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tastromo.bsky.social
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@tastromo.bsky.social
490 followers 380 following 3.3K posts
Kia ora

#Solarpunk / #Hopepunk/ #NeoLuddite / #Astrophotographer
#ClimateEmergency / often #nzpol #auspol posting

Those who build walls are their own prisoners #leguin posting
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tastromo.bsky.social
Bring this back tbh
Screenshot from Inglorious Basterds of two Ben crouching and looking at the camera, one holding a knife played by Brad Pitt Screencap from Inglorious Basterds of a man showing a Nazi swastika carved into his forehead
December 9, 2025 at 10:37 PM
tastromo.bsky.social
This story gives me the absolute creeps

It’s wild that cops can just walk amongst us as if they’re regular people (Off-duty cops are prettymuch just undercover cops too)

This would be my policy towards undercover cops:
Screenshot from “Inglorious Basterds”, looking up at two men, one holding a big knife A Screenshot from “Inglorious Basterds” showing a man with a swastika cut unto his forehead so that everyone will be able to tell who he is
December 9, 2025 at 11:08 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
In terms of subscribers it’s also the third most popular Australian subreddit, behind r/Australia and r/AustralianPolitics — maybe it was part of your strategy to get in front of right wingers with this AMA, not sure.
Screenshot of reddit communities and their member counts: - r/australia — 2.8M - r/AustralianPolitics — 249K - r/australian — 158K
December 9, 2025 at 9:13 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Remember: its wars are “holy wars” because they’re almost always framed as “good Christians vs evil barbarians”; “god bless the troops” etc.

And they have been at war for all but 17 years of their entire history.

#uspol #hegseth #venezuela #HandsOffVenezuela #warcrimes
Graph showing a timeline of the USA’s history. It is almost entirely red indicating war, with a few green bars for peacetime (just 17 years)
December 2, 2025 at 5:22 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
5. War on Terror, Azizabad Airstrike
6. Abu Ghraib, the Iraq War
7. Wounded Knee Massacre
8. My Lai Massacre

Too many more to list…

Remember, the USA has the most violent, bloodthirsty warlike culture that has ever existed in human history.

#uspol #hegseth #venezuela #HandsOffVenezuela #warcrimes
Azizabad Airstrike, the War on Terror Since 2001, Afghanistan has continually seen the deaths of civilians at the hands of American ground forces, warplanes, and drone attacks. One of the most notorious took place in the village of Azizabad in the country’s Helmand Province on August 22, 2008. American forces had received information that a Taliban commander, Mullah Sidiq, was on his way to Azizabad after ambushing American troops. During the night, American AC-130 warplanes carried out a deadly attack on the village. Their bombs killed about ninety civilians, many of whom were children. Although the US claimed to have killed Sidiq in the attack, and that most of the casualties were militants, Sidiq later emerged unharmed and independent investigations concluded there were few, if any, militants in the village. Despite the carnage of this event, no Americans have been prosecuted for their role in the airstrike. However, a villager named Mohammed Nader was sentenced to death by Afghan authorities for supplying NATO forces with intelligence that led to the attack. Abu Ghraib, the Iraq War Much like Afghanistan, America’s occupation of Iraq was witness to many atrocities by American forces. The most famous, if not deadly, of these crimes was the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. From October to December of 2003, US soldiers with little experience running a prison carried out shockingly sadistic acts on those they were meant to be guarding. Many detainees were humiliated, tortured, raped, sodomized, and some even killed at the hands of guards. One military report, not meant for public release, outlined some of the forms of torture practiced by the troops: “Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees…beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair…sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick.” Detainees were forced to perform sexual acts on each other, and were strung up in embarrassing and painful positions for hours or days. There are also numerous allegations of detainees being beaten to death by US soldiers and private contractors. Although there was similar activity occurring other Iraqi and Afghani prisons, the abuses at Abu Ghraib exploded into scandal largely because of photographic evidence (NSFW link) of the torture. These pictures of abuse were widely published, and publications like The New Yorker and 60 Minutes did detailed exposés. As a result of the scandal, eleven soldiers were sentenced to prison terms, but many of the soldiers and private contractors allegedly involved in the abuses have never faced trial. Wounded Knee Massacre This entire list could be made up of horrible injustices perpetrated by the US government against the country’s Native American population. One of the most significant was the massacre at Wounded Knee. This incident on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was the last major conflict of the American Indian Wars. Twenty Medal of Honour citations were granted after the engagement, the most for any single battle in American history. On December 29, 1890, the American 7th Cavalry had surrounded a band of Sioux, including women and children, at the Wounded Knee Creek. The soldiers demanded the Sioux surrender their weapons, and were in the process of collecting them when the violence began. It is unclear who fired first, but close quarters combat among the Sioux and American soldiers in the encampment was quickly followed by indiscriminate fire into the camp from surrounding US forces. Rifle fire and shrapnel from Hotchkiss cannons raked through the encampment, and mounted soldiers cut down those attempting to flee. It is estimated that at least 250 of the 350 Sioux were killed in the exchange. Twenty-five Americans died as well, but most are thought to have been killed by friendly fire. My Lai Massacre The My Lai Massacre is the most notorious war crime in US history, and has become the benchmark to which all acts of American military savagery is compared. On March 16, 1968, the men of Charlie Company entered the village of My Lai in South Vietnam to conduct a “search and destroy” mission. Although there were no signs of enemy troops, the soldiers were ordered to enter the village firing. The incident quickly devolved into violence and chaos, as the men of Charlie Company opened fire on the village’s unarmed residents. Among them were many women, children, and elders. It is estimated that over 300 civilians were shot or bayoneted to death during the course of several hours. Only one soldier, William Calley Jr., was convicted for participation in the massacre. He served three and a half years under house arrest. Perhaps even more chilling than the lack of culpability here is how commonplace this behaviour was among American troops. As Colonel Oran Henderson remarked, “Every unit of brigade size has its My Lai hidden someplace.”
December 2, 2025 at 5:22 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Americans committing #warcrimes?

