Richard Chirgwin
@rchirgwin.bsky.social
1.1K followers 290 following 3.4K posts
Former tech writer specialising in telecoms and infosec. Still an aspiring guitarist at over 60. Nothing I do or say is licenced to anyone scraping social media accounts to train AI.
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Reposted by Richard Chirgwin
slaymo.bsky.social
The Christo-fascists running America don't understand 'bottom up' cultural dynamics and like anyone who doesn't understand how the world works they subscribe to conspiracy theories which fit their limited worldview.
jamellebouie.net
a key thing about vought — and all of these guys — is that they have a totally top down and hierarchical vision of the world. they believe that the cultural changes they hate can be turned off by destroying the federal government because they can’t imagine that they emerged bottom-up in society
thomaszimmer.bsky.social
What he’s railing against is a profound shift in culture, status… He’s obsessed with the idea that America is controlled by a leftist “ruling elite” - but “elite” isn’t defined socio-economically or by political power, it means something like: Getting to define “real America” and who gets to belong.
Reposted by Richard Chirgwin
kerryjaggers.bsky.social
I 🥰 this shot. It's the Black Mountain tower in Canberra. Once an iconic tourist destination, it was closed to the public in 2021 due to a state of disrepair. Telstra and the ACT government have agreed to work together on a plan to refurbish and reopen it. Thumbs up to that.
#Canberra
Tall tower on a hill framed by green leafy trees. Vivid blue sky behind it.
Reposted by Richard Chirgwin
grogsgamut.bsky.social
The ALP might as well merge with the Minerals Council of Australia
Miners to get an early look at Labor’s new green laws

Tom Rabe
WA political correspondent
Oct 12, 2025 – 3.26pm

The Albanese government will give mining companies and other stakeholders draft extracts of its environmental protection laws before they go to parliament, as Environment Minister Murray Watt tries to rebuild trust after earlier negotiations on the reforms collapsed in acrimony.
Reposted by Richard Chirgwin
grogsgamut.bsky.social
As of now there is nothing Albanese's govt has done that has changed the country in any structural way.

No change at all to how the fundamental debates of the nation are addressed.
Reposted by Richard Chirgwin
grogsgamut.bsky.social
Didn't even have the bottle to stick with changes to super that affected only the wealthiest 0.5%.
rchirgwin.bsky.social
The "one world government" has been a bogeyman of America's evangelical hard-right longer than I've been alive.

If it's such a threat, how come more than 60 years hasn't even forced metric units on America?

(Utterly fucked in the head, yes.)
Reposted by Richard Chirgwin
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Both Headspace and Project Rockit making the point that if the ban is about getting kids to go outside and socialise in person, a lot of in-person places for young people are taken away now. They're moved on, can't hang around shopping centres etc anymore.
rchirgwin.bsky.social
...and bureaucrats love. It distracts people from the mundane and achievable: new rolling stock for NSW's country services, track upgrades so trains capable of (say) 150km/h aren't hobbled half their trip.

But no, we keep yelling "I WANT A PONY", and giving politicians room to lie to us. Sigh. /end
rchirgwin.bsky.social
3. People ignore, for example, how expensive a rail corridor is, in a democracy.

4. We also ignore what goes wrong overseas. For eg, the Hokkaido Shinkansen is running nearly 10 years late.

5. Our national inferiority complex about high speed rail is a distraction politicians
... /more
rchirgwin.bsky.social
Australian *voters* keep expecting very fast trains. Politicians like this, because:

1. It's an easy promise to make in a campaign.

2. The studies will always let you off the hook, by finding fast rail is too expensive the operate without subsidy.

/more
Reposted by Richard Chirgwin
binchicken9000.bsky.social
Even if cutting ppl off was ever ethical, it's a mistaken binary of payments/find a job. The govt classifies more than 40% of JobSeekers with a Partial Capacity to Work. This can be permanent, or can last years. Does she not know this, or is she pretending?
jeremypoxon.bsky.social
Labor's employment minister rep admits that payment suspensions "cause harm", but they're "an important part" of the (unlawful) mutual obligations system, because

"At the end of the day we want ppl to get off payments and find a job"

gross 'best form of welfare is a job' stuff from the ALP here
Reposted by Richard Chirgwin
ingridm.bsky.social
poor old Tony Abbott is on the public broadcaster dismissing the oldest and longest continuous oral histories in the history of humanity as “hearsay” how’s your morning going.
rchirgwin.bsky.social
Also. We don't even need new technology. We only need dinosaurs out of the way. We have all the electricity we need, forever.
rchirgwin.bsky.social
Dead set, so bloody *what*?
1. Is JDV mostly right, or mostly wrong?
2. For all of the non-you in our overlapped world, Reverend, are our lives improved by an injection of that fuckwit's "thoughts" into our timelines??
Quit boosting him.
rchirgwin.bsky.social
I can absolutely guarantee that there's no way "capitalist orbital mirrors" improve the world.
rchirgwin.bsky.social
The Future is All Journalism
rchirgwin.bsky.social
In the Depression, my father as a teen worked out there was a country lunch to be had at his grandfather's farm on Saturdays.

But that was only 70km. So well done, kid!
Reposted by Richard Chirgwin
histoftech.bsky.social
“Well, it doesn’t matter how you feel about it, we’ll just deepfake you saying you love it.”
Reposted by Richard Chirgwin
realmartyt7.bsky.social
Corporate media is missing the point about Portland’s Mr. Frog. They are covering him and his menagerie as a humorous side show. In reality Mr Frog has seized the visual narrative by pointing out the absurdity of troops in Portland. In our visual media world. Mr Frog is winning the war. #ProudBlue
Reposted by Richard Chirgwin
katiesocialism.bsky.social
Noooooooooooo! I love the Moody Blues, saw them in Concert once, so sad 😔
jlnewshub.bsky.social
Moody Blues star John Lodge dead at 82.
Reposted by Richard Chirgwin
prisonculture.bsky.social
I'm so proud of everyone from my old neighborhood of Rogers Park in Chicago. I see what you have been and are doing. I am so proud of how organized the community is and how much more so everyone is becoming. It is inspiring. Just one example... And this is something EVERYONE can do. Everyone.
Informational flyer about Rogers Park Whistle Protocols, explaining how to use whistles to alert neighbors of emergencies, with color-coded alerts, steps for use, and encouragement to form a crowd and stay loud for safety.