Snowden Joins Twitter, Follows NSA

wiredmikey writes: Edward Snowden joined Twitter Tuesday, picking up more than a quarter of a million followers on the social network in just over two hours. Snowden followed a single Twitter account: the U.S. National Security Agency, from which he stole electronic documents revealing the agency's secret surveillance programs. "Can you hear me now?" he asked in his first tweet, which was quickly resent by Twitter users tens of thousands of times. In his second, Snowden noted the recent news about the planet Mars and then quipped about the difficulty he had finding asylum after the U.S. government fingered him as the source of the NSA leaks. "And now we have water on Mars!" he wrote. "Do you think they check passports at the border? Asking for a friend."

Comments

Putin's tool

[mi]

Snowden followed a single Twitter account: the U.S. National Security Agency

Khm, I wonder, why he is not following Kremlin's accounts. Just to, you know, hold Putin accountable...

Re:Putin's tool

[mi]

for the freedom of his country and the world

Nice. Except our country's freedoms are not endangered by the NSA. They are endangered by the dangerous ideas, that it is Ok — noble even — to vote somebody else's money towards "the less fortunate" (including, of course, the voter in question personally).

Compared to that threat, the grave-sounding terms like "police state" and "pervasive surveillance" are nothing more than sad scarecrows in the rain — with straw sticking out of them and the crows nesting in their heads.

Nor is the NSA a threat to the rest of the world — far worse surveillance has always been accepted as given in the USSR and in Russia, for example. And in China. And, despite the curious lack of world-wide mass-protests against him, Putin is a far worse threat to the world peace, than Obama or Bush before him.

Re:Putin's tool

[mi]

The NSA is a tool which can, and has been, used for bad as well as good.

I agree, that they are dangerous, but I'm not aware of anybody actually suffering because of them without deserving it. In stark contrast with the KGB, whom our hero is implicitly supporting every day he is there...

NSA data used in parallel construction allowing fabrication of data to arrest people. Data shared with all levels of law enforcement including state, city, county.

I don't think, you worded it right — NSA data is used for capturing criminals. "Parallel construction" is then used to hide NSA's involvement. But it has not been used to frame innocent people. Nor can it — "parallel construction" helps police lie about how they knew of the accused's wrong-doing, but the target must be engaged in some criminality in the first place.

NSA data used to squash dissent and opinions.

I think, you meant the IRS here.

cops always being in force exactly where needed to disperse people well before a gathering.

If the particular demonstration is, indeed, illegal, cops being there — whether it is with the NSA's help or not — is a good thing. Unlike the IRS audits, such police actions do not target ideas — merely enforce local ordinances.

NSA data used to mark US citizens as dangerous because they support the wrong party or organization

No need to use NSA for that — Ron Paul is out in the open and the IRS is demanding (and getting) lists of "haters" from Conservative organisations by itself.

Think bigger, because the people in power do.

Sure. And yet, I remain convinced, that the belief of the voters, that it is Ok to vote other people's money to their own benefit, is the main source of danger. Not only does it actually rob those other people of what's rightfully theirs, it also attracts the worst kind folk into government to do the robbing and to divide the spoils. It is these assholes, who will eventually misuse the NSA in the manner you are predicting too.

Re:He better hope they don't catch him

[mi]

Neah, he is safe in Russia. You know, the nice free country, were renegade government employees are never tortured — merely given tea with radioactive poison in it.

Re:Let's Remember He's a Fugitive

[fnj]

He has escaped to a country that we cannot extradite him from to face charges that he has committed against the US government.
In short, he is a criminal and a fugitive. We should not be celebrating his gloating and continuing flouting against American justice.

Hopefully, the NSA will be able to lean on twitter to geolocate his posts, and drop a bunker buster on him.

Fuck you. Eat shit and die, you disgusting foul tool.