These may be a way of transport in future - how intriguing.


https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/1283976...es-by-2025

"Kiwis may be able to travel direct between the centres of many New Zealand coastal cities on low-flying electric ÔÇ£seaglidersÔÇØ for less than the cost of a return taxi to the airport within a few years.

Hi, newbie here. 

Yesterday I had an amusing  situation arise... I had applied for an account with a local timber merchant, part of a national chain some days ago. I did that because of the huge...and I mean huge discounts available to credit account customers that do no apply to cash customers (WTF ???). I'm talking here of decking, premium av at that store for $2.25 plm , as against B*****s for $4.50 ish, and coated screws at $12/200 as against M**** for $28

 Hearing nothing I called in and spoke to the manager......

Apparently I have no credit references and no credit rating.. 

Correct I told him.. that's because I am not a debtor.    I explained that for the last two houses we built, I paid cash, and that the only reason I required an account was for the huge discounts available.

Got the account but only at a greatly reduced credit limit!  

So now its an advantage to be a debtor apparently .. cash customers need not apply.

Makes me wonder where the economy is heading  

The B D I

Russian troops have surrounded Mariupol & despite knowing that civilians are still there continue to drop bombs. Hideous situation for those poor people stuck there.


https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300...upol-plant
The commander of Ukrainian forces' last stronghold in the southern port city of Mariupol, surrounded by Russians and subjected to a constant barrage of fire, said Tuesday (NZT wednesday) that his soldiers will not surrender.

In his most extensive comments to Western media, Major Serhiy Volyna of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, whose forces have been holding out in the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works against a Russian force that vastly outnumbers them, told The Washington Post that his soldiers would continue "to conduct combat operations and to complete our military tasks as long as we receive them."



Speaking over a crackling connection made possible by satellite, he said his forces would not repeat the mistake made by others of trusting Russian guarantees of safe passage, only to see the Russians break their word and open fire.

"No one believes the Russians," he said.

Volyna made an impassioned plea to world leaders, especially US President Biden, to conduct an "extraction" in which a third country would assure the security of troops and civilians leaving Mariupol."

Saw this last night & didn't much appreciate his attempting to talk over her during the interview. They disagreed obviously & she did take issue with him trying to spread misinformation but otherwise it wasn't a bad interview.


https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/...Y0ctLyude8


"Isn't Māori health in such a crisis that we do need to pile more money in and be very brave and bold in our thinking?" Maniapoto asked Luxon. 

He replied: "All we're going to do is amalgamate and centralise and build a massive bureaucracy that will end up competing with Health New Zealand."
Maniapoto disputed Luxon's claim. 

The Russian cruiser sunk by Ukraine.

   

grasshoppers?

in the last ten years i have noticed grasshoppers becoming less frequently seen.
we live on the fringe so paddocks behind us, grassy paddocks. ideal grasshopper habitat.
ive seen but one this summer and it was itty bitty.
perhaps im not spending as much time slithering around in the grass as i once did

jump grasshopper bounce
bending not breaking blades green 
spring up to the sky.

I came across this today; I'd no idea things were so tough for asylum seekers here. As if those seeking asylum haven't endured enough; they're having to cope under appalling conditions here.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zeala...IEn_meCaCw

"New Zealand is setting up asylum seekers to fail by denying them the same rights and supports available to other refugees, advocates say.

A new report, 'Safe Start, Fair Future', exposed the plight of asylum seekers left in limbo and said in some cases this can be for years.

"There's nothing in the Refugee Convention that distinguishes between a quota refugee and a convention refugee, but New Zealand treats them differently in terms of the rights and entitlements to certain policies."

• Resourcing specialist organisations that can provide culturally appropriate services for those most at risk while their asylum claims are decided
  
  
• Including asylum seekers in the Refugee Resettlement Strategy
  
  
• Giving asylum seekers the same rights and supports as quota refugees
  
  
• Streamlining the permanent residency process."
  

Not a typo.

There's a report on the BBC that the software is being used in the Ukraine conflict to identify Russian soldiers, by linking them to their online lives and from there to their friends and families.

My reaction was that this was multiplying the horror of war, but maybe there are other responses?

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-6105...r3PFOdiojg

Are humans utterly incapable of sanity when it comes to their chosen religion?  All claiming to be the religion of peace or love, while attacking those of a different view.
Good grief - we're barbarians, or some of us are.


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57034237

"[b]At least 163 Palestinians and 17 Israeli police officers have been hurt in clashes in Jerusalem, Palestinian medics and Israeli police say.[/b]
Most were injured at the Al-Aqsa mosque, where Israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades as Palestinians threw stones and bottles.
Tensions have been rising over the potential eviction of Palestinians from land claimed by Jewish settlers.
The Red Crescent has opened a field hospital to treat the wounded.
The Al-Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem's Old City is one of Islam's most revered locations, but its location is also the holiest site in Judaism, known as the Temple Mount."



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/a...qsa-mosque

"Most of the Palestinian injuries on Friday were incurred by rubber bullets, stun grenades and beatings with police batons, the Palestine Red Crescent said.

Israel said its forces entered before dawn prayers on Friday to remove rocks and stones that it said had been collected in anticipation of violence. The holy site, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims, has often been the scene of Israeli-Palestinian unrest, and tensions were already heightened amid a recent surge in bloodshed."

Im not religious but found this amusing.

https://tinyurl.com/y5zwwyj3

A retired neurologist claims they have figured out the proper cause of Jesus's death.
According to the Bible, Jesus fell while carrying the cross before his side was pierced by a Roman soldier's spear, which caused blood and water to spurt out.


So obviously being nailed to a cross had stuff all to do with it then?