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gilbert ostini

@gostini.bsky.social
122 followers 165 following 64 posts

just a nice young lad in a terrible black oubliette. overwrought queenslandiana, earnest anglicanism, academic whimsy. he/him.

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Reposted by gilbert ostini
Esther Anatolitis @anatolitis.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Let’s be clear. AI is not an intelligence; it’s not being trained, it doesn’t think, it doesn’t have agency, it's not gone rogue and it’s not alive. Humanising it helps Big Tech bypass laws they’ve already broken and weaken laws they’re keen to flout. Read on: thepoint.com.au/opinions/261...
thepoint.com.au
When it comes to AI, it's not "training". It's assimilation
We’re hearing a great many troubling claims at this week’s public hearings of the parliamentary inquiry into AI, and no doubt there are plenty more to come. As we follow the proceedings, it’s vital th...
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@burnettaotearoa @burnettaotearoa.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Some fantastic news for HIV prevention in Aotearoa. From 1 Dec (World AIDS Day), publicly funded PrEP and PEP will be available to everyone in the country who needs it, regardless of visa status. It's a win for common sense & evidence-based policy. 💊🌈 www.burnettfoundation.org.nz/articles/new...
burnettfoundation.org.nz
Free HIV preventive treatment for all in Aotearoa
As of December 1, publicly funded medication and their associated tests will be available to all on Aotearoa soil.  This means that HIV prevention tools are available to all in New Zealand, regardless...
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hannah gais @hannahgais.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
will you people shut the fuck up
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Daniel Vernon @yeehawtheboys.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Don’t be left standing in the rain after October 25th begging for a second chance, enrol to vote now! If you like this comic, and want to support, grabs pre-order of my new comic book: danielvernon.bigcartel.com
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CEO Johnny Cans @oldmatecans.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
unexpected allies but welcome ones to be sure
Gimli and Legolas meme

Gimli: I never thought I'd be fighting alongside Fletcher building, silver fern farms and Orion

Legolas: how about alongside people who say "fuck Jenny marcroft and transphobia"?

