How decades of deregulation led to the costly leaky building crisis in New Zealand #SelfCertification #PlumbersAndDrainlayers #BuildingReform #FasterBuilding #ConsumerProtection #QualityNotCorners #TrustedTradies You can watch the full video here https://youtu.be/16moNy97I9E

Our pūtangitangi whānau this morning were just monching away in the duck feeding area, monopolizing all that good duck grain. Good ducks nice ducks. They must be recharging after yesterday's flying mission! Very lazy today. #nzbirds

Sweet jeez, as if the ManageMyHealth fiasco wasnt enough, this useless govt now wants MORE of our private information shared with companies and "third party apps"?! What the hell is wrong with these people!? Give us cheaper power by re-Nationalising the electricity sector & removing the... (3)

Before and after: 5 years ago, Utrecht restored the Catharijnesingel. Once filled in during the 1970s to make way for traffic, the historic canal now flows again around the old city, lined with pedestrian paths, bike lanes, and a park-like landscape. 📸 @filmendefietser.bsky.social (#DCEnetwork)

Sunrise, Tuesday, January 13, from Wainui Beach, Aotearoa / New Zealand. Ata mārie / Good Morning ☀️

Wordle 1,669 X/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ 🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟩⬜🟨🟨⬜blegh

Two new posts today: I’m starting a new series called Keeping Up With the Coalition because wow this unruly chaos crew sure need a lot of keeping up with. All the horrible stuff + qs in desperate need of answers! Please share as that really helps me do this work!

I’d just like to remind everyone that the first iRex ferry would have just entered service had the coalition not cancelled them purely out of spite for the opposition, Wellington and the South Island.

Because caregiving & sick leave disproportionately fall on mothers, especially single mothers, making schools & daycares safer through clean air & normalized masking is an essential part of any serious gender equity agenda

So much positivity! 10% of visitor spend in Queenstown is due to the bike trails. Otago is really booming with bikes! 🚲 Also in Dunedin lots to celebrate this month; the start of construction for the Albany st cycleway and the start of the car-free section in the town belt. 🎉

I have a selection of rose photos I took yesterday I can add

Wordle 1,668 3/6 🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜ 🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩Mōrena

9. Take every opportunity you can to participate in civic life. Linger in and enjoy good parks, places, and streets every day, not just during special events. Your very presence and engagement adds life, vitality, and safety to a place, and helps them be more enjoyable for everyone.

Connections Puzzle #945 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟩🟦🟦 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨often struggle with these, easier today

Rita's first holiday was a great success. She was perfectly behaved, friendly, equable, calm in her crate, and took to dropping her ball in front of random people walking on the beach to see if they would throw it. A number did

Sunday 11 January dawning, from St. Kilda Beach, Ōtepoti, Aotearoa / New Zealand. Ata mārie / Good Morning ☀️

Mallard (?) babies ahoy! There's only 5 now though 🦆🤔 We put a few minutes into fruitlessly herding them out of the carpark. They kept going over there to sit down in apparently the most appealing puddle. Danger puddle. These guys are so bold it's a bit alarming. Growing quick though! #nzbirds

Floof therapy, for those needing it:

Some recent photos

"Uruguay did what most nations still call impossible: it built a power grid that runs almost entirely on renewables, at half the cost of fossil fuels... creating 50,000 jobs, and protecting the economy from price shocks."

As parts of Aotearoa are due to cook under 38C today, a reminder about the humble 🌳 in keeping you cool and fresh Time for the 3-30-300 rule Able to see 3 trees 30% urban forest canopy 300m from the nearest park or green infrastructure

Kindness matters. #kikorangi www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360922...

Wordle 1,667 5/6 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟩⬜🟩 ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩got it

🧵Spotted on Market Day in Aotearoa New Zealand: A tiny human (2?) is roaring: "WRONG WAY MUM! WRONG WAY!" as Mum pushes his pram away from the waffle truck. Mum is insisting that he's just had some ice cream but Tiny Human has spotted waffles and the struggle (to get delicious food) is real! (1)

You can, like, just do good. Good wins if you actually promise it and actually do good.

"Sometimes the most important transitions are visible not in moments of crisis, but in moments where crisis quietly fails to appear."

Make sure you are enrolled to vote, visit www.vote.nz and check you are ready to go

“Copenhagen reported that 62% of its residents are now commuting to work or school by bike — an increase from 52% in 2015 & 36% in 2012, when the City Council launched a 14-year-plan to improve the quality, safety & comfort of cycling.” #Copenhagen chose. They keep choosing even better every year.

New Zealand's rare flightless parrot begins breeding again phys.org/news/2026-01...

It’s telling that the Smithsonian magazine tries very hard to be respectful and acknowledge Māori knowledge but its website can’t display macrons properly. www.smithsonianmag.com/history/newl...

#NZpol The important thing is to hang the entire govt on the hook for it. Don't let Winston off, even if Willis carries primary responsibility, he is simply there *now* to paper over this *Cabinet decision*, ie. *collective responsibility* that fucked this up — *they're all in it together*.

Remember 38 percent voted for it and 32 percent still support it in it by supporting National

Wordle 1,665 5/6 ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜ 🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟨🟨🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩not awake yet 💁

It’s now been 6 months since I got an EV and I am still in love with how it drives. But I also thoroughly get a kick of being able to charge fully at home. Truly a shame that one piece of tech we have that can do a net-good, our corporate and political leaders want to bury it.

WOOOOOOO GO KAKAPO

Here's a nice picture I took, because the world isn't all shit and we need to remember that❤️

This report is utterly damning, so of course it didn't get much coverage at the time.

Connections Puzzle #942 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟪 🟦🟪🟦🟦 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪Mōrena, mostly sticking to puzzles, 🪴 and 📖 today.

As a candidate (and councillor) the buck stops with me to be accountable for how much I spent and on what in the campaign. Those are the rules and they must apply to everyone. www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

Wordle 1,664 2/6 ⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩lucky guess

I help Emily out with tech stuff so I have set her up with a Bluesky profile. She does great work so please go give her a follow!

Some folks say deep-sea fish aren’t cute. I dare you to look at this bumpy snailfish and not say “aww.” Try it. I dare you. …and if you can't, you might have a cold, cold dead heart. bioone.org/journals/ich...

#kikorangi I’m trying to help someone use macrons on his Samsung phone. My instruction to just hold a finger on the letter and options appear didn’t work. Anyone help?

Senseless 🤦🏻‍♂️

A tiny human (2?) is having the BEST time. She's walking between Grandad and Granny, holding both their hands, expression gleeful as they both say: "One, two, three SWING!" Lifting her into the air, gleeful chuckles ringing down a quiet street. (4)

🧵Spotted at a Country Summer Fete in Aotearoa New Zealand: A small human (5?) is strutting ahead of his sister announcing loudly to the universe: "I AM THE FRONT MAN!" Little Sister (3?) stops in her tracks. Little Sister looks OUTRAGED! Little Sister roars: "NO! I want to be the FRONT MAN!" (1)

Our first power bill since solar came in. It's been a 74% decrease this month, reducing our bill by over $200. And the solar system ensured we didn't experience the power cut following wild weather in December. #solarenergy

Heartening to see so many people interested in the Nationally Critical Pekapeka-tou-roa, or long tailed bat. It’s not easy to stand in the native bush staring up at the sky at dusk in hopes of sighting one. Our small group organises this for 2 weeks every January. 1/2

AI has huge potential, but harms (deepfakes, gendered abuse, bias) are real and rising. Sign the Open Letter calling on NZ leaders to deliver risk-based AI regulation & a national oversight body.