Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Vision and dumbassery

532 Responses

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  • Steve Barnes, in reply to CJM,

    Nikki Kaye has some nice weetbix apparently..

    Twitter, he say "Sorry, that page doesn’t exist!"

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Keir Leslie,

    Er you don’t care that Assange is an alleged rapist?

    In No Place to Hide Greenwald explains why Snowden chose not to take his revelations to the likes of the New York Times. He gives a number of examples of the concerted campaign of character assassination carried out against Assange by the Times and other sources – of which the meticulous Snowden was well aware - from “well before he was accused of sex crimes by two women in Sweden. Notably, the attacks on Assange were carried out by the same newspapers that had worked with him and had benefited from Chelsea Manning’s disclosures, which Assange and WikiLeaks had enabled.”

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    Today we will get to see which, if any, of the people claiming to be journalists in NZ are able to tell the real story instead of getting mired in the dross on all sides.

    Well, maybe the "real story" could have been better reported if it wasn't told four days before the general election ay? While it makes me gag a little to say this, it's hard to credibly shit on the media for not doing in-depth reporting on a textbook October Surprise. Sorry about that, but this is the game being played.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    Andrea Vance has done well as has Keith Ng (who doesn't claim to be a journalist yet often outshines them all).

    Vance 'woke up' after being effectively spied upon. Other than that, the Press Gallery seems to have left itself open to being wined & dined.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • TracyMac, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    I have to agree that wheeling Assange out was incredibly disappointing. Whether or not you choose to believe his pronouncements at the likelihood of extraordinary rendition from the sovereign nation of Sweden (hardly known for their blind endorsement of US policies) as an excuse to dodge his legal troubles, he's a spent force. What did he have to offer - in terms of relevant facts - to this matter?

    Lefties have their own version of the All Black endorsement - but this one was particularly tone-deaf

    Canberra, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 701 posts Report Reply

  • Hamish N00nan, in reply to BenWilson,

    A part of me died during that performance, when most of my tweet stream spent the whole time telling KDC to shut up, stop giggling, where's-the-moment-of-truth, isn't-Assange-an-alleged-rapist, etc.

    A party leader calling an alleged rapist a political prisoner is no minor issue.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 9 posts Report Reply

  • James Littlewood*, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    Yes, live. He interacted with the audience applause. Oh and said "Sorry, I'm not used to this kind of a reception."

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Seriatim, in reply to Graham Dunster,

    Ditto

    Wellington • Since Dec 2010 • 57 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    it’s hard to credibly shit on the media for not doing in-depth reporting on a textbook October Surprise.

    Oh perleeze. A. not a surprise if announced months in advance and B. The MSM have been ignoring the corruption for just as long. Why don’t you just say “John Key is a Saint and cannot tell a lie, everybody else is just evil” like the MSM has been doing but with a few flouncy words thrown in.
    I have wanted to say this for a while but if you, and others of your ilk, like the US of fuckin” EH? so much why don’t you just go and live there and let us live our lives of blissful “ignorance” in peace.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Nick Shand,

    Snowden's Speargun revelation felt 100% pure, timely and exactly what New Zealand needs for our democracy to halt the invasive collection of meta data.

    auck • Since Aug 2008 • 79 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to Hebe,

    What I heard was a coherent explanation of how democracy in New Zealand has been systemically undermined by a world-wide intelligence network answerable to no-one but the intelligence and political elites and which abets global corporations in their quest for dominance.I salute all of them: Greenwald, Snowden, Assange, Amsterdam and especially Kim Dotcom for bringing all this to national – and international – prominence. If not them, who else would have? We owe Kim Dotcom – in a good way – for staging the reveal. Yeah he’s excitable, and complex,

    Yes. +1. Dotcom has shown us what he is up against as a solitary resident in NZ and chose to help us but not so much himself. He is now touted as "can do better". Nice. I know I couldn't. And although his laughing annoyed some, he must have felt really good to be amongst a group of highly respected people that understood his plight. That would be a first in a really long time. The systematic undermining of anything he is doing must take a toll. I also thought with Snowden showing his humble side with the audience applause and Assange had banging and drills in the background (that would make me scared in his situation, it might not have been a renovation) showed it to be an honest event rather than the stage managed one people seem to have wanted. I think what we got was bloody well good enough
    That's all I want to say except that I'm off to email KDC to show my appreciation for a job well done.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    part of the Commonwealth (eg Harare) were intriguing. Key has over the last few years increasingly been softening up the electorate with asides about becoming a republic

