Steve McDowell
@cowsmellcj.bsky.social
A skeptic with a healthy curiosity.
It's troubling that folk struggle with the graphic. There are better ways to convey data, but they all require some effort to understand. If folk cannot get their heads around a simple data set, how can they understand climate data? We are a profoundly uneducated uninformed and unprepared society.¡
December 12, 2025 at 6:54 PM
It's troubling that folk struggle with the graphic. There are better ways to convey data, but they all require some effort to understand. If folk cannot get their heads around a simple data set, how can they understand climate data? We are a profoundly uneducated uninformed and unprepared society.¡
Either 1. AI is causing confusion by 'halucinating' precedents, in which case judges should be banned from using AI or 2. AI exposes the inherent logical weaknesses in precedent judgements. In which case, our laws do not withstand interrogation by an intelligence unfettered by human susceptibility
December 12, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Either 1. AI is causing confusion by 'halucinating' precedents, in which case judges should be banned from using AI or 2. AI exposes the inherent logical weaknesses in precedent judgements. In which case, our laws do not withstand interrogation by an intelligence unfettered by human susceptibility
Why do so many of your reveries involve raging storms? Are you reflecting the looming threat of climate change, or did you suffer from exposure as a child?
December 5, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Why do so many of your reveries involve raging storms? Are you reflecting the looming threat of climate change, or did you suffer from exposure as a child?
A full 40 years more than your writing age
December 3, 2025 at 3:42 PM
A full 40 years more than your writing age
The true incumbents - the 1% who wield economic power and political influence - are unelected, so it really doesn't matter how the 99% vote. The influence of money in politics must be negated by anti-corruption laws and a ban on wealthy individuals and corporate interests finnancing misinformation.
December 2, 2025 at 5:02 PM
The true incumbents - the 1% who wield economic power and political influence - are unelected, so it really doesn't matter how the 99% vote. The influence of money in politics must be negated by anti-corruption laws and a ban on wealthy individuals and corporate interests finnancing misinformation.
Good question. I would have said nonsensical rather than "ambiguous"
November 27, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Good question. I would have said nonsensical rather than "ambiguous"
Agree that it looks like something is dropping off a cliff but what? We can't make much sense of the chart without the legend. What types of immigration do the 3 graphs represent?
November 27, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Agree that it looks like something is dropping off a cliff but what? We can't make much sense of the chart without the legend. What types of immigration do the 3 graphs represent?
Are those you life goals, or the things you want for Christmas?
November 27, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Are those you life goals, or the things you want for Christmas?
1.5 hrs? Commendable resilience on your part. I barely survived the 17min edit without entering a state of despair. That such a deeply flawed human being should have held high office in our govt is a damning indictment on our politics and of those who currently subsidise his 'journalism'.
November 4, 2025 at 5:12 PM
1.5 hrs? Commendable resilience on your part. I barely survived the 17min edit without entering a state of despair. That such a deeply flawed human being should have held high office in our govt is a damning indictment on our politics and of those who currently subsidise his 'journalism'.
If they did that, the first question on the survey would have to be; " On a scale of 1 to 5, how do you rate your interviewer's ability to tolerate and engage with your views?"
October 16, 2025 at 5:13 PM
If they did that, the first question on the survey would have to be; " On a scale of 1 to 5, how do you rate your interviewer's ability to tolerate and engage with your views?"
Still longing for a latitudinal ladder? Your aspirational horizons are geometrically challenged. Break free and get a mobile elevated working platform (MEWP). If you consider reading is more dignified than working, call it a MERP. Be an early adopter and become a style leader for librarians
October 10, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Still longing for a latitudinal ladder? Your aspirational horizons are geometrically challenged. Break free and get a mobile elevated working platform (MEWP). If you consider reading is more dignified than working, call it a MERP. Be an early adopter and become a style leader for librarians
Sounds like a round of " Whose Line Is It Anyway?" John Sessions would have been in his element
October 10, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Sounds like a round of " Whose Line Is It Anyway?" John Sessions would have been in his element
What took you so long? Perhaps you are as much a creature of habit as a man of principle? Most of us are. Which does not bode well for a civilisation that needs to 'switch lanes' to avoid a crash.
