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Vanessa Newton-Wade

@vanessabruell.bsky.social
59 followers 81 following 140 posts

Oboe | cor anglais | former librarian | she/her 🦻

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Reposted by Vanessa Newton-Wade
Sacha @sachadylan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
And disability can be yours in a heartbeat. Vote accordingly. #NzPol
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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
All these years later.... I'm STILL a member of The Resistance.
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matty @mattio.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This is wild - somebody did a deep dive into the real stories behind this famous XKCD: sheets.works/data-viz/hol...
an XKCD comic showing a precariously assembled tower of blocks. much is labelled "all modern digital infrastructure." a thin leg down at the bottom is labelled "A project some random person in Nebraska has been thanklessly maintaining since 2003."
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Vanessa Newton-Wade @vanessabruell.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I have many thoughts. Most of them unprintable
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Dr Bex @drbex.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
A full room and over 300 joining online - this is a large audience, politically aware and will show up to vote. Still can't believe National sent a newbie who hadn't been briefed properly (10 different times she said, I haven't been briefed on that, when asked a question 😳)
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Giovanni Tiso @gtiso.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Well done IHC for another successful disability election forum. Both Julie Anne Genter and Priyanca Radhakrishnan acquitted themselves very well, which was encouraging. Qiulae Wong also seemed okay, and it's good that she showed up. The National MP was a grotesque mess.
ihc.org.nz
IHC | Join us at Vote for Inclusive Futures - National Disability Election Forum 2026
Join us in person or online for the 2026 Disability Election Forum and hear directly from the representatives from each party in the 2026 General Election.
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Lew @lewsos.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Impossible to invent something as absurd as the Minister for Cracking Down On Truancy And School Lunches not knowing it is the school holidays www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Oct 6, 2026 2:56 PM
RNZ Live
'Why are you not in school?' It’s school holidays

David Seymour stopped to speak to some children at Velocity Valley in Rotorua, giving them a piece of advice.

“Don’t trust politicians,” he said. “Are you a politician?,” they questioned.

After the three children asked if he was going to be on the news and waved at the cameras, he said: “hey, one question, how come you guys aren’t at school?”

It’s school holidays, they said.

Seymour said they could still go into school, but the kids didn’t seemed thrilled by that idea.

“No, it’s ok,” they said before walking away.
- Rachel Moore, Reporter
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David Hood @thoughtfulnz.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I think there should be a thin streak of blue visible on at least the South Island (I am not sure if the North Island's plateau would be visible at this resolution).
NZ areas more than 100km from nearest coast
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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Wayne Brown was not the hero Auckland asked for but the hero Auckland does need In telling Luxon to fuck off yet again
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Florian Naudet @floriannaudet.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
🔥 OUR STUDY FEATURED IN NATURE NEWS What if one flawed zombie trial 🧟 helped shape the evidence for treating depression in children? Quote : "Elia Abi-Jaoude, [...] calls the paper a “slam-dunk study”. “I hope it will get wide exposure” he says."
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conifergirl.bsky.social @conifergirl.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
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Michael Warburton @michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Dave Brubeck’s 1960’s Connecticut home was as cool as his music.
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Create the Ripple @createtheripple.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.” Gretchen Rubin Seemingly small human things can make a big difference. What will help you today? #Wellbeing #SelfCare Artwork by anxiety positive
A hand-drawn, colourful graphic on a white background headed: “Signs that you’re being healthy!” Underneath are nine statements in brightly coloured rounded boxes arranged in two columns. They read: “You asked for help”, “You took a break”, “You held a boundary”, “You noticed a trigger”, “You paused before acting”, “You used a coping skill”, “You stopped a negative thought”, “You trusted yourself” and “You took care of your body”. The lettering is black and handwritten, with red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, purple and pink backgrounds. The creator’s handle, @anxiety.positive, appears beneath the heading.
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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 30/09/2026
This is a photograph of the edge of one of Saturn's rings, looking down from above. Those spiky dark shapes are shadows. Shadows of giant towers of ice and dust grains clumped together that rise up to three *kilometres* above the 10-m thick rings.
A series of bands cross the image from left to right, brighter at the bottom and darkening towards the top. A band of empty space is at the top of the image. About a quarter down from the top is a complex pattern of jagged, spiky shadows cast onto the rings. The icy towers casting the shadows are seen here at a highly oblique angle.
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Yorrike. @yorrike.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
#Kikorangi, don't be fooled yet again
The Aotearoa seasons. Jan-Mar: Summer, Mar-Jun: Autumn, Jun-Aug: Winter, Aug-Sep: Spring 1, Sep-Dec: Shitsville, Dec-Jan: Spring 2.
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Vanessa Newton-Wade @vanessabruell.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Agree 100%
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Tze Ming Mok 莫志明 @tzemingdynasty.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Lunchboxes guys, lunchboxes
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Disabled Persons Assembly NZ @dpanz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The D*List and The University of Auckland Disabled Students' Association are hosting the Disability Debate, where the major political parties will debate the issues that matter to Deaf and disabled communities. Where: Room 501-110 - The University of Auckland, Grafton Campus, When: 6PM, 14 Oct
thedlist.co.nz
Elections 2026: Disability Debate
Come along to the Disability Debate, hosted by The D*List and The University of Auckland Disabled Students Association, as the major political parties debate the issues that...
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David Farrier @davidfarrier.com · 23/09/2026
an amazing new project launches today in new zealand: people can report sexual harm, and get matched with others who reported the same person. when you report, you get a lawyer - and lawyer-client privilege. for free. i profile the website, technology, charity, & law firm here: www.webworm.co/tika/
webworm.co
This Could Change The Way Victims Get Justice
David Farrier's Webworm looks at Alison Mau and Zoë Lawton's Tika: a new way to report sexual harm in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
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Bart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.
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Chronic Illness Humor @chronicillness.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
An illustration featuring a sequence of a person performing yoga poses in a grid format.

