dingsbums

Neotrichozetes spinulosa, aka the Hellraiser Mite, a small big covered in urticating hairs that make it look like pinhead

in this picture of a hellraiser mite its blood red colour is more obvious

Voting for New Zealand Bug of the Year closes in a few short hours! You don't need to be local to vote. This year I'm team Hellraiser Mite, because every year I pick the freakiest l'il guy I can find and just look at him.

bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20...

Ok, he just tooted and waved as we passed another bus. 😊

I desperately need you, the person reading this post, to know that this is happening at the senior leadership/executive levels of YOUR COMPANY TOO right now.

And I really do mean *you* even if I know you personally.

Hell, some of you ARE the executives.

This bus driver is enthusiastically greeting each passenger, chatting to the guy sitting closest to him and playing metal on the radio. Love it 🤘🏻

Kim Workman: My life in the criminal justice system | E-Tangata “My first response to going inside Kohitere was one of anger and disbelief… Anger that no one understood that the offenders of today were almost always the victims of yesterday.” — Tā Kim Workman refl...

“..our prison pop has soared to 11k inmates. The muster is disproportionately Māori (53.4%) & trending upward. PM Luxon declared increase in prison muster a ‘good thing’, characterising it as price of ‘restoring law & order”

MP’s said same 64yrs ago. It wasn’t true then, & it’s not true now. #nzpol

Cartoon. Five frames. Title “Taxonomy” First frame a duck is reading a newspaper headline “Levy to Fund Dirty LNG Energy” The duck says, “Tax? Quack” 2nd frame the duck is walking and says, “Tax! Quack”, as it does in the 3rd and fourth frame. In the last frame the duck is on PM Christopher Luxon’s head, saying, “Tax! Quack” and has done a poo. And Christopher Luxon says, “This … is not a duck”

Quick, dirty and expensive. The govt is going to build a $1 billion liquid natural gas (LNG) import terminal, instead of investing in clean energy. And as for the levy…if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…
My #cartoon today #NZpol #FossilFuels #Climate

Absolute UNIT of a hornet beside an array of puny common wasps.

A guide for Aucklanders keeping watch for yellow-legged hornets:

1. “Hmm, is this stripy waspy thing a hornet?” = not a hornet

2. “JESUS EFFING C what the F is that MONSTER, that’s he biggest wasp I’ve ever SEEN, NO Jaden KEEP AWAY, shit I think it has yellow legs” = hornet

Cartoon. Title: “Short and Curlies” Picture shows PM Christopher Luxon, in his bathroom, trying to look at a growth on his back (the architect of the Treaty Principles Bill, David Seymour). He is saying, “I thought it’d just fester and fade, but I don’t know, it’s looking kind of … smug”

PM Christopher Luxon, and his self-inflicted affliction, the architect of the Treaty Principles Bill, David Seymour.
My #cartoon today #NZpol #Waitangi #ToitūTeTiriti

Company running Wellington wastewater treatment plants failed basic asset management - report Despite multiple failures - including untreated sewage polluting a popular swimming beach - the company running Wellington's four wastewater treatment plants is keeping its multi-million dollar contra...

Quelle surprise, Veolia - in it for the profit - fails the to do the basics.

“An independent report released today has found the French-owned multinational Veolia failed to carry out basic asset management, including regular maintenance.” #nzpol

They join CompassNZ on the DO NOT USE LIST.

International Olympic Committee Asks Fans to Not Boo JD Vance at the Opening Ceremony The U.S. delegation will be led by the Vice President and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

oh I'm sure everybody will listen to this request

The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe A New History of Medieval Europe

fyi mine and @lollardfish.bsky.social's THE BRIGHT AGES is on sale as an ebook for only $4.99!

bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

Google with AI buttons

Google without AI buttons

I made a filterlist for uBlock Origin to remove Generative AI features on websites. Includes blocks for
* Google AI Summaries
* YouTube Ask button & chat summaries
* GitHub Copilot
* Facebook AI chat
* X's Grok buttons
* Deviantart DreamUp
* Booru AI images
* And more

github.com/Stevoisiak/S...

When charitable trusts are doing more for public health than the government that is responsible for public health 🫠

Would also be great if articles like these could mention the Greens are the only party in Aotearoa to have a policy of free dental care for everyone.

An artificial metal casing of a hand with moveable finger joints.

This artificial hand is nearly 500 years old. It consists of a metal casing which wrapped around the forearm stump & was secured by leather straps. An internal mechanical structure (now missing) may have allowed the fingers to move. The fingers can flex at the largest knuckle joint. #MedicalHistory

friend of mine is an undocumented immigrant and has been hiding in Melania theaters bc he knows people assume no one is in there

This is one of the biggest stories in America, comparable in scale to what’s happening in Minnesota. The largest social media platform is transferred to Trump’s allies and immediately forbids you from saying anything bad about him. Absolutely totalitarian in nature. No different than China.

From the Independent: "ICE is rumored to be heading for Philadelphia. Everyone is saying the same thing' Reaction from ben doyle (@thewheatgerm): "this is the equivalent of hitler sending you to stalingrad"

imgaine getting sent packing with your ass in your own two hands by some of the nicest people in the world and then showing up in a city that is famous for booing santa claus

#nzpol

Forestry group urges Government to remove legal accountability for slash Forestry industry leader forecasts “social and economical meltdown” in Gisborne unless things change.

Fuck these people.

#NZPol #NZ

www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

Heads up Rebel Sport and Briscoes are trialling facial recognition technology 🤢🚨

As noted here, “facial recognition technology has been proven repeatedly to be discriminatory against communities of colour and will further entrench racism within policing.”
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Trial👇

Tramper missing in Kahurangi National Park found alive Graham Garnett failed to return home from a hike on 30 December.

Oh my god this is incredible news

He’s been overdue since Dec 30 and they called off the active search just a few days ago

And we’ve had some Weather during that time too

Tramper missing in Kahurangi National Park found alive www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

That would be preferable

Kept hearing a repeated phrase of electronic music outside. Thought maybe a kid was playing a (very loud) game? But no, it was an *ice cream truck*. Greensleeves or nothing, I say! #kikorangi

Reposting this because apparently he's active again on here. Definitely recommend blocking.

The sources of adult dental stem cells used for tooth regeneration from: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-59809-9_5

Today in #SciFiScience - regrowing teeth in adults. Turns out there is a transcription factor in mammals that inhibits tooth growth. If it is inhibited, it that make new teeth grow. (and that's now in clinical trials) 🧪

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Watch: This is what a rip looks like and how to avoid getting caught in one Do you know what to do if you get caught in a rip? Or how to respond if you see someone else in trouble in the water?

They should also show this info on every incoming flight.

Its #FunFactFriday! Did you know that Baird's Beaked Whales are found in the deep waters on both sides of the North Pacific Ocean? Like all beaked whales they are great divers, capable of reaching depths of 800 – 1,200m where they feed on squid and deep-sea fish.

#WhaleTales

It was "she breasted boobily [...]", but that was a pisstake. This was sincere.

I've got a feeling / This year's for me and you | dansinker.com

I wrote a little thing about "Fairytale of New York" and about hope for a better year, but mostly I wanted to share the rendition of the song played at Shane MacGowan's funeral in 2023 because it's so beautiful. Happy Christmas, I love ya baby. dansinker.com/posts/2025-1...

Oh look, let's all have a peaceful and relaxing day, as a treat 😊