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The political centre has moved, someone should tell the strategists.
30 years ago, we had Dot Matrix printers, Windows 95 and brick cell phones. Today we live in a world of AI, Tik Tok and 5G. While technology changes have been embraced, including in political campaigns, strategies and methods to connect with voters seem stuck in the MS-DOSS era.
My Way or the Huawei
I like my Huawei phone. I’m looking forward to the new Mate 60Pro. It’s launch means the US-led sanctions aiming to crush Huawei, with New Zealand as a fast follower, have completely failed to set back Chinese technology.
Reasons to abandon NZ’s Five-Eyed Folly
Wayne Brown’s recent suggestion “Is it time to sell our seat on FiveEyes?” is from someone well placed by experience to form an educated opinion. “Trade sanctions of the type Australia is facing are a weapon used by both USA and China. So let’s have a debate on whether we need Five Eyes, or whether it’s time for us to trade on independently.”
Huawei go again
Mike Pompeo has just been in Britain trying to bully the UK government out of using Huawei for its 5G network. He and other officials have been heavying countries around the world. Its not working, but one thing is clear. It makes GCSB’s head Andrew Hampton’s assertion that its decision to reject Huawei was independent is simply not believable.
More political interference on Huawei
Here’s another one for the select committee reviewing foreign interference. Visitor from Britain Charlie Parton of the Royal United Services Institute was on Morning Report this morning telling us to avoid Huawei because they are Chinese and different from us. At least he does us a favour by making it clear the matter is political not technical.
Spark vs Spooks
Spark wants Huawei’s 5G technology because its the best and the cheapest. The GCSB spooks don’t want us to have it because 5Eyes and because the US has yanked their chain. The Prime Minister says no decision has been made – the media and the world think it is a goneburger. We should support New Zealand’s Spark, not US corporate interests.
Safe from prying 5Eyes
I like my Huawei phone. Apparently the US National Security Agency can’t break its encryption. That’s presumably the “security” issue why Spark is being blocked from using Huawei, and why Meng Wanzhou is held hostage in Canada at the behest of US neocons.
Censorship
It seems that if you’re the right person, harbour the correct thoughts, have the right connections, and you don’t like whatever the political opinion, news or information that’s floating about is, then you can get it banned.
TVNZ pays Chief Executive a bonus after massive plunge in profits
TVNZ’s board has decided to respond to a massive plunge in profitability by paying it chief executive a bigger salary package and a large bonus.
The great big list of John Key’s big fat lies (UPDATED)
How many more lies will John Key tell today in his so-called State of the Nation address? Virtual chocolate fish to whomever guesses the closest number.
CERT: the partial privatisation of the GCSB
A public private organisation with the acronym CERT was announced this week along with the new cyber security strategy. CERT’s role is to provide information to government so it can protect against cyber threats. Which is one of the roles of the GCSB.
TPP aims to kill filesharing
According to the EFF “The Final Leaked TPP Text is All That We Feared”…
Alternatives to banks
We need an alternative to fattening the coffers of Australian banks.
Is GCSB using increased awareness of mass surveillance to justify mass surveillance?
Denis Tegg has persuaded the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security to inquire whether the GCSB is conducting mass surveillance on the Kafkaesque grounds that the legislation allows this to happen if a party ought reasonably to expect that the communication may be intercepted.
Lessons from the ’30s and 40’s: culture and the left
We often look to the first Labour Government for core left wing values, & a political way forward. As well as massively restructuring of the NZ economy, work, welfare & housing, that Government aimed to restructure NZ culture & to combat capitalist-dominated popular culture.
The 4th estate & its pretenders
Some journalists continue to try to fulfill the fourth estate ideal of pursuing truth & speaking truth to power. Others, with powerful links to corporate media & governments, work to suppress debate and democracy, often using threats, abusive nastiness & fear mongering.
The tweets are alive….
… with pre-election day fervour. It’s an election that’s going down to the wire. The energy is there for the left to keep talking to people, and to encourage as many as possible to get out and vote. It’s Suffrage Day – reporting via the telegraph in 1893 to the internet today. On-going updates
The email
The email that alleges to show John key was in on a conspiracy, with Hollywood execs, to entrap Dotcom in NZ so they could extradite him to the US. Updated. Warners say the email is fake. But who was applying the “political pressure”? Updated: Cameron Slater is a techno idiot.
