Open mike 16/03/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 16th, 2019 - 72 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

72 comments on “Open mike 16/03/2019 ”

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  1. WILD KATIPO 1
    16 March 2019 at 8:03 am

    Where do we go now …

    Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine (Official Music Video) – YouTube

  2. WeTheBleeple 2
    16 March 2019 at 8:24 am

    Barry ‘slap me like a bitch’ Soper

    After paragraphs of deep concern and waffle the dig, that I know was coming, comes out.

    “And what signal does this send to our allies in the Five Eyes spy network? One of the eyes is blind”

    He’s worried what people think.

    Five eyes is a fucking joke.

    • tc 2.1
      16 March 2019 at 8:32 am

      That didn’t take long, someone should start a tally on how often the msm puppets pull that one out.

    • James 2.2
      16 March 2019 at 9:42 am

      “Five eyes is a fucking joke.”

      We know their failures – we never know their success.

      Try to remember that when you make sweeping ill informed stupid comments.

      • WILD KATIPO 2.2.1
        16 March 2019 at 10:04 am

        True.

        Now is not the time for a beat up.

        As typical of many of these agencies, we never will know the full extent of the things they caught before they had a chance to happen, … when I was doing security study’s , our tutor [ ex cop, and Police Complaints official to boot ] informed us of the amount of bomb scares we actually had in this country that the public never ever knew about.

        Cheap journalists like Barry Soper are the spearhead of many of the unthinking and ungrateful public who think they can just coast along in naive bliss , never once giving a thought to being vigilant themselves and then when tragedy’s occur… turn around like spoilt brats and start the blame game.

        • WeTheBleeple 2.2.1.1
          16 March 2019 at 10:22 am

          Yeah, the Five Eyes comment was uncalled for. An unable to edit retraction offered.

          Bit emotional. Be well out there.

      • Drowsy M. Kram 2.2.2
        16 March 2019 at 1:37 pm

        “we never know their [Five Eyes] successes” – James

        ‘We’ may not know all, or even most of the Five Eyes’ ‘successes‘, but to say that ‘we’ never know their successes is wrong.

        On balance, I’d rather that NZ not be part of the Five Eyes alliance, but I can acknowledge the alliance’s ‘successes’, and that in this relationship NZ may get more than it gives.

        “New Zealand’s small size and geographically limited area makes wide-ranging SIGINT efforts difficult. Because of Five Eyes, New Zealand is able to have a much broader picture of global intelligence than it would otherwise. “It is not possible for an organization the size of GCSB to collect foreign intelligence on all matters relevant to New Zealand’s interests. However, through long-standing relationships with our Five Eyes partners, we can draw on greater support, technology and intelligence than would otherwise be available to us.”

        https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/the-intelligence-club-a-comparative-look-at-five-eyes-2332-0761-1000261.php?aid=89994
        (June 2017, so a bit out of date)

        • I feel love 2.2.2.1
          16 March 2019 at 2:29 pm

          Has there ever been a white supremacist terror cell infiltrated? A white supremacist terror plot stopped? I seem to recall a few “extreme Muslim” ones, just curious.

  3. patricia bremner 3
    16 March 2019 at 8:26 am

    Veutoviper are you OK? Haven’t seen a post from you for a while.

  4. dv 4
    16 March 2019 at 8:45 am

    This is an interesting read.
    Makes the point that facebook etc slow to react

    How about charging the companies with complicity in murder.
    With appropriate penalties

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12213234

    Margaret Sullivan: Social media platforms were used like lethal weapons in New Zealand. This must change now

    • Bearded Git 4.1
      16 March 2019 at 9:24 am

      Semi-automatic weapons have to be banned in NZ as they are in OZ.

      • Dennis Frank 4.1.1
        16 March 2019 at 9:32 am

        I decided that back in the eighties. I don’t get the ongoing failure to legislate – nobody ever fronts with a reason to keep them legal, do they? I’ve never seen any such instance in the media. Possum-hunting?

        • cleangreen 4.1.1.1
          16 March 2019 at 9:45 am

          Dennis the reason is because the enormously powerful ‘Gun Lobby’ are behind “our right to bear arms”so we need to change the law to make it illegal to carry/use automatic weapons and all non and military assault weapons also.

        • WILD KATIPO 4.1.1.2
          16 March 2019 at 9:45 am

          Yes. There is no reason whatsoever for the public to have semi automatic weapons. They are a military assault rifle designed for the killing of human beings. Not for pest control or hunting purposes.

          If you cant bag your deer with a decent shot with a single shot 3.03 or 3.08 then you need to go back to the gun club and practice.

          Only the Police and , military should be able to use semi /automatic equipment.

          Its that simple.

          But the problem in this country is illegal arms procurement.

