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Dan Neilan

@dneilan.bsky.social

Writer or what have you. Formerly Onion. Formerly a thing on Audible. Now other stuff, if you can believe.

40 Followers  |  113 Following  |  22 Posts  |  Joined: 20.09.2023
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Posts by Dan Neilan (@dneilan.bsky.social)

one of the weirdest things about the current moment is how the national media have to pretend like they don't know what this is about. official government social media accounts are posting about racially cleansing America and they have to pretend like it's not clear who the bad guy is.

14.01.2026 02:31 β€” πŸ‘ 8237    πŸ” 1713    πŸ’¬ 104    πŸ“Œ 70

Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was shot & killed by ICE on Sept 12

ICE chased Jaime Alanis off the roof of a greenhouse; he broke his neck & died on July 12

ICE chased Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez into traffic where he was hit & killed on Aug 14

JosuΓ© Castro Rivera was killed the same way on Oct 23

08.01.2026 21:55 β€” πŸ‘ 1233    πŸ” 766    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 7
Distraught woman says ICE killed her wife in video after deadly Minneapolis shooting
"They killed my wife," the distraught woman says, adding, "They shot her in the head."
An ICE agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman who was driving an SUV in Minneapolis on Wednesday. / Screenshot/@Breaking911

Distraught woman says ICE killed her wife in video after deadly Minneapolis shooting "They killed my wife," the distraught woman says, adding, "They shot her in the head." An ICE agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman who was driving an SUV in Minneapolis on Wednesday. / Screenshot/@Breaking911

"They killed my wife. I don't know what to do," the woman says through sobs in the footage, with a damaged SUV visible in the distance behind her. "We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head," the woman cries.
"We have a six-year-old at school," she says, almost unable to breathe, as a chaotic scene in which federal officers prevented at least one doctor who was on the scene from assisting the shot victim unfolds. "We're new here," the distraught woman says in despair.

"They killed my wife. I don't know what to do," the woman says through sobs in the footage, with a damaged SUV visible in the distance behind her. "We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head," the woman cries. "We have a six-year-old at school," she says, almost unable to breathe, as a chaotic scene in which federal officers prevented at least one doctor who was on the scene from assisting the shot victim unfolds. "We're new here," the distraught woman says in despair.

You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today.

This could be you.

08.01.2026 00:15 β€” πŸ‘ 44268    πŸ” 17134    πŸ’¬ 1080    πŸ“Œ 779

losing my mind at the "she should have followed directions" people

really? really? you're cool with "if you don't follow directions, they get to kill you"? that seems like a good state of affairs to you? that seems like how law enforcement ought to work: instant obeisance or death?

07.01.2026 18:25 β€” πŸ‘ 17330    πŸ” 4079    πŸ’¬ 363    πŸ“Œ 215

it is incredible that the entire high level legal apparatus of the United States is "anything that helps people is impossible, anything that kills people is permitted"

03.01.2026 14:24 β€” πŸ‘ 7120    πŸ” 2073    πŸ’¬ 23    πŸ“Œ 27
Tumblr user nocryptographer:
I talked with someone who works in book publishing, and they mentioned they get a lot of AI slop these days. I asked how they know what's human-written, and they said that there's one thing that will reveal AI slop without error, and that's the author not knowing their own creation.
A real author can talk about their story for hours. They love to elaborate every character, every twist, every detail. Because those existed in their head long before they ever made it to the paper. They were loved before they were written.
AI slop wasn't. It was just vomited into existence.
Someone who generates their story with AI will never bond with their story the way real writers do. That's why they may not know what to say when they're asked why did the character do this, or even remember the scene in the first place. It's something they read, not something they wrote. And to a writer, those are not the same.
There's a unique bond between the creator and the creation. If your writing doesn't come of you, you'll always lack that.
I keep hearing soon we won't be able to tell. And perhaps, in a superficial sense, that's true. But there is a difference. It's not em dashes or repeated words. It's whether the story was made by someone who loves it and cares about it. 
If the writer's eyes light up when asked why did the character do that? and they start their very own Ted Talk about that specific scene... 
then it's real.