The top row begins with four active movements: reaching upward while standing, a forward fold, a low lunge, and transitioning into child's pose. However, the rest of the grid—consisting of sixteen additional frames across four rows—shows the person remaining completely still in child's pose (kneeling and curled forward with the forehead on the ground).

The image humorously depicts a yoga session that starts with effort but quickly turns into a prolonged session of resting.
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Jolisa Gracewood @nzdodo.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A "culture pass" given to everyone on their 18th birthday is an instantly effective and productive policy a government could consider, if it wants to boost the arts-based economy. Bonus: greater civic engagement and confidence amongst young people. Story from 2023: www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3500...
Text from the linked story, 8 August 2023 https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350047956/push-introduce-culture-pass-youth-new-zealand 

In November, Germany became the latest European country to roll out the popular scheme for young people, which sees people coming of age given €200 to spend on things like museums, movies, music, theatre and books - a birthday present, of sorts.

In the wake of the pandemic when most live entertainment and art experiences ground to a halt, the move followed countries like France, Italy and Spain, which had their own version of the scheme, and hoped to bolster youth engagement with the arts, encourage creative careers, and remove access barriers to culture.Text from the article linked in the post: 

...Chris Casey of the Point Chevalier Social Enterprise Trust, an Auckland-based advocate for the pass’s local introduction, has been lobbying Government, saying it would help curb youth crime at a time when parties were “outdoing each other” on policies related to youth justice.

The scheme would be simple to implement and could see tens of thousands of young people given the pass on their 18th birthday or similar, Casey said, with credit available to use via an app or website.

Amid a cost of living crisis which had unfairly affected low-paid youth, cultural experiences were often out of financial reach, Casey said.

