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Gandalf Grey
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Privacy redefined: Big Brother comes to America
By Mary Shaw
Created Nov 14 2007 - 8:46am
Per Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [1],"No one
shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home,
or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone
has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or
attacks."
In other words, we can rest comfortably in our homes, knowing that our
privacy is sacred under this international standard of which the U.S. was a
founding endorser.
But now the Bush administration is in charge.
They redefined torture. And now they're redefining privacy.
You see, we were attacked on 9/11 by a handful of fringe radicals.
Therefore, the Bush administration needs to read your e-mails and monitor
your phone calls. Oh, and they need to review your financial records. Go
figure.
As a recent CNN article [2] explains:
t is time that people in the United States change their definition of
privacy. Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the
principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean
that government and businesses properly safeguard people's private
communications and financial information.
Yeah, and the fox will "properly safeguard" the henhouse.
Hello, Big Brother.
_______
About author Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist. She is a
former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human
rights group Amnesty International, and her views on politics, human rights,
and social justice issues have appeared in numerous online forums and in
newspapers and magazines worldwide. Note that the ideas expressed here are
the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Amnesty
International or any other organization with which she may be associated.
E-mail: mary@maryshawonline.com
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
By Mary Shaw
Created Nov 14 2007 - 8:46am
Per Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [1],"No one
shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home,
or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone
has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or
attacks."
In other words, we can rest comfortably in our homes, knowing that our
privacy is sacred under this international standard of which the U.S. was a
founding endorser.
But now the Bush administration is in charge.
They redefined torture. And now they're redefining privacy.
You see, we were attacked on 9/11 by a handful of fringe radicals.
Therefore, the Bush administration needs to read your e-mails and monitor
your phone calls. Oh, and they need to review your financial records. Go
figure.
As a recent CNN article [2] explains:
t is time that people in the United States change their definition of
privacy. Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the
principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean
that government and businesses properly safeguard people's private
communications and financial information.
Yeah, and the fox will "properly safeguard" the henhouse.
Hello, Big Brother.
_______
About author Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist. She is a
former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human
rights group Amnesty International, and her views on politics, human rights,
and social justice issues have appeared in numerous online forums and in
newspapers and magazines worldwide. Note that the ideas expressed here are
the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Amnesty
International or any other organization with which she may be associated.
E-mail: mary@maryshawonline.com
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