Gimli: Aye I could do that.
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
stabbed myself in the centre of my palm with an L-folder and now BLEEDING wtf kind of workplace injury is this (an idiot one)
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Ren Wyld @wyld.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Do all small towns in Australia have big secrets, or is that just Oz Lit making shit up?
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my ordinary life @calne.ca · 27/09/2026
im very busy
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I don't really know how to talk about Evelyn Araluen's THE ROT, but I can say I read three of its poems at my parents' house and then ordered a copy online at 11PM to pick up the next day. Haven't let it out of my sight since. Feel like I've re-found a bit of my heart I lost track of
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Ben Gracewood @ben.gracewood.nz · 22/09/2026
All of NZ Bluesky is just SICKOS YES at the moment.
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Felix Geiringer @barristernz.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
“…the coalition ministers have tolerated and benefited from these unscrupulous groups. They should be held accountable by the public.”
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
at the NLA in Canberra, watching Nicky Hager on my tiny phone screen. God, he's a breath of fresh air
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ABC News Australia @news.abc.net.au · 21/09/2026
Two new stick insect species uncovered in Far North Queensland
abc.net.au
Two new stick insect species emerge from Queensland forests
The two new species are in the same genus and are both winged and more than 10cm long.
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Sridhar Ramesh @radishharmers.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
It's so gross to distinguish truth from falsehood. To not be gross, we should fall for false made-up things that don't exist. Otherwise, we are being disrespectful.
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Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Literacy crisis: everyone is mad at Ed Sheeran, but if you actually read his statement he specifically said he’s not complicit
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Sassy Little Hobbit @sassypolitico.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
This is just to say I have given away the money that was in the budget and which you definitely allocated for food for beneficiaries Forgive me the landlords donated so much and for themselves
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Elephant Mastodon @emath.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Literary fiction is coming. It is going to revolutionize the economy. We know that China has already got a start on literary fiction. We can’t afford to be left out of the literary fiction economy. Think of your kids. They might already be engaging with literary fiction.
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
LOVE researching for stupidly detailed fanfics. did you know! despite being called a Douglas fir, the tree "is not a true fir, spruce, or pine. It is also not a hemlock; the genus name Pseudotsuga means "false hemlock"." supremely ambiguous tree. nice work david lynch.
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Dr Bex @drbex.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
These MFers "its my wife's house" Having a partner who earns over $65k is reason enough to cancel a disabled persons main benefit AND their supplementary benefits, driving the household into material hardship and poverty. Damn straight partners houses count. #nzpol
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Oliver L @eey0re.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Stopping 18-19 year olds "languishing on welfare" by making them ineligible for welfare is very "trees are the cause of forest fires."
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Tze Ming Mok 莫志明 @tzemingdynasty.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Classic case of inattentive man hearing 'pour myself a cup of ambition' and not listening to the rest of the song outlining Marx's labour theory of surplus value and the oppressive nature of the capitalist class
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
3 people found this helpful!
3-star Amazon review titled "parents beware: 2 VERY different books with the same name", from 2018. Review reads: "you read the critic commentary and the Amazon reviews, you may realize they are speaking of two very very different books aimed at very different audiences. I thought I had the most recent version about a girl named Esta and magic... What I read was a 1992 murder mystery involving prostitution, secrets, and public/private/metaphorical hell. While I appreciate the illustration of the very different worlds people live in just below the surface, I don't want my niece stopping under bridges to find the entrance to underworld slums so she can let the inhabitants know she cares(she's sweet and reads at an advanced level, but very gullible. Child/sex trafficking is rampant where she lives.) If you're looking for the version about magic and thieves, the main character is Esta. If you're looking for the version about Brisbane, death, and photography, the main character is Lucy/Lucia/Wildcat. Please know which version you have it you are lending/sharing this with a child/preteen."
3 people found this helpful
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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
hey people sorry if some of you breeze past this part but it’s Friday. We do AI discourse on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday is for stuff that rocks and is actually fun. It’s in the TOS & the packet you got at orientation. get it together please
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Dylan Reeve @dylanreeve.com · 11/08/2026
I think we just need to come to terms with the fact we don't actually want a Prime Minister. Or a government. In fact, we don't even want to get out of bed.
1News Preferred Prime Minister poll... Luxon on 17%, Hipkins on 15%. Winston: 7; Chloe: 6; Seymor: 5; Erica Stanford: 2; Kieran McAnulty: 2;
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CAMERON WILSON @cameronwilson.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
it's so crazy that we're seeing daily headlines about some unsolved problem being answered by AI, and when you read the article it's like "here's the prompt that the researcher used"
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ABC News Australia @news.abc.net.au · 09/08/2026
150 bilbies released in Queensland national park where they were once extinct
abc.net.au
Bilbies released into Qld national park where they were once extinct
With the population booming inside a predator-proof fence, conservationists have set the bilbies free. But can they survive on the outside?
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ABC News Australia @news.abc.net.au · 06/07/2026
Rare humpback whale calf, believed to be a leucistic, spotted off NSW and Queensland coast
abc.net.au
'Like a small iceberg': Rare whale calf spotted swimming off east coast
The calf, thought to be one of only a dozen in the Southern Hemisphere, has been spotted swimming alongside its mother.
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
another great day on the internet 😎
recent search results from DuckDuckGo: 'missionheart church cbr', 'dipesh chakrabarty provincialising europe', 'hengist and horsa', 'the samaritan woman at the well' and 'sex workers in the bible'
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Elias Greig @eliasgreig.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
We can't do this thing again where we make racism an argument between white people. First Nations, people of colour, people from migrant backgrounds must be given space to lead & question, and must feel safe to do so. We've failed again and again on this, and it's a huge part of why Hanson is back.
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Goosebumps! www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06...
abc.net.au
Bluey speaks Indigenous language in time for NAIDOC week
The animated award-winning cartoon series Bluey has been translated into Yolŋu Matha, from north-east Arnhem Land, for NAIDOC Week.
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ABC News Australia @news.abc.net.au · 15/06/2026
Burrowing bettongs returned to outback decades after local extinction
abc.net.au
'Ecosystem engineers' returned to desert decades after local extinction
Wiped off mainland Australia by the introduction of cats and foxes, burrowing bettongs are making a triumphant comeback in outback NSW.   
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Char Of AotearoaNZ @kiwichar.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Fuck the patriarchy. #nzpol #OneTermGovernment #NZ www.rnz.co.nz/news/communi...
rnz.co.nz
Job cuts proposed for agency fighting family and sexual violence
The Centre for Family Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention could see a third of its workforce slashed.
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
"Regional inequality is too often spoken about through sentiment rather than structure. We celebrate resilience without interrogating what resilience is compensating for."
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
there's a particularly smarmy way of talking about LLMs and writing that's all like, 'we don't want bland, shiny, technically perfect writing, we want something textured and rustic and human in all its lumpy imperfection...' hey so these things write like crap, don't talk down to us like that :))
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Excellent interview; I love Stuff the British Stole, and also find Fennell very endearing. Almost Dickensian in his detail-oriented curiosity and erudite rage?
"I was in a bookstore, and I saw one of those books titled, [assumes British accent again] "1001 objects that tell the history of the world" or some shit like that.

