Glenn Greenwald on Hager police raid

I was alerted to this by an early morning news item, at 2 am. This was not repeated and, as of now, is not covered by any New Zealand media.

That is Radio New Zealand's modus operandi. A previously admirable radio service is becoming the propaganda arm of the NZ government - much as the BBC is.

NEW ZEALAND COPS RAIDED HOME OF REPORTER WORKING ON SNOWDEN DOCUMENTS

BY GLENN GREENWALD AND RYAN GALLAGHER

the Intercept,

17 October, 2014

Agents from New Zealand’s national police force ransacked the home of a prominent independent journalist earlier this month who was collaborating with The Intercept on stories from the NSA archive furnished by Edward Snowden. The stated purpose of the 10-hour police raid was to identify the source for allegations that the reporter, Nicky Hager, recently published in a book that caused a major political firestorm and led to the resignation of a top government minister.

But in seizing all the paper files and electronic devices in Hager’s home, the authorities may have also taken source material concerning other unrelated stories that Hager was pursuing. Recognizing the severity of the threat posed to press freedoms from this raid, the Freedom of the Press Foundation today announced a global campaign to raise funds for Hager’s legal defense.

In August, one month before New Zealand’s national election, Hager published Dirty Politics, which showed that key figures in Prime Minister John Key’s National Party were feeding derogatory information about their opponents to a virulent right-wing blogger named Cameron Slater. Hager published evidence in the form of incriminating emails, provided by a hacker, demonstrating coordination between National Party officials and Slater. The ensuing scandal forced the resignation of a top Key ally, Justice Minister Judith Collins, and implicated numerous other National Party officials and supporters. Despite the scandal, the National Party won a resounding victory in the election, sending Key to a third term as prime minister.

On October 2—less than two weeks after the election—detectives from a regional “major crime team” came to Hager’s Wellington home armed with a search warrant authorizing them to seize anything that might lead them to the identity of his source for Dirty Politics. The warrant shows that prior to the raid, a police “intelligence analyst” had studied Hager’s media appearances in an effort to discover information about his sources for the book, taking particular note of references Hager made to knowing the source’s identity.

While there is no evidence that Hager’s work on NSA documents was a factor in the raid, it is possible that authorities knew or suspected that he had been given access to some of those documents. Over the past several months, Hager has exchanged multiple encrypted emails with reporters at The Intercept which, if obtained by New Zealand authorities under a warrant, could have tipped them off to the existence of a relationship. When The Intercept reported last month on the activities of the nation’s surveillance agency GCSB, we made clear that we were working with local journalists on further stories, and it was widely speculated that Hager was the likeliest local candidate for such a partnership. At the time, Key expressed concern that future stories from the Snowden archive could jeopardize the country’s bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Whether or not Hager’s work with The Intercept may have partially motivated the raid, the situation underscores the dangers of using invasive law enforcement tactics against reporters—they impede the reporting process, render source relationships very difficult to protect, and offer the very authorities that reporters are attempting to hold accountable a window into their ongoing reporting. (The Intercept‘s collaboration with Hager will proceed.)

The raid at Hager’s home took place while he was out of town, visiting the University of Auckland to give a series of lectures. Six officers arrived at his home at 7:45 a.m., waking his 22-year-old daughter, who was presented with a search warrant as she answered the door.

Once they entered the property, detectives spent ten hours sifting through Hager and his family’s personal effects, making copies of any USB storage devices they found and seizing Hager’s computer, personal documents, a camera, a dictaphone, CDs, and dozens of other items—not to mention his daughter’s laptop, cellphones, and iPod.

“This was an unusually heavy action for New Zealand police to take against someone in the media,” Hager told The Intercept. “Occasionally police use a warrant to go after a particular piece of evidence held by a media person or organization. But hours of sifting through someone’s files and seizing piles of their materials does not normally occur. It has a strong smell of politics about it.”

Hager, New Zealand’s most well known independent reporter, emphasized the potential damage the raid could have on work that is wholly unrelated to Dirty Politics: “It is disruptive to anyone’s work to suddenly not have their computers and especially an investigative journalist’s work. There is now also the legal battle to get my equipment and files back untouched. There is no choice about fighting it. I have to protect this and other sources for life or why should anyone ever trust me again?”

The New Zealand Police did not immediately respond to email request seeking comment. Hager is challenging the legality of the warrant in court, and the property that was seized remains sealed and unavailable to the police for the time being.