          I remember a Belgium guy who was ex military who used a .22 caliber with silencer and scope who came back with a literal beltful of rabbits around his belt in Queenstown – top bloke hes was – and here was me taking all day to hunt one rabbit with my bow and arrow- and even then I missed. He just sat on a hill and silently popped them off one after the other. I was jealous 🙂

          And Cleangreen , my old trooper… I believe in big parts of the American constitution of the right of the public to bear arms… just not modern military grade weapons.

          The sticking point for me is the license / right to carry – in other words use pistols. And that really creates problems for law enforcement with the amount of criminals who use them to conceal and then commit homicides.

          NZ law is far more appropriate in that regard.

          • Peter Christchurch NZ 4.1.1.2.1
            16 March 2019 at 10:43 am

            Yeah but the problem is not really semi automatics per se (although I agree with the comments in general).

            Way back when I was growing up, each PERSON had to be licensed. Much like today. But in addition, each FIREARM had also to be licensed.

            This meant the Police had a far greater degree of control over who owned what and where it was. Not perfect, but it sure made buying a second hand firearm hugely more difficult than it is today, as any seller had to see the buyers licence and Police approval or the seller was in the gun, so to speak.

            In the early 80s, it was the Police, not the government or lobbyists that wanted the change to the present system. The Police hierarchy got this massively wrong, like so much else of the policy they have pushed.

            • WILD KATIPO 4.1.1.2.1.1
              16 March 2019 at 12:17 pm

              Yes.

              Wholeheartedly agree with ;

              ” Way back when I was growing up, each PERSON had to be licensed. Much like today. But in addition, each FIREARM had also to be licensed.”

              I wonder , if that change was induced by rural people lending firearms somehow ,.. to others for short / long term use… but still it would make no sense. Perhaps as a gifting for underage shooters in rural aspects , inheritors of farms…? whereby the person in question was too young to apply for a firearm,… but that still would not disqualify multiple firearm ownership under individual firearm licenses…

              IT SHOULD BE ,… that individual firearms are licensed. Along with each person. Was this a case of disarming the general public by creating loopholes for the criminal fraternity perhaps?

              Or is that just too ‘ way out there?’ …

            • Saintarnuad 4.1.1.2.1.2
              18 March 2019 at 5:34 pm

              Interesting facts on firearms registration in Australia.
              The system is a complete failure as registration certificates often take 4-6 months to be issued by Police (in NSW at least), by that time the firearm can have been lawfully sold several times.
              In the inaccuracy of registration certificates is a hit and miss exercise also, and I speak from personal experience when I lived in Oz. I recieved registration certificates for firearms I didn’t own, and even more annoyingly was a police request for ‘missing firearm’ that belonged to my late father who’d been dead for several years. Moreover the missing firearm had been handed in police 12 years prior, for which my mother still had the police receipt.
              Criminals don’t register their firearms (oddly enough), nor do the black market importers. So in reality, the only records are of registered firearms are those held by law abiding citizens, which as I mentioned before is usually outdated and somewhat worthless.

              It was maybe 4-5 years ago, police and the Government in Canada ceased firearms registration (except for pistols and MSSA rifles), as the whole registration process had been an epic failure.

              Learn from others mistakes, and simply address the real issues. If you need an AR15 for competition sporting use ( 3 Gun, or Military rifle events) then it should only be available to Catagory E license holders. These type of Rifles are absolutely useless for hunting as many here have said.

              [No more comments from you until you prove your assertion that the left and right are “Both are equally capable, and both equally engage in similar conduct.” I’m looking for a statistical breakdown that proves your point. See ya when you’ve finished your homework. TRP.]

      • Saintarnuad 4.1.2
        18 March 2019 at 5:02 pm

        Common myth being peddled on this site.

        Not banned in Australia, just heavily restricted and can only be obtained on a Catagory D licence

  5. Seti 5
    16 March 2019 at 9:19 am

    This may be the first time s103 2a of the Sentencing Act is imposed –

    If the court that sentences an offender convicted of murder to imprisonment for life is satisfied that no minimum term of imprisonment would be sufficient to satisfy 1 or more of the purposes stated in subsection (2), the court may order that the offender serve the sentence without parole.

  6. Ovid 6
    16 March 2019 at 10:08 am

    This videos – produced in January – looks at radicalisation, the alt-right and online discourse. I think this is relevant to the conversation.

    https://youtu.be/xMabpBvtXr4

    • arkie 6.1
      16 March 2019 at 10:15 am

      I’ve wanting to post this whole series for a while now, highly recommended viewing.

      • greywarshark 6.1.1
        16 March 2019 at 4:57 pm

        well thanks for that rollercoaster arkie. I understand a lot about why I don’t understand now.

  7. adam 7
    16 March 2019 at 10:22 am

    MMMMmmmm

  8. arkie 8
    16 March 2019 at 10:55 am

    Wanted to post this as an image but this tweet will do the trick hopefully.

