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Hal Duncan

@halduncan.com

2.6K followers 490 following 6.5K posts

Writer, editor, gardener--sometimes even in that order. Queer. He/thon, but mainly just cause thon's a guid Scots pronoun fur aebdy, whitever thur gender. Contact: hal AT halduncan DOT com

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Hal Duncan @halduncan.com · May 7

your intermittent reminder that the left/right axis is a spatial metaphor, not a reality, that the "centre" is not in fact a moderate middle ground but rather the *centre of power & privilege* protected by the vulgarly overt antisocialists operating on behalf of the polite paternalist antisocialists

a map of Dubrovnik's walled old town as illustration of Bastion Theory, in which the institutions of power that happen to be on the right of the map are labeled "THE RIGHT"; just beyond that to the right, the "FAR RIGHT" man the city walls, extending all the way round them to the gates; outside of those gates is labeled the LEFT; while the main part of the bastion of power & privilege is occupied by "CENTRIST FUCKS"

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C.A. Pinkham @eyepatchguy.bsky.social · 8h

I’m not kidding when I say these weird ass costumes and antics are actually an extremely effective tactic from a media standpoint bc when enough people do them, the media can’t fully scrub them out

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 9h

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 10h

Stephen Miller is murdering Venezuelans and Colombians in cold blood bc he believes it helps his propaganda campaign to paint Latinos as dangerous.

www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

Stephen Miller views the air strikes as an opportunity to paint immigrants as a dangerous menace, according to one of the White House officials.

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chira 🎋 @artofchira.bsky.social · Jun 1

I'm absolutely convinced what makes Shakespeare inaccessible to a lot of audiences isn't the iambic pentameter old english it's the fact most plays are rehearsed as spoken verses and not acted with meaning

because when actors actually act out what they're saying it is So Clear

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chira 🎋 @artofchira.bsky.social · Jun 1

whenever i encounter people who say they can't understand shakespeare verses I always send them this clip from the 2019 Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing

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Hal Duncan @halduncan.com · 8h

Writing is thinking done outside your head. It's when the thoughts are too big for my little brain to hold all at once so my fingers have to put them on a page instead and fuck around with them there, so I can read them and go "Ohhhhh! *Now* I get it."

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 8h

I think the killer argument against relying upon AI to write is the massive amount of thinking and concept-welding that goes on for me (and I assume most everyone else) during the *process* of writing something - it’s a cognitive process and I know I’d actively get stupider if I skipped it

Decorative Gourdian Knot @buckrawheat.bsky.social · 8h

I also just wonder if any of these people have ever really appreciated the value added in going through the experience of something like this. The fact that it changes you to engage with and puzzle over your own work, that you're not a content printer that just needs juicing to go faster.

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Tom Reagan’s Hat @rufustsuperfly.bsky.social · 9h

Guillermo Del Toro is 61.
Here he is on the Weinsteins:

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Hal Duncan @halduncan.com · 8h

Ritz crackers makes sense: cheese plus crunch is the perfect companion to chilli. And I like mine gloopy, so you need something solid; I can see crackers working. With crisps it's gotta be Tyrells or Kettle Chips or suchlike--thinner chips won't cut it.

Hal Duncan @halduncan.com · 8h

Don't think I've ever seen Fritos over here, but Doritos and similar corn chips are common, so you'll get chilli nachos as pub food round and about. I prefer crisps i.e. potato chips myself, good heavy duty ones like Tyrells or Kettle Chips for scooping the chilli from a bowl.

Hal Duncan @halduncan.com · 9h

Yesterday's chilli came out in five portions--two for tea, three for the fridge--and Elder Nibling is having her tea later tonight, so tonight I am free to ditch the rice and instead have what should now be peak chilli, all the flavours blended, with mature cheddar & chive crisps for pure decadence.

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Hal Duncan @halduncan.com · 10h

me: Butlerian Jihad but for the human GenAI! Butlerian Jihad for the chatterati!
also me: You do realise that's just a Cultural Purge, don't you?
1st me: ...
2nd me: AND THAT'S A BAD THING, RIGHT?

Hal Duncan @halduncan.com · 10h

when you understand that most of the chattering class operate as meatsuited LLMs, the confabulation in this kind of slop-ed makes perfect sense, the writer doesn't actually think this, they don't think, they're just making words happen in response to a prompt

bendwalsh.bsky.social @bendwalsh.bsky.social · 11h

wtaf are you talking about

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commamonger 😷 (analogue writing assistant) @commamonger.bsky.social · 15h

Ginger ginger.

juux @juux.com · 15h

omg part deux

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Preeti Chhibber @runwithskizzers.bsky.social · 10h

adding alt text bc we all know that interview was rough to watch, but my god the background on it

(via www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...)