The enablers
Under pressure from Glenn Greenwald’s revelations, John Key, using various smoke screens, is starting to reveal his complicity in working with the GCSB & its 5 Eyes partners, to extend the scope of their spying. Could the Southern Cross Cable Network not have known their systems had been tapped? Update: Statement by Southern Cross Cables
Nat two track strategy – March to Sept
Nicky Hager has exposed the two track strategy of the Whale Oil, Kiwiblog, Nat smear machine. Why is it allowed to continue?
Where is Jason Ede?
Jason Ede’s disappearance from public view suggests a cover up in response to Hager’s Dirty Politics. The book implicates Ede (past PM staffer) in a coordinated black ops smear machine working with blogs like Whale Oil. Key may need to come clean soon about some of Ede’s activities.
‘Dirty Politics’ symposium, streaming today
The University of Otago had a symposium on Nicky Hager’s Dirty Politics book now. The event has ended but video on youtube: Interviews with Hager, speakers, panel.
GCSB, privacy & Facebook messaging
How private are communications on social media platforms such as Facebook? It is claimed that the GCSB law’s definition of “privacy” leaves a loophole for warrantless surveillance of messaging by Kiwis on platforms like Facebook.
Hager, fear & the surveillance state
Nicky Hager’s latest book will be unveiled tomorrow. I look at his research interests, & his approach to investigative journalism; plus Hager’s speech on the GCSB Bill, & opposition party policies on state surveillance services.
Public broadcasting: an election issue
It has become very clear in the run up to this year’s election that we need better broadcasting and news media coverage of politics. The Campaign for Better Broadcasting has organised a series of public debates (with MPs) throughout Aoteatora, beginning this Friday in Dunedin.
John Key: a tale of two ‘truths’
John Key claimed he didn’t know about the big shift in the US-NZ surveillance relationship in 2009. Now he claims he always likes to be fully briefed on intelligence matters. Robert David Steele points the way from such anti-democratic governance & misinformation, to an open source everything revolution.
Spy law changes & telcos exposé
Vodafone has made public the extent of the use of spying via their systems, done by state agencies in several countries including NZ. NZ state agencies have revealed the amount of warrants issued prior to the passing of the GCSB and TICS laws late last year.
Digital speed cameras & mass surveillance
The main NZ news outlets are reporting on the new digital speed cameras about to be progressively installed around the country. They fail to report on the potential of the cameras to be used for mass surveillance.
Key-Fletcher nexus: anti-democratic ‘Intelligence communities’
Campbell Live pointed to a massive, integrated shift in NZ governance under John Key’s watch. This enhances the power of international trade and commerce, incorporating the GCSB the US, & 5 Eyes . At the centre of this shift, is the murky relationship between John Key & Ian Fletcher.
From slum-house to mega-man: Mana-TIP connections
There’s a lot of media attention on the negotiations between Mana & The Internet Party (TIP). Mana aims to link with some other parties. Some high profile people are scheduled to speak to Mana. Is Dotcom’s focus on his poor childhood genuine or a PR strategy? [Update#2: Sunday, NZ Herald – green light for negotiations]
National’s ICT failures.
After having the past five and bit years with National’s negative policies about anything to do with new technologies, it is really nice to see some partially formed red-tinged morning ideas about how to encourage local usage of the net appearing on the sky’s horizon. National’s ICT strategy seems to see how uselessly slow they can do everything and how much they can slow down the development of ICT in NZ.
Chorus insider trading?
The Government appears to be softening us up for a financial contribution to Chorus in the realm of $250 million so that it can do what it has a contractual obligation to do anyway. And TUANZ thinks that some insider trading is going on with Chorus’s shares.
Chorus sings a Dirge
I welcomed Amy Adams independent review of Chorus’s financial claims in response to Chorus’s sad song. Not something I should say in a […]
Nat government treachery destroys public broadcasting
Key’s government has destroyed the weak attempts by Labour to enable some public service broadcasting on Freeview. The NActs have employed ideologically-driven, irrational, bad faith, underhand, agreement-breaking moves to protect commercial monopoly. The CBB is campaigning for non-commercial TV channels.
Everything you wanted to know about the Chorus deal …
The Chorus fibre roll out deal with the Government is one of those issues that promises to embarrass the Government deeply, more deeply than us lefties may think. Because amongst the ranks of this Government’s supporters are those who hold close to principles. They not be our principles but nevertheless from the view of the right are just as if not more important than ours. One of the most important is the sanctity of the market. This is why some on the right are distraught at the generosity being shown to one of our largest corporates.