mbdowney
@mathgrenades.bsky.social
Artist, musician, geologist. Owned by several cats. Currently in a liminal space. But hey - home is just a sad abstraction, right?
Reposted by mbdowney
All of Europe has read the 25th amendment and is looking at America like 'don't pretend u don't have a fucking solution you guys wrote it down 200 years ago'
January 20, 2026 at 1:58 PM
All of Europe has read the 25th amendment and is looking at America like 'don't pretend u don't have a fucking solution you guys wrote it down 200 years ago'
Reposted by mbdowney
worldwide measurements of “you’re not getting Greenland, bitch” forecasted to rise to levels unheard of in the next 12-24 hours
January 19, 2026 at 3:41 PM
worldwide measurements of “you’re not getting Greenland, bitch” forecasted to rise to levels unheard of in the next 12-24 hours
Reposted by mbdowney
"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 20, 2026 at 3:35 AM
"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Reposted by mbdowney
One tiny comfort I experience as a creator right now:
Some of the richest people on the planet have poured billions into a plagiarism machine because they are so utterly desperate to be us
But no machine learning program can give them our skills, our vision, or our heart
And they hate that
Some of the richest people on the planet have poured billions into a plagiarism machine because they are so utterly desperate to be us
But no machine learning program can give them our skills, our vision, or our heart
And they hate that
January 18, 2026 at 10:50 PM
One tiny comfort I experience as a creator right now:
Some of the richest people on the planet have poured billions into a plagiarism machine because they are so utterly desperate to be us
But no machine learning program can give them our skills, our vision, or our heart
And they hate that
Some of the richest people on the planet have poured billions into a plagiarism machine because they are so utterly desperate to be us
But no machine learning program can give them our skills, our vision, or our heart
And they hate that
Reposted by mbdowney
When you visit Trieste, Italy, you and you go and buy tickets for bus, in the buss station ticket office you can find this beautiful two projection section of Cretaceous rudist bivalve mollusk from the Radiolitidae family, which converged in their for with corrals!
🧪 #Geology ⚒️ #Paleobio
🧪 #Geology ⚒️ #Paleobio
January 19, 2026 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by mbdowney
@jenrubin.bsky.social remains the most clear-eyed, on-point columnist in America: "Just as in the pre-civil rights South, the only way MAGA can maintain power with such an unpopular, cruel agenda is by anti-democratic means."
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Americans Should Understand MLK, Jr.’s True Legacy
The Voting Rights Act was King’s greatest achievement
open.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 1:10 PM
@jenrubin.bsky.social remains the most clear-eyed, on-point columnist in America: "Just as in the pre-civil rights South, the only way MAGA can maintain power with such an unpopular, cruel agenda is by anti-democratic means."
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Reposted by mbdowney
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
-MLK Jr, Letter from a Birmingham Jail
-MLK Jr, Letter from a Birmingham Jail
January 19, 2026 at 1:05 PM
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
-MLK Jr, Letter from a Birmingham Jail
-MLK Jr, Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Reposted by mbdowney
He would be marching against ICE.
Honor Dr King’s legacy and fight for what is right.
Make good trouble.
Honor Dr King’s legacy and fight for what is right.
Make good trouble.
January 19, 2026 at 12:04 PM
He would be marching against ICE.
Honor Dr King’s legacy and fight for what is right.
Make good trouble.
Honor Dr King’s legacy and fight for what is right.
Make good trouble.
Reposted by mbdowney
Dr. Gladys West, the pioneering mathematician whose work laid the foundation for modern GPS technology, has died. She was 95.
Dr. Gladys West, Mathematician Whose Work Made GPS Possible, Dies at 95
ALEXANDRIA, VA — Dr. Gladys West, the pioneering mathematician whose work laid the foundation for modern GPS technology, has died. She passed away
thezebra.org
January 19, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Dr. Gladys West, the pioneering mathematician whose work laid the foundation for modern GPS technology, has died. She was 95.
Reposted by mbdowney
i was talking with someone in the twin cities about how it’s not even accurate to call them protesters. they’re literally just people protecting their city from TERRORISTS.
Every time the Trump regime uses the words "funded protesters" and "outside agitators" news outlets need to cut to this photo from last week.
ICE has invaded these communities. Outside agitators don't show up in their fucking bathrobes.
