Dan McKinley
@mcfunley.com
Reposted by Dan McKinley
Fun for everyone, a detailed discussion of the potential origins and use of getting war elephants drunk before battle.
December 30, 2025 at 5:15 AM
Fun for everyone, a detailed discussion of the potential origins and use of getting war elephants drunk before battle.
I swear I block some dumb bot account with a bio like “proud boomer democrat for life” that everyone is dunking on twice a day
it was one of the worst parts of Twitter & there was an impulse to not do it back in Bluesky Before Times but now if you tell people "actually this sucks" they'll tell you it's praxis to quote-dunk trash takes & that shitting up the timeline is Good, Actually and "exposes bigots to sunlight" or w/e
Love you all, but I don't know about this trend of quote posting garbage takes to dunk on them. It ends up giving the OP all the attention in the world—and yeah, a lot of it is negative but you know what they say about all publicity being good publicity. This is what sub(posts) were invented for 👀😂
December 28, 2025 at 10:25 PM
I swear I block some dumb bot account with a bio like “proud boomer democrat for life” that everyone is dunking on twice a day
Reposted by Dan McKinley
proud to announce that i have just discovered the most needless thing that has ever existed: a pop-up ai summary of the nfl sunday ticket chat window that's open to all viewers
December 28, 2025 at 8:17 PM
proud to announce that i have just discovered the most needless thing that has ever existed: a pop-up ai summary of the nfl sunday ticket chat window that's open to all viewers
Reposted by Dan McKinley
begging the media to understand that public services are not businesses and that they should not report that they lose money since that is an intrinsic part of any public service. they cost money, they don’t lose it. that is how public services are designed.
The USPS faces a tight squeeze. With fewer people using the mail, it’s lost more and more money: $9 billion in the 12 months ending in September alone.
https://cnn.it/4qkeNoF
https://cnn.it/4qkeNoF
December 24, 2025 at 6:41 PM
begging the media to understand that public services are not businesses and that they should not report that they lose money since that is an intrinsic part of any public service. they cost money, they don’t lose it. that is how public services are designed.
Reposted by Dan McKinley
This is the raid in which our client was picked up. Every single video I’ve seen from the raid is enraging. Another video shows ICE agents in the raid calling people “animals” and talking about denying their rights.
Then ICE lied to us about where our client was.
Then ICE lied to us about where our client was.
ICE agents illegally break into a woman's bathroom in a NY nutrition bar manufacturing plant. "Pull up your pants," says a male agent. The agents only had a warrant to review employer documents. They didn't have a warrant to search for, detain, or arrest anyone there.
December 22, 2025 at 9:28 PM
This is the raid in which our client was picked up. Every single video I’ve seen from the raid is enraging. Another video shows ICE agents in the raid calling people “animals” and talking about denying their rights.
Then ICE lied to us about where our client was.
Then ICE lied to us about where our client was.
One nice thing about AI backlash is the backpressure it exerts on this phenomenon mcfunley.com/the-guerilla...
December 22, 2025 at 6:57 PM
One nice thing about AI backlash is the backpressure it exerts on this phenomenon mcfunley.com/the-guerilla...
Reposted by Dan McKinley
Flock left a bunch of its cameras exposed to the internet, where we could watch them streaming live. Here's how that happened and what we saw: www.404media.co/flock-expose...
Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves.
Flock left at least 60 of its people-tracking Condor PTZ cameras live streaming and exposed to the open internet.
www.404media.co
December 22, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Flock left a bunch of its cameras exposed to the internet, where we could watch them streaming live. Here's how that happened and what we saw: www.404media.co/flock-expose...
Reposted by Dan McKinley
We’re constantly surveilled and tracked to a degree few people understand.
That they were exposed on the open internet is even more concerning. Citizens should have a say about this level of tracking, and we don’t. It’s dystopian and an affront to privacy and freedom of movement
That they were exposed on the open internet is even more concerning. Citizens should have a say about this level of tracking, and we don’t. It’s dystopian and an affront to privacy and freedom of movement
SCOOP: Flock left at least 60 of its AI-powered, people-tracking surveillance cameras exposed and livestreaming to the open internet. We tracked ourselves. The exposure highlights the power of these cameras and types of things they're tracking. Not just cars.
www.404media.co/flock-expose...
www.404media.co/flock-expose...
Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves.
Flock left at least 60 of its people-tracking Condor PTZ cameras live streaming and exposed to the open internet.
www.404media.co
December 22, 2025 at 4:17 PM
We’re constantly surveilled and tracked to a degree few people understand.
That they were exposed on the open internet is even more concerning. Citizens should have a say about this level of tracking, and we don’t. It’s dystopian and an affront to privacy and freedom of movement
That they were exposed on the open internet is even more concerning. Citizens should have a say about this level of tracking, and we don’t. It’s dystopian and an affront to privacy and freedom of movement
Reposted by Dan McKinley
One of the things that unites MAGA and Technofacists is a hatred for truth telling and investigative reporting. So, the thing that happened to Twitter and the thing that's happening to CBS have the same root motivations.
December 22, 2025 at 3:37 AM
One of the things that unites MAGA and Technofacists is a hatred for truth telling and investigative reporting. So, the thing that happened to Twitter and the thing that's happening to CBS have the same root motivations.
Reposted by Dan McKinley
It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans.
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December 21, 2025 at 2:51 AM
It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans.
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BlueSky mobile web is hella boned
December 21, 2025 at 12:39 AM
BlueSky mobile web is hella boned
Aside: as an occasional Data Boy, this is also a phenomenon in tech leadership. I’ve had entirely too many conversations in my life that have gone like:
them: “What does the data tell us to do?”
me: “well what are we trying to do?”
them: “well can’t try to do anything until data gives us insights”
them: “What does the data tell us to do?”
me: “well what are we trying to do?”
them: “well can’t try to do anything until data gives us insights”
personally getting very irritated by the unbelievable arrogance of the data boys
when we said “defer electoral strategy to the actual politicians running for actual offices” we meant “after calculating wins above replacement somehow”
December 20, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Aside: as an occasional Data Boy, this is also a phenomenon in tech leadership. I’ve had entirely too many conversations in my life that have gone like:
them: “What does the data tell us to do?”
me: “well what are we trying to do?”
them: “well can’t try to do anything until data gives us insights”
them: “What does the data tell us to do?”
me: “well what are we trying to do?”
them: “well can’t try to do anything until data gives us insights”
Reposted by Dan McKinley
I hate that every week there's something stupid like an Everyone Has To Drink Pee Now Bill and the alert sounds to CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES THIS IS NOT A DRILL and you really wish you could just trust them to not go for the pee drinking bill
December 15, 2025 at 9:23 PM
I hate that every week there's something stupid like an Everyone Has To Drink Pee Now Bill and the alert sounds to CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES THIS IS NOT A DRILL and you really wish you could just trust them to not go for the pee drinking bill
The world would be a better place if more of these kinds of guys were Corbulo pilled
It's so funny when people idolize Roman aristocrats like Cicero, Caesar, and Sulla, because reading the primary sources about them makes it clear they were catty bitches who insulted each other by gossiping about the shame of a rival's grandpa owning a rope-making business and a bakery
December 16, 2025 at 11:14 PM
The world would be a better place if more of these kinds of guys were Corbulo pilled
Reposted by Dan McKinley
i think if you’ve seen @jamellebouie.net’s tiktoks, a lot of you would be less likely to interpret his sentiment on the influence of video so poorly. he’s basically saying you will have more reach if you expand your presence, it’s actually a very simple premise.
December 15, 2025 at 11:20 PM
i think if you’ve seen @jamellebouie.net’s tiktoks, a lot of you would be less likely to interpret his sentiment on the influence of video so poorly. he’s basically saying you will have more reach if you expand your presence, it’s actually a very simple premise.
Irrationally upset about a post on the official Pixies TikTok account highlighting the “weirdest Pixies lyrics” that chose a line from Bone Machine that isn’t even in the top five weirdest lines in Bone Machine.
