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Tom Butlin

@tombutlin.bsky.social
408 followers 387 following 1.9K posts

Google jockey, slow runner, slow cooking enthusiast. Pessimists go through life being pleasantly surprised Aotearoa New Zealand

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Dr Bex @drbex.bsky.social · 10h
I am very pleasantly surprised. The owner of multiple properties, who lives of National heartland, is horrified about what this govt has done to pplm. They want to know how to vote to change this government. They don't like what is happening in mental health and community support.
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Tom Butlin @tombutlin.bsky.social · 8h
#4 Vote National if you and everyone you care about is a landlord
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Jordan Rivers @jordanriversnz.bsky.social · 12h
Quick reminder of Nationals biggest promise to you in 2023. Nobody got this.
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Stephen Moran. @moranstephen1000.bsky.social · 16h
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Cath S @cathsheard.bsky.social · 12h
You mean they lied in their advertising,
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Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 11h
TIL there’s a fish that lives in the lowest depths of the Congo River that has stunted growth, no color pigment, and no eyes. And locally it’s called “mondeli bureau,” which translates to “white man in an office” LMAO
A very small blind pasty white yellowish fish in the palm of someone’s hand. Lamprologus lethops, a fish that lives in the lower Congo River, is pale and blind like fish that dwell in caves deep underwater.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Melanie Stiassny)
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Luke Ontario @coolhand.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Every time I see a serial killer tv show advertised I think of this
My dad used to work with Ted Bundy at the University of Utah and every Friday my dad would say, "See ya Monday-Bundy" and I can't imagine how much Ted actually thought about murdering him for
it.
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ContempraInn 🌹 @contemprainn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Watch the concentration
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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I can’t speak for NZ’s electoral history, but can authoritatively say that nothing like what I'm studying at present around the far-right's influence operations, coordinated messaging, & related funding (propped by billionaires) was this evident in the lead up to the 2023 general election. #nzpol
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Danielle, Petty Hate Machine @dimsie.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Don't let anyone tell you that being petty isn't satisfying and you must rise above your longheld grudges. That's bullshit
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Jesus Lizard Superstar 🖤 🐀🐀🐀 @acekatana.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This kind of elegantly illustrates exactly why genAI is garbage
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New-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Great moments in Scottish engineering history: James Watt tries to work out how his phone attaches to his selfie stick.
Statue of James Watt. In his right hand he holds a telescopic stick with a frame at the top; in his left he holds a flat object about the size of a large smartphone. He is scowling at the possibly-not-a-smartphone as if he is tempted to yeet it into the sea. On that basis, it probably _is_ a phone.
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Art Of Coop @artofcoop.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I know we’re not supposed to goof on people’s looks, but if this is what being a billionaire does to you, I’m happy to be a poor slob
Peter Thiel looking like a particularly vicious Dan Clowes drawing
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Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand @greens.org.nz · 30/09/2026
Meeting our Paris commitments is written into our Free Trade Agreements with the European Union and the United Kingdom. Farmers and exporters rely on that market access, and they deserve a Foreign Minister who checks what withdrawal would put at risk before he promises it.
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Tom Butlin @tombutlin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Brent is a genius, the audio and subtitle mismatch is <chef's kiss>
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Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚🇳🇿 @notjustdna.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
#NZpol Saw this excellent quote-reply to Simeon Brown’s latest attack on Labour. Worth sharing.
David Peez @RebelEkonomista

"The truck driver in Pakuranga helps pay off a lawyer's loan." No, Simeon. He doesn't. Not a cent.

When the government lends a student money, it creates the dollars and credits their account. No tradie's tax was collected and posted to a law degree. When the graduate repays, those dollars are deleted, drained back out like tax. They don't land in the truck driver's pocket either.

So nobody foots the bill. The worker and the graduate aren't on opposite sides of a ledger. Setting them against each other is the trick, and it runs on the same myth as "add it to the tab", that the government is a household counting coins. It issues the currency. The real limits are real resources and inflation, not a truck driver's tax bill.