Tumblr user nocryptographer: I talked with someone who works in book publishing, and they mentioned they get a lot of AI slop these days. I asked how they know what's human-written, and they said that there's one thing that will reveal AI slop without error, and that's the author not knowing their own creation. A real author can talk about their story for hours. They love to elaborate every character, every twist, every detail. Because those existed in their head long before they ever made it to the paper. They were loved before they were written. AI slop wasn't. It was just vomited into existence. Someone who generates their story with AI will never bond with their story the way real writers do. That's why they may not know what to say when they're asked why did the character do this, or even remember the scene in the first place. It's something they read, not something they wrote. And to a writer, those are not the same. There's a unique bond between the creator and the creation. If your writing doesn't come of you, you'll always lack that. I keep hearing soon we won't be able to tell. And perhaps, in a superficial sense, that's true. But there is a difference. It's not em dashes or repeated words. It's whether the story was made by someone who loves it and cares about it. If the writer's eyes light up when asked why did the character do that? and they start their very own Ted Talk about that specific scene... then it's real.

03.12.2025 05:37 β€” πŸ‘ 6490    πŸ” 2834    πŸ’¬ 36    πŸ“Œ 128

this is just gutter racism

28.11.2025 12:59 β€” πŸ‘ 18395    πŸ” 3624    πŸ’¬ 826    πŸ“Œ 239
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Just checking the list of notable alumni from the Interlochen Center for the Arts

27.11.2025 06:16 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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AI kind of feels like the endgame of this bit Graeber described in the original Bullshit Jobs essay: these people have been so thoroughly cleaved from any sense of purpose that they resent those who have one. They hate artists for their skill and think poverty should be the price of having a calling

27.11.2025 04:57 β€” πŸ‘ 691    πŸ” 207    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

I Want You to Understand Chicago
Politics Chicago
2025-11-08

I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time.

Every day my phone buzzes. It is a neighborhood group: four people were kidnapped at the corner drugstore. A friend a mile away sends a Slack message: she was at the scene when masked men assaulted and abducted two people on the street. A plumber working on my pipes is distraught, and I find out that two of his employees were kidnapped that morning. A week later it happens again.

An email arrives. Agents with guns have chased a teacher into the school where she works. They did not have a warrant. They dragged her away, ignoring her and her colleagues’ pleas to show proof of her documentation. That evening I stand a few feet from the parents of Rayito de Sol and listen to them describe, with anguish, how good Ms. Diana was to their children. What it is like to have strangers with guns traumatize your kids. For a teacher to hide a three-year-old child for fear they might be killed. How their relatives will no longer leave the house. I hear the pain and fury in their voices, and I wonder who will be next.

Understand what it is to pray in Chicago. On September 19th, Reverend David Black, lead pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, was praying outside the ICE detention center in Broadview when a DHS agent shot him in the head with pepper balls. Pepper balls are never supposed to be fired at the head because they can seriously injure, or even kill. β€œWe could hear them laughing as they were shooting us from the roof,” Black recalled. He is not the only member of the clergy ICE has assaulted. Methodist pastor Hannah Kardon was violently arrested on October 17th, and Baptist pastor Michael Woolf was shot with pepper balls on November 1st.

Understand what it is to sleep in Chicago. On the night of September 30th, federal agents rappelled from a Black Hawk helicopter to execute a raid on an apartment building on the South Sho…

