Slashdot Mirror
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."
The torture will be nonstop.
This will make it easier for his Russian monitors to keep an eye on him.
I would probably be sad if I knew that I would never again be able to return home or travel because I had exposed the illegal practices of my government.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
What is he doing in Russia? If he's still there. Admittantly I haven't been following the story that closely. But how does he have a computer or food? Does he have a job? Is he working for the Russian government? If that's the case I'd have to say he's just traded one evil for another.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Snowden got a facebook account and liked the EFF!
That's it... I'm off the planet...
Khm, I wonder, why he is not following Kremlin's accounts. Just to, you know, hold Putin accountable...
Just because Russia is worse doesn't mean America isn't bad. If you really want to speak out against the abuses of the Medici, you're going to need the protection of the Borgias first. Hypocritical? Sure. But I'm afraid that's just how Renaissance Italy works.
He was just a low/mid-level analyst who leaked a bunch of shit. Why are people treating him like any sort of authority on anything?
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
According to most, Snowden did his patriotic duty. You don't even have the sack to post with a registered account, yet you're going to be judge jury and executioner for this man? If even a small fraction of the world had half the courage of this man our collective western society would be much better. Like it used to be.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
While this is certainly a publicity stunt - it's definitely an entertaining one.
If Snwoden believes he was "holding Putin accountable" that demonstrates some major league naivety
> Khm, I wonder, why he is not following Kremlin's accounts.
He gave up his cushy life in paradise - literally paradise - for the freedom of his country and the world. Now you expect him to risk his only refuge to tell us all what we already know? What have you done for the world, chickenhawk?
We know the Russian government is evil, spies on its citizens. We know. Pointing it out continually does not diminish the Orwellian nightmare that the U.S. government has become, or diminish the heroism that was required for Snowden to ever accomplish what he did.
I know you don't care because you're shills, I'm only letting you know that your ad hominem arguments are 100% ineffective and you should move on to something better. Thanks.
"And now we have water on Mars!" he wrote. "Do you think they check passports at the border? Asking for a friend."
I wonder if he is finally going to reveal alien life with what was confirmed on Mars, his "alien" friend remark and the US-Mexico border reference?
oh give ma damn break
the CIA director lies to congress, and orders hackers to infiltrate senate intelligence committee computers... and Snowden's the Criminal ?
who do you think is celebrating with our tax dollars, lying about it and getting away with it ?
pathetic.
You are remarkably restrained in the face of imbecility. As well as lucid. I admire you.
How about the fact that the NSA is only "following" 109 accounts on Twitter? I thought they followed everyone!
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
Oh, he may have wisen up by now. But that's what happens when young people — even the brighter among them — are raised by the teachers, who seriously equate Beria with McCarthy and Castro with Pinochet. And by now it is increasingly harder to blame even those teachers — when their own professors are "former" terrorists themselves.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Can I point out that the NSA is only doing what the current administration tells them to do and that it is President Obama that has not pardoned him and is pushing for his arrest?
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
The NSA has been following him for a long time now...
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Right, because launching a missile filled with high explosives at a target in Moscow certainly wouldn't be interpreted as an act of war by anyone...
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Pretty sure it's affected his brain, if he thinks bombing Russian soil wouldn't have any negative repercussions.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
The right equation is Beria:McCarthy::Castro:Pinochet.
Linux is for people who don't mind RTFM.
The NSA is a tool which can, and has been, used for bad as well as good. They have too much power and too little public accountability. A rifle is similarly a tool. In the right hands it can put food on the table and defend a family. In the wrong hands it can murder and maim innocent people. Here are a few highlights that we know happen, and we have no evidence that anything has changed since the Snowden leaks.
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.
NSA data used to squash dissent and opinions. You know better than cops always being in force exactly where needed to disperse people well before a gathering.
NSA data used to mark US citizens as dangerous because they support the wrong party or organization. See Ron Paul followers in numerous States, and more recently the IRS targeting of certain groups. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Now from what we know, there is plenty we can logically speculate. Think bigger, because the people in power do.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
...our collective western society would be much better. Like it used to be.
It used to be better? When?
The far more apt comparison would be of Beria (responsible for millions dead) vs. McCarthy (responsible for dozens laid off). Quantity transcending into quality and all that...
Good point, Putin just kills individuals. The U.S. government destroys whole countries.
