Oh dear. He does seem to be enjoying himself quite a lot; not so much the other two leaders.


https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politic...inkmanship




[b]OPINION:[/b]┬á"Jacinda ArdernÔÇÖs┬áface would harden, her eyes narrow and her reply would be returned in the most excoriating tone imaginable.

But wait, there's more! They must have seriously pissed him off.

Can't wait to watch this one.
Didn't think it was going to come round so soon.
Been delayed a day and is probably going to be Saturday evening our time
https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-se...unch-delay

"and the living is easy"

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jeff-bezo...37532.html

It really is quite bizarre, some of the things humans can manage to believe. And our newest PM is also apparenty an evangelical.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67422238


"Republican support for Israel has been near monolithic since the 7 October attack by Hamas.
Conservatives argue the US is backing a close ally, standing up for the region's only democracy and sending a message that terror against civilians will not be tolerated.
But there's more to it than that.

Evangelical conservatives are a key part of the Republican party's coalition, and these religious voters - and politicians - have a connection to the state of Israel that runs deep.
George Washington University religious scholar Christopher Rollston says: "There's a strong sense within evangelicalism that the Jewish people are God's people.
"And there's a theological assumption that's pretty pervasive within certain segments of evangelicalism that the establishment of the modern state of Israel was the fulfilment of biblical prophecy."



The new Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has strong evangelical ties.


The Louisiana congressman was one of a handful of politicians who addressed a crowd of 10,000 at a "March for Israel" event in Washington DC on Tuesday.
Quoting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he called the conflict between Israel and Hamas "a fight between good and evil, between light and darkness, between civilisation and barbarism".
He said demands for an Israeli ceasefire in Gaza were "outrageous".


"There are few issues in Washington that could so easily bring together leaders of both parties in both chambers," Mr Johnson said, "but the survival of the state of Israel unites us together and unites all Americans."
The Democrats are divided, however. While the two congressional leaders, along with President Joe Biden, have been firm in their support for Israel following the attack, a growing number on the left are calling attention to Palestinian civilian casualties and condemning the Israeli military campaign.


John Hagee is a Texas-based Christian minister and president of Christians United for Israel, which boasts 10 million members.
In 2008, he said the Holocaust was part of God's plan to return Jews to Israel. The Republican presidential candidate at the time, John McCain, declined his endorsement in part because of those comments.


For his part, Mr Hagee was effusive in his support for Israel. He told the crowd that a line should be drawn uniting Christians and Jews and that there was no "middle" ground in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.


"We must all stand united with one voice and boldly declare over and over: Israel, you are not alone," he said.
In his deep southern preacher drawl, he placed the fate of Israel squarely in a religious context.
"The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob guarantees Israel's deliverance will come as proclaimed every year during Passover," he said. "Israel is the apple of God's eye. Israel is the shining city on the hill. God says of Israel, Israel is my firstborn son."


For some evangelicals, however, the ties between their religion and the fate of Israel have a darker hue. And it's where Mr Hagee's more controversial views come into play.
In the End Days, a certain strain of Christian theology holds, the Jewish people will either convert to Christianity or perish in flames. It is a key step towards Armageddon that is then followed by 1,000 years of peace, according to this belief.


A Pew Research survey last year found 39% of Americans - including 63% of evangelicals - believe humanity is "living in the end times".

This is interesting because some of these countries have quite different views on Israel & America, but they're all very concerned at what's happening  now.


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67417570


Hypocrisy, double standards and a failure to understand the region. These are the charges being levelled at the West, primarily the US, by leaders of 57 Arab and Muslim countries who convened at the weekend in the Saudi capital Riyadh.


"How is it, foreign ministers said to me, that the West slams Russia for killing civilians in Ukraine, yet, in their words, it "gives a green light to Israel to do the same in Gaza"?
In the luxurious surroundings of Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel, amid giant floral bouquets and glittering chandeliers, and a world away from the shattered landscape of Gaza, princes, presidents and prime ministers met for the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit.


Blame for the war and the destruction of lives and property was heaped unilaterally on Israel and its supporters. No-one criticised Hamas for its 7 October raid into southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw some 240 taken hostage, triggering the massive military retaliation. Israel, said the secretary general of the Arab League, had committed criminal acts.


"We warn of the disastrous repercussions of the retaliatory aggression by Israel against the Gaza Strip, which amounts to a war crime," said the final communique. "We warn of the real danger of the expansion of the war as a result of Israel's refusal to stop its aggression and of the inability of the [UN] Security Council to enforce international law to end this aggression."



Few people I spoke to at the summit expected Israel to take much notice. Instead, it was clear that this summit and its intended message of unity was aimed at Israel's biggest backer - the United States. Leaders want the Biden administration and the West in general to exert sufficient pressure on Israel to stop the war altogether.






But what they could not agree on was how to achieve that. The summit pulled together some strange bedfellows - an indication of just how worried the region is at events in Gaza spiralling beyond their control."

Not an especially good start since it has the effect of making him look inefficient.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politic...power-play




ANALYSIS: ÔÇ£ThereÔÇÖll be another APEC.ÔÇØ

Hi.
After updating Ublock Origin (Firefox) , it now is disabled everytime I start FF.
I have to manually enable it every time.
Ive tried updating FF , removing & re-adding ublock origin , staring FF in admin mode
Quite annoying, especially as I didnt have the issue untill I upadted ublock origin (youtube was detcting my old Ublock & then blocked me)

Any ideas. Cheers

Spam seems worse lately so I counted today's. 20 total including the 8 that landed in junk folder.
It might be am noticing more now because my phone gives a little ding with each arrival. Feels like it was more, but it might be the annoyance factor.

Am guessing junk must work some 0.00001% of the time else they'd quit altogether.
What are the latest workarounds?

Windows 10 home 22H2
Windows Mail, (but getting pestered to switch to new Outlook).


Thanks.

I switch between latest versions of VLC, KM Player and Daum Pot Player for watching videos -DVDs via my USB connected . external DVD writer/player.

Periodically a DVD will only play in 1 or 2 of those programmes  (discovered when I try to play it).
Filepuma advertises various versions of K-Lite Codec which supposedly enables better interaction with all media formats.

Is there any gain for me if I install one of the options or is it just marketing hype?
I had believed that e.g. VLC would automatically connect with the correct codec.

Guidance please
thanks
Neil

While its good to see this war in Gaza being protested, its a great pity that the far right in the UK have become involved. The UK govt should be calling for an immedite ceasefire.


https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/1...-in-london


"Hundreds of thousands of people have marched in central London chanting ÔÇ£Stop bombing GazaÔÇØ and ÔÇ£Ceasefire nowÔÇØ in the largest Palestine solidarity demonstration held in the country so far.