Sven Daniel Wolfe
@sdwolfe.bsky.social
Professor of Social & Cultural Geography. Here to lament / rant - not representing my university - on mega-events, geopolitics, sustainability, UKR-RUS-USA, the end of things and how it could be better.
New book, open access: https://tinyurl.com/SDWHESP.
New book, open access: https://tinyurl.com/SDWHESP.
Pinned
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
A #DailyVerse 68 (yes, they're not anything near daily, but they'll keep coming sometimes)
bsky.app/profile/mptm...
bsky.app/profile/mptm...
'The sea’s remorse
surfaces every time the waves appear.
Not the wild, raging, frightening waves
but the other kind
sweet and soothing, like lullabies.'
*
– The sea’s remorse
Argyris Stavropoulos
Translated from Greek by Gigi Papoulias
modernpoetryintranslation.com/poem/the-sea...
surfaces every time the waves appear.
Not the wild, raging, frightening waves
but the other kind
sweet and soothing, like lullabies.'
*
– The sea’s remorse
Argyris Stavropoulos
Translated from Greek by Gigi Papoulias
modernpoetryintranslation.com/poem/the-sea...
December 5, 2025 at 8:55 AM
A #DailyVerse 68 (yes, they're not anything near daily, but they'll keep coming sometimes)
bsky.app/profile/mptm...
bsky.app/profile/mptm...
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
OTD in 1994 Russia signed the Budapest memo, guaranteeing Ukraine's territorial integrity in exchange for their nukes, 44 Ukrainian Tu-22 heavy bombers and 1,068 Kh-55 cruise missiles.
Which have been fired at Ukraine in this war.
Which have been fired at Ukraine in this war.
December 5, 2025 at 7:33 AM
OTD in 1994 Russia signed the Budapest memo, guaranteeing Ukraine's territorial integrity in exchange for their nukes, 44 Ukrainian Tu-22 heavy bombers and 1,068 Kh-55 cruise missiles.
Which have been fired at Ukraine in this war.
Which have been fired at Ukraine in this war.
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
This is spot on 👇
December 4, 2025 at 4:43 AM
This is spot on 👇
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
Fibonacci, the second flying fractal. An incredible hi resolution artwork, based on the simplest nonlinear equation, teaching the world that math is beautiful. #ArtAdventCalendar
December 4, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Fibonacci, the second flying fractal. An incredible hi resolution artwork, based on the simplest nonlinear equation, teaching the world that math is beautiful. #ArtAdventCalendar
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
The World Cup will be marketed as a celebration of football. But at its core, it is a political pact: Infantino’s empire depends on Trump’s blessing, and Trump’s nationalist project finds the perfect megaphone in Infantino’s FIFA.
www.sportspolitika.news/p/trump-fifa...
www.sportspolitika.news/p/trump-fifa...
When the World Cup Became America First
By aligning with FIFA and steering preparations, Donald Trump has turned football’s global spectacle into a tool for his MAGA vision.
www.sportspolitika.news
December 2, 2025 at 6:04 PM
The World Cup will be marketed as a celebration of football. But at its core, it is a political pact: Infantino’s empire depends on Trump’s blessing, and Trump’s nationalist project finds the perfect megaphone in Infantino’s FIFA.
www.sportspolitika.news/p/trump-fifa...
www.sportspolitika.news/p/trump-fifa...
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
It's the "MAGA-FIFA World Cup", Infantino has said he supports Trump's agenda, and Trump may be awarded a new FIFA Peace Prize.
Why all this fawning?
Well one plausible explanation is that Trump knows the World Cup is a complete swindle.
A mini 🧵 to explain..
apnews.com/article/dona...
Why all this fawning?
Well one plausible explanation is that Trump knows the World Cup is a complete swindle.
A mini 🧵 to explain..
apnews.com/article/dona...
Trump and Infantino's bond shapes a 'MAGA' World Cup
Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino agreed to hold the World Cup draw in Washington, D.C.
apnews.com
December 3, 2025 at 10:34 AM
It's the "MAGA-FIFA World Cup", Infantino has said he supports Trump's agenda, and Trump may be awarded a new FIFA Peace Prize.
Why all this fawning?
Well one plausible explanation is that Trump knows the World Cup is a complete swindle.
A mini 🧵 to explain..
apnews.com/article/dona...
Why all this fawning?
Well one plausible explanation is that Trump knows the World Cup is a complete swindle.
A mini 🧵 to explain..
apnews.com/article/dona...
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
In my latest, I discuss a little-known resistance movement from World War II. When Norway’s Nazi-backed puppet tried to turn the schools into incubators for little fascist ideologues, the teachers revolted—and won.
Don’t Do the Dance
To remove Trump, we must shed some illusions about power.
www.readthedetox.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:45 PM
In my latest, I discuss a little-known resistance movement from World War II. When Norway’s Nazi-backed puppet tried to turn the schools into incubators for little fascist ideologues, the teachers revolted—and won.
