"A window to the world or a tangled web..?" 'Deborah Morel'

Guest-blogger Deborah Morel  is a Human and Judicial rights advocate. One of her favorite quotes close
to heart is, "The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is a duty of the living to do this for them."
Lois McMaster Bujold
Today Deborah talks about the new modern world of Facebook, 
Twitter,Comment Boards, Blogging and Big Brother... Enjoy!

A Window To The World Or A Tangled Web?

We Skype, Facebook, email, and Tweet.  We can reach out to loved ones on the other side of the world with the double click of a mouse. We can spend time in electronic communication to those who live only blocks away. My questions are, "Why not telephone, instead? Why not meet for coffee, lunch, or dinner, instead?" My resistance is a lost cause; progress has marched on. We can gain rich, instant global  information that can save lives and, too, in some cases prove a double edged sword. The nature of  anonymity that the "world wide web" provides can spring board into a very different world; at its worst, this is a dark underworld of exploitation and abuse. Where are the complex lines to be drawn?

There have been several recent letters published by The Kaua'i Garden Island News (TGI) to the issues of rights, privacy, and national security. Hawai'i newspaper fresh headlines announce, "ISLE RESIDENT WAS LEAK." This national story relates to a government contract employee detailing top-secret National Security Agency programs, and who leaked intel. 

My friend's computers have been corrupted; another's inbox mail scrambled. For me? I have had an "in-box" full of various experiences when it comes to engaging in writing, and being a part of this "www." In one electronic communication to a journalist, it was asked of me that my email be published in this on-line newspaper as a letter to the editor.

I agreed; however, I asked to double check some details to make certain all the information was correct prior to publishing. I am of the opinion that anyone, who generates any information whatsoever to be published, has great responsibility. Codes of conduct are expected of all journalists; this stands to reason. Incorrect information can impact innocent people greatly; incorrect information will cause readers to loose confidence in a writer's words. 

My email went to press without corrections. I left a voice mail message and sent a second email communication, "Stop the press! Correct these two errors as follow!" No response. The news was hot; this particular story received 1,587 hits. I felt I was left to begin making phone calls, and sending emails of explanation and apology. In tandem, several people communicated the errors to me. This is understandable. What became of this story? Corrections were never published--which troubles me to this day, and for several different reasons. The damage was done.

Recently, I received phone calls that a journalist with a blog referenced my name, writing--to the effect--that this blogger was deleting my comments because the journalist was "tired of these comments on this site, and why wasn't I getting this?"

In the words of Clint Eastwood, "What?" I don't read this blog; I don't contribute comments. 

However, I reside in a lovely home that wraps its "arms" around about 14 people, and "opens its arms" to visitors coming and going. I affectionately call this home "The Waltons." We cook and share meals together, sit outside for hours--and into the late night-- at two shared picnic tables under the stars--sharing stories, laughing, breaking bread, while Christmas lights strung on the umbrellas twinkle, trade winds blow, music and ukulele are played, and computers are lined-up, plugged into an electrical pad and operating. This is a place and time in which fond memories are made.

With a household full of people, who generously share the same computers, were comments left on this blog under "Anonymous?"  Had I set-up an account way-back-when on this blog, on a computer which I no longer use, and forgot about this fact, then, someone, or more than one person, came behind these days, and placed comments on this site under "Anonymous?"

Anonymous or not, this blog's Big Brother came a knocking on our happy home's door, in the blog's publisher overreaching--policing some contributions to this public forum. But, in these days, who's to say? I've made my own mistakes. Perhaps in this fresh case of the journalist with a blog, these violations of confidentiality, and leaking of erroneous information, were morally and ethically motivated, or  matters of national security! This, though, is hard to determine; it seems the blogger has gone silent, or fallen into the Black Hole of the I.T. world.

Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared From Facebook...