I just made a submission on the bullshit terf bill in my capacity as someone who spends a lot of time thinking about why people believe dumb shit. (I was uncharacteristically respectful of authority.) If you're in New Zealand, I hope you see fit to do the same: www3.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/mak...

Yf A.I. were trulye an excitinge and promisinge world-changinge technologye the storyes tolde about it woulde not involve so much destructioun of the planet and of the human spirit. The worde itself wolde not come to mean, as it hath, the arrival of dystopian crueltye and the breakinge of art.

Oops @3mbg.bsky.social found another game that turns me into an unmitigated asshole 😂

Another reminder: if there exists *any* class of people who don't have due process rights, then *nobody* actually has due process rights because the government can always just say you're in that class.

Anyway, here's a very good take from Hasan

Minister Costello: I don't know where the documents on my desk in my private office came from Minister Mitchell: I didn't know about the emails repeatedly sent to my office PM Luxon: No one in my office knew about the documents that were delivered to my office I'm starting to see a pattern

You should listen to this podcast and the trans people on this podcast. You should also, especially if you're cis, be as mad as I was and determined to take some god damned action.

Almost everything put in place following the Royal Commission into the 2019 mosque shooting has been disestablished, piece by piece, and the social media environment is far worse now than 2019. This is, unfortunately, an unsurprising development www.rnz.co.nz/news/communi...

‘When the government replaces a New Zealand public servant with AI, what really happens is this: money that used to be paid to someone living in Wellington, Lower Hutt or Palmerston North gets paid instead to a tech giant in California or Seattle’ newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/21/b...

And am I the only person who's noticed how many articles about incomes and financial insecurity RNZ is assigning to their "money correspondent" so they don't get the same level of scrutiny or opposition opinions as if an actual political reporter were covering them? Or is that too tinfoil?

Second panel is not an exaggeration. We were already planning to get rid of our gas hot water but seeing *how much we were paying* for gas after everything else went onto the solar made it a matter of urgency

Labour stands with public servants, public service unions, and the services we all need. 167 days to make this a one-term government and turn New Zealand around

one interesting thing so far about loudly hating AI is the way AI lovers are like "wow so you're just totally closed off to hearing another perspective??" as if their perspective hasn't been relentlessly pushed down our throats with no space to push back (particularly in professional settings)

At a deeper level, think about how you express your own gender identity. How much of it is because it's authentic to you and how much feels imposed? Are you worried about dressing or acting a way that feels more authentic to you because people might think you're queer or trans?

in the first episode of the series he hides a fugitive girl disguised as a man, bullies the king and sheriff into giving a shit about a murder, reminds the abbot that their duty is to care for the poor even when it’s politically inconvenient, and is late for church that’s my emotional support monk

This is a good article but doesn't quite get what struck me about the video: the Israeli government's whole tone [in English] is always a bit sorrowful. "We have no choice. We don't WANT to do this. But look! *waves a big racism flag* We're under attack!" The video proved that they fucking ENJOY IT

It’s obviously because of immigrants and trans people not because life is unaffordable, degrees are useless, consumer products are low quality, increases in severe weather events, or lack of a sense security (personal data, health, job stability, housing). Definitely not those things.

Just finished The Boys. Fuck me that's how you finish a show.

It really is a scandal how little Marcroft has attempted to understand about the effect of her dogwhistle bill. Put aside its indefensible bigotry, let's look at where "man", "woman", "male", and "female" are used in the statute book.

Reading the updates on the everlee wihongi case will make you want NZ to cut off all diplomatic relationships with the USA and expel the ambassador because what the fuck.

As a former public servant, there's something particularly despicable about the precedent set this term to jumping through the legislative hoops only to say "of course we were never going to make it actually law, we just wanted to punch down on communities through public discourse"

"protecting women and girls" this was YESTERDAY

What in the tedious sophomoric Ferengi drivel is this nonsense. Mate, I "converted glucose to lactose" with my "mammary glands" for four years to feed my children, one of whom happens to be gloriously trans. Do not be lecturing me on what to call body parts or people. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

This! "They are trying to distract you from <everything that really matters right now> with a bit of nasty political theatre, at the expense of people we all know and love. We won't fall for it."

