Preserving Our Civil Liberties
Preserving Our Civil Liberties
July 7, 2011: Closure of the British Tabloid “News of the World”
The demise of the 168-year-old British paper that held a readership of nearly three million, all over a ‘mobile phone – internet hacking’ scandal, was a bit of overkill when compared to the attack on our civil liberties by our own governments over the past decade. In the case of News of the World a high price will now be paid by the thousands of dedicated, honest workers all because of a few dishonest people at high levels, including the owner’s son, James Murdock.
It is reported Murdock closed the paper because he wanted to protect his reputation (and that of his father, Rupert) as well “protecting” other money making schemes he currently has on the table. I have little sympathy for Murdock and for those who cheat and scheme in order to make an extra dollar, what hurts is seeing all those jobs taken away from thousands of honest workers who toiled at the paper.
While the allegations against a few reporters and senior administrators at World News was serious and needed to be addressed, the transgressions were positively minor compared to the widespread intrusions on civil liberties conducted by various government security organziations around the world.
In North America the Department Homeland Security in the United States and, to a lesser extent, CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) in Canada, have gained immense power over the past decade, powers to which the broad spectrum of media have paid scant attention. One could easily make the case the media in general have played hand maiden to the government in these matters.
The US “Patriot Act” (even the name seems carefully chosen to help prevent critcism), originally passed after the 911 attacks, was renewed in February 2011 after house Republicans gained a majority. Within peacetime, democratic counties the Patriot Act is one of the most draconian and invasive pieces of legislation ever passed and this was done with barely a word of complaint from the Media.
While Canada’s Anti-Terrorist Act was also recently renewed, it is only slightly less invasive than the US Patriot Act. This is of little comfort as the US Govenment, having gained several reciprocal agreements with Canada, is given considerable access to sensitive information about Canadians held in both US based electronic databases and, many suspect, to databases held solely in Canada.
The US and Canadian Governments, Media and Corporations have done an excellent job over the past decade of creating a level fear about ‘terrorism’ that has allowed this almost limitless (and warrantless) surveillance of ordinary citizens on the thinest of pretext. This rapidly expanding erosion of civil liberties is something about which we all need to be concerned.
Please take some time to do some background reading on the subject and then express your concerns on FB, by other social media and to you Member of Parliament if you value the freedoms for which our ancestors paid such a high price over the last century.
Harold McNeill
Kamloops, BC
Note: I was not one of the subscribers to News of the World and have heard it was a sensationalist and sleezy tabloid, never-the-less, three million folks subscribed and it lasted for 168 years – longer than any other ‘news’ type paper.
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