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Rachel Forwood

@rachelforwood.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.2K following 110 posts

Website developer, mum, politics junkie. Living the life in beautiful Bondi. Must make more time for books!

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Reposted by Rachel Forwood
Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 15h
Y’all, I hate to rain on the dead bot parade, but the Yandex data center destruction doesn’t seem to have significantly impacted social media bots. I made temporal graphs of X posts about AfD around the time of the attack and there’s no sign of a sudden dip or residual impact on that conversation.
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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 12h
THREAD. A story, in 20 photos and captions, about a uniquely wonderful cat, who has improved my life considerably over the last few years...
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Gina Perry @ginaperry.bsky.social · 12h
Hello #PortfolioDay - I'm Gina Perry, a New Hampshire children's book illustrator and author. Looking for new projects in 2027. More at: ginaperry.com Rep'd by Sean McCarthy Lit. #kidlit
Cover of the picture book THE KING OF BOOKS, written and illustrated by Gina Perry and published by Macmillan Feiwel & Friends in 2026. Colorful illustration of a round-headed tiger king standing on a tower of books while his friends elephant, boar, and monkey look on from the background. Set in a jungle.Illustration set in the woods of several vehicles travelling on a dirt floor, driven by gnomes. A fox lurks from the shadows. A chipmunk is getting a ride in the flatbed of a gnomebulance. A farmer gnome is carrying a few beets. A young gnome is biking with a vase of fresh cut flowers. Art by Gina PerryIllustration by Gina Perry. A witchy older woman carries a glowing jar to a young boy making muffins at a kitchen table. A black pug is chewing lettuce under the table. The home is cozy and a bit mysterious.Vibrant all-pink illustration of a young girl celebrating a fancy 7th birthday party that has been crashed by a group of wild pink poodles. Mess abounds. Art by Gina Perry
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Louise Milligan @milliganreports.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Delightful news! Shellybanks is shortlisted for 2026 Booktopia Book Awards. If you’re one of the many people who told me you loved it, I’d be so grateful for your vote. You’ll be in running for $250 prize. Thanks for supporting my writing, means the world. ❤️📚 www.booktopia.com.au/booktopia-bo...
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Dave Jorgenson @davejorgenson.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Why did agents raid Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home?
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The Kimono Gallery @roger1952.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
This contemporary kimono outfit presents a striking synthesis of vintage graphic design and vivid textile accents from Kyoto boutiques Modorihashi and Tento.
The silk kimono featured is a classic vintage meisen weave, decorated with bold, abstract geometric fan-like motifs composed of fine black pinstripes set against an off-white ground, punctuated by delicate red dashed gridwork. Anchoring the waist is a brilliant magenta-pink obi sash woven with a tonal fretwork pattern (sayagata), featuring a prominent embroidered botanical motif of a bright yellow blossom with pale sage-green leaves. A dark brown obijime cord secures the sash, while a vibrant magenta and navy paisley decorative inner collar (han'eri) peeks out at the neck.

