Thoughts in Uncertain Times

Because thinking about the world is fun

I started this blog at the beginning of the 2020 New Zealand COVID pandemic lockdown because I wished I had recorded life through the civil emergency of the Canterbury earthquakes. When I started, I had no idea how long the pandemic might last, or how long I might keep writing. In 2023, the pandemic is loosening its hold on the world but there are so many other pressing issues on the horizon and interesting aspects of life to ponder that I am not stopping yet…

Latest Posts

By Jane Shearer December 6, 2025
Things can’t stay the same forever but humans have a tendency to wish they could. Like our British racing green windows. Or the Catholic church maintaining women can’t be deacons. Hell, no?
Man wearing devil horns and a dragon shirt, holding a whisk, smiling against a black background.
By Jane Shearer November 28, 2025
Shane Jones says regional councils should be disestablished because they're full of demonic egg beaters. What are demonic egg beaters? Should they be disestablished?
Mountain bike leans against a weathered, corrugated iron hut on a hillside.
By Jane Shearer November 22, 2025
I finally got some work to do - a good thing! Or a bad thing? Because the work I do is fundamentally about growing the economy, which I don’t believe in. How do I deal with being compromised?
Woman playing cello, floral shirt, in front of a guitar, industrial background, seated with microphone.
By Jane Shearer November 15, 2025
Is classical music more ‘real’ than popular music? There are biases in music, as in every aspect of life. How justified are they?
Man in orange shirt examines small rock on table in a bright, modern room.
By Jane Shearer November 7, 2025
There’s gold fever in the air in Central Otago as Santana Minerals pushes their gold mining consent forward in the Fast Track application process. Why do we love gold so much?
Left: Dog wearing a slice of bread as a mask. Right: Woman holding a cat with a slice of bread.
By Jane Shearer November 1, 2025
A pure bread dog and a mixed bread cat - torturing our ever-tolerant cat Loki in the COVID lockdown.
By Jane Shearer October 25, 2025
Should we be polite to large language models like ChatGPT? There are good arguments on both sides of the debate.
By Jane Shearer October 18, 2025
Changes to the New Zealand research funding meeting may spell the end of my career but, more importantly, what do they spell for research and science?
By Jane Shearer October 11, 2025
What do lawyers and bears have in common? I’m not sure, but given the choice, I’ll pick the bear.
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