The Govt's rationing speclialist (aka MSD) is overheating trying to constrain benefit spending, but the number of people on a working-age benefit continues to sail way above forecasts. We are watching a permanently scarring event here. Grim.

I wrote something on #ChatGPT 5.1 #weightloss and the Lacanian concept of lalangue. Intrigued? andrewdicksonnz.substack.com/p/chatgpt-51...

My colleague from Massey Distinguished Prof Paul Spoonley lays out the current government’s refusal to recognise the reasons why young kiwis are abandoning the country: youtube.com/watch?v=IsY0...

The NZ School Boards Association has launched a petition calling on the Minister of Education Erica Stanford to reverse her ill-informed, hostile decision to remove the obligations of boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in NZ education. Boost pls our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/pr...

OMG SPEECHLESS #Aurora has erupted & gone coronal (directly up). Now the entire southern sky

Strong #Aurora tonight!

Ardern and Shaw, willfully or no, were taken for a ride by National and Fed Farmers on climate change. Nats/Feds delayed climate action with false promise of seeking 'consensus'. As soon as they had the power they ditched He Waka Eke Noa and 'Zero Carbon Act'. Don't get fooled again.

Indeed. “It's just that in this particular case, he didn't judge the safety of that event adequately." I’ve yet to see a single case where Seymour judged safety adequately.

"didn't our generation have measles parties? NO. THAT WAS CHICKEN POX AND THAT WAS DUMB TOO! BUT YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE A MURDEROUS EVIL PIECE OF SHIT TO THROW A MEASLES PARTY BECUASE PEOPLE LITERALLY DIE. Why are people so horny for infectious disease? Vaccination and isolation saves lives!

Wow! This is exciting for people with long COVID in the USA.

It’s so good to see the support for Dr Siouxsie grow. Employers and other rich miscreants count on people not being able to afford to challenge them. If you can please support the Dr that took a stand. www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/852...

Every policy of this government shows us their worldview: other people, including children, have no value but economic value. Drive everywhere. Eat slop. Pay more for everything. Learn the right words, not how to think. Don't worry about your health or your neighbours, that doesn't generate revenue

This govt has seen that nobody (not schools, not opposition parties, not enough parents or teachers) have put up strong/effective pushback about sending sick kids to school with Covid, influenza, RSV circulating. That widespread complacency has led New Zealand directly to this measles situation.

We've just launched the first large, site-less (home, direct to participant) randomized trial for treatment of #LongCovid, testing tirzepatide (a GLP-1 drug) vs placebo. Please help spread the word www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...

god, the fact the government response to a measles outbreak is "our priority is keeping kids in school" is so bleak

National so far this term: Getting to your meeting 30 seconds quicker is a higher priority than protecting kids from cars on their way to school Keeping school attendance up is a higher priority than protecting kids from measles Saving a few bucks is a higher priority than a decent lunch

Now we know how National would have handled the Covid pandemic. The 20,000 we saved would be dead.

This fucking POS needs to wind his neck in #nzpol

This is what I expected from the government, but it's incredibly disappointing that Autism New Zealand should go along with it. We need to make "regular" schools cater to neurodivergent students — which will benefit everyone! — not segregate difference.

Yeah that's a solid "nah" from me too. Fund schools better. Fund more teacher aides. Give EVERY kid an education plan which supports them to learn and thrive! This is an excuse to keep underfunding the public education system by segregating autistic kids and it sucks.

will be on Kathryn Ryan's show on RNZ in 20 min or so about this. anybody know if I'm allowed to say "batshit" on the radio? www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

Let's celebrate the update (finally) of Stats NZ Household Living Costs Price Index - a better measure of the cost of living than CPI. First thing to notice is that a big chunk of the increase in our cost of living was thanks to RBNZ hiking interest rates to tackle the cost of living! [🧵 1/n]

I don't understand no. 3, and with no. 4 I think someone should tell them that tax *is* actually levied on gains from savings and most other kinds of investment, including KiwiSaver. I feel like they need to know this to save further embarrassment.

Bit of a panicky afternoon for the National Party.

