We, ourselves, have had a hive, but on a huge area of land. If the council cannot help quickly, could the hive owner please come weekly and clean my windows and rewash my clothes?
M PALMER
Whanganui
Time for change
A new year and a new prime minister. What a super chance for New Zealand to have a new health system too, one where people receive healthcare when and where they need it, before small issues become big ones and sick people die unnecessarily.
Nurses are ready to stand up and fight for a better system. We've seen cuts in our budgets, we've had to work with fewer staff and ageing equipment, and it hurts us to see our patients go without the care they deserve.
Come on, Government, you can do better than this: show us how you value the voters.
ANGELA STRATTON
NZNO delegate and registered nurse,
Whanganui
Gaza blockade
Following the Christmas Eve UN resolution 2334 on Israel-Palestine and long-standing animosity between the two peoples, one point requiring clarification is Israel's futile blockade of Gaza and so-called humanitarian aid.
Economic blockades of Cuba and Vietnam by the US did not work. Economic blockades do not bankrupt nations.
In 2004, under then Prime Minister Sharon, Israel withdrew from Gaza. Yet, most international organisations continue to view Israel as an occupying power, not by physical presence but by effective control of the strip.
Israel withdrew its settlers in 2004 and now occupies Gaza by different means. Occupation and economic underdevelopment go hand-in-hand.
Travel to/from Erez, crossing between Israel and Gaza, had been tightening for years before 2004.
The full blockade was imposed when Hamas military wing, the Kassam Brigade, fired its first rocket salvo against the Israeli towns of Sderot and Ashdod following Hamas taking full control of Gaza from Fatah in 2007. Even Egypt's blockade at Rafah isn't as tight as Israel's.
The rationale was that the blockade would be efficient, but it failed in terms of Israeli security. Furthermore, Hamas may be 5-10 years behind Hizbollah in military arsenal and efficiency, but there is no Israeli safety.
The status quo of the blockade is not an option.
Israel controls water resources, electricity, cement. Coca-Cola opened a plant in Gaza, where there is no potable water, only water for washing dishes and agriculture. Coca-Cola has promised to build a desalination plant for 25,000 refugees in a Gaza camp.
This brings me to the second point -- that Israel has a moral and legal obligation under the Geneva convention to provide aid to Gazan civilians.
In the last four years it has provided medical and health services to about 198,000 to 212,000 Gazawis in Israeli hospitals every year, according to Kurdish-Iraqi writer Mehdi Majid Abdallah.
It is not a humanitarian gesture, but a legal requirement. The US dropped packages to civilians in Afghanistan during the war in 2001. Apparently, Vietnam sent provisions to Cambodia-Kampuchea in 1970s. Civilians have nothing to do with military conflicts. (Abridged)
LEON BENBARUK
Whanganui
New word
I thought I had discovered a new word when I saw the headline on page 13, today's Chronicle (January 3): "Exapts in Switzerland best earners".
However, the story below began, "Expats ... etc." Disappointment, just a typo error.
At least there is still Word of the Day to help increase my vocabulary!
DOUG PRICE
Castlecliff
