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Malcolm McGowan

@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social

Empiricist

created February 12, 2024

152 followers 193 following 172 posts

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Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Harold and Kumar go to Isengard

31/8/2025, 1:56:29 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

That makes it easier- just lick anywhere

27/8/2025, 6:22:36 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The government retains rights in patents based on federally funded research. 35 U.S.C. 200

26/8/2025, 12:05:52 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

She should win a ham sandwich

25/8/2025, 11:06:52 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Not gonna read it, just wanted to say that if Trump has empathy he’s certainly keeping it a secret

25/8/2025, 2:58:11 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

I was wrong about Trump. I thought he would get bored 18 months into his first term and resign.

24/8/2025, 8:11:23 PM | 5 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

My Lebanese grandparents used garlic powder because they came here in 1957 and you couldn’t get fresh garlic in eastern Ohio at that time, so they adapted. We use fresh now because it’s readily available but I have a giant bottle of garlic powder in my kitchen just in case.

24/8/2025, 7:20:19 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Government ownership of corporations = literal definition of socialism

19/8/2025, 6:43:25 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

You may be right about what Newsom is trying to accomplish. Or maybe he’s trying to energize despondent Democrats. The idea that Trump is sui generis gives people permission to hunker down and try to ride it out instead of fighting.

16/8/2025, 1:43:44 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Maybe I misunderstood. I thought his argument was that Dems should focus on their popular positions and STFU about their unpopular ones. It’s a fine distinction but an important one

13/8/2025, 1:24:36 PM | 4 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Move right? What happened to “Dems have lots of popular policy positions and they should focus on those?”

13/8/2025, 11:03:01 AM | 21 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Bachman-Turner First Gear

13/8/2025, 3:54:46 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Sly and the Geological Society of America

13/8/2025, 3:50:16 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

The The The

13/8/2025, 3:45:31 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Stiff Big Fingers

13/8/2025, 3:36:59 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Big River Band

13/8/2025, 3:36:26 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Large Faces

13/8/2025, 3:34:35 AM | 5 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

5 Out of 5 Doctors

13/8/2025, 3:34:13 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social)

@neildegrassetyson.com enjoying the “emergence” podcast. Your comment about Los Alamos being in the middle of nowhere reminded me that Fermi built the first nuclear pile under the stands at the University of Chicago football stadium.

11/8/2025, 11:22:59 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

The comfy chair

11/8/2025, 3:26:28 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social)

@profmmurray.bsky.social enjoyed the episode this week. Quick science note: mRNA vaccines, while safe and effective, are not part of the traditional annual flu vaccine process.

11/8/2025, 2:08:34 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

The universe doesn’t care. People care, as they should in a society.

10/8/2025, 3:48:22 AM | 6 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Mark Copelovitch (@mcopelov.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

One reason Trump says & does whatever he wants is because every societal institution, including the media, has completely normalized & internalized the idea that the laws, the Constitution, & the international treaties we have signed & ratified simply don’t apply to this one guy. It’s maddening.

5/7/2025, 4:40:41 AM | 1646 402 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture A.R. Moxon (@juliusgoat.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

Principles will inform the tactics Every human being is a unique and irreplaceable work of art. Nobody gets left behind. We know that things can be better, and should be. We expect that they will improve, and we will demand it. If our demands are not met, we will issue consequence. We won't give up

28/7/2025, 11:04:09 AM | 154 25 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

OMG, he’s got a fire going in the fireplace. Outside it’s 80 degrees F at 11:30 PM with 90% humidity. The A/C has been running nonstop all day.

19/7/2025, 4:09:35 AM | 5 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

This is indisputable. Also a skill: sleeping on airplanes.

17/7/2025, 7:57:26 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

13/7/2025, 6:13:04 AM | 8 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

“It was an entirely different kind of flying “

11/7/2025, 1:19:40 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Now we have a definite answer to how much goodwill a World Series win buys you with the Lerners.

7/7/2025, 12:15:21 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Beer in the UK is mostly very good but there’s a lot of Carlsberg and other watery swill as well.