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
December 2, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Submitted without comment
December 2, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Submitted without comment
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
Sen. Kelly: “This is about a president who doesn't want anybody to say anything that he does not like. I don't think he understands the Constitution. I think he is ignorant to the Constitution and the rule of law…This isn't about me. This is about what he will do next.”
December 1, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Sen. Kelly: “This is about a president who doesn't want anybody to say anything that he does not like. I don't think he understands the Constitution. I think he is ignorant to the Constitution and the rule of law…This isn't about me. This is about what he will do next.”
Hours later, still can't get to the report.
I will add that it's pretty stunning that the G20 site ("The best is yet to come 🤮) is HOSTED ON WORDPRESS
Look at the URL: g20.org/wp-content/u...
wp-content! Unreal
Next, whitehouse dot gov, hosted on wix!
I will add that it's pretty stunning that the G20 site ("The best is yet to come 🤮) is HOSTED ON WORDPRESS
Look at the URL: g20.org/wp-content/u...
wp-content! Unreal
Next, whitehouse dot gov, hosted on wix!
December 2, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Hours later, still can't get to the report.
I will add that it's pretty stunning that the G20 site ("The best is yet to come 🤮) is HOSTED ON WORDPRESS
Look at the URL: g20.org/wp-content/u...
wp-content! Unreal
Next, whitehouse dot gov, hosted on wix!
I will add that it's pretty stunning that the G20 site ("The best is yet to come 🤮) is HOSTED ON WORDPRESS
Look at the URL: g20.org/wp-content/u...
wp-content! Unreal
Next, whitehouse dot gov, hosted on wix!
So I'm reading The Guardian's editorial on why income inequality is the core of so many of our problems (www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...).
They cite the G20's first-ever income inequality report. I click through, and it takes me to this nightmare:
Wut.
Again, INEQUALITY REPORT.
They cite the G20's first-ever income inequality report. I click through, and it takes me to this nightmare:
Wut.
Again, INEQUALITY REPORT.
December 2, 2025 at 10:13 AM
So I'm reading The Guardian's editorial on why income inequality is the core of so many of our problems (www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...).
They cite the G20's first-ever income inequality report. I click through, and it takes me to this nightmare:
Wut.
Again, INEQUALITY REPORT.
They cite the G20's first-ever income inequality report. I click through, and it takes me to this nightmare:
Wut.
Again, INEQUALITY REPORT.
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
So, like, this isn’t even my rant.
This is just, like, what is true. The annual salary of approximately 1,500 faculty members is caught up in buyout/guarantee money for two football coaches. This is happening in the midst of hiring freezes and dramatic budget cuts in academic units. It’s just true.
This is just, like, what is true. The annual salary of approximately 1,500 faculty members is caught up in buyout/guarantee money for two football coaches. This is happening in the midst of hiring freezes and dramatic budget cuts in academic units. It’s just true.
LSU is paying its previous football coach over $50 million NOT to coach there while likely guaranteeing Kiffin something approaching double that, all while having an academic hiring freeze and budget cuts across the board. What is the purpose of a university (rhetorical)?
SOURCES: Lane Kiffin is expected to accept LSU's offer to become the Tigers next head coach. Kiffin is set to meet with his Ole Miss team this morning at 9 AM CT. As we reported yesterday morning, LSU has been very confident it was going to land Kiffin. www.nytimes.com/athletic/684...
November 30, 2025 at 5:11 PM
So, like, this isn’t even my rant.
This is just, like, what is true. The annual salary of approximately 1,500 faculty members is caught up in buyout/guarantee money for two football coaches. This is happening in the midst of hiring freezes and dramatic budget cuts in academic units. It’s just true.
This is just, like, what is true. The annual salary of approximately 1,500 faculty members is caught up in buyout/guarantee money for two football coaches. This is happening in the midst of hiring freezes and dramatic budget cuts in academic units. It’s just true.
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
It’s useful to think about things like this in numbers of tenure track professors.
$33M is 358 assistant professors. Or about fourteen percent of the total number of full-time faculty at Michigan State.
$33M is 358 assistant professors. Or about fourteen percent of the total number of full-time faculty at Michigan State.
SOURCES: Michigan State is firing head coach Jonathan Smith, @theathletic.com has learned.
He went 9-15 in two seasons, including 1-8 in the Big Ten this year. (ESPN first reported).
MSU players meeting called for 2:45. Smith has a $33 million buyout (with offset).
He went 9-15 in two seasons, including 1-8 in the Big Ten this year. (ESPN first reported).
MSU players meeting called for 2:45. Smith has a $33 million buyout (with offset).
December 1, 2025 at 12:05 AM
It’s useful to think about things like this in numbers of tenure track professors.
$33M is 358 assistant professors. Or about fourteen percent of the total number of full-time faculty at Michigan State.
$33M is 358 assistant professors. Or about fourteen percent of the total number of full-time faculty at Michigan State.
