[Peace] News notes for Aug. 4

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

We need to call every radio talk program we can reach, call of our federal 
and state legislators, go to Tim Johnson's office and make sure this is 
stopped. 



http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/08/06/tips/index_np.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 6, 2002
11:04 AM
CONTACT:  American Civil Liberties Union
Rachel King

In Surreal Development, Bush Administration Routes TIPS Calls to TV Show 
"America's Most Wanted"

  WASHINGTON - August 6 - In a development bordering on what the American 
Civil Liberties Union called "surreal," the on-line magazine Salon.com today 
revealed that the Department of Justice is forwarding incoming Operation 
TIPS calls to the Fox-owned "America's Most Wanted" television series.

"This is like retaining Arthur Andersen to do all of the SEC's accounting," 
said Rachel King, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. "It's a completely 
inappropriate and frightening intermingling of government power and the 
private sector. What's next - the government hires Candid Camera to do its 
video surveillance?"

"If it continues to cooperate with the government on Operation TIPS, 
America's Most Wanted should move networks and rename itself 'Big Brother,'" 
King said.

The author of the Salon article, David Lindorff, reportedly signed up for 
TIPS more than a month ago, heard nothing and followed up last week with a 
phone call to the Department of Justice, the agency responsible for 
overseeing the proposed program. The department gave Lindorff another phone 
number, which it said had been set up by the FBI. When he dialed that 
number, Lindorff was greeted by a receptionist for "America's Most Wanted," 
which features reenactments of unsolved crimes and then asks the public to 
phone in leads and tips.

Shocked that the number did not connect to the FBI, Lindorff was told, 
"We've been asked to take the FBI's TIPS calls for them." The ACLU today 
said that, not only does the Operation TIPS program on its own pose serious 
threats to the American ideal that neighbors not be expected to inform on 
neighbors, but the program, when coupled with the power and profit 
incentives of television, could enhance its resemblance to Big Brother 
through sensationalism and the thirst for advertising revenue.

Even before its partnering with Fox Television, the Operation TIPS program 
has come under a barrage of criticism from both the left and the right. 
House Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-TX), one of the most powerful and 
conservative members of Congress, introduced a measure in his chamber's 
version of the Homeland Security legislation that would prohibit the 
implementation of TIPS and other similar measures. Sen. Patrick Leahy 
(D-VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has also opposed the 
proposal, saying "We could be vigilant, but we don't want to be vigilantes."

"Why stop with America's Most Wanted?" King added. "If a sensational story 
is what it was looking for, the Department of Justice should have just hired 
Jerry Springer as its public information officer."
The Salon article can be found on-line at:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/08/06/tips/index_np.html