iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

OK friends, going to log off for a few days. Need to take a break from constantly ingesting the horrors of the world. See you on the other side

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I've been thinking the same thing - probably need to log off for a few days myself as well

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

As you point out, in the US, Indian-Americans and Chinese-Americans have become reliable Democratic voters, especially the second-generation ones. My family is a great example of this: parents' generation is moderate but will never vote Republican again; my generation is super liberal

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Would be a really smart strategy for Labour to target center-right Indian and Chinese immigrant blocks by highlighting National's anti-immigration rhetoric. Much more fruitful than focusing on white boomers who will always go for the racist

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Don't forget the Southland residents who succeeded in stopping 3 Waters and are now furious about rates increases for water...

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Labour really should go hard on "Luxon is Trump's lapdog." It worked to win elections for bland center-left parties in Australia and Canada, and it would work here too. Really don't know why they're silent on this

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Sassy Little Hobbit @sassypolitico.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Migration is our collective human history. People have always moved. Whether it’s from rural to urban, country to neighboring country, or straight up continents, this is what we do. Social stability is not at risk because people moved it’s at risk because you are a hater.

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Sassy Little Hobbit @sassypolitico.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

It’s always interesting to see how little pushback there is about anti immigrant rhetoric. Not from the media, not from businesses who rely on the workers, not unions, not white friends, not opposition parties like yeah the Greens might but it’s very muted and in the context of “contribution”.

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kyle @kyledchurch.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

i’m sorry but WHO exactly is commending brutal austerity cuts, the worst in a generation, other than an INCREASINGLY obsequious media and commentariat??? this is insane right??

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Sassy Little Hobbit @sassypolitico.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

It’s not the high unemployment rate or the high fuel prices or high power bills and food prices that’s harming our social stability oh no of course not it’s when you go about your day but there’s ✨brown people✨ in it.

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Sassy Little Hobbit @sassypolitico.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

It’s always the people whose ancestors didn’t learn the language or customs or culture, stole lands, and murdered people, who drone on about “social stability” like bro you are the mirror for instability.

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

The health system would literally cease to function overnight without immigrant nurses and doctors.

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

I moved here from the US (famously a nation of immigrants, including my whole family) just as racist, nativist bullshit was taking over. It's so upsetting to see people here embracing it, even after seeing what it's done elsewhere

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

It's not about "contributing fully" or whatever nonsense he's spouting. For what it's worth, immigrants pay more in taxes per capita than native-born NZers. He's just a racist dickhead, and this minority immigrant is sick of his (and Peters') bullshit.

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Just a reminder that Chris Luxon himself benefitted greatly from open migration (to the US), and I'm sure he thinks white migrants to NZ are just fine. He's just a racist prick who doesn't want minorities here.

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

I mean, it's an organization with am openly right-wing owner and right-wing senior editors. They've been pretty blatant about using The Post to push right-wing ideology in Wellington local politics, so not surprising that they're doing it nationally as well.

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Terry Baucher @trabaq.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

I really am reeling at what Luxon has just said about social strains of migration. How is he not aware of how integral migrants are to our economy? "In the tax year ending March 2024, the foreign-born made up 32% of the population, and paid 38% of the tax." www.treasury.govt.nz/publications...

The central finding of this paper is the simplest. In aggregate, the foreign-born are becoming increasingly important for the country’s tax base. Foreign-born people made up 24% of the population in 2000, also paying 24% of individual tax on market income. Since then, the foreign-born’s share of the population has grown, and their share of tax paid has grown even faster. In the tax year ending March 2024, the foreign-born made up 32% of the population, and paid 38% of the tax.

That foreign-born migrants’ share of tax is higher than their population share partly reflects their age structure. Compared to the NZ-born, foreign-born people are less likely to be young and old, and more likely to be middle-aged, the stage of life when tax payments tend to be highest (Wright and Nguyen, 2024)

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

If you compare the engagement numbers on TikTok or Instagram to any text-based platform, it's orders of magnitude higher. Fundamentally we're all just shouting into the void here...

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

ebikes are such a game-changer... makes hills completely manageable

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Gareth @grenow.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

The first thing any new Labour-led government should do is reform Treasury. It's a bastion of out-of-date neoliberal monetarists hewing close to the perceived purity of Roger and Ruth's vision. Govt needs economic advice and analysis from people that live in the real world, not a fantasy. #nzpol

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

It remains completely unfathomable to me that NZ has no capital gains tax. It's really hard to build a tax system that's more wealth-friendly than the US, but NZ has done it...

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

See also, Simeon Brown's $4b tunnel plan... But I am encouraged that despite all this nonsense, I see more people cycling now than ever before. Imagine if we had a council that actually wanted to build infrastructure for these people instead of indulging car-brained boomers

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Australia is implementing tax measures (CGT, reducing tax benefits for housing investors, etc) to tax wealth more and income less. Meanwhile NZ pretends even a milder version of these would destroy its economy, even though Australia had massively outperformed it over the past few years...

theguardian.com

Budget capital gains tax changes and negative gearing reform explained

Negative gearing, capital gains tax and family trusts are all facing a big shake-up in the name of intergenerational fairness. How will it all work?

