The political hot potato.


https://www.thepress.co.nz/a/politics/35...dum-policy


"David Seymour wants to talk. ItÔÇÖs just a few days after the election, the negotiations to form the new government are but negotiations about negotiations, and party leaders on the political right are cautious about saying too much in public.


But Seymour is on the phone, speaking about ACTÔÇÖs stance on the Treaty of Waitangi and its demand for a referendum on the issue ÔÇô perhaps the hottest of hot political potatoes sitting on the negotiation table.
And heÔÇÖs not holding back.

The Sunday Star-Times had asked what had changed since 2016 when Seymour spoke in very different terms about the state of race relations.
In an RNZ interview about HobsonÔÇÖs Pledge which had just been formed, fronted by former ACT and National leader Don Brash, Seymour talked about the importance of realising political events happened in a context.
He compared 2016 to 2004 when Brash gave his famous ÔÇ£┼îrewa speechÔÇØ, and the country was divided over the foreshore and seabed debate.



ÔÇ£Now, here we are 12 years on, at least two members of my family are currently attempting to learn M─üori ÔǪ thatÔÇÖs how times have moved on. YouÔÇÖve now got mainly white middle class people who are embracing M─üori culture ÔÇô a very different environment from what we faced in 2004.ÔÇØ

And that wasnÔÇÖt an aberration. In 2014, during an interview with the Listener, he spoke out about previous ACT campaigns around M─üori issues. ÔÇ£I reject, for example, having a newspaper advertisement that says, ÔÇÿSick of the M─üorification of Everything?ÔÇÖ That was disgraceful.ÔÇØ
Seymour told the Listener he considered leaving the party in 2011 because of that ad. He expressed disdain for how previous leader Jamie Whyte had played the race card in the 2014 election.

   
But if things arenÔÇÖt good, shouldnÔÇÖt Seymour and other politicians who have made an issue of the Treaty take some responsibility?
After all, there have been warnings this week from Te P─üti M─üoriÔÇÖs John Tamihere and the GreensÔÇÖ James Shaw about the possibility of violence if ACTÔÇÖs Treaty referendum goes ahead.

Earlier in the year, the spokesperson for the Iwi Chairs Forum and Treaty educator had a Zoom meeting with Seymour.
ÔÇ£I thought, ÔÇÿI want to find out what the heck heÔÇÖs on aboutÔÇÖ,ÔÇØ says Hamilton.
Im a really, really patient and tolerant person  but he really frustrated me and it was difficult to have a proper conversation with him.
ÔÇ£He said to me things like, ÔÇÿIÔÇÖm an intelligent man and IÔÇÖm in this because I know what IÔÇÖm doingÔÇÖ, and I tried to give him credit for that.ÔÇØ

But in the end the conversation ended without going anywhere, and they agreed to differ.
I found him to be so  ignorant [and] a bit judgemental  but he was really, really difficult is probably the best way of putting it.
Is that what we can expect of Seymour in government? Does that mean he will insist on the referendum?
Ben Thomas is not so sure.
ÔÇ£There are always compromises to be made, thatÔÇÖs what politics is,ÔÇØ says Thomas."

According to medicin sans frontieres. They're calling for an aid corridor.

I'd like to think Israel might find sufficent compassion to do so but with their present leader it seems unlikely.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/500502/...d-corridor


"A international medical charity has condemned the bombing of a hospital in Gaza as 'horrific' and 'brutal'.

M├®dicins Sans Fronti├¿res (MSF) Australia head of programs Simon Eccleshall told┬áCheckpoint┬áit did not matter who was responsible.

"MSF is truly horrified by the brutal mass killing of civilians, and we've been seeing this perpetrated by Hamas in Israel and now the Israeli Defence Force through the indiscriminate bombing of north and south Gaza."
On Sunday, local residents had been warned to evacuate north Gaza and move south, but MSF had observed that there was no safe passage, and no place for people to move to, he said.

"The borders are closed, the bombing is relentless and for people facing the choice of leaving their home for a perilous journey, you can understand why leaving is not possible, particularly for the patients that MSF is trying to save.
"Hospitals cannot be emptied at short notice, and people can't survive without electricity and water."
MSF was no longer able to conduct medical activities in the north of Gaza, he said.

"Over the last 10 days we have moved our international staff to the south of Gaza, where they're looking at exiting through the Rafah border crossing if and when that opens up."
This would enable MSF to bring in new medical staff - "ones that are not exhausted" - as well as new supplies to support the immediate needs of the population of Gaza.
There were still a large number of local medical staff providing life-saving support in the hospitals but communication with them was increasingly difficult, he said.
MSF was calling for the creation of an aid corridor and protected spaces for Gazan.
"It's about providing a cessation in hostilities to allow life-saving support to come in and to give people passage to a place of safety."




Really,"Swords of iron?!" They sound like foolish little boys playing idiotic war games.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/500524/...post-war-p
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/500524/...n-for-gaza



"Israel is vowing to wipe out Hamas in a relentless onslaught on the Gaza Strip but has no obvious endgame in sight, with no clear plan for how to govern the ravaged Palestinian enclave even if it triumphs on the battlefield.

Codenamed "Operation Swords of Iron", the military campaign will be unmatched in its ferocity and unlike anything Israel has carried out in Gaza in the past, according to eight regional and Western officials with knowledge of the conflict who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.



