Daron Parton in today’s NZ Herald -

John f*cking Howard on Foxtel. Piss off. #Ashes

amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders

It’s the most blunderful time of the year Christmas is tricky and exhausting. New Year's is fraught. The world's most powerful people are insane. Read this post for a break from all that.

WH sources say Venezuela's opposition leader committed the "ultimate sin": She accepted the Nobel Peace prize. “If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

If Luxon was a bird he'd be the Lesser Spotted Bald Eggle

The "but Venezuelans are celebrating" brigade are not wrong about that -- whomst, when the local tyrant gets got, would not party? But it's is not substantive, and pretending that the Maduro get is all win amounts to a bet that Trump won't fuck it all up And that is a bad bet

THIS. Also the fact that anyone in our government is still posting on a social media platform with persistent issues regarding misinformation, hardcore pornographic and violent extremist content? Maybe we should leave the kids alone and bring in a social media ban for adults. #nzpol

Mōrena whanāu! A couple enjoy a post run sunrise dip at Torpedo Bay. Looking good for today in Tāmaki Makaurau. Kia pa to rā!

Can we have America troops come in and steal John Howard out of the Fox Cricket commentary box. #Ashes 🏏.

Having literally worked as a ministerial press secretary over the holiday shutdown before: there is no excuse for this, whoever's on duty has all the emergency/personal phone numbers they need to get the right people online to issue a prompt response to an international incident of this enormity

There are a lot of Venezuelans who hate Maduro and might have stayed quiet in response to regime change, but privatizing and stealing the patrimony of an entire nation can galvanize a very angry resistance. Trump can’t help but make himself the villain in this scenario.

Sanho is a former military historian and an expert on South American narcopolitics. He knows what he's talking about here.

Mōrena whanāu. In other news...Tina finally caught a sunrise today on a rather fresh Tāmaki Makaurau morning before the colossal (170,000 tons), if unimaginatively named Anthem of the Seas, cruised past Rangitoto. Kia pa to rā!

Hail now (16.55) hitting Devonport, have heard thunder too. Stay safe!

Mōrena whanāu. Ships that pass in the...morning. For a change Tina and I went for a walk up Takuranga (Mt Victoria) today and got a grandstand view of a rarer event than you might imagine for a busy port. Kia pa to rā!

Mōrena whanāu! We had a lie-in this morning unlike this fisher at Narrow Neck who was ready for the incoming tide. Kia pa to rā!

So, the data belonging to between 106,000 and 126,000 users has been compromised? Around the entire population of Dunedin? That sounds ... kinda bad?

Love Try Channel, this time they're trying NZ Whisky (Lolsy's te reo pronunciation is fantastic - despite this freeze frame, they like our whisky). youtu.be/Mk1cHR18Prc?...

Happy New Year 2026. Rain is considered to be a good omen across many cultures, and there is plenty of it in New Zealand today. May it portend better times - more peace ☮️, justice ⚖️, equity, and sustainability 🌳 for our challenged world.

I'm not an economist or historian, so this is only vibes... But I tend to think that the times we generally think of as the most prosperous (in NZ, Australia, UK and US at least) were the times with the strongest worker strength (unions) and the most public/government investment.

Happy New Year 😎 in today’s NZ Herald

Mōrena whanāu! Ngā mihi o te tau hou ki a koutou! Tina and I weren't the only ones waiting for the sun this morning. Welcome to 2026, here's hoping for a less eventful year with good health, peace and prosperity for us all (and a new Government!)

Mōrena whanāu, a breezy start to the day but we got lucky with a gap in the rain and cloud here at Windsor Reserve. Kia pa to rā and Haere rā to 2025.

#SlavaUkraini 🇺🇦

Everyone working in retail, hospitality, and front line health care watching yet another news story about "our long summer break"

This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)

famously new zealand swaps sides of the australasian continent every few years, this is partly why it costs so much to fly there

Mōrena whanāu, no sunrise again today but a lot calmer than yesterday with the wind having dropped away completely (although it's expected to get quite breezy later on).

Knives out: the upper middle class are squabbling vicious children who do not deserve their inheritance Glass onion: the new elite are the stupidest murderous cunts alive and deserve your scorn Wake up dead man: those preaching anger as salvation are leading you to death, hope and kindness matter

WINE HOPE SEX Sounds promising...

RIP Claudia Cardinale. Much like Robert Redford, she was a rare case of a beautiful performer with a filmography full of bangers who did NOT become right-wing later in life. Here she is punching fascist Brigitte Bardot in the face in Les Pétroleuses (1971).

This should shake @dreadships.bsky.social out of any post-Christmas slumber bsky.app/profile/cura...

LeMonde said, not on our watch

Yes, it's an unhinged take, but it's 2025 and "today" is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

Mōrena whanāu, no sunrise today, instead a fair old breeze blowing from the south-east. Which means surf's (almost) up at Cheltenham Beach. Kia pa to rā!

Mōrena whanāu after a few grey mornings, it was a glorious start to the day as viewed from Windsor Reserve. Kia pa to rā!

This is bloody entertaining cricket but ripping through these Test matches so quickly is really ruining one of the most reliably comforting parts of summer (knowing you can fall asleep on the couch, full of ham and carbs, then wake up without having missed too much) #Ashes

What's the probability something similar has happened here? More than zero I suspect.

Okay, this one hit WAAAAAY too fucking close to home.

Mōrena whanāu overnight rain has cleared but still a grey start to the day. Meantime, this yacht moored off Devonport Yacht Club either still has its Christmas decorations up or is flying warning flags! Kia pa to rā

Scott Boland has the opportunity to become the first batter dismissed twice in the one Test hat-trick #AUSvENG

Scott Boland got a golden duck, 3/30, a catch, and more runs than Root/Duckett/Bethell combined today

Make a bond movie casual Dr Yeah, Nah

my son got two different toy fire trucks for christmas. two. and despite being considerably more familiar with their purpose and operation, i didn’t receive a single fucking fire truck

"That's a terrible ball...HA! HA! HA!" Really did look like leg-side rubbish, but I hadn't noticed Crawley was in at leg-slip (and it appears Carey might not have either). #ashes

Remarkable

BTW, this would have been at @11.30am Melbourne time. #ashes