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David Rafferty

@davidrafferty.bsky.social

4K followers 4.3K following 6.4K posts

Historian. ARC DECRA Fellow @ Adelaide with project “How Republics Die: Rome’s democratic breakdown in the 1st century BCE”. Husband and father. I’m the one who set cats and dogs against each other. Not endorsed by employer. https://davidrafferty.org

davidrafferty.org

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David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 2h

I’m a simple man. All I want out of life is for Kerry O’Keeffe to interview Chappell Roan while under the impression she is named for (or even the daughter of) either Ian or Greg Chappell.

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David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 2h

But also not valued, and so doesn’t attract a high price.

David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 3h

I saw your tweet, turned it on, and then 20 seconds later Essendon scored a goal. I’m their good luck charm.

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David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 3h

Kyle Sandilands has had a lock on this title for decades.

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Reposted by David Rafferty

donni saphire @donni.bsky.social · 11h

It’s actually pretty bad for your mental health to know stuff

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David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 6h

And disturbed by the Nike riots?

David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 12h

At the very least, articles on Beveridge’s Academic Assistance Council. And the (very obvious) parallels to this case.

David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 14h

Rather naively, I thought the Black Panther tweet had killed this stuff.

Reposted by David Rafferty

Moby Dick @mobydickatsea.bsky.social · 1d

God keep me from ever completing anything.

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David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 1d

“I want to call you Daddy.”

Susannah Harker and Ian Richardson in House of Cards.

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Reposted by David Rafferty

jenyth evans @jenyth.com · Jan 4

these thoughts have been rattling around in my brain for about a year and i finally had some time to scribble them down. some thoughts on how games might emulate the act of 'doing' history

jenyth.com/2025/01/03/h...

Historical interpretation as non-linear narrative

How games can reflect history as a discipline, not just historical facts.

jenyth.com

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David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 1d

Predator handshake meme: the handshake text is “looking really uncool” and the two sides are “Indie bands” and “Young Tories”.

David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 1d

I’ve read a lot - A LOT - of really good jokes.

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 2d

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 2d

You see, Google was making an astronomical amount of money providing a product that worked. But they decided that wasn’t enough. So now they’re making even more money providing a product that *doesn’t* work.

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Reposted by David Rafferty

Tim Lyons @picketer.bsky.social · 2d

Web search may be the only really significant technological advance where we *decided* to just bork it completely. It's like we had a steam turbine ships with radio and people said "fuck it, we are going back to slave galleys plus a bloke on top of the mast with some flags"

Tombmas Spooks @thomasfuchs.at · 2d

How many trillions of dollars have been invested into this technology so far?

Google search for "austria hungary in space"

Google excitedly tells you about the 1889 orbital flight, and that by 1908 there was a Mars research output with 30 people.

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David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 2d

While I understand the temptation to dunk on her because of this, it’s not that different to lefties enjoying Tolkien. We can enjoy art without agreeing with (or even noticing) the author’s moral or political standpoints.

Paul Haine @paulhaine.bsky.social · 3d

Kemi Badenoch claiming Terry Pratchett as her favourite author is wild

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David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 2d

Also: you can’t treat them like shit! It’s only by threatening to deport them and their families that you get the tiniest bit of discipline!

David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 2d

My theory is that the daily-experience motivation of rich conservatives (as opposed to big-picture motivation) is that it’s hard to get reliable domestic servants.

So they want to create a society where that will be easier.

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Reposted by David Rafferty

rattatatouille @rattatatouille.bsky.social · 3d

The 90s had a lot of missteps but the then-earnest belief in diversity and multiculturalism brought on by post-Cold War optimism was one of it better fruits

jeff computers @helldude.bsky.social · 3d

the wave of weaponized nostalgia for 90s-style multiculturalism and political correctness is gonna hit different

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David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 3d

Ivanhoe is the story of a Russian farmer and his tool.

Reposted by David Rafferty

#MusicBrownlow @musicbrownlow.bsky.social · 3d

Your #RobertHarveyMedal Top 32

Number 6 (36 votes)

Ænima - Tool

youtu.be/5irce-bVeyc?...

TOOL - Forty Six & 2 live 1996 Pomona, CA

YouTube video by daveh0ndoras

youtu.be

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Reposted by David Rafferty

#MusicBrownlow @musicbrownlow.bsky.social · 4d

Your #RobertHarveyMedal Top 32

Number 19 (18 votes)

Angel Dust - Faith No More

youtu.be/U8b88US-6ts?...

Faith No More - Midlife Crisis (Official Music Video) [4K]

YouTube video by UPROXX Indie Mixtape

youtu.be

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David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 3d

One of my favourite bits of Roman history: the conspiracy to rig the elections in 54 BCE. The best detail is at the end: to hold both sides to the deal, money was held in trust by third parties and noted in account books.

Cue Stringer Bell: "Are you taking notes on a criminal fucking conspiracy?"

The Consuls are in the thick of a tremendous scandal. The candidate C. Memmius read out in the Senate the text of a compact which he and his fellow candidate Domitius had made with the Consuls providing that, if they were themselves elected, they would furnish three Augurs who would state that they had been present at the passing of a lex curiata which had never been passed, and two Consulars who would state that they had witnessed a senatorial decree making provision for the consular provinces, though the Senate had not even met; failing this, they were both to forfeit the sum of HS 4,000,000 to the Consuls. The compact, which, as was stated, was not an oral one but had been entered in the account books of many persons with names and full details, was produced by Memmius on Pompey's advice with the names cancelled. This exposure leaves Appius where he was— nothing lost to be sure. But for his colleague it is a collapse, he is
utterly discredited. Memmius, having broken up the coalition

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David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 3d

Sadly, the last line of this clip isn’t a gif. It would so often be useful.

youtu.be/sxNRyxw4kIk

Naked Gun - Drug Dealers

YouTube video by Top Clips

youtu.be

David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 3d

I can’t speak for others, but for me it’s because I’m an historian.

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