Bryan McGillis
banner
withawhy.mcgill.is
Bryan McGillis
@withawhy.mcgill.is
Husband, girl dad, IT guy in the PNW. Field Artillery vet. Dad jokes, bourbon, beer snob. #Seahawks #Mariners #BringBackOurSonics
Pinned
Billionaires exist because the middle class subsidizes their workforce. We need to get creative when disincentivizing these practices
A 2020 study found that Amazon—which shares owner Jeff Bezos with The Washington Post—is one of the largest employers of people on SNAP.
As SNAP funds froze, mayors and governors have pledged to supplement the missing federal assistance, while federal judges ruled Friday that the Trump administration should use contingency funds to keep food aid running despite the government shutdown.
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
This is actually a good example of why the customer model is wrong.

I wouldn't have chosen poetry writing, but UNC made me take a class. And it absolutely made me become a much better writer, with an eye to concision and an ear now trained to the rhythm of words. I'm a better historian as a result.
If you are providing me with an education that is low utility in the world then it’s a disservice. My composition class spent four weeks on poetry. I’m sorry, but that only would’ve been useful if I wanted to be a poet. I don’t need to know iambic pentameter in order to be a victim advocate.
December 9, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
Next they came for the influencers
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/t...
These Travel Influencers Don’t Want Freebies. They’re A.I.
www.nytimes.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
Trump's farmer bailout will primarily go to massive row-crop farmers. Big Ag as they say. Smaller and diversified farms are getting something else - it rhymes with shackjit.
Trump is going to dump tens of $ billions in payments for huge commodity farmers to compensate for huge losses they will suffer from his idiotic trade war. Meanwhile, small farmers growing for local markets will get nothing. Just canceled grants and "thoughts and prayers". wapo.st/3YXdAbU
A Kansas family farm, barely getting by, grapples with Trump’s cuts
Like many of his rural neighbors in northeast Kansas, Jacob Thomas is trying to compensate for deep losses in federal funding. There’s worry and anger.
wapo.st
December 8, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
Tyson Foods over the last few months:

• Approved 43 MILLION shares in stock buybacks
• Spent $196 million buying back its own stock to juice up the price
• Announced closure of Lexington plant: 3,200 workers in a town of 11,000 people

Then what happened?
December 6, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
oh hey look it’s the thing literally everyone said would happen
December 8, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
Finland ended homelessness with a housing first strategy that gave people apartments before they secured employment

Now they’re proposing a 4 day work week and 6 hour work days

True work life balance

Meanwhile in the US, people work two jobs and can’t afford food or healthcare.
December 8, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
Glad to see people talking about Penn Jillette. The 2024 interview was done by me. I found him to be a refreshingly reflective, self-critical individual who has remained curious and willing to evolve.
December 8, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
The Persistence of Ignorance.
Another problem with gerontocracy is Elon is treated as a techno wizard by people who've never even opened their own Outlook calendar
December 8, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
Spotify is garbage on every count: Its treatment of artists, its ICE advertising, the CEO's investment in military AI, its leading role in the commodification and AI slopification of music, its terrible audio quality—you name it.

So I quit, and put together a complete guide to getting off Spotify:
How to quit Spotify
This Black Friday, here's a guide to finding the best Spotify alternative
www.bloodinthemachine.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
After this weekend's racist attacks on the EU, I've written a column about the moral obligation to stop posting on X.

Oh no, wait, I wrote it *two years ago* when it was blatantly obvious what was going on and how it would get much much worse.

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
December 7, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
Sure. Or grill them harder. Question their competence. “You’re a US Senator. How can you not know about this? This is a big deal. So are you genuinely ignorant or are you lying about being ignorant? Which do you think is worse for your constituents and American democracy?”
If they pretend they haven’t heard about the story of the day, end the interview right there.