Like Japan and Germany? Or Ukraine? Or Afhganistan? Or Czechoslovakia?
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
I'm sure the Russians wouldn't object to that one bit. *eyeroll*
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
McCarthy didn't get people laid off. He ruined entire careers.
"Old man yells at systemd"
Apparently you are not familiar with the work of the CIA...children...
Good idea a drone strike in Russia. So you think that hes worth starting a major war over. Man im glad people like you are not in positions of power.
Putin is a far worse threat to the world peace, than Obama or Bush before him.
Putin is no peace neck for sure, he isn't a good guy by any stretch and probably isn't doing what is in the best interest of the nation he leads but to suggest he is a bigger threat to world peace than Obama is silly.
Putin's invasions of foreign nations have all been of neighboring or nearly so territories with for the most part pretty clear economic or militarily strategic reason for Russian interest. Georgia being his most naked land grab.
The other instances like Ukraine happened after potentially hostile western entities (like us) started meddling in affairs there. Was the government of Ukraine a good one, no, but we had no business backing the revolutionaries and we had no business supporting the ouster of the sitting president for which there was no legal process of impeachment. We helped depose a lawfully elected leader who was friendly to Putin and replace him with an unlawfully elected leader who favored the EU.
While Bush and Obama invade nations that never really posed any threat to us. Libya was helping us with the 'war on terror' Obama turned a more or less orderly if less than 'free' nation into another hell hole for no reason at all. We fucked Pakistan up more than it already was shortly before that. Bush while at least going about it legally with an congressional authorization went looking for any excuse to stir up IRAQ and went in on thin evidence....
How do think Obama would react if Russia backed a coup in Mexico and replaced the government with one openly hostile to the US? Do you think we would just sit by and allow that?
I am not saying I like Putin's behavior but I am saying its quite understandable, and seems entirely rational to me. He isn't crazy, and I don't think he is exactly the provocateur in many cases either. He certainly is taking advantage of certain situations perhaps in way that exceeds a balanced response but these are doors opened for him by Obama behavior and policy more so than anyone else. Syria is the same call would we allow Russia to undermine our foot hold in the Middle East by deposing governments friendly to us. What if the Russian's tried to bring down the Saudi Royal family? You think we would just do nothing? I doubt it. Why do expect the Russians to not try and prop up Assad? Oh and spare me the but Assad uses barrel bombs on his own people, the Saudi's to plenty of terrible things to their citizens too, and we look the other way.
What exactly do think the effect of all the aide to the Arab spring rebels is, the humanitarian aide to Syria, or the Palestinians, the cease fire negotiations is exactly? I'll tell you it keeps these conflicts alive when hunger and disease would have decisively ended them decades ago without all our interventions. Why because the Military Industrial Complex profits from endless waring. Putin is bad guy and Russia has a bad foreign policy too if you want to see peace, but it is post cold war American foreign policy that is responsible for the state the world is in today for the most part. Some administrations have been worse than others. Certainly Obama is among the more dangerous, GWB and Clinton not far behind him, GHB and Regan a little better the last three but not by much either.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
The NSA and their supporters are traitors to the American people. You are slime.
Korea, Vietnam. Korea and Vietnam split because the US invaded the South and interrupted democratic elections. The US invaded sovereign countries who didn't want help, and prevented democracy. Multiple times. That should meet your definition.
Learn to love Alaska
Yes, mi is a strange fruit indeed, but he does seem more intelligent than the average conservative (or whatever he is) so it's a bit more fun to argue with him.
The US has a long history of backing guerrillas to topple dictators, just to install new dictators that they can eventually defame and then repeat the entire cycle again. ISIS is really doing America's work with American weapons. http://stormcloudsgathering.co...
It's much easier to digest the depressing headlines about ISIS atrocities when you admit that everything is going exactly to plan... they're there to kick up a lot of dirt in the desert and wreak havoc there to keep the brown people down. And it's working, we enjoy a much better quality of life here than in the rest of the world, so we can take some comfort in that.
You could argue that just about everything the US has accomplished lately has been to counter whatever Russia was doing. The US / UK entered WWII when they did not to save Europe from Hitler, but from Stalin. The Space Race. "In God We Trust" printed on monies starting in 1956 to distance ourselves from the atheist commies.
But I guess whatever proxy conflicts we have now beats the socks out of whatever the world would be like if the US and USSR actually cooperated to rule the world.