I Want You to Understand Chicago Politics Chicago 2025-11-08 I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time. Every day my phone buzzes. It is a neighborhood group: four people were kidnapped at the corner drugstore. A friend a mile away sends a Slack message: she was at the scene when masked men assaulted and abducted two people on the street. A plumber working on my pipes is distraught, and I find out that two of his employees were kidnapped that morning. A week later it happens again. An email arrives. Agents with guns have chased a teacher into the school where she works. They did not have a warrant. They dragged her away, ignoring her and her colleagues’ pleas to show proof of her documentation. That evening I stand a few feet from the parents of Rayito de Sol and listen to them describe, with anguish, how good Ms. Diana was to their children. What it is like to have strangers with guns traumatize your kids. For a teacher to hide a three-year-old child for fear they might be killed. How their relatives will no longer leave the house. I hear the pain and fury in their voices, and I wonder who will be next. Understand what it is to pray in Chicago. On September 19th, Reverend David Black, lead pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, was praying outside the ICE detention center in Broadview when a DHS agent shot him in the head with pepper balls. Pepper balls are never supposed to be fired at the head because they can seriously injure, or even kill. β€œWe could hear them laughing as they were shooting us from the roof,” Black recalled. He is not the only member of the clergy ICE has assaulted. Methodist pastor Hannah Kardon was violently arrested on October 17th, and Baptist pastor Michael Woolf was shot with pepper balls on November 1st. Understand what it is to sleep in Chicago. On the night of September 30th, federal agents rappelled from a Black Hawk helicopter to execute a raid on an apartment building on the South Sho…

Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.

He is a computer safety researcher.

And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.

In under 1600 words.

aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...

09.11.2025 20:49 β€” πŸ‘ 10356    πŸ” 5682    πŸ’¬ 119    πŸ“Œ 337

These politicians aren't in disarray. They fucking hate you. They don't work for you.

10.11.2025 03:10 β€” πŸ‘ 3262    πŸ” 809    πŸ’¬ 24    πŸ“Œ 24
Didn't go to film school? Don't worry. Legendary investor and movie buff Marc Andreessen doesn't think that will be an issue for future creatives.

During an episode of "Monitoring the Situation," the podcast for the venture capitalist firm that Andreessen cofounded, A16z, he said advancements in AI technology β€” like OpenAI's Sora 2 β€” have made it possible for a new type of filmmaker to emerge.

"The filmmaker with no visual skill, or access to a set, or to a camera, or to actors, but with an idea," Andreessen said on Friday. "It's going to start with shorts and animated things and so forth, but it's going to work its way up to full movies."

Didn't go to film school? Don't worry. Legendary investor and movie buff Marc Andreessen doesn't think that will be an issue for future creatives. During an episode of "Monitoring the Situation," the podcast for the venture capitalist firm that Andreessen cofounded, A16z, he said advancements in AI technology β€” like OpenAI's Sora 2 β€” have made it possible for a new type of filmmaker to emerge. "The filmmaker with no visual skill, or access to a set, or to a camera, or to actors, but with an idea," Andreessen said on Friday. "It's going to start with shorts and animated things and so forth, but it's going to work its way up to full movies."

It’s tiresome at this point, but again, their entire pitch is β€œwouldn’t it be great if there were no such things as talent, craft, and skill,” and what that means is a bland, slop-filled world. www.businessinsider.com/marc-andrees...

17.10.2025 20:20 β€” πŸ‘ 1603    πŸ” 426    πŸ’¬ 98    πŸ“Œ 220
Post image 03.10.2025 15:23 β€” πŸ‘ 9192    πŸ” 2310    πŸ’¬ 45    πŸ“Œ 86
Preview
2025, So Far I wish I had a time machine so I could go back in time and talk to my dad in 1988, just before I was born, and tell him what it’s like to live in the future. I’d tell him all the amazing things that a...

This final post from Kaleb Horton is very beautiful and hits hard. This is just so sad. RIP.

27.09.2025 17:45 β€” πŸ‘ 4445    πŸ” 986    πŸ’¬ 52    πŸ“Œ 97
Tweet:

So let me get this right. Oracle says openai committed 300b for cloud storage. Oracle stock jumps 36% Oracle runs on Nvidia gpus. Has to buy billions in chips from Nvidia. Nvidia just announced they're investing 100b in openai. Openai using that money... To pay oracle. Who pays Nvidia. Who investa in open ai

Tweet: So let me get this right. Oracle says openai committed 300b for cloud storage. Oracle stock jumps 36% Oracle runs on Nvidia gpus. Has to buy billions in chips from Nvidia. Nvidia just announced they're investing 100b in openai. Openai using that money... To pay oracle. Who pays Nvidia. Who investa in open ai

Been trying to explain why economy increasingly feels like it's running wholly on rich people passing each other same bag of money - innovation is stalled, unemployment is rising, but stock tickers are still somehow going up. This example captures the current state of our economy perfectly.