I opened it up [and the description for one of the objects said]: "It was acquired in the Pacific."

I'm like, "You mean they f***ing shot a guy? Because that's how that actually got there."

I'm sick to death of passive labels hiding a much more interesting truth about how the world ended up the way it is."
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
"...in my own life, I don’t even know how lightbulbs work. I couldn’t tell you what most of my cousins do for a living. So, in my fiction, I want the world—complex, bright, full of mystery—to keep spinning, beyond the end of the story." bombmagazine.org/articles/202...
bombmagazine.org
BOMB Magazine | Eoghan Walls by John Darnielle
On writing worlds that are wild, alive, and unmistakably real.
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Bernard Hickey @bernardchickey.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Chorus out: Police, MSD, OT, Corrections, Justice & Treasury all said 'move on' orders were impractical, dangerous, expensive and breached homeless peoples' human rights. Yet Paul Goldsmith did it anyway #nzpol thekaka.substack.com/p/every-expe...
thekaka.substack.com
Every expert said don't do 'move on' orders. The Govt did it anyway.
Police, MSD, OT, Corrections, Justice & Treasury all said 'move on' orders were impractical, dangerous, expensive and breached homeless peoples' human rights. Yet Paul Goldsmith did it anyway
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
it would be nice if there was a version of making a creative and intellectual career that didn't involve sending a lot of emails and getting rejected by people you admire... but! more rejections will not stop me writing freak shit about water/disintegration into the body of Christ/Far North QLD etc
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ABC News Australia @news.abc.net.au · 27/05/2026
abc.net.au
As the debate heats up, migrants are quietly keeping the bush running
Amid ongoing discussion about Australia's immigration intake and migration policies, regional residents say many industries in the bush cannot survive without overseas workers.
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Chip Matthews @chipmatthews.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
What a combo of headlines, and how it captures quite a lot abt this govt.
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Adrian Daub @adriandaub.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
University administrators two years ago: we can’t allow social justice movements to change the university as we know it University administrators today: in order to accommodate the new probabilistic bullshit generator no one likes we must change everything about the university
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Pip Adam @pipadam.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Please consider signing this petition to restore funding for Wellington’s Citizens Advice Bureau. CAB provides free information, advice, & support including budgeting advice. Making it a vital service for Wellington people during these tough times. our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/re...
our.actionstation.org.nz
Restore Funding for Wellington’s Citizens Advice Bureau
These cuts will hit hardest for: • people struggling with the rising cost of living; • workers facing redundancy or employment issues; • tenants dealing with housing insecurity; • migrants and former ...
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f*male b*tch 🇵🇸 @ahhmandah.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Does this egg STILL not understand that Te Tiriti is between Māori people & the British Crown? Not the NZ government & the New Zealand government? fucking embarrassing is what I'd say to you very clearly right now. and I say this to you very clearly right now www.teaonews.co.nz/2026/05/19/t...
teaonews.co.nz
The Prime Minister rejects scathing Waitangi Tribunal Report, presses on with Treaty reforms
PM Christopher Luxon rejects Waitangi Tribunal findings on education law reforms and confirms the Government will press ahead with rewriting Treaty clauses.
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
"There's always silver linings for some people." Not those who've lost or will lose their jobs. Not those with disabilities or their carers; the unhoused moved on; the new grads looking at a gutted city, cultural sector and job market; the schoolleavers unable to access Fees Free. But some people.
Cotality chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said it would have a negative effect on Wellington, but it could be a more dispersed impact than people expected.

