Tim Bell
@timb07.bsky.social
DOB: 329ppm CO₂ (http://CO2.earth). Banner pic: #WarmingStripes for Melbourne, Australia by @edhawkins.bsky.social
A.k.a. “timpoliti” on Xitter (and also “timb07” for Python/Django/tech stuff)
Naarm (Melbourne), Australia
A.k.a. “timpoliti” on Xitter (and also “timb07” for Python/Django/tech stuff)
Naarm (Melbourne), Australia
Pinned
Tim Bell
@timb07.bsky.social
· Nov 9
I’ll be hanging out on Bluesky more than the other place now.
I’ve switched over my profile pic so you can see I’m a real person (wearing a hat and standing on a NZ glacier).
To help people coming from the other place, this is what my profile pic looked like there:
I’ve switched over my profile pic so you can see I’m a real person (wearing a hat and standing on a NZ glacier).
To help people coming from the other place, this is what my profile pic looked like there:
Reposted by Tim Bell
Reposted by Tim Bell
Understaffed FAA Recommends Pilots Just Go With Their Gut https://theonion.com/understaffed-faa-recommends-pilots-just-go-with-their-gut/
November 7, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Understaffed FAA Recommends Pilots Just Go With Their Gut https://theonion.com/understaffed-faa-recommends-pilots-just-go-with-their-gut/
Reposted by Tim Bell
this is actually impressive, making up a brand new nobel peace prize replacement is a genuine innovation in bribery
absolutely nobody does corruption like FIFA
absolutely nobody does corruption like FIFA
November 6, 2025 at 1:16 AM
this is actually impressive, making up a brand new nobel peace prize replacement is a genuine innovation in bribery
absolutely nobody does corruption like FIFA
absolutely nobody does corruption like FIFA
Reposted by Tim Bell
Really looking forward to the Speaker of the House claiming to be unaware of the election results.
November 5, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Really looking forward to the Speaker of the House claiming to be unaware of the election results.
Reposted by Tim Bell
“.. for those of us who, in our younger years, revered America as a shining city upon a hill, .. this is quite a painful period.
“..’America has lost its moral bearings; as a result, it has also lost its moral standing in the world.”
@peter-wehner.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
“..’America has lost its moral bearings; as a result, it has also lost its moral standing in the world.”
@peter-wehner.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
October 31, 2025 at 6:19 PM
“.. for those of us who, in our younger years, revered America as a shining city upon a hill, .. this is quite a painful period.
“..’America has lost its moral bearings; as a result, it has also lost its moral standing in the world.”
@peter-wehner.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
“..’America has lost its moral bearings; as a result, it has also lost its moral standing in the world.”
@peter-wehner.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Reposted by Tim Bell
November 2, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Reposted by Tim Bell
2nd Nov. 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the ongoing human presence off-world.
That is, humans have continuously occupied the ISS for exactly 25 years today.
So if you're <= 24 years old, you've never lived in a world where humans were *only* terrestrial-based.
Image by HEO (from above!)
🔭🧪
That is, humans have continuously occupied the ISS for exactly 25 years today.
So if you're <= 24 years old, you've never lived in a world where humans were *only* terrestrial-based.
Image by HEO (from above!)
🔭🧪
November 2, 2025 at 4:35 AM
2nd Nov. 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the ongoing human presence off-world.
That is, humans have continuously occupied the ISS for exactly 25 years today.
So if you're <= 24 years old, you've never lived in a world where humans were *only* terrestrial-based.
Image by HEO (from above!)
🔭🧪
That is, humans have continuously occupied the ISS for exactly 25 years today.
So if you're <= 24 years old, you've never lived in a world where humans were *only* terrestrial-based.
Image by HEO (from above!)
🔭🧪
Reposted by Tim Bell
Six months ago I wrote this post about “the next terrorist attack.” I republish it now (lightly updated) because my fear of this scenario has recently grown much greater.
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
The Next Terrorist Attack
And What Comes After (Updated)
snyder.substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Six months ago I wrote this post about “the next terrorist attack.” I republish it now (lightly updated) because my fear of this scenario has recently grown much greater.
