locus

@locuslebe.bsky.social

1079 Followers 1150 Following

te Tiriti, social democracy, sustainability, civic duty, science & art 💚🇳🇿🏳️‍🌈

Small weatherboard single story villa in New Zealand
Screenshot of The Guardian newspaper updates on the France England 3rd place match. Final score 6-4 to England
The Parthenon - Temple of Athena
What planet is David Seymour on? The Auditor General has reviewed the mess he’s made of our school lunch programme and they have found that almost half the food is not nutritious and 20,000 meals are wasted every single day! When we ran the programme, we made sure local businesses held the contracts to inspire local jobs, we made sure the food was nutritious and if there were issues, there was enough room to move the menu. We know that for many of our whanau, that lunch represented the best meal a lot of our kids got. Hungry children don’t learn, investing in something as simple as healthy food is a no brainer, yet what did Seymour do? He slashed the budget and we ended up with food so bad that many don’t want it. This is how the Political Right spoil and ruin good public services, they underfund them and make them so bad people don’t use them so the Right can then claim there is no demand. There is only one thing you can do with someone like David, and that is vote him out of Government. Make sure your whanau are enrolled now because this Government have changed the enrollment timeframe in order to rob you of your vote. Our mokopuna deserve better than this.
Quote from Professor Ingrid Robeyns. "Extreme wealth undermines democracy, is incompatible with ecological urgency, is almost always undeserved, and harms the interests of everyone, the super-rich included
Photo of Alain Delon wearing black overcoat and dark glasses
Asked what would be the first thing he would fix if he became president, Biden answered: “Rent. Not housing policy. Not the abstraction. Rent. The check that goes out the first of every month before the food, before the medicine, before the gas, before the kid’s shoes.” He added: “Cap the algorithmic price-fixing the landlord cartels have been running in plain sight. End the corporate purchase of single-family homes. Tax the institutional ownership of residential property at a rate that makes it unprofitable. Use the revenue to build. Not vouchers. Build.”
Signpost for Bathers' Beach showing warnings for snakes in the dunes
Results of a quiz on political parties that horrifyingly shows I might agree with maybe one policy of ACT and NZF. Partner made me feel better by saying 'stopped clock and all that' haha
A graph from Stats NZ that shows unemployment rate in Aotearoa NZ almost doubling in last 3 years under National party coalition
Mel's drive in neon sign at night. Two old American cars parked in front. Image is from the movie American Graffiti
Toasting marshmallows over a brazier
Blocked built small building with outside walls covered in murals. A harbour palm trees and pedestrian bridge in the background
Screenshot of a map showing MacArthur Park, which is square .... the prompt for today's music challenge
Photo looking up through stained glass green leaves and red flowers of an iron tree (an artwork)
Flat white coffee in a cup with flower shape at the top
Lyrics of song called Heavenly Pop Hit by The Chills. Each evening the sun sets in five billion places, Seen by ten billion eyes set in five billion faces, Then they close, end the day, and wait for the dawing, But the daylight and sunrise, Are brighter in our eyes, Once we were dead now I guess we are angels For we passed though the dark and avoided the dangers Then I walk with a ...... startling changes All the tension is ended, the sentance suspended, darkenss sparkles and gleams. And it all seems larger than life to me I find it rather hard rather hard to believe. So I stand as the sound goes straight through my body, I'm so bloated up, happy, and I throw things around me. And Im growing in stages, and have been for ages, Just singing and floating and free.Its a heavenly pop hit, Its something that we're humming as We swoop low on trees, always sweep under carpets, We can dive into suns though its not recommended We can hover, silent, and listen, closely, It all seems, (all seems) Larger than life to me, I find it, (find it) Hard to believe, So I wear what i want Well, ......... .... fruit had a can They'd been that way for years Yet their lives are elsatic, They should be fantastic, They should be splendid.
Harbour and hills at sunset. In the foreground a jetty with steps down to the sea.