    Huh? Most Commonwealth states are republics.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • CJM, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    Auckland • Since Aug 2014 • 107 posts Report Reply

  • stephen clover,

    Imagining X-KEYSCORE scenarios: a search criteria containing the geospatial coords of the polygon bounding the Auckland Town Hall and some date/time parameters for last night will give you the phone numbers of all attendees (with GPS turned on.)

    wgtn • Since Sep 2007 • 355 posts Report Reply

  • James Littlewood*,

    What I like about KDC is his ability to provoke. It was - I think - the first time I've ever attended a do put on by a party that I have no intention of voting for. And I gotta give him cred for that. It was _interesting_.

    I suspect that for every 10 votes KDC calls into question across the entire spectrum:

    4 L/N votes stay where they are
    3 stay home and don't get cast
    3 move from L/N to any one of the smaller parties, with a small % of those going to IMP.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Huh? Most Commonwealth states are republics.

    Yeah - and unless I really missed something for years Key has taken pretty much the same wishy-washy right-down-the middle line that he thinks a republic is inevitable but not while he's around and in his view it's not really a big issue. Cunliffe's slightly less tepid, but not by much. Not sure how that qualifies as a stealth republican agenda. :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to CJM,

    Hmm, this then?

    Unfortunately, yes.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Semmens,

    Just as an aside, seeing hundreds of people show up, and thousands watching online, to a town hall event where speakers talked on big ideas of freedom and liberty surely puts lie to the claim that people are disengaged from politics.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to stephen clover,

    will give you the phone numbers of all attendees (with GPS turned on.)

    More than that. Even without GPS you can place a cellphone within less than 30 mtrs by triangulation from cell towers. Add to that the number of people using mobile devices that are not strictly phones but using WiFi and you have everybody who was there with any kind of device turned on (in some cases the device can even be switched off). Include security cameras, in the Town Hall, in the street outside and in local businesses and you have close to total surveillance.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Howard Edwards, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    The full stop denotes the end of the sentence and is not supposed to be part of the URL.

    Albany • Since Apr 2013 • 66 posts Report Reply

  • James Littlewood*,

    Didn't Guyon make a good point this morning though, that if the gummint thinks I'm a baddy, they issue a warrant. Once they've done that, they can pick up the info. But before all of that, they firstly have to have collected the info. And since they don't know whose to collect they just get everyone's.

    The former head of GCSB just told him he was confused between surveillance and something else.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • andrew r,

    Being present through out 'the moment of truth' last night, have to say Russell your summary is spot on.

    auckland • Since May 2007 • 100 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace,

    A bit of trivia - in the 10 oclock news last night Brent Edwards said that National Party campaign launch was much bigger. That event had 2500 - many bussed in. The Town Hall apparently holds 1600 and about 800 couldn't get in according to reports. The crowd shots showed all seats taken and many people standing. So I think the meetings would have been comparable in terms of people motivated (for whatever reason) to attend. And thousands more watching the live stream. Which is pretty amazing.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • James Littlewood*,

    Quite a good Q&A with Paul Buchanan over on NBR.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Tom Semmens,

    seeing hundreds of people show up, and thousands watching online, to a town hall event

    The Capacity of the Town Hall is 497, add to that the estimated 800 people who could not get in is 1300 prepared to get into town, not an easy task what with parking, the price of a cab and the less than perfect public transport system. If it were a protest march it would be considered significant. The thousands on line just add to that and when you consider the Herald’s “Your Views” Poll as to who believes who then John Key’s Teflon™ coating seems to be as substantial as the proverbial Emperor’s clothes exposing him as a truly Sub Prime Minister.
    As an aside also. isn’t it nice to know that in our country, as opposed to the US of FA, we don’ have to mock up our Town Hall meetings.

    The self-enclosed world of conservative spin increases the risk to the president by insulating him from the truth about how his plan is going over. Meeting only with handpicked audiences in rehearsed “town hall” meetings, Bush not only encounters little substantive challenge to his views but also avoids getting any realistic sense of how little traction his plan has gotten. In this way, the propaganda president risks becoming the real victim of his administration’s own fake news.

    I an surprised John Key hasn’t adopted this idea, he could use the same sound stage as Colin Craig’s Moon Landings were shot for his fake Town Hall.

    ETA Apparently he has…

    National Party campaign launch was much bigger. That event had 2500 – many bussed in.

    Thanks Hillary.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

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