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Darren S. Layne

@funkyplaid.bsky.social

3.1K followers 1.4K following 500 posts

Historian of 18th-century Scotland focused on Jacobite Studies and Digital History. Curator of JDB1745. Chair, Jacobite Studies Trust. PhD via University of St Andrews. In love with a swan and two cats. Currently watching the leaves in Portland, OR.

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Darren S. Layne @funkyplaid.bsky.social · Aug 20

First post on Bluesky as a brief intro:

Hi folks, I'm Darren, an historian in the PNW interested in 18thC British & Vast Early American history, with a focus on Jacobite studies and the social and cultural identity of plebeian Scots during the Jacobite era. Looking forward to connecting with you!

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The Ass is the father of the legs @internethippo.bsky.social · 11h

There's no "regular politics" anymore because you can no longer maintain the idea that we all agree on common goals but we only differ about the means of getting there or whatever. The guys in charge now are plainly amoral, sadistic nihilists. They delight in it! You can't civilly disagree with that

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Tim Dickinson @timdickinson.bsky.social · 13h

Fierce, unruly joy in Portland at the emergency naked bike ride

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Darren S. Layne @funkyplaid.bsky.social · 19h

Thiel’s favorite historian is Dan Brown.

Darren S. Layne @funkyplaid.bsky.social · 1d

BEWARE

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Rick Burin @rickburin.bsky.social · 2d

Imagine being this lame

The Telegraph saying that an activist dancing dressed as a frog is a terrorist (in coward quotes), and for some reason they’ve added that the person is non-binary

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Darren S. Layne @funkyplaid.bsky.social · 1d

'One influencer, for instance, accuses the Portland police chief of “allowing violent terrorists” to “run the city,” which is horseshit of the highest order.'

Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 1d

Careful and powerful analysis by @gregsargent.bsky.social of the New York Times treating Trump's propagandists as "provocateurs" and decision to treat MAGA's ideologically-driven lies as part of a legitimate clash of perspectives in describing Portland.
newrepublic.com/article/2016...

MAGA Implodes over Kristi Noem’s “Stare Down” with Man in Chicken Suit

A good New York Times piece on Portland nevertheless demonstrates how the conventions of objective reporting fail to accurately capture the bad faith driving pro-Trump propaganda.

newrepublic.com

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Darren S. Layne @funkyplaid.bsky.social · 1d

Just paid $25 in duties to receive our new bank's security device, which was shipped from China. Because they claimed it had a value of $10. So I just paid regulatory charges, import duties, & duty tax processing on a welcome package from a bank. And that money is going straight to ICE. Hate it all.

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Dr Jérémy Filet @drjeremyfilet.bsky.social · 2d

Happy Week-end reading 💪
Brought by @drleith.bsky.social @funkyplaid.bsky.social and many others I know 👍

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hawkandhare.bsky.social @hawkandhare.bsky.social · 2d

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Dr. William Horne @wihorne.bsky.social · 2d

I’m teaching abt Red Summer today, when white vigilantes & National Guardsmen across the country harassed, detained, assaulted, & murdered Black Americans as part of a backlash against Black military service in WWI.

Red Summer of 1919

eji.org

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Murray Pittock : @murrayp.bsky.social · 2d

Looking forward to supporting ADER auctions in Paris to sell the magnificent Pix collection for the benefit of @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk . Unravelling the mysteries of Jacobite glass in Paris next Thursday @sahavoice.bsky.social @whitegoldsword1708.bsky.social @funkyplaid.bsky.social

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The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 3d

Things are happening at Portland's ICE facility tonight.

Read more of our protest coverage here: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

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The British History Podcast @thebhp.bsky.social · 3d

Regime: Portland needs free speech zones.

Portland: We have one of those. It’s called “the city of Portland.”

Regime: ….

Portland:

a man is sitting in the driver 's seat of a car looking out the window .

