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Bill Porter

@svperiwinkle.bsky.social
304 followers 166 following 75 posts

Personne. Retired wheatbelt Agricultural Scientist. Now in Walyalup/Fremantle (Wadjuk country). 6 summers sailing the Med, 9 years sea rescue skipper. Now grand-parenting, campervanning, family history.

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Bill Porter @svperiwinkle.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
This is worth supporting. www.climate200.com.au/the-fair-ele...
climate200.com.au
The Fair Elections Case | High Court Challenge
The major parties have re-written the rules to rig elections in their favour. But Zoe Daniel and Rex Patrick are fighting back, all the way to the High Court.
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Pup Fiction @pupfiction.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Who organised this, and why does the ABC not state this? Josh Frydenberg? Why should this matter, when petitions signed by a far greater number of ordinary Australians are routinely ignored? www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
abc.net.au
More than 100 business leaders call for Bondi attack royal commission
Former Reserve Bank governors and CEOs are among more than 130 business leaders and prominent Australians now calling for a Commonwealth royal commission in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack.
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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
It was such a joy to celebrate Hanukkah with Mandy, Kathryn and their son, Gideon. As Jewish New Yorkers across our city prepare to light candles and mark the seventh night today, I wish you and your families a Hanukkah full of light and love. youtu.be/KIxAKyioXng
youtu.be
Happy Hanukkah
YouTube video by Zohran Mamdani for NYC
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Chris Bowen @chrisbowenmp.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
If you can’t back Australia you shouldn’t ask Australia to back you
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Karoline @karoline.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
windowscentral.com
Analysis: OpenAI is a loss-making machine, how can it survive?
Don't call it a bubble! Loss-making monster OpenAI is on the hook for $1.4 trillion (with a T) in compute commitments. How can this go on?
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Nuffield Trust @nuffieldtrust.org.uk · 18/11/2025
With the government yet to announce an agreement with the pharmaceutical industry, questions remain over the terms that the NHS will be set when paying for new branded medicines 💊 Our long read from @sallygainsbury.bsky.social and Huseyin Naci gives a reminder of the UK’s comparative advantage.
nuffieldtrust.org.uk
The tough choices at the heart of the government’s dispute with big pharma
The government has been locked in a dispute with pharmaceutical companies for a number of months over how much the NHS pays for new branded medicines. Sally Gainsbury and Huseyin Naci set out the issu...
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Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
My article in tomorrow's @theobserveruk.bsky.social now online. But go and buy a copy!
observer.co.uk
Francis Crick: The science genius with poetry in his DNA
He is celebrated for co‑discovering the double helix, but it was Crick’s poetic appreciation of the world that was key to how his mind worked
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 19/06/2025
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
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Lenore Taylor @lenoret.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
As Australia’s election result reminds us, News Corp no longer has the power to sway voters | Margaret Simons
The declining power of the Murdoch press is part of the wider story of the waning influence of mainstream media
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Calling BS on this too
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
What's trusted and verified X4? AG1, the most heavily marketed supplement, with no independent peer reviewed data to show any improvement in health outcomes
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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
[NEW VIDEO] Archaeology is under siege from popular anti-intellectual influencers. I document threats and harassment and provide actionable strategies for promoting public educational content Watch, like, comment, and share to boost visibility 🧪🏺 #AncientBlueSky youtu.be/F5PvwzgfKKw
youtu.be
The Archaeology Wars: Call-To-Action to Support Public Education & Science Communication
YouTube video by Archaeology with Flint Dibble
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
Masks work. Lockdowns work. Vaccines work. Vaccines don’t cause autism. Ivermectin is for parasite-infested horses. Pass it on.
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Bill Porter @svperiwinkle.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
The Indian Ocean was looking beautiful as we cycled along the Fremantle coast this morning.
Looking over coastal dune with low shrubs to a white sandy beach with a few people on it, then to a turquoise ocean with a yacht in the distance, all under a clear blue sky.
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Lenore Taylor @lenoret.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... Powerful piece from Peter Greste
theguardian.com
I owe Alaa Abd el-Fattah my life, which is why I am going on a hunger strike to help free him | Peter Greste
If anybody represents the very British values of democracy, respect for human rights, justice and due process, it is the Egyptian activist
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Vatnik Soup @vatniksoup.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
I really hope that Bluesky will become THE place to be, but at its current stage I'm inclined to use X, still. There are simply too many limitations I dislike (60 sec videos, can't post multiple images/videos on one post, threading is terrible...).
