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scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Scott Gordon
@scottgordonwi.bsky.social
970 followers 920 following 580 posts
Journalist/co-founder at @tonemadison.bsky.social. Playing guitar and going on the computer. Free Palestine and Fuck ICE

Signal: scottgordonwi.34

scottgordonwi@protonmail.com

📍Madison, Wisconsin
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scottgordonwi.bsky.social
I mean you’ve been clear about this ffs
screenshot from Patreon reads: “Gretchen Felker-Martin: Creating Filth"
November 6, 2025 at 7:08 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Gif from Succession of Kendall Roy saying “So, I just wanted to get the gang together early in my tenure to say… ‘Yo.’"
October 7, 2025 at 3:45 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
This is particularly troubling. (Again, not picking on the person quoted, who is trying to do important work in a flawed system.) Frank Productions/FPC Live is Madison’s Live Nation subsidiary. Spending public money for Live Nation’s benefit is obscene
The Creative Company would be expected to produce a narrative statement, logos, and other marketing materials, says Angela Puerta, a city planner and local musician. Three firms were reviewed prior to The Creative Company being selected, Puerta says. Puerta says organizations like Destination Madison or Frank Productions could potentially use such marketing materials to promote events or artists and strengthen the city’s musical tourism profile — performance metrics might include increased page clicks or tourist visits. Similar efforts have been undertaken in Nashville and Albuquerque, she says.
October 3, 2025 at 5:20 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Every Alien franchise property in a nutshell
The “but it might work for us” meme but with chest burster
September 24, 2025 at 3:01 AM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Screenshot from Alien: Earth showing the character Wendy talking to her brother Joe. Captions have been altered to say “Joe, I think this one could be cold, salt, and a meal at the same time”
September 19, 2025 at 4:00 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Screenshot from the show Succession shows a close-up of a smartphone displaying a news site with a headline that reads “Shit Show At The Fuck Factory"
September 5, 2025 at 2:20 AM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Heard from County Board member Keith Furman today that there’s been a last-minute change to take mail scanning out of the proposed contract. Admittedly I am a bit confused about what the hell is going on rn…
Text screenshot of an email from Keith Furman: I was just alerted to this news by a friend and confirmed this with County Board Chair and PP&J chair: The Sheriff decided this morning to remove mail scanning from the Smart Communications contract in front of the board this evening. The Sheriff as 2:45pm has not alerted the full board of this change. A few minutes ago, a new contract was posted: https://dane.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=14753304&GUID=FDAF370A-DB1C-46C1-84AF-55E158E8591B I have not had an opportunity to review it. I’m sure most won’t be able to do so before today’s meeting at 7pm. I’ll be asking for referral back to PP&J this evening, but I don’t know if my motion will be successful. If it doesn’t, I will be voting against this item due to the short notice on contract change, the length of the contract and the unacceptable data protection terms. -Keith F. ------------------- Supervisor Keith Furman, District 10, Dane County, WI furman.keith@danecounty.gov 608-912-0000 Subscribe to Get District 10 Updates
September 5, 2025 at 12:33 AM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
DCSO’s own stats, provided on June 30, show jail staff reported finding drugs in a vanishingly small percentage of the thousands of mail items they handle each year

