greg jackson

@lorrainesplace @MaryPearso36215 Yep

@MaryPearso36215 @therealgregjack I could never have given up with a pack in the house. I would have had to smoke every last one, before giving up.

Been reminded just now that today's 25 years since we stopped smoking.I was a heavy smoker, still can't believe I finally stopped.

@lorrainesplace Sometimes it's just time for bad habits.The skill comes from sensing a window and climbing through while it's there.

@therealgregjack I gave up alcohol 10yrs ago. Even though I loved booze, I found that so much easier to give up than smoking. Who know why though.

BNZ hikes mortgage rates for second time in as many weeks, via @nzherald nzherald.co.nz/business/bnz-h… ( Are any of them offering decent short/long term deposit rates yet?) Bastards!

I wasn't always nice. At high school I was between a hood and an "arty".Me and a hood mate used to whittle the end off our rulers and stick our compasses on them while the good kids were studying. Nerds got jabbed.Somehow seeing lots of Simeon Brown of late reminds me of this.

@matroked @NZNationalParty @actparty @nzfirst Just for once I'm not sure it's just a National thing.Think this sneaky thing has been in place for ages.On the upside paying for it makes more sense when you discover it inhibits the development of dementia.

My friend aged 70 asked for a shingles vaxx but was told it would cost $700 She declined Turns out you can only get it free for 12 months from your 65th birthday Nobody tells you this though Another pennypinching secret from @NZNationalParty @actparty @nzfirst #nzpol

Russian forces captured 68 square miles of Ukraine last month — and it cost them 4,800 vehicles and more than 36,600 dead and wounded troops. At the current rates of advance, Russia would capture the rest of Ukraine in the year 2256 at the cost of 101 million casualties. forbes.com/sites/davidaxe…

Brilliant @Banxcartoons @ftopinion

@MaryPearso36215 "Not for me".Sadly

@MaryPearso36215 I have heard of such wonders.Not for sadly.Hard, hard yakker.

Here are the photos that won the @nytimesphoto Gaza photographer Saher Alghorra a 2026 @PulitzerPrizes -- taken under impossible, dangerous conditions even as he lacked supplies and even food. The world is in his debt for chronicling conditions in Gaza. nytimes.com/2026/05/04/wor…

The Iranian attack on the UAE, Oman, and in the Straight of Hormuz was done by the IRGC without the knowledge or coordination of the Iranian government. Iranian President Pezeshkian is "extremely angry" at the actions of Ahmad Vahidi, the commander of the IRGC, and has called for an urgent meeting to stop attacks on Persian Gulf countries. - Iran International

@secondzeit Missed a great houseguest from hell story there.

From the “you cannot be serious” file, an email from the Free Speech Union

@carlysideswipe Sometimes I eavesdrop at the checkout when some poor bastard in front of me waits while they go and breakout a packet of fags for them and the price, packet or pack is gobsmacking.

@therealgregjack 27 years here. I gave up in 99. I'd been smoking for 14 years, I was 28. I'd already been smoking half my life. Plus they'd gone from under $5 a pack to well over $7. Chomped my way through lots of packets of airwaves gum. And you could still smoke in bars so my clothes stank 🤢

@lorrainesplace Unlike most other addictions it doesn't beat you up the next day which does make things harder.Alcohol and heroin are both quicker to remind one of their absence in the system.

@therealgregjack I can't believe I did either. I still feel proud of myself because, man alive, it was sooo hard to stop. 25 yrs well done Greg. 👏👏

@uNrTrRsxhicsXyC I realised my addiction was helping shareholders elsewhere enjoy the profits.Visualised one of my greedy North American great aunties.That did the trick too.

@therealgregjack I read somewhere that not smoking was not painful. Just my brain lying. That helped.

The actual agreement between Singapore and NZ signed yesterday. Given a) both countries’ longstanding commitment to open trade & b) that govts themselves don’t export it does nothing to secure future fuel supply. It is mostly political theatre…. mfat.govt.nz/assets/Trade-a…

Massive amount of US tankers up above the Strait of Hormuz right now almost too many to count huge amount of fighter jets accompanying them...

Food prices due to be an astonishing 50 percent higher in just 5 years, due to climate breakdown and energy shocks And it is only going to get worse - much, much, worse theguardian.com/business/2026/…

Saher Alghorra (NYT) has won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for "his haunting, sensitive series showing the devastation and starvation in Gaza"

Iran reportedly attacked the Fujairah oil terminal. This is the endpoint of the ADCOP pipeline, the UAE's only Hormuz bypass. 1.5 million barrels per day of crude capacity, expandable to 1.8 million. This pipeline was built specifically so the UAE could export oil without transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is not just hitting a coalition partner. They are targeting the infrastructure that lets oil flow without Hormuz. The only other major Hormuz bypass is Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline to Yanbu, which was attacked in April and lost approximately 700,000 barrels per day of throughput. Iran's message is clear. If they cannot export through Hormuz, nobody bypasses it either.