David Barral
@thoreaupeutic.bsky.social
High school English Lit program in the French system
Thoreau studies (philological/philosophical wordplay) & translation; Lit; pragmatism | indie research
WIP « La résistance au gouvernement civil », traduction annotée : https://thoreaupeutic.net
Thoreau studies (philological/philosophical wordplay) & translation; Lit; pragmatism | indie research
WIP « La résistance au gouvernement civil », traduction annotée : https://thoreaupeutic.net
Pinned
David Barral
@thoreaupeutic.bsky.social
· Aug 17
I dwelt before, perhaps, in the illusion that my life passed somewhere only between heaven and hell, but now I cannot persuade myself that I do not dwell wholly within hell. … Life itself being worth less, all things with it, which minister to it, are worth less. (1/3)
“decisive results for the warfighter” “your battle rhythm every single day”—trying to project (a certain type of) masculinity some?
December 11, 2025 at 6:01 AM
“decisive results for the warfighter” “your battle rhythm every single day”—trying to project (a certain type of) masculinity some?
Reposted by David Barral
Jeff Bezos’s personal PR department endorses segregation. Cool stuff!
Washington Post editorial board really speaking truth to power
December 11, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Jeff Bezos’s personal PR department endorses segregation. Cool stuff!
Reposted by David Barral
"Whatever tepid objections were first raised by the few men and women of conscience within the Protestant and Catholic establishments were eventually nullified by the much more striking and growing commentary of outspoken religious genocidaires." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-devils-b...
The Devil's Bargain
Nazism and the moral collapse of German Christendom.
www.liberalcurrents.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:04 AM
"Whatever tepid objections were first raised by the few men and women of conscience within the Protestant and Catholic establishments were eventually nullified by the much more striking and growing commentary of outspoken religious genocidaires." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-devils-b...
Reposted by David Barral
Chris “CRT conspiracy moral panic white psychodrama” Rufo is shocked to learn of conspiracies and psychodramas in this establishment.
December 11, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Chris “CRT conspiracy moral panic white psychodrama” Rufo is shocked to learn of conspiracies and psychodramas in this establishment.
Reposted by David Barral
Democrats would be crazy not to make this comment super-famous tomorrow when the Senate debates health care. Republicans don’t want you to be cared for as a patient when you’re sick. They think of you as a “consumer”—and tough luck if you don’t have the money for the care you need.
Roger Marshall: "We want patients to become consumers again. We want patients to see what the actual prices are. We believe that if we would add the price tags to this bill, that it would save the country a trillion dollars a year."
December 11, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Democrats would be crazy not to make this comment super-famous tomorrow when the Senate debates health care. Republicans don’t want you to be cared for as a patient when you’re sick. They think of you as a “consumer”—and tough luck if you don’t have the money for the care you need.
Reposted by David Barral
Just discovered an insane new form of co-intelligence where you briefly share the mind of a great thinker in history and then a portion of their mind travels in yours for the rest of your life. Calling it a "book."
December 11, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Just discovered an insane new form of co-intelligence where you briefly share the mind of a great thinker in history and then a portion of their mind travels in yours for the rest of your life. Calling it a "book."
Reposted by David Barral
ICE are thug scum.
ICE detain U.S. citizen for looking Somali—use illegal chokehold to tackle him to ground.
Man repeatedly begs agents to look at his digital passport ID—they refuse.
Drove him 7 miles away before releasing him alone into Minnesota snow storm—told him to "walk home" in freezing weather advisory.
Man repeatedly begs agents to look at his digital passport ID—they refuse.
Drove him 7 miles away before releasing him alone into Minnesota snow storm—told him to "walk home" in freezing weather advisory.
December 11, 2025 at 4:37 AM
ICE are thug scum.
Reposted by David Barral
Brb gotta go ask my husband why he is sending anonymous letters to the NYT
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/s...