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

He's a medical doctor AND has a research doctorate. This is just slimy hack bullshit.

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PERFECTLY NORMAL @nzpom.com · 12/05/2026

I've added a YouTube link as the original one wouldn't allow viewing in landscape mode

youtu.be

Bernard Hickey & Verity Johnson bust the NZ debt myth

YouTube video by The Kākā with Bernard Hickey

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

As I said before, "this has nothing to do with gender - the issue would be the same if the husband was a reporter." I know reading comprehension is hard,but there are a number of adult literacy classes that might help you out

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

We have a million recent examples of this being clearly false: Musk bought Twitter and immediately changed the algorithm to boost the far right, Murdoch papers have a clear right-wing bias, etc. But this desperate insistence that media bias does not exist is just detached from reality

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I'm really sick of gullible rubes insisting that media ownership doesn't influence coverage, former political staffers don't continue to favor their party, etc By that logic we should let former tobacco lobbyists write health regulations - they don't work there any more so they're impartial now

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

This has nothing to do with gender - the issue would be the same if the husband was a reporter. But "people can manage their own conflicts" has failed basically everywhere it's been tried, and media figures are not magically immune.

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Yeah I think you're right - stepped back after having a baby or something if I recall. But the point remains the same: there is no way she can be objective reporting on politics! A reputable organization would move her onto a different beat.

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

The truth is that Labour is going to be the bigger party in any left government elected this year, which it's why it's so important that they find a leader who can actually lead!

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I actually disagree with this. The broad left will only be in power if a lot of people vote Labour, and defecting National voters are almost certainly not going to go to the Greens.

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Haha I'm cursed because half my posts are NZ-related and half are US-related. A fun game of "which of my countries is more embarrassing today"...

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Haha look I'm not going to defend the American press, but CNN's political editor isn't literally married to Trump's chief of staff!

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

It always shocks the car people, but Wellington is by far the least car-dependent city in Australasia Only half of journeys here are by car. A quarter are by public transit, and the remaining quarter are by walking or cycling.

Transit data showing that half of Wellington journeys are by car, a quarter by public transit, and a quarter by bike/walking

Auckland and Christchurch are both over 85% car

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

You know the answer, of course: she's literally married to a far-right party's chief of staff...

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

My mom stayed on a green card for a long time because she didn't want to give up her other citizenship. She was just as American as anyone else. Honestly this whole thing makes me so angry. But people who are not US citizens definitely need to avoid traveling there now. Just go anywhere else...

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Also not that it really matters, but for most of my childhood my family was on green cards and no one was ever scared of the immigration police taking them away on a whim. It's supposed to be a settled, permanent residency status! The only thing you can't do is vote!

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Yep. Indefinite imprisonment in a concentration camp without a trial or any due process is not acceptable for anyone, including murderers - it's completely outrageous for an alleged immigration offense. The glee with which some people want to abuse immigrants for minor transgressions is truly vile

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Bitwarden is fantastic with good browser extensions and mobile apps. It's pretty affordable too - 20 NZD/yr for a utility I use basically every day (I think they may have a stripped down free version too)

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NinjaKitty 忍者キティ🥷🐈‍⬛ @ninjakitty.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Bernard Hickey doing god’s work with Verity Johnson. This is so worth sharing far and wide on as many platforms to which you have access!! #nzpol

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Yet another bunch of rural white people who voted against 3 Waters because of racism now having to deal with the reality that there is simply no way to cheaply provide water services to sparsely populated regions Will they learn from this? Almost certainly not. But I can enjoy the schadenfreude

rnz.co.nz

Waitaki District ratepayers facing up to 45 percent increase call for probe into council's finances

Stunned Waitaki District ratepayers are calling for a government probe of council's finances, with some worried people will lose their homes.

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

That's not an accident or a comms failure. They've deliberately and explicitly said that they will not commit to anything* (not even broad principles) before the budget for some inexplicable reason. * restoring pay equity being the one (very important) exception

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

It remains completely absurd that Jenna Lynch is married to the ACT chief of staff and remains a political reporter. It's just a blatant ongoing conflict of interest that's never disclosed. Just shows how much Stuff is just not a serious media organization...

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

(yes I spelled it the American way... that's one thing I'll never get used to no matter how long I live here - it's just a better way to spell!)

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Beltway is especially grating because there's no ring road around Wellington - it's literally impossible to build one because of the harbor!

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psheth.bsky.social @psheth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

It's a real shame that this is being covered more seriously by ABC in Australia than by RNZ here (which has mostly taken a political horse-race angle, rather than a "this is hate speech" angle)

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