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Richard Close

@richardclose.bsky.social
107 followers 239 following 330 posts

Immigrant. Born in 🇿🇼, lived in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (mostly), 🇿🇦 and 🇺🇲. Now in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿.

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Reposted by Richard Close
Hayley Gullen @hayleygullen.com · 10/09/2026
I studied early British / Scottish / Irish history during my degree. We know frustratingly little about this time period (4th-10th century) and even less when it comes to the Picts, which is one of the reasons I’m obsessed with them.
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
An amazing haul of CDs for £1 each from an antiques warehouse near Auchtermuchty. Quite esoteric stuff, none of your Classics for Pleasure or Andre Rieu. All ripped and tagged, in your face Spotify.
5 second hand CDs, including Dvorak, Adams, Reich, Sibelius, Martinu.
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
sickos.gif
Shares prices of evil companies having a bad day
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Nature will find a way
A dandelion gamely growing on AstroTurf, next to a resin bonded path.
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
The Youtube algorithm threw this at me: youtu.be/HK6ce0JXaJk?... (Mompou / Scenes d'enfants / jeunes filles au jardin). Delightful and evocative. /1
youtu.be
Is This Composer the 20th Century's Chopin?
YouTube video by The Music Professor
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Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
This is an unforgivably stupid situation. It is an astonishing own goal to try and drive student numbers down to move an immigration number that in turn is totally ignored by the anti-immigrant head bangers.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Morally indefensible Politically insane Economically harmful The government's immigration policy is a catastrophe for the Labour party, a gift to its opponents on left and right, and really bad for the country. Starmer owns it entirely.
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Brian Bilston @brianbilston.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Here’s a poem called ‘Life of a Naturalist’.
Life of a Naturalist
 
it’s his birthday
and the sloths are up early for once
the flamingos line up in pink, long-legged salute
the birds of paradise parade in their finest
the elephants blow their trumpets
the blue whales gush with joy
the gorillas act out stories of his visits
the lions lay off the wildebeest for one day
and stand together on the Serengeti plain
the lyre birds sing his voice in tribute
the seals cannot stop clapping
and the ostriches urge us
to listen to him
and not bury our heads in the sand
 