A story as old as time itself, as #American as apple pie.

Info in alt text:

1. Balinga Massacre
2. No Gun Ri Massacre
3. Gnadenhutten Massacre
4. Andersonville Prison mass graves
…

#uspol #hegseth #venezuela #HandsOffVenezuela #warcrimes
The Balinga Massacre, Philippine-American War During the Spanish-American War in 1898, American forces captured the Philippines. Although the Americans viewed themselves as liberators, Filipinos had been struggling against Spanish imperialism for years. They did not take kindly to one imperial power being replaced with another. What followed was the Philippine-American War, a savage exercise in jungle combat. After suffering heavy casualties from Philippine insurrectionists in the Samar Province, General Jacob H. Smith sought revenge against the civilian population. He stated, “I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn: the more you kill and burn, the better you will please me.” General Smith’s troops proceeded to carry out a genocidal campaign in the countryside. He ordered anybody over ten years of age and capable of bearing arms to be executed, and herded thousands more into concentration camps. Unfortunately, these actions were only a microcosm of the larger brutality of America’s occupation of the Philippines. It is estimated that at least 34,000 Filipinos were killed as a direct result of the war, and another 200,000 by the cholera epidemic among refugees and those in concentration camps. No Gun Ri Massacre, Korean War When North Korean forces launched a surprise attack on South Korea on June 25, 1950, poorly trained American soldiers from Tokyo were rushed to the peninsula. The invasion created a massive refugee crisis, as civilians fled the oncoming armies. Fearing infiltration by spies posing as civilians, US command forces ordered that no civilians were to be allowed to cross battle lines at any time. On the same day these orders were issued, up to 400 refugees gathered at a bridge near the village of No Gun Ri were indiscriminately massacred by American forces. US forces initially denied involvement, stating that no American troops were in the vicinity at the time of the massacre. However, details of the slaughter have emerged in recent years, thanks to the testimonies of both the survivors and perpetrators. As one American veteran recalls, “There was a lieutenant screaming like a madman, fire on everything, kill ‘em all… Kids, there was kids out there, it didn’t matter what it was, eight to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot ‘em all.” Unfortunately, this was only the first of many such massacres by American forces in Korea that have come to light in recent years. There has been no justice for the surviving South Koreans either, as the only person to face charges for the crime, Captain Ernest Medina, was court martialed but later acquitted. Gnadenhutten Massacre, American Revolution Life as a settler on the frontier during the American Revolution was an isolated, brutish, and violent place to scrape out an existence. Front lines were non-existent, and there was no chivalry in frontier warfare. There are certainly countless atrocities history will never uncover, but one that stands out is the Gnadenhutten Massacre. On March 8, 1782, 160 Pennsylvania militiamen surrounded the village of Gnadenhutten in Eastern Ohio. Although the residents of the village were Indians, they were peaceful Christians and neutral in the fight. Nevertheless, the militiamen accused them of conducting raids throughout Pennsylvania, and voted to execute every inhabitant. The Indians were split into to huts, one for men and the other for women and children, and then bludgeoned to death before being scalped. In all, ninety-six of the one hundred Indians were scalped and killed, and the entire village was set ablaze. One survivor hid in the woods, and others actually survived their scalping and escaped to warn surrounding villages. Andersonville Prison, Civil War You might think this NSFW picture is that of a newly liberated prisoner from the Nazi concentration camps. But this man was actually a Union captive held at the POW camp in Andersonville, Georgia during the Civil War. Life for soldiers on either side of the conflict was a harrowing experience, no matter where they were stationed. Yet arguably the worst place to end up in the entire war was the Camp Sumter military prison in Andersonville. As the largest Confederate prison, the camp was designed with a maximum capacity of 10,000 prisoners. By August 1864, the number of prisoners had swelled to 33,000. Conditions in the camp were nightmarish. The Confederates were desperately low on provisions for themselves, which meant the POWs got next to nothing. The men had no shelter from the blazing summer sun or the cold winter rain. The small stream flowing through the camp became both a communal toilet and the only source of drinking water. Consequently, the death toll from disease and starvation was staggering. Of the 45,000 men held at the prison throughout its existence, approximately 12,000 died and were buried in mass graves around the camp. When the war ended, Andersonville commander Henry Wirz was arrested, tried by a military tribunal, and hanged. He was the only person on either side to be executed for war crimes in the Civil War.
December 2, 2025 at 5:22 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Can’t give you Obama / Hope but I can do one better
The text “Hopkins for low interest loans for doctors” styled like Zohran Mamdani’s winning NYC campaign
November 30, 2025 at 3:20 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Wow, Paul Goldsmith really is a special type of moron.

