Decisions by the Aus and NZ govts to ties their countries' future defence strategy more closely to the US in these circumstances, rather than seeking to establish greater strategic and foreign policy independence, are inexplicable and grossly irresponsible.

The outbreak of war is giving me that panicky feeling that I remember from COVID. I don't have confidence in US operational restraint, I do have confidence in Iran's ability to retaliate, and I have zero confidence in any political leader to rein things back in before all hell breaks even looser.

There seems to be a key problem in killing off Iran’s leadership and forcing its power base (and military) to adopt a leaderless cell structure to avoid decapitation: When the US finally grows tired of bombing, who can they negotiate with?

There are at least 10,000 Amcits in Qatar alone, and the US government is saying we are on our own

If you are not in arms control you would not know how well constructed the JCPOA (Iran deal) was. An absolutely beauty of an arms control agreement. Negotiated by 2 ministers who had doctorates in nuclear physics. Technically and politically so well designed. And the US just wiped its ass with it.

You cannot talk like this about any other minority in America. And if it was any other president’s adviser who said something like this about any other minority, it’d be the instant end of their presidency.

Important piece about use of AI during elections, written by two Andrews I trust #nzpol theconversation.com/ai-is-alread...

from the publisher of Serial Killers Get a Bad Reputation, by Serial Killer

Which just to be clear is the entirety of my business model. I make a pot, you give me $, I send you the pot. I'm not going to come to your house later & make the pot worse. No sneaking in at night to crack it or rip off the handle. Nope. You buy the pot, I send the pot. And that's that.

I can't fix the violent and horrific collapse of the United States into an incredibly dangerous and fascist pariah . . . but like, I can make a pretty ok pot! So maybe you, a person feeling sad about all of the horrors and also in possession of some extra money, would like to buy one of those pots?

Worked more on my commission (yay!), emailed 2 more markets to see about selling there, helped my husband with his CV, and now to remind everyone to please buy a pot from my online shop! And then: A fun afternoon of painting to make up for the busy weekend of babysitting a 2 year old.

I mean this very, very seriously: If we, as a society, don't start holding military members responsible for the actions of the US military, we will never get better. "But he was poor, but she wanted to go to college, but they just worked on computers" Don't care.

I found the longer speech, the whole speech is so heartfelt inappropriate now as well. youtu.be/HfXmpJRZPYI?...

We live in a world where the powerful are hellbent on destroying the fierce power of words. Instead they use poverty, guns, arrests, bombs, and bureaucratic violence of all sorts to destroy and diminsh visionary dreams and peaceful means to achieve a better world.

UN charter www.un.org/en/about-us/...

There is nothing heroic about committing murder for the ruling class.

If you worry about “our troops” then fight against the American machinery of endless war and the inescapable poverty that sends them off to kill and die.

This infantilization over past years about “doomscrolling”, and “not seeping into despair” is so... You need to feel uncomfortable. The ignorance is bliss mentality that brown people can watch their own innocents being killed, but you got to take a mental health break every time from reading news?

As I've said before, we should maintain a basic level of situational awareness regarding the doom

the war is unpopular but it's also illegal but it also doesn't serve any purpose but it also undermines diplomacy but it also is set to produce the opposite outcome as intended but it also already has hundreds dead and threatens more but it also will not make anything better for anyone but it also

<checking news after a break to cook dinner and hang with family> Oh yes I see, this is going to be REALLY bad-bad, not just normal 2026 bad-bad.

Yes, I criticize the Democrats. We know the Republicans are evil bastards. They don't pretend not to be evil bastards. I'm criticizing the people who should know better, the ones who text me every 45 minutes asking me for money.

This neoliberal procedural fetishism is not Democrats being weak. It's Democrats supporting murder and global destabilization but not wanting to come out right out and say it. It's actually WORSE than full-throated support, by seeking a veneer of legalism around evil and immoral violence.

Procedural liberalism on display. We support the murder of innocents, the immoral and demonic violence, but the President didn't fill out the right paperwork. The same logic that calls for higher police training budgets and more diversity among prison guards. Polishing the bars of the cage.

The pattern is clear. This Government is secretly locking New Zealand into deeper alignment with the US without ever putting it to the public, whether it's critical minerals deals, AUKUS Pillar 2, or now handing over our biometric data.

These negotiations are occurring with no public announcement, no parliamentary oversight, and no consultation. The public is being kept in the dark while the Government negotiates the handover of our most sensitive personal data to the Trump administration.

Yeah nah this is a bad idea fam

I'm not going to quote post because I don't want to dog pile. But when people say, "don't heckle the staff," this isn't 2010. We're not talking about normal people choosing normal govt staffing jobs. This is 2026 where we're kidnapping foreign officials and building concentration camps.

This, from Ada Palmer as part of The Chronicle's survey of 11 scholars on the future of higher ed, is what I needed to end the week.

The leaders of Israel and the United States are war criminals. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

At what point will the US military refuse to follow unconstitutional orders? Not this point.

My newt tank smells deep and rich, like the freshest breeze from deep inside a green mossy forest. Really lovely, hope it's a good sign.

And now for a word from an Iranian ... as opposed to sycophant war criminals like @albomp.bsky.social. #auspol #IranMassacre

Trump called for the US military to use US cities as "training grounds" to prepare for overseas wars. From Minneapolis to Iran, we face the same enemies. Rival warlords attempting to assert control over collapsing empires—that is becoming the dominant form of governance. crimethinc.com/IranWar2026

Shame, shame, puppy shame, all the donkeys know our name

From last night - how dumb is this war? Let @professormusgrave.bsky.social count the ways. (separate question from 'how illegal is this war', the answer to which is 'about as illegal as it is dumb')

I can't fucking believe we're doing this again.

Just quietly, the Kat's Nip Fluffy Ball catnip toy craft kits are now available to purchase. You get everything you need to make 4 Fluffy Ball catnip toys, including written and video instructions. Buy one of the first 10 and get a 10% discount! #nzpets

there are a lot of people working in the government right now who want to intentionally trigger an apocalypse to create the conditions for the return of jesus christ and I know how crazy that sounds but its absolutely true

Trump and Neyanyahu planned this "for months" and the "date was set weeks ago" according to Israel. Which means the talks were bullshit all along and Trump's started hopes for a diplomatic solution were a blatant lie. We need to take a big step backwards from this ''friendship'.

😵‍💫

They should invent an American political party that doesn’t suck shit.

Every month the United States provides even more reason to boycott its products and companies — the strikes on Iran being just the latest. In light of that, it’s a great time to ditch the products and services of US tech companies. I made a comprehensive guide to help you.

I promise you that the government that murdered Alex Pretti and Renee Good does not give a flying fuck about the protests in Iran.

People keep telling me impeachment isn’t possible but *Donald Trump* is the fucking president for a second time and he just launched a war in a fucking baseball hat so in fact anything and everything are *possible*

I’m going to call it. This is NOT a good time* to be giving our biometric data to the US. Personal opinion yadda yadda *is there a genuinely good time??

It is late, I have a visiting 2 year old. The rain is falling softly. And yet again the country of my birth is waging an illegal and utterly foolish war for no particularly good reason. May the US's power wane and fade until it can take its place as a fallen empire in the dustbin of history.

My thoughts open.substack.com/pub/musgrave...

I’m real upset with Trump of course but I’m not particularly happy with Biden