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US Lawmakers Want Sanctions On Any Country Taking In Snowden
An anonymous reader points out this story about the latest effort by the U.S. to get Edward Snowden back in the country. "A U.S. Senate panel voted unanimously on Thursday to seek trade or other sanctions against Russia or any other country that offers asylum to former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, who has been holed up for weeks at a Moscow airport.
The 30-member Senate Appropriations Committee adopted by consensus an amendment to a spending bill that would direct Secretary of State John Kerry to meet with congressional committees to come up with sanctions against any country that takes Snowden in."
So we know that the NSA lied to Congress and about half of the representatives want to stop the spying that Snowden told us about. That would seem to make the implication that Congress has realized that the few people who actually seem to care are in the majority against it. So Snowden shouldn't be that big a fish. We have federal laws against illegal immigration but the feds have decided not to put any effort into enforcement since it isn't popular. We have federal laws against marajuana, but with states making it legal, the feds have decided not to put any effort into enforcement. Now we have one guy and enforcement isn't popular, but yet they're making a big deal of enforcement?
On the one hand, I kinda get it, you have to enforce the laws to keep your secrets safe. On the other hand they're doing that already and have made it impossible for Snowden to return to the US without likely imprisonment. Isn't that more than enough? I'm surprised they'd do something to harm international relations over it.
Is it possible that Snowden has more information they're afraid that he'll turn over to another government? If he does, what could it be to be worth this witchhunt? It reminds me of Assuange which became a much bigger witchhunt than it seemed to warrant. I'm beginning to think that there must be some really ugly skeletons in the closet if Congress is this worried about people spilling secrets.
Someone needs to remind these assholes that economic sanctions are an act of war.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
No shit. I hope most of South America bands together and gives the US the finger. If the US sanctions one country, every one should sanction the US back. The existence of Snowden is 100% the fault of the US (for violating rights and for not controlling security). But the only way they can hide their human rights abuses is to attack another country.
that's why they are doing this. Classic misdirection 101
I'd go as far as to suspect that Snowden is actually a plant and the whole debacle has been staged as a distraction. But it also brings secret information out into the public without the CIA / NSA / ??? having to own up to it. What's had me wondering since this whole Snowden thing blew up is .. why is he getting so much attention? There are hundreds upon hundreds of whistleblowers (search youtube for 'CIA whistleblower') out there .. but ONLY Snowden gets publicity.
.. the NEOCON's philosophy is to unite a people by pointing out a common enemy (real or ficticious) around which to rally. And never forget that these NEOCON's don't respect your intelligence .. they expect you to be blind, obedient and well programmed by the media. What happens when Russia falls? Generate a new 'threat' ... invisible terrorism! If that fails? Invisible cyber war! If that fails? Setup a circumstance for Russia to be the big bad enemy again!
... right???
Snowden works for the CIA, he comes out publically as a 'whistleblower' with information that is already public, the media promotes him, it takes attention away from the failing government and their clandestine manipulation of the populace. And what happens? OH Russia gives him 'Asylum' where he is of course trusted and bam! He's in Russia, talking with the secret police groups over there and once again, Russia is the big bad enemy which the US HAS to beat! The red enemy rises again!
Always remember
It worked before, it's bound to work again
Any country that gets sanctioned over Snowden (as *if* that weren't just a massive bully bluff!!) should immediately stop using USDs for any form of commerce, commercial, public, or private. They should outlaw possession and even conversion of USDs to every person and entity in their dominion, outside of a brief redemption grace period (of say 3 months).
That would BTFD on the entire Petrodollar hegemonic complex!!!
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i think most americans would agree with you that the US government is retarded... in our declaration of independence, it stated we had a DUTY to rebel against a government that strips us of our rights. and here they are trying to punish someone who was fulfilling his DUTY as an american.
Except he sent encrypted thumb drives to undisclosed number of journalists by personal courier all over the world.
If he dies or gets disabled or locked up and can't convincingly communicate with any number of other undisclosed fail safes, these people will all contact the journalists or otherwise publicly publish the encryption keys.
Then all hell breaks loose.
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your people however would starve to death or die of dehydration
These politicians don't care about the people. They're only in it for their self interests. If imports fail, who gives a fuck .. the wealthy elite will be fine, only the people dependent upon them will starve to death. And there's nothing the people can do .. the people are even shouting for citizen disarmament while the politicians build up more and more armed power for the state.
.. wake the fuck up.