Good to see the govt under pressure for its human rights abuses and discrimination against Maori, from the UN in Geneva.

#nzpol #OneTermGovernment #luxon #goldsmith #paulgoldsmith
It was also good to hear members push back, very politely, on some of the government's assertions. For example, when Minister Paul Goldsmith justified the lack of government action on hate speech by saying the best antidote to hate speech is "more speech", Member Kut was firm in saying that this position does not meet international norms. He reminded the government that it has a responsibility to protect citizens, minorities, and Indigenous peoples from hate speech, and that hate speech leads to hate crimes. When Goldsmith talked about "all New Zealanders", several CERD members also reminded him that under international convention, the New Zealand government has a particular responsibility to Indigenous Mãori, given the harm done to Mãori over many generations. The government continued to give selective and misleading statements… Photo of Paul Goldsmith facing reporters
November 29, 2025 at 11:26 PM
tastromo.bsky.social
This assumes that things will e er get better.

I’m sorry, but that’s diminishingly unlikely, by this late hour.
Graph showing slow temperature rises and falls over thousands of years turning into a vertical line since the Industrial Revolution, showing us now in 2025 at 1.5 degrees of warming, 2065 showing 3 degrees and 2100 showing 3 degrees. Agriculture collapses significantly at about 2.5-3 degrees, and we won’t be able to feed more than 1-3 billion people within 40 years.
November 29, 2025 at 2:54 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Haha if you think human emissions have only “nudged” natural processes you need to go back to year 9 science classes my friend.

We’re at 1.5 now, which kills most coral reefs. 2 degrees certain, unlikely we’ll avoid 3

3 is scheduled for the 2060s and represents agriculture to feed only 1-3 billion
Graph: comparison of current global warming rate compared to historic events. Shows an almost vertical line for anthropological climate change compared to past mass extinctions that are mostly gradual, horizontal trends Chart showing tens of thousands of years of temperatures, including the advent of human agriculture, which occurred during a warming period that occurred over thousands of years. The Industrial Revolution is shown at the bottom of a completely vertical line marked with temperatures: 2025: 1.5 degrees. 2065: 3 degreees. 2100: 4 degrees Authors note: at 3 degrees, world agriculture is collapsing to a carrying capacity of just 1-3 billion people.
November 29, 2025 at 1:12 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
The people who do their defending of the environment with a balaclava and an AK47 continue to be proven that they were right all along

To me it still feels completely appropriate.

