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Edward Snowden and Laura Poitras Win Truth-Telling Award

Posted by Unknown on from the tell-the-truth-and-go-to-jail dept.

An anonymous reader writes with news that Snowden has received the Ridenhour Truth-Telling award. From the announcement: "We have selected Edward Snowden and Laura Poitras for their work in exposing the NSA's illegal and unconstitutional bulk collection of the communications of millions of people living in the United States. Their act of courage was undertaken at great personal risk and has sparked a critical and transformative debate about mass surveillance in a country where privacy is considered a constitutional right." The award will be presented at the National Press Club. It is hoped that Snowden and Poitras will be able to appear remotely (Poitras is in effective exile in Berlin). In related news, the ACLU has indexed all publicly released documented leaked by Snowden. You can even full-text search them.

123 comments

  1. To tell the truth by smittyoneeach · · Score: 2, Funny

    To tell the truth
    My beard, forsooth
    Craveth proper soap
    E'er since me youth
    Burma Shave

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    1. Re:To tell the truth by invictusvoyd · · Score: 1

      Bradley Manning's clean shaven beard told the truth too forsooth !
      That sly rat! Adrian Lemo , ratted him right to good ol Guantanamo !!

      ________________
      Dolaateral Cabbage

    2. Re:To tell the truth by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 1

      Don LaFontaine:

      "In a world, where Truth is forbidden... Where Justice - is a threat... and Treason means having the courage to do what's Right...
      Sometimes, there's a chance for one man to make a difference, and risk it all... So others can reach the summit and see the light."

      This summer, is the summer of.. Snowden.

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    3. Re:To tell the truth by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 3, Interesting

      WHY WE WILL NEVER LEARN

      Thomas Polgar, the last CIA station chief in Vietnam, died in March at the age of 92. His obit is in today’s New York Times. And here's Polgar himself, remembering the fall of Saigon. As well as, in this brief aside, the war criminal Henry Kissinger.

      One day I had an opportunity to ask Mr. Kissinger what he thought of our intelligence. Not speaking of Vietnam, but generally. He was getting this big flow of intelligence from CIA world wide at the time. What did he think of the value of it? And he thought for a moment and then he said, "Well, when it supports my policy, it’s very useful." And I think we are here at the heart of the problem. It is that American policy is not formulated in response to what the intelligence shows. We first formulate the policy and then we try to find the intelligence to support it.

      It is interesting to speculate what might have happened if Truman had decided to let the country continue to bumble along, as it had somehow since 1776, without any "intelligence" agency at all. No Shah of Iran, hence no hostage crisis and no Ronald Reagan. No U2, hence no refreezing of the Cold War. No Bay of Pigs, hence no Cuban Missile Crisis. No arming of the Taliban, to teach those Russians a lesson. No Weapons of Mass Destruction, hence no The list goes on and on. The CIA stands in relation to the White House as the drug dealer stands to the addict.

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
  2. Which just goes to show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that lying is the norm. Must. Why else award?

    Elise
    Rm 509b

    1. Re:Which just goes to show by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      *sigh* Yes, yes, we know Obama got a Nobel Peace Price and nobody knows why, can we finally drop it? Everyone knows those things are mostly for show by now anyway.

      What's it got to do with the topic, anyway?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Which just goes to show by NotDrWho · · Score: 3, Interesting

      We are in sad shape when we give awards to traitors.

      Are you talking about Snowden or the many criminals in the NSA and CIA who have won awards over the years?

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    3. Re:Which just goes to show by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Ok, sorry for the knee-jerk reaction. Let's try to be more level headed.

      You know what's most astonishing about an award to a "traitor", given by the very same country he "betrayed", really is? That it is given. Think back through history. Can you imagine an award for Julius Rosenberg, given by any kind of US institution? Or let's be less "dramatic", any idea how a criminal of any kind would be given an award by his own country?

      Can you imagine what kind of support for a "crime" it takes that the "criminal" gets an award for it? And we're not talking about a spy having backing in the country he spies from. That the Rosenbergs were seen as heroes in the USSR is a given. But we're talking about support for what he has done, without a doubt against the interests of the US government, and the support that he gets for it within the US.

      That alone tells me more about the US government and how well the US people feel represented by said government than about the "criminal".

      A government should represent its people, and the will of the people. That's the only reason, the only right, a government has to exist if it is supposed to be just and justified. If a government does not do that and instead prosecutes someone who does actually execute what is identified as the will of the people, then I have to admit it is kinda hard to tell for me who is the criminal here, the whistleblower or the government.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:Which just goes to show by MorbidBBQ · · Score: 1

      If only my mod points didn't just expire. :( +1 funny.

    5. Re:Which just goes to show by Chrisq · · Score: 2

      that lying is the norm.

      I told you before Yoda, leave poor Norm alone

    6. Re:Which just goes to show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't know who Snowden betrayed, but as an American, he certainly didn't betray me. However, those supporting the NSA's disgusting activities certainly are betraying the American people.

