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notices and features - Date published:
6:00 am, November 27th, 2024 - 39 comments
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'We the people'
Q: Will there ever be another Israeli away sport match played in NZ?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/protesters-target-israeli-player-at-asb-classic/YP6CHK7UW23KGBXYORAKHBRO7A/
A: No
Not until the apartheid regime in Israel is ended. And never while the genocide in Gaza is continuing.
So the natural question is why Israel and Hezbollah can get a ceasefire agreed in weeks, but Hamas can't in a year.
Because Israel wants all those "Arabs" out of the country that they say God gave to them.
Because Lebanon is a large and well resourced country with access to the outside world and their allies, in comparison Gaza is like shooting fish in a barrel.
A quarter of it's 5.4 million people are refugees and with a GDP/capita that's a tenth of ours, Lebanon is neither large nor well resourced.
Compared to Gaza it is. Actually everywhere else is.
But you're right. Of course. Poor choice of words.
Because Israel sabotaged every effort at peace. The US put forward a peace plan that Hamas signed up to but Israel refused and when the US continued to insist, Israel assasinated Ismail Haniyeh, the very person they were supposedly negotiating with.
This, of course, is just a sad continuation of Israeli "bad faith" negotiations for peace with Hamas that spans decades. Whenever peace looks set to break out or a cease fire to hold, Israel does something to break it so as to continue their slow strangulation of Palestinian rights or to justify further encroachment into Palestinian land. Genocide is always easier to hide under the cloak of conflict.
Hey Ad there is something wrong with your question.
As the saying goes; 'It takes two to tango'
As true for the dance as it is for peace negotiations.
Why have you mentioned Israel and Hezbollah agreeing to a ceasefire in your question, but not Hamas and Israel?
Surely it is not all on Hamas to agree to a ceasefire. I think you need to rephrase your question. Otherwise it kinda shows bias. don't you think?
Hamas want an unconditional ceasefire and the release of the hostages. (on both sides)
Israel demand/want an unconditional release of their hostages only, and to continue the war.
Can you see the problem here?
The reason, as per Hamas, is no release of hostages.
Here, Hezbollah agreed to end the firing of missiles, without a cease-fire in Gaza.
They met the Israeli terms.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2d3gj9ewxo
The real reason, as per Israel, is no ceasefire.
There are lots of videos that capture IDF soldiers shooting unarmed Palestinian civilians, even ones carrying white flags.
Even if Hamas wanted to let the hostages go – Without a ceasefire, if Hamas let the hostages go, they could get caught up in the Israeli genocide against civilian population of Gaza, and be shot by the IDF. Something which has already happened, despite the three Israeli hostages in that case, being shirtless and carrying a white flag and obviously unarmed. The IDF mistook them for unarmed Palestinian civilians, shot at them killing two and then chased the survivor into a building and executed him at point blank range despite him begging for his life in Hebrew.
The Killing of Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim, and Samer Talalka
Hamas proposed a full hostage release in return for no invasion just days after the Oct 7th attack (as has been acknowledged by multiple Israeli sources by now). Israel has chosen instead revenge (on all Palestinians). This simply demonstrates how serious that negotiation ever was.
Close
https://www.timesofisrael.com/no-doubt-netanyahu-preventing-hostage-deal-charges-ex-spokesman-of-families-forum/
But they chose to invade and later negotiate cease-fires for the release of some/all hostages.
Sure, though one would think that Hamas has an international legal right to take POWs captive just as much as they have an international legal right to lethal armed resistance against the military.
A world economy in which the dominant power uses tariffs less for specific targeted industry effects and more as broad levers of world power to extract all kinds of unspecified outcome, is a highly politicised world in which business confidence in the affected countries will tank and with in it inward investment.
Imagine if Australia put up a 25% tariff on all NZ products, for an unspecified time and unspecified defined outcome. We would be fucked.
Nationalism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Act
DJT Wharton School of Economics graduate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Wharton
The USA is only a quarter of the world's economy and falling. Much of this is built on sand…..AI is proving to be an expensive dud.
I see a USA inspired tech crash coming.
The liquidation announced today of Solar Zero is a massive blow for a distributed power system in which each roof is a small battery for the whole network.
If it can't work in Wanaka it's very hard to see it working elsewhere.
It is, yet another sign, that 'the system' isn't designed to serve the people.
A market based electrical system doesn't want players like Solar Zero in the game.