ALT: a man is sitting in the driver 's seat of a car looking out the window .

media.tenor.com

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Darren S. Layne @funkyplaid.bsky.social · 3d

Check out the war zone that is downtown Portland, y’all. Taken today, where I risked my very life by simply stepping outside of the house.

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Andrea Junker @strandjunker.com · 3d

If you rename the Department of Defense the Department of War, then bomb fishing boats in the Caribbean, and shoot an unarmed priest in the head with a pepper bullet, you should automatically be barred from receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for the rest of your life.

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Chris Kluwe @chriswarcraft.bsky.social · 4d

Pretty sure Eleanor Roosevelt is dead

Bobby Silverman @robertsilverman.bsky.social · 4d

Bondi claiming they arrested [checks notes] "the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa" has me in stitches

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

Bondi: "Bondi: "Just like we did with cartels, we are going to take the same approach, President Trump, with antifa -- destroy the entire organization from top to bottom. We are going to take them apart."

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Old White Nepo Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 4d

The White House Antifa Roundtable is one of the best displays I’ve seen of this-is-how-bad-it’s-gotten — just a sewer of open fascism, dementia, morons and freaks, and incoherent rage.

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Darren S. Layne @funkyplaid.bsky.social · 4d

Right on. I guess my take is that the book might be valuable to many, but most of what the synopsis teases is that its conceit is somewhat antiquated & even siloed. Like, hello, interdisciplinarity, which we've been riding for a good two decades now. Historians deserve more credit than Gavin offers.

Darren S. Layne @funkyplaid.bsky.social · 4d

I don't ever want to repost this asshole, but I'm here to let you know that he's lying. We live in a peaceful, joyful, bite-sized city in the Pacific Northwest and we've got thousands of stores. Let us use them in peace.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

Trump: "I don't know what could be worse than Portland. You don't even have stores anymore. They don't even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows."

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Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 5d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Scottish History Society @scothistorysociety.bsky.social · 4d

Winter Lecture Series: Finding Women in Scottish History

Join us for a series of free, online lectures to explore sources of women's lived experience, intellectual and religious networks, and socio-political power in medieval and early modern Scotland.

scottishhistorysociety.com/shs-winter-l...

SHS Winter Lecture Series: Finding Women in Scottish History

scottishhistorysociety.com

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Darren S. Layne @funkyplaid.bsky.social · 4d

No shit.

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 4d

“One of the negative consequences AI is having on students is that it is hurting their ability to develop meaningful relationships with teachers, the report finds. Half of the students agree that using AI in class makes them feel less connected to their teachers.”

Rising Use of AI in Schools Comes With Big Downsides for Students

A report by the Center for Democracy and Technology looks at teachers' and students' experiences with the technology.

www.edweek.org

Darren S. Layne @funkyplaid.bsky.social · 4d

While I totally support the idea of 'historical sensibility' and tend to lean hard into context and compassion, hoping to explore the fog through experiential histories, I think Gavin elides the fact that politicians regularly use, ignore, and twist historians to support their agendas ALL THE TIME.

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Darren S. Layne @funkyplaid.bsky.social · 4d

Some good thoughts here, but I don't agree in the modern era that academics monolithically refuse to engage with war, peace, and diplomacy in an accessible manner. I also take umbrage at the intonation that historians bear any onus for not working with policymakers. Also, that's what polysci is for.

Christopher McKnight Nichols @cmcknichols.bsky.social · 4d

Worthy of some thought ... The Lost Art Of Thinking Historically🗃️ www.noemamag.com/the-lost-art...

The Lost Art Of Thinking Historically | NOEMA

To understand the world today, we must see it as actors of the past did: through a foggy windshield, not a rearview mirror, facing a future of radical uncertainty.

www.noemamag.com

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Teoni Maughan Passereau @teonipassereau.bsky.social · 4d

I was invited to co-organise this upcoming conference being held later this month at the University of Exeter. With two days of exciting talks and panels, plus a walking historical tour of Exeter and a group dinner, I'd highly recommend coming along if you can!

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