Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance

He should get to his nearest Ecuadorian Embassy


In all seriousness though , this guy has done an amazing and righteous thing, hats off to him.

Originally posted by STANDARD
What if he's really not an American?

You mean - GASP!- a Canadian?

Originally posted by WhiteAlice
reply to post by Bilk22

 

Snowden is 29 years old. In the 90's, it really wasn't uncommon for teenaged boys with a penchant for computers to delve into coding for their own various reasons (hacker and crackers). I personally knew about 8 young men that, in the 90's, taught themselves coding and were quite good at what they did. My ex was recruited in his first year of college in the 90's to work for one of the first ISPs in Phoenix as a telnet administrator. He was purely self taught. His next job was working for Winstar Communications in the same capacity, which later developed into systems/network administration and internet security. He's just a few years older than Snowden and that's a pretty typical thing that was going on in terms of IT development in the 90's and early 00's. Only one of them that I'm still in contact with obtained a degree in higher education (masters from CMU). I lost track of a couple but the others did not and many of them still have had reasonably successful careers in IT. IT was one of those weird areas where a degree helps but isn't necessary. 10 years ago, you could almost say it was the norm in the industry and Snowden is certainly in that age group for that to have occurred. Even today, IT isn't so much about a degree but what you can do and have done. Snowden could've been any one of those boys that I once knew.

Why now? How many people out there are distressed by how things are going? While it's just as likely that Snowden could've been a deliberate leak, it's also equally likely that the current political climate made him feel like a. it was necessary and b. that it might be heard and acted upon. Diploma or no diploma, he's not stupid.

I don't disagree. However there are tons of high level techies coming out of the best schools the nation has to offer, so picking a kid, talented as he may be, without those "papers" of higher degree, is an odd chance and not the norm especially for government work. Now if you have a kid that was in the military, who is talented, he can overcome the lack of credentials.

I stated, I'm not taking away from what he did. However I don't believe he acted alone and I do believe the timing and what this means, is much deeper than on the surface.

Originally posted by DiscreteParticle
You mean - GASP!- a Canadian?

Are ... are...they even people?

Originally posted by fenson76
What I don't understand is why no one is ripping Rand Paul apart. We are told that all of congress knew of these programs yet Paul is screaming about it AFTER it is disclosed. Seems like he is covering his butt and is just as shady. Rand Paul could care less about you or me. If you don't believe me, look how he voted on GMO labeling recently. He's a politician, that is all.

From what I understand, there are several who have called out Obama on this, and one (I can't remember who) said that you could count on two hands the number of people who were told about it. It's just like the legal restrictions Obama says are in place, and the court that was specially intended to grant permissions - others have called it a kangaroo court, it's nothing more than a fake layer of "protection" that actually serves no real purpose other than to make it look respectable and "legal"

reply to post by supremecommander




fat chance... I am retired

Originally posted by DiscreteParticle

Originally posted by STANDARD
What if he's really not an American?

You mean - GASP!- a Canadian?

Oh come on, he isn't a Canadian, have you heard him say "EH!" even once?

This proves again that the US does what it wants. If every other country would do something like this the world is to small. it's disgusting and can only hope one day they will pay the price........ big time!

Excellent article Here by Daniel Ellsberg

Edward Snowden: saving us from the United Stasi of America

The fact that congressional leaders were "briefed" on this and went along with it, without any open debate, hearings, staff analysis, or any real chance for effective dissent, only shows how broken the system of checks and balances is in this country

But what is not legitimate is to use a secrecy system to hide programs that are blatantly unconstitutional in their breadth and potential abuse. Neither the president nor Congress as a whole may by themselves revoke the fourth amendment – and that's why what Snowden has revealed so far was secret from the American people.

Originally posted by MajesticJax
reply to post by GreyGoo

 

The US has a VAST and COMPREHENSIVE social media program. There are paid whores who constantly patrol, hijack, and monitor threads. To them I say FU&^ YOU. You are a PARASITE on freedom's ass, you waste of human life.

Had to give you a star for that one.

Originally posted by TheBlackHat
Also why did he fly to Hong Kong? Even on his interview he states there is a CIA office down the road? Can anyone verify this? Does the CIA have a field office in Hong Kong? If so that would really surprise me.

Because if thats accurate it makes no sense at all for a whistle blower to go to Hong Kong..especially as i read Hong Kong is still supposedly semi autonomous from China..and that it has a history of cooperation with the states.

It is precisely Hong-Kong's "semi-autonomous" relationship with China that makes thier Extradition Policy less concrete than other alternatives.

Hong-Kong affords him a semi-netherland. It is relatively free of the restrictions of mainland China, while still close enough to China where they might not give him up just cuz the US says "jump".

It was a smart choice. If he was mainland China, the Chinese gov would just scoop him up...Someplace like South America or Europe and the USA would snap thier fingers and he would be on a plane back to the states.

