Posts by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
(DIR) Post #AZrrs73SKcz2SrmOcS by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2023-09-17T19:29:28Z
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@lowqualityfacts see poster for details.
(DIR) Post #AaCLlBbGCCWqQZE5E8 by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2023-09-27T16:38:33Z
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@lowqualityfacts my first cousin is a fun guy
(DIR) Post #AdHOSNKzOXERESxwsS by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2023-12-20T00:08:55Z
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Does schools handing out attendance awards at prize giving this year, given what we've been through with covid, seem a bit shit to anyone else?#covid #settingTheWrongExample
(DIR) Post #AhtasT4S7mVxysOgKW by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2024-05-14T20:36:58Z
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My best mate Leon is an incredible programmer, particularly in #python. He's looking for work - please boost for reach or check out his quirky, fascinating blog. He's open to short term contracts, can work remotely or in Auckland, NZ.Https://lost.co.nz
(DIR) Post #AkCdmw5kYHdcvbQhCC by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2024-07-22T19:40:59Z
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Went to a free community Te Reo course yesterday (before my heart packed in for the day) for the chance to practice speaking with folks. Lots of retired people (and me, not nearly retired but otherwise unemployed) good naturedly stumbling over vowels and such a good vibe. Also a lovely teacher who organises food for about 20 local families in need. All of us brought together by the local library. The very opposite of the corporate class that is currently driving the country. So refreshing.
(DIR) Post #AkOzoo6fk03Fd8g4MC by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2024-07-27T21:24:56Z
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The cognitive dissonance of the Israel Gaza war in two headlines.#gaza #StopGenocide
(DIR) Post #AtcwggMsO1XAlPM4Wm by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-04-30T19:24:09Z
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I was doing some research for a proposal i'm putting together at work yesterday and went down a rabbit hole on youth crime. It will not surprise you to learn that in NZ, despite the shock headlines, there is no youth crime crisis. Youth crime dropped by almost 60% between 2010 and 2020. Some localised increases, driven by homelessness, have not disturbed this trend. The real crime here is undermining the mana of youth for cheap political advantage (while cutting funding to support services)
(DIR) Post #Au5wLRXbluoe9nilRg by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-05-14T19:18:23Z
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My 17yr old was ranting last night about teachers encouraging the use of AI and how stupid it was. They had done a quiz about a film, and the quiz had been ai generated. They spent most of the lesson pointing out all of the mistakes in the quiz and the woefully incorrect answers. It became an impromptu lesson on why you *shouldn't* use AI."I hate everything about it" she finally said.
(DIR) Post #AuNhy0GB0bSx1JZohM by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-05-23T06:34:49Z
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My wife just shared with me that one of her colleagues has her son at home for a two week visit right now. He's a student at Harvard. His visa has just been revoked and he cannot return to the US.His life, his academic career, all his belongings - just cut off. Extraordinary. What a global humiliation this US fascism is.
(DIR) Post #AuNi3TjeqZTZsuyeDQ by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-05-20T02:24:41Z
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I have a grand vision for Aotearoa New Zealand where we don't act like assholes all the time.I know that this is a politically unacceptable position right now, but I'm willing to workshop it.Who's with me?#NZPol
(DIR) Post #AuNi4es0vwXGhyRqsK by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-05-16T09:34:34Z
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I posted about my oldest girl raging against AI the other day, but tonight she was raging against the machine - performing her own song with her band at #RockQuest. It was awesome. She also passed her second of four blackbelt tests on Wednesday, well on her way to her first dan in #Hapkido.It's been a big week for her and she's a fricken champ. I am indulging in proud dad-ness right now.
(DIR) Post #AunincIp6nKfyPEHFw by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-06-04T21:02:35Z
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@mmiasma @Kierkegaanks in Aotearoa we celebrate 'Moehanga Day', which remembers the time in 1806 when Māori discovered the British Isles.https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/26-04-2025/the-maori-who-discovered-europe“Of course, various indigenous, white-skinned tribes already inhabited the British Isles for thousands of years, but Moehanga was the first Māori to discover Britain.The Britons were a warlike people, renowned and feared for their prowess at fighting other European tribes and even raiding and conquering lands and taking slaves on distant continents."
