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9578. Trillium - 7/5/2013 9:31:27 PM Yes, but how many people consciously acknowledge the influence of organized crime on our politics and pet causes? Criminality and greed take many forms. It is not possible to legislate away or stamp out greed, but we could be more honest about the corruption of our systems.
If we are going to delegate our eavesdropping services to Booz Hamilton et al., we need to develop more honesty about our leadership and the areas where they are vulnerable to blackmail. 9579. arkymalarky - 7/5/2013 9:44:42 PM Trillium is rightly emphasizing the connection between organized crime and legitimate government activity as a long time issue which has been alternatively ignored and romanticized,. But the ability of money to influence outcomes over the voters is made worse by advancing technology, privatization, increasing dependence on corporate contracts, and corporate influence. 9580. arkymalarky - 7/5/2013 9:45:39 PM sorry got a phone call and it refreshed 9581. Trillium - 7/7/2013 1:39:22 PM Sorry here too, I wondered why my screen kept freezing! But I will post, over all obstacles...
Aside from Snowden, I am still puzzled about what happened to the Roling stone reporter Michael Hastings, whose car mysteriously sped up at 4 in the morning in Los Angeles, then plowed into a tree and exploded, burning the occupant beyond recognition....but the occupant was identified by fingerprints as Michael Hastings? Weird, weird. 9582. judithathome - 7/7/2013 8:35:32 PM I thought he was a passenger in the car.... 9583. bhelpuri - 7/9/2013 4:14:26 PM Trillium - I have enjoyed reading your posts.
Wombat,
Hope you read (of course you have!) the Ellsberg editorial which only states the obvious (contra your opinions) regarding Snowden's choice to release on the road:
"Nothing worthwhile would be served, in my opinion, by Snowden voluntarily surrendering to U.S. authorities given the current state of the law"
Ellsberg - the Pentagon Papers leaker, in the WP. 9584. Trillium - 7/9/2013 8:45:06 PM Thanks bhelpuri. :)
Judith, where did you read that Hastings was a passenger in the car? Everything I have read, claims that Hastings was the driver, and alone. 9585. judithathome - 7/9/2013 9:31:17 PM I heard it on the news...early on the day after he died.
I'm not claiming anything...it was just a first report and after that, I don't recall hearing anything more about HOW he died, or even where...just that he was a great reporter and how tragic it was he was gone.
But if you were suggesting there might have been some sort of sabotage or something involved, I don't think I'd agree with you. I think it was a tragic accident...something that happens daily to many people.
9586. alistairconnor - 7/23/2013 5:33:34 PM Interesting times. I like Snowden, imperfect as he is. I think the extreme heavy-handedness of the US in ensuring he doesn't get asylum is very telling; also, the way western European nations fell over themselves to deny airspace to Correa's plane. Abject. The idea that he should just go home should be measured against the very palpable fact that the US government wants very, very badly to get their hands on him.
The fact that there's nothing surprising in his relevations does not lessen the importance of the issues raised. The fact that there is secret surveillance and signals work done, always has been, always will be, does not weaken the argument that it should be done in a transparent and accountable way. Outside of that, there is no democracy. 9587. alistairconnor - 7/23/2013 5:38:01 PM Meta-commentary : the co-operation between the social networking companies and the spooks. I assume it's two-way. I'm... spooked... by some of the "friend" suggestions FB comes up with. I try to firewall different internet worlds, using different pseudonyms, accounts etc. But the Book suggests people I have interacted with in other fora, years ago, with no obvious other connections... Is this their own datamining, or do they get to consult the NSA's cross-tabs? 9588. judithathome - 7/23/2013 5:48:57 PM The idea that he should just go home should be measured against the very palpable fact that the US government wants very, very badly to get their hands on him.
Why shouldn't they? He took things that didn't belong to him...he's a thief. He broke the law. If he'd really just wanted to expose the government, he could have talked with Greenwald, exposed the truth, and taken his lumps when the feds came to call.
He's a coward. I hope Putin gives him a two room walk-up with no heat and rusty water pipes. 9589. arkymalarky - 7/23/2013 11:48:57 PM I get you wrt the network Alistair. They really know all. That's okay and very convenient--until it isn't. 9590. alistairconnor - 7/24/2013 8:47:25 AM Well OK, he's a traitor, with respect to the "my country right or wrong" meme -- on condition that you identify the self-unregulated, self-ungoverned "no such agency" people with "your country" (which Obama is clearly doing).
Or he's a patriot, if he considers that the existence of such an unaccountable power nexus, willing and able to do harm to any person or entity on the planet, including governments, including its own, is unconscionable.
As for stealing things (information actually) that didn't belong to him -- well the obvious answer to that is "they started it". The NSA has stolen information that belongs to me and you, for example. If that's OK for you then... good for you. My mileage may vary. 9591. judithathome - 7/24/2013 2:52:17 PM I suppose the government might have "stolen" a few things from people aimed at doing harm to my country along the way...most people would be happy with them doing THAT, doncha think?
If in the process, some goon in a dark office runs across my recipes for twice-baked potatoes while they're at it, I'm not too concerned. 9592. vonKreedon - 7/24/2013 4:14:59 PM I'd respect Snowden if he'd stayed in the US and pushed the issue. Instead he fled to the PRC and then Russia and so distracts and diverts the issues to his actions rather than the government's. 9593. arkymalarky - 7/24/2013 4:21:47 PM I don't like the threats, & I don't like the fact that he divulged some international information that seemed to me to have no point except to put us in an awkward spot. 9594. judithathome - 7/25/2013 6:31:38 AM No Kinky Boots For Vladimir Putin
Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, has declared war on homosexuals,” actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein wrote in a scathing op-ed for The New York Times Sunday. ”So far, the world has mostly been silent.”
Fierstein, a longtime advocate for LGBT issues, is trying to draw attention to Russia’s restrictive new policies toward homosexuals. Among these policies is a law signed by Putin on July 3rd which bans the adoption of Russian-born children by homosexuals. The law also restricts foreign families from adopting Russian children if they live in a country where marriage equality exists at all.
On June 30th, Putin signed a law that allows Russian authorities to detain tourists or foreign nationals who are gay or pro-gay for up to 14 days. This law is particularly significant for the effect it could have on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Could gay or pro-gay athletes and spectators be subject to arrest if they attend the Olympic ceremonies? 9595. alistairconnor - 7/26/2013 1:55:46 PM Well, you people seem a great deal more complacent about surveillance than your Congress, which seems to have taken Snowden's revelations as a wake-up call and is now busy re-setting the cursor between security and privacy. 9596. vonKreedon - 7/26/2013 5:47:28 PM I'm not complacent, I'm supportive of people like Snowden and Manning releasing information that sheds light on surveillance and other activities that the government would like us to remain ignorant of. However, I'm not supportive of these people fleeing and seeking sanctuary with those who do not wish us well. I'm not supportive of those people fleeing and so moving the conversation from being about government actions to being about their actions. 9597. alistairconnor - 7/29/2013 10:56:47 AM Well, face the contradictions : you say you are supportive of what he did, but it was undoubtedly illegal and would get him twenty or so in the slammer; so apparently you want him to serve time.
Personally I don't care if he chooses to be a hero or not. The whistleblowing is the important thing. Likewise, Manning didn't choose to get caught. Common to both is a certain naivety : Manning was always going to get caught; Snowden made a weird choice of destinations, when he had better options available.
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