David Merrett
LightNews LightNews
snakeydave.bsky.social
David Merrett
@snakeydave.bsky.social
86 followers 190 following 210 posts

Social researcher, runner, climber, silly gaming man

Videos
Economics 35%
Political science 25%
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
snakeydave.bsky.social
David Merrett @snakeydave.bsky.social · Jan 12
Games completed 2025:

1. Lorelei and The Laser Eyes. Superb puzzle game with some narrative heft, improved no end by its use of survival horror aesthetics. Vivid, stylish, satisfying, I loved it.

Reposted by David Merrett

garethdennis.uk
Gareth Dennis @garethdennis.uk · 2d
Ignoring the pathetic, tragic jingoism of popping a bunch of nylon flags on the posts of road signage along a bypass, but these are such obvious hazards it should genuinely merit a national restraining order on the flag twats.
two flags attached to a large road sign, flapping into the road and causing - at best - a dangerous distraction

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Michael Barnett, Michael S. Rosenberg , and 30 more

brittanytrang.com
Brittany Trang @brittanytrang.com · 3d
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com

Reposted by David Merrett

pcgamer.com
PC Gamer @pcgamer.com · 4d
"Rockstar, Rockstar, you're disgusting, we charge you with union busting," the protesters declared.
'All you had to do was follow the damn law, Rockstar!': Workers are protesting outside Take-Two after GTA 6 dev's alleged 'brazen' union-busting
"They can get used to seeing us on their doorstep."
www.pcgamer.com

snakeydave.bsky.social
David Merrett @snakeydave.bsky.social · 8d
This article totally captured how I feel about Ball X Pit. It's totally empty, a pure lizard brain tickler, and nothing more. However, shamefully, I will finish it.
Beware of Falling into Ball x Pit
Ball x Pit is a hollow, repetitive roguelite that cynically preys on players' weakness and offers little in return--and I need to go play it again.
www.endlessmode.com

Reposted by David Merrett, David R. Miller, Steven S. Taylor , and 2 more

michaelhobbes.bsky.social
Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 10d
It is time to admit that Republicans won the 2024 election by running to the center.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/o...
Can Democrats Accept the Obvious? The most obvious thing in politics is often the hardest to admit: If you lose an election, the best thing that you can do to make sure you win the next one is to find a message that puts you closer to the median voter than you were the last time around.

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Steve Peers, David Merrett

jasonschreier.bsky.social
Jason Schreier @jasonschreier.bsky.social · 10d
BREAKING: Yesterday Grand Theft Auto VI maker Rockstar Games fired dozens of people, all of whom were involved in union efforts. A British union calls it "blatant and ruthless" union-busting. Take-Two Interactive says it was due to misconduct.

Here's the scoop: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
‘Grand Theft Auto’ Studio Accused of Union Busting After Firings
Union says 30 and 40 people were terminated. Rockstar Games’ parent company cites ‘gross misconduct’
www.bloomberg.com

Reposted by David Merrett

tenderchris.bsky.social
Chris B. @tenderchris.bsky.social · 16d
Please kill me

Reposted by David Merrett

michaelhobbes.bsky.social
Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 18d
It was an Issue on which serious people were expected to have opinions.

Over and over again we’ve seen the media refuse to create Issues out of anything related to right-wing radicalization. If they get any mention, they’re in stories about ‘polarization,’ a misstatement of the actual problem.

Reposted by David Merrett

michaelhobbes.bsky.social
Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 18d
This is a huge part of the media’s role in a democracy, not simply reporting the facts but collecting them into Major Political Issues to which the citizenry and politicians pay attention.

In 2021 when homicide rates spiked, for example, we got a wave of stories about causes, fixes, fallout, etc.

Reposted by David Merrett

michaelhobbes.bsky.social
Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 18d
It’s true that these incidents appear in the news section, but they’re rarely collected into trend pieces or framed by the media as part of a single, urgent story.

Compare this to ‘campus free speech,’ which had magazine covers, entire verticals and dedicated beat reporters.

