Phil McDuff
@mcduff.bsky.social
Legitimate businessman
https://ko-fi.com/philmcduff
https://open.substack.com/pub/philmcduff
@philmcduff on the dying bird site
@mcduff.75 on Signal
https://ko-fi.com/philmcduff
https://open.substack.com/pub/philmcduff
@philmcduff on the dying bird site
@mcduff.75 on Signal
Pinned
Phil McDuff
@mcduff.bsky.social
· Nov 8
The Unbearable Weight of Small Absences
This morning my dog Jingles wasn’t in the kitchen while I was making coffee.
open.substack.com
I've had this in the drafts for a while. One month after she went seems like a good time to publish. ❤️
Reposted by Phil McDuff
Reposted by Phil McDuff
This is a longshot, but... any people in Austin or thereabouts who work for the library system? The short version is we have some books that people like, but which we printed wayyyyy too many of, and I would love to donate a LOT.
January 17, 2026 at 10:46 AM
This is a longshot, but... any people in Austin or thereabouts who work for the library system? The short version is we have some books that people like, but which we printed wayyyyy too many of, and I would love to donate a LOT.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
More bee stings, and hitting their heads on the door frame of the van
Four police officers injured after ‘violent’ clashes outside Iran’s London embassy
Four police officers injured after ‘violent’ clashes outside Iran’s London embassy
Four police officers injured after ‘violent’ clashes outside Iran’s London embassy
www.independent.co.uk
January 17, 2026 at 12:50 PM
More bee stings, and hitting their heads on the door frame of the van
Just pick the fucking bins up on time you deranged freak.
"[The state] needs to feel more like your banking or shopping app. It’s in your hand. It’s easy to do.”
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Labour’s digital ID ‘will cut red tape and make modern life easier’
Darren Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister, says the voluntary app is a crucial step towards making the state fit for the 21st century
www.thetimes.com
January 17, 2026 at 12:40 PM
Just pick the fucking bins up on time you deranged freak.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
Nobody wants the state to feel like a banking or a shopping app. It’s just the technocrat dream of these imagination free con artists.
"[The state] needs to feel more like your banking or shopping app. It’s in your hand. It’s easy to do.”
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Labour’s digital ID ‘will cut red tape and make modern life easier’
Darren Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister, says the voluntary app is a crucial step towards making the state fit for the 21st century
www.thetimes.com
January 17, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Nobody wants the state to feel like a banking or a shopping app. It’s just the technocrat dream of these imagination free con artists.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
Also, what if this can’t be fixed or improved
January 17, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Also, what if this can’t be fixed or improved
Reposted by Phil McDuff
Labour voters saying 'Oh would you rather Reform? 😏' is a total non-argument. Not only is Starmer a Farage tribute act, quite simply:
Labour are not capable of beating Reform.
Labour are not capable of beating Reform.
January 17, 2026 at 10:51 AM
Labour voters saying 'Oh would you rather Reform? 😏' is a total non-argument. Not only is Starmer a Farage tribute act, quite simply:
Labour are not capable of beating Reform.
Labour are not capable of beating Reform.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
Good morning. I read this dispatch from a comrade in Minneapolis this morning and thought that some of you might appreciate it too.
January 17, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Good morning. I read this dispatch from a comrade in Minneapolis this morning and thought that some of you might appreciate it too.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
Justin Webb there trying to anchor trans rights as a past iniquity to be apologised for.
Thus creating a future iniquity that WILL be apologised for.
The BBC is mask off a social engineering operation. #r4today
Thus creating a future iniquity that WILL be apologised for.
The BBC is mask off a social engineering operation. #r4today
January 17, 2026 at 8:38 AM
Justin Webb there trying to anchor trans rights as a past iniquity to be apologised for.
Thus creating a future iniquity that WILL be apologised for.
The BBC is mask off a social engineering operation. #r4today
Thus creating a future iniquity that WILL be apologised for.
The BBC is mask off a social engineering operation. #r4today
Reposted by Phil McDuff
That they haven't learned this lesson speaks to a deeper malaise, surely.
One of the most astounding things about this government is their failure to grasp the primary lesson from the last one was so obviously "Don't mess about with Comms all the time, just do stuff that will probably work".
This is why there's a whole chapter in my book about the damage the grid has done to policy making.
January 17, 2026 at 10:22 AM
That they haven't learned this lesson speaks to a deeper malaise, surely.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
It seems to have taken 4 years for their dignity to be "violated"
January 17, 2026 at 12:27 PM
It seems to have taken 4 years for their dignity to be "violated"
I'm reminded of a quote from someone in Afghanistan. "I have three enemies: the Taliban, the warlords, and the United States. When the United States is gone I will be down to two enemies."
[Sees uprising against authoritatian government] good luck to them, i worry it will end badly, i know western "support", even rhetorical, will make it worse
January 17, 2026 at 12:24 PM
I'm reminded of a quote from someone in Afghanistan. "I have three enemies: the Taliban, the warlords, and the United States. When the United States is gone I will be down to two enemies."