Paul Goldsmith wearing an angry privileged and plain nasty look on his face. Below him Mark Mitchell looking genuinely opposed and put upon
Brom Stoker's Count Dracula
Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica
A fork in a forest track. 2 possible paths to follow
Sign saying: I before E except when your foreign neighbour Keith receives eight counterfeit beige sleighs from feisty caffeinated weightlifters. Weird
but doing real community organizing to protect one another. They’ve been passing out flyers with information on what our rights are regarding ICE and giving contact information for pro bono local legal advice. They’re 3D printing whistles and spreading codes so neighbors will know if and when ICE is on their streets. Every day people have been putting their bodies on the line to protect each other, with US citizens physically stopping the gestapo from disappearing people off the street, out of workplaces, and away from gas stations. They’ve been comforting the children left behind, finding contact information for the disappeared, and returning their empty cars to their families and letting them know how to begin finding their fathers, mothers, cousins, kids. And they’ve been pulling out their phones and recording what the gestapo would prefer to do in secret. That’s what Renee Nicole Good was doing: legally observing the actions of ICE in her neighborhood while her partner recorded them. Good was driving her SUV when she stopped in the middle of the road, letting her wife out to record the ICE agents in unmarked SUVs behind them. The agents exited their vehicles and began recording Good, her wife, and their car’s license plate, as Good’s wife Becky assured them that (unlike ICE) they don’t swap their license plates to hide from scrutiny, and Good herself reassured ICE officer Jonathan Ross that it’s “fine, dude. I’m not mad at you.” More officers then charged Good’s car, with one reaching his hand through the window and attempting to open the door. With Ross off to her left, Good turns the wheels of the car to the right and attempts to pull away. Unfortunately, Ross had already drawn his weapon. With his gun in one hand and his recording cell phone in the other, he shoots Good three times at point blank range, causing her to accelerate forward and crash into car parked down the street. As Ross calmly walks away, he calls Good, the woman he just shot, “Fucking bi…
Footbridge over part of Raglan (Whāingaroa) harbour. Extinct volcano (Mt. Karioi) in the distance
Merriam-Webster "Your 2026 Word" Compassionate
Excerpt from Bayly's speech to third Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly: "The Antarctic Treaty commits its now 58 parties to using Antarctica for peaceful purposes only and promotes international scientific cooperation. The potential for disputes over territorial claims is set aside, military activity is outlawed, and Antarctica is the world’s first nuclear weapon-free zone. The Treaty also guarantees freedom of scientific investigation and promotes international research cooperation, in the spirit of the International Geophysical Year. This science has taught us that what happens in Antarctica matters to us all. For example, important research like modelling ice sheets to better predict sea-level rise gives us information to help us prepare for and respond to future climate challenges. New Zealand remains committed to conserving and protecting the Antarctic and working with international partners to uphold the Antarctic Treaty System. These international rules and norms protect Antarctica and its surrounding Southern Ocean. However, we cannot take these achievements for granted. The international order that has sustained peace for the past 80 years stands on the precipice of breaking down. The shift in the international order from rules to power continues its malignant path and impacts deeply on perceptions of the broader legitimacy of the multilateral rules-based system. It has never been more apparent just how much diplomacy and the tools of statecraft matter in our troubled world." "New Zealand firmly believes that we all must continue supporting the Antarctic Treaty System, so that it will endure this new era. This is why New Zealand is seeking to energise a wide range of international partners to maximise support for Antarctic rules and norms. New Zealand has also recently refreshed its Statement of Commitment to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. It is also why we are pleased to host this meeting of the Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly. It is another va…
SecretSanta card explaining the gifts in the photo and alt text above
A still life photo of handmade fingerless woolen gloves, a chocolate bar made in Christchurch , an aspiring writer's first exercise book, a notebook for composing, a tiny unicorn badge that says: I'm not weird I'm limited edition (haha nice), and Te Reo Māori memory game...
Screenshot of 7 Dec 2025 Guardian newspaper report that says "On average, Israeli weapons now kill seven people a day [in Gaza]. That rate of violent death would be considered an active conflict in many other contexts, raising questions about how accurately “ceasefire” describes the new status quo. The screenshot includes a photo of tents burning in Khan Younis on 3 December in an Israeli strike that killed five people, including two children, in violation of the ceasefire.