Reposted by Mark Bray, Brendan Nyhan, David Merrett , and 2 more

paleofuture.bsky.social
Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 18d
DHS posted a disturbing video today featuring a song that’s popular with Nazi creators
DHS Posts Video Featuring Song Popular With Nazi Creators
The agency denied making
gizmodo.com

Reposted by Margaret Mitchell, Alan Richardson, David Merrett , and 4 more

histoftech.bsky.social
Gales of November ReMar-mbered @histoftech.bsky.social · 19d
This person is one hundred percent correct and it’s scary af. We will never “media literacy” our way out of this as a society. We are about to reap the whirlwind when it comes to misinformation, disinformation, and informational warfare.

snakeydave.bsky.social
David Merrett @snakeydave.bsky.social · 20d
Always love it when a game does this. A couple of my favourite variants include 'under the stairs' and 'behind the waterfall.' Mario is probably the king here; the levels are always stuffed with coyly 'hidden' secrets, little gems of set-up and payoff.

snakeydave.bsky.social
David Merrett @snakeydave.bsky.social · 20d
Sensible.

Reposted by Alison Phipps, David Merrett

saulstaniforth.bsky.social
Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 20d
The interviewer asks @zackpolanski.bsky.social if he's worried about splitting the left vote & whether the best way to beat the right is to vote Labour.

Zack: "The idea that the Labour party are on the left is completely incoherent"

Reposted by Jonathan Hopkin, David Merrett

jack-bailey.co.uk
Jack Bailey @jack-bailey.co.uk · 20d
I just cannot take this shit seriously. If you're a senior Labour figure and think that the party's stance is cowardly but are too afraid to put your name on the record saying it YOU ARE A COWARD.
josiah.writes.news Josiah Mortimer @josiah.writes.news · 20d
Senior Labour figures have expressed dismay at the Party's "cowardly" and "incompetent" response to Tory shadow minister Katie Lam calling for legal migrants to "go home".

"What’s the point of us saying we’re anti-racist when we fail to call out racism," said one MP.
Exclusive: Labour Anger Erupts Over Party's Response To Katie Lam Immigration Row
"What’s the point of us saying we’re anti-racist when we fail to call out racism," said one MP.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

Reposted by David Merrett

rockpapershotgun.bsky.social
Rock Paper Shotgun @rockpapershotgun.bsky.social · 21d
Arc Raiders boss boasts of being able to AI generate guns from Youtube videos, but says it'll never replace "the human aspect"
Embark Studios CEO and former EA guy Patrick Söderlund has been chatting about the controversial usage of generative AI and machine learning in Arc Raiders.
www.rockpapershotgun.com

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings, Steven French , and 5 more

jessicaelgot.bsky.social
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 21d
“We welcome those who come to this country, legally, and give more than they take. We believe the right to stay here must not be automatic, but that those who play their part should be able to earn that right."

Reposted by David Merrett

mackeza.bsky.social
Keza MacDonald @mackeza.bsky.social · 21d
It is unfortunate for Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 that I binged AMC's Interview with the Vampire series before playing it. One of these is a masterful, frightening, sexually charged and deftly comic reimagining of vamp mythology. The other is *okay*.

www.theguardian.com/games/2025/o...
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 review – an interestingly toothless piece of noir fiction
Arriving more than two decades after the original, this sequel was mired in development disaster – resulting in an interesting almost-failure
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Jonathan A. Eisen, Tom Shakespeare , and 3 more

hetanshah.bsky.social
Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · Oct 12
This is such a clever idea on taking kids to museums/galleries
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Nadia from London has an idea that sounds such fun you'll be booking a day out asap. "I've always loved museums," she says, "but they can be overwhelming for children. For decades now, I've done something called 'playing postcards' We do the museum backwards, visiting the gift shop first. Each child gets to choose three postcards. Then they take it in turns to find that particular artwork in the museum and give us a little information about the piece from the details on the postcard, or from any gallery plaque. At the end of this treasure-hunt-style activity, we vote for our favourite in the cafe."