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
Reposted by Tim Bell
Peter Broelman in Canberra Times
October 26, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Peter Broelman in Canberra Times
Reposted by Tim Bell
Are we living in a golden age of stupidity?
Are we living in a golden age of stupidity?
From brain-rotting videos to AI creep, every technological advance seems to make it harder to work, remember, think and function independently …
www.theguardian.com
October 18, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Are we living in a golden age of stupidity?
Reposted by Tim Bell
A prophetic 1933 novel has found a surprising second life – it holds lessons for us all | Charlotte Higgins
A prophetic 1933 novel has found a surprising second life – it holds lessons for us all | Charlotte Higgins
Sally Carson’s Crooked Cross was written and set during the rise of nazism. It shows both how extremism takes hold, and the moral certainty needed to resist it, says the Guardian’s chief culture writer, Charlotte Higgins
www.theguardian.com
October 18, 2025 at 10:06 AM
A prophetic 1933 novel has found a surprising second life – it holds lessons for us all | Charlotte Higgins
Reposted by Tim Bell
The neurologist Oliver Sacks found that the social-media era resembles a neurological catastrophe on a gigantic scale.
The Machine Stops
The neurologist Oliver Sacks on steam engines, smartphones, and fearing the future.
www.newyorker.com
October 14, 2025 at 7:54 PM
The neurologist Oliver Sacks found that the social-media era resembles a neurological catastrophe on a gigantic scale.
Reposted by Tim Bell
Okay, for the folks who asked: here's the majority AI view, writing up the reasonable, thoughtful view on AI that the vast majority of people in tech hold, that gets overshadowed by the bluster and hype of the tycoons trying to shill their nonsense. anildash.com/2025/10/17/t... Please share!
The Majority AI View - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
anildash.com
October 17, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Okay, for the folks who asked: here's the majority AI view, writing up the reasonable, thoughtful view on AI that the vast majority of people in tech hold, that gets overshadowed by the bluster and hype of the tycoons trying to shill their nonsense. anildash.com/2025/10/17/t... Please share!
Reposted by Tim Bell
Albanese was first elected on a pledge to “end the climate wars” and in a strange way he succeeded.
Today’s media would prefer not to engage in the troublesome realities of the climate issue, and just regurgitate Albanese's PR.
Today’s media would prefer not to engage in the troublesome realities of the climate issue, and just regurgitate Albanese's PR.
No science required: how the media regurgitated Albanese’s climate PR
The Albanese government sailed through its week of climate announcements, courtesy of media coverage that obsessed over the political fallout instead of the actual policy.
nickfeik.substack.com
October 4, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Albanese was first elected on a pledge to “end the climate wars” and in a strange way he succeeded.
Today’s media would prefer not to engage in the troublesome realities of the climate issue, and just regurgitate Albanese's PR.
Today’s media would prefer not to engage in the troublesome realities of the climate issue, and just regurgitate Albanese's PR.
Reposted by Tim Bell
Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.
harpers.org/archive/1941...
harpers.org/archive/1941...
Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson
harpers.org
October 1, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.
harpers.org/archive/1941...
harpers.org/archive/1941...
Reposted by Tim Bell
My petty gripe: not only am I losing my livelihood to AI – now it’s stealing my em dashes too
My petty gripe: not only am I losing my livelihood to AI – now it’s stealing my em dashes too
The humble em dash is being used as a tell that something is written by a large language model. But it’s James Shackell’s favourite piece of punctuation, and he’s not ready to lose it
www.theguardian.com
October 1, 2025 at 1:56 AM
My petty gripe: not only am I losing my livelihood to AI – now it’s stealing my em dashes too
Reposted by Tim Bell
President Trump admits that he may have confused the movie Red Dawn which he recently watched with the current state of affairs in Portland: “Am I watching things on television that are different from what is happening?”
Trump seems to back off Portland military plan: 'Am I watching things on television that are different from what's happening?'
