Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
@kiwipeterkelly.bsky.social
230 followers 480 following 420 posts
Barrister (but posts are not in that capacity). Parent. He/Him. All views personal. General commercial litigation,trusts and equity, privacy, and (increasingly) public law. Covid continuing despite denial creates interesting legal consequences.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
ehjc.bsky.social
Your yearly reminder that I got renewed as a wedding celebrant for another 12 months. I specialise in small, bespoke, queer weddings in general but I just enjoy helping people have a great time publicly professing their love.
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
robbienicol.bsky.social
Do I know any science teachers in Auckland who could help me film a video where I set methane bubbles on fire?
kiwipeterkelly.bsky.social
The interesting thing is: why would these doubtless highly intelligent people want to spend all of their time and energy conjuring a genie that owes them no wishes, and is highly unlikely to be benign given it is in competition with humans for the resources it needs? (Other critiques available.)
emollick.bsky.social
This relatively short essay by Jack Clark (from OpenAI & Anthropic) is a good indicator of the attitude of many people inside the AI labs, and what they think is happening right now in AI.

You do not have to believe him, of course, but it is worth noting: importai.substack.com/p/import-ai-...
kiwipeterkelly.bsky.social
I wonder what the effect of America moving to a European imprisonment rate would be...
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
david-schindler.de
Ending slavery increased GDP by 9.1% as slavery reduced the welfare of the enslaved substantially, while only generating minuscule welfare gains to slave owners. Fascinating topic that once again highlights how coercive instructions are economically detrimental!

www.nber.org/papers/w3435...
The Economic Geography of American Slavery
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
keithng.bsky.social
We have a solution for this - political parties! They represent a rough set of values and policy directions, an internal vetting and selection system, and a reputational system that makes parties accountable for the candidates the choose (or throw out if they turn out to be shit).
timothygassin.bsky.social
Voters therefore have little choice but to make their choices based on the statements made by candidates in the booklet provided with their ballot paper. These statements are often pretty generic, give little real idea of candidates' ideology or beliefs, and are pretty tedious to read.
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
UPDATE: Judge Perry issued an opinion explaining why she blocked the Texas National Guard deployment in Chicago.

She begins with Alexander Hamilton’s rejection of a “preposterous” idea that the Constitution lets a President deploy a State’s militia to a different State for political retribution. 🧵
OPINION AND ORDER
Since this country was founded, Americans have disagreed about the appropriate division
of power between the federal government and the fifty states that make up our Union. This
tension is a natural result of the system of federalism adopted by our Founders. And yet, not even
the Founding Father most ardently in favor of a strong federal government believed that one
state's militia could be sent to another state for the purposes of political retribution, calling such
a suggestion "inflammatory," and stating "it is impossible to believe that [a President] would employ such preposterous means to accomplish their designs." But Plaintiffs contend that such
an event has come to pass, and argue that National Guard troops from both Illinois and Texas
have been deployed to Illinois because the President of the United States wants to punish state elected officials whose policies are different from his own.
kiwipeterkelly.bsky.social
@brislen.nz was this in the full remarks? Because if you listen to the video, that's not what it says.
youranoncentral.bsky.social
The chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize confirms that Donald Trump does not meet the moral and ethical standards associated with the award, citing a lack of courage and integrity a trait that defines MAGA.
kiwipeterkelly.bsky.social
@olimnz.bsky.social Was this in the full remarks? Because that's not what the excerpt in the vid says.
youranoncentral.bsky.social
The chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize confirms that Donald Trump does not meet the moral and ethical standards associated with the award, citing a lack of courage and integrity a trait that defines MAGA.
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
danxduran.bsky.social
Sentences that wouldn't have made sense a decade ago
shakingstick.bsky.social
Portland reclaiming frogs for the forces of light in meme semiotics is a delight
kiwipeterkelly.bsky.social
I applaud both your original sentiment and your reservation to it.
kiwipeterkelly.bsky.social
Ah, but think of the strategic benefits of having the infrastructure owned by the same owners as, say, Wellington's Electricity Lines Company (長江和記實業有限公司).
kiwipeterkelly.bsky.social
Headline: X because of Y! Body of article: people tried X before Y. Nothing happened. No real reason articulated why Y (recognition) would change that as a matter of practical reality.
thecanaryuk.bsky.social
British citizens serving in the IDF can now be tried for war crimes in the UK

Now that the UK has recognised Palestine as a state, this opens legal routes for British members of the IDF to be charged in the UK
www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2025...
British citizens serving in the IDF can now be tried for war crimes in the UK
Now that the UK has recognised Palestine as a state, this opens legal routes for British members of the IDF to be charged in the UK
www.thecanary.co
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
broadwaybabyto.bsky.social
I’ve gotta say the speed with which many people bent a knee to fascism was not something I was prepared for.

That’s why the footage from Portland sparks so much hope.

People are fighting back in unique ways.

They’re making us smile. They’re fighting for freedom AND for joy.
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
jeremypoxon.bsky.social
Why did the Department have to outsource a basic review to Deloitte in the first place? Because they do not know how their own system -- which is unlawfully punishing ppl -- actually works. And haven't documented its processes

Here is the Secretary, in February, confessing that
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
ianboudreau.com
Dude that buffalo straight up LAUNCHES that other buffalo
izzos.us
And there's some men out there who are like "I could take one"
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
beijingpalmer.bsky.social
you may remember that in 2016 the media was very concerned with proper security standards
robertscotthorton.bsky.social
FBI agents assigned to Musk concluded he was systematically avoiding conduct standards imposed on those holding high-level clearances. FBI management concluded it could do nothing about this because of Musk's ties to Trump and the GOP.
kyledcheney.bsky.social
JUST IN: A federal judge has granted the New York Times’ demand for a list of Elon Musk’s security clearances. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
womensartbluesky.bsky.social
Indigenous artist Emily Kam Kngwarray is the first Australian artist to have a solo exhibition at London's Tate Modern. Featuring over 80 of her batiks and large paintings, capturing her ancestral land, the exhibition runs until January 2026 #WomensArt
Photo of a gallery space with large suspended and wall mounted artworks, the walls are white and the floor brown, two women view the art
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
beijingpalmer.bsky.social
another strange thing is to consider how long people *could* have lived. Anne Frank was three years younger than Queen Elizabeth II!
kiwipeterkelly.bsky.social
Thank the Lord for Denbyware. Otherwise it follows no one would have married me.
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
jonseidel.bsky.social
Good afternoon. U.S. District Judge April Perry just took the bench for today's status hearing in Illinois v. Trump, over deployment of the National Guard.

A link to the complaint, for those who don't have it: t.co/yaknq55rr8
kiwipeterkelly.bsky.social
You can repost this and still think an independent inflation-targeting central bank is the best known model, btw...
musicalchairs.bsky.social
Worth noting that we only see decent job growth for young kiwis when the economy is running hot - that's when employers give less experienced people a chance.
RBNZ respond to hotness by hiking interest rates to slow the economy down. Youth unemployment is a feature of our economic model, not a bug.
Reposted by Peter Kelly (@[email protected])
musicalchairs.bsky.social
Worth noting that we only see decent job growth for young kiwis when the economy is running hot - that's when employers give less experienced people a chance.
RBNZ respond to hotness by hiking interest rates to slow the economy down. Youth unemployment is a feature of our economic model, not a bug.