    7. Re:Which just goes to show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The medal has nothing to do with honor (read the citation and orders each has). It has to do with bravery, but Medal of Bravery sounds foolish. Like they say, let the fools... If you want to say, everyone in the US armed forces is without bravery, then you'd be close to the truth. And no, you get no medal for that!

    8. Re:Which just goes to show by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      My point was that if the word used has shades of meaning, you can't just grab the first thing from the dictionary and reinterpret the whole term without context. That goes as much for the MoH as for this Truth-Telling Award (I'm not sure if that's a proper name).

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    9. Re:Which just goes to show by Sique · · Score: 2

      We are in a sad shape when the whole population of the own country is considered "the enemy". And only then "helping and abedding the enemy" is a valid accusation. If you think otherwise, then any published news would be treason, because each news also helps the enemy.

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    10. Re:Which just goes to show by BitZtream · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      The NSA spying on American's is wrong and should be called out.

      The NSA spying on the rest of the world IS DOING THIER FUCKING JOB.

      If you're too naive to understand how politics work and think that our 'allies' aren't trying to do the same then you're just ignorant and small-minded, but still wrong.

      Snowden could have called them out on what was wrong, and he would have been a hero.

      What he did was steal a bunch of shit and spew it to the first people he could hand it off to, only a small portion of which was actually criminal and wrong.

      No doubt, they did break the law (constitution), but that doesn't justify releasing all the other crap that was ENTIRELY LEGAL AND WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING. That made him a traitor.

      I'm sorry if you can't make distinctions between different things, you should work on that. One good thing does not magically negate one bad thing.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    11. Re:Which just goes to show by BitZtream · · Score: 1

      Contrary to your tiny minded view of the world, not everyone at the NSA is the same.

      Its amazing how you can't distinguish between an organization and the people in it.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    12. Re:Which just goes to show by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      Everyone in the US armed forces is without honor.

      Is that you, Fred "Westboro Baptist Church" Phelps . . . ?

      I thought you were dead.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    13. Re:Which just goes to show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The NSA spying on the rest of the world IS DOING THIER FUCKING JOB.

      Snowden did not betray me by telling the world of the NSA's immoral spying. If those activities are part of their job, then their job is immoral, and I'm happy he gave us the specifics.

      We should not be doing this to innocent people or allies.

      If you're too naive to understand how politics work and think that our 'allies' aren't trying to do the same then you're just ignorant and small-minded

      Why do you complete morons always assume that people like me think that no one else is doing this sort of thing? Rather, it's not that I think no one else is doing it, *I don't care*. That justifies *nothing*.

      No doubt, they did break the law (constitution), but that doesn't justify releasing all the other crap that was ENTIRELY LEGAL AND WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING.

      What is legal is not always right. What is illegal is not always wrong.

      In this case, I'd say their supposedly legal activities were wrong.

      That made him a traitor.

      Not in my eyes.

      Thanks, Snowden.

    14. Re:Which just goes to show by lonOtter · · Score: 2

      The same? Maybe not. But at this point, anyone staying at the NSA is immoral. Ignorance is no longer an excuse, because the ignorance that these things are happening does not exist.

      --
      [End Of Line]
    15. Re:Which just goes to show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Snowden is just as much a traitor as Obamas office is.

      Which piece of furniture or office equipment do you suspect of betraying the country?

    16. Re:Which just goes to show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The NSA spying on the rest of the world IS DOING THIER FUCKING JOB.

      Stop repeating things that aren't true. Unless that country is actively at war with the US, then no. The NSA's espionage and computer fraud (writing malware, sabotaging systems, leaving other vulnerabilities that can be abused by anyone) are an illegal act of aggression and breaks our treaties. Might I remind you that not too long ago, the very same president that is supporting the NSA right now had also called out China for illegal hacking and himself called it an "act of war."

      This kind of bullshit being posted here just goes to show that shilling wins. I can't believe this kind of mindset has actually taken foot here.

    17. Re:Which just goes to show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whistleblower. Like a bobby's whistle. ALARM! Clearly Snowden has lied quite a bit. He (no idea about that chick) blew the whistle. Now if this were the Truthieness Award, then of course, but Truth Telling Award is some sort of translation cock up worry of dumping on, on cue and in queue!

    18. Re:Which just goes to show by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Its amazing how you can't distinguish between an organization and the people in it.

      Organisations are like soylent green: made of people. If "the NSA" is doing bad stuff that means people in the NSA were doing bad stuff.

      not everyone at the NSA is the same.

      Quite so. They have recently had at least one good, honourable person in they employ: Edward Snowden. That proves that not everyone at the NSA is necessarily bad.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    19. Re:Which just goes to show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The NSA spying on the rest of the world IS DOING THIER FUCKING JOB.

      As long as you are honest about it. I.e, after Obama explains to Angela Merkel and the rest of the European politicians that Europe is the enemy (along with every other country in the rest of the world).

      But that's not what's happening. What's happening is Obama is trying to convince European politicians that "the US is still your friend", while the NSA is doing their best to prove the opposite.

