Just a shout out if you are thinking about suicide call the hotline or talk to some one. Much love to all of you

Police now want to drop charges against a man they arrested last year for wearing a F*** Israel F*** Zionism t-shirt. But the man, Andrew Brown, wants his day in court. Michael West reports on a big test for free speech.

Seven years since our first top 200 common passwords list, we’ve witnessed how credential trends have changed — and what has remained the same. Each year, we rediscover people’s tendency to opt for weak passwords that prioritize convenience over security.

However, this year, we decided to ask ourselves: How do different generations treat their password use? From the silent generation to the “zoomers,” we analyzed which passwords are the most common among different user groups. As it turns out, bad password habits are trendy no matter how old you are.

"Buddha, my back is completely fucked but I am very hungry. If you're so wise tell me how many dumplings I should make for my meal!"

and the Buddha replied: "If you listen to your stomach you'll never start eating and if you listen to your back you will never be full."

And the dumb bitch made way too many dumplings and spent the evening crying on a hot water bottle.

-- A dramatised retelling if real events.

A beuatiful, little gigabit router. Runs great with OpenWrt and can do gigabit throughput with SQM.

"Easing the cost of new and used imported vehicles" was the pitch of transport minister Chris Bishop's media release last Monday.

The means to that end was slashing by 80 percent the clean car standard - which incentivised sales of low- or zero-emission vehicles - by the end of the week.

Soon after, TVNZ's political editor Maiki Sherman ran through those herself on 1News, even displaying the savings on the screen.

"This Corolla would see charges reduced by more than $6500," she said, in the manner of a car yard commercial.

Bishop also said the changes would only have a minimal effect on emissions - and the main reason for changing the law now was that "the bottom's fallen out of the EV market."

"There just simply hasn't been the demand there and they also haven't been able to get the supply. It's a double whammy."

Among things that might affect demand - recent media reports about EV safety.

"As soon as there's an EV that blows up or catches fire, it's on the front page or it's on the six o' clock news. If it's a diesel or a petrol car, you won't hear about it," Retirement Village Residents Association chief executive Nigel Matthews told Checkpoint.

When 28 cars were set alight in Whangarei Hospital's car park a month ago, it was dry grass on a hot exhaust that started the blaze. But plenty of online speculation suggested an overheated EV could have started it.

A day later the driver of an electric bus died after it was engulfed in flames following a collision with a petrol powered car on Tamaki Drive in Auckland.

The busy road was closed for almost a day.

"Due to the bus's electric battery, the area could remain hazardous," a Police statement said.

That prompted keyboard warriors to conclude batteries in the buses were not just a hazard - but could have caused the fire.

Alarmed by what he called 'misinformation' about the Tamaki Drive crash - and "bizarre anti-EV propaganda" - Auckland City Councillor Richard Hills then took to social media himself.

He pointed out that Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) had confirmed the fire started from the petrol vehicle that hit that bus on Tamaki Drive, and bus company Kinetic found the electric bus's batteries were undamaged.

"But all I saw everywhere was: 'Told ya, told ya - EV buses and EV batteries'," Hills told the Newstalk ZB Drive show.

That prompted an explainer from Stuff the next day: No. Electric buses aren't catching fire because of their batteries.

Australian fire safety expert Emma Sutcliffe - who researches battery fires for Australia's Department of Defence - told Stuff there had been only eight such fires in

Australia in three years to 2024, at a time when there were more than 180,000 EVs in use there.

While Auckland has had three events in a row, they are unconnected, she said.

"It's just unfortunate that they've happened in a bit of a cluster," she told Stuff.

"You should be far more concerned about the cheap lithium-ion batteries in your house than the ones powering your bus to work," Emma Sutcliffe added.

But sometimes, the media give people the wrong idea.

Last year RNZ reported a Wellington man's claim that his neighbour's Tesla burst into flames in the garage next door. Eventually, FENZ ruled out electric vehicles or lithium-ion batteries as the cause. RNZ updated the story accordingly.

Dr Baisden took to social media himself to point out that none of the recent vehicle fires were caused by EVs or their batteries.

But if the risk is real - albeit remote in normal circumstances - how should media report incidents like the ones in Auckland recently?

"We know there's a risk of EV myths and misinformation spread. The most interesting thing about these stories is that there were stories about EV fires that contained ... no EV fire," Dr Baisden told Mediawatch.

He cited New Zealand Herald and RNZ's Checkpoint coverage of the Fairview community's dilemma as failing to make clear that EVs pose a much lower fire risk than combustion engine vehicles.

A recent peer-reviewed study of four nations found more people believed misinformation about EVs than disagreed with it - including vehicles being more likely to catch fire.

But if it was reports of the recent bus fires that prompted the Fairview residents and management to discuss the issue, news editors can not ignore that context?

"They could have said the risk of EVs catching fire is about 60 times less than an equivalent petrol or diesel vehicle. Adjusted for the mileage, it's maybe 20 times less," Dr Baisden told Mediawatch.

"There's other information that you could think about. Anything that can move you hundreds of kilometres in two tonnes of metal is going to have a lot of energy stored in it, so it can create a fire."

"I feel like the retirement village residents - and the decisions that were going on there - were really let down by our information ecosystem."

"This is a classic gap. We're talking about something that actually hasn't happened. There's been no EV fire that's been caused by an EV in New Zealand as yet."

