I knew of your reputation and accolades but seeing you on TV3 putting a sensible, considered and accurate opinion on the danger of the GCSB bill brought it home to me of what an impressive person you are.
Regardless of whether the proposed bill has merit or not it is the way that government is shamefully bulldozing it through that is a worry. Civil liberties and personal freedoms have been hard fought for over centuries and we should celebrate the relative openness that we have in New Zealand society. Once given away they will be very hard to win back.
Salmond's arguments were in some ways simplistic when talking of our parents and grandparents fighting against fascism and Nazism to 'make the world a better place' but that is the nature of rhetoric and the necessity to get a message across.
It is a shame that so many people have willingly (or is that blindly) given away their privacy in their adoption of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and of course blogging, that they don't recognise what the long term effects of the GCSB bill passing in its current format will be. The data mining capability against all private citizens along with the 'suspects' is a blatant and unreasonable invasion of privacy.
As I said before there may be some merits in it but, if so, the whole issue needs to be carefully and fully evaluated and discussed not rammed through at the whim of Shonkey who is being manipulated by international forces.
Fortunately I'm in Auckland this weekend so will be at the anti-bill rally. Got that GCSB? Of course you have.
2 comments:
...and you'll be in Wellington on Tuesday.
That's right. Tell them why don't you.
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