Made some new teapots!

So apparently I’ve spent my entire life thinking that Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves were the same person— namely, Darren E. Burrows who played Ed Chigliak in Northern Exposure. Wonder what else I’m really confused about . . .

Porcelain time!

Throwing with a black clay body and getting so excited for my next firing!!!

What would it take to achieve high prosperity and equality while remaining within planetary boundaries? The World Inequality Lab is very excited to launch the #GlobalJusticeReport. [1/7]

My God, @professormusgrave.bsky.social, HOW DARE YOU

Boosting again.

Pete Hegseth dropping deism and Unitarian Universalism from accepted religions in the military is honestly almost too fucking hilarious for me to be properly outraged about.

Extremely important post if you care about the #OIA and the case Minister Goldsmith has been trying to build to justify weakening it. @duncanwebbmp.bsky.social @fran4dunedin.bsky.social #nzpol

I remember fighting against the word content and being shrugged off, but this is exactly why. Years and years of reducing art and human effort into content so they could gaslight everyone as they extracted its value. We railed against the word, if I recall, right up until AI ruined our lives further

My crankiest old man take is that referring to all art/entertainment/journalism/criticism/comedy/advertising as “content” helped pave the way for broad-ish acceptance of AI slop.

“Content” also insidiously shifts significance and validity to the platform, not the substance — content is contained, what defines content is the existence and form of the container

Back on my glaze development bullshit

Hey look who's back!

Never enrolled in something so fast in my whole life!

Every single day we’re met with a flood of information we’re supposed to follow, absorb, and understand to be ready for all the rest that will follow. It keeps us engaged, which is great for the platforms, but is it really great for us? All I know is I need to pull back.

Hey all, as some of you may know, @hollowoak.bsky.social is having surgery for prostate cancer later this month. I'm planning to visit for his surgery and recovery for six weeks or so, but it'll be hella expensive. Neither of us makes a lot of money and we could use your help. gofund.me/467d8fbd0

I have cancer. I'm about to undergo surgery in a few weeks. A friend is offering to come stay with me and help me get through it and begin my recovery. I can't do it alone, and we can't afford to do it ourselves. Humbly asking for your help spreading the word.

The important thing to remember is your name and Social Security number. I guess that’s two things. Write those down somewhere, and hold yourself accountable by sharing them widely on social media.

Oh no I had to watch a video on how to do a mail marge in Google Workspace and now YouTube thinks mail merging google services is my new special interest and obsession.

All you sourdough bakers can bow down and appreciate my Maryetta's Oat Bread loaves for a change. Plus: Parker House Rolls and chocolate chip cookies!

Happy birthday to our glorious King! May the sale at Briscoes be generous and the traffic surprisingly light for a Monday.

Doesn’t feel entirety comfortable acknowledging the sheer gender fascism of it all and how the spearpoint very much is transphobia

Yknow maybe we are living through some kind of revolution because of ai but its because its the economy of bullshit jobs and bullshit “value” reaching its pinnacle and inevitable collapse as the bullshit loses out to the material reality we live in

And this is another way National is out of step with the NZ public. We overwhelmingly don't want to be involved in US wars. National OTOH is eager to sign up kiwis to die in them. Other kiwis, of course - its never the MPs or their families who are volunteering.

What exactly does the US think we need defending from? Which country has any interest at all in a military invasion of Aotearoa? And if you can name one, would they still be interested if not for the relationship between us and the US?

Come and invade us then buddy.

Week in Review: Opinion: The public is left to conclude some MPs come to Parliament not to serve the people but to squeeze them for as much as they can.

Of all the disgraceful uses of urgency under this government, this is the worst. People will suffer. People will die.

This thread took 3 hours to write, so I hope somebody reads it! Maybe @duncanwebbmp.bsky.social and @fran4dunedin.bsky.social ? #nzpol (Yes, it should have been a blog post. I'll convert it this weekend.)

At a time when New Zealanders' trust in government has dropped to 45% (from 57% in 2022), we can't afford institutions that are complacent or even defensive about strengthening our democracy, and upholding our rights, like the right to information.

This is why a simple thing like an Ombudsman opinion on when it is 'reasonable' to refuse an OIA request because the information will be available in 4 months' time matters. ENDS

The Ombudsman has none of these roles and the OIA did not given them to the regulator. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for 'administering' the OIA [don't laugh]. In practice it has delegated advice, guidance and support to the Public Service Commission. But none have the functions that Danks

..to this systemic driver. The Ombudsmen too frequently defer to what the agency finds administratively reasonable, or should we say, convenient.

The Ombudsman concludes: "As explained above, section 18(d) should not be relied upon when doing so would undermine the purposes of the OIA." But unless an Ombudsman actually sticks up for the participation purpose, in circumstances that can be planned for each year, we will see no change.

Nowhere is there a recognition that having information about inflationary effects of personal tax cuts *at the time of the budget announcement* is an important enabler of public participation in democratic debate about the government's funding and spending choices.

One of the things that sometimes annoys people who make #OIA requests is when information is refused on the basis that it will 'soon' be publicly available. The Ombudsman has just published an opinion from his predecessor on this. I think it's wrong. A🧵 www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/news/treasur...

When you get rid of all the books and periodicals and switch to digital resources, you’ve given up resources you own in exchange for subscription services. Now you’re vulnerable to price increases and the disappearance of essential information. I’ve always been a fan of having MORE choices.

MIT closing three of its four libraries is shocking and appalling and underscores that the source of so much of the crisis in higher education comes not from attacks from the far right or the collapse of public trust, but rather from the university administrative class itself.

A $9 million cut from PSC's appropriation for Leadership of the Public Management System. This to ensure the Public Management System has the design, capability and performance to deliver public services, and providing advice and services to support Ministers. Neoliberal hollowing out of capacity.

New Frog and Toad short from Indira Crawford dropped 🤩

Ok this is a truly great tweet

I Was Right About Everything (re: ManageMyHealth): * API let ANY authenticated user access everyone else's files * this was dumb and very much subpar www.health.govt.nz/information-...

While I do enjoy Bluesky, I think it would be greatly improved if we had more "Very Aggrieved Person is Just Completely Wrong" posts. Those are fun.

Gave a talk today to a group of Serious Professionals and I got to show Mapplethorpe AND L'Origine du Monde AND Tay-K's lyrics. So today was a good day.

It’s really frightening.

I have a sympathetic vomiting reflex that frankly disqualifies me from motherhood.

Apologies to the older folks we used to judge for eating dinner at 5 and being in bed by 9. You guys were really on to something.