tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post2270751121270563073..comments2024-03-29T17:12:19.648+13:00Comments on Bowalley Road: Revolution In Pipitea Street: The Listener Celebrates The Baby-Boomer Takeover Of The SIS And The GCSB.Chris Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-88479051411717315082015-08-11T11:54:09.702+12:002015-08-11T11:54:09.702+12:00It was meant to be short but not repeated, sorry.I...It was meant to be short but not repeated, sorry.It does look a bit bizarre doesn't it. The second sentence was meant to be the full comment - and yes, I do try to express myself in as few words as possible, Greywarbler :)JanMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-46347516682358287722015-08-11T09:47:18.821+12:002015-08-11T09:47:18.821+12:00No message from me, Greywarbler.
Blogger doesn...No message from me, Greywarbler.<br /><br />Blogger doesn't permit site moderators to edit comments.<br /><br />We can publish 'em or delete 'em - that's all.<br /><br />I delete very few - almost all on account of abusive and/or offensive content.<br /><br />Perhaps JanM just hit the Enter key inadvertently ;-)Chris Trotterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-71293145502860390942015-08-10T20:02:46.866+12:002015-08-10T20:02:46.866+12:00@JanM
That was intriguing. Was the form delibera...@JanM<br />That was intriguing. Was the form deliberate or copy went missing.<br />Or is it a message from Chris that he likes the comments short I wonder.<br />As a long-winded person perhaps I must rein myself in.greywarblernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-74549694330198626422015-08-10T16:22:11.402+12:002015-08-10T16:22:11.402+12:00Oh goodness, Chris, some of your fellow journalist...Oh goodness, Chris, some of your fellow journalists are going to get 'bery bery cwoss' with you if you keep pointing out their <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Oh my goodness, Chris, some of your fellow journalists are going to get 'bery bery cwoss' with you if you keep pointing out their shortcomings :)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />JanMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-72806225914315619842015-08-10T09:38:31.140+12:002015-08-10T09:38:31.140+12:00I remember CAFCA’s Murray Horton quietly bragging ...I remember CAFCA’s Murray Horton quietly bragging that under previous NZSIS Dir Tuckers brief “openness” policy he had received his file that was one of the few non redacted ones he knew of in NZ activist circles, Murray at that time was connected to Tucker by a family marriage but no particular inference was made in respect of that!<br /><br />the point being NZ is so tiny that it is likely that some of us will break bread with a spook, and even more likely have been in contact in their professional capacity at some stage, an old friend who started the NZ International Film festival before Bill Gosden’s long run was approached more than once by the “service” to be a snout for them, as he imported films from the USSR on some form of exhibitors license, he politely declined but was watchful for some time after<br /><br />but that notwithstanding, Chris final paragraph in reply to “anonymous@22:29” is elemental in dealing with “the deep state”Tiger Mountainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-89713240972328430042015-08-09T11:53:37.000+12:002015-08-09T11:53:37.000+12:00To: Anonymous@22:29
Your comment is of great inte...To: Anonymous@22:29<br /><br />Your comment is of great interest. <br /><br />Since the early 2000s, the SIS has been recruiting a new generation of operatives - one blessedly free from the preconceptions and obsessions of the Cold War Era - so what you have to say rings true.<br /><br />However, both the SIS and the GCSB (along with the armed forces, the police and the upper echelons of the civil service) are organs of the "Deep State". The people who work in these institutions see themselves as the protectors of the nation's core interests against all enemies, regardless of whether they are "foreign or domestic" (as the US loyalty oath puts it).<br /><br />In extremis (and the Deep State reserves the right to define what "in extremis" entails) the protectors of the nation's core interests may decide that an elected government, or elements within it, are acting directly against those interests, and its agents will move accordingly.<br /><br />At that point, their personal views will be of no importance, they will act as their superiors direct "in the national interest".<br /><br />For democracy to survive the judgements of its Deep State operatives, it is necessary to keep them under the constant scrutiny of elected representatives, who must, themselves, be answerable to Parliament.Chris Trotterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-41992481947778821192015-08-08T22:29:06.318+12:002015-08-08T22:29:06.318+12:00I agree with all of that Chris. I'm also more...I agree with all of that Chris. I'm also more left than most - e.g. I think the Greens are right wing! I generally carry the worst construct of the secret services in my head. And yet, one of our friends is a principal advisor in the GCSB. I've no idea what she does as she won't speak about it obviously, and I know this is a sample of one ... but she is a typical liberal middle class person and probably votes Green! I know people like that can surprise me, and there could be a neo nazi inside her she keeps well hidden, or, there's isolated people like that amongst a sea of otherwise more conservative forces, or even, good people can collectively do bad in the right framework, but still, it does force me to allow even the smallest probability, that a lot of their work is quite banal and generally harmless. I used to know someone who at one point was Acting Head of Defence Intelligence, and again, he would surprise you. He was in one of Nicky's books, and unlike my GCSB friend, would talk a little more freely (he had left the Military for "the private sector" by then - interpret that how you will) - partly no doubt because Nicky Hager had blown his cover and his secrets sky high. Anyway again, a lot of what he did was not particularly shocking or offensive to me. I know the whole system can go wrong, I am distrustful of it, and I'm not meaning to sound like an apologist for it because I'm not. I guess I just suspect that the bulk of the work is tedious, unsexy, and unimportant, and it's only at the margins, where from time to time, the power that is invested there, strikes a situation where its full force for good or ill, comes to the fore, rather than being a force of ill all the time, as I'd like to think. So just maybe these bureacrats are most of the time, what they appear to be, even in this Listener puff piece. None of this is to say because the power exists, that it can't go wrong, can't be misused, by the same people.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-33580826011405633382015-08-08T20:28:13.192+12:002015-08-08T20:28:13.192+12:00The magazine is merely another media whore, subser...The magazine is merely another media whore, subservient to whoever has the dosh.<br />Like all business they cultivate and promote "images". Sighh!peterlepaysanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14707848102966641049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-27199403451983975252015-08-08T16:36:14.325+12:002015-08-08T16:36:14.325+12:00Just finished reading this Listener article too Ch...Just finished reading this Listener article too Chris. It strikes me as a well placed, timed and crafted piece of PR. A genuinely inane coverage of important roles. One hopes that the three central people are also pretty offended or ashamed when they read it.<br />rob campbellnoreply@blogger.com