Favorites May 16 2021

Kent Porter @kentphotos

Fire season in California is underway, but there are groups that have been working through the winter and spring to bring 'Good fire' back to the land. @MaryCallahanB reports. pressdemocrat.com/article/news/g… @NorthBayNews @sonomamag

In case you’re wondering: controlled burns are very good, and Native American controlled burn practices seem to have had a big part in maintaining the quality of American forests before Europeans showed up.

The Daily Show @TheDailyShow

ICYMI: Let’s talk about Israel and Palestine.

I really liked this video, avoiding the question of who's at fault it is and focusing on power.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Like I’m not saying you or your favorite politician should have a strong take on the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia — it is every American’s right to ignore foreign events! — but it’s worth asking why some things get on the news agenda and others don’t.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

It seems to be convention that events in Israel and Palestine are deemed orders of magnitude more newsworthy than the typical story about events abroad — like it’s something all kinds of people involved in politics are supposed to have a take on.

So, I think Yglesias' question is reasonable, and if you're wondering the same, this answer was quite convincing to me. Essentially "because it's covered online, and in English".

Andrea Matranga @andreamatranga

Sometimes things work themselves out

This joke resulted in me looking up the name for a 9 sided shape: nonagon. (although apparently there’s a Greek term that’s sometimes used instead: enneagon)

Picchetti Ranch May 16 2021

The map marked this area as a small lake, here’s a photo of the same place in 2018. But with no rain this year, no lake.