5/7/2025, 8:15:16 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Now I have a picture in my head of you in a vault suit. Thanks,Tom. 🙄

27/6/2025, 3:43:11 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Yeah, that was clear from the first post

24/6/2025, 6:08:40 PM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

You may be right; it’s hard to say with confidence because that was clearly the Biden policy and she was very careful not to put too much distance between their positions during the campaign.

23/6/2025, 11:29:26 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

I’m convinced that 90% of this comes from him seeing the speech for the first time when he reads it off the teleprompter.

22/6/2025, 6:06:54 PM | 4 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

It’s not *all* in the name of genocide. A lot of it is plain old greed.

20/6/2025, 12:19:51 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

David St Hubbins has an LSD flashback

19/6/2025, 5:59:16 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

The word “incredible” is doing a lot of work here

19/6/2025, 5:54:33 PM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

So right after the health care plan rollout

19/6/2025, 5:50:59 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist (@nameshiv.bsky.social) reposted

We have entered the "The police is saying that if the police is at your door you are not safe call the police immediately" stage of making America great again

14/6/2025, 4:15:26 PM | 23989 6472 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Excellent! I didn’t want to have to fight you for them

7/6/2025, 11:58:27 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

It’s only a matter of time

6/6/2025, 7:12:32 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Regurgitating the same old “news” is the 20th century equivalent to writing your news article with AI. The media mostly aren’t biased; mostly they’re lazy.

4/6/2025, 3:04:17 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Some people did- it was a paid service offered by AAA. You told them where you wanted to go and they created a custom map for you, that they called a TripTik. We weren’t rolling in $$ so we just used gas station maps

4/6/2025, 3:26:07 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

During the Clinton administration. Google Elian Gonzalez

3/6/2025, 2:13:24 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Doctor Strangelove

28/5/2025, 3:57:51 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

You were only waiting for this moment to eat fries

27/5/2025, 4:10:32 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

What if a gay couple asks him to design their wedding website?

25/5/2025, 1:55:00 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

This is exactly what I anticipated. It’s safer and easier to grab up guys like this than it is to apprehend violent criminals.

22/5/2025, 3:07:33 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Listen, children, and I will tell you the tale of Beefsteak Charlie’s and the “all-you-can-drink” pitchers of Schafer.

22/5/2025, 3:49:33 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

the “confirm they’re here illegally” would be a step in the right direction. The problem with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, for example, was that nobody checked to see whether he was here illegally before they shipped him off to El Salvador

19/5/2025, 10:42:52 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

QED

18/5/2025, 3:26:12 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Outfield wall ivy

17/5/2025, 9:44:31 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

It’s only a matter of time before someone actually gets kidnapped by copycats and when that happens how will we know? ICE will deny having the missing person and nobody will believe them.

11/5/2025, 11:07:45 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Counterpoint:

11/5/2025, 3:25:26 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

It’s a fair point; at the same time, the Feds really have DC over a barrel at the moment in ways that an actual state like Michigan just isn’t.

5/5/2025, 6:30:58 PM | 25 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Don’t be jejune.

29/4/2025, 3:45:16 AM | 6 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

This time of year the pollen collects in drifts that look like snow from the air.

26/4/2025, 8:10:04 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

image
13/4/2025, 6:40:51 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

image
13/4/2025, 6:39:03 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

The word “think” is doing a lot of work in this headline

9/4/2025, 10:00:35 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

When Guantanamo Bay is not *quite* far enough outside the jurisdiction of the United States courts

8/4/2025, 9:32:00 PM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

This is both appalling and, sadly, more generous treatment than the administration has been handing out to many other immigrants

6/4/2025, 8:53:39 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

F those penguins, stealing jobs from American flightless seabirds.

6/4/2025, 8:50:28 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

A defining feature of the Trump-era Republican Party is a complete lack of self awareness

31/3/2025, 11:03:52 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

On the bright side, Timothy Leary lived long enough to hear “Timothy Leary’s Dead” I know, that’s not actually the name of the song.

