Thank god we spent the last few years massively converting industry to renewables and incentivising household solar. We'd be in so much trouble right now.
09.03.2026 20:12
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Thank god we spent the last few years massively converting industry to renewables and incentivising household solar. We'd be in so much trouble right now.
A reminder to all, if you have a commentary on the NZ research system that is based in verifiable fact (i.e. not back room conversations/rumours) the New Zealand Science Review is a great place for it to be recorded for posterity. It needn't be long, but we need to record the 'now' for the future.
Did we all know that the second season of Deadloch drops this month??
Open Letter: Menstrual Injustices in Myanmar Need Urgent Attention 5 March 2026 To the UN Agencies and Humanitarian Actors operating in Myanmar, We are writing ahead of International Women’s Day 2026, as part of the campaign organized under the ‘Let it Flow – Menstrual Justice Movement’ to urge action on concerns surrounding sexual and reproductive health rights in Myanmar, including menstrual hygiene. In the Dry Zone (Sagaing and Magway Regions), the systematic blockade of sanitary products and “dignity kits” intensified significantly from late 2022 through 2023. For approximately six months, the military has blocked the transportation of sanitary pads. This is based on the pretext that the items are used by People’s Defence Forces (PDF) as boot insoles or emergency bandages to stop bleeding. As a part of the campaign, we have 700 sets of reusable pads. Out of these, 100 have been distributed in Monwya and 500 in Yinmarpin. In our efforts to sew pads, there was a three-month delay because the materials needed were being prevented from being sent to Myanmar. As such, the remaining 100 pads could not be delivered due to roadblocks. On International Women’s Day, the need to support women, girls and people who menstruate in Myanmar is now more urgent than ever. Since the coup on February 1, 2021, women’s rights have faced further erosion and been under increased attack. It is critical to address gaps in the health infrastructure, especially in rural areas and conflict zones. Women, girls and people who menstruate are especially vulnerable in displacement sites, where pregnant women face exponential risks of complications during childbirth without trained healthcare workers. We are calling for collective action from UN agencies and humanitarian actors to combat menstrual injustices and the direct assaults on women’s bodies, health, and overall well-being, both physical and mental.
In Myanmar, particularly in the Sagaing and Magwe regions, where our partners are located, women are being denied safe and dignified access to menstrual products. The military junta’s ban on the safe delivery of these essential items to vulnerable communities is a deliberate and blatant violation of sexual and reproductive health rights. When commercial products are unavailable or unaffordable due to disrupted supply chains and inflation, women are forced to use unhygienic materials like rags or leaves, leading to a high risk of infections. The junta has also banned the supply of women’s underwear in the Dry Zones. Further, stigma and silence worsen the crisis. The cultural taboos surrounding menstruation mean that period products are often not prioritized as essential items, leading to shame, isolation, and missed opportunities for women and girls. The serious gaps in women’s health have long-lasting and significant impacts on their livelihoods and socio-economic growth. Additionally, there is a lack of adequate sex education, particularly regarding menstruation. The devastation in the aftermath of the earthquake on 28 March 2025 has also had destructive gendered impacts that cannot be overlooked. The earthquake affected thousands of civilians, increasing the urgency for humanitarian aid. Access to reproductive health services deteriorated, damaging critical infrastructure like clinics and hospitals. Women, especially new mothers and pregnant women, have faced anxiety and stress over obtaining prenatal care and mental health support. The destruction of hospitals and clinics causes further strain on the healthcare system and further hinders women’s access to vital health services. Over 3.5 million people remain displaced, with at least 40% being children who need protection.
