Oli - ultracrepidarian
@olimnz.bsky.social
ngai Aotearoa ahau | Ōtautahi resident | Retired | Was once an overland driver | Very annoyed at the CoC in AoNZ!!!
Born at 315 ppm.
I'm on the Puffball server!
Born at 315 ppm.
I'm on the Puffball server!
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
The Donbas isn’t Putin’s end game.
If he gets it, he will demand more.
We know this from history and we should learn from history.
Extract of my doorstep ahead of today’s Foreign Affairs Council ↓
If he gets it, he will demand more.
We know this from history and we should learn from history.
Extract of my doorstep ahead of today’s Foreign Affairs Council ↓
December 15, 2025 at 9:22 AM
The Donbas isn’t Putin’s end game.
If he gets it, he will demand more.
We know this from history and we should learn from history.
Extract of my doorstep ahead of today’s Foreign Affairs Council ↓
If he gets it, he will demand more.
We know this from history and we should learn from history.
Extract of my doorstep ahead of today’s Foreign Affairs Council ↓
Do not let your infrastructure go past it's Use By date...
#nzpol
#nzpol
140-year-old railway bridge loved by walkers collapses into River Spey
'The local community will be heartbroken by the collapse of the much-loved Spey Viaduct'
metro.co.uk
December 15, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Do not let your infrastructure go past it's Use By date...
#nzpol
#nzpol
My parents taught me to eat with my mouth closed. These guys don't.
There are 38 and you *have* to watch to the end (& correctly identify all the animals for bonus points).
There are 38 and you *have* to watch to the end (& correctly identify all the animals for bonus points).
I don't have any news to counteract the terrible news of the last few days, so here is a thread of cute animals eating things, with most with crunchy cromchy sounds.
1.
1.
December 15, 2025 at 8:13 AM
My parents taught me to eat with my mouth closed. These guys don't.
There are 38 and you *have* to watch to the end (& correctly identify all the animals for bonus points).
There are 38 and you *have* to watch to the end (& correctly identify all the animals for bonus points).
Could this be our answer to Golden Clams, AoNZ?
December 15, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Could this be our answer to Golden Clams, AoNZ?
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
“That’s our message to people - we can change this.”
It’s great to see a party leader being so matter of fact about policy basics and unequivocal about the fact they are absolutely possible to achieve for New Zealanders.
It’s great to see a party leader being so matter of fact about policy basics and unequivocal about the fact they are absolutely possible to achieve for New Zealanders.
December 15, 2025 at 5:40 AM
“That’s our message to people - we can change this.”
It’s great to see a party leader being so matter of fact about policy basics and unequivocal about the fact they are absolutely possible to achieve for New Zealanders.
It’s great to see a party leader being so matter of fact about policy basics and unequivocal about the fact they are absolutely possible to achieve for New Zealanders.
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
No surprise here.
It is worth remembering again that this is the justice system to which NZ's Sir William Young has been only too happy to lend credibility through his acceptance of a lucrative appointment to the Court of Final Appeal.
It is worth remembering again that this is the justice system to which NZ's Sir William Young has been only too happy to lend credibility through his acceptance of a lucrative appointment to the Court of Final Appeal.
Jimmy Lai: conviction of Hong Kong pro-democracy figure decried as attack on press freedom
Rights groups dismiss ‘sham conviction’ of media tycoon on national security offences in city’s most closely watched rulings in decades
www.theguardian.com
December 15, 2025 at 6:58 AM
No surprise here.
It is worth remembering again that this is the justice system to which NZ's Sir William Young has been only too happy to lend credibility through his acceptance of a lucrative appointment to the Court of Final Appeal.
It is worth remembering again that this is the justice system to which NZ's Sir William Young has been only too happy to lend credibility through his acceptance of a lucrative appointment to the Court of Final Appeal.
Interesting economists take on American decline.
An example: "The infrastructure deficit is a perfect metaphor for American decline...because infrastructure requires long-term thinking, deferred gratification, and collective investment."
Bit like AoNZ really.
@bernardchickey.bsky.social
#nzpol
An example: "The infrastructure deficit is a perfect metaphor for American decline...because infrastructure requires long-term thinking, deferred gratification, and collective investment."
Bit like AoNZ really.
@bernardchickey.bsky.social
#nzpol
Is This the Fall of the American Empire? | Yanis Varoufakis
YouTube video by The Sharpline
youtu.be
December 15, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Interesting economists take on American decline.
An example: "The infrastructure deficit is a perfect metaphor for American decline...because infrastructure requires long-term thinking, deferred gratification, and collective investment."
Bit like AoNZ really.
@bernardchickey.bsky.social
#nzpol
An example: "The infrastructure deficit is a perfect metaphor for American decline...because infrastructure requires long-term thinking, deferred gratification, and collective investment."
Bit like AoNZ really.