Reposted by David Merrett

schillingc.bsky.social
Chris Schilling @schillingc.bsky.social · Oct 7
As an eternal optimist, I'm hoping that Zelda Williams' (rightly) excoriating takedown of AI registers more widely. Likening it to The Human Centipede is a really effective way to evoke disgust

Reposted by David Merrett, Mark Rice, Aidan O’Sullivan

thevoidencore.bsky.social
Bria "tries to write a book" Horses @thevoidencore.bsky.social · Oct 7
The "cognitive decline and brain damage from repeat COVID infections" and "easy to use robot that makes slop and melts your critical thinking skills" is a hell of a combo in a post-fact media ecosystem

Reposted by David Merrett

kierongillen.bsky.social
Kieron Gillen @kierongillen.bsky.social · Oct 6
Statistically Backed Stereotypes for Each 40k Faction. Astounding. Motion for Deathwatch to be renamed to Hotwifewatch.

www.reddit.com/r/Grimdank/c...
Text tong to fit - it's a list of subreddit memberships for each of the 40k factions. Here's a sample... r/AdeptusCustodes: gundam (19.71), airforce (19.20), daytrading (16.56), sandersforpresident (9.82), centrist (6.93). Conclusion: Ex-military guys with schizophrenic politics. r/AdeptusMechanicus: pathfinder_rpg (14.05), adhdmeme (7.27), dankleft (6.07), theowlhouse (5.88), kerbalspaceprogram (5.39). Conclusion: Current stereotypes are pretty much correct. r/BloodAngels: preppers (15.98), airforce (15.74), menslib (9.04), asktrp (9.01), asktrumpsupporters (8.45). Conclusion: Black Templars got nothing on these guys.

snakeydave.bsky.social
David Merrett @snakeydave.bsky.social · Oct 4
My second purple (v7)! Faffed around at the end from nerves, but otherwise, it all felt fine.

Reposted by David Merrett, Nathan P. Kalmoe

derek.bike
derek van vliet @derek.bike · Oct 3
and scene
a tweet by Dana Gould @danagould that says: Thinking about Rush Limbaugh and how, now that he's dead, you never, ever hear about him. No one mentions anything he did. Because what he did had no value. It contributed nothing worthwhile to the culture. Nothing of lasting value. He just made anger. Every day. Rising, blooming & fading like a fart. Then he died & was instantly replaced by a fleet of little replicas, farting fake fury five days a week. Creating nothing of interest or artistic value to anyone. Seriously, what an awful way to make a living.

Reposted by David Merrett

michaelhobbes.bsky.social
Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · Oct 2
The media is going to learn absolutely nothing from this. The next time Democrats are in power, conservatives are just gonna rebrand "political correctness" to something new and we're gonna do it all over again.

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce, David Merrett

michaelhobbes.bsky.social
Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · Oct 2
We're getting a wave of articles that are like, "gee willikers it sure seems like the people who complained about 'cancel culture' for years really like canceling people."

Yes! This was extremely obvious at the time and a lot of us pointed it out!
washingtonpost.com The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · Oct 2
Some say canceling is an act of redress. Others blame it on a mob.

“People have used the word ‘cancel’ so loosely,” Ernest Owens author of “The Case for Cancel Culture,” said, “that everyone’s calling everything a cancellation.”
How cancel culture came for everyone
Few issues in recent years have united the American right as much as their professed hatred of cancel culture. That’s changing.
www.washingtonpost.com

snakeydave.bsky.social
David Merrett @snakeydave.bsky.social · Oct 1
Cool

snakeydave.bsky.social
David Merrett @snakeydave.bsky.social · Oct 1
Incredible. I'm probably being dense but 'baking!'? Sound effect? Slang? Reference I'm missing?

Reposted by David Merrett

michaelhobbes.bsky.social
Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · Sep 30
This piece gets at something that I've been struggling to articulate: We've seen this exact push-pull before. When Republicans were out of power in the 1990s they invented "political correctness" to pretend they were being censored. Then they went right back to censoring once they had power again.