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💧 simon holmes à court @simonahac.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
there's a new "astroturf" (fake grassroots) group in town… #Australians4Prosperity. they're funded by the coal industry, deeply connected to the LNP and they're going to advertise a lot this election. read on 👇
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David Fisman. @dfisman.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Good paper from colleagues @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social @kprather.bsky.social @jvipondmd.bsky.social @mark-ungrin.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Science tells us that portable air filters reduce infections. It's time for public health authorities to make this clear
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian public health advisors and politicians have shared mixed messages about the utility of portable air filters…
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Dr Kathryn Mannix @drkathrynmannix.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
That tiny moon and Venus were clear again today. Northumberland 3rd January 2025 4.15pm After lots of coffee and writing in the cosy tearoom at #BarterBooks Alnwick.
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
The rise of cancer in the young, particularly colon, with potential link to alcohol intake wsj.com/health/healt... + related report by Vivek Murthy today www.hhs.gov/surgeongener...
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Phil Williams @philinvestigates.com · 24/12/2024
I’m finally ready to move on from that other place! What I want for Christmas (or at least New Year’s Day) is to reach 50K here! Can you please help this hard-hitting, democracy-defending investigative reporter get there? Happy Holidays!
media.tenor.com
a merry christmas greeting card with santa claus
ALT: a merry christmas greeting card with santa claus
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Bill Porter @svperiwinkle.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
When I delivered the worst of news to my dying patient, she cried – but not about her prognosis | Ranjana Srivastava
We like to think patients judge us for our medical acumen but, in fact, they observe the words we say, the empathy we show and the kindness we offer
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💧 simon holmes à court @simonahac.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
@cathywilcox.bsky.social brilliantly depicts the real effect of dutton's nuclear policy. under the coalition's plan millions fewer homes will install solar and existing household solar systems will be frequently switched off to ensure his nuclear plants hit their production targets.
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Tim Dunlop @timdunlop.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
This CV is meant to show his expertise & therefore justify their decision to publish. It is bias dressed up as qualification and transparency. Whereas merely being Palestian justifies the same publishers disqualifying someone from publication on the grounds of bias. Heads I win; tails you lose.
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Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
This cartoon is from 1930. It could have been today.
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Read this brilliant and terrifying truth-to-power piece by @doctoroxford.bsky.social The UK General Medical Council is unfit for purpose. #medsky #healthpolicy www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/pol...
prospectmagazine.co.uk
Why Britain's doctors are in revolt
To save the NHS money, the General Medical Council has been pushing the use of physician associates in place of qualified doctors—and putting patients...
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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
You've probaly seen various headlines this year about bird flu and the potential for a new pandemic. So I've written a new substack as a simple explainer on what a flu pandemic actually is, why bird flu and what's been going on over the last 3 years. open.substack.com/pub/christin...
open.substack.com
How close is a new bird flu (H5N1) pandemic?
Probably not around the corner but getting uncomfortably closer.
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ChristopherE @christopher664023.bsky.social · 08/11/2024
This is complex stuff. We don't teach the Theory of General Relativity in grade school, Newtonian physics or at most Special Relativity (far simpler) is enough. Similary, "XX is female, XY is male" is good enough unless you do medicine or biology in college.
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ChristopherE @christopher664023.bsky.social · 08/11/2024
In 1890, the X and Y chromosomes were discovered. It was found that the men who were tested had 46 chromosomes, including an X and a Y, while women who were tested also had 46 chromosomes, including 2 X chromosomes. So obviously the conclusion was that the Y chromosome defined masculinity.
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Jan Fran @janfran.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
👋
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Tim Dunlop @timdunlop.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
The willingness of Aust media & politicians to use unfiltered & prejudicial comments by a corrupt Israeli PM to attack Australia's PM is truly disgusting. It's one thing having a political disagreement: quite another to undermine national sovereignty. What happened to "we decide" Australian policy?
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Annie Parker @annieparker.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Not a drag queen Not an immigrant
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Simon Rosenberg @simonrosenberg.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
"The Liberal Party has re-engaged controversial NZ-based agency Topham Guerin, known for its aggressive use of disinformation tactics and deepfake technology" @jksocrates.bsky.social Deepfake political advertising to market #DeepfakeDutton. #auspol www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politic...
thesaturdaypaper.com.au
Exclusive: Dutton hires Morrison’s ‘disinformation’ team
The Liberal Party has hired controversial digital agency Topham Guerin to produce content for its election campaign, despite concerns about disinformation and deepfakes used by the group.
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Harry Eccles @harryeccles.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Repost if BlueSky is now your primary social media site.
