Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

Do you find John Key’s case for expanding the powers of the GCSB convincing?

Courtesy of the NZ Herald, Key: Cyber attacks, espionage targeting NZ Do you find that clearly-scripted (by whom?) statement convincing? Because it seems the New Zealand Law Society (hardly a bunch of far-left conspiracy theorists) doesn’t appear to: Here’s the New Zealand Law Society’s view: Summary 3 The Bill changes the Government Communications Security Bureau […]

Plain sailing?

Pretty sharp cartoon from Emmerson in today’s NZ Herald: But last night’s Campbell Live report on the GCSB bill featuring an international observer* expressing astonishment at the Key Administration ‘kissing the feet’ of Washington DC, tells a different story. Watch it: Dissecting the GCSB bill The team Campbell Live is doing a sterling job … […]

Suppressing free speech and editing Wikipedia. Is that why we pay taxes, Mrs Collins?

This blog post (below) from Roger Brooking gives me the creeps. Go and have a read and see what you think. Judith Collins’ staff editing wikipedia articles on justice issues in NZ? I’ll wait. Interesting, huh? Not so much for the [alleged] revelation that someone from Justice minister Judith Collins’ office tried to influence who […]

On Bain rifle fingerprints

Earlier this week I saw Frank Mackasy described as an ‘another activist’ making submissions on the proposed GCSB bill at the Intelligence & Security committee…. Earlier, another activist Frank Macskasy told the committee the existing oversight of intelligence agencies hadn’t worked. Mr Macskasy said he was concerned that within a few years the GCSB and […]

Good ol’ fashioned values …

Here’s how ReadWriteWeb promoted the awareness campaigns of StopWatching.Us and Restore The Fourth … Yeah. Nice. Read all about it. – P

John Key’s resignation? Pretty bold prediction, John.

In violation of the inverted pyramid model of news writing (most important factoids & points at the top) NZ Herald political writer John Armstrong buried his strongest line in the third-to-last paragraph of his narrative of Kim Dotcom’s appearance at the NZ Parliament’s Intelligence and Security committee last night: Outside the hearing, Dotcom accused Key […]

“In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers … It is afraid of an informed, angry public …”

via the WikiLeaks website: Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow Monday July 1, 21:40 UTC One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others […]

‘I am Bradley Manning’ video

‘It’s time to stop the war on whistle-blowers.’

Unmissable video of NSA Whistleblower Ed Snowden. Seriously, WATCH THIS.

Here’s Glenn Greenwald’s NSA whistle-blower source. Watch this very impressive, courageous man explain his motives. Must see. Really. NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: ‘I don’t want to live in a society that does these sort of things’ – VIDEO The Guardian Boy! Guts combined with a relentlessly rational laying out of the issues that confront democracy and […]

Presented without comment. Almost.

Spotted this joke on my son’s placemat at McDonald’s in Coastlands last Sunday on my way home from Wellington. I thought it was funny then, but after Peter Dunne’s announcement of his inexplicable actions, well, it just seems kinda wry now: – P

The right wing is ‘demanding its pound of Crazy’

Sometimes I really like Josh Marshall’s use of language. This is a good example. – P The link he’s referring to is here.

Spin within spin. Laughable. (What? Simon Lusk AGAIN?)

Intriguing to see the subterranean right wing operative Simon Lusk dragged into watery sunlight AGAIN so soon after recent publicity. See David Fisher’s reports in the NZ Herald: National turns on hard right advisor and Ports and bloggers colluded: strategist. But it was swallow-your-coffee-quickly funny to see Simon Lusk’s business associate, the irrelevant Cameron Slater, […]

What is this @3NewsEditor? Pravda?

I was surprised to see 3News ‘back-announce’ a report from the first day of The Greens annual conference last night with a pure propaganda statement from the Prime Minister. Whoever was running the newsroom at the weekend made a really odd decision. Reading Mr Key’s statement — which had nothing whatsoever to do with Russel […]

The sad disintegration of my confidence in Judith Collins

Papakura MP Judith Collins sacrificed much of her credibility earlier this month with what I saw as a cynical, self-interested and mealy-mouthed non-explanation for her government’s blocking of MMP reform. Ms Collins’ smokescreen — her “I’m not their nanny” punchline when justifying her lack of more than token effort or (cough) leadership to formulate legislation […]

Simon Lusk EXPOSED

I love the irony of this. Here’s what caliginous National Party ‘campaign strategist’ Simon Lusk says on his (oh look, suddenly not password protected for now*) website about keeping a low media profile — trying to channel Bob Jones in the last sentence, methinks: Simon does not comment to the media because he believes the […]