    This Pyramid of White Supremacy has been doing the rounds on CHCH social media. Important and informative of the scope of the problem.

    https://twitter.com/kitdewaal/status/989258174694875136?lang=en

    https://blavity.com/professor-uses-pyramid-of-white-supremacy-to-teach-education-class

  9. joe90 9
    16 March 2019 at 11:03 am

    And it’s being shared over at the sewer, too.

    https://twitter.com/JasminMuj/status/1106400715034017792

  10. joe90 10
    16 March 2019 at 12:01 pm

    It’s what war criminals do.

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court personnel seeking to investigate alleged war crimes and other abuses committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere, and may do the same with those who seek action against Israel, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday.

    Pompeo, acting on a threat delivered in September by U.S. national security adviser John Bolton, framed the action as necessary to prevent the international body from infringing on U.S. sovereignty by prosecuting American forces or allies for torture or other war crimes.

    “We are determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation,” Pompeo said.

    https://apnews.com/08e538e370914f6e8243e237dbde50b5

  11. Andre 11
    16 March 2019 at 12:16 pm

    Words matter.

    According to various reports, the alleged terrorist specifically cited President Trump as an inspiration. His online manifesto praises Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.”

    snip

    There has been a surge in hate crimes, including violent crimes against Jews, Muslims and immigrants of various backgrounds, since Trump launched his presidential campaign nearly four years ago.

    https://www.salon.com/2019/03/15/does-anyone-doubt-that-donald-trump-inspired-the-new-zealand-massacre/

    The Mango Mussolini is also offering veiled encouragement of violence against his political opponents if he doesn’t get his way.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/15/politics/trump-breitbart-interview-tough-supporters-democrats-violence/index.html

  12. Philip Ferguson 12
    16 March 2019 at 1:03 pm

    Statement on Redline blog last night re the terrorist attack in Christchurch:
    https://rdln.wordpress.com/2019/03/15/the-massacre-in-christchurch-individual-terrorism-was-nurtured-by-state-terrorism/

  13. Sam 13
    16 March 2019 at 1:16 pm

    If we take a look at other people who live under a high terror threat like Fox News in the US and you can take your pick of presenters, Sean Hanity, Megan Kelly, Tucker, and so much of FOXNews commentary is shortsighted, and the way they interact with guests is disrespectful and there’s an agenda of closed minded dialogue which is a manuscript for The United States failed war on terror and I want to discourage that because that’s not what I’m looking for.

    What I’m looking for in commentary from pundits living under New Zealand’s first ever high terror alert is insightful and philosophically reflective, and the way people interact with the commentary should be respectful in the pursuit of a common culture of open mindedness, open discourse and respectful dialogue, and I want to encourage that. That’s exactly what I’m looking for and I’v been encouraged by the feed back Dr Paul Buchanan and other subject matter experts gave yesterday saying things like this is a turning point in NZ politics, that the Intelligence community are going to have to take a good hard look at themselves, that we shouldn’t watch or promote the terrorist propaganda material. Y’know, the opposite of what Fox News would produce and I hope you are okay with that.

    But of course these are rough divisions as we see police, medical personal and other approved responders going about there business under new stressess. They are constantly sending data back to their higher ups eluding back to stresses under combat conditions and that is we need these duel answers as I argued at the beginning of this comment to really try and address what it means for New Zealanders to live under the highest threat level we have lived under since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

    So we need the analysis to tell us what we’ve lost and you can start with 49 victims in the mosque terror attacks plus the war dead from Afghanistan, at least $200b-$500b on deployment costs, intelligence funding boosts and so on. On a basic opportunity cost is all this really worth hanging on so hard to America which is only worth a billion in trade to us. And we also need the analysis of the processes and functions that we need to address if we are to respond and potentially awaken from The War on Terror.

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]

    [lprent: I can’t see how any of that relates to what was written in the post. I class this just being diversionary. Read the policy about referring to what the author of a post has written – this is your warning. ]

    • Sam 13.1
      16 March 2019 at 1:30 pm

      Explain yourself Ipeint

      • lprent 13.1.1
        16 March 2019 at 1:45 pm

        Happy to. You were being a dickhead thinking that your opinions overrode the intent of the author of the post.

        If you want a particular point explained from the policy, then you will have to be less of a lazy dimwit and read it first. If you do, then you will find the points I referenced and may be able to ask a relevant closed question.

        Of course if you want to do stupid irrelevant open-ended attacks on the moderation, then all you have to do is read the policy to find out why that would be a bad idea.

        You comments are on auto-moderation until I see that you have read and actually understand the policy. You have about 4 hours to do so before I conclude you’re just wasting my time.

  14. cleangreen 14
    16 March 2019 at 1:23 pm

    Power to our marvelous youth we are 1000% behind you as we save our planet.

    A site worth watching the action from around the world.

    Pictures from crowd rallies all around the world on this day 15th March 2019.

    https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/buzzfeednews/global-climate-strike

    We are so proud of our young.