Hospitals, clinics not equipped for measles outbreak - general practitioner

Susan Edmunds is possibly one of the laziest correspondents around. Under a clickbait "What should you do with $10K?" we quickly realise her "experts"including travel bosses who tell you to spend it on travel & bitcoin traders who tell you to buy bitcoin. Waste of space. #Kiwi #newzealand

Jobs update. Still sliding sideways in the winter winds. We should see the usual seasonal surge in the next couple of months. What should we look for? (🧵 1/n)

Worth a look at actual weekly earnings. Note that lower quartile earnings have been well below inflation for months. This is the plan: run unemployment high, subjugate workers, go bene-bashing in the media, force people into shit, precarious jobs working for your donors. (Ends)

NZ is in the middle of an extreme weather event. Climate change makes these winds, storms, fires and floods more frequent and intense. Right now, the Luxon Govt is actively undermining global efforts to reduce climate pollution. Hold them accountable.

I just don't think the government really grasp how much support the public have for the teachers Poll buried inside media fact checking Erica Stanford #NZPol 1/2

Outside of 'were the All Blacks poisoned before the Rugby World Cup Final', do you know how hard it is to get Kiwis to agree on anything, let alone a super majority ( of self selecting & muchly voted)? Ya little sob letter didn't work did it Judith

Reminder of how much that pulse of inward migration in 2023 and resultant increase in income tax revenue helped the government books. The next 6 months will be interesting as Govt financial forecasts wobble (1/n)

14 years ago today I ran up to the summit of Mt Hector in the Tararua Ranges and back from Otaki Forks… seems a lifetime ago.

This is a sobre, factual and fair assessment of where we are (link in alt text). I'll add a few missing bits later - mostly on the role of housing lending and how cheaper oil is providing a tailwind. The key question now is 'when will we see a period of real job growth'?

Oh bless. Aotearoa NZ let's honour his memory!

New: Climate Change Minister Simon Watts concedes the Government’s new methane target could result in outcomes not consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5C above preindustrial levels – a threshold mandated in New Zealand and international law. newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/15/c...

They cannot bring themselves to admit that the Govt needs to intervene, hard, to kickstart the economy. It is inconsistent with their worldview. They would rather stumble stupidly for a year or so waiting for the housing market to save the day.

Same data but just for September months. Completely unnecessary self flagellation. It's like all the lessons learned on the need for fiscal kick-starts are being roundly ignored. Small island, housing ponzi, rogergnomics, 8-wire, whip the poor exceptionalism. (2/2)

More waves crashing on the sandcastles of hopium. I'm famously pessimistic, but the data continues to surprise me to the downside. It's relentless. We've not seen anything like this for 45 years. Compounding, mutually reinforcing, job-killing dynamics. (1/2)

I’ve had loaves of bread that didn’t go stale as fast as this clown

Oof

The CDC was destroyed last night. Our federal public health infrastructure will no longer exist. It has major & long-lasting repercussions that will impact the health of everyday people in the U.S. &beyond💔 Trump administration lays off thousands of federal workers during government shutdown - CNN

🚨UNLOCKED🚨 We unpack Julia Kristeva's concept of "abjection" and "the abject." It's a powerful idea that clarifies real bodily experiences, raw affects, and urgent political concerns involving violence, vulnerability, scapegoating, and disgust. www.buzzsprout.com/2131830/epis...

Net Govt interest payments on debt are back to typical levels - well under 1% of total Govt spending. Always worth cancelling out the interest Govt receives (and pays each other). The net interest payment figure ($1bn net) is very tiny compared to... [🧵1/n]

Hey remember when Brooke van Velden pretended she was really shocked to be called a cunt about stealing women's money and made a big song and dance of it in Parliament? But it didn't work and none of us forgot that she stole our money? Thinking about that for no reason in particular #nzpol

Two out of five experts say artificial intelligence will kill us all www.interest.co.nz/technology/1...

Just a small reminder, we have only a Luxon-Willis manufactured economic crisis. Not an actual external economic crisis (like a pandemic for instance).