      So, if their job is to undermine the work of the elected politicians, yes, they are doing their job.

    20. Re:Which just goes to show by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      I'm from the Eastboro Sarcastist Church. People confuse us with them all the time.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    21. Re:Which just goes to show by Immerman · · Score: 1

      It's not the furniture, it's the room. You've got to watch those things, being all sneaky acting like they're nothing but empty space between the walls.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    22. Re:Which just goes to show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The NSA's job is to look out for our national security. Spying on our close allies and competitors of American corporations does not fall within that purview and violates treaties that we are a signatory to and the law in many other countries.

      The old "two wrongs make a right" argument when it comes to spying is tired and pathetic.

    23. Re:Which just goes to show by korbulon · · Score: 2

      It's funny how shrill some people get when exclaiming Snowden as a traitor, but how *very quiet* these same people are when mentioning that the US gubmint has not only violated the public trust, but also the constitution of the United States, that legal bedrock on which rests all the laws of the land - like it ain't no thing.

      Yeah, but Snowden: let's focus on him.

    24. Re:Which just goes to show by korbulon · · Score: 1

      This kind of bullshit being posted here just goes to show that shilling wins.

      Oh I wouldn't say they're winning, but by god they're certainly trying.

    25. Re:Which just goes to show by korbulon · · Score: 2

      You're a moron.

      You've just told us that you think the janitors at the NSA are as responsible as people like Snowden himself ... who you know ... HELPED TO ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT THIS SHIT IN THE FIRST PLACE.

      Jesus christ, you want so hard to hate the NSA that logical and thought go right out the window.

      GO HOME NSA YOU ARE DRUNK.

    26. Re:Which just goes to show by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      ...nothing but empty space between the walls.

      For some reason I read that as "empty space between the ears." I guess it's all this talk about politicians and the NSA fapping.

    27. Re:Which just goes to show by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

      You've just told us that you think the janitors at the NSA are as responsible as people like Snowden himself

      No I didn't. I merely pointed out that the presence of Snowden proves beyond doubt that good people are or have worked at the NSA.

      Jesus christ, you want so hard to hate the NSA that logical and thought go right out the window.

      No, honestly I just like winding you up because you're a nutter.

      It is funny though that Snowden (who you hate so much) proves the point (that you love so much) about having good people at the NSA.

      trolololololol

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    28. Re:Which just goes to show by ultranova · · Score: 1

      If you think otherwise, then any published news would be treason, because each news also helps the enemy.

      Well, ignorance is strength...

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    29. Re:Which just goes to show by daem0n1x · · Score: 1

      As someone living in that funny place called "the rest of the world" I say GET YOUR FUCKING SPYING JOB AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR FUCKING ASS.

      A few billion people agree with me. They say hello.

    30. Re:Which just goes to show by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 2

      I'm a US Citizen. I can assure you that Snowden did the exact opposite of acting as a traitor. I'm assuming you are also a US Citizen. You, however, have shown yourself incapable of determining the difference between treason and patriotism.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    31. Re:Which just goes to show by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 1

      NSA - Just following orders, like the SS did!

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    32. Re:Which just goes to show by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 2

      You mean like when we gave the White House to Dick Cheney after exposing our secret agent and her informants, thus rendering America blind in Iran's WMD programs?
      VERY selective outrage there!

    33. Re:Which just goes to show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If only he was living in a country with a rule of law, or some kind of whistle-blower protections he may have done just that.

    34. Re:Which just goes to show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The NSA spying on the rest of the world IS DOING THIER FUCKING JOB.

      You realise just doing their job is the same excuse as just following orders right?
      And terrorists 'just follow orders' and 'do their jobs' also.
      Why do you support terrorists?

    35. Re:Which just goes to show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're a moron.

      Oh, for fuck's sake, take your condescending arrogance and fuck off, will you...

      You're proving everyone else's point except your own, and you don't even realize it...

  3. the "What" award? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seriously, is this made up? I've never heard of this before. Is it prestigious in literary circles or something?

    1. Re:the "What" award? by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      It's not that hard to punch that into Wikipedia, is it?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. OK, that's kinda funny by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

    But as a veteran, it's really not funny.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    1. Re:OK, that's kinda funny by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      I'm just playing the logical chameleon (or mirror, if you will). It wasn't supposed to be funny.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re:OK, that's kinda funny by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

      I'm willing to see the logic at work.

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    3. Re:OK, that's kinda funny by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      There isn't any. That's why you have to point a mirror at such people occasionally, they won't see it otherwise.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    4. Re:OK, that's kinda funny by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

      I meant the logic of "If these are recognized as honorable, the rest must lack it by implication".
      In reality, our military is awash in honor, for all elected officials may not always employ it for honorable ends.

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    5. Re:OK, that's kinda funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But as a veteran, it's really not funny.

      Veterans are chumps and losers.

      Smart people don't care what veterans think, because we
      know that veterans live off our taxes instead of working in the private
      sector like a man would do.