New Zealand was happy to fund superannuitants but there was a “mismatch” with how young people were creatively supported as they entered adulthood, he said. “It’s lazy politics not to try it ... Small things become the catalyst for bigger things.”
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Cam Bennett @cambennett.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
BOOM www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellingto...
nzherald.co.nz
Auckland train patronage hits record 528,000 after CRL opens
Use of Auckland's rail network spiked 62% in the week after the CRL opened.
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Nikki Hessell @nikkihessell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
100% this. "You just need to tell your stories better" - no, we don't. Our stories are clear, obvious, and awesome. The people who could fund the humanities won't and aren't open to changing their minds
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Chronic Illness Humor @chronicillness.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
🎵It's like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife🎵
I swear to God, Alanis Morissette, if you don’t stop stealing my spoons.
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Tze Ming Mok 莫志明 @tzemingdynasty.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I don't know how we make it happen, but the abuse of urgency under this term of government has been so nakedly damaging to our democratic infrastructure, that it's the strongest argument for constitutional change I've seen in a while.
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Auckland Women's Centre @akwomenscentre.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Michelle Duff: Marokopa report "should be compulsory reading, as a stark example of how family violence is minimised, and how damaging & misogynistic narratives, that cast men as heroes and women as complainers & overreactors, act to obscure the truth" Sexism puts women & children at risk every day
thespinoff.co.nz
It’s just a camping trip! With their dad! Marokopa inquiry reveals state of NZ child protection
Oranga Tamariki closed a report of concern while the children were still missing.
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Michael Brown @jingajik.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
NZ National Library and Archives NZ job cut proposal covered on One News www.1news.co.nz/2026/09/13/h...
1news.co.nz
Historian warns proposed job cuts will damage access to NZ's history
Historians and archivists warn the cuts could see backlogs grow and items go neglected, as the Government says restructuring is needed for financial sustainability.
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Hungrymama @hungrymama.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
What are the odds of this being available in Aotearoa at all, ever? Actually funded? It would be so good to have a last line of defence.
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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 11/09/2026
Me, a scientist: word limits are ridiculous, who could possibly care about this Also me, a parent: I will put seven apple slices on each plate and ten grapes on each plate and one oreo on each plate, lest I ignite a war of siblings
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Jessica de Heij @jdeheij.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
👌
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Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Today is #NationalTeddyBearDay which reminded us of that time we found this old book full of terribly terrifying teddies to traumatise and terrorise. Sweet dreams everyone. Don't have nightmares.
A terrifying old teddy bear
A terrifying old teddy bear
A terrifying old teddy bear
A terrifying old teddy bear
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Andrew Jull NZRN (he/him) @andrewjull.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Probably would have been cheaper and more effective to just add places at Auckland and Otago. www.rnz.co.nz/news/health/...
rnz.co.nz
Waikato University wants millions in ratepayer subsidies for new medical school
Waikato University is asking for millions of dollars in ratepayer subsidies for its new medical school, but one Hamilton councillor says it is a central government issue and ratepayers should not foot...
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mama.melancholia @mama-melancholia.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
So good to see Armageddon has banned the use of Smart Glasses at their events. 👍
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Sophie Delhaes @corkypirbright.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
@chronicillness.bsky.social
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Vanessa Newton-Wade @vanessabruell.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
After days battling winz, it was so nice to go to my local library and be treated with kindness 💚
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Shove Actually @dickenschicken.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
FULL MAMDANI EVERYBODY #nzpol
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Vincent O'Malley @vomalley.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
"As a country we pretty much suck at valuing and protecting our cultural heritage and this is just the latest example.” newsroom.co.nz/2026/09/07/g...
newsroom.co.nz
Government slammed over job cuts at National Library
Historians count the cost of a proposed restructure at the National Library and Archives NZ
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Tze Ming Mok 莫志明 @tzemingdynasty.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Has the likes of @haydendonnell.bsky.social ever solved the mystery of that one Aucklander and their special earthquake sensitivity
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scilion.bsky.social @scilion.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
MPs are claiming their partners property doesn't count, so can disabled, beneficiaries, students start claiming the same? We seem to have a hard time deciding when an adult is independent too, is it voting age 18? job seeker age 20? As a student 25? Well undergrad, PG can't get allowance. #Nzpol
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Dr Bex @drbex.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
There are over 35,000 households with a disabled family member who are living in material hardship right now. The only demographic difference for these households is disability. Read more 👇🏼 drbex.substack.com/p/the-cost-o...
drbex.substack.com
The Cost of Disability is Driving Poverty
We are shifting the costs of disability onto individuals, and it is impacting on our children.
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Sassy Little Hobbit @sassypolitico.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
All the under 5s who wouldn’t have been hospitalized if the flu vaccine had been free from the get go. But no. Do you think the govt will learn from this? Also no.
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Andrew Digby @digs.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
325 #kakapo! The chicks from this year's record breeding season are now juveniles and so have been added to the population. In 1995 there were just 51 kākāpō left. Recovery of critically endangered species _is_ possible with sustained effort. #kakapo2026 #conservation #parrots
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Mike Riversdale @mikeriversdale.co.nz · 31/08/2026
Dolly Parton's scientific, public health, and educational philanthropy was so significant that Nature is running a piece on the impact she had.
nature.com
Dolly Parton dies aged 80 — researchers celebrate her contributions to science
The country singer was an advocate for vaccines, public health, literacy and marginalized communities.
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Andrew Dickson @andrewdickson13.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
In December 2023 the Secretary of Education emailed the Director-General of Health asking her to "soften" the stay-home-if-sick messaging. Not a doctor. Acting for a Minister who is also not a doctor. I have the email, via OIA. #nzpol 🧵 1/
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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Naught but a leap to the left And then a clockwyse tread; Put thyne handes on thyne hippes, And be thy knees yn-gatheréd: Lo! It ys the pelvique thruste That maketh mirthe down to rayne - Lat us doon the Tyme Warpe agayne!
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Aaron Hawkins @ahawkins.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
It's a highly contested field, but arbitrarily cutting adults' off from access to the social safety net is right up there with the worst of it.
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Duille @duille.com · 28/08/2026
On this day in 1833 The British Slavery Abolition Act was passed freeing more than 800,000 enslaved people across the British Empire. Abolition Teapot. Josiah Wedgewood. c.1770. Image: BMAG. Wedgwood was a lifelong anti-slavery activist.
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David @daverino.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Wow - just simply, wow “Scientists first recorded Earth's low-frequency "hum" in the 1960s, but its origin was a mystery. Now it is believed the noise is caused by ocean swells generated in the Southern Ocean, the sound of which echoes across the planet” www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...
abc.net.au
The mysterious 'hum' of Earth and what scientists think is causing it
Earth is constantly humming with an ultra-low-frequency vibration that can be picked up right across the globe and has puzzled seismologists for decades. Growing evidence suggests it is the collective...
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Dr Bex @drbex.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
You can download and read the full manifesto here: www.cpag.org.nz/our-campaign... Disability is one of 5 domains covered in the manifesto
cpag.org.nz
Child Poverty Campaigns — Child Poverty Action Group
Child Poverty Action Group is a research and advocacy based charitable organisation trying to shift the dial on NZ's response to child poverty rates. Here are some of the campaigns CPAG has run to rai...
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