Hong Kong, both politically and in regards to thier Extradition law was a smart choice.

reply to post by zilebeliveunknown


I'm sure the "T" in the username "ProfessorT" stands for "Troll". Don't feed it.

Originally posted by citizenoftheworld
This proves again that the US does what it wants. If every other country would do something like this the world is to small. it's disgusting and can only hope one day they will pay the price........ big time!

Serious question...do you actually believe that no other countries do this? Here is an article you should read. "UK gathering secret intelligence via covert NSA operation" www.guardian.co.uk...

reply to post by Indigo5


Further info on Hong Kong and asylum

But there is at least one reason it could be incredibly shrewd: Hong Kong’s asylum system is currently stuck in a state of limbo that could allow Snowden to exploit a loophole and buy some valuable time.

Simon Young, director of the Centre for Comparative and Public Law at the University of Hong Kong, told GlobalPost that a decision delivered by Hong Kong’s High Court in March of this year required the government to create a new procedure for reviewing asylum applications.

Until the government does this, he said, asylum seekers are allowed to stay in Hong Kong indefinitely.

www.salon.com...

This man "is" a real American hero. Bravo. We hope many more like you come forward. Mr. Snowden deserves a medal.

Just what will become of Edward Snowden, the man spilling the beans on how the NSA is collecting massive data on American citizens?

Will he be arrested or even killed?

Now, one Western country is already looking at giving him political asylum.

ICELAND OPENS DOOR FOR NSA WHISTLEBLOWER

Originally posted by ProfessorT
I have not been "brainwashed". I am being logical. Mr Snowden has now divulged information that enemies of both the United States of America and Great Britain can learn from and study. The use of PRISM would have undoubtedly prevented serious crimes from taking place. My opinion is the same as President Obama's. In this day and age 100 per cent privacy cannot be reasonably expected when communicating electronically as it has become a tool used by terrorists and other criminals who launch cyber attacks.

edit on 9-6-2013 by ProfessorT because: (no reason given)

So if PRISM prevent us from serious crimes, why didn't it prevent us from the Boston bombing?!!

Can it be that your logic just breaks apart?

Having paid attention to what all has gone on in the media and current events, the following can be stated:

Secrets and things in the dark do not remain such, the earth gives them up and ultimately they do come to the light of day.

Did he do the right thing, yes, is it going to cost him for doing the right thing, yes.

In short, this man, who had a career with the intelligence department, a salary that most of us wish we could have, took his job and pretty much threw it away. Now he must answer for it, not only to the people of the USA, but also to his immediate family. His life, as an employee of the US government is over, and now it is time to pay the price for what he has done.

But what did he do that was so wrong, he confirmed that the existence of these programs exist, and that is not such a bad thing. If that is all he did, then it would not have been such a bad thing, but according to the article, and this is what he will be punished for, is revealed classified information.

Many countries have secrets, some they expect to get out, others they do not want to get out, and do every thing that they can to prevent its release to the world at large. And when a news organization does get ahold of such, it should review and see if it will harm the country before printing it. In this case, he gave it to an organization in the UK, and they have yet to print any of the details, and that may be something of a saving grace for him.

But what should happen, if he was going to do the right thing, he should never have ran. And he did, he tried to dissappear and then in a foriegn country popped up. And of all places, Hong Kong, while he may believe he is safe from the Chinese government, he is far from it, rather he has put himself into the hands of another super power, while awaiting for the fall out for himself.

So the state is that he is waiting, as it is now a waiting game, as to who will get him first, either the Chinese or the US. And where can he go, as what country would have him or even be willing to give him protection? Countries that are more likely to use him, will not let him go, and keep him under wraps or to a country that will hand him over to the US for prosecution.

And while he did it for the right reason, ultimately, there are laws on the books that make what he did a crime, and while we are waiting to see what happens, perhaps we need to take a step back and actually look at the laws that are coming out. Maybe this will wake people up to seek to change the laws and have it where people like Snowden and Ellsberg get a lighter sentence for their actions. If not, it may also result in that the laws change to make the sentences harsher. We can only watch and talk to our congressmen.

Originally posted by sdcigarpig
Having paid attention to what all has gone on in the media and current events, the following can be stated:

Secrets and things in the dark do not remain such, the earth gives them up and ultimately they do come to the light of day.

Your full post is such a great read , thank you for posting it.
It's what I have been saying since this broke.
He is a hero that broke the law and because of that he will have the admiration of the people but will have to deal with the consequences.

Originally posted by opethPA


Your full post is such a great read , thank you for posting it.
It's what I have been saying since this broke.
He is a hero that broke the law and because of that he will have the admiration of the people but will have to deal with the consequences.

But how can exposing law breaking be breaking the law?

Surely the NDA is defunct and does not apply to covering up crime especialy a act of treason?