Posts by mark taslov
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Hard News: Vision and dumbassery, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Go well….
OK This time!
and hugs for Stella. -
Hard News: Interview: Glenn Greenwald, in reply to Russell Brown,
That was a gem Russell. who knows, one day New Zealand may even be able to offer Snowden asylum. WRT to context above and pending confirmation from anyone with more familiarity:
Thanks for this NRT and keep up the great work:
Note that the PM can limit IGIS’s access to information
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Hard News: Vision and dumbassery, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Take care guys, I'll be voting ;) but I need a sleep, it's been days.
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Hard News: Vision and dumbassery, in reply to simon g,
That radio station isn’t just “right wing”, it is seriously deranged.
I’m not sure if it is just the station that is seriously deranged. From a distance, having lived in a region where people are shot, beaten, detained, abducted and subjected to forced abortions and quite often for the simple reason that they are attempting to exercise basic democratic rights, it is quite clear that on the whole the mainstream media of NZ has failed as an apparatus to hold your leaders accountable to basic established democratic standards, and that the citizenry are no longer actively engaged in the democracy to any significant extent beyond turning off cellphones for a couple of hours to watch a presentation, march a bit and go home, vote every three years and tittle-tattle about it on the internet. No one is being held to account for anything much at all except Mr “Don’t you know who I am?”. While the bulk of the world could only dream of the influence you have.
This whole campaign I’ve been looking at the photos, Proud MPs meeting, holding hands with beaming Kiwis, I don’t know why you’re here pretending that you’re not the happiest place on earth, we have the pics.
And then just once, in this whole campaign there was something different, something that resembled what I would consider to be active engaged democratic action – and stone the crows, it was against the leader of the opposition. It just feels complacent to me that this is all I’ve seen.
Knowing people who’ve been detained for merely typing shit like this, hearing stories of others being rendered to nonpersons because of their ethnicity, or who they know. Knowing police officers who have ‘dispose of human’ in their job description and who have completed that task effectively. And all this hinging upon the fact that the Government here can and is spying on us with no accountability whatsoever, where association, and demonstrations, dissent and civil disobediance can get you killed. And yet people still engage with this, people still make the extra effort, because they want what you have, what New Zealand had, before it became a surveillance state.
And amid all this, watching New Zealanders squabbling over an email. AN EMAIL. That’s all kinds of perverse. LIke you want to present the evidence to the judge who can make the ruling. You’ve confused democracy with a court of law. Democracy is when you can and do make some fucking noise.
beyond an ad in your right wing rag.
till you’re hoarse
and till you get what you deserve
and that's a beautiful freedom to still have
without fear of death.but yadda yadda, enjoy the match.
xox -
So yeah, impact and damage, damage and impact, my reckoning is that if there’s been any damaging impact and impacting damage that it was probably most likely, when our damaging State Apparatus began impacting New Zealanders by illegally spying on us.
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I’m quite interested in this quote:
“The damage also impacts on three of the biggest names in the world – those who came to give Kiwis information I believe they deserve to have.”
Is there anything tangible there? Three of the biggest names in the world? And I’ll assume we’re talking about Armstrong, Greenwald and Snowden rather than Pitt, Jolie and Kardashian. I’m not a great assessor of damage impact personally. I’d quite like to hear more about the particulars of this damage, The spread of the taint and to what degree this taint will stick and impact their credibility, careers and personal lives. Looking at the Guardian one could even surmise that from an international perspective any real damage:
Greenwald, Dotcom, Snowden and Assange take on ‘adolescent’ John Key
Eminem suing New Zealand’s National party for allegedly using his song
Is limited to John Key and the National Party.
The Prism revelations and dumps, The Spying on New Zealand residents, Ongoing investigations of our Five eyes network by nations proven to have been targeted by members of 5 eyes.
Combined, this could be taken to constitute a significant body of evidence. A body of evidence against the 5 Eyes.it is the same agreement that still governs the sharing of signals intelligence between Britain, the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada
Though, wo betide an individual shares an actual file or infringes the copyright of any corporation in this sharing caring group. So that’s a body of evidence. some circumstantial, some proven, The Prime Minister issues a challenge to the nation that “there is no and there never has been any mass surveillance"…"and if you can find which hand it’s in you’ll win the paisley button!”
and this is greeted with an extended, and one dearly hopes pleasurable, circle pissing marathon.
5 Eyes is engaged in mass surveillance. New Zealand is a member of FYES= New Zealand is engaged in mass surveillance. Against terrorists. And not so terrorists.
"And sure, there might be some spying on New Zealanders going on, there might be some bending of the law but we’ll wait, we’ll just hold our horses on this one eh Jimbo, that mass may not be quite massive enough."
"But what is enough bro?"
1 is enough. One nonterrorist spied on by the GSCB under John Key’s oversight…is…
enough.