  15. Sam 15
    16 March 2019 at 1:32 pm

    If we take a look at other people who live under a high terror threat like Fox News in the US and you can take your pick of presenters, Sean Hanity, Megan Kelly, Tucker, and so much of FOXNews commentary is shortsighted, and the way they interact with guests is disrespectful and there’s an agenda of closed minded dialogue which is a manuscript for The United States failed war on terror and I want to discourage that because that’s not what I’m looking for.

    What I’m looking for in commentary from pundits living under New Zealand’s first ever high terror alert is insightful and philosophically reflective, and the way people interact with the commentary should be respectful in the pursuit of a common culture of open mindedness, open discourse and respectful dialogue, and I want to encourage that. That’s exactly what I’m looking for and I’v been encouraged by the feed back Dr Paul Buchanan and other subject matter experts gave yesterday saying things like this is a turning point in NZ politics, that the Intelligence community are going to have to take a good hard look at themselves, that we shouldn’t watch or promote the terrorist propaganda material. Y’know, the opposite of what Fox News would produce and I hope you are okay with that.

    But of course these are rough divisions as we see police, medical personal and other approved responders going about there business under new stressess. They are constantly sending data back to their higher ups eluding back to stresses under combat conditions and that is we need these duel answers as I argued at the beginning of this comment to really try and address what it means for New Zealanders to live under the highest threat level we have lived under since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

    So we need the analysis to tell us what we’ve lost and you can start with 49 victims in the mosque terror attacks plus the war dead from Afghanistan, at least $200b-$500b on deployment costs, intelligence funding boosts and so on. On a basic opportunity cost is all this really worth hanging on so hard to America which is only worth a billion in trade to us. And we also need the analysis of the processes and functions that we need to address if we are to respond and potentially awaken from The War on Terror.

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]

  16. OnceWasTim 16
    16 March 2019 at 5:28 pm

    In the nature of “my thinks” and other such buzz……….
    Oim jiss wondering ( being the average Koiwoi that I am) ….. wondering………..if anyone else has noticed……. how the ‘right’ (with exeptions such as that boring old dowager Audrey, and every boring old male Wasp’s hero Bazza) have suddenly pulled their heads in a teensie eesy weensy bit (deadlines aside in order to deliver the sensational and keep the employer relevant)?

    I’m also wondering when the ‘right’s glass half full’ types are going to emerge – they’re slowly showing their heads (and massive foreskins) a bit (such as on another thread where lprent has stated the bleeding obvious)

    Should we (from this ‘ left broad church ‘) start looking for the positives? Or is it too soon?
    (Just in case it isn’t too soon, there will be gun reform. Something that cudda shudd wudda been bleedingly bloody blindingly obvious, and a coalition government’s brownie point earner a long time ago)

  17. adam 17
    16 March 2019 at 6:50 pm

    Just yuck. 13.20 time

  18. Inky 18
    16 March 2019 at 7:06 pm

    This may all be to do with free speech and there may be nothing threatening in it but I thought I’d throw it out to see whether it concerns others and if they think it needs to be pointed out to the police or at least the msm.

    I saw a story on Stuff about a ChCh company using one of the same logos this shooter used.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/111334884/christchurch-shootings-anger-at-insulation-company-with-white-supremacy-branding

    On their fb page they’re asked why they use a Nazi symbol and respond that it’s an old cultural symbol, so why shouldn’t they use it.

    https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Local-Business/Beneficial-Insulation-543209609435288/

    On a now disabled National Front web page (I was able to see the cached version), the owner of the Christchurch business, Phil Arps, has added his name to a list of people “INTERESTED IN NZ NATIONALISM”.

    http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9aIGnE8GJdcJ:www.nationalfront.org.nz/%3Fpage_id%3D2539+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz

    (He’s either very dumb or very staunch because they ask people to use a pseudo name but he supplies his real name and address.)

    On a web page considering a bizarre ChCh earthquake conspiracy theory, he makes a vicious statement about Jews (and the original must have been even worse, because there’s a moderator’s note saying it had to be redacted.)

    https://uncensored.co.nz/2018/01/04/christchurch-earthquake-smoking-gun-document/

    So does anyone think any of this marks him as a potential threat who should be pointed out to the authorities?

    I’d have thought that, in the circumstances, anyone would have rushed to change the offending icon. The fact that he appears not inclined to do so, suggests to me he is brazenly extreme in his views and I wonder what he might be capable of.

    I’d hate to say nothing about the guy and then find some time down the track I made an horrific mistake in not doing so.

  19. Jenny - How to get there? 19
    16 March 2019 at 7:43 pm

    The fascist right and Trump

    The alleged gunman –- identified as an Australian white nationalist — apparently livestreamed the assault on social media and published a manifesto filled with racist conspiracy theories.
    He also referred to Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.”…..

    ……In 2017, even many of Trump’s closest supporters were reportedly appalled by his refusal to condemn a march by torch-bearing neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia.
    The march ended in violent clashes with leftist protesters and Trump appeared to spread the blame equally, even though the right-wing demonstrators had been chanting a Nazi-era slogan “blood and soil.”
    “You also had some very fine people on both sides,” he said…..

