Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
BBC Scotland on spying. Some of the same issues and questions as New Zealand
I heard part of this BBC Scotland report by Eamonn O’Neill as he “explores the world of contemporary espionage” this morning and recognised several of the same talking points about increased state security agency surveillance keeping us ‘safe’ as are deployed here in New Zealand — it’s right there in the title: ‘How safe are […]
So why say it, Mr Cameron?
Very odd. See also Cory Doctorow’s article at Boingboing: ‘What David Cameron just proposed would endanger every Briton and destroy the IT industry‘
From ‘News of the World tactics’, journalists as ‘little henchmen’ to … #hypocrisy
See earlier: Teapot tape saga sputters out with withdrawal of ‘costs’ action against cameraman.
“We love surveillance”
On the day it’s announced that Ian Fletcher is to depart from the GCSB, a few thoughts about surveillance … British PM David Cameron is already making the appropriate noises … nicely framed by John Gruber at DaringFireball.net. And, for context, here’s Mr Fletcher’s rather soothing speech to the 2014 Privacy Forum …
Alexa O’Brien, Amnesty International, testimony to Catalonia Parliament re Chelsea Manning
This testimony by Alexa O’Brien provides a good, compact ‘highlights’ package/history of the treatment whistle-blower Chelsea Manning received at the hands of the US Military judicial system. The video features her speaking with a translator (21 mins) while in the audio below (mp3 10 mins) the translator has been trimmed out. Worth paying attention to, […]
Lawmakers and ‘leaders of our community’ in action
“Pungent aroma of dickwad” — not my most eloquent criticism, but it will suffice. When they’re not busy enabling warrantless spy agency surveillance powers (under urgency) these lions of the Parliament, Peter Dunne and Jami-Lee Ross take potshots at opposition MPs as ‘muppets, cult-followers, hillbillies, bigots and racists’. How ignoble. [View the story “Conversation with […]
Peter Watts at Canada Privacy Symposium — ‘Burn the Data to the Ground’
A surprising and very interesting presentation about authoritarian surveillance — its link to fear, and being aware of hard-wired responses including dominance and anti-predator behaviours … with a side swipe at the roots of ‘religious belief’. I like Peter Watts’ approach to the topic, looking back at the powerful and another take on ‘only the […]
John Pilger on the shabby persecution of Julian Assange
I have respected John Pilger since before I trained and entered journalism in the 1980s. I respect his courage and his tenacity, his willingness to show up and tell the truth as he sees it. He’s also no fool. So, although it may not be a popular stand, in terms of some people’s interpretation of […]
Fran O’Sullivan calls for a wider inquiry into Dirty Politics allegations
Worth reading. Fran O’Sullivan says she told Cathy Odgers she was “damn angry about being drawn into a MH [Mark Hotchin] sting.” Well, well, well. I’ll put some comments up later. (It’s just too nice a Saturday morning to be blogging.) – P
Let’s remember the real victims here
It looks like Nicky Hager is digging in for a fight with the police about access to the material they took from his house. An effort is being made to raise funds for his legal fighting fund. For details, and to donate, see: http://www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/NickyHager For reference, and because it’s interesting, here’s the audio (below) of […]
Dirty Politics author’s house raided. Ten hour search by five detectives. Police say he’s ‘a witness’.
This is a sobering development. Police raiding journalists who publish material which is politically embarrassing to the ruling party. Is this New Zealand? Not Russia or Zimbabwe? The timing of the raid (leave aside ‘after the election’) when Hager was away in Auckland, suggests to me he may have been under surveillance. At one level that […]
Dirty Politics: John Key confesses to secret relationship with campaign worker
In the aftermath of the National Party’s emphatic re-election to lead a coalition government in New Zealand, surprisingly little has been made of Party Leader John Key’s confession to a secret relationship. It was contact John Key admitted he was warned not to engage in. “I was told not to … I know I shouldn’t […]
There goes the majority
Proportional representation, New Zealand style.
NZ General Election results
Congratulations to the winners, commiserations to those who missed out. These are the results as at close of counting 1:10am today. This is where the rubber hits the road in a democracy. Check electionresults.govt.nz for latest results. [link updated] {Fill the in the rugby metaphor of your choice here. e.g “game of two halves”, “better […]
Tim Cook denies ‘rumours’ of NSA back-door into Apple servers
This 3 minute excerpt of Apple’s CEO Tim Cook talking to Charlie Rose yesterday interested me for a couple of reasons 1) encrypted iMessages with Apple keyless and 2) his very strong denial of rumours/suggestions of NSA back-door access … ‘the Snowden thing’ (starts 2:10, but watch the whole 3 mins): Which accords with this […]