Although he is being represented by pro bono counsel, Hager has already incurred legal expenses reaching into the thousands of dollars, and New Zealand’s “loser pays” provision could subject him to a very large monetary judgment if he loses. The Freedom of the Press Foundation campaign to raise money for Hager is intended to help him fight for the return of his property, challenge the legality of the raid, and defend himself against any potential future threats stemming from his work as a journalist. (The Intercept‘s Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras are co-founders of the foundation and, along with Edward Snowden and Intercept technology analyst Micah Lee, are also board members; in May, The Intercept‘s parent company First Look Media donated $350,000 to the foundation.)

Press freedoms are under increasing assault in the English-speaking world—there have been similar controversies in the other Five Eyes alliance nations of the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and Canada—and the ability of New Zealand police officers to cavalierly raid the home of a reporter who has criticized the government in power threatens to establish a dangerous precedent everywhere reporters operate. A successful campaign on Hager’s behalf would signal that people around the world are willing to defend basic press freedoms and stand against such assaults. Those wishing to do so can contribute to Hager’s defense fund here.

Update: In an emailed statement to The Intercept on Friday, New Zealand Police spokesman Ross Henderson denied that officers were aware Hager was working with leaked U.S. government documents. Henderson insisted that the raid was aimed at seeking information related to the source for Dirty Politics, and added that the police force “has a duty to appropriately investigate matters involving alleged criminal activity, regardless of a person’s occupation or position, and Mr. Hager is no exception.” Whether Hager’s material is covered by a law in New Zealand that protects a reporter’s right to keep his sources confidential, Henderson said, depends on whether Hager “meets the legal definition of a journalist” which “is now a matter for the court to rule on.”

Climate change denier, Christopher Monkton tours NZ

Celebrity foe of climate science Christopher Monckton may retire from public speaking 

‘On this side of the case, there’s no money at all’

New Zealand Herald:

New Zealand’s top climate change scientists have rallied together to slam a visiting sceptic who is touring the country to proclaim global warming as a myth that should be ignored.

Dr James Renwick, associate professor of physical geography at Victoria University, dismissed Lord Monckton’s views as “rubbish”.

“He’s a great showman and speaker, and climate change is a vehicle to self-publicise.

“But he has no training and has studiously avoided learning anything about science, I would say.”

Niwa principal scientist Brett Mullan said Lord Monckton’s views were “very damaging” for public perception.

Professor Dave Frame, director of the Climate Change Research Institute at Victoria University, described him as a “vaudeville act” to be ignored.

“Someone who goes around saying things we know are not true can actually be quite harmful.”

Lord Monckton has rejected the claims as ”hate speech”.

John Nixon in SciBlogs:

Monckton’s nightmare week in New Zealand

A week into his self-described “barnstorming” tour of New Zealand, arch-sceptic Christopher Monckton seems to be quietly licking his wounds after a string of farcical public and media appearances.

The armchair climate change expert has in the past managed to stimulate discussion of climate science on his tours of New Zealand and Australia, even if he has been criticized for manipulating and cherry-picking the science to suit his narrative on climate.

However, after his roasting in the media, his train wreck of a public discussion in Auckland and a falling out with one of his imagined allies, Monckton’s arguments against acting on climate change have received scant attention, overshadowed by his erratic behaviour. […]

Waikato Times:

Monckton tilting at windmills

Controversial British climate-change sceptic Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, is in Hamilton as part of a New Zealand speaking tour.

The tour is hosted by the New Zealand Climate Realists Network and on Monday Monckton spoke at two events.

His first engagement was breakfast with members of the Waikato Chamber of Commerce, where he told the small audience that windmills were a ''fashion statement''.

''Windmills are a fashion statement .. I would not spend a single red cent for wind farms or solar panels,'' he said.

''The truth is out, the science is done ... the game is up, the scare is over. ''

Monckton said did not claim to be a climatologist or an economist and hedged his arguments with a few choice words.

''I do not say that I am certain, I say I think it most unlikely.

''I start from the assumption that except where absolute mathematical proof is available, which it very seldom is in the physical sciences and even less in the slippery subject such as climatology, minds must remain open - including mine.''

Monckton later spoke to students at Waikato University and while there were a handful of protestors to denounce him, the address largely passed without incident.

Monckton is on the record as saying that human-emitted carbon emissions were not warming the planet and that increased sun activity accounted for recent higher temperatures.

His beliefs are at odds with the majority of climate change scientists, but have attracted attention wherever he goes.

However, Monckton is planning to wind up his role of climate change speaker shortly.

The Network has dubbed Monckton's tour the 'Climate of Freedom' tour and said it addresses the underlying ideological framework of global warming, the United Nations position on global warming and ''the threat this is to freedom".

If you want to hear what the man has to say, here is an interview he did with Radio New Zealand

Lord Christopher Monckton and his views on the state of the world's climate and why he believes that the current political responses to the harm of a 'climate changed by carbon dioxide due to human interactions' are in fact, injurious to society and a functioning economy.