    ……..Trump has repeatedly denied racist tendencies and often touts his work in improving economic conditions among the country’s racial minorities.

    However, the right of his party, which includes his most reliable political base, increasingly flirts openly with white nationalism and wild conspiracy theories.

    Rush Limbaugh, the popular right-wing radio host, said Friday that the New Zealand bloodbath may even have been what conspiracy theorists call a “false flag” designed to discredit Trump.

    “There’s an ongoing theory that the shooter himself may in fact be a leftist who writes the manifesto and then goes out and performs the deed purposely to smear his political enemies, knowing he’s going to get shot in the process,” Limbaugh said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/trump-dismisses-white-nationalism-threat-after-nzealand-killings/ar-BBUPZu7

  20. joe90 20
    16 March 2019 at 8:05 pm

    Authoritarian theocracy or secession.

    The Senate timebomb

    Democrats face such long odds in the Senate because Congress’ upper house is rigged. Every state receives two senators regardless of population. Because Democratic voters tend to reside clustered in population centers, Republicans enjoy a baked-in advantage in the race for Senate control. Each resident of the least populous state, Wyoming, effectively enjoys 68 times as much representation as a resident of the most populous state, California.
    Advertisement

    And Senate malapportionment is only going to get worse. By 2040, according to a University of Virginia analysis of Census Bureau projections, just under half of the country will live in only eight states. So half of Americans will be represented by 16 senators, while the other half will receive 84 senators. Meanwhile, nearly 70 percent of the country will live in only 16 states.

    That means that, if America’s political coalitions continue to sort into Democratic population centers and Republican small towns and rural areas, Republicans will soon enjoy a permanent Senate supermajority that is large enough to remove the president of the United States via impeachment.

    https://thinkprogress.org/democrats-need-senators-not-presidential-candidates-475923f5e4ea/

  21. Stuart Munro. 21
    16 March 2019 at 8:08 pm

    I imagine that the horror of the incident is still too fresh, but as a society it might be wise to consider how this young fellow became what he is, and that he is evidence that there are some failures.

    Critical thinking doesn’t seem to have been one of his strong points.
    He seems to have chosen rather poor role models, and to the extent that he regarded his acquaintances on 4chan as friends, rather inadequate friends.
    He does not seem to have been constructively engaged with our society, whether or not he was actually a NEET.

    The likes of Durkheim might have described his condition as anomie, and he might be considered as an instance of the failure of the current ‘market led’ social model, since it seems that the market did not prompt him to pursue rational self interest as our neo-liberal apologists are wont to suggest it would.

    It is very costly to us as a society to produce failures like him, and not merely economically. It’s not immediately apparent what level of involvement might have moved him to take another course, but at a demographic level that question is answerable.

    I wonder if we need a few readers of J G Ballard on the policy end, to put stops in place that prevent some of the self-destructive tropes to which young men are prone. Ballard at least developed enough understanding of Kamekaze to see those tendencies in himself.

  22. joe90 22
    16 March 2019 at 10:07 pm

    Going out out on a limb here – they don’t do digital rectal examinations on unconscious men to learn about the prostate?

    Legislation introduced this month in Albany would make New York the sixth state in the nation to ban non-consensual pelvic exams at hospitals amid outcry that the procedure represents a violation of patients’ rights.

    According to multiple studies and reports, medical students in most states are allowed to enter an operating room under supervision while female patients are under anesthesia for other procedures, insert two fingers into their vaginas and place a hand on their abdomens to learn how to feel for abnormalities in the uteri and ovaries. Often, the women have no knowledge they are being subjected to the procedure and have never given prior consent.

    https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2019/03/13/new-bills-would-ban-pelvic-exams-without-consent-910976

  23. Eco Maori 23
    18 March 2019 at 11:16 am

    Social media is a double edged sword and it need smart simple laws to stop the hate being spread and for most stop it from being used to give power to the HATERS..
    We need to make sure that the new controls on social media does not stop the good TRUTH TELLERS who views are suppresed by billions of dollars from getting into the public domain as that ACTION will just play into the hands of the HATERS and STOP the TRUTH from becoming public KNOWLEDGE.
    Cambridge Analytica a year on: ‘a lesson in institutional failure’
    Christopher Wylie, the Canadian data consultant who worked for strategy firm Cambridge Analytica. In March 2018, Wylie showed the Guardian/Observer a cache of documents revealing how CA had engaged a research company to mine the data of millions of Facebook users to use for political purposes Photograph: Pål Hansen/The Observer
    One year after she broke the scandal, Carole Cadwalladr talks to whistleblower Christopher Wylie about the fallout for big tech, and the fight to hold the culprits to account
    Shahmir Sanni on the Vote Leave scandal, one year on
    It’s a measure of how much has changed in a year that, last month the UK, parliament published an official report that called Facebook “digital gangsters” and said that Britain’s electoral laws no longer worked. It was a report that drew on hours of testimony from Cambridge Analytica directors, Facebook executives and dozens of expert witnesses: 73 in total, of whom MPs had asked 4,350 questions. And its conclusion? That Silicon Valley’s tech platforms were out of control, none more so than Facebook, which it said had treated parliament with “contempt”.
    And it’s a measure of how much hasn’t changed that this was a news story for just two hours on a Monday morning before the next Westminster drama – the launch of the Independent Group – knocked it off the headline slots.
    It was a year ago this weekend that the Observer published the first in a series of stories, known as the Cambridge Analytica Files, that led to parliament grappling with these questions. The account of a whistleblower from inside the data analytics firm that had worked in different capacities – the details are still disputed – on the two pivotal campaigns of 2016 that gave us Brexit and Trump