“The world isn’t dying — it is being killed — and the people killing it have names and addresses”

#climate #cop30
Photo of land defenders on a barricade built across a road in a forest. Their banner reads: NO COMPROMISE ON NATIVE FORESTS. Earth First!
November 23, 2025 at 5:25 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Same effect as the Canadian election where the incumbent underdog suddenly overtook the MAGA-aligned opposition after reckless threats from Trump

Australians saw Trump destroying the USA, made a link to our local MAGA-wannabes in the Liberal party, and immediately, dramatically shifted their votes
Guardian graphic showing polling in the Australian Federal Election. Long term graph shows mid 2022 until May 2025, with Labor initially ahead, falling behind the Liberals/Nationals coalition in about Jan2024 and then suddenly and dramatically overtaken by Labor in late March 2025. Inset shows detail of the Feb to May 2025 dramatic overtaking by Labor. Guardian Graphic | Poll averaging model by Dr Luke Mansillo and based on work by Professor Simon Jackman; poll data sourced from pollster websites and media reports. *The credibility interval is a range that we are 95% certain contains the estimated population support for each party
November 21, 2025 at 1:26 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Pro-tip: if you think that a government bill is “massive overreach” then the right thing to do is NOT VOTE FOR IT IN THE FIRST PLACE … for goodness fucking sake…

Absolute joke government, the election can’t come fast enough.

#nzpol #winston #regulatorystandards
The bill, which was introduced by the ACT Party with the intention of improving the quality of regulation in New Zealand, passed its third reading last Thursday with the support of all three coalition parties. Speaking to Waatea News on Thursday morning, Peters called the bill a "terrible overreach", and the product of "the ACT Party's deal with the National Party".
November 20, 2025 at 7:21 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
These stories remind me of an interview with Shawna Porter from the anarcha feminist punk band War on Women, talking about the decades of disappearances of women in Juarez, Mexico. They have a song about this about taking up arms “to kill the men who want to kill you” due to police being in on it.
Who is your song ‘Diana La Cazadora’ (1) about? S: Diana La Cazadora is Diana the Hunter, she is a mythical person but there is an amazing statue of her in Mexico City. Not many people know about this but in Juarez, Mexico for decades now there have been mass disappearances of Mexican women. Either never found or found in a mass grave. The political system there is very corrupt and it can be a scary place for your average hard working person. The cops do nothing if anything they perpetuate it and so I read a story about a woman who wrote into a local newspaper calling herself Diana the Hunter and claiming credit for the murder of a male bus driver saying ‘The bus drivers are in on it, the cops are in on it. The bus driver knows, he’s the one taking them back and forth and so he’s complicit in some way. Even if it isn’t the specific bus driver who died’.
November 14, 2025 at 3:09 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Photo of a design of a black cat with the words “GENERAL STRIKE” around it
November 9, 2025 at 5:14 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Anybody notice a similarity?

Luxon is pretty bad at optics honestly. Trump is literally going to court to argue he doesn’t need to fund SNAP benefits during the US shutdown and Luxon has chosen this moment to put a food related class war item on the media agenda lol

#nzpol #luxon #maga #trump
Political cartoon: A queue of sad people queue in a long line beneath a sign that says “queue here for food parcels” while Christopher Luxon in a tidy blue suit pushes through, arms wide saying “Exciting news folks! Make way for another saviour of the economy” followed by a fancy waiter carrying a dish labelled “Michelin guide to nz” Political cartoon: Donald Trump kneels beside somebody clearly experiencing poverty lying on the ground. They have n overflowing shopping trolley weighing them down, labelled “cost of living”. Trump points to a blueprint on the ground in front of the other individual, saying “Here’s the $300million ballroom I’m building”
November 8, 2025 at 1:09 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
One thing I can assure you — just like the iconic Obama “HOPE” campaign (whose posters who can still visualise in your head as you read this) — the #Mamdani campaign will be studied in design history classes around the globe — forever after immortalised.