Man standing next to a statue of Riffraff
Two wrapped presents under a Christmas tree with a little card ... waiting to be opened
Butterfly resting on a leaf with its wings spread wide
Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers lying on top of an old land rover with two lions alongside them. Photo taken while filming Born Free in Kenya in 1966. Born Free was Joy Adamson's biography about adopting Elsa, a lion cub a few days old. Elsa was cared for in their home in Kenya and eventually freed into Meru national park
A very large rare flightless parrot from Aotearoa New Zealand. It's called a kākāpō. It's green and about 60cm long.
Front of a kayak floating on harbour fringed with dark green bushes and clear blue sky above
Map of my 8.5km walk... time taken 1hr 24mins
Tropical garden with palms, ferns and a small stream
Jimmy Cliff performing and as usual wearing a cool hat... this one is a hold and black leopard print Nefertiti inspired creation
Rikki Morris. Best known for 1988 hit single "Nobody Else" which he wrote and performed with his older brother Ian Morris/Tex Pistol and which reached number one in Aotearoa New Zealand and remained on the charts for sixteen weeks.... ref. Wikipedia
Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes Record sleeve June 2, 1974 Kevin Ayers - John Cale - Eno - Nico
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights The ongoing genocide in Gaza: Q&A on the law and recent developments Over the last year, ECCHR has been conducting independent research and analysis on Israel’s actions in Gaza and the topic of genocide (see Question 6). We have reached the conclusion that, under international law, Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza
Downgrading, removing and omitting te reo Māori is probably the most short-sighted and damaging policy imposed on Aotearoa New Zealand since the Land Wars. This government is led by Act ideology. At best cutting te reo Māori in earliest reading and phonics books is selfish. At worst it is punishing the uppity natives who have finally started to reclaim their language and want it to be available to all New Zealanders. Selfish because it incorrectly and misleadingly claims that Māori words will confuse young children and will ‘hold back’ their reading skills. Selfish because phonics is not the only tool that should be used to help children learn to read. Selfish because the opposition to Māori being taught to all children from the earliest age, is driven by fear they won’t understand what their children are saying. Selfish because it is based on incorrect understanding or missing awareness that there is solid evidence learning other languages as early as possible gives children capabilities benefiting them throughout their lives. Selfish because it is rejecting the importance of building comprehension of our indigenous and official second language. Selfish because it denies te reo Māori is integral to our national culture, history and reality. At worst, cutting te reo Māori in earliest reading and phonics books is blind devotion to a monocultural view of Aoteroa New Zealand. Further it indicates an underlying fear that somehow Māori might displace English. It won’t. If we do the utmost to give all children early and continued exposure to Māori, there will be a hundred-fold return on our investment. For sure, educational, cultural, societal and economic benefits. Not least, our children, grandchildren and future generations will thank us when they have an indigenous language and culture that is fully integrated into our sense of nationhood. They will all be proud of how unique this makes them feel as Kiwis.
Trevor Best reply to Peter Dunne: Why wouldn’t they be wary of bipartisan agreements, Peter. They thought they had agreement with the other side on the treatment of methane, fair pay agreements and the intensification of housing in our main cities. None honoured. Just this week there was an attempt to leverage them into a public lynching. When a government shows the level of contempt for previous government policy this one has (even to the point where they have reversed legislation they themselves enacted or supported say like pay equity or Section 7AA of the OT Act) the very word “bipartisan” would be triggering. Given the big face palm they got from Mayor Brown this week it looks like the experience of local government is similar. Bipartisanship is over. Its dead and buried under the NZ Initiative’s carpark alongside Centrism. RIP. Slaughtered by a minority ideology. PS: Why don’t you ask Sinn Fein for an opinion on how “bipartisanship” is going in Ireland.