31/3/2025, 3:41:49 AM | 4 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Makes at least as much sense as the Utah Jazz

27/3/2025, 10:58:09 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

It’s gotta open up occasionally, otherwise he would have exploded a long time ago

23/3/2025, 3:41:30 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social)

@preetbharara.bsky.social @kateshaw.bsky.social excellent discussion on Stay Tuned, particularly impressed with your exegesis on the value of Trump’s statements regarding Musk’s status without once using the word “hearsay”. Would not have thought it possible

20/3/2025, 2:22:39 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Just the hair?

20/3/2025, 4:11:50 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

One at a time, or all at once? Take it from me, it’ll go easier if you spread them out over a day or two.

20/3/2025, 4:08:25 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

I used to smoke 2 packs a day. If you need all that information to answer the question, you’re not a smoker.

20/3/2025, 4:06:31 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

19/3/2025, 3:41:46 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Yes! Thank you!

18/3/2025, 4:13:30 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

2 groups of workers most likely to not return to government service: those eligible to retire (the highly experienced) and those who easily find other jobs (the highly qualified). Which anyone could have predicted if they had thought about this “strategy” for more than 15 seconds

17/3/2025, 2:01:51 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

This is what all the “smart” people assured me, repeatedly.

17/3/2025, 3:51:55 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

I used to go to a place that cooked the fries in duck fat. Spectacular

14/3/2025, 1:50:23 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

You’re not wrong; at the same time it’s probably better for us all to eat fewer fries so there’s that.

14/3/2025, 1:42:31 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

She should have pulled a Hegseth and said that we’re renaming it after Joe Black, who single-handedly cleared out a German gun emplacement on D-Day and saved the Lives of his squad

6/3/2025, 12:25:50 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture David Quinn (@mrdavidquinn.bsky.social) reposted

image
6/3/2025, 12:17:06 AM | 247 65 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Point of clarification: I thought that [President] Derangement Syndrome was when you hate something that you would ordinarily support just because [President] supports it.

5/3/2025, 5:49:15 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Had a dog like that. We called her “Princess Monkey Butt”

4/3/2025, 4:33:19 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social)

Hey, @bcdreyer.social: nerve-racking or nerve-wracking?

25/2/2025, 12:41:48 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

I dunno, man. That sounds like a lot of work.

19/2/2025, 1:38:21 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

19/2/2025, 5:09:31 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

I am once again reminded of the immortal words of HL Mencken, who said, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and they deserve to get it good and hard.”

19/2/2025, 5:08:19 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

In the desert, you can’t remember your name, so it seems a moot point

18/2/2025, 1:32:42 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

It’s good for someone.

17/2/2025, 12:56:15 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

“Reportedly”

17/2/2025, 12:04:16 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Even if true, that doesn’t address the original point. Giving a huge media deal to Melania on Trump’s way into office seems designed to curry favor with the President; the Obamas’ deal clearly doesn’t have the same ethical implications.

15/2/2025, 3:34:38 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

The Obamas’ deal was made after he left office. The Trump deal was made on his way into power.

15/2/2025, 3:02:45 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

13/2/2025, 11:52:55 PM | 16 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Just stop. This is another shiny object that is intended to distract you and f*ck if it isn’t working.

13/2/2025, 11:25:15 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Headline: Trump Wrong About Something Else. In other news, the sun rose in the east today, and water remains wet

13/2/2025, 12:27:59 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

10/2/2025, 4:21:38 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Since Trump knew nothing about Project 2025, this an *astounding* coincidence 🙄

7/2/2025, 10:34:39 PM | 19 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

image
3/2/2025, 8:56:37 PM | 7 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

“All” his time? No. A significant portion of each day is spent playing golf and rage tweeting on the toilet

29/1/2025, 10:51:06 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

What trouble is he inviting, exactly? There’s nobody with the power to police this anymore.

23/1/2025, 12:46:21 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

21/1/2025, 5:03:21 AM | 7 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Malcolm McGowan (@malcolmkmcgowan.bsky.social) reply parent

Turnovers are a killer, especially at this level. Ask the Lions

20/1/2025, 1:11:52 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view