The market desires scarcity.
The market tends towards monopoly.
It's all good though, power shareholders should see a nice wee bump in their portfolio value./sarc.
Yes sure. But its failure is yet another BlackRock investment withdrawal that makes other proposals far harder. It's sure larger than the Blueskin Bay disaster, and is a real setback for Green Party policy alternatives.
The Solar Zero team expanded well beyond Otago and into Auckland. I've got materially affected relativves.
SolarZero in liquidation: ‘Feels like a liability on the roof now’ [27 Nov 2024]
Solar Zero's business model was to create a distributed peaking generator to cash in on peak spot prices. They did this by putting their panels on peoples roofs with a nebulous return to the roof owner. All good for the roof owner (maybe) until the spot price hikes, then Solar Zero has drained the battery and the roof owner is paying for power off the grid.
Solar Zero say they have 15,000 "subscribers" ("marks" might be a better description) who could be in an uncertain position right now. If the liquidators can offload the installations as a going concern in one lot the roof owners might come out ok. If it gets down to the liquidators picking off individual roof owners then it could get messy. The roof owners probably need to get together and organised, fast.
At 15,000 installations Solar Zero has about 27% of all rooftop solar installations in the country, so this is going to be pivotal for the solar industry.
We looked at Solar Zero a while ago and came away for the interaction with a quite jaundiced view of their business model. Especially around what would happen in an electricity crisis, or they went tits up.
My relatives did great out of them. No depreciation no maintenance and annual upgrades, it was good for low income people which my replies are.
We need more startups extracting profits off the margins.
Solar works. A solar farm with half a million panels has just applied for consent in the Maniototo. Sheep will graze under and around the panels.
Solar Zero's problem was it's business model, not solar power.
Yeah, the solar bit has always been good, and getting better. The grid scale solar on the go here is mind boggling.
Hopefully the reasons for Solar Zero's failure will be come apparent with time as the liquidation proceeds. The structure of the electricity market and behaviour of lines companies and other generators may have had as much influence as their business model.
Solar Zero's solar as a service / distributed generation model may have been a good idea when they started but now there's much better if you own a median or better home with reasonable equity.
Will be interesting how the liquidation proceeds, their assets will presumably be the whole business, or split to the installations and IP that runs the distributed generator. If the IP's any good that should be a clean sale (big if there, that could be their problem), but selling the installations either as a lot or individually could get interesting.
Kevin M Kruse on Bluesky. For our Mr Luxon?
Nikki Kaye was a rarity as a National politician – she had empathy for people and wanted to work for and with them. No comparison with the current autocratic cold-eyed lot.
Kaye was good to deal with. But lets be honest a minor contributor.
Chloe is a good Auckland Cenral replacement.
What has Chloe Swarbrick done for Auckland central in her time as their MP ?
This is a genuine question, and yes, I know you could insert the names of most MPs and their respective electorates and ask the same question.
November 27.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/first-labour-government-wins-power
Thanks SPC.
Of note yesterday was the repeal of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020. The repeal clause in the Act was updated in 2022 so that the repeal occurred yesterday.
Both historically important and significant.
As expected the OCR has reduced by a further 0.5% today. Now 4.25%. Good news for everyone with a mortgage.
It doesn't require much intelligence to state the obvious.
Better news for the banks, unless they drop their rates immediately.
They seem to already be reacting.
"Some banks reacted quickly, with Kiwibank cutting its variable home loan and business lending rates and ASB dropping interest rates across personal, business and rural lending by 0.50%."
The 1500 IT workers who are losing their jobs must be jumping for joy.
It's just Levy beavering away at the behest of our CoC govt.
MickySavage has a post up about this particularly crafty CoC initiative.
https://thestandard.org.nz/nationals-dodgy-health-announcements/
"The Public Service Association said about 700 of the roles to go were currently vacant because of a freeze on recruitment"
In reality it is only 800 positions, still not nice for those effected.
"The steps the government has taken to carefully prioritise government spending, invest in frontline services, reduce red tape, and restore confidence in the economy are having an impact. We are headed in the right direction."
Yes Nicola, it's all because of you. Take a bow…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/534969/reserve-bank-cuts-the-official-cash-rate-by-50-points-to-4-point-25-percent
Biden should now arms embargo Israel until they agree to a 6 week cease-fire.
And go to the UNSC and sponsor a call for a cease-fire for aid delivery.