Posts by Marc C
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Hard News: Doing over the witness, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
I was trying to be "positive" in times of negative news and developments. One must never give up, especially when it comes to defending rights, freedom of speech and democracy. Excessive use of search and surveillance, like happened with Hager and his family, is a breach of rights, for sure, and it all looks like an effort to intimidate.
Hager has been portrayed by many of the more "conservative" folk in New Zealand as a "leftist shit stirrer", this is not a recent development. Him using apparently illegally seized information for his book gave the police the perfect reason to have a go at him. I am sure the government does not mind this happening.
And yes, under Helen Clark the raids on activists, and in the Tuhoe Urewera communities, by special armed offender and other units, that was an appalling development then. Nowadays governments and law enforcement agencies, same as intelligence agencies are quick with using the word "terrorist".
Just any suspicion of actively supporting organisations that oppose governments and systems in place is enough to label one a "terrorist" or "sympathiser". The recent raids in Australia were also over the top, and only one alleged islamist extremist was charged - upon raids by 800 police and so.
While the recent beheadings are as repulsive and criminal as the worst crimes imaginable, this appears to be exploited by the very 5 Eyes organisations in the countries they work in, to expand their efforts to spy and observe people, using all modern technology. And all this went up a few gears after Greenwald and Snowden revealed a bit more of truth a couple of weeks before the election. What a strange coincidence.
And now Key is apparently doing all to please the US, Australian and UK allies, to even send troops to Iraq, while before the election he was rather opposed to the idea. Key and his government know, the opposition are licking their wounds, so it is the best time to use the momentum and create irreversible facts in policy and decision making.
We are presented with de-facto situations, before anybody can say much about it. All the media does is simply report on what is happening, not asking any questions.
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Hard News: Doing over the witness, in reply to Chris Waugh,
Chris, of course things are not quite that bad (as yet), but even in places I mentioned, disliked or hated dissenters, who write revealing books about what really goes on, were also not tortured and killed in most cases, especially if they were well known to the public.
Intimidation has many forms, and this was their way of doing it.
Such methods must be stopped from the start, and it should be an ethical obligation of others who call themselves journalists, to stand up against such unreasonable search and seizure.
The fact that this is not happening is due to so many already feeling "worried", so much, they do not dare to risk their careers, their incomes and own bit of professional freedom they may still enjoy.
When people stay quiet, shut their doors behind themselves, and choose not to take sides, we have the authoritarian system succeeding. And that tells me, it is time to be seriously concerned, and to take a stand.
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Hard News: Doing over the witness, in reply to Juha Saarinen,
Yes, it is, and we have now powers given to many state agencies and departments, including MSD and WINZ, that allow them to spy and conduct surveillance on "suspects" (or "difficult troublemakers"). Sadly the wider public have for some time given up following any news with some critical and suspicious thinking, and so many laws and law changes have been passed unnoticed.
And even where the law still allows people to "check" on what government does, the constant underfunding of the Office of Ombudsmen sees to it, that any OIA complaints do not get looked at or even investigated for lengthy times.
Cuts and more hurdles to access legal aid is another angle they used, to stop people taking actions against wrongdoings. New Commissioners have been appointed to the Health and Disability Commissioner Office and also the Privacy Commissioner Office, who are apparently more government friendly than the ones before.
More surveillance, the change of the GCSB Act, and so forth, it has all been done, to serve the interests of the government of the day, to rule and legislate as they please, with as little criticism and disruption, now they go as far as taking out dissenters like Hager.
Next maybe The Daily Blog and Martyn Bradbury, and prepare also, for another raid on the Dotcom Mansion, it will come, I sense.
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Having followed what has been going on in this country, which otherwise likes to "pride" itself for its democracy, transparency and lack of corruption, I have increasingly become fully convinced, that those qualities or standards NO longer exist. New Zealand has since the departure of Helen Clark and the last Labour government, and the "rise" of one John Key, been heading down a road, which is akin to a road of a plutocracy, a one party state, a surveillance state, yes, a "soft" form of a dictatorship.
And sadly, too many now working in the mainstream media, especially the ones making decisions on what is published and what not, are very complicit in this kind of system having developed. It was in my view the MSM (mainstream media) that decided the last 3 elections, with too much selective reporting, with hunting certain "disliked" or mistrusted opposition politicians and parties, and with not long ago launching a massive attack against Dotcom.
I have little time for Dotcom, but what we were shown on TV, heard certain hosts on radio comment, and what we read in papers, it was all rather clear. The Dirty Politics only caused upheaval for barely 2 weeks, then it was suddenly largely discredited, swept under the carpet, especially once Key had Collins resign. And the wider public did also shrug it off, accepting the seeds of scepticism, that Key and National, and too many in the MSM spread. Too many switched off long ago, and hence Key survived it all, and like a hardly tainted Phoenix out of the ashes, he came back teflon shielded, with a sound election win.
What has happened to Nicky Hager now is a scandal of huge proportions, it is beyond doubt, that this is not how police should treat a witness. There is no sound reason to have them go through his house and intimidate his family for over 10 hours. I have commented before, that I have noticed this when attending a few political meetings, that the police always seem to have rather "warm" relationships with National Party MPs and members, and with a government formed by National.
