Shhhhh, be vewwy vewwy quiet

People determine their values and factual beliefs in dialogue with their in-group consensus. Social media provides a convincing-looking metric of in-group support that is also easily manipulated (by people, not just bots). It's a recipe for disaster, and we're living with the consequences right now.

Doing a second run of the Watch the Stars megagame in Wellington on Saturday 29 November. We have already sold the minimum number of tickets for the event to go ahead. events.humanitix.com/watch-the-st...

Up next on Posting Through It: @letsgomathias.bsky.social joins us to discuss the origins of the right-wing panic over antifascist activism. How did something few people had heard about 10 years ago become such a point of hysteria for MAGA? Sign up for the drop: www.patreon.com/posts/040-wh...

30 years ago Spitting Image dared to broadcast the truth about Israel. Now no one dares.

You want academic details? Read Stephanie Westcott, Monash Uni.

Some things never change! 4,000 year-old ancient Egyptian writing board with a student’s many spelling mistakes corrected in red ink by the teacher! 😂 📷 The Met www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti... #Archaeology

Jfc. I've made an awful mistake and taken a special deal on a place in Penang that's so huge I genuinely can't tell if the family is in the house with me. It's bigger than our home in nzl.

COUNCILS DON'T NEED YOU TO PROVE YOUR IDENTITY IN ORDER TO REPORT A POTHOLE. THEY DON'T EVEN NEED YOU TO *REVEAL* YOUR IDENTITY.

Ooof

. Gaza The dead boy tries to open his eyes. He wants to see the world he is leaving. But there is nothing to see here, nothing and nothing, and anyway he is gone. His parents held him while he died but they are both dead, too. Or he held them, no one remembers. .

“The larger pattern, researchers say, points in the opposite direction: White supremacist, anti-government, and misogynist beliefs account for the lion’s share of ideologically motivated gun violence.”

The mythologising of new zealand as this utopic progressive nation is largely predicated on "being the first to give women the vote", but then just conservatism after. But then rewriting that history to confirm how cool we are.

There are credible reports that federal agents may be replaying the 2020 playbook and surging into Portland with the goal of provoking conflict and violence in my hometown. I am in close contact with state and local officials to monitor this activity.

The greenest way to travel is of course electric rail (forgiving the coal power station...). Dear reader, we're taking the KL to Penang train, 350km. I really pushed the boat out and went First Class! This is lunch. The trip is $70pp...

I'd substitute 'deceitful'

Premium newsletter: Based on my estimates and analysis, OpenAI needs one trillion dollars in the next four years to build 17GW of data centers and other commitments, with at least $500 billion needed for company operations. There is not enough capital to do this. www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetr...

for those of you who have never seen The New Zealand Tweet, the perennial flower

If you're seeking to exercise your democratic rights

Some big implications for journalism, too, where reporters often mistake trending posts as a reasonable reflection of public opinion.

From the roof or our reasonably priced serviced apartment.

NZ media’s commitment to digs at Jacinda Ardern just never stop . ‘Like her or not’ What a sad stupid headline

Late evening shot of NZ's iconic Te Kaihīnaki Moeraki Boulders. #Nikon #GreatNZRoadie

Morning walk

The Post denounces National's plans to strip 55,000 people of their votes as anti-democratic. Then they hide this democratic message behind a paywall. So: fuck the paywall, here it is archive.ph/tdO56

Thread. The day when a single Soviet soldier prevented the apocalypse.

The "male loneliness crisis" is popping up on my feed again. There is no male loneliness crisis. There is a loneliness crisis. Women are lonely

Imma say it. Bhasa Malayu sounds a lot like a Star Wars language

I genuinely think we under appreciate the soft power role of evangelical Christianity. It's just one part of the US cultural export network, and just as influential as Hollywood

@swordsjew.bsky.social did an interview on Know Your Enemy where she advocates bringing back the word "heretic" to describe these types of people. Rather than denying their self-proclaimed faith, call out their reading of that faith as being abhorrent

🧵

At the point where I refuse to believe a thing *isn't* satire until it is reskeeted by Mr Onion

Reid Hoffman, the billionaire founder of LinkedIn, funded E. Jean Carroll's litigation against Trump.

I spend a lot of time talking to 18-20 year olds about their political beliefs, so while I agree that some students have some truly awful views, I'd be more cautious about attributing it exclusively to online sources. Most of the young men I talk to are still heavily influenced by their parents.

Jesus Houdini Christ, this is great.

This move in the Trump terror memo is very similar to the means Putin used to destroy NGO critics (I reported specifically on targeting of LGBTQ+ groups). I’m not saying Putin is a puppet master. But we’re seeing similar consolidations of power.

Trump just signed an illegal executive order designed to target his political opposition by designating them terrorists and using the DOJ, IRS, FBI, and the JTTF to investigate and charge liberal organizations, funders, members, and protesters. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

I've said it before, but I think the current spree of memekillings is the product of an ideological transition. It's hard to parse because it's rapidly evolving. It's clearly derived from far right precursors, but it hasn't progressed to coherence yet.

loling at the idea of the rapture people quietly cleaning up the notes they wrote for the people left behind and putting them in the recycle bin

Good morning. A quarter of Reform UK MPs are convicted wife beaters. news.sky.com/story/domest...

Just bought a Rolex from a guy at the markets and the guy was adamant it's completely authentic.

Snuck a good headline past the keeper www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Some of the best hours of my life have been spent in LA bookstores.

Pop science. My @smh @theage cartoon.

What a weird-ass Rapture. Only the Constitution disappeared.

When it’s more profitable to hoard houses than to work for a living, the tax system is fundamentally broken

You think trump would understands the Streisand effect given how often he complains about nothing.

good job chat we successfully bullied a major corporation to the point that the late night host they canned is making jokes about it in his return monologue american fascism versus the cancel subscription button: who will win

Seems bad for our society when you can’t make racist terrorists the villains