The use of “hallucinate” is a stroke of true evil genius in the AI world. In ANY other context we’d just call them errors & the fail rate would be crystal clear. Instead, “hallucinate” implies genuine sentience & the *absence* of real error. Aw, this software isn’t shit! Boo’s just dreaming!

Content warning: suicide The Government has blood on their hands, as their failure to provide support to those released from prison led to them taking their lives. This will only end when the Government provides comprehensive reintegration support. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

For the record: it is totally possible to dunk on Melania Trump without being shitty about sex workers and ESOL speakers. For example, she's a vile human being devoid of empathy.

This is WILD.

A story about a curious locksmith who helps the burglar robbing him, by Ben Daggers. buff.ly/jxRPcrn

Post from mileswildermusic reads: "Some of y'all will never understand the grief of just how close we truly have been for the last 70 years to solving some of the biggest problems in the world and then just consistently choosing to prioritize the very special little feelings of the worst among us...

Nice photo of Elizabeth, Disco, Patrick and Ida Knox newsroom.co.nz/2026/04/09/b...

incredible that an effective way to handle Trump is to say "oh man you're so cool and strong, you win and I lose, as part of my complete surrender all you have to do is give me a billion dollars and fuck off forever"

I think the more relevant piece of information is that Winston Peters thinks "tonight an entire civilisation will end" is only bad if we keep making such a big deal about it

Emily Perkins reveals what went on inside a Wellington book club that led to Elizabeth Knox's extraordinary new memoir.

I think everyone in Aotearoa should know where our foreign minister is right now: standing next to Rubio as he dodges questions about war crimes

I mean, wtf ... "Explaining the confusion, he [CLuxon] told the MPs: “I didn’t mean to pass you by. I thought it was more ushers and other people. It’s a pretty special day!”" www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

I'm not an economist, but this seems bad. By my reckoning, those price increases in the supply chain will be passed on and at every stage the businesses involved with work in a little extra padding to provide resilience against further increases. Costs will be amplified on the way to consumers.

A wee break from the doom and gloom - I got to review this very good novel for @takahemagazine.bsky.social earlier this year. Read the review, then read the book (or vice versa, don't let me tell you what to do)

‘Me and my cuz didn’t mean to run away, just got caught sneaking out, seemed easier to use that as an excuse than to admit we had gone to see the boy I liked’ - a poem from Amber Esau’s new book, Hungus

Latest episode of Better off Read is my converation with Jordy Rosenberg about Night Night Fawn at The Open Book back on a warm day in February. better-read.com

TIL

Opinion from Otago University: As a country with low levels of corruption, NZ's law regulating political donations undermines our reputation.

I come with empty hands and the desire to unbuild walls.

The streaming service just asked me passive aggressively if I wanted to watch Veep season one episode one *again*. #UncomfortWatch

This is it. This is the point where anyone that still thinks the luxon govt is good for the economy is just an idiot. Every stat we have now shows us that we were better off under the previous govt and are worse off under this one. Wake up.

'The danger is that the Treasury would see each pound raised at the door as one it no longer needs to provide through grant-in-aid.' apollo-magazine.com/admission-ch...

As I've pointed out before, in 2023 the Inland Revenue Department told us that the richest 311 families in New Zealand with an estimated $85 billion of assets paid an effective tax rate of around 9%. Imagine the impact if the super-rich paid the same tax rate as every salary earner in the country

Tweet from 2020. Makes me want to reread. “The Hole is by turns reminiscent of Lewis Carroll, David Lynch, and My Neighbor Totoro, but is singularly unsettling.” I’m definitely the target audience here. Just got notified my copy has shipped. Translated from the Japanese by David Boyd.

New Zealand families were starving before the fuel crisis and things are only getting worse. #nzpol www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Easter could also be a great time to apply for the Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence with us: 3 months at the IIML with a mentor and a $15,000 stipend in the second half of 2026, deadline 30 May! (Picture shows 2025 EPWR Nafanua Purcell Kersel) www.wgtn.ac.nz/modernletter...