    6. Re:OK, that's kinda funny by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Wow, I guess the words "rebuttal by sarcastic counterexample" would be lost on you to the same degree as my previous explanation. I guess the recent article about web page text skimming hurting reading comprehension was right!

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    7. Re:OK, that's kinda funny by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Actually, one might argue that a developed society has an obligation towards its military force equal to the obligations that the military has towards the rest of the nation. In fact, in the light of constantly lengthening lives and rising medical expenses, the old mantra about "saving the lives of American soldiers" (used for example as one of the arguments in favor of proceeding with the H&N nuclear bombings even when some people raised their objections) becomes ever more powerful as an argument for advanced military research: the only two options are to redirect equally large amounts of money towards caring for the masses of permanently disabled, or simply to fail in our social obligations. The latter feels significantly distasteful to me, and the former isn't much better. And the research could actually develop something useful for civilian applications (especially in the area of intelligent autonomous systems, it seems to me these days).

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    8. Re:OK, that's kinda funny by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

      Indeed, brevity can hurt finer shades of meaning.

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    9. Re:OK, that's kinda funny by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

      The real point of research is to have a big enough stick that everyone confines aggression to strong words.
      And it's one of those points of history that some of the better technological advances (e.g. radar) are due to war.
      But let's not rationalize too heavily here: war is "the evil that men do".

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    10. Re:OK, that's kinda funny by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      Not always.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  5. He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by NotDrWho · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It would go a long way towards making up for that embarrassment of giving Obama that award before he had even done anything.

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    1. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Laws need not be just. Neither do they have to be for the benefit of the majority of the population.

      Blind followers of laws have made dictatorships possible throughout the history of humanity. You think either Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia would have been possible without people who would just follow orders and uphold the law?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by NotDrWho · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If Snowden had done the "honorable" thing, he would honorably be buried in a prison right now under an honorable permanent gag order. And the honorable American people would still be completely clueless that the NSA was dishonorably monitoring and archiving every one of our phone calls and emails.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    3. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by erikkemperman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Snowden could have been honorable

      No. The NSA (and various other TLAs) have shown, again and again, that there the "proper channels" for whistleblowing are dead ends. Nothing will be fixed or improved, and for your troubles you'll be subjected to endless legal and extralegal hardship.

      Snowden apparently knew better than to fall into this trap. I don't think you're actually unaware of this, just trolling. But for others, perhaps, who might be genuinely interested: Thomas Andrews Drake.

      --
      Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
    4. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It would go a long way towards making up for that embarrassment of giving Obama that award before he had even done anything.

      Well, at least nobody proposes giving Obama "Truth-Telling award" these days. But then it's close to half a century ago already that Tom Lehrer stated "Political satire became redundant when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize."

      Maybe it needs to be renamed to "Peacemaker Prize" or "Peaciness Award" or something.

    5. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      He's just as much of a 'terrorist' as were the Founding Fathers who struggled to get rid of totalitarian control. He's just as much of a 'traitor' as were Mark Felt when he gave confidential information about Nixon's wiretaps on the DNC HQ to the media.

    6. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 2

      In fact, a lot of what both nations did was illegal under their own laws. People had to be told quietly to break the laws, and these orders were never written down. Of course, the two regimes were different - The New York Times won a Pulitzer Prize for covering up the left-wing regime's genocide.

      "Responding to criticisms that he and Khrushchev did not do enough to expose Stalin's crimes, former first deputy premier Anastas Mikoyan reportedly said: "We couldn't do that because then everyone would have known what scoundrels we were."

      That, too, is the difference between Communism and Nazism: the Communist scoundrels understood who they were because they realised the gulf separating them from the ideals they revered; the Nazis liked being scoundrels - that was their ideal."
      -- Alexander Mekhanik, Rossiyskaya Gazeta

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    7. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by BitZtream · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I said nothing about 'proper channels'.

      Blowing the top off the spying on US citizens would have been honorable. He would have been taking one for the team, so to speak.

      Grabbing a bunch of different shit, some of it state secrets and 100% legal and exactly what the NSA was supposed to do ... and just throwing it ALL out there ... thats where he went from hero to traitor.

      He wasn't trying to protect US citizens, he was trying to embarrass the NSA and the government, thats entirely different and thats why he's a traitor.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    8. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by erikkemperman · · Score: 2

      If not 'proper channels', what did you mean when you said Snowden 'could have been honorable'? He would still have had to flee the country, as it is abundantly clear from cases like Drake's that otherwise nothing much would happen about the issues raised, and it is likely that his personal life would have been wrecked, even worse than it is now.

      The NSA is supposed to protect the US national security. That does emphatically NOT include things like spying on allied heads of state, foreign competitors of US corporations, or the entire population of supposedly friendly nations. In other words, they are operating way, way, way beyond their brief. And the US taxpayers are funding this -- which is why even those revelations are still bona fide whisteblowing, if you ask me.

