Nicola Willis has launched a broadside at Winston Peters, saying he has a "track record of picking Labour over National, and that's the risk you run with him".

She went on to say that Labour was "choosing to get into bed with the party that referred to Indians choosing to come to New Zealand as a 'butter chicken tsunami'".

Oh. My. God. Someone tell Willis who National’s coalition partner is, that they chose that partner, and that they will almost certainly choose that partner again should the votes fall that way.

www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

When Your Daughter is Kidnapped by ICE David Farrier's Webworm talks to Betty Wihongi, whose Kiwi daughter Everlee got kidnapped by ICE at LAX after a trip to New Zealand.

i talk in-depth to betty wihongi, whose kiwi daughter everlee got kidnapped by ICE at lax. full audio, and article, here (no paywall, no ads - please RT): www.webworm.co/betty/

🧵

An old pine tree has fallen across the road taking the power lines with it.

Wellington peeps, if you need one, this is your go home stay home warning.

You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?

The falling apart, for me 🤷‍♀️

We can literally contribute to Blacksky, Eurosky etc to decentralize further.

If you care about decentralization, donate, move your account to a non-bluesky PDS, and use apps other than Bluesky.

The ecosystem isn't perfect, but we don't have to settle for complaining. We can do something about it!

I imagine the political obituaries are getting written already (just in case), and I would argue that the Business Daddy Syndrome - the belief that he can Do It Better because because he is Business Daddy - is what defined Luxon's leadership.

Today we have naming of pants. Yesterday we have immigration policy and tomorrow we may have urbanism. But today, today we have naming of pants. The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway between the Persian Gulf and The Gulf of Oman, and today we have naming of pants.

If you needed any further evidence that kiwirail have absolutely no clue of the benefits of intercity rail and how to structure such services, look no further… 🤦‍♀️

Northern Explorer North Island Wellington locals - save 25% Journey through the heart of Te Ika-a-Mãui, from rolling farmland to volcanic landscapes. • Travel: May and June 2026 • Code: LOVELOCALWELLY Valid for Wellington residents only. Proof of address required Auckland locals - save 25% Slow down this winter and watch the landscape unfold from panoramic windows. • Travel: May and June 2026 • Code: LOVELOCALNORTH Valid for Auckland residents only. Proof of address required.

This is ridiculous. Who counts as a local to kiwirail?

Residents of Auckland or Wellington.

If you live in Hamilton, Palmerston North, or any of the towns in between that the train passes through (but does NOT serve) you are out of luck.

Someone ACTUALLY thought this would be good PR. My god 😳🤦‍♀️

Thanks Bettina — I didn’t realise you were on here — lovely to connect!

Women in chemistry: Q&A with Professor Nicola Gaston Communications Chemistry, Published online: 09 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s42004-026-01995-8Professor Nicola Gaston is the Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence, and a Professor in Physics at the University of Auckland, where her research group conducts quantum-mechanical simulations of the electronic and thermodynamic behaviour of nanoscale materials.

Just out: Women in chemistry: Q&A with Professor Nicola Gaston

NZ's science reforms all shell, no substance

Comment from Victoria University: The Govt’s science overhaul prioritises commercial outcomes, but risks narrowing the very research pipeline that fuels long-term innovation.

All good at yours?

The National Party: you’re on your own.

Māoridom: our Marae are open.

This year, vote for Te Tiriti

#nzpol

I've studied so many concentration camps through history that held vulnerable people in just this kind of crowded squalor. You demonize people, you demand more arrests, this is what you get. It already has its own budget and its own momentum, and is on track to go much further, unless we stop it.

I am so, so sorry. 💔❤️‍🩹

It’s the real social cost of underinvestment. More than the money. Having it drilled into you that society doesn’t care.

Thankfully, I have had various experiences and reasons to reinforce that society DOES care, despite the political messaging. But as you say… yes!

It’s more than looking down on though; it’s the active messaging that people on welfare are somehow inherently dishonest, can’t be trusted, must have their neighbours keep an eye on them etc.
That’s the legacy I can’t quite shift as an adult who grew up as a child on the DPB

I completely get this. It’s a lot of little things, and even just the ability to talk about it honestly… that’s one of the hardest things I think

It is heading south…

Makes me wonder how much of the ‘manosphere’ chitchat and concern for men’s jobs etc. in the media is actually being pushed as a deliberate divide and conquer strategy… 🤔

Sometimes I think it is a superpower, having grown up knowing how to do without?
But then of course I also see all the privilege that accrues to those who have never had to rely on hope… 🤔

I know this isn’t LinkedIn, but I did kind of enjoy this interview I did recently with Nature Communications Chemistry…
It’s partly about being a scientist, but even more about how we DO science, and I think it is ever more important that we talk about that.
CW: may contain nuts 🥜🤷‍♀️

🇲🇽 Man rescued two weeks after Mexico mine collapse

A worker trapped for two weeks after a mine collapsed in northwestern Mexico is rescued by military divers.

Spot the 1990s car.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Weird to me that this is the thing everyone cites, because there's so much that's so much worse. In 1974 the first laws against marital rape were passed, but all 50 states did not classify it as a crime/remove the exemption until 1993.