23.09.2025 17:07 β€” πŸ‘ 2156    πŸ” 699    πŸ’¬ 22    πŸ“Œ 80

That’s me in the video. And a Fox News host just celebrated me being assaulted by ICE.

If ICE will do this to a congressional candidate with a big platform, just imagine what they’re doing to the people they’re kidnapping.

20.09.2025 16:24 β€” πŸ‘ 11360    πŸ” 3655    πŸ’¬ 482    πŸ“Œ 145
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Not enough people know this - and they should!

05.08.2025 17:07 β€” πŸ‘ 314    πŸ” 121    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 10

If you are okay with this, if you think this is justified, if you think people living on the street have brought this upon themselves, if you think this is good leadership, you may be able to fool yourself that you care about others but you don’t fool me

29.08.2025 20:07 β€” πŸ‘ 13458    πŸ” 3929    πŸ’¬ 179    πŸ“Œ 68

This is in the replies and it demonstrates a real issue which is if you find profundity from an AI, you’re responding to something profound a human being wrote that was vacuumed up and what ends up happening is you thank AI and not only don’t thank the person, you have no idea they were involved

19.08.2025 15:02 β€” πŸ‘ 3635    πŸ” 1124    πŸ’¬ 37    πŸ“Œ 36

my new AI powered lamp is trained on millions of lamp interactions so it understands that 50% of chain pulls are to turn it on and the other 50% are to turn it off. and honestly, it's a little spooky how it knows exactly what i want almost half of the time

17.03.2025 22:59 β€” πŸ‘ 6096    πŸ” 1468    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 20
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The Texas Observer has identified James β€œJim” Joseph Rodden, assistant chief counsel for ICE as β€œGlomarResponder” who posts white supremacist and racist statements on X. Rodden represents the agency in immigration court hearings where judges decide whether an individual is removed from the country.

26.07.2025 14:01 β€” πŸ‘ 1225    πŸ” 606    πŸ’¬ 64    πŸ“Œ 83

Thank you for posting this. Was just wondering what all the noise was…

04.07.2025 04:22 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

what are you supposed to do when the "good" political party doesn't treat a dozen credible sexual harassment claims as disqualifying for a political candidate. how are you supposed to ignore that

20.06.2025 13:48 β€” πŸ‘ 11175    πŸ” 2166    πŸ’¬ 95    πŸ“Œ 115

Is that what got Smith the pitch clock violation??

18.06.2025 03:58 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t George W. Bush may think that a war against Iraq is the solution to our problems, but the reality is, it will only serve to create far more.

This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t

17.06.2025 15:37 β€” πŸ‘ 7063    πŸ” 1470    πŸ’¬ 69    πŸ“Œ 95

The fact is that in the United States, right-wing violence
1. Is much more common than left-wing violence
2. Furthers the interests of the Republican Party, while what little left-wing violence exists mainly causes headaches for Democrats
3. Is coddled by the Republicans

17.06.2025 14:31 β€” πŸ‘ 1280    πŸ” 290    πŸ’¬ 17    πŸ“Œ 13

noem saying thery're going to "liberate" california from its leaders seconds before federal law enforcement restrains and removes one of the state's senators from the roomβ€”like what else needs to be said

12.06.2025 21:15 β€” πŸ‘ 4909    πŸ” 1240    πŸ’¬ 82    πŸ“Œ 28

Every flashbang could instead be a meal for a poor kid. Every hotel room for a National Guardsman deployed to fire at our neighbors could house a homeless vet. Every "less-than-lethal" bullet pulled from a journalist's eye could be already needed healthcare for anyone else. All of this is a choice.

11.06.2025 16:22 β€” πŸ‘ 48823    πŸ” 14779    πŸ’¬ 577    πŸ“Œ 376

"If you saw all this in any other country β€” soldiers sent to crush dissent, union leaders arrested, opposition politicians threatened β€” it would be clear that autocracy had arrived."

10.06.2025 00:52 β€” πŸ‘ 2174    πŸ” 534    πŸ’¬ 27    πŸ“Œ 10