Just here for the hopium.

He means it this time.

Being a Luddite Is Cool and All, but Have You Seen the Hilarious Tapestries These New Looms Are Making? “Am I worried about losing my job? Sure. It seems almost assured that eventually, my skilled craftsmanship and decades of experience will be replaced by a hu...

www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/bei...

😂

Bunnings to introduce facial recognition tech in all stores The technology was intended to provide proactive warnings when serious repeat offenders entered a store.

“Our number one priority is keeping team and customers safe, and we believe that FRT can play an important role in helping to protect people from violence, abuse and intimidation,”… Yeah right.

This is nuts…

The Government is currently negotiating an Enhanced Border Security Partnership with the US Department of Homeland Security that would grant US agencies, including ICE, automated, direct access to New Zealanders' biometric data and identity records.

"The Islamists oppose women getting an education," I mutter, as I aim my missile at the girls school

Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism

The Guardian: here’s how Substack makes money hosting Nazi newsletters. These newsletters weren’t even hard to find or subtle: swastikas and in-app recommendations from one antisemitic newsletter to a bunch of others. [theguardian.com]

Havertz 🤞

Lawsuit Claims Meta Can See WhatsApp Chats in Breach of Privacy An international group of plaintiffs sued Meta Platforms, Inc. alleging that the company has made false claims about the privacy and security of its WhatsApp chat service.

In the lawsuit, plaintiffs allege “that Meta and WhatsApp ‘store, analyze, and can access virtually all of WhatsApp users’ purportedly ‘private’ communications’ — and accuse the companies and their leaders of defrauding WhatsApp’s billions of users worldwide.”

#nzpol Data released by Stats NZ today shows that the cost of living rose at its fastest rate for 18 months. Prices rose for 80% of items in the CPI basket, meaning growth in prices was broad-based. Minimum wage workers are now facing a 3rd year of real terms cuts in wages. A thread

Partisan Laundering of Data makes Media Harder to Trust When We Need It Most YouTube video by Paul… The Other One

This week the country was again battered by summer storms with tragic outcomes. It’s emergencies like these that our state media is really important for keeping people informed. But how am I to trust RNZ if they’re putting laundered astroturf content in with that coverage?
youtu.be/RqSeS_04bfQ

JD Vance Claims Renée Good Had No Authority To Be Alive In First Place

JD Vance Claims Renée Good Had No Authority To Be Alive In First Place

Screenshot of the Guardian front page that says “Trump administration unleashes torrent of untruths…”

Dear @theguardian.com I think the word you are looking for is ‘lies’

Who’s who at X, the deepfake porn site formerly known as Twitter A look inside Elon Musk’s big tent

www.ft.com/content/ad94...

RIP Steve.

Shellac At Action Park

Taco Bell rethinks AI drive-through after man orders 18,000 waters --BBC, 29 Aug 2025

2025 Headline of the Year nominee (August)

#4 sounds like a lovely book but I didn't write it. Have had whānau up and down the country send me clippings lol
Whoever put together this list that has been circulated to regional papers, didn't fact check.

In memoriam: Asad Haider (1987-2025) - Historical Materialism ‘Our subjective horizon is the optimism of the intellect; our objective, structuring condition is pessimism of the will. Without optimism of the intellect, we have the party without the people. Withou...

www.historicalmaterialism.org/in-memoriam-...

Seymour’s music collection

Sad to learn of Asad Haider’s passing. Brian Cooke’s interview with him on Philosophy Can Ruin Your Life a few years back gives some insight into what a generous and insightful thinker he was. Such a loss www.philosophycanruinyourlife.com/e/s02e04-asa...

Since 1978, the world has observed the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People every November 29th.

China’s CO2 emissions have been flat or falling for past 18 months, analysis finds World’s biggest polluter on track to hit peak emissions target early but miss goal for cutting carbon intensity

Good morning to all those people who wasted the last decade saying, "there's no point tackling climate change in the UK, because China."

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

A better understanding implies they have any understanding to start with. Not much evidence on that front

our govt wants to spend 327 times more on a single road ($18b) than they are currently spending yearly on all of basic science in new zealand ($55m) #nzpol

Very few beneficiaries offered new non-financial sanctions, thousands have benefit cut Thousands have had their benefits cut since new non-financial sanctions were introduced, and only nine offered the new alternative.

People who revel in cruelty are often engaging in reactive abuse as a result of trauma… but in this instance I just think we are dealing with inherently cruel bastards: #nzpol

'Please help make parents hate teachers so I can get back to arms dealing..... sorry I mean aerospace.' #nzpol

Cartoon. Assoc Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard and PM Christopher Luxon sitting on a sofa. Andrew, who is drinking a cup of tea and parping out methane, says, “Beg my pardy”. Luxon with a finger under his nose, says, “Not at all, Andrew, we love everything you dairy farmers produce”

“New Zealand accused of ‘full-blown climate denial’ over cuts to methane reduction targets” - The Guardian
My Stuff #cartoon today #NZpol #ClimateChange #Methane #NetZero