Joe Gerteis
@joegerteis.bsky.social
Sociologist interested in culture, politics, and race. BJCP Grandmaster beer judge. Lawful neutral married to a chaotic good.
“The numbers are great if you discount all the people who don’t trust me” may or may not work as politics, but it sure doesn’t work as economics.
Bessent dismisses historically low economic sentiment: "There's a survey problem because Democrats are now poisoning the survey"
September 15, 2026 at 4:13 PM
“The numbers are great if you discount all the people who don’t trust me” may or may not work as politics, but it sure doesn’t work as economics.
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
This puts the meager-to-non-existent #MNUFC spending amount over the past three windows into even starker contrast. MLS has changed; the Loons have not.
This summer, MLS teams spent a record-breaking amount of money on player transfers: $188 million. That's a 65% increase year-over-year and takes the yearly total to over $410 million, twice what it was in 2022.
I dug into the data for @theguardian.com:
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
I dug into the data for @theguardian.com:
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
MLS’s transfer window and the spending line that keeps going up
Summer spending across the league’s 30 clubs has ballooned. Here are three takeaways from the league’s transfer window
www.theguardian.com
September 8, 2026 at 6:45 PM
This puts the meager-to-non-existent #MNUFC spending amount over the past three windows into even starker contrast. MLS has changed; the Loons have not.
The American Sociological Association sent me a nice note to remind me that I am now an <ahem> elder scholar
September 9, 2026 at 8:33 PM
The American Sociological Association sent me a nice note to remind me that I am now an <ahem> elder scholar
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
wat
Bruges. Eating in a brewery where they bring unlimited bowls of fries.🍟
September 3, 2026 at 2:00 PM
wat
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
Breaking News: A whistle-blower at the U.S. Postal Service said Trump officials were defying court orders with a “secretive, rushed” effort affecting voting by mail.
Whistle-Blower Says Trump Officials Are Defying Court Orders on Voting by Mail
A report detailed “grave concerns” that a new system being rushed into use by the U.S. Postal Service could imperil millions of mail ballots ahead of the midterm elections.
nyti.ms
September 1, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Breaking News: A whistle-blower at the U.S. Postal Service said Trump officials were defying court orders with a “secretive, rushed” effort affecting voting by mail.
Any legitimate president would know that Erie is the true metaphor for modern America.
President Trump ordered Lake Ontario to be renamed Lake America, the latest broadside in his escalating feud with Canada.
Trump said he made the change because “Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade, very sadly.”
Trump said he made the change because “Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade, very sadly.”
Trump signs order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America, escalating Canada feud
President Donald Trump said he's making the change because “Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade, very sadly.”
www.washingtonpost.com
August 27, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Any legitimate president would know that Erie is the true metaphor for modern America.
One of the highlights of fatherhood for me was listening w my kids to the Lemony Snicket audiobooks narrated by Tim Curry. The absolutely correct amount of arch (ie 100). Absolutely worth a guilty pleasure listen if you haven’t heard them.
There’s no word or phrase for the kind of actor Tim Curry was. Like Philip Seymour Hoffman or Willem Defoe, he could do it all, play anything and always be himself. A lead, villain, character actor, cameo, Muppet foil. No limit to his talent.
Actor Tim Curry has died at 80, TMZ reports
August 26, 2026 at 4:22 PM
One of the highlights of fatherhood for me was listening w my kids to the Lemony Snicket audiobooks narrated by Tim Curry. The absolutely correct amount of arch (ie 100). Absolutely worth a guilty pleasure listen if you haven’t heard them.
White House today (probably): “Let’s remember the extraordinary life of Porter Wagoner”
August 26, 2026 at 2:22 PM
White House today (probably): “Let’s remember the extraordinary life of Porter Wagoner”
A Dolly Parton song is 2 mins 30 seconds of bliss and tears. A record side might stretch to 18 minutes. None of this endless noodling for her.
August 26, 2026 at 1:42 AM
A Dolly Parton song is 2 mins 30 seconds of bliss and tears. A record side might stretch to 18 minutes. None of this endless noodling for her.
