Mike Boylan-Kolchin
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mbkplus.bsky.social
Mike Boylan-Kolchin
@mbkplus.bsky.social
23K followers 980 following 20K posts
Dad, husband, astrophysicist, dog herder. Samuel T. and Fern Yanagisawa Regents Professor in Astronomy at UT Austin. This is a personal account and the views expressed in my posts here are mine. https://mrbk.github.io
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mbkplus.bsky.social
C’mon do something meme
January 21, 2026 at 4:45 AM
mbkplus.bsky.social
SO THAT'S IT-AFTER ONE Year SO LONG, GOOD LUCK? I DONT RECALL SAYING GOOD LUCK
January 21, 2026 at 1:49 AM
mbkplus.bsky.social
An epitaph for the world we thought we knew, perhaps: "Well, all that is done now. ... Donald Trump killed it." (Also happy to see Paul Musgrave back here!)
A quieter camp pointed out that the United States was generally doing a lot—not all it could, but a lot—to make its leadership attractive to the other major powers: providing security, yes, but also shouldering a good share of global burdens in many fields while also linking its economy and society to the rest of the world. This approach, a few observers noted, managed to satisfy the range of potential powers who could actually undermine the United States and its order. One prominent theory noted that since the Second World War, the United States had engaged in practices of self-binding- generally asking for less than it could have taken and giving more than it needed to in order to make its leadership more attractive to others than the alternatives open to its rivals. For this group, there was an ongoing process of ratifying the U.S.-led order that relied on Washington realizing that its power conferred influence but its right to rule relied on the acquiescence of (most) other leading powers. Well, all that is done now. Self-binding is over and Donald Trump killed it.
January 20, 2026 at 7:58 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
reminds me of a scene from Austin Powers
January 20, 2026 at 4:08 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
Applicable to any number of fires in the world right now, sadly
WE'VE TRIED NOTHING AND WE'RE ALL OUT OF IDEAS (Ned Flanders as a beatnik)
January 20, 2026 at 2:08 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
Darren Rovell @darrenrovell i feel bad for our country. But this is tremendous content.
January 20, 2026 at 5:04 AM
mbkplus.bsky.social
Now I know what the movie Speed would look like if someone live-skeeted it
A thread from musicology duck about basically being kidnapped by a busdriver
January 20, 2026 at 3:00 AM
mbkplus.bsky.social
Huh
Me 9 months ago: Feels like any capable strategist would look at this and say "here's an issue that is Trump's main strength and he's just given us an opportunity to obliterate that strength by *waaaay* overplaying his hand, let's take it and run with it"
January 20, 2026 at 12:22 AM
mbkplus.bsky.social
Groucho Marx in Horsefeathers: "Whatever it is, I'm against it!"
January 19, 2026 at 6:23 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
When you think about it, it’s pretty amazing that one of the least intelligent and thinnest skinned narcissists imaginable could be elected president TWICE, the USA truly is the land of opportunity
The full text of the letter: "Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of' Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a "right of ownership" anyway? There are no written documents, it's only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT"
January 19, 2026 at 8:13 AM
mbkplus.bsky.social
I WON, I WON! (Ralph Wiggum from The Simpsons) NO, NO, DONALD. THIS MEANS YOURE FAILING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (skinner and Wiggum)
January 18, 2026 at 1:56 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
“Why aren’t you walking me now”
Odie, lying on a dog bed, looking morose
January 18, 2026 at 2:23 AM
mbkplus.bsky.social
Sideshow Bob (Simpsons) saying "ATTEMPTED MURDER"? NOW, HONESTLY, WHAT IS THAT DO THEY GIVE A NOBEL PRIZE FOR ATTEMPTED CHEMISTRY? DO THEY?
January 18, 2026 at 1:43 AM
mbkplus.bsky.social
This may be where I first saw it
wife supremacist @thefurlinator • • • *event happens* but how does this affect Me, the Protagonist of Reality From April 16, 2014
January 17, 2026 at 8:54 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
The 85 lb fur baby loves his morning belly rubs
Odie offering up his belly so that I can rub it.
January 17, 2026 at 12:45 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
It’s encouraging to see some elected Democrats choosing to exercise the powers of their office without delay or apology
Sickos yes meme.
January 17, 2026 at 4:37 AM
mbkplus.bsky.social
For later:
BALCONES TEX RYE 100 PROOF POT. DISTILLED STRAIGHT RYE WHISKY 750 ml 50% olc/vol. THE ORIGINAL TEXAS WHISKY
January 16, 2026 at 10:23 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
vin diesel from the fast and the furious with a thought bubble pointing at the quoted post
January 16, 2026 at 9:13 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
and that number? Threeve
January 16, 2026 at 7:53 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
Channeling my Michael Hobbes and saying "is it, though? Is it really?"
Because so many of its leaders lean conservative, UATX has been portrayed in some quarters as having been a right-wing project from the start. [highlighted:] However, the truth is vastly more complex.
January 16, 2026 at 6:37 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
It's not just that the situation at UATX isn't "a tragedy worthy of the Greeks", it isn't worthy of Jimmy the Greek. It isn't worthy of the (nonexistent) legacy of the movie "Get Him to the Greek". Look at my 'freethinkers' and 'free speech absolutists' bro. This was quotidian destiny.
They were nearly unanimous, too, in lamenting that it had failed to achieve this lofty goal and instead become something more conventional — an institution dominated by politics and ideology that was in many ways the conservative mirror image of the liberal academy it deplored. Almost everyone attributed significant weight to President Donald Trump's return to power in emboldening right-leaning hardliners to aggressively assert their vision and reduce UATX from something potentially profound to something decidedly mundane. It's a tragedy worthy of the Greeks — whose view of classical education will soon take centerstage - which at its core is about the hubris of believing that first principles can transcend politics and the human temptation to succumb to power. In the staged version of the drama, the chorus would enter here to remind us that this essential flaw is one to which both the left and right fall prey.
January 16, 2026 at 6:37 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
January 16, 2026 at 5:43 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
Good morning from the 40 acres. Let’s get after it today. 🤘
A west-facing view of Austin / UT Austin from an elevated vantage point at sunrise. Orange hues bleeding into blue, some tall building, very pretty. A northwest-facing view of Austin / UT Austin from an elevated vantage point at sunrise. Orange hues bleeding into blue, some tall building, very pretty. A north-facing view of Austin / UT Austin from an elevated vantage point at sunrise. Orange hues bleeding into blue, some tall building, very pretty.
January 16, 2026 at 1:39 PM
mbkplus.bsky.social
What a semester, huh? Mike, it's only the first week.
January 16, 2026 at 11:33 AM
mbkplus.bsky.social
There are pretty unsubtle connections between thin-skinned megalomaniacs who can’t accept criticism and arguing that uncritical adoration is a precondition for patriotism
EM: Teaching people to hate America fundamentally destroys patriotism and the desire to defend our country. Such teachings should be viewed as treason and those who do it imprisoned.
January 15, 2026 at 11:44 PM