"Someone always pays." Sure. Just never the person you keep pointing at.

Read more: http://therebeleconomist.substack.com
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Malcolm RF 💚🇳🇿 @p-no-nwa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I saw chocolate Santas in the supermarket the other day. It's a ¼ of a year away!
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Ryan CrawCour @ryan.crawcour.social · 29/09/2026
#nzpol ✅✅
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
These new Enid Blyton stories are a bit bleak for me
Five arrested on terrorism charges after explosives found near RAF base used by US
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te pua o te rēinga @cucumber.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
this video has everything (carpool coalition on instagram) #nzpol
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Huia Sue @huiasue.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Winston & NZF’s “Health” policies ignore smoking, alcohol, drugs, poverty-causing poor diet & fast foods. Its 15-point plan ‘Make New Zealand Healthy’ raises alarm bells of importing RFK Jr weirdness & his MakeAmericaHealthyAgain campaign to Nz #nzpol #PartyVoteGreen✅ newsroom.co.nz/2026/09/28/n...
newsroom.co.nz
NZ First's health policy more vibes and vitamins than actual evidence
From Auckland University - Comment: NZ First's 'Make NZ Healthy' plan promises prevention, but ignores proven population interventions on junk food, alcohol, and tobacco, argues Dr Boyd Swinburn.
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Nick Baker @nickbaker.digital · 27/09/2026
This is your school holiday assignment. Complete the school lunch quiz by matching the image to the name - a quiz based on the school lunch images sent by @ninjakitty.bsky.social this past school term. There are 15 images in total. forms.gle/et7qDL4VGBJH...
forms.gle
The Aotearoa New Zealand School Lunch Quiz
The images show 15 school lunches delivered to a school in August 2026. Your task is to pick the name that was assigned to each one.
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isobel @gynoid74.eurosky.social · 07/09/2026
picture with various clips of leeches sucking on blood, one clip features jesus holding out his heart that glows, text reads "landlords, what my freinds think i do, what my family thinks i do, what society thinks i do, what tenants think i do, what i think i do (jesus clip), what i actualy do".
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Tom Butlin @tombutlin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I misread #2 as Beef meatballs with vengeful sauce. Which has the correct degree of menace
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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Isn't it nice when there's something we can ALL agree on? #ReleaseTheUnredactedEPSTEIN-Files
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 27/09/2026
Google finally updated some of its satellite images of Gaza and my god, it's horrific. The entirety of Rafah has been demolished. The majority of Khan Younis is in ruins. Entire towns completely leveled and erased of the map.
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Huia Sue @huiasue.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
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Josh | writer, painter, tinkerer @tworuru.com · 27/09/2026
Guys I didn’t realise before how important this work was but the people behind taxpayersunion.org.nz deserve all your time and attention, please don’t pass up this click
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Paul Brislen @brislen.nz · 27/09/2026
I’d totally support it in New Zealand too. It hasn’t started yet so now is a good time to stop it.
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Tom Butlin @tombutlin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Freeeeeee-ee, Robert Del Naja 🎶 www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgcT...
youtube.com
The Specials - Nelson Mandela (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by The Specials
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JW Mason @jwmason.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is the master key to deciphering contemporary debates about free speech. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/se...
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Ed Maibach @maibached.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Happy Stanislav Petrov Day He passed in 2017. As Encyclopedia Britannica puts it, “He is survived by his two children, two grandchildren, and the entire human race.” If you don't know his story, please take 3 minutes now to learn it. @gchalliance.bsky.social @docsforclimate.bsky.social
sammatey.substack.com
Happy Stanislav Petrov Day
Take five minutes to not destroy civilization
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Paul Eric @pauleric70.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
WE ARE NOT TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY ENOUGH!!
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Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚🇳🇿 @notjustdna.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
#NZpol “Ministers and MPs hand-picked all three nurses appointed to the Nursing Council in a contentious overhaul - bypassing candidates put forward through the Government’s usual nomination process, new documents reveal.” 😖