PDF link: drive.proton.me/urls/4Z5GAM1...
Text screenshot: DANE COUNTY JAIL DRUG STATS: YEAR Drug Investigations Drugs Found Mail Related UA positive Positive UA no Drugs found Narcan used 2022 36 27 2 11 7 13 2023 46 32 3 10 6 16 2024 41 36 4 13 8 27 2025 11 4 1 3 3 6 Text screenshot: JAIL DEATHS: YEAR DEATHS DRUGS INVOLVED Jail Diversion 2022 1 1 1 2023 0 0 0 2024 3 3 1 2025 1 0 0 Text screenshot: Dane County Sheriff’s Office Security Services Data Provided at PP&J meeting June 30, 2025 1 | P a g e MAIL: In 2024 the jail processed:  approximately 130 pieces of resident mail daily  16,900 pieces of mail annually  Approximately 35% of the mail was legal mail.  Postmarks between 2-14 days prior to processing During the week of June 23 the clerk tracked all incoming mail items  18 greeting cards were received (75% needed to be photocopied due to policy)  1 child’s drawing- also photocopied. UPDATE TO MAIL NUMBERS:  Legal mail now makes up more than 64% of incoming mail.  Current numbers show an average of 83 pieces of mail per day (down from last year)  Total 2025 annual estimate: 10,790 pieces of mail. CURRENT MAIL POLICY: (in place at least prior to 2022)  The jail does not allow mail that contains markers, crayons, glitter, confetti, glue, adhesives, string, wire, metal, plastic, wood, or tassels.  Greeting cards must be single-layer paper without any of the above.  No adhesive substances (postage stamps, postage return address labels, stickers, etc.)  No photos on instant film (Polaroid)  No photos depicting nudity.  Residents do not receive the envelope (due to above rules). We photocopy the envelope and discard the original.
September 4, 2025 at 5:36 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
A church in my neighborhood has a little free library/pantry thing with this warning on it, in case anyone wants to risk life and limb for canned corn or a mediocre fantasy paperback
Photo of a handwritten note reading “beware of wasps inside!”
August 29, 2025 at 9:34 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Some mornings I make a little guitar loop thing to wake myself up and have some music going, ended up with aquarium channel vibes today
July 25, 2025 at 3:04 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Monumentally shitty journalism: Dane County Jail officials *have not even claimed* that drugs in the mail have killed anyone. Yet here is @wkow27news.bsky.social offering a baseless exaggeration to jail officials’ scant claims. Copaganda upgrade plus
In 2024, there were four incidents of drugs entering the jail through mail, contributing to three in-custody drug-related deaths, according to officials. A total of 41 drug- related investigations were conducted that year, emphasizing the need for vigilance.
July 23, 2025 at 4:23 AM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
The merchants in Witcher 3 are such weird little guys and this one is definitely making a pass—“…but men 😏”
July 11, 2025 at 12:35 AM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Been gradually working through THE OUTER WORLDS in an attempt to scratch the RPG itch. I like that one of the DLCs has a quest named after a Samuel R. Delaney story. Also I don’t care too much about combat but come on this rules lol (apologies to chicken)
June 21, 2025 at 7:49 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
This story notes that body cameras "remain unfunded" for MPD. It does not note that MPD hasn't officially requested funding for a full program. Acting Chief noted in a budget request (a month before the story) that he doesn't even plan to this budget cycle

