Just like the tobacco companies turned to vapes, the industrial wine companies are now turning to non-alcoholic wine.

"This is my last territorial demand in Europe" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Very pleased to have contributed this important article for @everylibrary.bsky.social via @medium.com before we wrap up 2026. The @archive.org is an indispensable tool that not only promotes #literacy, but holds seemingly ineffable digital information accountable. bit.ly/4aWmuwP

This is so goddamn funny www.gravityisgone.com/why-is-trump...

I want this put in Simeon's obituary when his time comes. 'Monumental fucking waste of time, space & energy' Remember when 'Crusher' Collins crack down on Boy Racer cars saw ONE car crushed only. Modern conservatism is a cult.

Can we just park this? No. Our current government seems hell-bent on dumping the downsides of global warming on our children. Playing around with this #cartoon sketch concept ...thoughts? #wip #environment #climatecrisis #nzpol #uspol

AOC: I want to remind you where the real crime is. It's in the oligarchs taking $170 billion of our money from health care and food assistance and public programs and taking that and funneling it into a secret police program.

[email protected] : Were you satisfied with the answers you’ve gotten so far in this classified briefing on Venezuela? AOC: Oh, hell no. It was a joke. This was not a serious intelligence briefing. This was the communication of an opinion.

Wednesday’s @thetimes.com cartoon times.newsprints.co.uk/peter-brooke...

I’ve been away for a couple of hours. What land did Venezuela steal from USA?

Tech whistleblowers say coming forward has unexpectedly derailed their lives... They became isolated among their colleagues, suffered severe professional damage, or were pushed out of the industry altogether... www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2... by @naominix.bsky.social

Government books so bleak they’re scraping around for cuts (flu-tracking) and increased revenue (taxing charities).

You act like its Russia surrounding the US/NATO but I assure you its quite the opposite. Whatever flavor of Kool-Aid you are currently drinking, I suggest switching to another flavor...or perhaps even some good old coffee to WAKE UP.

Would you be surprised if I told you people are emailing special collections libraries/archives asking about or to see books & collections that do not exist because AI hallucinated them?

Thinking recently about how the proliferation of AI crap is the ultimate expression of a culturally atomised existence

Not Santa.... my #nzpol cartoon #NZListener

An early Christmas gift from the nasty party.. #nzpol www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

That cut back in Govt investment in 2025 clear to see - it's a major reason the economy slumped. But, don't worry, Treasury are confident that we'll be building loads of roads by 2027 and house prices will be going up over 5% a year. Praise be. [NB residual cash without FLP]

Govt cuts disability transport subsidy.

Even worse, they are proposing to: ❌️ limit the number of subsidised trips a user can take ❌️make it harder and more bureaucratic to use ❌️limit it to wheelchair users only ❌️exploit Uber drivers more It's a sh*tty proposal and will severely limit the ability of disabled ppl to get out and about

#nzpol HYEFU data today showed that unemployment is forecast to stay much higher than forecast by Treasury at the last election. There will be 76,000 more people on jobseekers by 2027. Wages going up by less every year than forecast at the last election.

Imagine finishing your benefit forecasts for HYEFU, closing your laptop, and heading to floor 8 for a few miserable xmas treats... then the actual data comes out and blows your calculations out of the water! [NB: Actual data varies slightly from forecast data, but not by much)

I wrote about the glaciers. A study out today projects their future, and it is grim.

🍿 (as @drdeanknight.bsky.social would put it)

Google AI summaries are ruining the livelihoods of recipe writers: ‘It’s an extinction event’

I know taste is subjective yada yada yada etc but…… how can anyone, on ANY planet, think that THAT is better than THIS

I reported this last week as a rumor. I've since had it confirmed: Chateau Ste Michelle, Washington's biggest and most important winery, was indeed given away to grapegrowers for $0, just cancellation of CSM's debt to the family. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2025/12/wa...

Wht do i imagine that this is not exactly as straightforward as it appears ? www.cbsnews.com/news/califor...

A lifetime of "thoughts & prayers" have done JACK-SQUAT to reduce or eliminate gun violence. We need to do MORE. It is the GUNS. #SadButTRUE 💔

I’m afraid 0% alcohol wine will be perfected just about the time when nobody wants it. www.the-buyer.net/insight/anal...

Ghoul.

Still processing yesterday's unreal visit to Bodegas Lanzaga, the HQ of Compañía de Vinos #TelmoRodríguez's pan- #Spain empire. You have to admire the scale of their ambition and the winemaking. To me each #wine seemed to be a very loyal representation of the region, with lots of flavour and nuance.

A bit more diverse nowadays. HT @civixplorer

Had a student in my office today to talk about his paper having fake citations. He seemed shocked that the AI made things up.

I have also spent time reviewing nonexistent citations with students. I hate that in addition to all its other evils, AI is such a useless time suck.

I’m at the point where my immediate response to such questions is a query into the source/host of the citation before I even start searching.

This morning I spent time looking up citations for a student. By the time I got to the third (with zero results), I asked where they got the list, and the student admitted they were from Google’s AI summary. Honestly though I’m relieved I don’t manage interlibrary loan anymore?

As a librarian who works with researchers, can confirm this is true.

I am a new senior academic in a long established British university. Upon taking charge of 'my' premises, I found dozens of decent students sleeping in our 24-hour study spaces: they are homeless. I don't know how to tackle this without rigid management just changing the locks.

This is the kind of town I live in/only in NZ moment: Today a kid came into the library to tell me about the book he read for his pizza wheel. He read the manual for an auto resetting pest trap that can set 100 times to get rats, stoats, possums and feral cats. We were all very proud of him.

The Emperor's new crime bill was made from paper with the wonderful property of remaining invisible to everyone who was unfit for the office he held, or who was extraordinarily simple in character.

Fast and fudged: Crimes bill omits crimes

This is the US data on visitors from NZ. I can't see people being more enthused to visit.

Anheuser-Busch, the largest beer company in the U.S., will close its last Bay Area brewing facility www.sfchronicle.com/food/wine/ar...