We therefore urge the UN and humanitarian groups to support the Menstrual Justice Movement’s declaration that menstrual health is a fundamental human right, not a privilege. Access to menstrual products, clean water, sanitation facilities, and health information is essential for maintaining dignity, bodily autonomy, and overall health. Menstruation does not pause for conflict. Everyone, including those living in protracted crisis and conflict zones, must have access to water, sanitation and hygiene. The basic biological needs of women and girls must be addressed, regardless of the circumstances created by war or natural disasters. A failure to address the underlying causes of inadequate menstrual support can lead to challenges in maintaining good hygiene, including the spread of preventable diseases. Women and girls have faced widespread and systematic attacks on their fundamental freedoms. The violence that continues to affect their daily lives has been met with strong resistance and a firm insistence that gender equality must be prioritized and protected in the establishment of a new and emerging federal Myanmar. Banning menstrual products is a violation of international humanitarian law, and the blocking or restricting of humanitarian aid that includes essential hygiene supplies is a direct assault on the health and safety of women and girls in besieged or conflict-affected areas in Myanmar. There are also long-standing economic concerns which must be considered. The war in Myanmar has led to a lack of employment and livelihood opportunities. For women who can no longer afford disposable products, high-quality, washable reusable pads offer the most sustainable solution. The market price for a pack of sanitary pads starts at 3,500 MMK. Due to extortion and “taxing” at checkpoints, prices have inflated beyond the reach of most displaced women. Consequently, many Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are forced to use makeshift fabric scraps as substitutes.
Given these challenges, we are looking to the support of the UN and humanitarian agencies for the following: Apply political pressure to lift blockades and ensure unrestricted access to aid. Dedicate funding for menstrual hygiene supplies and dignity kits. Support women-led, local actors in the production and distribution of contextually appropriate menstrual products (e.g., reusable). Integrate Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) education and support into all humanitarian programming. Contribute to awareness-raising among the global sisterhood and international community about the specific crises faced by women in Myanmar, and to support the initiatives of locally-led women’s organizations to ensure the procurement of pads and support for health-related activities and campaigns. Health is a fundamental human right and should be recognized as such. No one should face increased risks due to having a period. Access to menstrual products and education is essential to ensure that young women and girls can fully participate in educational and economic opportunities. We must collectively address the stigma and long-standing beliefs that have disempowered and marginalized young women. For more information, please contact: Ms. Thinzar Shunlei Yi Program Director Sisters2Sisters stos.campaign@gmail.com speakupformyanmar@protonmail.com Signed By: Sisters 2 Sisters မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအထွေထွေအလုပ်သမားသမဂ္ဂများအဖွဲ့ချုပ်-Federation of General Workers Myanmar ဗမာနိုင်ငံလုံးဆိုင်ရာအမျိုးသမီးများသမဂ္ဂ – All Burma Women’s Union မင်္ဂလာတောင်ညွန့်မြို့နယ်အထွေထွေသပိတ်ကော်မတီ – Mingalar Taung Nyunt General Strike Committee ယောလူထုတိုက်ပွဲ ကော်မတီ – Yaw People’s Revolution Committee (Magwe Region) Sagaing Scout Network ကန့်ဘလူမြို့နယ် သပိတ်အင်အားစု – Kanbalu Strike Group (Sagaing Region) Revolutionary Education Phaungbyin – REP (Sagaing Region) Progressive Labor Community Women’s Group in Yangon (Anonymous for security reason)
Weekend is here #MilkTeaAlliance & here is the events🧵
To mark IWD 2026, coalition of women's orgs in Myanmar inc @sisters2sistersmm.bsky.social call on UN & INGOs to do more to provide support for women. As junta been blocking distribution of sanitary products
sisters2sisters.org/open-letter-...
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Great! Here’s wishing you all a quick recovery from this.
Will we get a wee spill as a Friday afternoon treat?
The week's upcoming events thread is up, busy one, couple of exhibitions on Tibet, 4 events related to Myanmar, Aksi Kamisan Surabaya hold their 900th action to demand justice for Human Rights Violations in Indonesia & a lot more events & other highlights.
Screenshot of a social media post by a verified account named David Seymour reading, “Our dinner for Persian freedom fighters was well timed. Let freedom reign this time.” Below the text is a photo of a dining table set with plates, glasses, and a vase of flowers beside large glass doors. Outside the doors hang several green-white-red flags with lion-and-sun emblems. A folded cloth sits on a countertop in the foreground.
Let's not forget that Seymour called New Zealand's first Iranian born member of parliament, a woman whose parents fled the regime as dissidents, a "menace to freedom" resulting in her needing extra security as threats increased
He directed contributed to her being hounded out of public life
The short term thinking is so disheartening.