There is also ample evidence of the police not prosecuting their own much, when they are caught out doing wrong, or overstepping the line.
What happened to Nicky Hager should get all journalists motivated to take a firm stand in support of him, but sadly I see and hear very little of this, yes some even supporting what happened.
This is stuff that would have happened in places like East Germany until 1989, like in some Latin American former dictatorships, this is what goes on in such countries in some places still now, but I feared the day would come that this happens here.
It seems that Key and his Nats use certain "contacts", and have motivated this action. Jason Ede goes and disappers, and despite of sufficient evidence, no investigation has happened there. A Mr Bharatnagar gets the same protection, so does Slater, who got away with too much for too long.
Sadly this all will turn off many potential whistle blowers, as they government, the police and various agencies now use their powers to shut down critics, few will now dare revealing wrongdoings that happen, fearing for their jobs and so.
It is time to stand up, people, and reclaim your democracy, or else it will be lost forever, to an Orwellian control and surveillance state that has an ugly face behind the scenes. Sadly too many are too busy watching TV ads and going shopping, or entertaining themselves. Too many brains are manipulated or switched off in New Zealand these days. Fury is all I can say about how I feel about what is going on.
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There were some media reports last week, which mentioned some new research done in cooperation by universities in Amsterdam, Dusseldorf and also Massey University. There have been new findings that appear to show, that certain insecure, precarious work can have serious effects on people's health, and that resulting stress and anxiety can cause asthma, yes possibly other ill health.
It puts into doubt the repeated claims by such "experts" as UK professor Mansel Aylward and others, who did research under sponsorship of the controversial health and disability insurer UNUM, which included "findings" and resulted in claims, that most illness and disability was merely based on "illness belief", and that most people would be healthier if working, and so forth.
The NZ government used Aylward to justify their welfare reforms, and we have even had WINZ Principal Health Advisor Dr Bratt go around likening benefit dependence to "drug dependence". Bill English did also make such a bold comparison not long ago, saying getting people off benefits is like getting crack cocaine addicts of their drug.
While many sick and disabled sincerely want to work, it should be seriously considered, that work is not necessarily that good for a person's health, unless it is work a person actually can do, with some supports, and unless a job is secure, fulfilling and pays enough. All else simply may put people at greater risks.
The government is keen to bring in yet more reforms, as John Key said soon after the election, so I am somewhat concerned, how these will look like. We get stuff all evaluation on what has been done so far, and the new approaches to basically expect sick, injured and disabled to stay in work, get back into work a.s.a.p., or to return to work sooner than was expected in the past, may have already cause substantial harm to individuals. We do though simply not hear about this, as the media seems to lack interest in reporting on what goes on in the area. The focus is rather on how many get off benefits, no matter what, how many costs may be saved, and on a mad shooter in Ashburton some time ago.
Here are some links to interesting new information by the way:
http://accforum.org/forums/index.php?/topic/16737-work-has-fewer-%e2%80%9chealth-benefits%e2%80%9d-than-mansel-aylward-and-other-so-called-experts-claim-it-can-cause-serious-harm/Disabled deserve respect and must be assisted in a fair, reasonable and inclusive way, and no unrealistic expectations must be made. So while I continue to mistrust the government we have, the challenge is with them, to acknowledge this and implement their draconian "reforms" in a reasonable manner. Anne Tolley is supposed to take over from Paula Bennett, I hear. Well at least she does not seem to be such a "smart-arsed bully" as I feel Bennett is.
Let us wait and see, what will happen with her at the helm.
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Access: Disability: Election Promises…, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
Yes, Rosemary, it is true what you write, and it is happening at all levels of "stake holders" in the system. We have a fair few budgeting services and some advocacy services, also those looking after WINZ clients. As many such agencies and groups actually depend on at least some of their funding from the Ministry for Social Development, they will of course avoid to bite the hand that feeds them.
In my view that is at least part of the reason the draconian welfare reforms were not more stiffly opposed, but rather just with a bit of verbal criticism here and there.
Also CCS Disability Action and similar groups rely on government funding, as on their own they would not be able to deliver the range and kinds of services they do. So they may speak out on some matters now and then, but will in all honesty, discretely, be very mindful of their need to "cooperate" with their paymaster.
That is the state of affairs in health and disability, social security and ACC. Even the doctors and other health professionals depend on public funds the government pays them, so they are to certain degrees all compromised. Naturally offices like the Health and Disability Commissioner are also only "independent" in appearance, even if the law states so, because it is again the government, that funds their work.
With increasing outsourcing, contracting out of services, this is getting worse all the time, as workers in these sectors are increasingly on individual employment contracts, or self employed and/or not unionised.
So there is insufficient unity and force to challenge what goes on, all over the show.
I learned not long ago, that even the Office of Ombudsmen has their staff work on individual employment contracts, that was at least until last year.
So every single player is very mindful of their dependence on money to feed themselves and their families, and few dare rocking the boat, where it may deserve to be rocked more.
