Dave Lane 
🇳🇿So I hear that AWS has 'opened' (in a closed way) it's Auckland hosting facility. That's not good for NZ. I predict AWS (&, as usual, MS' Azure will follow as fast as its little legs carry it) will engage in a charm offensive of our Gov't, with low-ball prices, quickly killing local competitors (as supermarkets & banks & big box retail, media, & hardware stores did before it) before its cartel of 2 raises prices. Of course, NZer data will be available to the US gov't on demand throughout.
I suspect the corporate endgame, which our Gov't is actively playing into (yes, it's also behind the #CPTPPA and the #TPPA before it) is undermining democracy & national sovereignty for the purposes of market capture & maximum exploitation for shareholder gain. Ultimately, our gov't will happily turn us over to our new corporate autocratic 'leaders'. We're just cows kept around for our milk... until it becomes to expensive to keep us alive, at which point we're knackered. https://davelane.nz/modern-trade-agreements-and-mega-corporate-end-game
Some of you might've missed the involvement of #VoicesForFreedom (aka #VFF) in our last local elections. Their stated objective for putting up local gov't candidates was/is to "make NZ ungovernable". Is it possible they're receiving funding from the same US (corporate) interests funding US presidential campaigns (and ensuring people like Sanders don't get a look-in)? Anyone want to wager on it?
alcinnz@lightweight There was an obvious VFF mayoral candidate in Nelson...
Didn't communicate why I should vote for him! What little I did hear from him was a bad attitude!
@alcinnz I have a copy of their 'newsletter' to members which explains their motivation... it's very very grim reading. The fact that they've found followers is extremely worrying.
@lightweight I'm sure!
Stephen@lightweight it's possible, but my considered opinion is there is no evidence of it, and it's fully likely they are working off in-kind donations (for billboards and print, eg through Jolly Billboards) and a stream of cash donations from their extensive mailing list. There's no need to invoke secret funding to explain what we can see of them. They do seem to be somewhat working to a US model, but we get a lot of spillover from the rest of the Anglosphere's misinfo/disinfo operators and smart folks will always look offshore for plausible models to use. I'm afraid they're probably homegrown even if overseas-inspired (thanks to the internet).
@stephen yes, I accept that's possible.