In lieu of better data, I've generated two models showing the effect of the Iran US war on #global (image one) and #NewZealand (image two) food prices. Now might be a good time to take an interest in gardening. Figures assume the war stops immediately #nzpol

Easter 2026: could it be a good time to consider applying for the Lilburn Research Fellowship 2027? This is the ONLY research position specifically created for the study of NZ Music. Applications open until May 17. natlib.govt.nz/about-us/sch...

Every year, hundreds of people walk silently through the streets of Minneapolis… looking at the windows of the houses. It's the Wedge Cat Tour: the residents put the cats in the window and the crowd stops to admire them. Yes. This exists. 😹

Hey chat, is it good to fire your army chief of staff immediately prior to a land invasion of western asia, please reply before close of stock market, thanks

Yikes Chris Penk is GCSB and NZSIS? That makes me feel deeply unsafe ngl. Why doesn’t the PM have those portfolios.

1. An incredible bill is moving fast in Maryland protecting transgender students. It would apply to ANY "program or activity," and would even include private schools. This would include sports, bathrooms, and more. It even has a private right of action. Subscribe to support our journalism.

Even if Trump loses at the Supreme Court, I promise you that opposition to birthright citizenship is already mandatory for any future Trump judicial nominees. The conservative legal movement never treats a decision it dislikes as "settled." It just waits for another shot.

This kind of analysis and commentary is what we should be seeing from our media. The lack of critique, context and approach of repeating talking points verbatim and calling it a job done is deeply damaging to our democracy. This approach in an election context is unacceptable - and a likely reality.

see here, for example (i think our other paper on on this is supposed to come out in the next couple months)

One reason why LGBTQ+ history matters, is that THIS vile fuckery will come as no surprise from the only member of Parliament who voted against Homosexual Law Reform, the Human Rights Amendment Act and marriage equality at all stages. He's always been a hateful anti-queer bigot. #nzpol

Anyone shocked that Winston Peters is leaning hard into transphobic attention/vote-seeking bullshit, keep in mind that he's the only MP who's been around long enough to vote against Homosexual Law Reform in 1986, the Human Rights Amendment Act in 1993 and marriage equality in 2013, #nzpol

The takahē team is thrilled to welcome Always Becominging as Guest Poet 🖤 Her work will be showcased in the April issue of takahē, which is almost upon us! #takahēmagazine #takahē116 #AlwaysBecominging #GuestPoet

The reshuffle gives such a sense of Luxon getting anyone who poses a leadership threat out of the room. The incompetency/loyalty venn diagram is a circle.

"Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill" What depths has our AoNZ Parliament descended to? Never forget these names ⬇️⬇️⬇️ #nzpol

I'm very pleased to say I'll be talking to Richard Langston about his excellent new book about the Clean, from 6pm on Wednesday April 15 at Flying Nun Auckland. I've reviewed it in the new Listener, concluding with the line "It's the right book for the Clean: the book they deserved."

National have made a lot of tactical mistakes in the last month or so, and replacing Bishop with Brown as campaign chair might be their biggest...

On NRT: Parliament is now a hate-platform - norightturn.blogspot.com/2026/04/parl...

winston peters is describing trans people existing as a "cancerous". fascism (for what else is this "social engineering" but an extant people expecting the same protections as everyone else?) a disgusting transposition, when he is the one proposing to legislatively engineer our civil rights away

This real is one of the worst things that could have happened. People's lives should not be made worse so a politician can get votes. It's unimaginable that Labour in its 'small target' campaign will offer any real oppostion to this. This bill should NEVER have been allowed in the ballot.

for those interested without clicking in, its the bill to make 'man' and 'woman' mean 'male' and 'female' legislation (or in other words, to increase the number of cocks and pussies in parliament). "uphold legal certainty"? have you SEEN the UK?!