They're playing "9 to 5" at halftime of the Cardiff-Norwich match. RIP Dolly 😢
August 25, 2026 at 6:56 PM
They're playing "9 to 5" at halftime of the Cardiff-Norwich match. RIP Dolly 😢
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
National Review writer apparently unaware that men also go to Planned Parenthood for STI testing and treatment and PrEP
August 25, 2026 at 6:54 PM
National Review writer apparently unaware that men also go to Planned Parenthood for STI testing and treatment and PrEP
Once again, congratulations to Wharton Business School. You must be so proud.
Reporter on Bond Market: The yields have come back up since then. Have you talked to Bessent about another type of intervention.?
Trump: The ultimate intervention is our military. And if we have to use that, we will.
Trump: The ultimate intervention is our military. And if we have to use that, we will.
August 21, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Once again, congratulations to Wharton Business School. You must be so proud.
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
Two things can be true.
1) MNUFC invest in their roster at a bottom-third rate. Winning requires a good hit-rate on intl signings + good player development.
2) Even considering budget, El-Ahmad's marquee signing was a shirt-selling gimmick and his roster is worse than what he inherited in Nov 2023.
1) MNUFC invest in their roster at a bottom-third rate. Winning requires a good hit-rate on intl signings + good player development.
2) Even considering budget, El-Ahmad's marquee signing was a shirt-selling gimmick and his roster is worse than what he inherited in Nov 2023.
NEWS STORY: #MNUFC Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad is leaving #Loons for Austin FC, multiple sources tell @pioneerpress.bsky.social. Hank Stebbins expected to step in as interim CSO.
www.twincities.com/2026/08/20/l...
www.twincities.com/2026/08/20/l...
Loons’ Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad leaving for Austin FC
A fellow MLS Western Conference team, Austin has been looking for a sporting director since May.
www.twincities.com
August 20, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Two things can be true.
1) MNUFC invest in their roster at a bottom-third rate. Winning requires a good hit-rate on intl signings + good player development.
2) Even considering budget, El-Ahmad's marquee signing was a shirt-selling gimmick and his roster is worse than what he inherited in Nov 2023.
1) MNUFC invest in their roster at a bottom-third rate. Winning requires a good hit-rate on intl signings + good player development.
2) Even considering budget, El-Ahmad's marquee signing was a shirt-selling gimmick and his roster is worse than what he inherited in Nov 2023.
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
Zero sociology awards from the NSF. It's effectively gone. (Including, but not limited, to the ASA Dissertation awards.)
Finally, this has gone a bit under the radar, so I want to highlight it: The social, behavioral and economic sciences directorate (SBE) has simply ceased to deliver grants to many of its subareas. Any topic not specifically OK'd by the Trump administration is receiving zero new awards.
August 20, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Zero sociology awards from the NSF. It's effectively gone. (Including, but not limited, to the ASA Dissertation awards.)
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
I'm sorry. The Denver Republican party is run by a dude named Hugo Chavez and he's in trouble because he won't back a candidate named Marx?
NEW: Hugo Chavez-Rey, Vice-Chair of the Denver Republican Party, has resigned rather than face a removal vote tonight after he refused to back GOP gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx.
August 20, 2026 at 3:46 AM
I'm sorry. The Denver Republican party is run by a dude named Hugo Chavez and he's in trouble because he won't back a candidate named Marx?
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
The big takeaway here is that no matter how much the cops try to infiltrate, bait, and cajole protestors into illegal behavior they keep finding mild-mannered people who care about their neighbors.
Trump's covert surveillance of anti-ICE protesters is much worse than we thought. I dug into this and found that DHS agents secretly spied on over a dozen meetings of left-leaning groups, all protected by First Amendment.
The details are unnerving. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2144...
The details are unnerving. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2144...
Trump’s Secret Police Spying on Americans? It’s Darker than We Knew.
Court papers reveal that the Department of Homeland Security’s covert surveillance of anti-ICE groups is much darker than it first appeared. Welcome to Donald Trump’s America.
newrepublic.com
August 19, 2026 at 3:02 PM
The big takeaway here is that no matter how much the cops try to infiltrate, bait, and cajole protestors into illegal behavior they keep finding mild-mannered people who care about their neighbors.