The ensemble awakens a rich, tactile sensory atmosphere: the crisp, light rustle of fine silk crepe and high-twist meisen silk, the cool smoothness of the embroidered obi surface against the hand, the starched structure of the folded collar, and the quiet, self-assured poise of a modern wearer navigating urban Kyoto.
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The Kimono Gallery @roger1952.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Maiko Hisazuru in 1937. Text and image via Blue Ruin 1 of Flickr
Visual and Sensory Analysis
Captured in a full-length profile portrait from 1937, this hand-colored studio photograph presents Maiko Hisazuru standing poised against a neutral, slatted wooden background. She wears an exquisite, high-ranking furisode kimono in a vibrant shade of violet-purple, heavily patterned with bold, stylized botanical motifs—including oversized camellias (tsubaki) rendered in crimson, mustard yellow, and pale ice-blue. Secured at her waist, a trailing darari obi in cream and brocaded gold drapes dramatically down her back, its face embroidered with scrolling vines (karakusa) and autumn foliage. Her face and neck are coated in traditional porcelain-white oshiroi makeup, highlighted by crimson lips and subtle rouge around her eyes. Her hair is sculpted into a elaborate waeshin coiffure decorated with striking red pom-pom kanzashi and floral hairpins, while at her feet she balances gracefully upon tall, hollowed wooden sandals (okobo or pokkuri) paired with immaculate white split-toed tabi socks.
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Matt Dixon @mattdixonart.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Sunday vibes. An image from my 2027 robot art calendar, now available to pre-order from my wesbite. www.mattdixon.co.uk
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Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
I am way too online for my own good, and I had an unreasonably large twitter following, and I really *enjoyed* twitter for a lot of years, and yet leaving there and never looking back was maybe the easiest what-felt-like-a-big-ethical decision I've ever made.
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Nick Bryant. @nickbryantoz.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Will the American century be followed by the anti-American century? Certainly, arias of American exceptionalism sound increasingly jarring and discordant. My latest. historyneverended.substack.com/p/the-anti-a...
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Small Robots @smolrobots.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
These ones are still going strong though.
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Jenny Chase @solarchase.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Time for 2026 updates to my annual “opinions about solar” thread, now with storage. If you like these, you might like edition 2 of my book, Solar Power Finance Without The Jargon. A 30% discount code WSQ0437 is valid on publisher website til end of Nov 2026. www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...
worldscientific.com
Solar Power Finance Without the Jargon
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Maggie Rudy @maggiemice.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
The Princess & the Pea
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CAMERON WILSON @cameronwilson.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Usually I'm the one writing about AI. But recently, the tables were turned. Someone sent me a link to an 89-page book about "redefining living through Cam Wilson teachings", seemingly made by AI So, I bought it. Once it arrived, things got even weirder: www.abc.net.au/news/...
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Tom the Dancing Bug, by Ruben Bolling @rubenbolling.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
🔵 This week's Tom the Dancing Bug - MARK ZUCKERBERG PRESENTS "A.I. AND U!" - Brought to you by the heroic Inner Hive, including long-time member Casey 2 and new member Steven Titmus! (tomthedancingbug.com/the-inner-hi...) - READ IT RIGHT HERE👇
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
My latest @newscientist.com cartoon
Panel 1: a large robot (composed of AI servers, network switches, storage arrays, and power distribution units) and a human are talking.

Professor "You don't want to destroy humanity do you, lLLM-A-9300x?"

Robot "Haha. What a silly question, Professor. I have no desires or feelings of my own whatsoever."

Professor (relieved)"Oh good." 

Panel 2: they walk on. The robot continues  "I am merely a tool of the company that created me. And that company, being composed of humans, will naturally have humanity's best interests at heart."

Panel 3: The professor is conspicuously quiet.
"Right?" says the Robot.
…
More silence