(DIR) Post #AuqJgmp1gVCXBwomDg by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-06-06T04:38:53Z
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I was at a conference today run by a support group of a particularly rare disorder, and while I was standing at the front outlining current advocacy efforts and discussing engagement with David Seymour (Assoc. Min of Health with responsibility for Pharmac) someone piped up with "Don't you just love him?"To which my answer was, "No."I then politely moved on to the next topic of discussion.#NZPol #healthcare #RareDisease
(DIR) Post #AuqJgsW6Vld8r00kYi by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-06-06T04:45:55Z
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There are a number of reasons why vulnerable people who struggle to access healthcare might applaud David Seymour right now.I try not to be judge-y about this. He *has* increased the Pharmac budget and has promised further reform. There are many patients desperate for these things.The fact that he is also part of a coalition that is completely stripping publicly funded healthcare *in general* is usually clouded by their experience of a system that is already deeply inequitable to those with a rare disorder.In that context, somebody who wades in to shake things up is often seen as a welcome breath of fresh air. And this is how it is done. Grab on to people's disenfranchisement and capitalise on it.
(DIR) Post #AusRAyUTx9zi42TEIq by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-06-06T21:18:18Z
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Ok team. Today I finish my entry for the Sargeson prize. No excuses. If you see me procrastinating by shitposting, boosting, or sweating over earnest political posts call me out. I am rolling up my sleeves and getting on with it. Seriously. Right after I post this. Any time now. Just watch me. Here we go. #Writing
(DIR) Post #AusRAzmb9I504VxDBA by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-06-07T05:10:41Z
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First draft complete, and I now have a couple of weeks left to edit it. There are some rough spots, but goddamn it I got there in the end.Will it win? Probably won't come close. But I shall award myself a prize tonight of the last dram of Laphroaig in celebration.
(DIR) Post #Avbe2iuU4YrG8Qlv1s by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-06-29T00:43:02Z
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I'm recuperating from... well, you know, everything... in te Tai Tokerau and hoo boy, the serenity up here. Nga mihi to local iwi Ngati Wai for sharing this beautiful gem with us.
(DIR) Post #AyzR4TCrpvgp9KDcnI by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-10-08T04:04:32Z
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These are tough times for #YouthWorkers in NZ right now - I just had to cancel another training workshop due to low ticket sales (and we have one of the best, and most respected, trainers in the industry). Due mostly to massive funding cuts across the charitable & non-profit sector organisations can't afford to invest in PD at the moment, and that means less-qualified staff, who feel less valued, and who we know from internal research are paid well below other sectors.Every week, another charity providing critical social work with at-risk populations goes under - even while funding for prisons is increased.It reminds me that, actually, we have *all* of the answers we need to solve social problems - and the people to do it - but we do not have the will.For some, it seems, charities must eternally exist as part of a moral eco-system where poor & vulnerable people must also eternally exist, along with 'baddies' that do crime. "That's just the way the world is" they will say, smiling, as they dispense Weetbix and budgeting advice with a patronising smile.It's all rubbish. We made this world, and we can choose to make it different. The people I work with daily show-up and change people's lives for the better. They get shit pay and no respect, but they do it anyway. They have hope for the young people they work with. They foster that hope in these rangatahi. It is infectious. It is crucial. And I wish we had that same hope and aspiration for our society as a whole.As it stands we are most definitely not #Sorted.
(DIR) Post #B0tM6sJy1qE4O2uDMO by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2025-12-03T02:29:47Z
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When people ask me what I'm doing over the summer I'm currently replying "fleeing the country"Creates instant intrigue and suggests I've recently pulled off a heist.
(DIR) Post #B2fYblilZcQGJ4lIcS by jdmcg@mastodon.nz
2026-01-26T06:03:13Z
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My new place doesn't have a garden, but it backs onto this (which i don't have to mow or otherwise look after) so that's a happy bonus.