_trade?wprov=sfti1#Trans-Saharan_slave_trade_in_the_Middle_Ages
Those fighting for what would become Spain (my family included) lost and died a lot which was simple, just try again later. But sometimes they won, and gained territory bit by bit over the years. What do you do with the prisoners? What about the peasants who live on the conquered land? The Christians probably knew about the huge slave trade over the border as they slowly moved south https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_al-Andalus
I know my American readers will find this hard to believe, but war is not a fun heroic time full of excitement and glory. Thankfully I have not had to serve personally but best I can tell from reading and talking with vets, it is hard, physically and emotionally difficult, expensive, and it kills a lot of people on purpose. So 1000 years of that.
Best I can tell the essential ingredients for what would later become the Peculiar Institution began across the sea in Iberia during 1000 years of war called the Reconquista. That feels like a very long time to me! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista
The American Founders were aware of the practice recorded in Ancient Greece and Rome, but that was very different from what would come later, generally with a time limit and no connection to birth or race. Ironically the birthplace of democracy had really a lot of enslavement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_ancient_Greece
The idea itself is ancient and probably older than the written history we have access to, maybe to the beginning of Sumer around 4000 BC, probably much older. Agriculture cemented it as an institution that could be scaled up as civilizations rose and fell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery
Teaching my research course in the Fall, I ran into a basic question: why enslavement? Of course it made financial sense once it was in place and scaled up but why was it on the table as an option at all ready to pick up in 1619 colonial Virginia? Best I could tell quickly, it goes way way back before Virginia was an idea https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html #enslavement #Virginia #histodons
An org I volunteer with is looking for a grant management fellow. It’s part time contract nonprofit work but it’s a good cause and I am a fan of the people. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N_1AegQqSrmETAZ8oy8I7ZXH63NJlrHNPZXKv6Cv-p0/mobilebasic #VOICE #NonprofitJobs #Hiring
https://charlottesvilleschools.org/preschool/ We are beginning a complicated, expensive, but hopefully rewarding and successful effort to provide high quality Pre-K here in one place in sunny Charlottesville this Fall. Please wish us luck. #CharlottesvilleCitySchools #education #cville
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Gibraltar_Tunnel #TIL there have been efforts since 1930 to provide rail service between Spain and Morocco over the Strait of Gibraltar. It is harder than it looks. #rail #GibraltarTunnel
"This week, the state’s Board of Housing and Community Development advanced a proposal to allow single stairways in four-story buildings, setting it up for potential adoption in the next state code requirements." #Virginia #BuildingCodeReform #SingleStair #housing #design #PointAccessBlocks https://virginiamercury.com/2026/05/15/virginia-inches-closer-to-allowing-single-stairwell-multi-unit-buildings/
