Well, what I’d just say to you is at the end of the day early January can be later January. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

There's a lot going on here. An entirely absent PM and the entirety of our public response so far being a post on Twitter from the foreign minister - a post which doesn't even mention the US by name. Just incredibly haphazard and lackadaisical. #nzpol

The US administration appears to have kidnapped the elected leader of another sovereign nation. Now what? Is this the end of any pretence at a rules based world order?

There's a really stunning full moon visible right now over Wellington. It's the kind of big orange moon that deserves a witch on a broomstick silhouetted against it.

Very chill

“In the first 100 days of a new government the Green Party will introduce a new Renters Rights Bill to create an affordable, healthy rental market.” It’s worth noting that for many Mamdani policies the Greens already have an Aotearoa equivalent prepped and ready to go - they have done the mahi.👇👇👇

I remember a bit Billy Connolly did during the 1980s, referring to Gaddafi and Amin. "You can tell they're going to be trouble when they start designing their own uniforms.'

Y E S bring it on. Swarbrick described this as a "doom loop" with high unemployment and low growth leading to a lower tax take and requiring the government to borrow more to pay for the same level of services

It's 10 years since Cat Food Letterbox Day! Oh happy day!

Introduce yourself with what nearly killed you. Random dude on a motorbike driving through the pig route. He came round a corner way too fast on my side of the road. I veered left but he kept coming. I froze. My boyfriend at the time jerked the steering wheel to the right and we missed him.

What was your first ever concert? Mine was Split Enz supported by the Chills at the Dunedin Town Hall, in 1984. It was the final tour for Split Enz.

Reskeet with the most recent pic of your pet.

Excellent 🧵. I would so love to see the narrative shift to government spending drives the economy and is good actually, and so is government ownership of public services and assets. #nzpol

Golden hour at the dog park.

How do you flip between Labour and National though? I get that Labour aren't as left wing as many of us want but they are not fucking National!

this is been through a crisis PR because they're talking percentages instead of number 125,000 is about the population of dunedin

Quite correctly often hearing: "When someone is accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression." Because it's true. But we need to hear this more often: "When someone is used to absolute deference, the word 'no' feels like a mortal threat." Grasping that may save our lives.

Pulling this up to a top level thread about the kinds of ways hackers get value from things like the manage my health breach. It's just volume. Try it enough and you get enough people at a vulnerable moment to hand over their bank details and lose everything.

The data is out there, but we're not powerless. Don't look for it. Don't use it. Refuse to engage with any media or gossip story based on it. Make it career suicide for anyone to use it as the basis of a story. Make it unacceptable in any group you're a part of to use the data in any way.

Here, at time of writing (first minutes of 2026) is what I understand to be the case about the Manage My Health data breach. I am writing this out as a what I know and why (and don't know) as of now to help anyone trying to explain this to others. This is a data breach with stolen patient data.

Just like every year, a friendly PSA: “Feliz ano nuevo” means “happy new anus.” “Feliz año nuevo” means “happy new year.” Wishing folks either one is nice, but make sure you’re using the one you mean.

This year: - Bolsonaro went to prison - Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested and is being tried - Brazil and Belgium joined S. Africa's ICJ case on Israel's genocide - Global green energy surpassed coal power - Denmark passed a law against deepfakes There are people still fighting to make the world better.

re: ManageMyHealth breach This is important. A lot of people are going to be saying "meh, it's only my vaccination records, what are they going to do with those?", and the answer is: use it trick you into thinking they're someone you trust.

The whole Small Change Trilogy is uncomfortably good on the *how* of good people doing terrible things by chains of small acts of wilful inattention and carelessness. Not a lot of melodramatic villany in this world, which makes it all the more effective.

Healthcare postcode lottery contributed to his wife Sheralyn's death. Sam's petion had 113 signatures when this article was published. It's got 1700 now. I think we can help bump that a little. Please share on other platforms too if you are there #nzpol www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin...

First mating of the 2026 #kakapo breeding season! True to form, it was Pearl and Boss on Whenua Hou, who mated on the night of 28th Dec. They were also the first two to mate in the last two breeding seasons. We're expecting a bumper year, so follow for updates! #conservation #parrots

Bike lanes often look empty but it’s not because they don’t get used, it’s because they are so efficient at moving people. beyondca.rs/argument/cyc...

Kazu, the group/individual behind the ManageMyHealth breach, has posted some samples of the data for verification and they all appear to be legitimate. Among other things, there are test results (ie; Labtests), referral letters, patient health summaries, hospital ED summaries and other letters

THIS. Did you know sickle cell is curable, now? FULLY curable. If you're feeling down or despairing about what FEELS like technology/advancement/science "standing still" or being fully malicious, I have great news: You're not paying attention to actual science. Just tech industry marketing.

1995, studying in Prague for a year. I went to Bucharest by myself, fully intending to shell out for a hotel since there wasn’t a lot of backpacker-level tourist infrastructure yet. Showed up to the hotel to check in & the desk clerk took one look at me and said “You can’t stay here.”

ManageMyHealth confirms cyber breach

National is spending up large on these disingenuous billboard and social media ads. Already. They must have shitloads of money. *And* their internal polling must really be putting the frighteners on them. #nzpol

Change your password immediately. I did.

Gosh I’m glad I found out that the portal that holds my health data may have been breached via the news rather than direct communication from them ManageMyHealth investigating possible cyber breach www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

One last pimp of my calendar for the year. The two I put in the courier yesterday have been delivered in time for 2026 (love the overnight service around NZ). Only a handful left in stock. paullecomtephoto.nz/products/202...

The neighbourhood

It's been windy as at my place - I'm putting off going outside to see if the tomato plants have made it through the night.

In light of the rampant abuse of power NZ is facing with this Govt dismantling laws that stop us being looted and taken over by big money it's probably a good time for people to check out or revisit this excellent investigative piece by Mihingarangi Forbes ... #NZPol www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLOj...

I remember all too little of the interviews I did with rock stars when I was briefly employed as the music critic for a national newspaper, but there is this.

My biggest Gen X peeve about algorithms deciding what I might want to listen to, watch, read, etc is that a fundamental part of being Gen X was discovering things that you came to love completely by accident. It was the random song on someone else's stereo, the car that only got local radio...

Authoritarian Libertarianism uses the paradoxical rhetoric of freedom to justify policies of oppression, concentration of power, erosion of democracy, and the dismantling of human rights.

"Will you fuckers read the fucking book one fucking time" challenge level impossible. Again.

Oh god I got halfway through the list of "uses" Chuck rebuts and realised that the entire use case for genAI as presented (in a list clearly generated by genAI) is the desk job equivalent of techbros reinventing a bus but worse

Eek. There‘s been quite the spike in the wastewater surveillance. And anecdata also suggests an increase in Covid cases in the Wellington region. My neighbours have just all had it, and one of the leads in my daughter’s ballet show had to pull out because she got sick.

How effective is protesting? According to historians and political scientists: very www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

And THIS, this is the furthest we've got from the mark

I want to do something positive to end what’s been a shit year. Change up the vibe etc. *lucky dip artwork* For $25 incl p&p I’ll send you a piece of art, many matted, no bigger than A4. Mixed media, mainly semi abstract landscape, signed. NZ only. DM me to order. Reposts appreciated.

$75K for a whole industry? This isn't a meaningful policy - its a PR stunt, designed purely to distract www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...