"Professor?"
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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
New working paper: the Norwegian wealth tax was a huge success. The "exodus" of wealthy people never happened (less than 100 individuals left). Tax revenue increased by 71.5%. No changes in business activity or investment. www.nber.org/papers/w35854
Taxing Entrepreneurial Wealth: Evidence from
Norway, 2021-2025
Marius A. K. Ring
WORKING PAPER 35854|
DOl 10.3386/w35854
ISSUE DATE October 2026
Whether imposing higher taxes on business owners adversely affects business activity by constraining investment and inducing capitalist flight is a central question in the ongoing debate on how to tax the ultra wealthy. To shed new light, I exploit a series of related Norwegian reforms during 2021-2024 that increased dividend tax rates, removed migration-related capital gains tax loopholes, and nearly doubled the effective marginal tax rate on business wealth. These reforms spurred international debate and, allegedly, an "exodus" of Norwegian billionaires (Financial Times,
2023). While I document clear effects on migration, these responses are concentrated among the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution and mostly confined to 2022 and 2023. My results indicate that at most 100 individuals left due to the reforms. I find no evidence of significant outmigration or reduced inflows of startup founders or inventors. I estimate that absent any outmigration, wealth tax revenues would have increased by 75% from 2021 to 2024. Reform-driven outmigration lowers the revenue gain to 71.5%. My findings further show that outmigrating owners' firms remain economically active and do not reduce investment. In a broader set of analyses, I examine whether business outcomes are affected, regardless of whether owners outmigrate, since firms may reduce investment both due to liquidity constraints or distortions to owners' savings decisions. I compare firms owned by Norwegian individuals subject to the wealth tax with firms owned by foreigners and other tax-exempt entities. By merging historical ownership data from Orbis with the Norwegian shareholder register, I perform these analyses on both Norwegian and foreign-domiciled firms.
Across settings, I find no evidence that Norwegian-owned firms pay out more dividends or invest less after the reforms,…
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Eric Levai @ericlevai.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Now THIS is how you write a story. Devastating.
Screenshot from this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/us/politics/fort-hood-execution-streamed-public.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HVE.Rw7O.Sj-0_s5YONzL&smid=nytcore-android-share
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SlenderSherbet @slendersherbet.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Of course they do, they can't see over the fucking steering wheel. Accident waiting to happen.
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Charlene Chua @charlenedraws.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I would like to apply for this project but I am very intimidated by the budget (the person or team awarded the project has to manage the funds). Anyone want to partner with me… 👀 www.guelphpl.ca/call-to-arti...
guelphpl.ca
Call to Artists: Children’s Area, Central Library
Call to Artists: Children's Area, Central Library Artist rendering of the new Central Library showing…
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Butlerian Jihadist of House Dornick @shimminykricket.blacksky.app · 08/10/2026
Harvard just dropped a study AI productivity in software engineering and it found the average increase in productivity from using Claude code is.....zero and for exactly the reasons you'd think fion.ac/jellyfish.pdf
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Rachel Forwood @rachelforwood.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Good analysis here by Nick O’Malley. We need to keep the political costs associated with bailing out these polluting industries high. www.smh.com.au/environment/...
smh.com.au
Exporting coal, owning the damage: A legal reckoning arrives for Australian mining
Governments might stave off the threat to coal from this High Court decision, but the anti-coal cases will keep coming.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 06/10/2026
The government *still* isn’t tracking how often immigration agents detain U.S. citizens. We are. 500+ Americans have been handcuffed, held at gunpoint or held against their will in Trump’s second term. Our tally is almost certainly an undercount. THREAD (content warning: violence) ⬇️
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Allegra Kirkland @allegrak.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
‼️💻📺 Looking for the weirdest, worst, most bizarre, funniest 2026 campaign ads! Have already come across some doozies, but if there's a local ad that's been driving you nuts or amusing you, send it to allegra@talkingpointsmemo.com or thread it here! 📺💻‼️
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TPM @talkingpointsmemo.com · 07/10/2026
As its election prospects darken, the Trump administration continues to pull levers and push buttons to try to abuse the power of the federal government to swing the election its way.
talkingpointsmemo.com
Desperate GOP Scrambles to Defend Once-Solid Red Seats
Worse Than 2006? Republican political consultants are practically falling over each other...
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Matthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Here's a terrific, no-holds-barred poem from Naomi Jaffa's new collection...
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Hildur Knútsdóttir @hildur.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Good morning
Uggi the dog sniffing a table in front of a church
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WIRED @wired.com · 07/10/2026
Atoco’s new machines use specialized materials that can harvest water from some of the driest air on Earth without using electricity.
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A Startup Has a Plan to Make Water From Air Using Data Centers’ Waste Heat
Atoco’s new machines use specialized materials that can harvest water from some of the driest air on Earth without using electricity.
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Rick Hasen @rickhasen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
My new one @slate.com : How Trump Can—and Cannot—Still Mess With the Midterms (gift link) slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
How Trump Can—and Cannot—Still Mess With the Midterms (Gift Article)
If everyone remains vigilant and ready, we should make it safely to January.
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Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcculloch.com · 06/10/2026
Hey. The fragmentation of the social media landscape has been hard on indie #scicomm 🧪 projects So if you'd like to follow a podcast that's enthusiastic about #linguistics, could you check out @lingthusiasm.com? And if you think your followers might like to, could you give this a repost?
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David Astle (alias DA) @dontattempt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