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Denis - The COVID Info Guy @thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
For the love of God, COVID isn’t over – so can people please wear masks? Why people don’t mask: "The biggest reason, I believe, is a failure of public health communication over wearing a mask. The government declared Covid “over,” and most people still trust what they’re told." archive.md/PzUTV
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Mike Honey @mikehoney.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
Here's the latest variant picture for Australia. The growth of DeFLuQE variants appears to have ended. XEC.* grew to around 34%. #COVID19 #Australia #DeFLuQE #XEC 🧵
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stblaise.bsky.social @stblaise.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
The only reason I waited so long to leave Twitter. Please follow Auschwitz Memorial. They only had 1.5 million followers on Twitter and were constantly losing followers. Their history is important to share. Let’s get them to 2 million on Bluesky
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Jonathan Eisen @phylogenomics.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Very glad to see Eric Topol on Blue Sky @erictopol.bsky.social For me on Twitter, Eric has been the best source of information about new medically relevant scientific studies and related topics. Definitely worth a follow.
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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 08/11/2024
Toxicologist here for any fluoride concerns! The amount of fluoride added to water to prevent tooth decay is so minuscule that—no matter your age, size, or health status—you would die from water poisoning long before you could ever even start getting toxicity from fluoride. Fluoridated water is safe
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Bill Porter @svperiwinkle.bsky.social · 09/11/2024
Interesting.
theguardian.com
‘A fatal miscalculation’: masculinity researcher Richard Reeves on why Democrats lost young men
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz had an opportunity to win a demographic that swung toward Trump – but they didn’t fight for it, says the author
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 02/11/2024
Simon Kuper on why journalists tend not to cover the 5 million annual deaths of children from preventable illnesses is also why we do what we do at @ourworldindata.bsky.social to help keep an eye on what is important but not ‘news’ on.ft.com/40oRyQI
The same dynamics underpin other neglected stories. Future historians may wonder why journalists ignored the mostly unnecessary deaths of five million children a year, as calculated by the OurWorldinData website, from preventable illnesses. But again, these kids aren’t dying in New York and London. Few global media outlets have correspondents in the worst affected poor countries, such as Democratic Republic of Congo or the Central African Republic. Journalists and audiences of big English-language publications tend to be white people who feel strongest empathy for white victims, according to the “in-group empathy hypothesis” used by social psychologists and neuroscientists. Anyway, news stories recount exceptional events. Daily death isn’t exceptional.
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 20/10/2024
Wow. What comes after neoliberalism? By the incoming VC of LSE. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
blogs.lse.ac.uk
What comes after neoliberalism?
Despite its unquestionable successes overt the past fifty years, the neoliberal paradigm has proven incapable of dealing with the greatest challenges of our time. It’s time to come up with a new ac…
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Denis - The COVID Info Guy @thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social · 18/10/2024
WA weekly COVID update: Week ending 13 October 2024 🔸COVID positivity rate: 3.2% est. (+0.7%) 🔹PCR cases: 177 (+15.6%) 🔹Hospitalised: Average of 50 per day (-4) 🔹ICU: Average of 1 per day (Unchanged) @WAHealth @CHO_WAHealth #COVIDisNotOver Source: www.health.wa.gov.au/~/media/Corp...
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T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 17/10/2024
Ok, but aside from affecting lungs, heart, blood vessels, brain, gut, liver, kidneys, pancreas, immune cells, eyes, gonads, placenta, and mitochondria, and infecting people year-round and repeatedly, SARS-CoV-2 is just a textbook seasonal virus like colds or flu.
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Adam Parkhomenko @adamparkhomenko.bsky.social · 09/10/2024
Can we get 500 of you as soon as possible to share this new ad Kamala Harris just released
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Van Badham @vanbadham.bsky.social · 12/10/2024
This is a big YOU GOT THIS to all the Dem campaigners in the USA - everyone, across the political spectrum, running meetings, knocking doors, making calls, showing up - trying to save the west from fascism. YOU’RE DOING GREAT! KEEP GOING!
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Croakey Health Media @croakeynews.bsky.social · 08/09/2024
An emotional return to Sheffield uncovers important insights into general practice and communities
croakey.org
An emotional return to Sheffield uncovers important insights into general practice and communities
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 20/08/2024
I knew a bit about Palantir but knew nothing about its founder Alex Karp. This interview with him is extraordinary - I can’t sum up in a tweet but really really recommend it www.nytimes.com/2024/08/17/s...
nytimes.com
Alex Karp Has Money and Power. So What Does He Want?
In a rare in-depth interview, this billionaire man of mystery, the head of Palantir Technologies, talks about war, A.I. and America’s future.
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