mastodon 4.7.3Retired mainframe programmer, with side gigs in database and simple software development. Love logic and language. Happy to have the nerdiverse back.
Header is a sunset view of Cold Mountain from Mt. PIsgah, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.
Here's Asheville Watchdog on the proposed drastic shortening of the public comment period for National Forest operations:
From the article: -
rule changes would end requirements to publish in local newspapers, limit comment periods to 10 day, require responses to be in machine-readable format [AI??] and objections would go from independent review to review by the same official who created the plan being objected to.
Rule comments end 3/9:
https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FS-2026-0001-0001
Boosted for the pun, stayed for the article.
It's informative & well written , but like everything else these days, has depressing little news nuggets I guess I need to know about but would rather not.
(How DARE that excrescence stick his mug on a permit required for visiting the very places he's intent on destroying?! )
"America Needs an Edifice Complex Prevention Act "
https://www.cato.org/commentary/america-needs-edifice-complex-prevention-act
from here:
https://bsky.app/profile/walterolson.bsky.social/post/3mlbzjs74w222
Per here ⬎ even the copper will be exported - to China - and the mining will impact $1.1 billion in wilderness use revenue.
Way to protect American jobs, resources and revenue, Republican grifters!
"https://wessiler.substack.com/p/republicans-vote-to-destroy-boundary"
%&# Boundary Waters Wilderness mining bill passed, going to be signed into law next. Chilean company owns the mine, has big ties to Vanky, Jared & Donnieboy.
"On Thursday, Senate Republicans voted 50-49 to open the area up to mining — passing a resolution that repeals a 20-year moratorium using a little-known law called the Congressional Review Act, or CRA. "
50-49, with Tillis and Collins voting with Democrats.
Here we go again: mining in Boundary Waters National Park.
"Here’s what’s happening. The House already passed H.J. Res. 140 a resolution that would wipe out the 20-year mining ban protecting the Boundary Waters watershed in Minnesota. 225,000 acres of Superior National Forest. 1,100 lakes. The most visited wilderness in the country."
"Call your senators. Tell them: Vote NO on H.J. Res. 140. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121"
https://bsky.app/profile/altnps.bsky.social/post/3mjjzmlhtl22o
"London, Ont., apparel company Branded By Collins has created T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase, "My hydronyms are Lake & Ontario."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/hydronyum-t-shirts-london-company-lake-ontario-9.7328457
@czarbucks@vmst.io
That flat place on the rock is -perfect- for sitting, bracing your feet on the lower ledge, watching the water, waving to the people on the bridge, tracking the fish under the bridge..
Miss the Arboretum a lot - it's very good to see pictures of it.
Please please please - if you're dismayed by Callais, support Doug Jones for Alabama governor.
Please!!
Dems abandoned him in 2020, just dropped him because the DNCC considered others more expedient.
He's running now for Alabama governor. That's a truly historic position - Wallace at the courthouse steps caliber.
Please don't feed another courageous Dem to the wolves.
Whoohooo! Phil Berger's OUT!
Two day old news for me, but still worth celebrating.
"Republican Phil Berger, one of North Carolina’s most powerful politicians, concedes state Senate primary "
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/24/politics/phil-berger-sam-page-north-carolina-senate
"Air traffic controller heard telling truck to stop moments before deadly Air Canada crash"
This New York LaGuardia crash is directly a result of Trump and Republicans.
It's Reagan's PATCO policy re-instated and amplified by a measure unimaginable even in Reagan's time.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/air-canada-express-accident-la-guardia-airport-9.7138206
News got you down? Have some Goldens!
From a Dec. 2025 AP story about the biggest gaggle of Goldens ever - officially!
"A symphony of woofs: This is what happens when 2,397 golden retrievers gather in an Argentina park"
If you have a favorite BLM spot, give your senators a call and ask them to oppose Steve Pearce's nomination for BLM Director on Wednesday, February 25th.
https://rockymountainwild.org/oppose-pearce-nomination
Mine is the Dean Creek elk viewing area at milepost 3 on Highway 38. So many people love this scenic, peaceful stop on their way to the coast.
And the elk rarely disappoint.- there are usually many out close to the overlook, looking gorgeous and healthy.
Breaking font news:
"A Minneapolis artist’s custom font, Times New Resistance, autocorrects Trump to ‘felon’ and ICE to ‘goon squad’ "
