Posts Tagged ‘GCSB’
Oh dear. Is the N.S.A. out of control? (Hint: Yes, I think so.)
In Der Spiegel … The United States’ National Security Agency intelligence-gathering operation is capable of accessing user data from smart phones from all leading manufacturers. Top secret NSA documents that SPIEGEL has seen explicitly note that the NSA can tap into such information on Apple iPhones, BlackBerry devices and Google’s Android mobile operating system. The […]
War on privacy
What a great MAD magazine cover! {insert pointed local reference of your choice here} – P via @iA
Denial is not just a river in Egypt #GCSB
“I don’t think the inquiry was a botch-up at all” [Chief executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Andrew Kibblewhite] said, although mistakes were made about providing certain information. Right. All good, then? Read coverage of the Privileges committee ‘hearing’ into the just ever so slightly botched-up inquiry set up by GCSB minister John […]
Have you voted in Campbell Live’s GCSB poll?
I have not participated in the angst-ridden/gloating discussion about how spymaster prime minister John Key ‘performed’ in his appearance on Campbell Live this week — ostensibly to defend and/or justify his GCSB Bill and its new, to-be-expanded powers of domestic surveillance provisions. Judging by a superficial reading of the reaction to the interview, people’s view […]
Because I like and respect John Armstrong
I’ve learned that in the ongoing parasitic relationship between politicians and the news media (some call it symbiotic, but meh) certain actors on both sides overestimate their importance. But not John Armstrong. Read John’s column from the Weekend Herald: Government betrayal on a monumental scale. What he says about ‘the democratic fabric being ripped asunder’ […]
‘a good way to divert attention from the uproar over the N.S.A.’s data-collection programs’
It’s really hard not to see this, from the New York Times in the context of my posts Justifying mass surveillance with ‘terror threat’ is a right wing talking point Qaeda Messages Prompt U.S. Terror Warning WASHINGTON — The United States intercepted electronic communications this week among senior operatives of Al Qaeda, in which the […]
Claims of ‘terrorist plots’ debunked in US — ‘not buying it’
From June … Ron Paul on NSA: They Have To Justify Their Existence, Otherwise They’re Out Of Work Relevant, huh? Especially the comment ‘Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile’. Where are New Zealand’s right wing libertarians on this surveillance issue? (Serious question.) – P
John Key’s changing narrative on al-Qaeda threat in NZ
PM justifies spy bill: Kiwis trained by al-Qaeda NZ Herald 1 August 2013 Kiwi with al Qaeda links ‘no threat’ NZ Herald 31 August 2011 Yeah, this can pretty much be seen in the context we discussed on Saturday: Justifying mass surveillance with ‘terror threat’ is a right wing talking point. Also interesting: SIS spying […]
With respect, Mr Key, you misjudge me.
In an interview broadcast on state broadcaster (well, for now) TVNZ’s Q&A current affairs programme this morning, John Key characterised New Zealanders who’ve expressed dissent about his GCSB Bill, and specifically the thousands of us who took part in protest rallies throughout the country yesterday, as “either politically aligned or misinformed“. Listen to this 20 […]
Photos from Auckland ‘Stop the GCSB Bill’ rally
Here are some photos of the main speakers at today’s ‘Stop the GCSB Bill’ rally in Auckland. Click to view them larger. Feel free to use these images if you wish (with picture credit to Peter Aranyi, please) or contact me to get a higher resolution file.
‘Stop the GCSB Bill’ rallies and marches today
You may have heard there were protest rallies around New Zealand today, demonstrating public opposition to John Key’s proposed expansion of surveillance powers of the GCSB. I went along to the Auckland one. It was packed. Here’s a panorama I took of the crowd at Aotea Square (it’s two photos stitched). For me, one of […]
Justifying mass surveillance with ‘terror threat’ is a right wing talking point
All over the world right wing politicians are justifying encroachments on their citizens’ civil liberties with references to the 9-11 terrorist attack or the spectre of a similar outrage. In the US, Republican presidential-possible Governor Chris Christie has just had a crack at it, whacking ‘libertarian’ concerns about privacy and civil liberties as ‘esoteric’ or […]
The slippery slope: Dissent > Protest > Politics
Rick Falkvinge on civil liberties in the age of the internet. “The old guard is introducing censorship, wire-tapping, an end to anonymity — a crackdown on free speech.” “If the old politicians understood that the laws they are making are the equivalent of putting microphones under every cafe table … ” (cf: like Urban Cafe? […]
Photos from the ‘Stop the GCSB Bill’ public meeting
I went along to the packed public meeting at the Mt Albert War Memorial Hall. Standing room only. Here are some photos. Click to view them larger. Feel free to use these images if you wish (with picture credit to Peter Aranyi, please) or contact me to get a higher resolution file.
Winston Peters — no stars in his eyes about John Key’s GCSB Bill
New Zealand First Party leader Winston Peters is one of the current NZ Parliament’s most experienced MPs, a lawyer, and someone who (whether you agree with him or not) has thought and spoken about NZ’s constitutional issues for decades. Here’s his interview on TVNZ’s Q&A programme this morning about John Key’s controversial proposed expansion of […]
