Wednesday 21 August 2013

#SurveillanceState: The GCSB dividend

[H]e realized at once that he shouldn't have spoken aloud, and that by doing so
he had, in a sense, acknowledged the stranger's right to oversee his actions… 
    “And you should talk less in general; almost everything you've said up to now
could have been inferred from your behaviour, even if you'd said only a few words,
and it wasn't terribly favourable to you in any case…
    “But I’m not guilty,” said K. “there’s been a mistake. How is it even possible for
someone to be guilty? We’re all human beings here, one like the other.” “That is
true” said the priest, “but that is how the guilty speak.”

― Franz Kafka, The Trial

According to Roy Morgan, the polling company trumpeting a seven-percent dive in National’s fortunes in their latest poll, National is paying the price for John Key’s efforts to allow his spooks to allow his buggers to listen in, intercept, and pass around all our private communications.

If Roy Morgan are right, that is National’s deserved down-payment for limiting our online freedom in return for the illusion of a little temporary security.

Good. They deserve it.

But they’re still not listening—which, given the legislation in question, is truly ironic, no?

So, unless Peter Done-Nothing finally does something (and why would he, since he never has), or John Banks grows a spine (as unlikely as seeing him throw himself on a grenade), the a majority of one will still be whipped into the Ayes lobby this afternoon to vote these powers into law.

So to celebrate its passing into law this afternoon, I suggest you settle in at home tonight and watch what Orson Welles called his best movie: this stylish adaptation of Frank Kafka’s novel The Trial*—the story of one Joseph K. who wakes up one morning to find himself accused of a crime that’s never specified.

It’s not Orwellian.  It’s worse.

* PS: The film is now in the public domain, and as such has never received an official home video release.

3 comments:

Dinther said...

Yes Peter Dunne and John Banks can be lifted to the foreground and MP's that can kill this bill. What annoys me is how all those other MP's somehow manage to remain out of the fray.

They need to be named and shamed.

(Still hate that bloody capcha crap!!! Too bloody hard to read. Grrrr)

Jigsaw said...

Incredible to watch David Shearer score a spectacular own goal in question time yesterday. He asked the PM if there had been any consultation with Labour-turns out there had and he had asked Key to keep in quie! It was obvious that Robertson and the rest had no knowledge of this and certainly the Greens didn't as Key said they had waited after the meeting for Norman to go before heading to the PM's office. Amazing stuff!

cheesefunnel said...

"The Trial" is available from Videon, just around the corner from some oddly named architecture firm. I found the film rather boring. Perkins is good, Orson, well he plays Orson.