      --
      Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
    9. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by BitZtream · · Score: 1

      Can you not read? I stated it fairly clearly.

      Outting the spying on the US citizens, which is illegal ... honorable.

      Outting the operations of the NSA against other nations, which is legal AND THEIR JOB ... traitor.

      I'm not sure how I can make it any more clear, if you can't understand that you need to go see a doctor or at least close your slashdot account because you don't belong here.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    10. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by BitZtream · · Score: 0

      That does emphatically NOT include things like spying on allied heads of state, foreign competitors of US corporations, or the entire population of supposedly friendly nations

      Actually it does, its in their mandate, but don't let reality fuck up your selfish ignorant world view.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    11. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by BitZtream · · Score: 0

      The honorable thing would be to tell the world of the spying on US citizens and things that were actually illegal and wrong. Full Stop.

      Leaking documents about spying on other countries 'allies' or not, makes him a traitor. If you're too ignorant of politics to understand that all countries do their VERY BEST to spy on others, then you really don't have a place in this discussion. Spying on ALL other countries, 'allies' or otherwise, is the NSA's mandate.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    12. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by erikkemperman · · Score: 1

      Can YOU read? Because I think I addressed why I think your "traitor" epiphet does not apply here. And what you call the "honorable" way would have landed him in isolation, right quick, as is obvious from earlier attempts on the part of brave whistleblowers.

      if you can't understand that you need to go see a doctor or at least close your slashdot account because you don't belong here.

      Oh, grow up. I fail to see how you, or anyone for that matter, would be an authority on who does and does not belong here. And if I were inclined to be childish as well, I might point at our respective UIDs, and claim that I haven't belonged here for a while longer than you haven't :-)

      --
      Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
    13. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Leaking documents about spying on other countries 'allies' or not, makes him a traitor.

      No, blindly following illegal activities done by your government which go against your Constitution makes you a traitor.

      Telling the world just how unjust your government has become makes you a patriot.

      Spying on ALL other countries, 'allies' or otherwise, is the NSA's mandate.

      And the rest of the world doesn't give a sweet fuck about the mandate of the NSA.

      Only months before this story broke the US was braying about how China might be spying. So, either it would be perfectly OK for China to do so ... or countries get a choice to curtail spying activities in their countries.

      The US way overestimated how much the rest of the world was willing to put up with your shit for your own self interests.

      Because Americans are collectively self-entitled douchebags.

      Fuck you and your NSA.

    14. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by erikkemperman · · Score: 0

      Actually it does, its in their mandate, but don't let reality fuck up your selfish ignorant world view.

      [citation needed]

      Actually, you know what, don't bother. From your post history it's obvious that you are unable to engage in a discussion without childish namecalling. In particular, everyone who doesn't agree 100% with you is apparently stupid. I hope you'll grow up some day, and see just how statistically unlikely that is, but I don't see the point in spending any energy toward that goal.

      --
      Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
    15. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by geekoid · · Score: 1

      " way would have landed him in isolation, right quick, as is obvious from earlier attempts on the part of brave whistleblowers."
      based on.. what, exactly?

      You are clearly and intentional, missing his point.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    16. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by korbulon · · Score: 2

      No. The NSA (and various other TLAs) have shown, again and again, that there the "proper channels" for whistleblowing are dead ends. Nothing will be fixed or improved, and for your troubles you'll be subjected to endless legal and extralegal hardship.

      Yes. The problem with established whistleblower procedures in large institutions (both public and private) is that they act more like honeypots than proper feedback mechanisms which result in the problem being addressed, the perpetrators removed and punished, and the common good being served.

    17. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Actually. the NSA mandate is to watch all communication. Contrary to TV, there focus is on SIGINT, not on trying to get Micheal Weston, or what every you think they do. IT's even broke into group. A group monitors one type of country, G group another.

      As for the privacy issue, they rest solely on Michael Haydon, who decided that agency would use thinthread(thinnet?); which encrypted all the informaiton, and you would need a court order to decrypt what they need.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    18. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sigh. An apostrophe is not placed to announce "watch out, here comes an 're'"....

    19. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by erikkemperman · · Score: 1

      You are clearly and intentional, missing his point.

      I don't think I am. Certainly not on purpose.

      I'll admit to being a bit irritated by his tone, though, probably shouldn't have responded the way I did.

      BitZtream was arguing that whistleblowing on the spying on Americans is heroic, while doing same for (some of) their international operations is traiterous. I get that, but I countered that in my opinion this would still count as whistleblowing as it is all done on the taxpayer's dime. The question of what is, or isn't their mandate comes up.

      I maybe wrong (please provide citations, and I'll be happy to have learned something) but I figured the S in the acronym NSA means they have no business, say, pursuing economic targets. And at the end of the day, the mandate is -- or should be -- determined by the American people, and should be subject to change when these good people make clear that they believe some agency has gone off the rails.