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Terrible Maps :bot: @terriblemaps.zpravobot.news.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026
Countries by how New Zealand they are
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
DoorDash spent $1.4M trying to stop Zohran Mamdani from becoming mayor. This week's historic $131.5M enforcement action against DoorDash for underpaying NYC delivery workers shows why. Yet another reminder that the only thing that can beat organized money is organized people.
theintercept.com
DoorDash Spent $1.4 Million Trying to Stop Mamdani From Becoming Mayor. Now We Know Why.
In a wage-theft settlement, DoorDash now has to pay its workers around 100 times what it spent trying to beat Zohran Mam
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Denise @denisest.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Labour has just shown off their new mobile billboard on FB. #nzpol
Labour Party mobile billboard reading "Cry me a river" with Luxon's face on it
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Megan Kirkwood @megafreda.eurosky.social · 25/09/2026
Robert Davies, physics professor at Utah State University on a massive proposed data centre in Utah: “This would be the single largest, single-site energy source — heat source — on the planet and that includes volcanoes.” What www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
AI Data Centers Release Heat, Posing New Problem for Cities
As facilities to power AI grow larger and are built in clusters, they are spreading hot air beyond their property lines
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 25/09/2026
Climate defiance are legends. Amazon are a fossil fuel company. Why are do they get climate week invites??
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Craig Wright-St Clair @craigwrightstclair.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
#nzpol
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Daniel Vernon @yeehawtheboys.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Don’t be left sitting on the sidelines, make sure you’re enrolled to vote!
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Tom Butlin @tombutlin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
There appear to be plenty of copies of Dirty Work in stock at indie bookshops through the motu, via Bookhub. Get amongst it And ideally buy from the tiniest shop in a tiny town that has been hit hard by this government's dirty policies bookhub.co.nz/p/dirty-work...
bookhub.co.nz
Dirty Work
Buy Dirty Work by Nicky Hager from your local bookstore. Twelve years after they were exposed and discredited in the book Dirty Politics, some of ...
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Andrew @openpolicy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Unsurprisingly, @slanecartoon.bsky.social was on to this almost 20 years ago, in 2007. #nzpol
A cartoon by Chris Slane (slanecartoon.com). It shows: on the left, a grey haired white man sitting behind a wooden desk with a curved window behind him. On a sofa to the right, two people are sitting: a man in a blue suit and a woman wearing a red jacket. The man is saying, “Minister, to avoid F.O.I. requests all our advice will be in sign language.” The cartoon shows the woman is moving her hands in different ways as she translates that statement into sign language. The face of the man behind the desk looks disconcerted and worried.
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Mountain Tui @mountaintui.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Catherine Law's (OIA concealer) PhD supervisor is Elizabeth Rata. Elizabeth Rata is Erica Stanfor'd's key education advisor Rata and Stanford have a stated common goal: To stop the success of decolonisation in Aotearoa New Zealand. The OIA concealment from one of Rata's people is no surprise
youtube.com
Whistleblower video of Catherine Laws instructing Ministry staff to conceal from OIA
YouTube video by Mountain Tui
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Trae Crowder @thetraecrowder.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Conservative Man Returns From a Desert Island (Starring Me)
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Karen (yes, yes, I know 😈) @karkin64.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
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Tom Butlin @tombutlin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Repost with an image of your favourite James Bond (wrong answers only)
static.klipy.com
Franknfurter Rocky
ALT: Franknfurter Rocky
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Teanau Tuiono @teanau.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
WT?
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RNZ News Feeds @rnzrss.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Training for firefighting crews on real fires halted last year
rnz.co.nz
Training for firefighting crews on real fires halted last year
New firefighters are putting out real fires for the first time on the job because there has been no live-fire training nationwide for a year.
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Tom Butlin @tombutlin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
For those who are new to this, Hager rhymes with Lager. Remember when Dirty Politics came out, Paul Henry had a speed reader skim through the book, tutting that it was a non entity. Failed to disclose that the speed reader was also a corporate lobbyist
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