Brian Bilston
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
In the 1930s, Oswald Mosley claimed to be a patriot, while his British Union of Fascists was secretly funded by the Italian government. We are just beginning to grasp how much of the far right in the UK today has been funded by Viktor Orbán and Russian oil money. Their "patriotism" is always a con.
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
The further one went from Earth, the better the news became.
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Alison Murray @bonneesperance2.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
We visited Perth today. The heather blooming in the Bellwood Riverside Park was quite breathtaking. We've driven past this park so often, and had no idea of the beauty on the other side of the wall.
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Stella Creasy MP @stellacreasy.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
"There is an alternative way forward: being True – not Blue – Labour. True Labour doesn’t fear those who are different. Instead, it demands everyone contribute their abilities to society – and works to unlock such skills." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Cruelty to immigrants is not what my party stands for. It’s time for True Labour, not Blue Labour | Stella Creasy
We must get back to the party’s roots before it is too late. That means embracing difference, rejecting division – and fighting for opportunities for all, says MP for Walthamstow, Stella Creasy
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Not sure which is worse: 1) Labour being hostile to migrants because they're trying to get Reform voters,or 2) Labour being sincerely hostile to migrants because they think it's the right thing to do. Maybe 2) is worse, because 1) might be fixable.
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Innsmouth Looksmaxxing @gonebabygone.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Operation Epstein Fury
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
If Mandelson does have to do some time, I hope he makes the best of it like Hugh Grant's character in that Paddington movie.
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Kuenssberg interviewing Johnson on the BBC! I feel like I'm going mad.
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Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 15/02/2026
Happy #WorldHippoDay! Here’s “The Scots Hippo”, written & illustrated by Alasdair Gray … Images: The Scots Hippo (1–7), one of a series of prints by Alasdair Gray – available from @glasgowprintstudio.bsky.social #poem #poetry shop.glasgowprintstudio.co.uk/artists/38-a...
shop.glasgowprintstudio.co.uk
Alasdair Gray - Works
Works by Alasdair Gray: A Boy Less Than a Year Old, 2019 , Bella Caledonia, 2019 , Smug Cogito, 2019 , Wakening, 2019 , Inge with Fox Stoles, 2018 , To A Critic, 2018 , An Illustration to a Story Expl...
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David Herdson @davidherdson.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
You know what would be a better way of achieving Reform's aim here? Scrapping the two-child benefit cap. And, indeed, more generous child support across the board. Also, a big expansion of housing supply to make it more affordable. What were their policies on these issues again?
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
I saw a fake list of Trump sex crimes circulating on Bluesky. A lot of people have jumped on it as it tickles their confirmation biases. Also of note is the latest DOJ release which includes items apparently damaging to Trump, which I expect will also turn out to be fake. ...
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Alison Murray @bonneesperance2.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Newport-on-Tay is looking very festive this evening. Here is a little collection of pretty bay trees. #fife
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 05/12/2025
Barbican revamp to give ‘bewildering’ arts centre a new lease of life
theguardian.com
Barbican revamp to give ‘bewildering’ arts centre a new lease of life
Project will make the famously confusing London landmark easier to navigate and more accessible “Everything leaks,” says Philippa Simpson, the director of buildings and renewal at the Barbican, who is standing outside the venue’s lakeside area and inspecting the tired-looking tiles beneath her feet. Water seeps through the cracks into the building below and serves as a reminder of the job facing Simpson and the team who are overhauling the 43-year-old landmark. Continue reading...
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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
If Russia and the US were genuinely willing for NATO states, including the US, to provide an "Art. 5-style" security guarantee they could just suggest that Ukraine joins NATO. They are doing the opposite, which tells us all we need to know.
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Ed Davey @eddavey.libdems.org.uk · 11/11/2025
Robbie Gibb was appointed to the BBC Board by Boris Johnson, was an editorial advisor for GB News, and worked as Theresa May's Director of Comms. He is not impartial or neutral. The government should remove him from the Board immediately to protect the BBC's independence.
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Mark @worgztheowl.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
If they're smart, Labour and Lib Dem politicians should now go big on every inaccuracy broadcast by GB News, demand big on air apologies, and ask why there's one rule for the BBC and not one for a rival channel.
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
Farewell Valaris Gorilla 6, we hardly knew ye. (Seen from Tayport sailing away from Dundee Harbour).
Oil rig at sea, looming out of the mist. Tentsmuir point to the right.
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 24/10/2025
dear US friends, when a sitting president (re)builds the seat of government, it almost always means the president has no intention of leaving at the end of term. your African friends with decades of experience
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Dr Seth Thévoz @seththevoz.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
According to this, they haven’t. No licences for asbestos removal applied for. Quelle surprise. The report also notes that the West Wing was laced with asbestos, until a 2019 removal programme - but that no such work has been undertaken in the East Wing. www.rawstory.com/amp/white-ho...
rawstory.com
Trump’s crew may be spreading asbestos with unpermitted White House teardown: expert
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Dr Seth Thévoz @seththevoz.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Asbestos. I’m sure that in the Trump administration’s carefully-considered demolition of the East Wing of the White House (a structure largely built in 1942), they’ve remembered to safely remove any asbestos.