“I’m sorry, Senator, we wanted to get your perspective on this story, but it seems you’re not fully aware of what’s going on.”
December 7, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
Heartbreaking. The University of Nebraska will terminate its entire Earth science department.

One of the country's most successful and respected geology & climate programs: gone.

When ideologues & politicians are threatened by the very act of studying climate change, I wonder: who of us is next?
It's over.

Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut.

www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...
BREAKING: ‘This hurts’: UNL eliminates 4 programs despite faculty, student pleas
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln eliminates the Earth and atmospheric sciences 8-0, educational administration 7-1, statistics 7-1, textiles, merchandising and fashion design 7-1 programs.
www.dailynebraskan.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
A useful read to anyone of targeted immigration status who wants to fly domestically. It would be good to have a plan for what to do when the red X comes up. For you and your friends.
I spoke with Any Lucía López Belloza, the Babson College student who was on her way to surprise her family for Thanksgiving when ICE deported her.

"My 5-year-old sister still believes that I might go home for Christmas," she tells me.

www.thecut.com/article/any-...
I Wanted to Surprise My Family on Thanksgiving. ICE Deported Me Instead.
How the Trump administration turned a college freshman’s life upside down.
www.thecut.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
December 7, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
Note how the Kennedy Center ribbons are blue, instead of the traditional rainbow colors. Because the Trump administration never gets too preoccupied with its racism to overlook its homophobia.
December 7, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
It’s weird that news organizations like the BBC are covering this as if it’s a real thing with a real process behind it—and not clearly some nakedly invented “participation trophy” by a corrupt organization to curry favor with a corrupt and easily manipulated man-child. www.bbc.com/sport/footba...
Donald Trump: US president named inaugural Fifa Peace Prize winner
US President Donald Trump receives the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize before the draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
www.bbc.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
"Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the Constitution"
npr.org NPR @npr.org · 4d
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the longstanding principle that grants citizenship to the children of non-citizens born in the U.S., following a legal challenge by the Trump administration. n.pr/48E1oko
Supreme Court agrees to hear arguments in birthright citizenship challenge
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the longstanding principle that grants citizenship to the children of non-citizens born in the U.S., following a legal challenge by the Trump administration.
n.pr
December 6, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
What an interesting coincidence.
December 6, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
The Nobel Prize committee should announce the World Cup winner tomorrow
December 6, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
But of course...
December 5, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
My constituent, Wilmer, was mauled by an ICE attack dog despite the fact that, as he has consistently explained, he was not resisting arrest or trying to flee—his wife and young children, all U.S. citizens, were forced to watch helplessly as Wilmer was violently attacked and dragged away.
December 6, 2025 at 2:41 AM
There. Is. No. Such. Thing. As. An. Ethical. Billionaire.
billionaires could do amazing things every week but don't. elon musk could launch 52 sodas a year instead of fake mars bs, but we are never going to get beverast, the first good soda to taste like eggs, the most important can of the day
December 6, 2025 at 4:42 AM
I'll be honest, the news below may have contributed to some unhealthy coping this evening
The Trump administration has removed MLK Day and Juneteenth as holidays that include free entrance to national parks, adding the president’s birthday instead
National parks change prioritizes Trump birthday over days honoring Black people
Free entrance days at national parks no longer include MLK Day and Juneteenth.
www.sfgate.com
December 6, 2025 at 4:39 AM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
“When I presented myself as a Member of Congress and asked for more information, my staff and I were pushed aside and pepper-sprayed by masked agents,” says Rep. Grijalva: www.fox10phoenix.com/news/az-rep-...
AZ Rep. Adelita Grijalva says she was pepper sprayed during Tucson ICE raid
Grijalva says the incident happened on Dec. 5 at a Taco Giro restaurant on the west side of the city.
www.fox10phoenix.com
December 5, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Reposted by Bryan McGillis
I haven’t been able to form a sentence in like 10 minutes
this shit is just beyond parody, man
December 5, 2025 at 5:42 PM