Shout out to the art director, Rama Duwaji
Photo of a woman with black hair, a black coat - Rama Duwaji, who art directed Mamdani’s campaign
November 5, 2025 at 8:10 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Why shouldn’t I open a bottle of wine
Bilbo Baggins saying “why shouldn’t I”
November 5, 2025 at 7:51 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
BRACE POSITION EVERYONE

A THIRD “GOOD NEWS” HAS STRUCK TODAY

Yeah she’s out.

The right wing capitalist bloc of the dems is HISTORICALLY WEAK RIGHT NOW

STRIKE NOW, WHILE THEYRE DOWN

#mamdani #cheney #pelosi
NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com › politics › congress › democrats-brace-nancy-pelosi-possible-retirement-rcna241336 Democrats brace for Nancy Pelosi's possible retirement - NBC News 2 days ago ... Democrats are bracing for the possible retirement of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, one of the party's most powerful, popular and effective
November 5, 2025 at 7:08 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
#NYC now has the cutest mayor.

Just look at this cute guy

Congrats to #Zohran #Mamdani for an absolutely earth shattering victory for Democratic Socialism over in the US!
NBC NEWS PROJECTS: Zohran Mamdani wins New York mayoral race Photo: A smiling, very cute Zohran Mamdani sitting at a desk in front of an American flag
November 5, 2025 at 4:23 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
No War in the Pacific. Withdraw From #AUKUS

Never Again.

#antiwar #auspol #nzpol
Political poster based on anti-Nazi poster design from the 30s and anti-US poster from the 70s: “NO WAR IN THE PACIFIC. WITHDRAW FROM AUKUS “NEVER AGAIN” Image: a bayonet skewering the letters AUKUS
November 3, 2025 at 6:36 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Turned on Australian Question Time … wait what the f is Gerry Brownlee doing here??!

They’ve found him a little seat to sit on the floor next to the Australian speaker which Sussan Ley noted “doesn’t happen often and is a great honour” but … spare chair looks like an afterthought 😂

#nzpol #auspol
Gerry Brownlee on the floor of the parliament greeted by Anthony Albanese, with the Australian Speaker in the background Gerry Brownlee on the floor of the parliament greeted by Anthony Albanese, with the Australian Speaker in the background. Gerry is seated on a little chair beside the speaker, looking like they forgot he was coming Close up of Gerry Brownlee on the floor of the parliament, sitting in a little chair
November 3, 2025 at 4:11 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
I have this one on my shelf 🪐
#solarpunk #leguin

The ends of the pages are red 🙂
Photo of a hand holding a copy of Ursula Le Guin’s solarpunk masterpiece: “The Dispossessed” — with subtitle on the cover: “The magnificent epic of an ambiguous utopia — winner of the Nebula Award!”. The typography is set in a diagonal arrangement between two planets: one red and fiery looking at the top left, the second pale greens and blues like an ocean of forest. There is a bookshelf and a few plants behind the book.
November 2, 2025 at 7:49 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Palette cleanser: I’m a kiwi living in Australia, just got back from visiting NZ and I MISS KIWI BAKERIES SO MUCH

Australia rarely does pies as good (you can get lucky) but they NEVER do a cabinet of fresh sandwiches like this. 100% a kiwi thing and god it’s good
Photo of my hand holding a half eaten Steak, cheese, jalapeño, and vermin pie. It looks amazing. There’s also a bacon and egg salad sandwich in the background Photo of a cabinet of sandwiches and rolls in a kiwi bakery. They look amazing and fresh Photo of a pie cabinet from a kiwi bakery. They look amazing
November 2, 2025 at 12:19 AM
tastromo.bsky.social
Wow so in the blink of an eye we’ve jumped from 1935 to Nazi occupied Netherlands, 1943 with bounties put on the out-group minorities.

In other words, the USA has started setting up brownshirt militants already

They’re speedrunning Nazism
Kopgeld Term - 10 August 2009 By: Reward of NLG 7.50 for every Jew in hiding handed over to the authorities, instigated by the Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung in March 1943. Both individuals and professional bounty hunters, including the infamous Kolonne Henneicke, made use of this scheme. Within six months time, approximately 8500 Jews were arrested and put on transport.
November 1, 2025 at 11:54 PM