Venizelos: The Arrogance of Power

"We Embittered the People to Protect the Future of the Nation"

If you want to understand the reason PASOK went down in flames in a crushing defeat in Greek elections, simply look at the arrogance and gall of party leader Evangelos Venizelos in a statement following the election.

“We embittered the people so we could protect the future of the nation", said PASOK party leader and troika sponsored clown, Evangelos Venizelos.

Ekathimerini reports Election swing leaves Greece teetering.

PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos and New Democracy chief Antonis Samaras both declared themselves open to the idea of forming a pro-European national unity administration that would include other parties and would seek to renegotiate the terms of the EU-IMF loan agreement.

“All Greeks have to get to know each other again,” said Venizelos, who admitted that PASOK had paid the price for carrying the burden of the crisis. “We embittered the people so we could protect the future of the nation.”

He said that the possibility of forming a national unity government with a “European orientation” regardless of parties’ positions on the bailout should be explored.

Samaras said he would seek to form a “national salvation government” to keep the country in the eurozone and pledged to “amend” Greece’s debt deal with foreign creditors in a bid to boost growth. He attributed the outcome of the elections, in which voters punished the two main parties, to “the disappointment of the Greek people for dead-end policies that have pushed them to the limits.”

However, the possibility of a third group joining such a government looked extremely slim last night. Perhaps the best hope for Greece’s two main parties would have been Democratic Left, which maintained a clear pro-European stance during the campaign.

However, party leader Fotis Kouvelis repeated his position that cooperation with New Democracy and PASOK was not in Democratic Left’s intentions. “The results show people’s frustration and anger,” he said.

A failure by PASOK and ND to form a government would leave second-placed SYRIZA, the night’s big winners, with the option of trying to form a government. Greece’s electoral law means that in case of a hung parliament, the first party has three days to form a government, followed by the second party and then the group that comes in third.

National Salvation Party

The idea that Troika sponsored clowns can form the basis of Greek salvation is ridiculous. Furthermore, Venizelos' statement is right up there with other top Orwellian idiocies.

Top Orwellian Comments Of All Times

An American major after the destruction of the Vietnamese Village Ben Tre: "It became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it."

Vice President Joe Biden: "We Have to Go Spend Money to Keep From Going Bankrupt."

President George W. Bush: "I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system."(For a discussion please see The Most Redeeming Feature of Capitalism is Failure)

Nancy Pelosi said "We have to pass the health care bill to see what's in it." (YouTube Video)

Larry Summers says "The central irony of financial crisis is that while it is caused by too much confidence, too much borrowing and lending and too much spending, it can only be resolved with more confidence, more borrowing and lending, and more spending." (Reuters)

We can safely add “We embittered the people so we could protect the future of the nation" to that list. As I said, Best thing For Greece is Tell the Troika "Go to Hell", and the election proves most Greek voters know it, even though they have been brainwashed into wanting to stay in the euro.

Greek political chaos

Greece: Conservative leader unable to form coalition

Greek conservative leader Antonis Samaras says he has failed to form a coalition government and has handed back the mandate to President Karolos Papoulias

Radio New Zealand,

8 May, 2012

Mr Samaras, whose New Democracy party won the biggest share of the vote in Sunday's inconclusive election, was given the first chance to form an administration by the president.

Syriza, which took second place will now be given the opportunity to try and form an administration.

New Democracy will still be the largest party in the new parliament.

Mr Samaras says the party did everything it could but it was impossible to form a government in the current political environment.

Two-thirds of Greek voters backed parties opposed to the EU/IMF deal, renewing fears that Athens may default on its debts and leave the eurozone.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has made clear that Greece's reforms must go on, saying they are of ''utmost importance''.

A further 11 billion euros of cuts in spending is due to be found next month under Greece's current bailout plan.

Since November, Greece has been run by a coalition, led by technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, which secured a 130 billion euro deal this year.

Pasok was in power when Greece negotiated the terms of a bailout of 110 billion euros in 2010.

New Democracy's support on Sunday slipped from 33.5% to less than 19% of the vote while Pasok's share plummeted from 43% to just over 13%.

If Syriza fails to form a coalition, Pasok, the third party will receive the mandate.

If still no coalition emerges, Greece will hold another election.

Syriza is opposed to the austerity measures.

Pasok's leader, former finance minister Evangelos Venizelos, has called for a broad coalition government of pro-European parties.

''A coalition government of the old two-party system would not have sufficient legitimacy or sufficient domestic and international credibility if it would gather a slim majority,'' he said on Sunday.