    Christopher Wylie, a 28-year-old Canadian and former research director at Cambridge Analytica, revealed how the company had exploited Facebook data harvested from millions of people across the world to profile and target them with political messages and misinformation, without their knowledge or consent.
    What followed can only be described as a media firestorm. The story made headlines all over the world. In the week after we published Wylie’s interview, Britain’s information commissioner obtained a warrant to enter Cambridge Analytica’s offices and seize its servers. Questions were asked in parliament. Facebook’s share price plunged more than $50bn. It has now fallen well over twice that.
    The affair raged for months. Cambridge Analytica rode it out, initially, but finally called in the administrators in May. In April Facebook admitted it wasn’t 50 million users who had had their profiles mined, as we had reported, it was actually 87 million users. Mark Zuckerberg was hauled before US congress. And in October the Information Commissioner’s Office fined Facebook its maximum possible penalty – £500,000 (which Facebook is appealing against).

    The Observer’s report, May 2017, on shadowy forces behind Trump and Brexit. Photograph: GNM
    When I meet Wylie to discuss the story a year on, I ask if he’s managed to process it all yet – the impact, the fallout, the loss of billions of dollars.
    “No,” he says. “I mean… how do you fathom a billion dollars? I’ve never seen a billion dollars. I don’t think anybody has. Maybe the US Treasury. But no, I can’t fathom that.”
    The year has been like a mirage, he says. “A lot of those months didn’t feel real. It felt like being in la-la land.”
    Wylie became a public figure overnight. And the story triggered what, in many ways, looks like a year of reckoning for the tech industry. Damian Collins, the chair of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s 18-month-long fake news inquiry, which delivered last month’s report, described the story’s publication as a “pivotal moment” when “public attitudes and government policy towards the tech companies started to change”.
    Advertisement

    Last week, on the 30th anniversary of the worldwide web, its creator Tim Berners-Lee urged people to stop the “downward plunge” to “a dysfunctional future” that the Cambridge Analytica scandal had helped expose. It was, Berners-Lee said, the moment people realised that “elections had been manipulated using data that they contributed”.
    The problem is that while the tech companies have been called to account, they haven’t actually been held accountable. In November, after Zuckerberg refused to comply with a summons to parliament to answer questions about Facebook’s role in the scandal, Collins convened an international committee of nine parliaments. Zuckerberg refused to come to that too.
    Ka kite ano links below

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-year-on-lesson-in-institutional-failure-christopher-wylie

  24. Eco Maori 24
    18 March 2019 at 12:14 pm

    Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.

  25. Eco Maori 25
    18 March 2019 at 2:10 pm

    Eco Maori says this is a awsome phenomen hospital staff wanting to learn Te reo maori this will help them understand our tangata whenua cultures and improve OUR BAD health stats .
    Te reo Māori classes in high demand at Waitematā DHB
    Auckland’s Waitematā District Health Board has been overwhelmed with staff wanting to learn te reo Māori in an attempt to help improve health outcomes for Māori.
    The DHB has had 400 people wanting to do the courses which have started a week ago.
    Its chief advisor tikanga Dame Naida Glavish said there were many inequities and barriers for Māori in the health system and staff learning the reo was a move in the right direction to bridge that gap.
    She said learning Māori was so much more than learning a language and the impact is much wider. She said they would be learning a whole range of other things; that one kupu (word) has a concept which takes a whole paragraph to explain.
    Dame Naida said proper pronunciation of Māori names by non-Māori creates inclusivity and is powerful in staff building valuable relationships with patients.
    She said staff had been incredibly enthusiastic.
    “Some want to take the reo because they want to pronounce names accurately and properly and there are those who want to learn the reo because they will learn the tikanga that goes with it.”
    The DHB has been implementing tikanga best practice across the hospitals, which it said had been challenging, but the classes would make the implementation of this practice much easier.
    One of the students, Dr Ian Wallace, is director of clinical training at Waitematā DHB which means he is responsible for the education, supervision and pastoral care for the post graduate year 1 and 2 doctors, which is more than 100 doctors.
    His motivation to do the classes was to help him better understand the culture and improve his pronunciation – and, most importantly, to provide better support to Māori post-graduate doctors as there were more and more coming through.
    “It will definitely improve communication with their patients and whānau when they visit … it can only benefit everybody … knowing the language is key. If you know the language then you will understand the culture, then you can communicate better and therefore provide better care.”
    Staff across the board at the DHB have been doing the classes, which are being run by Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi on site at its hospitals. Ka kite ano P.S Eco Maori learnt a lesson on no S in te reo I though it did not sound correct.