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
This business of defining somebody's value to society by their income is a morally bankrupt aspect of the Tory immigration policy (and Labour's, for that matter). If you're underpaid for a hard job that the natives won't do, your presence is a positive.
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Anna Grey @annamgrey.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Not the best picture, but apparently it's an oil rig coming in for decommissioning. Not your average view from the office
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Jason❌ @gizmosspace.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
The Unipiper showed up. 💙
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Simon Fraser 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺💙🔶 @esseph63.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Oh, hello again, tech companies pretending to make huge deals with each other to boost the stock price.
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Novelty Cistern @noveltycistern.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
it's so funny to see America's health insurance companies be like "look. If there's one thing we love it's denying you care. but we ran the numbers - and we cannot BELIEVE we're saying this - and it's cheaper for us to just pay for the vaccines than deal with you going to the ER."
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Fionna O’Leary @fascinatorfun.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
This is pretty spot on. Politics should be the antidote to violence and the fertiliser of democratic not violent ends. But in modern America too many espouse it and defend it, thus ensuring it “does” have a place in their political life even when it should not. bsky.app/profile/fred...
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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
The Barbican is a relatively recent building complex but it just feels totally beyond the capacity of our society to make anything this cool now, like the remnant of some fallen civilisation whose ruins we live amidst.
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
Listiening to the Mystery of Time (Kabeláč) again. Such a compelling piece of music. Feels vast and inexorable and alien. #ClassicalMusic #NowPlaying
CD cover: Mystery of Time. Composer: Miloslav Kabelac. Orchestra: Prague RSO. Conductor: Marko Ivanic
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Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀 @edrybicki.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
2/2 This in turn will trigger a huge groundswell of public antivax sentiment especially in the US, but also worldwide - which will set us back decades in the public health sphere. Gods help us all….
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Steven Burns @stevenroyburns.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
I'm not eligible but it might be worth reminding people it can be done privately, at a pharmacy. £80-90 last year, but well worth it IMHO.
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Robert Hanks @roberthanks.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Tutsis were describes as "cockroaches" in the run-up to the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
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Alison Murray @bonneesperance2.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
There's a fantastic new bike dual carriageway in Broughty Ferry near Dundee. Miles of stunning off road cycling along the river #Tay
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
This is going to be interesting! (getting more into Martinu at the moment)
CD cover: Martini, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Belohlavek
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Popehat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
“INTRUDER INTRUDER WE HAVE BREACH ON THE ROOF OF THE EAST WING” “This is Team Lead say again do you have visual confirmation” “AFFIRMATIVE WE HAVE INTRUDER IT LOOKS LIKE … DOES GRITTY WEAR A SUIT? I THINK IT MAY BE GRITTY” “Stand down that is Mushroom, Mushroom is on the roof, all clear.”
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
Because Israel needs to think this through. If Israel does not complete its genocide and is actually stopped… there is a colossal case of reparations. Who pays? Will the West pay for Israel *again*? The populations of US, UK & Germany might not like that idea — we might have reparations of our own
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
We saw this very relaxed sparrowhawk perching on a garage roof in Newport yesterday evening. Wonder if he could take a pigeon? We see pigeon remains quite often. #Fife
Sparrowhawk perching on the peak of a wooden garage roof with flaking paint
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
The fact we are making ourselves more dependant on US military assistance, not less, is fundamentally insane. We cannot rely on the US as a security partner, how obvious can that possibly be before the UK security establishment takes it in?
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Alison Murray @bonneesperance2.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
The 5 cygnets at Boat Brae are getting big. #Fife #Newport-on-Tay
Swan and 5 cygnets.
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Tom the Dancing Bug, by Ruben Bolling @rubenbolling.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
🔴 Brand new comic now up on @boingboing.net - "A Busy, Busy Day at the Airport" after Richard Scarry - boingboing.net/2025/06/04/t...
boingboing.net
Tom the Dancing Bug: A busy, busy day at the airport
Support your friendly neighborhood independent comic strip: SIGN UP FOR THE INNER HIVE and you'll get each week's Tom the Dancing Bug comic at least a day before publication. Plus other exclusive cont...
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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/gently (click for bonus panel) #smbc
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Ken Page @kennethpage.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
A "one nation experiment in open borders"? I wonder if the PM knows the financial cost of applying for a uk visa, the documentation required, the arbitrariness of the process? From personal experience, I can assure him it is considerably more difficult to get a uk visa than for many other countries.
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Richard Close @richardclose.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Wish me luck!
Screenshot: Wordle Go ahead, add another day to your 364 day streak
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