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Snowden Gives Alternative Christmas Message On Channel 4
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."
Just think about it for a sec...
If an Iranian or Russian version of Snowden had defected to the [mighty] USA, we would be trumpeting our "superior" system and way-of-life as compared to "those other nations."
We would be saying we're glad to be living here where ther's the "rule of law" yada yada yada...
But because he was one of us, our government is instead labeling him as a traitor. Sadly, a good number of Americans don't see the hipocrisy!!
...and be surveilled on CCTV while they walk to/from the park on public sidewalks, and be surveilled yet again by cameras installed at the park.
Ed's point stands.
I appreciate what Snowden is saying, but perhaps fewer narcissistic platitudes and more documents on the front pages? Snowden isn't Jesus, the more he toots "It's not about me", the more it becomes about him
Jesus Fucking Christ, this man is going to spend the rest of his life, in extreme, rational fear for his life, and the lives of anyone he has ever, or will ever love. Cut the man some fucking slack you asshole.
> Jesus Fucking Christ, this man is going to spend the rest of his life, in extreme, rational fear for his life, and the lives of anyone he has ever, or will ever love. Cut the man some fucking slack you asshole.
Hopefully you're wrong. Hopefully he'll be caught and no longer be in fear.
It sounds like you are OK with his being imprisoned and/or tortured and/or executed, and the same for anyone who was ever close to him, and perhaps another love-hop from there because authorities believe it makes the crucifixion more effective?
Snowden appears to have done the right thing, for the right reasons. He served our best interests.
Then who is it about? Who is actually standing up and doing something about this?
The definition of a narcissist is someone who excessively admires his or herself. I don't see how sacrificing one's own career, income, relationships, freedom to travel, reputation, and subjecting himself to ridiculous criticism and smear campaigns is compatible with that definition.
Edward Snowden has made sacrifices on behalf of principles we should all be standing up for. That has little to do with self-love.
Snowden is in a precarious position at present. He has to rely on the good will of other countries to protect him from America, who quite possibly would give him the death sentence (or failing that imprison him for the rest of his life). By keeping himself in the minds of the global population he adds incentive to those protecting him; they get to be the 'good guy' by doing so. In short, this isn't narcissism, it is self preservation.
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
"
(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.
"
> 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.
The majority of posts, on /. of all places, slamming Snowden for "blah blah blah, PR, narcissist, looking to make money off this."
This guy has effectively destroyed his own life, and the lives of those around him, to tell us, the plebs of the world, the truth that our Governments have been hiding from us.
And you're tearing a strip off him?
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.