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
Incidentally, thanks to these jackets, we found out that Wil Trapp was in National Honor Society and show choir in high school, and I would rate those facts as "delightful" and also "not at all surprising"
#MNUFC
#MNUFC
August 18, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Incidentally, thanks to these jackets, we found out that Wil Trapp was in National Honor Society and show choir in high school, and I would rate those facts as "delightful" and also "not at all surprising"
#MNUFC
#MNUFC
We are going to have to document, memorialize, educate. This hit me really intensely visiting the Free Derry museum this summer. It’s a long game, and it’s necessary.
We should start running dystopian tours. You can stroll past clusters of armed soldiers loitering and giant banners of the Dear Leader’s face on your way to the tarp-shrouded ghost of the Kennedy Center.
I was thinking the other day how those not in DC (I'm not) aren't hit as clearly with how Trump has turned the White House grounds into something between construction site and waste dump. Genuinely upsetting. Far from the worst thing he's done but among the most tangible and graphic.
August 16, 2026 at 6:34 PM
We are going to have to document, memorialize, educate. This hit me really intensely visiting the Free Derry museum this summer. It’s a long game, and it’s necessary.
False. It’s “Love to Love You Baby” and it has been since 1975.
Declaring the song of the summer is often a fool’s errand.
We analyzed weekly Spotify charts from 20 different cities across the country and reached one definitive conclusion: the 2026 song of the summer depends on where you live. https://wapo.st/4hqaMOs
We analyzed weekly Spotify charts from 20 different cities across the country and reached one definitive conclusion: the 2026 song of the summer depends on where you live. https://wapo.st/4hqaMOs
August 13, 2026 at 12:09 PM
False. It’s “Love to Love You Baby” and it has been since 1975.
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
Buddhism in the wild (photo by Jerry Feldman, Target Honolulu)
August 12, 2026 at 10:03 PM
Buddhism in the wild (photo by Jerry Feldman, Target Honolulu)
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
Tuesday night was a Joaquín Pereyra game - and if #MNUFC is going anywhere, they need more of that kind of game from their top players.
(This one's entirely free to read, but please do sign up for the newsletter, too.)
(This one's entirely free to read, but please do sign up for the newsletter, too.)
All they need is more: Pereyra drives long-awaited Loons victory
Joaquín Pereyra pushed Minnesota to its first victory in months, outlining just how important he - and players like him - are to the Loons.
www.jonmarthaler.com
August 12, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Tuesday night was a Joaquín Pereyra game - and if #MNUFC is going anywhere, they need more of that kind of game from their top players.
(This one's entirely free to read, but please do sign up for the newsletter, too.)
(This one's entirely free to read, but please do sign up for the newsletter, too.)
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
Bill Clinton’s White House used a similar plane-change maneuver in 2000.
But unlike Trump's flight, the press corps was briefed on the operation and its dangers.
But unlike Trump's flight, the press corps was briefed on the operation and its dangers.
Trump’s secret Air Force One switch crosses a new line with journalists
Bill Clinton’s White House used a similar plane-change maneuver in 2000. But unlike July’s flight, the press corps was briefed on the operation and its dangers.
wapo.st
August 11, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Bill Clinton’s White House used a similar plane-change maneuver in 2000.
But unlike Trump's flight, the press corps was briefed on the operation and its dangers.
But unlike Trump's flight, the press corps was briefed on the operation and its dangers.
Reposted by Joe Gerteis
Breaking News: Iran’s top security official said the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen until the U.S. met a sweeping list of demands, including withdraw the U.S. military from around Iran, pay war reparations and release frozen Iranian assets.
Iran Issues List of Demands, Dampening Hopes of Reopening Strait of Hormuz
The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said that the waterway will remain closed until the United States met certain conditions.
nyti.ms
August 8, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Breaking News: Iran’s top security official said the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen until the U.S. met a sweeping list of demands, including withdraw the U.S. military from around Iran, pay war reparations and release frozen Iranian assets.
Pity the ASA meeting time keeper, the figure of heroism and tragedy.
August 8, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Pity the ASA meeting time keeper, the figure of heroism and tragedy.