Steve Reeves

Google Has a Secret Reference Desk. Here's How to Use It. 40 Google features to find exactly what you need, the alternative search engines that do things Google won't, and the reference desk framework underneath all of it.

TIL about a large number of operators/tools that can be used to make Google searches much more focused and productive
🧪 #philsci

cardcatalogforlife.substack.com/p/google-has...

Whenever I suggest even modest public transport improvements, I get people screaming about cost and that I simply must face “facts” that railways lose money and deserve no investment

You could have electrified commuter rail in every major centre and extensive regional rail for half this ridic road

New Zealanders support more taxes on ultra-rich, new poll shows | RNZ News Half of New Zealanders also agreed that billionaires shouldn't exist while people still struggled with basic necessities like housing, food and healthcare.

Half of NZers agreed billionaires shouldn't exist while people struggle with basic necessities

68% supported billionaires being taxed more

37% were in favour of introducing a billion-dollar wealth cap to minimise the amount of wealth any person could legally hold

www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

it’s more than the data quality and the change in methodology, it’s the claim that the decrease is entirely or substantially or even partially related to policy that requires scrutiny.

We could do something for every Kiwi, something that provides sustainable and comfortable transport and reduces costly dependence on a single mode, or we could… upgrade one existing road north of Auckland

Oh well I guess we must give in to the car, better things aren’t possible

Covid hospitalisations climb as New Zealand enters new wave There’s been an increase in hospitalisations and in wastewater detections, and it’s expected to last another month or two.

There were 19 reported covid related deaths last week and a big uptick in hospitalizations. We're in a wave.

We haven't been hearing much about it, so I'm pleased to see this article on Stuff.

NZ is famous for its Two Degrees of Separation

NZ politicians argue that Two Degrees of Separation means conflicts of interest are unavoidable and, thus, must be accepted

NZ politicians constantly implement policies that favour business interests over people/environment

NZ is corrupt as fuck

kind of crazy that if you have enough money and don't like what you see in the media, you can just buy up every film studio, news station, and social media app and change it

And he was so restrained when Ardern was PM, wasn't he?

- I very much don't think the Prime Minister 'gets it' because his government is destroying the state capacity and investments we need (eg science) to do all the things being talked about

This.

Also, millions (billions?) of dollars spent on RW disinformation with the goal of making everyone afraid of "the other" so corporations could break the world and shake it like a piggy bank.

What information from the USA and Israel would allow Luxon to either say their actions are illegal, or say that their actions are legal?

He's making a big deal of not doing either due to, according to him, lack of info from the USA and Israel.

Milei's government not only received a US $20-40 billion (NZD $33-$67 billion) bailout from Trump, his government is bringing in 12 hour work days, and stripping overtime which many Argentinians rely on

Winston following in Seymour's footsteps with the Atlas Network leader

But it will also be Luxon and Willis' excuse for things being crap come the election.

Can we stop giving Luxon his Very Special Boy Award for International Relations in every article please? He went on some trade junkets and shook hands in his ill-fitting suit, then he signed a very bad trade deal with India to say he'd done one. None of this describes any skill or talent #nzpol

This was literally what everyone had said.

There is a bit of a ressemblance!

New Zealand's Prime Minister Chris Luxon just appointed his reported Waiheke Island neighbour Cecilia Robinson, a New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)

Her related companies, Aratataki Health / Tend, has also been awarded multiple contracts under his government #nzpol #Kiwi
#aratataki

"We made a shit ton of promises we had no ability to keep but it's your fault for believing us."

Unfortunately, the Nats do this every time they're in Govt.

Which is why every time a Left Govt gets elected, it's back to square one with state housing.

And also why the next Left Govt NEEDS TO SHIFT THE BLOODY OVERTON WINDOW FOR CHRISSAKES.

On The Iran War Back when Russia invaded Ukraine, New Zealand didn’t wait for Vladimir Putin to tell us whether his acts of aggression were legal under international law. Instead, we immediately decided the invasion ...

'Given that diplomatic negotiations were still under way in Geneva to find a peaceful compromise … there is no credible case that Iran was posing an imminent threat. For 20 years, Israel has been claiming that Iran is on the brink …' www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL26...

I'd generalise, sadly: NZ unis are designed by business consultants who have no idea what universities are for.

This reminds me of that Frankie Boyle joke about how Americans not only come to your country and kill your people, they also come back twenty years later to make a movie about how killing your people made their soldiers sad.

How Israeli sleight and US might led to the assassination of Ali Khamenei An operation decades in the making took just 60 seconds to carry out, but some question its wisdom

“I know that when you take out someone’s leader you don’t solve the problem. You just create a new one.”

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

How Israeli sleight and US might led to the assassination of Ali Khamenei An operation decades in the making took just 60 seconds to carry out, but some question its wisdom

“I know that when you take out someone’s leader you don’t solve the problem. You just create a new one.”

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Once again you heard it here first from Johnny Cans

bsky.app/profile/oldm...

Xkcd cartoon at https://xkcd.com/773/

Like many internet things Randall Monroe says it best

Dearest people who don’t read or remember history:

The reason Iran is ruled by Ayatollahs now is because the U.S. overthrew the democratically-elected Iranian President in 1953 to help American oil interests.

"American innovation" now refers to making a kind of atrocity cronut by combining insider trading with war crimes.