The immediate Israeli strategy, said three regional officials familiar with discussions between the US and Middle Eastern leaders, is to destroy Gaza's infrastructure, even at the cost of high civilian casualties, push the enclave's people towards the Egyptian border and go after Hamas by blowing up the labyrinth of underground tunnels the group has built to conduct its operations.

Arab officials are also alarmed that Israel has not set out a clear plan for the future of the enclave, ruled by Hamas since 2006 and home to 2.3 million people.



"Israel doesn't have an endgame for Gaza. Their strategy is to drop thousands of bombs, destroy everything and go in, but then what? They have no exit strategy for the day after," said one regional security source.



The "vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas", he said. "Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people." said Biden.

Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, have said they will wipe out Hamas in retribution for the attack, the deadliest in Israel's 75-year-old history.

What will follow is less defined."

I recently got introduced to wifi calling when I upgraded my Galaxy. I love the concept. Now I can talk while sitting by the PC or in the shed via the wifi extender.

A little problem though...

There's a minor problem with call quality. Best way I can describe it is to say it sounds like hiccups. It's as if the sound freezes for a split second.

Modem/router HG659 on Skinny Fibre
Galaxy SE21 SE 5G

Any thoughts?
Thanks.

Interesting read here.
Looks like the upgraded starlink satellites will essentially be an LTE cell tower.
I had heard something that they were going to add 5G capability to their satellites, but I don't think it would work at that range, but to be honest, I'm surprised that our existing phones will be able to work with this at all like they claim.
This will be quite a gamechanger if elon pulls it off.
I guess the lower orbit is what makes this possible, but 550km is still quite a long distance, from what the article suggests, it will be using far larger satellites with large high gain antennas, it makes alot of sense why they are wanting starship ready to launch asap, because it will allow more larger satellites to launch at once. I dont think the decay of their orbit is significant enough that they can't replace them as fast as they are decaying like some sources are suggesting.

An Israeli police boss threatened to send protesters to Gaza on buses



https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/1...a-on-buses



"IsraelÔÇÖs police chief, Kobi Shabtai, has said there will be ÔÇ£zero toleranceÔÇØ for protests in support of Gaza in Israel, threatening to send anti-war demonstrators to the besieged Palestinian enclave that Israel has been bombarding daily for nearly two weeks.


Meanwhile, the ethics panel of the Israeli parliament has voted to suspend a left-wing parliament member, Ofer Cassif, for what it deemed as anti-Israel statements after the war broke out.

I replaced my mobile and tried to sign into Trademe. I get the message that 'account has to be verified'. When I reply to the email, 'yes it's me', I get another message saying account has been disabled. 
I have emailed and talked on chat but still no joy after 4 days.
I had about 600 feedbacks on the site so don't want to open a new account.
Why do accounts get disabled?

   

The above pops up since yesterday.  Does it mean that we have no choice but to endure all those endless ads from now on?

Is YouTube Premium free or needs to pay?

Few weeks back I heard on RNZ the Justice Dept was having difficulties finding enough jurors for upcoming trials. And then yesterday I received a notice of Jury Duty.

I have been on two juries over the years and been a witness in a rather nasty Supreme Court case so I am not unfamiliar with the experience, but on this occasion I will be joining the large numbers of folk who say thanks but no thanks, simply because of the physical challenges involved.

But it occurs to me, this would be a good job for robots, for Artificial Intelligences. They could take the emotion out, wouldn't get tired, and would be an excellent foil for all those overpriced lawyers who pride themselves on strategies that win cases for miscreants, who deserve but escape their comeuppance...

And obviously, each side is blaming the other. 
No doubt the hospital jumped in the way of any weapons being used.


https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/middle-eas...ital-blast



"Israelis and Palestinians are blaming each other for the devastating explosion at the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza that local authorities say has killed at least 500 people.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza immediately blamed Israel who were conducting daily airstrikes in the Palestinian enclave, in response to the October 7 Hamas massacre of at least 1400 Israelis.

Soon after though, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) denied responsibility in widely shared social media posts, saying they do not target hospitals.

Later, in an interview with CNN, IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said: ÔÇ£We did not strike that, and that the intelligence that we have suggests that it was a failed rocket launch by the Islamic Jihad, and I want to add, categorically, that we do not intentionally strike any sensitive facilities, any sensitive facilities, and definitely not hospitals."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the ÔÇ£barbaric terrorists in GazaÔÇØ for ÔÇ£attackingÔÇØ the hospital. ÔÇ£Whoever brutally murdered our children is also murdering their children,ÔÇØ he said. "


YES, they are aren't they, & that would be HUMANS wouldn't it, murdering each other's children because we're too stupid to learn from the past & try to work towards peace. HOW exactly can he say that, yet still apparently not comprehend that both sides are as bad as each other is mind boggling.


"The Israeli claims the attack was a misfired rocket from Islamic Jihad were rejected by the group, who had an association with Hamas but were not one and the same.

In a comment reported by the New York Times, Islamic Jihad spokesperson Daoud Shehab denied the Israeli claim that their errant rocket had caused the deadly hospital explosion."

VLC updated this week and now crashes whenever it tries to play a video. Anyone else had this issue? Any suggestions? Have tried to reinstall.