      --
      Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
    20. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      "Outting the operations of the NSA against other nations, which is legal AND THEIR JOB"

      If it was all on the up and up, they wouldn't care if it was leaked. I hate to break it to you, but the NSA was not just "doing their job" overseas. This explains why you mistakenly think he is a traitor though; you have no idea what you are talking about.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    21. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

      You think either Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia would have been possible without people who would just follow orders and uphold the law?

      Or, more recently and anecdotally, just being identified as the ones willing to follow orders

    22. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by geekoid · · Score: 1

      You seem to think you can't be honorable and a traitor.

      He betray the trust of the government, hence 'traito'r. He may have done so for honorable reasons, but that doesn't make betraying your country any less traitorous.

      traitor
      trtr/Submit
      noun
      1.
      a person who betrays a friend, country, principle, etc.

      NSA is about SIGINT, which is what this was. If they had gone with thin thread, they could collect data and NOT have violated previous without a court.

      There mandate is to watch and track Signal Intelligence. It's refines, for example you have communist countries which are one group.. and non communist countries in another each with their own guidelines.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    23. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace Prize by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      The laws of Nazi Germany were EMBRACED as necessary to the safety of the German people. As Goering observed, any nation can be made to embrace war rhetoric. Just show the people that they are in danger, make them believe it, warn them against pacifists and intellectuals, make certain the people know just how evil and dangerous their enemies are...and they will fall in line. That, or Milner, explains the 'follow orders' effect. So, obedience is the human norm. The only way to get DISobedience is extreme action. So where is the American disobedience? Clearly, Americans are not that angry about loss of liberty. Clearly, Americans are 'afraid of the enemy'. Sigh. Score one for Right Wing B.S. bringing down another Republic!!

  6. Who knows if it is or isn't... by NormAtHome · · Score: 3, Informative

    Since the Supreme Court refused to rule on the latest challenge http://jurist.org/paperchase/2... we don't know if it is or isn't. In my opinion the original judge who said "that the program is likely unconstitutional" was correct, so the program continues to operate and probably faces years more worth of legal challenges.

  7. The truth is subjective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This award should be for defending humanity or something like that.

    "The truth" about lots of things really does not matter, like you could spend a lifetime naming leafs of grass that are green.

    But maybe they wanted the general American public to understand what this award is about, so they had to dumb it down.

    Bradley Manning should also recieve this award. He's not a traitor, but a defender of civillians. The US don't like it because their militairy has no accountability, that's the real problem. So everyone who tries to bring accountability to US forces is branded a traitor, sad to admit you don't want to improve the situation.

  8. Nobel Peace Prize? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    What for? He hasn't even killed a single person. Why should he qualify for the Peace Prize?

  9. sarcasm tag? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hopefully you're just being sarcastic, but in case you aren't. If you consider Snowden and others like him who reveal government lies, violations of the constitution, propaganda & backroom deals with private interest to be traitors what do you consider those who actually COMMIT those acts to be? It seems to me kind of like an individual getting angry at the plumber for finding their stash of stolen goods under the kitchen sink and telling the police instead of just "doing their job and keeping their mouth shut".

  10. Should appeal to his pathological narcissim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow. What an honor! This award should appeal to Snowden's smug, pathological narcissism. Congratulations Edward, your bloated, grotesquely self-involved ego has been recognized!

    1. Re:Should appeal to his pathological narcissim by Andover+Chick · · Score: 1

      And he should share the credit with all those excessively preoccupied with personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity!! Here's a salute to all those engrossed with thoughts and fantasies of great success, enormous attractiveness, power, intelligence!!!

  11. exile? by Rich_Lather · · Score: 2

    Exiles my arse. Poitras and Applebaum engage in self promotion by giving themselves the artificial "street cred" of self-declared exiles. Oh how hard it must be to blog from Berlin coffee shops while on the lam from the evil US government.

  12. Telepresence is interesting by spiritplumber · · Score: 1

    Suppose that I am a whistleblower or leaker, and the FBI wants to discuss the matter with me. Why can't I just send a telepresence machine to talk to them? If they have questions for Assange or Snowden, can't they just use Skype?

    --
    Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
    1. Re:Telepresence is interesting by Immerman · · Score: 1

      Don't be ridiculous. If you do that how are they supposed to drag you off to a windowless cell afterwards?

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    2. Re:Telepresence is interesting by spiritplumber · · Score: 1

      That's my point. If $GOV wants to talk to $HUMAN, they can do so in a mutually safe manner.

      --
      Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
    3. Re:Telepresence is interesting by Immerman · · Score: 1

      But what's in it for $GOV? Any time there is a significant power imbalance you can be virtually guaranteed it will be exploited, it's the natural order of things. You're not one of those Godless Pinko Muslim Commies that thinks governments should be bound by silly things like "human rights" and "the rule of law" are you?

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    4. Re:Telepresence is interesting by spiritplumber · · Score: 1

      What's in it for $GOV is that they are safe from $HUMAN, same as the other way round. It's impossible to have a civil conversation when anyone can use truncheons in places of arguments. If that's the case, I suggest having a refereed boxing match first, and then a conversation later.