Sorry, National MPs, history will judge you by the vote you cast, not the sad face you made while doing it

Also: if you must, for some reason, frame your message around distraction, it is *entirely possible* to do this without minimising the issue. "National are so desperate to distract NZers from their litany of failures that they're throwing trans people under the bus and we won't stand for it"

Marcroft speaking on her Bill and this is *so* clearly imported nonsense. Raising cases in Australia & the UK decided under *completely different law* as if they can be applied meaningfully to NZ without much tweaking. That just isn't the case. I'm sure Marcroft isn't interested, but that's true.

Feels timely that it's nearly #sweatwithpride. Throw some dollars at support services for our LGBTQ+ whānau while you're warming up the rallying and select committee muscles www.sweatwithpride.com/fundraisers/...

Reflecting on the absolute *indignation* I have witnessed from senior National Party MPs who were insistent that their party share credit for reforming sexual violence law, or their entitlement to be at Pride events, or how much they care about women's rights Never when it actually counts though

If any National MPs who consider themselves queer-friendly happen to see this and think "but I had no choice" Literally quit. If that's really the only other choice you have then it's the better one and you should do it

National thinks the definition of "woman" is someone you pay less because otherwise the economy falls down

It’s deeply shameful for National and Act to vote for the NZF anti-trans bill tonight. Clearly they’d rather the limited resources of govt be used on this culture war nonsense that nobody wants rather than the things that New Zealanders actually need from them.

A selection from speeches from the debates on the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Recognition Act 2021. Any journos reading this feel free to ask any of the speakers whether they stand by these comments made less than five years ago. At the second reading: Nicola Grigg:

The level of comfy middle-class CBD lanyard wanker callousness required to use this analogy is truly breathtaking Like, genuinely: go to hell, Brad

Every single problem in the public service is a result of government cost-cutting and prioritising optics, spin and ideology over just spending the money to do the job properly, which would have the benefit of making everyone's lives better but on the other hand doesn't make rich people richer

Very cool seeing a significantly higher number of cyclists and walkers heading to and from Petone - entirely due to Te Ara Tupua making it far more safe and picturesque to do so! Who knew people actually will stop driving their cars when given actual options (oh right everyone)

Someone get these gen Xs out of the room when they're being pitched shitty AI tools or so help me god. Especially when they are politicians! They're not going to save you time and money. They'll COST you. You'll need to hire back everyone you fired. PLEASE LOOK AT ANY RESEARCH I'M LOSING MY MIND-

One of the worst things about our press gallery is almost without exception - and please, point me to any that don't do this so I can give credit! - they accept completely uncritically the framing that "cuts = savings". Which *extremely obviously* are concepts which are not 1:1 equivalents.

PSA: i'm updating the webworm site with developments in the everlee wihongi story. if you haven't subscribed, i'd welcome it - there is a free version, & paid version. zero ads on both. thank you: www.webworm.co

I don't think a lot of people know that in the NZ public service, it is usually *objectively known* how many staff they need to deliver the basic services they provide. They have the data on how many people answering phones, managing cases, processing claims are needed to meet demand...

@edzitron.com the beacons are lit, New Zealand calls for your aid

RespectEd Aotearoa, one of the few specialist sexual violence prevention organisations in the country, is to close after government's sector funding was withdrawn. “We are not closing because the need has gone away. We are closing because the funding did.” - Jan Logie, RespectEd Aotearoa

unscheduled reminder that piracy was found to not correlate to lower sales numbers, and then the EU tried to hide the study because they didn't like the result www.engadget.com/2017-09-22-e...

Well, it happened. A client disregarded my advice about using generative AI and guess what? It gave them bad advice AND the judge ruled that by using it, Client waived confidentiality and ordered us to turn a bunch of private stuff over. STOP USING GENERATIVE AI FOR LEGAL THINGS. I BEG YOU.

Ever notice how these guys never say anything specific? Or give an outcome resulting from this alleged time saving? How much actual work do you think Ken Griffin does every week? How much insight does he have? It’s the same shit as with remote work but replacing “serendipity” with the speed of AI

Reposting this for no particular reason 😉

This is exactly why they hate it. Allowing young people to reflect and choose their own path in life is poisonous to an economic ideology built on grinding workers into paste

Sneaking a giant screen into the flagshagger march is one of the funniest things @ledbydonkeys.org have ever done. "STAY HYDRATED" 😂🤣😂

Imagine being so utterly assured of your own superiority and the righteousness of your view that a billboard utterly undoes you. Brilliant.