One private law abiding New Zealander having their privacy illegally invaded, their contents rummaged through, their communications monitored is more than sufficient.
"Yeah but Heck, ya know, at the end of the day, John: he’s a good guy. Sure the Government organ under his direct watch totally violated a New Zealander’s human rights but, come on, that guys a Kraut, he’s a bloody overstayer."
And I get it, we can’t be holding our Ministers accountable for every little thing, shit happens, people make mistakes,
"and course it wasn’t John’s fault, he’s a ledge.So yeah, benefit o’ the doubt aye! If on the other hand he’d akshully known his crew were illegally spying that wouldn’t have been on."
But he rattled off some words, he did his duty by us matey:
"I apologize to Mr Dotcom. I apologize to New Zealanders because every New Zealander…is entitled to be protected from the law when it comes to the GCSB, and we failed to provide that appropriate protection for him."
Failed.
*Failed*.
And of course John shouldn’t have to prove he personally *failed* to administer the GCSB apparatus in a lawful and ethical manner, he’s got this fulla he appointed to investigate it,"a, s’all cool bro."
Prove something like that? Defo 100% pure the responsibility of the individual the New Zealand Government has violated. But… if the citizenry want to engage in something so ludicrous as to even suggest that the Minister in charge of the GCSB was familiar enough with details of the biggest hit the GCSB has legally been engaged in for the last decade (or dare I say *ever*), then he should front up and do this at his own cost, on his own dime – prove the whole lot of it, paying and proving this country clean again. Our very own immigrant SEBO. And if he can’t clean it all up by Monday Night then he’s an Angry Tycoon.
"That’s a bit harsh mate."
Hells no, harden up, sounds pretty reasonable to me. Yeah Mate.Nah Mate Meal Mate’s Mate. Cos what would the actual alternative be? Not to take John Key’s word? To investigate just how much Johnny didn’t know, like properly? I mean, sure, on occasion he’s played a little fast and loose with the old facts, bit rubbery with the honesty on and off, truth be told. But that doesn’t have to mean he fits any clinical defintion of mythomania. End of the day he’s lied once or twice in the past but never for anything serious. So yeah, headline time, what are we gonna go with?
We failed to pin details on John Key (again)…?
John Key denies…?
John Key categorically dismisses…?
John Key can’t recall…?
John Key can’t locate…?
John Key has never recieved…?
John Key wasn’t home…?
John Key isn’t here…?-“**Nah bro**. I’m thinking different aye. how ‘bout this time, we switch it up, nip down the blindside, kick a wipers and for once in our respectable albeit elegantly challenging careers actually put 5 points on the board:"
JOHN KEY FUCKING LIES AGAIN
But then he’d sue for defacation, no? Isn’t that what people do when you call them a liar in the presses?"
And then we let him prove it ;) And at the end of the day, the legal fees are on me!
end of the day, Busby, end o’ the daye.
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“Know the results of the latest Gallup Poll? Half the country never even heard of the word Watergate, nobody gives a shit.”
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Hard News: Vision and dumbassery, in reply to B Jones,
He’s not getting interviewed in the comfort of his own home
As far as I’m aware, that’s not what the US prosecutions of DotCom or Edward Snowden are gunning for either. With a line up like last night’s, tuning in or attending an event bought by a convicted criminal fighting extradition charges. However your point needs to be made, and reiterated until the cycle of exploitation and dehumanisation is quashed.
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Hard News: Vision and dumbassery, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
the Ecuadorian embassy because a US prosecutor wants to get at him, rather than because he refuses to return to Sweden
I’d be wary of softening or simplifying the politics involved here, he hasn’t merely refused to return to Sweden, he’s refused to return to British legal jurisdiction in the sense of stepping out of the embassy. There is every likelihood that 2-4 years in the Swedish prison system would be similar if not preferable, he’s already served 2 (though not for that crime). If that was all there was to this. If it were not so much more complex than that. Given the conflicted ethics and blurring of boundaries, other motives here are not entirely incomprehendable.
Laila Harre could have given Assange’s full bio, but to what end? Was there a comprehensive list of the charges against Snowden? Kim DotCom? We could spend all day on this. For my part watching the feed intermittently on Youtube – ∞ absolutely disgusting bigoted and misogynist bile:
"type 69 if you’d fuck Mona"
I mean WTF is that?! I was so appalled that I found myself rabidly transcribing phrases from the speakers just to minimise the space being taken up by filth – until they turned off comments, well into Snowden. In what was an otherwise excellent internet experience this was a massive oversight..
This time and effort put into reiterating that Assange is an alleged rapist – we know the score, he is – could arguably be better focused on actively and tangibly fighting rape culture and misogyny in our own communities. I support all discourse in and around this issue.
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"Most New Zealanders would accept I think what we’re saying, because we’re substantiating it with the fax"?!