ICE has invaded these communities. Outside agitators don't show up in their fucking bathrobes.
January 18, 2026 at 4:39 PM
i was talking with someone in the twin cities about how it’s not even accurate to call them protesters. they’re literally just people protecting their city from TERRORISTS.
Reposted by mbdowney
i think this MLK day the thing to focus on is the strategic focus and tactical brilliance of the civil rights movement and the way it was laser focused on a set of achievable goals
January 19, 2026 at 3:05 PM
i think this MLK day the thing to focus on is the strategic focus and tactical brilliance of the civil rights movement and the way it was laser focused on a set of achievable goals
Reposted by mbdowney
this is what it has come to for Mexican restaurants in the Twin Cities
January 19, 2026 at 2:12 AM
this is what it has come to for Mexican restaurants in the Twin Cities
Reposted by mbdowney
They make their fortunes by paying poverty wages to workers who are then forced to rely on government assistance programs to feed their families (Walmart clan.) They make fortunes off public projects that evict homeowners to create baseball stadium parking lots (GW Bush.) They... (add your own!)
Remember: The real freeloaders in this country are the rich — not the poor or immigrants or any other group of people vilified as scapegoats. The richest 1% evade $163 billion in taxes every year. The United States literally has yacht and private jet tax deductions. Hello?
January 18, 2026 at 2:02 PM
They make their fortunes by paying poverty wages to workers who are then forced to rely on government assistance programs to feed their families (Walmart clan.) They make fortunes off public projects that evict homeowners to create baseball stadium parking lots (GW Bush.) They... (add your own!)
Reposted by mbdowney
it's more or less impossible to find issues that poll this badly and he's decided to make it a major, public priority www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-tru...
January 18, 2026 at 2:48 PM
it's more or less impossible to find issues that poll this badly and he's decided to make it a major, public priority www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-tru...
Reposted by mbdowney
“protesters” are not “clashing” with law enforcement. violent federal agents have waged war on minneapolis and regular people are telling them to get the fuck out. and last time i checked being in a group chat doesn’t mean you’re in a professional organization. it means you have friends.
January 18, 2026 at 4:47 PM
“protesters” are not “clashing” with law enforcement. violent federal agents have waged war on minneapolis and regular people are telling them to get the fuck out. and last time i checked being in a group chat doesn’t mean you’re in a professional organization. it means you have friends.
Reposted by mbdowney
This is actually the really simple story of the collapse of American democracy. You can explain America’s constitutional collapse in a single coherent sentence:
The Founders assumed that Members of Congress would jealously and zealously guard the powers and prerogatives of their branch of government against the grasping of an overweening Executive, and instead we got this supine GOP majority that yearns to lick the boot.
I would like to think the Mad King proclaiming “I will continue to illegally raise taxes on the American people until the NATO alliance collapses” would be the type of statement to cause Congress to act, but I’m not sure there’s any red line the GOP Congress has anymore.
January 17, 2026 at 7:39 PM
This is actually the really simple story of the collapse of American democracy. You can explain America’s constitutional collapse in a single coherent sentence:
Reposted by mbdowney
Four GOP Senators.
At most four Repubs in the House.
Together they could stop nearly all the mad-king's rampages. They would be known to history as Profiles in Courage. They might/would lose the next election. But people have sacrificed a lot more, for a lot less.
At most four Repubs in the House.
Together they could stop nearly all the mad-king's rampages. They would be known to history as Profiles in Courage. They might/would lose the next election. But people have sacrificed a lot more, for a lot less.
I can't repeat this enough.
I've said this before and I'll say it again.
It would only take a tiny handful of Republican Congress members or senators to stop the slide of America toward authoritarian fascism, but nope. They're all in.
It would only take a tiny handful of Republican Congress members or senators to stop the slide of America toward authoritarian fascism, but nope. They're all in.
January 17, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Four GOP Senators.
At most four Repubs in the House.
Together they could stop nearly all the mad-king's rampages. They would be known to history as Profiles in Courage. They might/would lose the next election. But people have sacrificed a lot more, for a lot less.
At most four Repubs in the House.
Together they could stop nearly all the mad-king's rampages. They would be known to history as Profiles in Courage. They might/would lose the next election. But people have sacrificed a lot more, for a lot less.