    https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/384132/te-reo-maori-classes-in-high-demand-at-waitemata-dhb

  26. Eco Maori 26
    18 March 2019 at 6:27 pm

    Kia ora Newshub It’s good that the people who dropped the ball will be investigated they have the best tools in the world to help them do their job of protecting NZ.
    The world has to learn to respect all cultures. And condemn people who disagree disrespect other people cultures. Ka kite ano

  27. Eco Maori 27
    18 March 2019 at 6:33 pm

    Kia ora Te ao Maori News well it looks like the Christchurch desaster is going to be the main topic and Eco Maori is not comment on that horiffic tragedy. Ka kite ano

  28. Eco Maori 28
    19 March 2019 at 8:27 am

    Kia ora The AM Show The tech company needs to be held accountable for there inaction on controlling the haters content on their website I thought they would have pulled that video straight away I did not watch it but EVERYONE should have pushed to have it pulled.
    I do back pulling KiwiSave investments from arms making companies and oil companies.
    paula bennet should have changed the gun laws when she had the opportunity to make changes in 2017. That idiot polli frazer anna his behaviour is unacceptable he will be voted out of power soon Ann to kai
    In NZ Racism has been a problem but everyone has denied that it’s exist you keep telling a lie and it becomes the truth nar no racist is not a problem in NZ.
    I can see its as big problem for Maori and minority culture I see it with these idiots chasing me around everywhere I go they HATE Me that is the way they are behaving You see tangata they have opened a can and are trying every move they can to put a lid on Eco Maori but know. They are to scared to leave me alone because they don’t want me to find the help I need to sue their
    ASS,s Ka kite ano

  29. Eco Maori 29
    19 March 2019 at 10:46 am

    The way Eco Maori SEE IT is that if you will do something you would not do to your loved ones THAT IS HATE as if you would not do that to your loved ones YOUR ACTION,S are going to cause HARM to the other person. What the sandflys are doing to me and my WHANAU they would never do that to a WHITE PERSON let alone there loveones thats double the HATE ight there . IF I WAS NOT Eco Maori THEY would have CHEATED and My story would have Ended But thanks to the MANA WAIRUA My tipuna have blessed ME with I would not be HERE AND NOW
    (((HATE)))
    [heɪt]

    VERB
    hates (third person present) · hated (past tense) · hated (past participle) · hating (present participle)
    feel intense dislike for.
    “the boys hate each other” · “he was particularly hated by the extreme right”
    synonyms:
    loathe · detest · dislike greatly · abhor · abominate · despise · execrate · feel aversion towards · feel revulsion towards · feel hostile towards · be repelled by · be revolted by · regard with disgust · not be able to bear/stand · be unable to stomach · find intolerable · shudder at · recoil from · shrink from · hate someone’s guts · disrelish
    antonyms:
    love · like
    have a strong aversion to (something).
    “he hates flying” · “I’d hate to live there”
    used politely to express one’s regret or embarrassment at doing something.
    “I hate to bother you”
    synonyms:
    be sorry · be reluctant · be loath · be unwilling · be disinclined · regret · dislike · not like · hesitate
    informal
    (hate on)
    express strong dislike for; criticize or abuse.
    “I can’t hate on them for trying something new”
    NOUN
    intense dislike.
    (((“feelings of hate and revenge”)))
    synonyms:
    loathing · hatred · detestation · dislike · distaste · abhorrence · abomination · execration · resentment · aversion · hostility · ill will · ill feeling · bad feeling · enmity · animosity · antagonism · antipathy · bitterness · animus · revulsion · disgust · contempt · repugnance · odium · rancour · disrelish
    antonyms:
    love · liking
    (((denoting hostile actions motivated by intense dislike or prejudice.
    “a hate campaign”)))
    informal
    an intensely disliked person or thing.
    “Richard’s pet hate is filling in his tax returns”
    synonyms:
    bugbear · bane · bogey · bugaboo · pet aversion · thorn in one’s flesh/side · bane of one’s life · bête noire
    antonyms:
    favourite thing

    Ka kite ano link below P.S The authoritys ignore this and it just gets bigger the sandflys are SWARMING this morning marked cars to they are USING what happened in Christchurch to try and damage Eco Maori Mana