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
Wonderful night to watch stars. There are these new gadgets, Seestar astrophoto systems, that give amateurs a power tool to study the heavens.
November 30, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Wonderful night to watch stars. There are these new gadgets, Seestar astrophoto systems, that give amateurs a power tool to study the heavens.
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
Mark Kelly: "This president, when he says things like 'third world countries,' what is he really saying? I think what he's saying is he doesn't want brown people in our country. And that's disturbing. It's un-American."
November 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Mark Kelly: "This president, when he says things like 'third world countries,' what is he really saying? I think what he's saying is he doesn't want brown people in our country. And that's disturbing. It's un-American."
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
Targeting the free press is nothing new for this administration or for Trumpism but this feels like an elevation of hostiles
November 30, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Targeting the free press is nothing new for this administration or for Trumpism but this feels like an elevation of hostiles
It’s stunning to see how the White House website is basically indistinguishable from Fox News.
Same with govt social media accounts, which no longer convey accurate information to the general public, but advance hugely exclusionary far-right narratives.
Same with govt social media accounts, which no longer convey accurate information to the general public, but advance hugely exclusionary far-right narratives.
Targeting the free press is nothing new for this administration or for Trumpism but this feels like an elevation of hostiles
November 30, 2025 at 2:18 PM
It’s stunning to see how the White House website is basically indistinguishable from Fox News.
Same with govt social media accounts, which no longer convey accurate information to the general public, but advance hugely exclusionary far-right narratives.
Same with govt social media accounts, which no longer convey accurate information to the general public, but advance hugely exclusionary far-right narratives.
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
Released 29 Nov 1972, Joni Mitchell's album For the Roses is best known for the hit single "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio", which she wrote sarcastically after a record company request for a radio-friendly song. The single was a success, making No.25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. #JoniMitchell
November 29, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Released 29 Nov 1972, Joni Mitchell's album For the Roses is best known for the hit single "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio", which she wrote sarcastically after a record company request for a radio-friendly song. The single was a success, making No.25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. #JoniMitchell
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
#Moon shot from La Cumbre Peak above #SantaBarbara tonight. Waxing 69%
#MoonPhotography #MoonPhotos #MoonShots #Photography
Camera settings:
Canon T5i
Sigma 150mm x 600mm
Focal length: 600mm
F-stop: f/10
Exposure time: 1/1000
ISO: 800
#MoonPhotography #MoonPhotos #MoonShots #Photography
Camera settings:
Canon T5i
Sigma 150mm x 600mm
Focal length: 600mm
F-stop: f/10
Exposure time: 1/1000
ISO: 800
November 30, 2025 at 2:39 AM
#Moon shot from La Cumbre Peak above #SantaBarbara tonight. Waxing 69%
#MoonPhotography #MoonPhotos #MoonShots #Photography
Camera settings:
Canon T5i
Sigma 150mm x 600mm
Focal length: 600mm
F-stop: f/10
Exposure time: 1/1000
ISO: 800
#MoonPhotography #MoonPhotos #MoonShots #Photography
Camera settings:
Canon T5i
Sigma 150mm x 600mm
Focal length: 600mm
F-stop: f/10
Exposure time: 1/1000
ISO: 800
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
Northwestern bent the knee, choosing to give in to extortion at the expense of academic freedom.
Among the provisions:
-Pay a big bribe
-Give the govt data on students
-Validate BS about "fighting antisemitism"
-Be cruel to trans students
What to do about Vichy universities (now, later, or both)?
Among the provisions:
-Pay a big bribe
-Give the govt data on students
-Validate BS about "fighting antisemitism"
-Be cruel to trans students
What to do about Vichy universities (now, later, or both)?
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Northwestern bent the knee, choosing to give in to extortion at the expense of academic freedom.
Among the provisions:
-Pay a big bribe
-Give the govt data on students
-Validate BS about "fighting antisemitism"
-Be cruel to trans students
What to do about Vichy universities (now, later, or both)?
Among the provisions:
-Pay a big bribe
-Give the govt data on students
-Validate BS about "fighting antisemitism"
-Be cruel to trans students
What to do about Vichy universities (now, later, or both)?
Reposted by Sven Daniel Wolfe
I bet if you blow the dust of the DEPARTMENT OF WAR sign it’d reveal the word CRIMES right after that
November 29, 2025 at 1:41 AM
I bet if you blow the dust of the DEPARTMENT OF WAR sign it’d reveal the word CRIMES right after that
This is contradicting the American Dream (*terms and conditions apply) and the actual literal words on the freakin STATUE OF LIBERTY
This is so deeply at odds with the vision and history of America. Take pretty much any ethnic or racial group that are part of the American mosaic America today - they have all faced the same accusation. The moment these accusations are turned into policy are some of the most shameful in US history
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 6:29 PM
This is contradicting the American Dream (*terms and conditions apply) and the actual literal words on the freakin STATUE OF LIBERTY