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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 8h

Yep.

Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 8h

Fucksake. It's quite clear now that they only looked at this benefit policy as political marketing and took no advice on who it would impact – which includes young people with serious health issues and disabilities. Just feckless and cynical. Shame on them. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Hundreds of teens with a health condition, disability may be cut from Jobseeker benefit

The government is ending Jobseeker payments to 18- and 19 year olds whose parents earn more than $65,000.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Anthony Michael Kreis @anthonymkreis.bsky.social · 10h

File state charges. This is a crime.

Kurt @flglchicago.bsky.social · 13h

Here’s video of the incident

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 11h

I've always been grateful that my inner monologue is pretty chill. Life would be a lot harder with a nasty voice.

Hylobatidae @waninggibbons.bsky.social · 12h

I don't trust anyone who doesn't have an inner monologue. What the fuck do you mean you go through life without an oversight committee.

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Charlie Mitchell @comingupcharlie.bsky.social · 1d

Compare and contrast: A statement from an NZ First spokesman 6 months ago about the actions of a party member and supporter, and a statement today from that same party’s leader.

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Bernard Hickey @bernardchickey.bsky.social · 12h

So it’s 50. With more possible. www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/news/202...

OCR reduced to 2.5%

Monetary Policy Review media release and the MPC’s Record of Meeting, which summarises the committee's discussions, leading to the decision.

www.rbnz.govt.nz

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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 13h

We can't lose Dolly.

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 14h

Dolly Parton's sister is asking fans to "pray with me" amid the country music icon's health issues

Dolly Parton’s Sister Says ‘I Was Up All Night Praying’ Amid Country Icon’s Health Issues and Asks Fans to ‘Pray With Me’

Dolly Parton's sister Frieda is asking fans of the Queen of Country to "pray with me" amid Dolly's continued health struggles.

variety.com

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 13h

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

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Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚 @notjustdna.bsky.social · 17h

#NZpol ⬇️

Coalition government ignoring advice, again.

"Capacity" here is that the existing medical schools (Auckland, Dunedin) were considered to have capacity to train ~120 more doctors; if so what did opening a new school offer?

Also risk of cost overruns, esp. considering limited govt budget.

Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 1d

Treasury: "Because of this, it is hard to reconcile (from a purely logical perspective) how building a new medical school is going to be better than any non-build option, if we aren’t facing a capacity constraint."

The University of Waikato paid Steven Joyce $1m to get $82.85m of taxpayers' money.

Matthew Littlewood @matthewdunedin84.bsky.social · 1d

www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin... Treasury repeatedly criticised Waikato Medical School proposal, but those complaints fell on deaf ears. @publicaddress.bsky.social

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rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 18h

This is going around again and it is not true. Like every site on the internet, Bluesky uses machine learning to do a first-pass approximation of image classification to detect and label content. They have repeatedly confirmed outside services do not use Bluesky user data to train their models.

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 19h

Good to see this angle is being picked up. What hapless policy-making.

RNZ News Feeds @rnzrss.bsky.social · 20h

Is this New Zealand's highest marginal tax rate?

New Jobseeker rules for teenagers mean households on certain incomes would be better off if the parents worked less, commentators say.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 1d

Treasury: "Because of this, it is hard to reconcile (from a purely logical perspective) how building a new medical school is going to be better than any non-build option, if we aren’t facing a capacity constraint."

The University of Waikato paid Steven Joyce $1m to get $82.85m of taxpayers' money.

Matthew Littlewood @matthewdunedin84.bsky.social · 1d

www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin... Treasury repeatedly criticised Waikato Medical School proposal, but those complaints fell on deaf ears. @publicaddress.bsky.social

Treasury warnings over medical school ignored

The government ignored repeated warnings from Treasury not to approve the new Waikato Medical School amid concerns about cost overruns. The...

www.odt.co.nz

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Matthew Littlewood @matthewdunedin84.bsky.social · 1d

www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin... Treasury repeatedly criticised Waikato Medical School proposal, but those complaints fell on deaf ears. @publicaddress.bsky.social

Treasury warnings over medical school ignored

The government ignored repeated warnings from Treasury not to approve the new Waikato Medical School amid concerns about cost overruns. The...

www.odt.co.nz

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, that is some majestic shit right there.

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 1d

Don't do it.

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 1d

Whether against Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Ghahraman, Ardern, other MPs, Wiles, Bloomfield, & others involved in pandemic response, transgender activists, drag queens, judges, lawyers or academics - effects of doxxing are inherently harmful, & often leads to kinetic violence or vandalism.

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 1d

Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...

Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 1d

Oh. Surely not a campaign of harassment of a history professor by Turning Point USA, founded by famous champion of civilised debate Charlie Kirk. Can't be.

Mark Bray @mark-bray.bsky.social · 3d

I’ve received multiple death threats + doxing (including my home address) directly following harassment from Turning Point USA, Jack Posobiec, Andy NGO, + Fox News which called me an antifa ‘financier.’

I have been forced to move my classes online.

If journalists want to talk, DM me or reply here.

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 1d

Do you have the right guy there? Not seeing any trolling.

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Keith Ng @keithng.bsky.social · 1d

Calling people attack dogs is not at attempt to deescalate and maintain civility, it's a attempt to escalate to distract from a failing economy. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

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Craig Renney @clrenney.bsky.social · 1d

#nzpol Sometimes a policy is so stupid it makes you question the very fabric of reality. Decisions so fabulously, almost wantonly dumb, you wonder if we actually live in a simulation. Welcome to the world of removing Jobseeker Support for 18 & 19-year-olds. craigrenney.substack.com/p/a-small-wr...

A small wrinkle in the Jobseeker policy

The government’s recent changes to benefits feel like this: the house is on fire, and this policy is them turning off the smoke alarm and saying it’s fixed

craigrenney.substack.com

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Terry Baucher @trabaq.bsky.social · 2d

Spotted this gem in a footnote on page 62 of Treasury's He Tirohanga Mokopuna

"Between 25% and 30% of everyone born in New Zealand is living overseas by age 30, and emigration rates are even higher among those with tertiary qualifications"

Radical idea here - how about stop shitting on our young?

Footnote from Treasury's 2025 He Tirohanga Mokopuna

"See Hughes, (2025a) and Hughes & Crichton (2025). Between 25% and 30% of everyone born in New Zealand is living overseas by age 30, and emigration rates are even higher among those with tertiary qualifications. Student loan holders living overseas commonly cease repayments, and these loans are sometimes written off as a result. Ministry of Education (2023)."

He Tirohanga Mokopuna is Treasury's long-term fiscal statement and it's full of woe about the funding of NZ Super. Not enough about maybe trying a LOT harder to keep people here.

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 2d

We did it for apples and kiwifruit!

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 2d

But if they couldn’t, there’d be no product to invest in and hence no money to invest in Phase 3 trials, which cost a lot of money…

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 2d

Oddly enough, psychedelics and ECT do some similar things in the brain. Only one is actually enjoyable however.

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