Posts by Russell Brown
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Also: people talked about the Russians, they talked about the Germans (who of course are meshed into the country's history in various ways) -- but no one said a word, ever, about the Slovaks. They were like the cousins you didn't talk about any more. It seemed inappropriate to even ask about it.
Can anyone shed any light on this?
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Hard News: Prague, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Not an aberration,
but the Abba-rations they were forced to consume… ?Also, the Czech hits of the day, which sounded fine in a Peter Sarstedt sort of way.
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Hard News: Prague, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Did you know Dina Jezdic worked there a while back? She may have some good contacts there for ya, being the bright young woman that she is. :)
Yes, she mentioned that. If and when I get back ...
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Hard News: Prague, in reply to Kumara Republic,
“Wind of Change” by the Scorpions was also played a lot during the Reunification, as well as riding the wave of Glasnost and the dismantling of the Warsaw Pact itself.
Ironically, we heard a lot of pre-Velvet Revolution music in bars. They like the hits of the 70s and 80s in Plzen.
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Hard News: Prague, in reply to andin,
Havent had the first snow yet by the look of the piccies, still must be nippy out
The locals were saying it was unseasonably warm and that most years it would have been snowing by now.
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And the day begins with the Prime Minister continuing to offer a ludicrous characterisation of the IGIS report which explicitly contradicts the report itself.
The Herald's editorial this morning:
Mr Tucker erred, badly. But it was the stimulation by the Prime Minister's staff of the official information request that prompted the whole sorry episode.
None of the protagonists are still in their positions except Mr Key, who was in America when Mr Tucker released the note. Cheryl Gwyn did not summon the Prime Minister to the inquiry and has let him off too lightly. Under criticism by Mr Goff over the Israelis story, he needed to do more than invoke his own advice from the SIS.
Three years on, it seems a trifling issue, but non-partisanship in the intelligence agencies is important. The Prime Minister should have shown better judgment and been discreet. His office should hold higher standards. Shabby politicisation of security information must be avoided.
Jane Clifton this morning:
Ede had been on the phone to Slater at the exact time the OIA request was lodged by email. How could that be "nothing to do with my office", as Key kept saying?
Key airily dismissed this account as "quite contested" - while confoundingly insisting this did not mean the inspector-general's account was wrong, or that he disagreed with it. He might have added that black could be a little bit white, and water could be somewhat dry.
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Hard News: Prague, in reply to nzlemming,
I now wish to visit Prague.
And I wish to go back, for longer.
Outside the brief of the post: we went to a great restaurant (Cestr) and stayed in a really cool hotel (Hotel Josef), neither of them expensive by international standards, both of them really well thought-out and modern ventures. Groovy place.
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And meanwhile, Graham issues a press release celebrating the "exoneration" of his client.
It's quite a bizarre document.
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Hard News: Incomplete, inaccurate and misleading, in reply to BenWilson,
It’s quite a peculiar document. It looks long and complete, but reads like a stream of consciousness by someone trying to tell a very long and boring story to avoid answering a few simple questions.
That's a very good description. I just kept thinking to myself "this is weird" as I read it.
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The Chisholm report is littered with some very big holes. Note this part from Matt Nippert's original story:
The new documents appear to show PR consultant Graham paid Slater and Odgers to write dozens of posts attacking regulators and a possible witness.
In one email, Odgers said: "Remind him [Hotchin] he pays cam n I to f--- w FMA so he can focus on important things."
Another email appears to discuss plans to undermine the credibility of a potential witness in the Hanover investigation, property developer Tony Gapes.
Graham wrote in one email: "Just off ph to MH . . . Seems our friend Tony Gapes is thinking he's a bit of a star witness for the SFO against our man."
He added that Gapes "should have some sunlight shone on him. Enough to raise questions of credibility with the SFO".
That would be a conspiracy to intimidate a witness. Quite serious, no? Omitted from the report as outside its brief.
Chisholm also didn't bother to interview Odgers or Hotchin. He can't even bring himself to say Slater and Odgers were being paid for their attack campaign on Feeley, only that they were "engaged" by Graham, who was providing services to Hotchin. Good grief.
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