"It's going to be significant for the Wellington economy, which is already under a bit of pressure.

"I suppose there are safety valves…people will find work elsewhere, some will… that's just always part of the labour market."

He said there was also the chance that there could be a change of government which altered the plan before it took effect.

"But it's obviously a significant negative impact on Wellington's employment that will be negative for Wellington's housing market, which is already looking pretty weak. And there's the direct impact, obviously, of job losses and reductions in income.

"But also, I think probably there's a wider confidence thing. I mean, we've seen that probably in the most recent couple of years…we've seen that spillover effect on confidence that is not just sort of a direct effect of people losing work. It's that sort of spillover and impact on related businesses and cafes in central Wellington or all of that sort of thing. So there's that sort of indirect impact, which arguably could be a little bit bigger from a wider economic perspective.

"It's a probably obviously the last thing those households need that are going to be affected and the last thing the Wellington economy needs… But at the same time, there are a lot of first-time buyers in the Wellington housing market. They are taking advantage of lower prices and a lot of stock sitting on the market. So there's always silver linings for some people."
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Francisco Hernandez @fran4dunedin.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Green party labels public service cuts 'DOGE style'

The Green Party's public services spokesperson has accused the government of chasing "DOGE style libertarian fantasies right out of Elon Musk’s playbook", referencing the US' Department of Government Efficiency.

“Nicola Willis is committing New Zealand to arbitrary headcounts which will eat into frontline services to balance her books, all because she lacks the courage to have an adult conversation about fixing our broken tax system," Francisco Hernandez said. 

"We know that Luxon’s public service cuts have led to critical personal health data being compromised and doctors taking up the burden of lost roles and having to fix printers and make beds." 

Hernandez said that New Zealanders need strong public services they can rely on, not "disruptive mega mergers or cuts that compromise our wellbeing".
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CEO Johnny Cans @oldmatecans.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
just one more amalgamation bro I swear just one more joining up of local and central government functions and government will become a profitable business the mckinsey guys swear just privatise a bit more of the state and cut the workforce and you'll be able to pay everyone a dividend just one more
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gilbert ostini @gostini.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
independent of my faith (and my theology of evangelism), I do think the presence of pentecostals singing with guitars in the quad is a pretty strong recession indicator
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Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Pope:”Reading nourishes the mind, helps cultivate a conscious and well-formed critical sense, guards against fundamentalisms and ideological shortcuts.” Reading is “an antidote to closed-mindedness which manifests in rigid attitudes and reductive views of reality.” www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news...
vaticannews.va
Pope Leo: Literature must be a 'school of fraternity and peace' - Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV sends a message to the Turin International Book Fair, taking place this week in the northern Italian city, reiterating that literature ...
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IIML @modernletters.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Stunned , shocked, encouraged - Ingrid Horrocks in the Guardian www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
theguardian.com
‘Stunned and shocked’: Ingrid Horrocks wins top prize at New Zealand’s Ockham awards for her fiction debut
All Her Lives is only the fifth short story collection to win the prestigious NZ$65,000 prize in 58 years
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Luke Plunkett @lukeplunkett.com · 11/05/2026
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