Mom said it's my turn to be the Master Race

James Coulter has a net worth of around $3 billion. He didn’t invent anything. He didn’t cure a disease. He didn’t build a product people love.

He got rich the old-fashioned private equity way: by buying companies with other people’s money, loading them with debt, firing workers, and cashing out before everything collapses.

Meet the man who turned human suffering into a business model. Private equity is legalized looting dressed up in a nice suit. Here’s how it works:

You find a company that’s doing okay. Maybe it employs thousands of people. Maybe it’s been around for decades. Maybe it’s the backbone of a small town’s economy.

Then you borrow a ton of money to buy it.

Here’s the trick: you don’t pay back that debt. The company does. You just bought a house and made the house pay the mortgage.

Now the company is drowning in debt it didn’t ask for. So what do you do? You cut costs. And by “costs,” we mean people. Their jobs. Their pensions. Their healthcare. Their dignity.

You pocket millions in fees just for showing up. You pay yourself dividends from the company’s cash reserves. And when you eventually sell or the company goes bankrupt, you walk away richer.

The workers? They get a cardboard box and a security escort

A survey published last week suggested 97% of respondents could not spot an AI-generated song. But there are some telltale signs - if you know where to look.

Here's a quick guide ...

• No live performances or social media presence

• 'A mashup of rock hits in a blender'

A song with a formulaic feel - sweet but without much substance or emotional weight - can be a sign of AI, says the musician and technology speaker, as well as vocals that feel breathless.

• 'AI hasn't felt heartbreak yet'

"AI hasn't felt heartbreak yet... It knows patterns," he explains. "What makes music human is not just sound but the stories behind it."

• Steps toward transparency

In January, the streaming platform Deezer launched an AI detection tool, followed this summer by a system which tags AI-generated music.

COP30 approves the key deal in this year's talks, the Global Mutirão - although it does not promise a path on fossil fuel cuts

Fights over fossil fuels and money appear to have deadlocked the climate talks - with some countries saying the deal "falls far short" of addressing crucial challenges

The final meeting of COP30 has now been temporarily suspended after Colombia's fiery intervention - we'll keep bringing you updates as they land

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/6820770

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/6820359

Hello sweet comrades… I hope you’re all doing okay out there. On my side… things are completely not okay. It’s been a really heavy week and I don’t even know how to carry all of it by myself anymore.

It has been five days now ever since three of my girls Pretty, Olivia and Charity got arrested …They went out to fetch water after our caretaker disconnected ours. They left without telling me, the same way we used to before the attack. I expected them to return in a few hours… but they didn’t come back at all.

I searched everywhere, three nights with no sleep, walking till my legs hurt, asking anyone who might’ve seen them. Nothing. My whole chest was tight with fear.

When I finally went to the police to report them missing, one officer said he knew where they were. My heart dropped. After he spoke to another officer, they directed me to Gudele Police Station… and that’s where I found my girls. They were arrested and charged with “idling and disorderly conduct”

Today I went back to speak to the officer in charge. He told me that because South Sudan is considered a war zone, anyone who isn’t a citizen must carry documents at all times. I even ran home to get our papers but he still said it was too late since they’re already in jail.

Right now the only way to get them out is to raise 275 USD for each of them. If we can’t, they’ll go to court and then to prison… and that thought is eating me alive. I’ve been visiting them and they keep asking for food and clean water and I’ve had nothing to give since all the support we got went to clearing the rent. Right now donations have slowed down so much.

If anyone here can help …even just a little or by sharing …it would mean more than I can explain. The support link is in my profile if you’re able to help or pass it on. Every bit genuinely counts right now.

Thank you to everyone who reads this, who cares, who takes a moment to hold us in your thoughts. I’m trying my best to stay strong but I can’t lie… this is one of the hardest moments of my life.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/39162709

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 31 Ukrainians jailed in Belarus on criminal offences, it was reported on Saturday, the latest step in Minsk’s effort to thaw relations with the West.

They were released “as a gesture of goodwill”, in accordance with agreements reached between Lukashenko and U.S. President Donald Trump at Ukraine’s request, Belarusian state agency Belta said, citing Lukashenko’s spokesperson, Natalia Eismont. Those freed were handed over to Kyiv, according to the report.

Earlier this week, Lukashenko pardoned two jailed Catholic priests at the request of the Vatican.

Belarus, Russia’s close and dependent ally, has allowed the Kremlin to use its territory to send troops and tanks into Ukraine, and later to place nuclear weapons there. Moscow and Kyiv have also conducted prisoner swaps on Belarusian land.

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron first for over 30 years, has recently tried to repair relations with the West. Weeks after a phone call with Trump in August, he pardoned 51 political prisoners under a U.S.-brokered deal that saw some sanctions lifted from the country’s national airline, Belavia.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/39334910

By Hedaya al-Tatar in Gaza City, occupied Palestine
Published date: 22 November 2025 13:00 GMT

Two Palestinian boys lie next to each other at al-Wafa medical rehabilitation hospital in Gaza.

Their mother, Aya Abu Auda, speaks to them softly, but neither child reacts.

The brothers, Elias Abu al-Jibeen, 5, and Ismail Abu al-Jibeen, 8, were wounded during Israeli bombardment on their displacement camp in Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood on 31 August.

The attack left Elias completely deaf and Ismail with severe hearing loss.

Just a year earlier, Abu Auda had fled her home in northern Gaza after Israeli missiles flattened it and killed her husband.