A few days before the taping, Colbert's producers held a prep call with the candidates and their aides. The sample questions covered basic political topics, such as the meaning of democratic socialism. Right before the candidates went onstage, the producers appeared in the greenroom and said that they wanted to go over a few more questions. Earlier that day, a group of prominent Jewish figures, including Elisha Wiesel, the son of Elie Wiesel, had sent a letter to Colbert demanding that he grill Mamdani on his views of Israel. According to people who were in the room, one of the producers suggested a "thumbs-up or thumbs-down" segment:
"Thumbs-up or thumbs-down: Hamas. Thumbs-up or thumbs-down: a Palestinian state."
Mamdani's face dropped. "I just couldn't believe what was happening," he told me. "That a genocide could be distilled into a late-night game." His aides were incensed. "You have the first Muslim candidate for mayor in the history of New York," Zara Rahim, a senior adviser to Mamdani, told one of the producers. "You don't want to ask him a question about that?" (CBS did not respond to a request for comment.) In the end, the game didn't happen, but Colbert did ask Mamdani whether he believed that Israel had the right to exist. "Yes, like all nations, I believe it has a right to exist," he said. "And a responsibility also to uphold international law."

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Elad Nehorai @eladn.bsky.social · 12h

I really cannot help but marvel at how, for a certain class, all behavior by a politician must be framed as a horse race, as opposed to genuine opposition.

At a time when Democrats are searching for leadership, Mr. Pritzker is trying to seize the moment to demonstrate it — to fuel opposition to Mr. Trump across the nation, and, perhaps, his future presidential ambitions.

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Hal Duncan @halduncan.com · 12h

if I've learned anything from Thai BL shows it's that the trick with claw machines is you can only ever succeed if you're pure of heart and trying to win the little guy for the guy who's NOT in love with you because you're generally SO ANNOYING but is kinda relaxing and having fun on this NOT-a-date

Satan @thedevil.bsky.social · 13h

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Maris Kreizman @maris.bsky.social · 16h

This is so damn scary. The book claimed that Jeffrey Epstein was the one who introduced Donald and Melania. Now the CEO of Harper UK is out.

Jay Rayner @jayrayner1.bsky.social · 21h

In other news Charlie Redmayne, the long serving CEO of HC in the UK, resigned yesterday.

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L @banalplay.bsky.social · 15h

Fascists: If you don't like America why don't you just leave?

Bray: Okay.

Fascists: Whoa, buddy. You don't get to critique fascism and then just leave.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 16h

US anti-fascism expert blocked from flying to Spain at airport

Rutgers University professor who published book on antifa was informed at boarding gate that his trip was cancelled A Rutgers University professor who taught a course on anti-fascism was blocked from leaving the US for Spain on Wednesday night, according to media reports, hours after Donald Trump hosted a White House roundtable highlighting the impact of antifa – or “anti-fascist” – far-left activists. Mark Bray, an historian who published the 2017 book Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, and has taught courses on anti-fascism at the New Jersey university, was attempting to board a plane at Newark airport bound for Europe when he was informed at the boarding gate that the reservations for him and his family had been cancelled. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 15h

It is self soothing to say that if only Palestinians accepted Israel then everything would be unlocked and peace would be possible. OK well that already happened, more than once, and what did it result in? When will people seriously grapple with the idea that perhaps Israel is a lot like Russia?

Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 15h

PLO recognized Israel in 1988 and 1993 and then what happened is a question nobody seems to answer on here

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 15h

A good example of Dems not adapting to MAGA war mindset is that they keep telling reporters they can't engage on Trump's military occupations because it's a "trap" to entice them into a losing debate about crime. That concedes too much up front and plays by old rules.
newrepublic.com/article/2014...

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Jess O'Thomson @jessothomson.co.uk · 19h

It cannot be made clearer.

If you continue to support the Harry Potter franchise in any way, you are directly funding the removal of trans people's human rights in the UK.

JK Rowling pledges to keep up fight against SNP trans policies

Author vows to bankroll campaigners after Scottish government fails to pay group's legal fees in Supreme Court equality case

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Jennie Kermode @jenniekermode.bsky.social · 19h

It would be easy to reposition this headline as 'Billionaire author vows to keep interfering with Scottish democracy', which doesn't look too pretty.

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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 15h

you'd think a prominent news outlet like the New York Times might mention that "antifa" isn't an actual organization in a long story about antifa, but nope!

and the subhead helps props up a false claim this professor was up to something seedy as something up for debate

NYT headline: "Rutgers Expert on Antifa Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats"

subheadline: "Mark Bray was teaching courses on antifascism. Turning Point USA accused him of belonging to antifa, which he denies. His flight to Spain was canceled abruptly on Wednesday night."

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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 15h

papers like the New York Times actively help right wing propagandists by introducing false claims as something that's open to debate and interpretation, instead of clearly framing them up front as lies pushed by unreliable operators

Turning Point USA is a right wing propaganda op aimed at kids

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Hal Duncan @halduncan.com · 23h

you know the bloodsucking horse fly is known as a "cleg" in Scotland, funny enough. this careerist neoliberal hunger in human form is aptly named

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Hal Duncan @halduncan.com · 1d

yes, parasites cannot survive without doing parasitism on their host

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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