@bernardchickey.bsky.social
#nzpol
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
And yet, they're doing it.
Maybe because the toll of *not* winding down the world's largest coal industry would be way worse?
Maybe because the toll of *not* winding down the world's largest coal industry would be way worse?
China’s shift from away from the dirtiest fossil fuel exposes the economic and human toll of winding down the world’s largest coal industry.
China Confronts the Cost of Dismantling the World’s Biggest Coal Sector
From the days of Mao Zedong, the fuel has underpinned economic growth, millions of jobs and the Communist Party’s founding myths.
bloom.bg
December 14, 2025 at 11:32 PM
And yet, they're doing it.
Maybe because the toll of *not* winding down the world's largest coal industry would be way worse?
Maybe because the toll of *not* winding down the world's largest coal industry would be way worse?
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
Demonstrating how our politics and media has lost its moral compass entirely.
Giving money to get a posh food guide here?
A Good Thing, apparently.
Funding foodbanks for our most impoverished?
We can’t afford that, tax is evil & shouldn’t be spent on The Poors.
drbex.substack.com/p/money-for-...
Giving money to get a posh food guide here?
A Good Thing, apparently.
Funding foodbanks for our most impoverished?
We can’t afford that, tax is evil & shouldn’t be spent on The Poors.
drbex.substack.com/p/money-for-...
Money for food? Only if you're a critic
I can’t stop thinking about the wildly discordant nature of these two headlines:
drbex.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Demonstrating how our politics and media has lost its moral compass entirely.
Giving money to get a posh food guide here?
A Good Thing, apparently.
Funding foodbanks for our most impoverished?
We can’t afford that, tax is evil & shouldn’t be spent on The Poors.
drbex.substack.com/p/money-for-...
Giving money to get a posh food guide here?
A Good Thing, apparently.
Funding foodbanks for our most impoverished?
We can’t afford that, tax is evil & shouldn’t be spent on The Poors.
drbex.substack.com/p/money-for-...
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
We don't yet know the ethnicity, religion, or nationality of the two gunmen in Sydney, and their exact motivation is still unclear, but already David Seymour is linking this tragic event to the Middle East, and his followers are engaging in xenophobia and Islamophobia
December 14, 2025 at 10:39 AM
We don't yet know the ethnicity, religion, or nationality of the two gunmen in Sydney, and their exact motivation is still unclear, but already David Seymour is linking this tragic event to the Middle East, and his followers are engaging in xenophobia and Islamophobia
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
Once again we learn that the Metropolitan Police have been using undercover agents to spy on a group working to hold the police to account.
If you spy on an anti-corruption group the logical conclusion is that you’re pro-corruption.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
If you spy on an anti-corruption group the logical conclusion is that you’re pro-corruption.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Police spied on group set up to expose wrongdoing in Met, inquiry hears
The HCDA, which sought to expose police corruption and violence, was secretly monitored for a decade
www.theguardian.com
December 14, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Once again we learn that the Metropolitan Police have been using undercover agents to spy on a group working to hold the police to account.
If you spy on an anti-corruption group the logical conclusion is that you’re pro-corruption.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
If you spy on an anti-corruption group the logical conclusion is that you’re pro-corruption.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
Alec Horne and his band heroically performed the same song for 24 hours yesterday to raise money for Stand-up to Cancer. This was my tiny contribution, at about the half-way mark. Feel free to sample it for an international dance banger.
@daraobriain.bsky.social Excited to see this new scatting direction in person! I'm looking forward to the scatting tour! @alexhorne.bsky.social
December 14, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Alec Horne and his band heroically performed the same song for 24 hours yesterday to raise money for Stand-up to Cancer. This was my tiny contribution, at about the half-way mark. Feel free to sample it for an international dance banger.
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
Hipkins and Labour need to stop trying to placate those who will never vote for them and start trying to inspire those who might.
December 14, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Hipkins and Labour need to stop trying to placate those who will never vote for them and start trying to inspire those who might.
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
Can one of you Auckland YIMBYs find me a new apartment? Aesthetic and location of 59 France Street would be nice. I want modern, tall ceilings, city/fringe, good noise proofing, 1-2 rooms, balcony, a view, good wardrobe space, clean, and not $1,500+ a week. Thanks x
December 14, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Can one of you Auckland YIMBYs find me a new apartment? Aesthetic and location of 59 France Street would be nice. I want modern, tall ceilings, city/fringe, good noise proofing, 1-2 rooms, balcony, a view, good wardrobe space, clean, and not $1,500+ a week. Thanks x
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
❗️Mass protests took place in 🇭🇺Budapest tonight after it became known that the Orbán government had concealed an official report on crimes against children in state care.
December 14, 2025 at 8:23 AM
❗️Mass protests took place in 🇭🇺Budapest tonight after it became known that the Orbán government had concealed an official report on crimes against children in state care.