Can provide academic references.
🙃
Public Service Association (PSA) union national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said cuts would set the organisation up for failure.
"New Zealand deserves and needs this organisation to contribute to economic growth innovation, and our response to climate change."
www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...
Job market so bad that even former Prime Ministers moving to Australia
#MYANMAR - UNICEF is deeply alarmed by new reports that at least 5 children have been killed and 3 injured following airstrikes in Ponnagyun, Rakhine State and Myinmu, Sagaing State.
Children must be protected at all times.
@ricardopires.bsky.social @unicef.org
www.unicef.org/eap/press-re...
Looooooove 😍.
Since 2023, the central estimate of children in poverty has increased on all 3 measures. 23,700 more children in material poverty than in 2023, up 16% in the past 2 years. 1 in 7 kids missing out on the absolute basics. Regardless of who is in office, this isn't good enough.
Edith's history threads are always great. This one builds on her previous threads / reports on Chin state, covering the struggle against the Junta in that region in 2025.
Well worth a read
(Incidentally the 1st of Edith's threads I ever read was on chin state that & her book also linked in her🧵)
I give homeless people money if I have any on me, and then I vote for parties that will address the causes of homelessness. This is baseline decency and our own Prime Minister can't even drag himself up to that, because he's a prosperity gospel prick #nzpol
Timor-Leste opened legal proceedings against Myanmar’s military for war crimes. 👏
Junta's expulsion of Timor-Leste’s diplomat only exposes its fear of accountability.
ASEAN, under the Philippines’ chairship, must fully back Timor-Leste’s stand for justice. ✅
Read more 👉 https://bit.ly/4tTDk6T
Whenever I talk to someone over 50 but particularly women they are absolutely terrified that if they get laid off/made redundant they won’t find work again cause no one wants to hire old people and yet all the talk is about raising the retirement age.
Resene factory workers walked off the job yesterday for a Living Wage. E tū members at Resene have been fighting for a Living Wage since September. They're struggling to pay bills and put food on the table. Resene needs to do the right thing and pays its staff enough to live a decent life. #nzpol
Two years ago today, I was still basking in the afterglow of watching my friend Fa'anānā Efeso Collings deliver a most blistering maiden speech in Parliament. I will never forget that moment, sitting in the gallery, feeling #Ōtara, #SouthAuckland and the whole #Pacific in his voice.
My anecdata: A family member currently doing her nursing training will head to Australia as soon as she has finished along with her tradie boyfriend. Why would you stay here?
Shrive for dinner like us 🥞.
Lead story in this morning’s NZ Herald: “‘Rough night and a wild morning’: Evacuations, thousands without power as storm hits North Island. Wellingtonians have been warned to stay indoors if possible.”
A snippet from the Herald’s live blog this morning showing PM Christopher Luxon with an umbrella: “Meanwhile, at Eden Park in Auckland, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is about to make an announcement, under some heavy rain.”
Front page of Stuff News website this morning: “Wellington Wales to chaotic scenes and major disruption as storm rages on.” A breaking news banner adds: “Major disruption for highways, trains, planes, ferries and power as storm rages on.”
Another top story on the stuff page, filed under “Breaking” and “Rugby league”: “History-making State of Origin match confirmed for New Zealand.”
This morning in (heart)breaking news:
New Zealand: Multiple states of emergency, right now
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon: State of Origin footy match, 2027 🎉
NZ: Wellington cut off, digging out from huge storm
PM: Yeah gidday from Auckland, it’s raining here too ☂️
NZ: Help?
Luxon: Catch! 🏈
Not doomed, no. Sucks bawse right now, yes.
Me right at this very minute. “Break into three groups! Take the poster paper and markers!” 😂😭
production of The Muppet Show should not be dependent on petty vulgarities like “ratings” or “revenue.” it should be preserved as a vital function of american culture. it should have a taxpayer-funded budget rivaling the CIA
I love to see the newest member of ASEAN getting amongst it. I’m a big fan of solidarity with the people of Myanmar over “non-interference” when it comes to war crimes.
www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmar...
I have to support this wormy little guy cuz my kid did the illustrations!