December 15, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Irrationally upset about a post on the official Pixies TikTok account highlighting the “weirdest Pixies lyrics” that chose a line from Bone Machine that isn’t even in the top five weirdest lines in Bone Machine.
Seeing a @hundredsofbeavers.bsky.social matinee with my 11 year old son and a very confused couple in their 80’s
Raising the always fun question: What are your most memorable theater-going experiences?
Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
It was hands-down one of the most memorable theater-going experiences I can remember, a collective 30-minute butt-clench/armrest-grab for the final climb. And we knew he lived! Wild.
December 13, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Seeing a @hundredsofbeavers.bsky.social matinee with my 11 year old son and a very confused couple in their 80’s
I have just had it with Nancy Silverton’s nonsense
December 13, 2025 at 2:39 AM
I have just had it with Nancy Silverton’s nonsense
Reposted by Dan McKinley
If hearing the choir hit
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
doesn’t make you wanna take off your shirt, whip it around overhead, and go burn some cop cars, you gotta figure your shit out.
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
doesn’t make you wanna take off your shirt, whip it around overhead, and go burn some cop cars, you gotta figure your shit out.
O Holy Night is simply an incredible achievement in western art
December 12, 2025 at 9:42 PM
If hearing the choir hit
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
doesn’t make you wanna take off your shirt, whip it around overhead, and go burn some cop cars, you gotta figure your shit out.
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
doesn’t make you wanna take off your shirt, whip it around overhead, and go burn some cop cars, you gotta figure your shit out.
This was roughly the exact moment in my early 20s when I noticed that my parents had cooked their brains in right wing media and weren't that bright. "Your parents are just normal assholes" is a traumatic realization that many people have I guess.
Remember Fox News' stupid "War on Christmas" culture war? I wrote about its origins and how I kinda miss it, considering the hellscape we live in now. thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/11/m...
Remember the ‘War on Christmas’? I Kinda Miss It.
The comparatively lower stakes of the War on Christmas.
thebarbedwire.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:27 PM
This was roughly the exact moment in my early 20s when I noticed that my parents had cooked their brains in right wing media and weren't that bright. "Your parents are just normal assholes" is a traumatic realization that many people have I guess.
(per @themountaingoats.bsky.social) there should be more songs in the Euripides cinematic universe
December 12, 2025 at 3:34 PM
(per @themountaingoats.bsky.social) there should be more songs in the Euripides cinematic universe
Reposted by Dan McKinley
People will say anything on CNN. "Rahm Emanuel is a 2028 contender." No he isn't. That isn't true
December 9, 2025 at 9:44 PM
People will say anything on CNN. "Rahm Emanuel is a 2028 contender." No he isn't. That isn't true
Reposted by Dan McKinley
Again, the illegality of firing on shipwrecked mariners is so absurdly well established that it is used in the manual training material as the example of an order *so obviously illegal* that no further information would be required for a servicemember to be obligated to refuse it.
December 7, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Again, the illegality of firing on shipwrecked mariners is so absurdly well established that it is used in the manual training material as the example of an order *so obviously illegal* that no further information would be required for a servicemember to be obligated to refuse it.
Reposted by Dan McKinley
A missile screams down from the sky and sinks your boat. You climb onto a fragment of it. You hear an aircraft overhead. You wave toward it: don't shoot, help me. Maybe you know they have to provide assistance. This goes on for 45 minutes. Only then do they execute you with another missile.
“There are a lot of disturbing aspects. But this is one of the most disturbing.”
Boat Strike Survivors Clung to Wreckage for Some 45 Minutes Before U.S. Military Killed Them
“There are a lot of disturbing aspects. But this is one of the most disturbing.”
interc.pt
December 6, 2025 at 4:10 PM
A missile screams down from the sky and sinks your boat. You climb onto a fragment of it. You hear an aircraft overhead. You wave toward it: don't shoot, help me. Maybe you know they have to provide assistance. This goes on for 45 minutes. Only then do they execute you with another missile.