A tūī feeding on the stunning red flowers of ngutukākā tree
Cartoon style wall paintings of bonefaced aliens holding weapons. Artwork found at a local brewery in Upper Hutt, New Zealand
“Growing up in Christchurch, there was just never an opportunity to learn te reo Māori, certainly not at school. I could have gone through my entire childhood, early adolescence, without ever having heard a word of te reo Māori spoken.” In those days, it didn’t hamper him professionally, he says. “It’s a terrible thing to say, but you could read the 6 o’clock news and not know anything about te reo Māori back then.” That brought with it whakama [shame], he says. “Trauma, shame and it comes from the fact that te reo Māori for us, if you’re Maori, is not a second language it’s our language. “So, if you’re really shit at it, what does that say about your identity?” A full immersion course was a turning point. “It just about killed me, a full day’s study, 9 till 3, in a classroom. I hadn’t been in a classroom for 30 years. “It was incredible, just the most amazing bunch of people.” McRoberts, who is now Te Ao Māori editor at NBR and has hosted the recent RNZ podcast RNZ 100: A Century of Stories podcast, says watching Six60 play ‘Kia Mau Ki Tō Ūkaipō’ in Christchurch was an emotional moment. “There were 20,000 people at this venue singing in te reo Māori, and I was standing there with my brother, and [Six60 bassist] Chris Mac’s wife Mel in the mixing tent in front of the stage, and I was just bawling my eyes out. “I remember Mel saying, ‘What’s wrong?’ And I just never, ever thought as a young Māori boy growing up in this city I’d ever see a rugby stadium full of 20,000 people singing in te reo Maori.”
Cover of Marlon Williams's awesome album of songs in Māori. Te whare tiwekaweka. Depicts a haunted house in black and white with tall thin man in a top hat carrying a black bag as he walks towards it
Rosie O’Donnell, response to trump's threat to remove her US citizenship. Rosie posted a photo of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to Instagram, and wrote: “Hey Donald –you’re rattled again? 18 years later and I still live rent-free in that collapsing brain of yours. I'm everything you fear: a loud woman,a queer woman,a mother who tells the truth. You build walls – I build a life for my autistic kid in a country where decency still exists....” After she details other ways that her and Trump’s outlooks differ, she concluded: “You want to revoke my citizenship?Go ahead and try, King Joffrey with a tangerine spray tan. I’m not yours to silence. I never was. Rosie.”
The K-Tel Rock 80 record cover song list A1 Gary Numan– Cars A2 The Pretenders– Brass In Pocket A3 Sniff 'N' The Tears– Driver's Seat A4 Nick Lowe– Cruel To Be Kind A5 Joe Jackson– Is She Really Going Out With Him? A6 Pat Benatar– Heartbreaker A7 Blondie– Call Me B1 Ramones– Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio? B2 The Knack – My Sharona B3 Cheap Trick– I Want You To Want Me B4 Ian Gomm– Hold On B5 Blondie– One Way Or Another B6 Pat Benatar– We Live For Love B7 M – Pop Muzi – Scott*
Bulbs, wires and exercise books. Basic test of how to wire electrical circuits safely.
Album cover of Kiwi musician Dave Dobbyn's 1998 release, The Islander. Dave wearing swim goggle sunglasses and wreck of an old ship behind him
My Dad always told us to stand up to bullies. Not much fun, but its not just me I’m worried about. This ‘Victim of the Day’ campaign from a Deputy Prime Minister is repugnant, and like the ‘Regulatory Standards Bill’ itself, inimical to a healthy democracy. Although ACT has made a concerted attempt, aided and abetted by the NZ Initiative which is closely associated with this Bill, to pretend that its provisions are innocuous and inconsequential, an avalanche of authoritative analyses demonstrate that this is not the case. Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Dean Knight, Andrew Geddis, Jonathan Boston and other legal and constitutional authorities have all offered devastating critiques of this Bill, and what it would mean for democratic processes in New Zealand. Public health, environmental, heritage and many other experts have also spelled out its implications in their own fields of expertise, which are deeply disturbing. Perhaps its not surprising that those attempting to deceive the New Zealand public about the practical effects of this Bill should stoop so low in their efforts to defend it against informed criticism. Let’s hope that the Prime Minister and the National Party have the backbone to dissociate themselves from this kind of scurrilous, self-serving politics, and the tactics that go with it. If they don’t, shame on them.
Wellington yacht harbour at 7pm on a clear winter's evening. Lights reflected on the harbour and white hulled masted yachts at anchor
A beautiful hand crafted treasure box covered in a collage of photos of musicians and bands. The box contains homemade beanie, chocolates, and sauce and relish
Celmisia Alpina... a photo of a mountain daisy growing in rocks alongside the Tongariro crossing
Internet search for news reports for the past 18 months on what Helen Clark has been saying must happen to prevent the horrific treatment of Palestinians in Gaza