Reposted by Phil McDuff
the FBI isn't sending you letters in the mail about your posts, they're in your mentions saying shit like the police can't see you if you put a rock in your shoe
January 17, 2026 at 10:06 AM
the FBI isn't sending you letters in the mail about your posts, they're in your mentions saying shit like the police can't see you if you put a rock in your shoe
Reposted by Phil McDuff
Oh world, oh people! . My family needs a tent ⛺️ and food. My father needs medicine; the cold is weakening our bones. My mother wakes up from the intense cold. We need clothes; we need a tent, at least to shelter us from the bitter cold.
chuffed.org/project/161883
chuffed.org/project/161883
January 17, 2026 at 10:43 AM
Oh world, oh people! . My family needs a tent ⛺️ and food. My father needs medicine; the cold is weakening our bones. My mother wakes up from the intense cold. We need clothes; we need a tent, at least to shelter us from the bitter cold.
chuffed.org/project/161883
chuffed.org/project/161883
I don't think many of these people really cannot understand why "Iran should be added to the list of destroyed, ruined countries that stretches from Afghanistan to Libya" is something the left doesn't support. But it's their job to pretend they don't understand.
But even worse is his blithe admission that a happy ending is unlikely in Iran come what may. In contrast, we know that the lives of Palestinians could be hugely improved by restraining Israel. If we can only afford a limited amount of protest, where would it best be spent?
January 17, 2026 at 12:15 PM
I don't think many of these people really cannot understand why "Iran should be added to the list of destroyed, ruined countries that stretches from Afghanistan to Libya" is something the left doesn't support. But it's their job to pretend they don't understand.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
I always find this whataboutery ridiculous because its chief exponents don't really care all that much about anywhere else in the world, not even Israel. All they care about is mocking a small group of lefties whose chief crime is causing them & their mates embarrassment.
January 17, 2026 at 11:15 AM
I always find this whataboutery ridiculous because its chief exponents don't really care all that much about anywhere else in the world, not even Israel. All they care about is mocking a small group of lefties whose chief crime is causing them & their mates embarrassment.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
Jonathan Freedland is obviously arguing in bad faith, not least in pretending not to understand that Brits protesting the UK govt's policy re Gaza is not equivalent to Brits having sympathy for Iranians whose oppression is not facilitated by the RAF.
January 17, 2026 at 11:15 AM
Jonathan Freedland is obviously arguing in bad faith, not least in pretending not to understand that Brits protesting the UK govt's policy re Gaza is not equivalent to Brits having sympathy for Iranians whose oppression is not facilitated by the RAF.
Khalil sent me a post to share at 8am this morning, but it's already been deleted by Bluesky. This site makes it utterly impossible for Palestinians to maintain a presence on it.
Emergency Relief for Mohammed, Yassin and Baby Ghaith
Hello friends. My name is Todd and I am a close family friend of Noreen, her husband Khalil and their three children currently in Khan Younis, Gaza, in Palestine. The humanitarian crisis has bore down...
chuffed.org
January 17, 2026 at 12:11 PM
Khalil sent me a post to share at 8am this morning, but it's already been deleted by Bluesky. This site makes it utterly impossible for Palestinians to maintain a presence on it.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
Platforms have always been antagonistic towards their users, because what users want and what tech people want are completely incompatible.
January 17, 2026 at 12:08 PM
Platforms have always been antagonistic towards their users, because what users want and what tech people want are completely incompatible.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
It's AI's fault, but for the opposite reason.
January 17, 2026 at 12:04 PM
It's AI's fault, but for the opposite reason.
It's wild because Adobe actually makes one in the few "ai" tools I use and find useful, their new noise reduction algorithm in Lightroom. They just also spent billions bloating out the rest of their software stack and completely destroyed their much more widely used pdf reader.
From Dare Obasanjo on Mastodon. Adobe is hitting the floor. #AI
January 17, 2026 at 12:08 PM
It's wild because Adobe actually makes one in the few "ai" tools I use and find useful, their new noise reduction algorithm in Lightroom. They just also spent billions bloating out the rest of their software stack and completely destroyed their much more widely used pdf reader.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
Jared Kushner - who owns shares in planned waterfront properties on the site of the genocide in Gaza - being in the Gaza Peace Team is a sick joke. Every day there's something worse, designed to make everyone feel like they're losing their minds.
January 17, 2026 at 12:00 PM
Jared Kushner - who owns shares in planned waterfront properties on the site of the genocide in Gaza - being in the Gaza Peace Team is a sick joke. Every day there's something worse, designed to make everyone feel like they're losing their minds.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
People who can trust, because they're paying millions of dollars for the privilege, that everything they're presented with in their lives will be exactly what they wanted. To them, AI makes perfect sense. They don't know how to make day-to-day decisions.
January 17, 2026 at 10:18 AM
People who can trust, because they're paying millions of dollars for the privilege, that everything they're presented with in their lives will be exactly what they wanted. To them, AI makes perfect sense. They don't know how to make day-to-day decisions.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
AI is pushed exclusively by people whose lives are already basically automated. Whose preferences are already accounted for at every stage of their existence. Who never have to have a bad customer service experience, or choose between two imperfect options.
January 17, 2026 at 10:16 AM
AI is pushed exclusively by people whose lives are already basically automated. Whose preferences are already accounted for at every stage of their existence. Who never have to have a bad customer service experience, or choose between two imperfect options.
Reposted by Phil McDuff
The thing is, some people can make mistakes, get things wrong, be careless, etc. But that’s not what Jennings did here. Jennings knowingly, purposefully and intentionally lied to utterly distort what was said, which CNN pays him to do every day. CNN is the enabler of this.
January 16, 2026 at 11:15 AM
The thing is, some people can make mistakes, get things wrong, be careless, etc. But that’s not what Jennings did here. Jennings knowingly, purposefully and intentionally lied to utterly distort what was said, which CNN pays him to do every day. CNN is the enabler of this.