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
#nzpol A roof top solar installation subsidy would be really really smart, IMHO.
There are policies that Labour could adopt that are aspirational, practical and not especially left wing. To give one example: "Electrify everything!". Bring back the clean-car discount, and introduce a subsidy for rooftop solar and batteries.
December 14, 2025 at 7:40 AM
#nzpol A roof top solar installation subsidy would be really really smart, IMHO.
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
This is such patronising bullshit. We’re not aspiring to “unrealistic” things like a three-day work week, a holiday house and a pony. We want kids fed, a health system, a role in life for everyone. Those things aren’t unrealistic, they’re a *choice* successive governments are making to deny us.
"We've had a series of governments now who have encouraged people to be aspirational for New Zealand and have promised things that have been completely unrealistic. ... I'm not going to fall into that trap."
#NzPol
#NzPol
'Opportunity to stamp my own mark': Chris Hipkins promises a different Labour
The last election saw Labour's six years in government come to an end, and Hipkins returning to the opposition benches just 10 months after becoming prime minister.
www.rnz.co.nz
December 14, 2025 at 6:18 AM
This is such patronising bullshit. We’re not aspiring to “unrealistic” things like a three-day work week, a holiday house and a pony. We want kids fed, a health system, a role in life for everyone. Those things aren’t unrealistic, they’re a *choice* successive governments are making to deny us.
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
If you’re looking for a lift- and for policy that doesn’t hide bare minimum ideas behind the rhetoric of progress - take a look at the Greens platform.
For me, a timely reminder that we don’t move forward by lowering our expectations, but by affirming that hard things can and should be done.👇
For me, a timely reminder that we don’t move forward by lowering our expectations, but by affirming that hard things can and should be done.👇
Complete Party Policy
We are building a future where we do more, faster, to protect our planet and make sure everyone is treated equally.
www.greens.org.nz
December 7, 2025 at 4:12 AM
If you’re looking for a lift- and for policy that doesn’t hide bare minimum ideas behind the rhetoric of progress - take a look at the Greens platform.
For me, a timely reminder that we don’t move forward by lowering our expectations, but by affirming that hard things can and should be done.👇
For me, a timely reminder that we don’t move forward by lowering our expectations, but by affirming that hard things can and should be done.👇
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
As in NZ as in the UK.
"The one thing I'm certain of & people tell me every single day it's a status quo is not working - it is broken and Labour ultimately exists right now to protect power and wealth in this country. " - Zack Polanski.
Save what is left of the Labour party - Vote Green.
#nzpol
"The one thing I'm certain of & people tell me every single day it's a status quo is not working - it is broken and Labour ultimately exists right now to protect power and wealth in this country. " - Zack Polanski.
Save what is left of the Labour party - Vote Green.
#nzpol
December 14, 2025 at 8:18 AM
As in NZ as in the UK.
"The one thing I'm certain of & people tell me every single day it's a status quo is not working - it is broken and Labour ultimately exists right now to protect power and wealth in this country. " - Zack Polanski.
Save what is left of the Labour party - Vote Green.
#nzpol
"The one thing I'm certain of & people tell me every single day it's a status quo is not working - it is broken and Labour ultimately exists right now to protect power and wealth in this country. " - Zack Polanski.
Save what is left of the Labour party - Vote Green.
#nzpol
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
464 U.S. mass shootings in 2025
6996 mass shootings since 1/1/2013
0 days since last mass shooting
www.massshootingtracker.site
6996 mass shootings since 1/1/2013
0 days since last mass shooting
www.massshootingtracker.site
Mass Shooting Tracker
www.massshootingtracker.site
December 14, 2025 at 5:17 AM
464 U.S. mass shootings in 2025
6996 mass shootings since 1/1/2013
0 days since last mass shooting
www.massshootingtracker.site
6996 mass shootings since 1/1/2013
0 days since last mass shooting
www.massshootingtracker.site
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
Nigel Farage is probably delighted today that Reform have the most members of a political party.
It doesn't have to be this way.
180,000 and rising. Hope ready to overtake hate.
Stand and be counted.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
It doesn't have to be this way.
180,000 and rising. Hope ready to overtake hate.
Stand and be counted.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
December 13, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Nigel Farage is probably delighted today that Reform have the most members of a political party.
It doesn't have to be this way.
180,000 and rising. Hope ready to overtake hate.
Stand and be counted.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
It doesn't have to be this way.
180,000 and rising. Hope ready to overtake hate.
Stand and be counted.
Join.greenparty.org.uk
Reposted by Oli - ultracrepidarian
"Happy 13/12"
ACAB Day stencil seen in Stockholm, Sweden
ACAB Day stencil seen in Stockholm, Sweden
December 13, 2025 at 1:51 PM
"Happy 13/12"
ACAB Day stencil seen in Stockholm, Sweden
ACAB Day stencil seen in Stockholm, Sweden