Don Osborn

*checks notes*

Michigan falls behind in race to save disappearing farmland - Bridge Michigan Thousands of farms and hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland have been lost to development and other economic pressures in recent years. Michigan does less than most to stem the tide.

Thousands of farms and hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland have been lost to development and other economic pressures in recent years. Michigan does less than most to stem the tide. bridgemi.com/business-wat...

Especially when too much power is in the hands of one person.

I did manage to tear my adoring eyes off of the food. (Evolutionarily, we tend to look up after taking a bite, which let me take note of other drivers’ reactions)

My “bowl” nestled well next to my seat when driving & the breakfast tended to be a hot cereal mix that didn’t slosh around. Made it easy

A new app alerts you if someone nearby is wearing smart glasses | TechCrunch A hobbyist developer's new app, which can detect nearby smart glasses, comes amid resistance to always-on recording and listening devices that invade people's privacy.

"A new app alerts you if someone nearby is wearing smart glasses" techcrunch.com/2026/03/02/n...

"War is mankind's most tragic and stupid folly; to seek or advise its deliberate provocation is a black crime against all men. Though you follow the trade of the warrior, you do so in the spirit of Washington -- not of Genghis Khan. For Americans, only threat to our way of life justifies resort to conflict." Graduation Exercises at the United States Military Academy, 6/3/47 "Possibly my hatred of war blinds me so that I cannot comprehend the arguments they adduce. But, in my opinion, there is no such thing as a preventive war. Although this suggestion is repeatedly made, none has yet explained how war prevents war. Worse than this, no one has been able to explain away the fact that war creates the conditions that beget war." Remarks at Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 10/19/50 [DDE's Pre-Presidential Papers, Principal File, Box

Was browsing the Eisenhower Library site this morning trying to find a quote I remembered.

President Eisenhower, WW2 military hero:

“In my opinion, there is no such thing as a preventive war… none has yet explained how war prevents war.”

Thank you for the heads up. I won’t be spending my money on these “juicy new creations,” much as I have avoided the “rust free” Arctic apples

What’s in a name? That which we call a war, by any other name would kill as many.

Please: LLMs do not 'hallucinate'. They provide incorrect information. They produce erroneous outputs. They don't have any intentionality, or consciousness. This metaphor is becoming increasingly unhelpful.

For a brief while, I had an urban commute with multiple red lights. I would take breakfast in the car & eat bit by bit while waiting for lights to change. It worked. (But never while in motion.)

I also rode bicycle & was keenly aware how dangerous “share the road” is in practice for cyclists.

I had a Fulbright grant yanked in 2006 because I had been out of the US too long at that time. A formal rule was adopted later that year that no one who had been out of the US for 5 of the previous 6 years would be eligible.

Important story. Scared away by LATimes’ “By continuing, … You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.”

Over 40% of global shipping by volume exists to move fossil fuels from one place to another.

A huge share of the world's maritime infrastructure has been built around a system that is going to change dramatically as renewable energy and electrification displace fossil fuels.

My city has good water (per reports), but it’s hard to know in multi-unit housing (apartments, townhouses) how clean (& lead free) access pipes are. We’ve used water filters for years here & at a previous address.

Running a C-R box for home air some ~3 years now. May need upgrade.

Warism

(Not the same as bellicosity)

Thank you

Longtemps, le travail féminin dans la production agricole n'a été ni rémunéré ni comptabilisé. Le mot "agricultrice" n’a été intégré au dictionnaire français qu’en 1961.
➡️ https://l.franceculture.fr/E40

Opinion | The Iranian Regime Has Committed a Massacre We surveyed medical workers across 14 cities and 11 provinces about their experiences treating wounded protesters.

If only the paper were always this forthright. The headline: "It is one of the worst mass killings in contemporary world history." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

A Pictorial History of Africa: Insights from Ancient Figurative Art. While travelling through West Africa between 1908 and 1910, the German ethnographer Leo Frobenius visited the city of Ife (in S.W Nigeria), where he had heard accounts of a remarkable statue of the se...

“Upto 90% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s material cultural legacy is kept in Western museums and private collections outside of the continent.

In the absence of written sources, this material constitutes the principal historical source of many societies.”
www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/a-pictoria...

“Don’t be a vacuum, protect your lungs …”

COVID messaging has faded but the virus hasn’t. The data keeps warning us, yet without clear guidance on ventilation, vaccination, and indoor risk, people navigate blind. Treating the pandemic as over weakens readiness for the next one. Honest communication and resilient data systems are needed now. The chart reveals recurring waves of hospitalizations and other metrics. Despite a decline in messaging and public attention, the data illustrates that COVID-19 continues to cause significant health impacts. The chart supports a call for clearer guidance on ventilation, vaccination, and indoor risk, emphasizing the need for resilient data systems and honest communication.

COVID messaging has faded but the virus hasn’t.
The data keeps warning us, yet without clear guidance on ventilation, vaccination, and indoor risk, people navigate blind.
Treating the pandemic as over weakens readiness for the next one.
Honest communication and resilient data systems are needed now.

Concerned about ICE's $45 billion plan to convert warehouses into immigration detention centers? This is what they'll look like inside. From ICE's plan for the Social Circle, GA facility. Each little dot: a person. www.socialcirclega.gov/home/showpub...

How ‘smog capital of Poland’ saved 6,000 lives by cutting soot levels Kraków’s ban on burning solid fuels plus subsidies for cleaner heating has led to clearer air and better health

Good news from Kraków, where a ban on domestic burning of wood and coal is estimated to have saved 6,000 lives so far by reducing air pollution: www.theguardian.com/environment/... .

US Plans Peace Corps Revamp to Gain Edge in AI Over China Called the Tech Corps, the program would deploy as many as 5,000 American volunteers and advisers over the next five years to Peace Corps partner nations, the official said. It will seek to steer cou...

Thanks for this. Among other issues, sounds like rewriting the second goal to: “2. To help promote a better understanding of American ̶s̶ *products* on the part of the peoples served.”

Here’s a version of the story with free access: finance.yahoo.com/news/us-plan...

Just say “no” to wars of choice.

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.

This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

Still no lidar?

Impressive engineering. Dystopian concept.

Selecting people out as “less than human” is, of course, worse than dangerous. It’s the hallmark of racism.

(Even in the particular case of people guilty of heinous crimes, who by their actions have betrayed [their] humanity, is justice in any way served by framing them as other than human?)

Kind of like a blog, in other words? This is what I’ve been wondering about in discussions about writing on one or another platform (since before the issues with Substack).