Posts by simon g
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I know this comes under "dog bites man" news, but still ...
At 9.30 am approx. Leighton Smith on Newstalk ZB tells his listeners - ringingly, emphatically - that Glenn Greenwald did not win the Pulitzer Prize. Not as a clumsy aside, but a confident declaration of fact.
His source? WhaleOil.
That radio station isn't just "right wing", it is seriously deranged.
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The Eminem story got National's ad played at the top of both main TV news bulletins tonight, I doubt they're too concerned.
On the other hand, it meant Steven Joyce appearing on both main TV news bulletins, so maybe it comes out even.
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Anybody wondering why Mike Hosking is so obnoxious about Snowden on Seven Sharp - and way out of line with most journalists, not just the predictable pinkoes - should bear in mind that the Great Broadcaster had mind his mind up a very long time ago:
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/shows/breakfast/highlights/mikes-editorial-25jun2013
So it's not simply about a "right wing bias", it's really about a stroked ego not wanting to accept, even for a moment, that he might have got it wrong.
Ladies and gentlemen, your host for tomorrow night's debate, on our national channel ...
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Hard News: Vision and dumbassery, in reply to Jake Starrow,
So, no opinion then.
I don't expect you to be an expert on SPEARGUN or XKEYSCORE or whatever (I'm certainly not), but I do expect you to care about what the state does, and whether its legal, and to want to know the truth.
Thanks for admitting that you don't, at least we've got some honesty there.
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Hard News: Vision and dumbassery, in reply to Jake Starrow,
Hi Jake
What do you think of Snowden's revelations? Do you agree with the PM that it simply hasn't happened, or with the guy who watched it happen?
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Thanks for this post, Russell. It sums up my feelings pretty well.
On the Dotcom "dilute/derail", it really comes down to the old political question - if you think somebody on your side of the fight has screwed up, do you say so out loud or not?
I think you do, because (a) honesty is a Good Thing, Dorothy, and (b) if you reduce it to a spin death-match, the Right usually win. You'll end up defending the wrong thing - your weakest point, and without conviction, much to your opponents' satisfaction.
Dotcom got it wrong, it's OK to say so, and the other stuff is WAY more important. Fortunately, it is still getting plenty of coverage. End of sermon.
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Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to ,
It's not a fucking TV game show, Lemming.
No, but it is a political event, and opponents are always going to look for the weakest link. Snowden/Greenwald provided the focus - others (especially Kim Dotcom) provided the distraction, the chance for Key and co to dodge the focus.
Again, it's the framing: Key v KDC is what he wants, when it should be the PM versus the law and the truth.
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Snowden providing a more lucid, coherent, and credible explanation of basic civics than a thousand NZ Herald columns.
Thank goodness these Americans have "politicized" our election. Somebody had to, and it's not our homegrown selfie-chasers masquerading as reporters.
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but the GCSB does not collect mass metadata on New Zealanders, therefore it is clearly not contributing such data to anything or anyone
That line is so glorious, it should be preserved and taught in logic classes.
Start with conclusion: it doesn't happen. Therefore, the evidence that it does happen, is false. The conclusion is fixed, ergo, the rest must fit.
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Andrea Vance can sort wheat from trees, wood from chaff ...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/policies/10500540/Look-beyond-Dotcoms-spy-fanfare
Which is really what I've been trying to say. On one hand, a mountain of research and hard evidence. OTOH, an e-mail, authenticity unknown.
There are now 2 separate stories running, one which skewers Key and one which gives him an escape route. But the focus should be on the Greenwald/Snowden/Intercept story, not the Warner Bros one. In the media muddle, they are mixed and mashed. Watch the 6 pm news tonight, see how they get conflated and confused.
Only Kim Dotcom's ego can fuck this up. Could he please STFU for a few days and let the rest of us hold the Prime Minister to account?