What was once a fine example of shining freedom has devolved into a plutocratic dictatorship. Fine citizens of the USA
conspiracy theory:
Ike was right. the military industrial (espionage) complex has been in charge since ww2.
when a man gets elected president or a congressman gets influential enough he's taken into a room and shown shit worse than video of jfk's head blowing apart from the vantage point of the grassy knoll.
in exchange for putting on the dog and pony show to keep the masses happy while they rule the scene, the mic makes the pols rich and comfy and doesn't kill lots of people.
the survellience state has tipped the balance of power too far to the mic. ultimate data center is about to come on line, plus, maybe, autonomous drones so theres no soldiers in the way to object to illegal orders.
pols are freaking out. they're no longer needed to keep the masses in line, but they're still hostages who can't say what's really going on.
pols act fucking insane and completely off script to maybe wake some people up to save them and everyone else before it's too late.
it's already too late.
It is yet to be seen how effective an insurance program it is, as it also provides incentives to any nation who dislikes the US to kill him simply so the information gets released.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Ironically, when I managed a drone surveillance related research project, and about a quarter of my budget disappeared, my company blocked my ability to see where it went. My government customer didn't seem to care very much either.
A reason there's less outrage in congress about the NSA spying, is they've grown so accustomed their own corruption that they don't recognize it anymore. They diss Snowden's integrity as moral preening because that's the only explanation for his behavior they can understand.
It is not just that the US is going to end up with a dictatorial government, but that the stage is being set for the new world order and the world dictator that is predicted to come that has been labeled the antichrist. With the coming New World order will be a cashless computerized worldwide economic system where every transaction between people will be tracked. It is also necessary to be able to track and eliminate any opposition to such a world dictatorship. To do this reliably it requires enormous worldwide computing and data storage facilities, just exactly like the kind that the NSA and other governments are building right now. It is all moving toward the Mark of the Beast, without which no one will be allowed to buy or sell. We already have precursors to that future system solidly embedded in our culture. Try to get a job without a Social Security number or rent a car without some sort of credit card. Just try to imagine what Adolf Hitler or Stalin could have done, if today's technology had been available in those days.
A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
An American citizen told the rest of the American citizens (and, by extension) the world what their government was up to.
Suppose he goes to (say) Ecuador. So now the American government wants to use force against any American who wants to engage in mutually-beneficial trade with an Ecuadorian, to the mutual harm of both? Neither of them has anything to do with geopolitics -- they just want to trade bananas for tractors, or whatever it is, and really wish their governments would fuck right off and let them do it.
We have governments because they're supposed to make our lives better, but how is this wankery good for anyone?
I think you are making the mistake of not thinking the PRC already owns some of those companies that the NSA is outsourcing to. Think about it. If the NSA had the headcount to check out them out properly they wouldn't have needed to outsource!
With Snowdon we're just seeing a failure due to a very stupid way of funnelling money out of the taxpayers hands into the pockets of friends of the powerful. Doing it that way instead of in-house means an almost total lack of oversight over tens of thousands of people that could have leaked like Snowdon. I wonder how many of those are already on the payroll of foreign powers? There used to be rumours of US agencies asking Mossad to tell them what other US agencies wouldn't tell them, I wonder if the sprawl has got so bad that the Russians or Chinese could be asked as well?
"...Dancing With the Stars is on, never mind."
Unfortunately, you probably describe the apathy of a great deal of Americans accurately with that comment--it truly saddens me. However, I did notice that your comment was moderated Insightful rather then Funny. I take some solace in that, for it isn't really funny at all and others apparently agree.
I composed and sent two emails today.
The first was sent to Rick Larsen to inform him that he will not be receiving any votes from our extended family that live in his district (including myself) as a result of his voting Nay in regards to the Amash Amendment (#100) of HR2397. He lost 11 votes from constituents just within my own family--if only a little over 1% of this district feels the same as my family does, he is done here in Washington State. He won by a mere 1% in the last election.
The second email went to Patty Murray in regards to the Senate Appropriations Committee vote we are currently discussing--I think squeezing other nations over what amounts to a whistle-blower is horrible foreign policy, and expect any nation subject to such reprisals to become hostile and uncooperative in the future. I then informed her that she too lost 11 votes for that decision. Patty Murray won the last election by just 2% of the vote.
So, it isn't as bad as it looks in terms bringing about change--voting out those that are complicit in undermining the Constitution of the United States, undermining our standing in the global community and betraying the trust of the American People is quite doable. The hard part will be finding honorable people to run in their place, but hey, you've got to start somewhere. Write those emails. It's really no more difficult then posting here on Slashdot.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
BlameBillCosby.com