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Access: Disability: Election Promises…, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
Quote: "We KNOW an enquiry, or god forbid, a complaint, will risk public humiliation …or worse…a ‘review’. We know about the ‘kick them when they’re down’ philosophy.
Some of us are cowed. Some of us engage with WINZ in automatic defensive mode. Others….with a tenuous hold on their sanity …have reacted with extreme violence. Only Sue Bradford had the guts to publicly put THAT one in its true context."
Yes, for many that may be so, but there are still a few others besides of Sue Bradford, who dare to take a stand, who hold WINZ to account, and it is KNOWLEDGE that is power. Sadly most out there have too short attention spans these days, and are a bit too complacent, and do not inform themselves, even if they have the ability to understand complex matters. Much activity may be found on the web, on blogs, in regards to entertainment, MSM media, in gaming, in Facebook and Twitter messaging, but that is not all, there are certainly more important things to read and see.
I can only encourage people to inform themselves more thoroughly about what the last welfare reforms were all about, and also what had been done to ACC even before that, which was later introduced as a new approach by WINZ:
And here some good advice to those facing a potential WINZ "hatchet doctor":
As for disabled and their carers, a lot will need to be done and needs to happen, and it will be down to us few activists, to lead the fight, as there is too little reliance on the MPs that will sit in the nice green chairs in Parliament again. Some should not be there in the first place, when their priority is to compete for positions and to fight sideshow battles about petty topics.
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Access: Disability: Election Promises…, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
It is all "screwed" now anyway, I am sorry to say, as John Key and the Nats have got enough seats to do whatever they want to do, or not bother to do. We are indeed all "screwed" now, those that hoped for and cared for some improvements for disabled in this society. Even Bennett is going to leave social security, as it must be a too "hot potato" for her now. We will be managed by second rate idiots running ACC, WINZ, health and disability services, and little improvements are to be expected.
As for the Maori Party, they may now make whatever "agreement" with Key, they have NO CLOUT, are irrelevant, even as that idiot from ACT is totally irrelevant, the school boy, wannabe MP.
This election has dealt a serious blow to us, I am dismayed, and very, very angry, that the "opposition" did not get their crap together to get the message across. But then again, out there, people are more bothered with money in their pockets and to spend on whatever frivolous consumer goods. They do not want to, and will refuse to, pay more levies and taxes that would have been needed for some better services.
Selfishness rules, division, mistrust, me, me and endless more me, that is for the fit hand healthy, stuff the rest.
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Hard News: A message from The Fabians, in reply to Jim Cathcart,
The average New Zealander, even many that bothered studying "economics", have not much of a clue at all about the bigger picture, most certainly when it comes to macroeconomics. They rather "micromanage" at their familiar household purse string level, and even run most businesses like that.
No wonder there is such a large overseas ownership of companies and other interests. It is going to get worse, I am sure, as with what I witness and hear everyday, most should not even be allowed to vote, as they are a "threat" to the economic future of this country.
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The Fabians do some good work, but I fear, like so many organisations and societies, that have progressive ideas, goals and aspirations on their mind, the reality is immensely depressing. It seems that in too large numbers, New Zealanders simply do no longer care and bother much, whether it is about social justice, smart economics, the environment and the future in general. Many certainly are totally indifferent re human rights and democracy in other places.
So I read this this morning:
'Support for Democratic Rights in Hong Kong', Mon. 29 Sept., 05.08 pm:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1409/S00559/support-for-democratic-rights-in-hong-kong.htmTens of thousands go onto the streets in Hong Kong, demanding the Mainland Chinese government, and their CEO or representative for Hong Kong listens, and allow for more democracy. The media reported on it for days, and indeed, it deserves respect and more.
Thinking that at least a few hundred of New Zealanders and especially those of Chinese ethnic background would heed the call and be there, I went to the Auckland CBD, to outside the old Town Hall, to Aotea Square and also walked all the way down to Britomart and back up, to see NOBODY assembling and taking a stand. Heaps of people were busy window shopping, eating, looking up smart phone messages and sending some, leisurely walking in the sun, some with kids, it being school holidays, but NO, NOBODY cared to listen, and bother, to support the ones in Hong Kong, for their fight for a bit more democracy.
We have had the same for years, with abysmal participation in other marches, pickets, protests and what you have, New Zealanders seem to have sold their souls to "mammon", the modern god of consumerism, and are adapting to serve the "master", whoever employs them as such, and do not bother to question much, unless it affects their immediate self.
No wonder Labour lost abysmally, and while the carnage amongst the caucus members is continuing, them fighting each other, perhaps they should take a stroll outside, and see the real reason for the apathy, indifference and so, which is ALL the result of diversity and division, also encouraged by mass migration, and of endless commercial media dumbing down.
I had to let steam off here, as I was furious, and devastated, to bother and make an effort, and not even one "organiser" Bevan Chuang could be detected in the masses of consumerist numb brained, I saw, sadly.
There is no future for a society when we have such a situation. And also, we have had tens of thousands of Mainland Chinese migrants come here, most of them are not bothered with democracy, so perhaps that is also to be considered when we look at voter apathy? Who bothers to stand up for democracy these days? With no fighters left, maybe just keep on selling your country, from under your feet, dear "Kiwis"?!