Reposted by mbdowney
"Everybody pay attention... this isn't a little hint. He is saying, 'We shouldn't have an election'. Two weeks ago, he said, 'I should have seized the ballot boxes'... He is telling us exactly what he thinks. He wants to rig the outcome of the 2026 election."
Marc Elias
Marc Elias
January 17, 2026 at 7:42 PM
"Everybody pay attention... this isn't a little hint. He is saying, 'We shouldn't have an election'. Two weeks ago, he said, 'I should have seized the ballot boxes'... He is telling us exactly what he thinks. He wants to rig the outcome of the 2026 election."
Marc Elias
Marc Elias
Reposted by mbdowney
Ask yourself: If Donald Trump was intentionally trying to destroy the United States, how could you tell the difference?
January 17, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Ask yourself: If Donald Trump was intentionally trying to destroy the United States, how could you tell the difference?
Reposted by mbdowney
Dreamt last night that I wrote a hit song and everywhere I went I was asked/requested/forced to shout out the chorus for fans? The chorus? I wrote it down upon awakening.
“I’M A GEOLOGIST IN A DISCORDANT THRONG!”
“I’M A GEOLOGIST IN A DISCORDANT THRONG!”
January 17, 2026 at 11:01 AM
Dreamt last night that I wrote a hit song and everywhere I went I was asked/requested/forced to shout out the chorus for fans? The chorus? I wrote it down upon awakening.
“I’M A GEOLOGIST IN A DISCORDANT THRONG!”
“I’M A GEOLOGIST IN A DISCORDANT THRONG!”
Reposted by mbdowney
100% what Jesus would do!
ICE detained people while waiting in line at a food pantry.
Again, ICE DETAINED PEOPLE WHILE WAITING IN LINE AT A FOOD PANTRY.
Again, ICE DETAINED PEOPLE WHILE WAITING IN LINE AT A FOOD PANTRY.
ICE detained people waiting at a food pantry, Salvation Army says
A foodbank in New Jersey cautioned its partners to have a plan in place in case of an ICE raid.
www.nj.com
January 17, 2026 at 2:50 PM
100% what Jesus would do!
Reposted by mbdowney
Want a story of persistence? It took 4 tries for Rep. Juan Vargas to reach Congress. He never gave up on this dream. What has he accomplished since winning in 2012? Come and read this week's CHC Roundup!
www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
CHC Roundup: Rep. Juan Vargas (CA-52) - If At First You Don't Succeed...
Rep. Juan Vargas isn’t a quitter. He ran for Congress a grand total of FOUR times in order to finally secure a seat. He tried in 1992, 1996, 2006, and finally broke through in 2012. He hasn’t ...
www.dailykos.com
January 17, 2026 at 1:02 PM
Want a story of persistence? It took 4 tries for Rep. Juan Vargas to reach Congress. He never gave up on this dream. What has he accomplished since winning in 2012? Come and read this week's CHC Roundup!
www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
Reposted by mbdowney
In America, you're a hell of a lot more likely to be assaulted, robbed, murdered, or kidnapped by an extrajudicial band of Trump's ICE agents than you are by any immigrant gang member.
Maybe we should start paying gang members to detain and deport ICE.
Maybe we should start paying gang members to detain and deport ICE.
January 17, 2026 at 3:12 PM
In America, you're a hell of a lot more likely to be assaulted, robbed, murdered, or kidnapped by an extrajudicial band of Trump's ICE agents than you are by any immigrant gang member.
Maybe we should start paying gang members to detain and deport ICE.
Maybe we should start paying gang members to detain and deport ICE.
Reposted by mbdowney
They have quite an operation going.
www.mprnews.org/episode/2026...
www.mprnews.org/episode/2026...
Minneapolis church has delivered more than 12,000 boxes of groceries to families in hiding
DHH church has hundreds of volunteers packing and delivering groceries to families who have been too scared to leave their homes during the immigration operation.
www.mprnews.org
January 16, 2026 at 1:02 PM
They have quite an operation going.
www.mprnews.org/episode/2026...
www.mprnews.org/episode/2026...
Reposted by mbdowney
These are our friends. And, to me, this is a No Kings rally.
Copenhagen town hall square, Denmark right now.
Massive solidarity with Greenland demonstrations.
Source: dr.dk
Massive solidarity with Greenland demonstrations.
Source: dr.dk
January 17, 2026 at 12:28 PM
These are our friends. And, to me, this is a No Kings rally.