October 7, 2025 at 4:39 PM
What took you so long? Perhaps you are as much a creature of habit as a man of principle? Most of us are. Which does not bode well for a civilisation that needs to 'switch lanes' to avoid a crash.
It's time to steel yourself for a progression from romanticism to sustainability. A time to savour the joys of reading a tablet in a well-insulated dwelling, impervious to the rain, and conditioned by a heat pump. The cinnamon rolls may be retained as a vital link to the days of yore.
October 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM
It's time to steel yourself for a progression from romanticism to sustainability. A time to savour the joys of reading a tablet in a well-insulated dwelling, impervious to the rain, and conditioned by a heat pump. The cinnamon rolls may be retained as a vital link to the days of yore.
"Respected journalist" used to a rare accolade, then it became a contradiction in terms, now it is a pseudonym for an extinct species.
October 2, 2025 at 6:38 PM
"Respected journalist" used to a rare accolade, then it became a contradiction in terms, now it is a pseudonym for an extinct species.
Yes, it's the same thing every 3 months and often the same people wondering; is really fair that vulture capitalists, who have converted a company's debt into dividends and failed to maintain its assets, should be deprived of further opportunities to fleece its customers? Nationalise now.
October 2, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Yes, it's the same thing every 3 months and often the same people wondering; is really fair that vulture capitalists, who have converted a company's debt into dividends and failed to maintain its assets, should be deprived of further opportunities to fleece its customers? Nationalise now.
Anticipating October in mid September is somewhat precipitous
September 25, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Anticipating October in mid September is somewhat precipitous
The invention was not widely adopted because the uninitiated were more likely to piss than scream into it, which had unfortunate consequences for the next user.
September 4, 2025 at 6:22 PM
The invention was not widely adopted because the uninitiated were more likely to piss than scream into it, which had unfortunate consequences for the next user.
In the short term, change impacts; confidence, inflation, investment, etc. Incumbent powers tell ordinary folk that their lives are threatened by those metrics, but we are more resilient than that. We need conviction politicians, not centrists, to overcome inertia and make us believe in ourselves.
September 3, 2025 at 6:02 PM
In the short term, change impacts; confidence, inflation, investment, etc. Incumbent powers tell ordinary folk that their lives are threatened by those metrics, but we are more resilient than that. We need conviction politicians, not centrists, to overcome inertia and make us believe in ourselves.
Is that a hypothetical question to provoke thoughtful debate, or a desire to live out your life in groundhog days? Anyway, to answer the question; if the world is the same in 10yrs time, it would mean that we managed to resolve the climate emergency- which would be 'nice'
September 1, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Is that a hypothetical question to provoke thoughtful debate, or a desire to live out your life in groundhog days? Anyway, to answer the question; if the world is the same in 10yrs time, it would mean that we managed to resolve the climate emergency- which would be 'nice'
Farrukh, if you are suggesting that a sensible leader should maintain the same policy 9 years after a momentous event, in vastly different circumstances, then you haven't given this much thought.
September 1, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Farrukh, if you are suggesting that a sensible leader should maintain the same policy 9 years after a momentous event, in vastly different circumstances, then you haven't given this much thought.
Either you don't understand the difference between immigration and net migration, or you are deliberately attempting to misinform. The BBC manages to report this factually, yet this simple piece of research is beyond the Chief Political Commentator at the Independent.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
How many people come to work and study in the UK?
The number of visas issued to people wanting to work, study or join family members in the UK has fallen.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 25, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Either you don't understand the difference between immigration and net migration, or you are deliberately attempting to misinform. The BBC manages to report this factually, yet this simple piece of research is beyond the Chief Political Commentator at the Independent.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
If you were to write a piece entitled "Trade Policy in the year 2525 ", it is inconceivable that it would present a more dysfunctional scenario, but who knows? www.google.com/search?clien...
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August 18, 2025 at 3:06 PM
If you were to write a piece entitled "Trade Policy in the year 2525 ", it is inconceivable that it would present a more dysfunctional scenario, but who knows? www.google.com/search?clien...