      --
      Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
    5. Re:Telepresence is interesting by Immerman · · Score: 1

      But $GOV is not credibly threatened by $HUMAN, and so long as $GOV is the only one bringing truncheons to the conversation they're unlikely to complain about the situation. It's possible that $HUMAN could pose a risk of assassination or revolution - but the first is a perpetual concern that every politician in history has faced, iron-fisted or otherwise, and sufficiently invasive surveillance of the population offers a plausible preemptive defense against revolution.

      Basically, to get out of this hole we've dug I think we need either a grassroots mass uprising (which I think will require a lot more tightening of the fist first), or some credible argument that it's in the best interest of the politicians (and more importantly their puppet-masters) for them to relinquish their excessive power. And I'm just not having much luck coming up with such an argument.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  13. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace and War Prize by Framboise · · Score: 1

    The so-called "Peace" prize is indeed badly named. Other famous war makers, H-bomb creator, mass killing authors and terrorists got it:

    Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin (1994)
    Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat and Menachem Begin (1978)
    Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (1975)
    Henry A. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho (1973)

    So perhaps Edward Snowden and Laura Poitras have better not to be awarded
    the Nobel.

  14. How ironic by johnlcallaway · · Score: 1, Funny

    ... that someone who lied and manipulated people is given a 'truth telling' award.

    I guess it's OK to lie when you are getting what you want because the voices in your head are telling you it's the right thing to do.

    --
    I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
    1. Re:How ironic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who are you talking about? Why does it echoes here? Who am I writing to? Where is that bus going? So many questions in my head, hovering.

    2. Re:How ironic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... that someone who lied and manipulated people is given a 'truth telling' award.

      No, he was given the Nobel Peace prize. The "Truth Telling Award" was given to Snowden and Poitras, not to Obama.

  15. I have never seen a right to privacy in the US by oscrivellodds · · Score: 2

    Constitution. If it were there, we would not be having the problems we are currently having.

    1. Re:I have never seen a right to privacy in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4th admendment.

      "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

      Pretty fucking clear unless you're a pedantic little fuckwit looking to violate someones rights by arguing about electronic communication vs. paper.

      Even parts of the 5th and 6th could apply. And the 9th damm well does apply.

      Because you know it's fucking wrong and have to come up with some obscure technical point to even be close to 'right' to allow this widespread abuse.

      Personally i'm not sure why we're just TALKING about this crime right now. The crime is severe enough i would have to suggest we bring out the rope for treason aginst the people of the united states. Round up most of the TLA's and put an end to these criminals who commited such a monumental crime.

    2. Re:I have never seen a right to privacy in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In case you're curious about its origins:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griswold_v._Connecticut

  16. Half my age, 10 times the guts. by Geste · · Score: 1

    Risked everything. Gained nothing.

    Snowden.

    1. Re:Half my age, 10 times the guts. by geekoid · · Score: 0

      Gained nothing? I'll be the movie and book will make him some many while continuing to stroke his ego.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Half my age, 10 times the guts. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gained nothing? I'll be the movie and book will make him some many while continuing to stroke his ego.

      Money cannot buy you a home country, though you can sell it away for money and power. This asymmetry in being able buy and sell your fatherland leads to fewer and fewer people on Earth having a home country, in return for some few getting more and more money and power.

    3. Re:Half my age, 10 times the guts. by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 1

      yeah I'm sure having a film about yourself will gain you comfort when you have to live in hiding in a country that is unlike your 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice of places to live in for the rest of your life.

      I'm sure he;ll be in the history books and that too might be a nice to have but he's still living in hiding and that will make life shit so I'd still say that's gaining nothing.

    4. Re:Half my age, 10 times the guts. by geekoid · · Score: 1

      he isn't living in hiding. we know right were he is.
      He has a job, and if a book or movie makes him money, then Russia will be a fine place to live.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  17. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace and War Prize by Immerman · · Score: 1

    In fairness the creation of the H-bomb has appeared to have done a great deal for peace - witness the fact that there hasn't been an open war between nuclear powers since its invention, despite many lingering resentments and incentives. Not to mention the horror that would likely have been unleashed had only one side succeeded in their efforts - you can't reasonably argue that either side could have backed away from the project without condemning themselves to a fiery defeat.

    --
    --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  18. "prestigious in literary circles" by globaljustin · · Score: 1

    I look at wikipedia like breathing but it won't tell you how "prestigious" this award is in literary circles without more digging...

    --
    Thank you Dave Raggett
  19. ^downmod - troll by globaljustin · · Score: 0

    Parent is trolling...it's about getting people to comment not making a point...