How Can I Stop My Wife From Badgering Our Friends About Climate Change?
www.nytimes.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Brb gotta go ask my husband why he is sending anonymous letters to the NYT
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/s...
Reposted by David Barral
Hey! Have I mentioned here that I redesigned my blog & made it all fancy, and you can check it out and sign up to read it by email, all for free with no tracking or cookies or creepy stuff (like always) at www.anildash.com if you'd like? I'd be obliged if you check it out or share it with a friend.
Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
www.anildash.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Hey! Have I mentioned here that I redesigned my blog & made it all fancy, and you can check it out and sign up to read it by email, all for free with no tracking or cookies or creepy stuff (like always) at www.anildash.com if you'd like? I'd be obliged if you check it out or share it with a friend.
Reposted by David Barral
December 10, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by David Barral
Reposted by David Barral
think about it--2025 could have been a year of powerful progress in global health.
Instead we have carnage of children as a result of the deliberate decisions of Trump, Vought and Rubio.
Instead we have carnage of children as a result of the deliberate decisions of Trump, Vought and Rubio.
Almost a quarter of a million more children are projected to die in 2025 than in 2024, for the first time in this century--despite the fact that these deaths are almost entirely preventable.
No wonder Trump is worried about getting into heaven: www.wsj.com/health/for-f...
No wonder Trump is worried about getting into heaven: www.wsj.com/health/for-f...
For First Time in Decades, Child Deaths Will Rise This Year
Almost a quarter of a million more children around the world are projected to die in 2025 than in 2024.
www.wsj.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:03 PM
think about it--2025 could have been a year of powerful progress in global health.
Instead we have carnage of children as a result of the deliberate decisions of Trump, Vought and Rubio.
Instead we have carnage of children as a result of the deliberate decisions of Trump, Vought and Rubio.
Reposted by David Barral
To review:
Sincerely : formal
Best : neutral
All the best : positive
All the very best : can we be friends???
Regards : from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee
Sincerely : formal
Best : neutral
All the best : positive
All the very best : can we be friends???
Regards : from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee
December 9, 2025 at 10:45 PM
To review:
Sincerely : formal
Best : neutral
All the best : positive
All the very best : can we be friends???
Regards : from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee
Sincerely : formal
Best : neutral
All the best : positive
All the very best : can we be friends???
Regards : from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee
Reposted by David Barral
This was the guy who read incredibly racist to Ta-Nehisi Coates and called him a terrorist for writing about his experience in the West Bank. Of course he gets a promotion by Bari Weiss.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/b...
Tony Dokoupil Is Named Anchor of ‘CBS Evening News’
www.nytimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:21 PM
This was the guy who read incredibly racist to Ta-Nehisi Coates and called him a terrorist for writing about his experience in the West Bank. Of course he gets a promotion by Bari Weiss.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/b...
Reposted by David Barral
One of the most highly cited academic articles on the safety of glyphosate has been retracted, eight years after court documents revealed it was ghostwritten by Monsanto retractionwatch.com/2025/12/04/g...
Glyphosate safety article retracted eight years after Monsanto ghostwriting revealed in court
Credit: Mike Mozart/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) A review article concluding the weed killer Roundup “does not pose a health risk to humans” has been retracted eight years after documents released in a court…
retractionwatch.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:36 PM
One of the most highly cited academic articles on the safety of glyphosate has been retracted, eight years after court documents revealed it was ghostwritten by Monsanto retractionwatch.com/2025/12/04/g...
Reposted by David Barral
Brilliant!
🔴Nigel Farage’s Russian Influence Advent Calendar
Byline Times has compiled a festive offering of the prize moments when the Reform leader has gifted the political agenda to Vladimir Putin and Russia
bylinetimes.com/2025/12/10/n...
Byline Times has compiled a festive offering of the prize moments when the Reform leader has gifted the political agenda to Vladimir Putin and Russia
bylinetimes.com/2025/12/10/n...