  30. Eco Maori 30
    19 March 2019 at 1:09 pm

    I see this racial hatered every day its worst for Eco Maori as these people spin everything I do and will try to turn my farts into a Typhoid Mary spin I SEE the evedince on peoples faces from this phenomen and the powers that be keep stearing at MATARIKI
    This has been us. And we don’t want this to be us
    Public policy analyst Jess Berentson Shaw challenges the view that the killings in Christchurch ‘were not us’. Changing that will require policymakers to listen to the voices of the unheard, she argues.
    OPINION: On Friday morning, I was inside a bubble of hope for our country. I walked behind my nine year old, her classmates, and 2000 other young people, as they powered their way down Lambton Quay demanding action on climate change from our policymakers.
    My emotions sit near to the surface these days. And so seeing all those kids engage in democratic action, and demand to be listened to, had me tearing up.
    By the end of that day my tears were not of joy or hope. After reading the email we received from our school’s principal about the families in our community affected by the hate that was enacted on Muslims by people in my country, my tears were angry and anguished.
    I have heard many people say in the days since, “This is not us, this is not our New Zealand”. I also heard many of my Muslim, Māori, Pacific, Iranian, Chinese friends, colleagues and acquaintances say, “This is us. We have been telling you for years”.
    I utterly understand the need to reach for what is good during these times. It is important we locate the best of us and find hope in that. And what I know is that if we cannot acknowledge what is broken, we cannot use that hope to repair in ways that last.
    I write and think about public policy everyday of my life. It shapes our lives in so many visible and invisible ways. Yet in shaping our policies that shape our lives, too many of our policymakers don’t know how to listen to the voices of people who they have little familiarity with listening to.
    Just as an unexercised muscle becomes unfamiliar to us, they don’t know how to use the experiences of those with the least power to make sound policy. They have become so used to ignoring the voices of all but a few. And the impacts are all around us and have been clearly articulated by experts of all kinds for decades.
    People of colour, especially women, are abused, ridiculed and attacked on social media every day while doing their jobs in public, especially raising their concerns for their inclusion in power structures. Their concerns are minimised, mocked even, their safety not prioritised. While policymakers have heeded the calls of those with vested interests or of clever and cynical people who insist that it is is “impossible” to regulate or govern for this hatred.
    It is children who will live with the worst impacts of human-made climate change, yet they are excluded from the decision making, while the voices of older people who benefits from our rampant use of fossil fuels are carefully attended to by politicians.
    For people of minority, ethnic and religious communities, their evidence of low grade (and often high grade) racism have been brushed aside and minimised by those making policy and allocating resources. I have no particular insight into why our intelligence services did not pick up the threat to our Muslim New Zealanders. What I do know is that our dominant cultural narratives, in the media, and in every day life, endorse racism.
    ANGRY LABELS AFFECT POLICYMAKERS, TOO
    Narratives that liken immigrants to snakes, argue that people asking to be properly included are “playing identity politics”, and label those who identify the harms of racism and misogyny as “whingers”. These are narratives that do not just affect the public’s beliefs and behaviours but policymakers’ too.
    In any area of policy, from transport to urban design to health, I could name clear examples of policymakers attending and listening to and prioritising the needs and desires of the vocal and well resourced few.
    I do have strong emotions about the promise and the failings of policy making. As someone committed to policy that improves people’s lives, I will not shy way from such feelings, or accept them as illogical. Because feelings derive from what matters most to us.
    What I know is what matters most to New Zealanders is a broadminded, tolerant society that is inclusive of, and attends to the needs of all of us, not just those with louder voices and more power and resources. And we are not acting on what we care most about. The metrics that measure the wellbeing of excluded people tell us that. Friday was the worst kind of metric we could imagine. So let us own that.
    The hard work of making policy in service to the public means people must grapple with the historic and contemporary power imbalances in our society. This means listening to all people with an understanding they have critical evidence to provide, not just the interests of the few. While acting, when groups with less power tell you your policies and practices are hostile to their free and just participation in society, is a central piece. It is not always simple, but using under-exercised muscles often hurts the first few times.
    If people leading and making policy do not do this they become the vectors for continuing to privilege the interests of the few and all the outcomes that roll with that. The public service is full of good people with good intentions, but as John Stuart Mill said — ‘Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing’.
    So better then to say: ‘This has been us. And we don’t want this to be us.’
    For those people making policy in our public institutions, ask yourself what you do to make yourself uncomfortable at work to give priority to those it is easy to ignore. Because inclusion is hard and difficult work.
    It is uncomfortable to challenge the status quo, but that is what comes in providing service to all New Zealanders.
    Jess Berentson is the co-director of the Wellington think-tank The Worksho Ka kite ano links below

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/111363524/this-has-been-us-and-we-dont-want-this-to-be-us

  31. Eco Maori 31
    19 March 2019 at 2:18 pm

    Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.

  32. Eco Maori 32
    19 March 2019 at 6:53 pm

    Kia ora Te ao Maori News its cool. That OUR Parliamentary show the Papatuanukue that Kiwis respect all people and cultures from around the world with the Muslims being invited into Parliament.

    Yes we don’t need automatic machine guns in NZ and no ONE CAN prove that they need those guns here.
    I it’s sad that Polyfest had to be postponed because of the bad times in Christchurch.
    Ka kite ano