RE: "The Day After: A Challenge for Pollyanna" -- by Stuart H. Rodman (Public Law 105-271, The Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act, keeps the public in the dark...undermines power of ordinary citizens)

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

[Source: http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/0001/31/A56182-2000Jan31.shtml]

Malaysia to set up special team to stop spread of rumours

Source: AP | Published: Monday January 31, 6:57 AM

Kuala Lumpur, Jan 30 - Malaysia plans to set up a special department to fight the spread of lies, slander and rumours about the government, news reports said today.

The government's image has suffered in the past when it waited too long to counter false statements, Information Minister Khalil Yaakob was quoted by the Star newspaper.

From now on, a specially trained team of officials will be on duty to tell the government's side of any story, he said.

'It is important to correct (false rumours),' Khalil was quoted as saying. 'Otherwise people will continue to get the wrong perception and think the government is always wrong, cruel and unfair.'

The announcement comes amid a crackdown on mounting political dissent. Five key opposition figures were arrested for sedition based on statements made against the government in support of jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim.

Among those arrested was the editor of a tabloid that is the mouthpiece for Malaysia's powerful Islamic opposition party.

The tabloid's readership tripled over the past year as people from varied ethnic and religious groups began questioning the information provided by government controlled media.

Much of the recent political turmoil - the country's worst in decades - was sparked by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's dismissal of Anwar, his former deputy.

In the heat of the anti-government uproar, officials set up a special team of lawyers to scout for slanderous media reports against the government, leading to a spate of lawsuits against journalists and critics of the government.

Last week, rumours circulated in the capital that prime minister Mahathir had fallen off a horse and injured himself while holidaying in Argentina.

Many people did not believe the government denials of the incident. Speculation was quashed when Mahathir spoke to reporters and denied the rumours himself.

(end of story)

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[Comment: legitimate governments should be supported and upheld; the converse is also true when the freedom and welfare of the good of the people are jeopardized and threatened. The current Y2K disclosure act is just another example of power being taken away from the people and into the hands of a select few.]

-- Patrick Lastella (Lastella1@aol.com), January 31, 2000

Answers

Luckily, we have our own equivalent in NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, etc. They rush to government's defense in a heartbeat!

AnarchKook

-- Y2Kook (Y2Kook@usa.net), January 31, 2000.


Coming soon to a capitol city near you...

Funny thing...Khalil sounds suspiciously like Carville doesn't it?

-- Powder (Powder47keg@aol.com), January 31, 2000.


Y2Kook........only when our govt is in the lefts control.

-- JB (noway@jose.com), January 31, 2000.

While I agree that we have yet to see the full extent of Y2K impacts, I believe we have a better barometer than the media or corporate press releases. We'll know when Y2K has hit the fan when we begin to experience the impacts in our *personal* lives. This is not to say that smaller, localized impacts are any less important to those they happen to affect, or that I am not empathetic to their plight. The point is, Y2K can not be said to be "systemic" until a significant number of *us* feel the impacts personally.

Til then, I'll be watching...

-- RPGman (tripix@olypen.com), January 31, 2000.


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