President Trump had said he will send troops to Portland to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, which he said were "under attack."
www.kgw.com
September 28, 2025 at 8:13 PM
President Trump admits that he may have confused the movie Red Dawn which he recently watched with the current state of affairs in Portland: “Am I watching things on television that are different from what is happening?”
Reposted by Tim Bell
One thing I've learned from the Internet is that a lie needs 0% proof to be believed, but the truth requires thousands of pages of proof and still won't be believed.
September 28, 2025 at 5:36 AM
One thing I've learned from the Internet is that a lie needs 0% proof to be believed, but the truth requires thousands of pages of proof and still won't be believed.
Reposted by Tim Bell
Put together some thoughts here.
In an earlier time he would have been the kind of writer being paid $5 a word by magazines to go write about whatever he pleased. And no one would be pissed off or jealous about it either.
www.welcometohellworld.com/life-is-a-pr...
In an earlier time he would have been the kind of writer being paid $5 a word by magazines to go write about whatever he pleased. And no one would be pissed off or jealous about it either.
www.welcometohellworld.com/life-is-a-pr...
September 27, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Put together some thoughts here.
In an earlier time he would have been the kind of writer being paid $5 a word by magazines to go write about whatever he pleased. And no one would be pissed off or jealous about it either.
www.welcometohellworld.com/life-is-a-pr...
In an earlier time he would have been the kind of writer being paid $5 a word by magazines to go write about whatever he pleased. And no one would be pissed off or jealous about it either.
www.welcometohellworld.com/life-is-a-pr...
Reposted by Tim Bell
There's never been anything like that' — A cartoon by RJ Matson
'There's never been anything like that'
A cartoon by RJ Matson
contrarian.substack.com
September 24, 2025 at 9:05 PM
There's never been anything like that' — A cartoon by RJ Matson
Reposted by Tim Bell
War-ravaged Portland
September 27, 2025 at 2:44 PM
War-ravaged Portland
Reposted by Tim Bell
"The point of this kind of flex isn’t Jim Comey any more than it’s Tish James or the New York Times. The point is that after he comes for them, he can come for you. That’s how authoritarians work, how they have always worked, and it’s why it’s useful to read the Niemöller poem backward."
The James Comey Indictment Is Huge. The Reaction So Far Is Exactly What They Want.
Why it’s useful to read the Niemöller poem backward.
slate.com
September 26, 2025 at 7:07 PM
"The point of this kind of flex isn’t Jim Comey any more than it’s Tish James or the New York Times. The point is that after he comes for them, he can come for you. That’s how authoritarians work, how they have always worked, and it’s why it’s useful to read the Niemöller poem backward."
Reposted by Tim Bell
Recently @amyremeikis.bsky.social reminded my of Umberto Eco's 14 points of "eternal fascism" in which "it is enough that one of them be present to allow fascism to coagulate around it".
And well , there is a sh*it load of coagulation happening.
And well , there is a sh*it load of coagulation happening.
September 26, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Recently @amyremeikis.bsky.social reminded my of Umberto Eco's 14 points of "eternal fascism" in which "it is enough that one of them be present to allow fascism to coagulate around it".
And well , there is a sh*it load of coagulation happening.
And well , there is a sh*it load of coagulation happening.
Reposted by Tim Bell
“There is no superior race. There is no chosen people of God. It is neither the United States nor Israel. The ‘chosen people of God’ is all of humanity.”
— President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro
— President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro
September 25, 2025 at 11:18 AM
“There is no superior race. There is no chosen people of God. It is neither the United States nor Israel. The ‘chosen people of God’ is all of humanity.”
— President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro
— President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro
Reposted by Tim Bell
Here's me. "The Yanks are cooked (and cooking the rest of us)"
The Yanks are cooked (and cooking the rest of us) - The Shot
American authoritarianism is an echo of tyrants’ past and its own unique perversion: shrouded in goldleaf, ski masks, and utter bullshit.
theshot.net.au
September 25, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Here's me. "The Yanks are cooked (and cooking the rest of us)"