Posts by Idiot Savant
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Second Little Brother. I'm wondering if I need to have a key-signing party sometime.
Re: Key fingerprints, you're right. The problem is that I'm currently managing multiple key pairs for different accounts. But I've stuck it on my Twitter profile, I'll stick it on my filedump website to increase the number of places that have to be hacked, and make PASystem a target to by posting it here as well:
AE1C 445F 7A5E CAAF DA11 3CAE 7C56 FCD4 C60A A494
(I'm kidding about the "target". I don't seriously expect anyone to hack me to man-in-the-middle me, because I actually don't have that much to hide and am completely unimportant. But why make it easy? Also, by encryptin ght eodd bit of traffic, I provide a penguin defence to those who actually need it)
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OnPoint: Ich bin ein Cyberpunk, in reply to Amanda Wreckonwith,
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Is there a preferred keyserver for NZ keys?
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GPG4USB: advantages: mobile, can be used to encrypt webmail and throwaways. Disadvantages: will teach you bad habits about encrypting only stuff which is worth the hassle, so it basicly signals people about content.
Still, better than nothing. And given my email useage patterns, probably a good match.
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Speaker: Naked Inside the Off-Ramp, in reply to Chris Waugh,
I thought that happened a long time ago.
Yes. But removing it is a chance to stop that rot.
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David Shearer seems a genuinely decent man who has been out of his depth in a party leadership role but clearly has a contribution to make yet.
I think he'll make a fine foreign affairs or aid minister.
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Speaker: Naked Inside the Off-Ramp, in reply to Keir Leslie,
Also, it's not really fair to say Labour's always the party of the status quo on these issues. Nuclear free NZ, anyone?
Point. But on spying? Abolishing the GCSB and closing Waihopai is official Green policy. What's Labour's?
(reading that policy document, I'm optimistic for a compromise. But its going to have to include something hugely symbolic for the Greens, in addition to sensible changes around oversight which both parties agree on. Removal of "economic wellbeing" from the definition of domestic "security" would probably do it, and I think would be quite liveable for Labour as well, since all it leads to is SIS politicisation, over-reach and scandals)
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Speaker: Naked Inside the Off-Ramp, in reply to Kyle Matthews,
I'd imagine that after horsetrading post-review, they'll vote for it if it improves the GCSB in the way they want it. Why would they vote against a bill that pushes the GCSB in the direction that they believe it should go, as part of a coalition government?
Oh, they'll vote for it. But there are going to be difficulties satisfying their own base. If Labour's reforms are simply a humiliating sop with no real change, then the Greens will be facing a real risk of becoming Alliance 2.0. And in those circumstances the lesson is: pull the plug, go to the people, and get a stronger mandate from your supporters for your position. Anything else, and you cease to exist as a party.
While there are people in Labour who hate the Greens and regard them as the enemy, this isn't in Labour's interests. They want to be in government, and they need a coalition partner on their left to do it.
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Speaker: Naked Inside the Off-Ramp, in reply to Keir Leslie,
If there’s a credible independent inquiry into the security services, the spectacle of the National Party lining up to vote it down will be so damaging and ludicrous that of course they won’t (and if they do, well, that’s fine by me). Likewise, the Greens would love to get some serious reform here, and they won’t waste that chance — it’s the only one they’ll get for the next twenty years.
And everyone involved is going to have to walk a tightrope. Many Green supporters don't want reform, they want abolition and a withdrawl from Five Eyes, and they will be joined by people outraged by the NSA leaks. Labour meanwhile is a party fundamentally of the status quo, who support the national security state and always have.
Reconciling that contradiction is going to be... interesting. I think the Greens could be persuaded to accept serious reform, but it will have to actually be serious. And if they don't get that, given the fate of the Alliance they are better off pulling the plug and going to the people for a stronger mandate against Labour, rather than betraying their own core supporters.
The good news is that both Labour and the Greens have an interest in massaging this problem away. I think we may see a refinement of Labour's "review then repeal" policy to "repeal (GCSB powers, but not oversight) then review" to lower the stakes a bit.
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Hard News: The GCSB Bill: We at least…, in reply to Joshua Arbury,
The Police have to get a proper warrant from a judge, which can be challenged at trial. GCSB and SIS only need a warrant from the PM, and because its secret it can never be challenged.