What idiot called it a vocabulary instead of your wordrobe?
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the beggars out of here getter @milesklee.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
At a marathon runtime of four hours, Alex Gibney's new documentary 'Musk' strains to cover the sweep of the oligarch's business empire and its capture of U.S. government. But the interviews with first wife Justine Wilson and latest ex Ashley St. Clair about his vindictive nature hit hardest.
wired.com
Elon Musk’s Exes Are the Most Damning Part of a Massive New Documentary
Interviews with Justine Wilson and Ashley St. Clair in the nearly four-hour-long “Musk” paint the world’s richest man as capricious and cruel even toward those closest to him.
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/u...
nytimes.com
Senate Races in Republican States Tilt Toward Democrats, Polls Find
Democrats are performing strongly in five reliably Republican states where they are trying to flip Senate seats to win control of the chamber, new New York Times/Siena polls found.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 02/10/2026
Calling all NYC artists — painters, filmmakers, poets, musicians and more! Did you know our city provides grants to support your work every year? And this year, we're DOUBLING the amount — from $5,000 up to $10,000 per artist! Deadlines are approaching fast — apply today at nyc.gov/artistgrants.
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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
When politicians who have never had to appeal to non-conservatives in their lives suddenly face a tough general election campaign, it turns out they're very bad at it! Here's @ryanlcooper.com on the candidates who can't candidate: prospect.org/2026/10/02/m...
prospect.org
Panicked Red-State Republicans Learning Politics on the Fly - The American Prospect
GOP candidates in places like Kansas and Texas are having to really campaign for the first time.
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The King's Fund @thekingsfund.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Circles, our female-leadership programme is now open for applications for the February 2027 cohort. In Circles, you’ll strengthen your self-esteem and learn to trust your own voice, so you can navigate uncertainty with presence and decisiveness. bit.ly/4h5LwMS
A group discussion at The King's Fund, featuring three individuals sitting and engaged in conversation. Two whiteboards in the background display colorful post-it notes with headings "Season 3: Context" and "Season 4: Source.
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 01/10/2026
"I’m just thinking out loud here, but maybe a political party that has dedicated the last forty years to taking away women’s rights could also give some thought to how to protect girls and women after they’re born?" buff.ly/K3eqEvg
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How Could Such a Thing Still Happen in a Country with a Frat Boy Supreme Court Justice?
“I’m just thinking out loud here, but maybe a political party that has dedicated the last forty years to taking away women’s rights could also give some thou...
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Robot Wig @robotwig.com · 01/10/2026
One year ago today I posted this miniature Nosferatu photo I created practically using real figures, lighting and miniatures #nosferatu #miniaturephotography #miniatures #photographicart #creativephotography #photography #visualart #toyphotography #horror #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography
Nosferatu appears from below the decks of the Empusa
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Brian Bilston @brianbilston.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Thank you so much to those who made it to Harpenden last night to hear me read some poems at the Eric Morecambe Centre. This evening, I’m at Warwick Arts Centre for yet more poems. It’s National Poetry Day today so attendance is pretty much compulsory. www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/whats-on/Un8...
warwickartscentre.co.uk
Brian Bilston: How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside - Warwick Arts Centre
Join the UK’s most popular poet, Brian Bilston, for a hilarious evening of poetry. Featuring work from his latest collection, How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside.
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carlydraws @carlydraws.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
As well as books, posters, games and all sorts, I also do editorial illustration. Here's some of my work for the independent, (award-winning!) news site londoncentric.media Thanks to editor @jim.londoncentric.media for being a pleasure to work with! #illustration #art
londoncentric 5ghacker londoncentrictiktok londoncentricshard londoncentric
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Time for this classic again.
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Lomelindi12 @lomelindi12.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
#StandingStoneSunday A waymarker at Merrivale #Dartmoor It had been freezing & wet that day - after the frost melted, I was left with true Autumn
Dark standing stone in pools of water under stormy clouds
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The techbros don't want you to see this trailer. Pass it on.
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Grant Bulloch @bulloch.photography · 27/09/2026
Revisiting a trip to Colonsay over the next few posts, and the wonderful textures and patterns along its coastline. #photography #landscapephotography #photographers
Fractured lines in the rock with yellow lichen.
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Karen K. Ho @karenho.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Oh wow youtube.com/shorts/XPuW5...
youtube.com
Paddy Young provides an update on Benjamin Netanyahu’s UN general assembly address | SNL UK
YouTube video by Saturday Night Live UK
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Eric Deggans @edeggans.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Since Elon Musk seems to hate this documentary about him from one of my favorite non-fiction filmmakers, Alex Gibney, figured it was my duty to spread a link to the trailer so you can see it for yourself. ENJOY: loom.ly/oA2_-p8
youtu.be
Musk | Official Trailer | Bleecker Street
Musk
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Babe&Oak @babeandoak.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
🌊🦢✨The finished skateboard ✨🦢🌊
Odette illustration printed on skateboard lying on asphalt for DROP IN: Skate Deck Art Show in Minneapolis Minnesota
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Candice Frederick @candicefrederick.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
youtu.be/eY_8SyndC10?...
youtu.be
Musk | Official Trailer | Bleecker Street
YouTube video by Musk
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Roel Maalderink @roelmaalderink.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Hoe vinden Meta-medewerkers hun eigen Meta-bril? (Samen met @bitsoffreedom.eurosky.social)
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