Nigel Farage's Russian Influence Advent Calendar
Byline Times has compiled a festive offering of the prize moments when the Reform leader has gifted the political agenda to Vladimir Putin and Russia
bylinetimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Brilliant!
Reposted by David Barral
If you have mourned, as I have, the perversion of Open Access into a form of Ponzi Austerity extraction, into an enabler of technofeudal enclosure by commercial AI, and into an excuse for defunding libraries & print archives, this meditation by @melikhovo.bsky.social is for you.
Into the Fugitive Open
The theme for this year’s International Open Access Week is “Who Owns Our Knowledge?”, a question that ought to be nonsensical, but which is becoming ever more urgent. I cannot help but think about Op...
matthewcheney.net
December 10, 2025 at 1:37 PM
If you have mourned, as I have, the perversion of Open Access into a form of Ponzi Austerity extraction, into an enabler of technofeudal enclosure by commercial AI, and into an excuse for defunding libraries & print archives, this meditation by @melikhovo.bsky.social is for you.
Reposted by David Barral
Les 1 % les plus riches de France ont plus de 3 millions d’euros de patrimoine… Et c’est le résultat de l’héritage
➡️ https://l.humanite.fr/m01
➡️ https://l.humanite.fr/m01
December 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Les 1 % les plus riches de France ont plus de 3 millions d’euros de patrimoine… Et c’est le résultat de l’héritage
➡️ https://l.humanite.fr/m01
➡️ https://l.humanite.fr/m01
Reposted by David Barral
My final manuscript in! And now I give you..... COVER REVEAL (US cover, UK is sooooo different but it's not public yet)
December 10, 2025 at 2:11 PM
My final manuscript in! And now I give you..... COVER REVEAL (US cover, UK is sooooo different but it's not public yet)
Reposted by David Barral
This post by the world’s richest and most divorced man on the site he bought to promote his far right extremism is ripped straight from the Klan messaging of the 1870s or the 1915 film Birth of a Nation that inspired the Klan’s rebirth as a PR stunt/Ponzi scheme/terrorist organization in the 1920s.
December 10, 2025 at 1:11 PM
This post by the world’s richest and most divorced man on the site he bought to promote his far right extremism is ripped straight from the Klan messaging of the 1870s or the 1915 film Birth of a Nation that inspired the Klan’s rebirth as a PR stunt/Ponzi scheme/terrorist organization in the 1920s.
You will be visited by three spirits.
December 10, 2025 at 12:32 PM
You will be visited by three spirits.
Reposted by David Barral
Something that boggles my mind a little is that in 1977 Fredric Jameson gave a series of lectures to 25 or so people in Minnesota & one of them had a cassette recorder. And this year we remastered those cassette tapes & around 14,000 people in 53 countries heard those lectures.
The Jameson Tapes, Side A
with Isabel Bartholomew, Anna Kornbluh, Caleb Smith, Robert Tally, & Fredric Jameson
theamericanvandal.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Something that boggles my mind a little is that in 1977 Fredric Jameson gave a series of lectures to 25 or so people in Minnesota & one of them had a cassette recorder. And this year we remastered those cassette tapes & around 14,000 people in 53 countries heard those lectures.
Reposted by David Barral
sorry but the nineteenth century is the longest
December 9, 2025 at 8:00 PM
sorry but the nineteenth century is the longest
Reposted by David Barral
Love the “Tom Selleck slowly shakes head” line of shaming
I'm re-watching Magnum P.I. and I can't believe how vastly superior the 1980s ideal of masculinity is, vs today's whining, lying misogynist edgelord ideal that we see in culture all the way up to the Presidency.
The 50's stereotypical man had at least some other things to offer. Typically noble or stoic. Perhaps serving the greater good. Instead it's now a bunch of energy drink selfish neurotics who spend too much time at the gym and have no developed personality at all but being online.
December 9, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Love the “Tom Selleck slowly shakes head” line of shaming