Snowden Gives Alternative Christmas Message On Channel 4 224
codeusirae wrote in with news that Edward Snowden gave an alternative to the UK's yearly Christmas message, speaking about his objections to mass indiscriminate surveillance by governments. The message aired on channel four at 16:15. Slashgear posted a transcript. Quoting: "Think about what this means for the privacy of the average person. A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves — an unrecorded, unanalyzed thought. And that's a problem, because privacy matters. Privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who we want to be."
Re:Enough (Score:5, Informative)
There are whistle blower laws that would have protected him if he'd played by the rules. He chose to make a martyr out of himself.
Right... he was supposed to count on this commander in chief's attitude toward whistleblower laws to protect him and those he loved-???
http://www.policymic.com/articles/57017/obama-removes-promise-to-protect-whistleblowers-from-old-campaign-website [policymic.com]
"
(previously on Obama's website): 'Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.'
While the connection between such blatant hypocrisy and its intentional "removal" from the internet remains speculative, the coincidence is too great to ignore. Moreover, it is hard not to recall George Orwell's 1984 and the Ministry of Truth's epic programs to rewrite history in an attempt to save face.
"
Re:Now if the shoe was on the other foot... (Score:4, Informative)
Depends in where in the West you were. I have friends whose parents were murdered by Pinochet...
Re:Enough (Score:5, Informative)
> There are whistle blower laws that would have protected him if he'd played by the rules. He chose to make a martyr out of himself.
Ellsberg (the guy who leaked the Pentagon Papers [which revealed the fact that multiple Administrations lied to the American public and Congress to get into the Vietnam War, and then lied again to covertly expand its reach]) *strongly* disagrees with you:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/daniel-ellsberg-nsa-leaker-snowden-made-the-right-call/2013/07/07/0b46d96c-e5b7-11e2-aef3-339619eab080_story.html
and
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/03/208602113/pentagon-papers-leaker-daniel-ellsberg-praises-snowden-manning
This America is not the America our parents grew up in. Things have changed, largely for the worse.
Here, Ellsberg speaks directly on his opinion about the NSA documents that have been revealed to the public and the impact of the programs that they reveal:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/10/edward-snowden-united-stasi-america
Please carefully read the documents that have been released so far, the articles that I have linked to, and the discussion surrounding these issues. While you're doing that please do try to forget all about the messenger and focus on the messages that have been brought to your attention.
Re:Enough (Score:5, Informative)
There are whistle blower laws that would have protected him if he'd played by the rules. He chose to make a martyr out of himself.
Fool. That isn't how whistleblower laws work, not even in theory, let alone practice, especially in the intelligence industry.
And he did try to play by the rules; his superiors made it abundantly clear to him (repeatedly so) that his opinion on the matter was not solicited, and furthermore, endangered his career.
It's getting old hearing the same story day after day.
Until naive, delusional fools like yourself can't see the problem we're facing, it should be repeated constantly and continuously until you get the fucking message.
Re:Jesus Christ (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-31/document-reveals-official-nsa-talking-points-use-911-attacks-sound-bite [zerohedge.com]
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-02/nsas-mission-great-value-nation-complete-authorized-nsa-thanksgiving-dinner-talking- [zerohedge.com]
As more Snowden docs where released their usual straw man, topic changing, the crypto is still good, 'other countries', its all legal, "its only metadata" sock puppet talking points became more and more of a joke over the weeks.
The world now knows of the junk internet encryption, the useless telco encryption, the tame US firms, the tame US staff, the tame US legal teams, the tame staff in other countries ensuring all data flows back the UK/US and many other 'friends', the lack of any real political oversight, the lack of basic crypto skill around top political leaders.
Better software, hardware, air gaps and law reform will slowly correct many of the issues
The reality of https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/08/dea-and-nsa-team-intelligence-laundering [eff.org] is now for good lawyers to understand and consider.
Re:Slavery mentality in the USA still very strong (Score:4, Informative)
All it takes is 1% of surviving owners placed within state or federal structures. And you don't have too look very far. Just look at prominent politicians from South Carolina and their beliefs. Somehow slavery legacy still lives on.
Well, you don't get much more prominent as a politician than US Senator, so let's look [google.com]* at Senator Tim Scott, R-SC. He certainly looks like he's descended from slaveowners rather than slaves, right?
Also, Senator Scott took office after his predecessor resigned to take a different job; in South Carolina the Governor appoints a new Senator in this instance. Governor Nikki Haley, R-SC, who appointed Scott, is also a fairly prominent South Carolina politician. (After all, she's the governor.) Haley's parents immigrated from India; she isn't descended from slaveowners either.
You're talking out you ass about descendants of slaveowners. It's an easy rhetorical trick, but it's very clearly false.
*For those that aren't going to click the link, it goes to a Google Image Search showing pictures of Senator Scott, who is an African American.