www.cityofmadison.com/finance/docu...
https://www.cityofmadison.com/finance/documents/budget/2026/capital/2026CapBudgetReq-Police.pdf
June 18, 2025 at 6:06 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
I really need to wipe and sell this old MacBook Air but damn, it took a lot of work to amass this carapace of awesome stickers
Top lid of a small silver laptop covered with stickers for various bands, restaurants, breweries, stores, media outlets etc Bottom surface of a small silver laptop covered with stickers for Communication Madison, The Intercept, Just Coffee, Milwaukee Record, and 3 Sheep’s Brewing
June 1, 2025 at 5:36 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Every time in the past week that a thought about Madison's cultural/political/media stuff has begun to form in my brain
May 9, 2025 at 3:42 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Might start posting little guitar videos again for a bit of practice accountability. Here is some stuff in DADGAD tuning which I definitely know my way around and isn’t at all screwy with new strings
May 9, 2025 at 3:34 AM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Furby Gacy
April 18, 2025 at 1:53 AM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Functional and somewhat presentable on a Sunday morning to go see The Shrouds at the Wisconsin Film Festival
David Cronenberg and Clive Barker holding little monster babies
April 6, 2025 at 2:54 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
DOC has tried to justify all this with the "drug-soaked paper" panic. It has provided no real evidence that books are a significant source of contraband. For instance, these figures DOC coughed up last fall are hard to parse, at best
tonemadison.com/articles/wis...
Hardtke says that between January 2019 and September 18, 2024, DOC recorded 881 “drug-related contraband incident reports.” In a year-by-year breakdown of these numbers, she writes that 214 of those incidents involved drugs on paper or drugs in the mail. But the way Hardtke’s email phrases this varies slightly from year to year. One year it’s “attempts to smuggle drugs inside personal letters,” another it’s “attempts to smuggle drugs in through the mail or drugs themselves coming in on paper,” and another it’s “attempts to smuggle drugs in through personal or legal mail or drugs contained directly on paper.” And so on. It’s not clear whether these are comparable numbers from year to year. At no point does DOC specify in total how many of those 214 incidents involved books, much less used books in particular. It makes anecdotal claims about a few specific books here and there. So there still isn’t a good starting point for quantifying how many mailed books allegedly contained drugs. There is a theoretical number between zero and 214, spread out over nearly six years, for a state prison system that currently incarcerates nearly 23,000 people.
April 4, 2025 at 2:36 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Last fall, the DOC said it would accept *new* books from these groups, after some confusion of DOC's own making about the rules. Kelly Brotzman of Prison Books Program says DOC has also been rejecting some shipments of new books...in one instance, under the pretext that they were used
The final straw for Brotzman came in early March, when an officer at Waupun emailed PBP to explain that he had rejected a shipment of nine books, claiming that all of them were used. Brotzman says that, in fact, all of them were new. These books included a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a GED study guide. “We buy those brand new from the publisher,” Brotzman says. “That’s really the only dictionary, GED study guide, and thesaurus we carry. [They’re] in brand-new condition.” Brotzman appealed the decision to the prison’s warden and is still waiting for a reply.
April 4, 2025 at 2:29 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
For these groups, sending books directly to prisoners, insisting on the basic dignity of being able to pick out a book and have it for your own, is key. “In other words, we aren’t Wisconsin Books to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections,” WBTP co-founder Camy Matthay told me.
In late March, DOC proposed a pilot program at the minimum-security Oakhill Correctional Institution near Oregon in which WBTP can route its books—new and used—through prison libraries. The trouble with this is that it’s just not how WBTP works. Like books-to-prisoners groups around the country, WBTP insists on the importance of getting free books directly into the hands of individual prisoners, specifically so that prisoners aren’t entirely dependent upon prison libraries and the limited selections of ebooks available on prison tablets. These groups aren’t simply fighting for incarcerated people to have access to books in a general sense, but specifically to have the dignity and agency of being able to pick out a specific title, then have it for your own or share with others—something people not living in cages frequently take for granted.
April 4, 2025 at 2:26 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
I’m in District 12, where you can literally see signs for Amani Latimer Burris paired with signs for Brad Schimel and Brittany Kinser. Like come on
Yard signs for Amani Latimer Burris, Brad Schimel, and Brittany Kinser in a lawn in Madison
March 30, 2025 at 2:38 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
Playing INDIKA and wondering what the deal is with tinned fish in video games
March 29, 2025 at 6:57 PM
scottgordonwi.bsky.social
lmao thank you for your service Rob
Neither organization is registered in Wisconsin, and according to the FEC’s campaign finance database the Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC is the only political group to have paid either organization in the two-year window. “That question is out of bounds,” Bangstad said in the interview when a reporter asked him for information on Effervescent Blue and NCPS. “My political dealings and my super PAC have put a huge target on my back by the Republican Party. I will never give any information about how I’m trying to keep Wisconsin blue because this is a vicious political environment out there in Wisconsin. So the fact that you asked that question suggests that you are part of the Republican Party that’s trying to hurt my super PAC and trying to hurt my political activism.” Bangstad said the question had “crossed a line” and threatened to end the interview if WPR persisted with questions about the payments. He briefly claimed to be speaking off the record, then declined to answer any further questions. As WPR left, he stood behind the bar in the empty taproom. “You’re doing a disservice to your country and a disservice to the fourth estate,” he said. “That’s on the record.”
February 20, 2025 at 4:22 PM