    Sure, Obama received the Nobel Prize, and his critics can assuredly be relied upon to...um...criticize it...but the above comment is pure TROLL

    the fact that it has been modded "interesting" means that users are modding for their personal political beliefs not to foster discussion

    if this is "interesting" then you're an idiot

    --
    Thank you Dave Raggett
  20. Pretty amazing, if you think about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's story time kids. Let me tell you a story from the realm of -1 moderation, which is the circle where only certain things are allowed to be uttered. Once upon a time a guy breaks into bank. He indiscriminately steals millions from all accounts (big, snooty rich guys as well as fixed-income elderly). On his way out he drops a c-note in a beggars hat and the rest are given to shady ilk of ill repute. When he gets caught he gets hailed as a modern day Robin Hood. We love him because he stuck a finger in the eye of those big, bad rich guys and he gave it to the poor. How dare we question his motives! What gall to want to put him on trial! We must shower him with philanthropy awards! What a hero! How brave he must be for breaking into the bank in the first place! We need more people like him!

  21. hmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Disenfranchised by his experience in the Army.
    Has documented narcissism.
    Feels his view are right an everyone else is wrong.
    Somehow lands a 200k a year job working with classified SIGINT with no education
    Somehow lands a hot girlfriend out of nowhere.
    Downloads and makes public all his informaiton in order to satisfy his views.
    Much o that documentation exposes SIGINT information about the rest o the world, particularly Group A countries
    Ends up at a country that is most impacted by SIGINT.
    Ends up with a job in that country.

    Man, it's like the good ol' days are back..sadly.

  22. Seek professional help by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your condition clearly hasn't improved in years. You really should seek professional help.

  23. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace and War Prize by cavreader · · Score: 1

    It's ironic that the H-bomb has indeed stopped war on the scale of WW2 since it's development but today the advances in missile defense could very well do the opposite. Any country sitting on a nuclear stockpile of missiles would lose their ultimate defense if the missiles are rendered useless against a robust missile defense system. The defense systems are only going to get better and it won't be long before orbital defense platforms get added to the mix regardless of any treaty about weaponizing space.

  24. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace and War Prize by Immerman · · Score: 1

    Weapons for Peace! Defenses for War! I think you win this weeks prize for appropriate use of the word irony, and here it is only Tuesday.

    On the plus side hasn't China been doing some serious research into surface-to-orbit weapons? That should be useful for eliminating orbital defenses, and I'm sure the other Powers are stealing the technology as fast as it's developed. Regional defenses will be a separate issue, and yeah, I don't really see any way to counter them, except via the old tried-and-true missile spamming. Can you detect and destroy all ten expensive shielded warheads among the thousand simultaneously launched cheap incoming missiles?

    On the other hand, I have a sinking feeling that food shortages and a changing climate are going to make WWIII virtually inevitable within the next century or so, so perhaps it's best that we have some defenses against our doomsday weapons, if only to give us added incentive to stick to mostly more conventional warfare. After all if you're hoping to invade there's not much point in irradiating enemy territory with intercepted missile debris on the off-chance of taking out your target, and if you're defending then irradiating the invader's homeland is going to largely remove their option to fall back and try to scrape by - probably a bad move unless they're in *really* bad shape to begin with.

    --
    --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  25. But.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's done by the same people that selected Obama for the Nobel Peace Prize.

    1. Re:But.. by doccus · · Score: 1

      It's done by the same people that selected Obama for the Nobel Peace Prize.

      Ever since that travesty, every single person who ever received the Nobel Peace prize has been trashed. It's a worthless trinket now.

  26. Re:He should get the Nobel Peace and War Prize by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    China's orbital defense system only shot down a very low orbit satellite that was in the process of re-entering the atmosphere. The US used an ASAT from an Aegis destroyer to basically do the same thing. Military satellites are not in low orbit and they are also able to move if necessary. Multi-warhead ICBMS are vulnerable in their boost phase as well as vulnerable to electronic countermeasures to disrupt the guidance systems. The US is the only country so far that has demonstrated the capability to destroy satellites from space using it's X-37 drone space plane. Today's existing missile defense systems can be overcome by saturation but the ongoing technology advances in rail gun and laser based weapons could eventually overcome that problem.

  27. Obama by Pseudonymus+Bosch · · Score: 1

    It would be more embarrassing if they gave Obama the award after he did anything.

    --
    __
    Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
    GW Bu
  28. How come... by doccus · · Score: 1

    How come the US has so many exiles for supporting the constitution? Shouldn't supporting the constitution be legal instead of a threat to ones life and liberty?

  29. And now....... by CHIT2ME · · Score: 0

    Now if Snowden would only compete in the running for the.....FACE THE CONSEQUENCES AWARD!

    --
    My karma is bad. Don't get too close!!!
  30. Hey bigmouth bullshit artist... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See you here http://tech.slashdot.org/comme... you bigmouthed little nobody...

    APK

    P.S.=> Have the balls to show up there in the link above to reply to it (& NOT days later like you did, LONG after I left that thread!)

    NOW, in the link above, I simply tore you apart in it vs. your "so-called 'points'" that you "amended" bogusly, changing your parameters/constraints there!

    (& I am going to rip you a new asshole there YET AGAIN, publicly, for your BIG mouth you little shit - prepare to be utterly humiliated, publicly...)

    ... apk