Any action he takes now would impact the election. What will he do in the months between election and inauguration?
Learn to love Alaska
Here is the problem:
I agree, that they are dangerous, but I'm not aware of anybody actually suffering because of them without deserving it.
If the Justice system is being bypassed, how can you claim that someone deserved suffering exactly? You don't see the Justice system being bypassed as infringing on Liberty? In your mind this is somehow not violating the US Constitution?
The rest of your comments I will summarize as this. The fact that you believe every turd painted gold has great value is rather frightening. To be very specific here is another great quote from you.
"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.
So you know damn well they are liars. You know that they are telling the truth about their lies how exactly?
Sorry, but I live in a very different reality than you. Where I am from, a liar is a liar and not a half-truth-teller or however you wish to paint it.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Korea and Vietnam split because the US invaded the South and interrupted democratic elections.
Can't argue about Korea, that's not quite accurate with regard to Vietnam. The US went due to a stupid agreement with France, hod nothing to do with interrupting elections, the elections were rigged by the US anyway. Ngo Dình Diem was a US puppet, and his election a foregone conclusion. Vietnam was the last gasp of France's imperial past; the US had ridiculous nightmares about communists taking over the world. To the Vietnamese, it was just a civil war.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
So, Putin is allowed to meddle in Ukraine (the ousted President, for example, would never have gotten elected in the first place, where it not for Russian support both overt and covert) because his fiefdom happens to be geographically close to it? Nice. Should I ask about Syria — which is two seas apart from Russia — now, or would that be impolite?
Oh yeah? What happened to “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”? We defend Taiwan from China, South Korea from the North. Israel — from its mad neighbors. We kept USSR at bay throughout the Cold War — why is Ukraine less worthy of American help today than France or Germany was in 1970-ies?
Ukraine's new government was not "openly hostile" to Russia — what made them so was the invasion into Crimea. To answer your question, given Obama's actions towards Cuba, he'd welcome a Lefist coup in Mexico and apologize for America's past misdeeds (such as resisting Santa Anna and Pancho Villa).
"To understand is to forgive" — you, obviously do like Putin's behavior better, than you like that of American governments.
There is one stark and undeniable difference remaining, though — when the US invades, it is never to steal land — our last acquisition was Hawaii. We had multiple opportunities since (such as Philippines, but didn't use them). Putin's invasion into Crimea — ostensibly to "defend Russian-speakers" against the imaginary threat of the imaginary "nazist junta" — was nothing but a land-grab.
And yet, you and other like you — Snowden included — prefer Russia to the US...
Our responsibility derives simply from our victory. Russia's share of responsibility, which you seek to diminish, derives from the evils of the USSR (such as fostering and bolstering the "house of Assad" for a more relevant example). I'll take the US — warts and all — any day of the week. You are welcome to join Snowden in Russia (or in Hell).
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
the US had ridiculous nightmares about communists taking over the world.
To be fair, the Soviets were threatening to do exactly that. Later, of course, we learned just how empty those threats were.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
It is not bypassed. A court still needs to convict the accused and the prosecution still needs to present evidence of guilt.
Because the convictions aren't based on their statements. Convictions are based on evidence.
What "parallel construction" endangers is the doctrine of "fruit of poisonous tree" — a safeguard meant to discourage the Executive from using illegal means to obtain evidence under the belief, that the crimes themselves are less dangerous than the Executive's actions. The doctrine is worth defending, but the fact remains: NSA-provided data has not been — and can not be, not by itself, anyway — used to frame an innocent person.
Sure. But NSA is not doing any of the lying here. Local prosecutors — maybe. But that's not, where Snowden ran away from.
Meanwhile, the very fact that no disheartened leaker ran away from the IRS yet, ought to be telling us something about the relative quality of people between the two agencies...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Well, the Cuban Missile Crisis didn't help; the US & USSR came *this close* to nuclear war. Historians have been calling that a *blink* ever since. Difficult to compare to an empty threat.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
Eisenhower sent in troops to block an election that was happening. The US panicked over an election that could see Ho Chi Minh elected. The US invaded without request from France or the Vietnamese. Then brainwashed the political leaders against Ho Chi Minh and declared that their invasion was because of the French and we were invited, and it had nothing to do with the democratic election we blocked or the war we started. The invasion was Eisenhower, and Eisenhower alone (not the French), and his "don't give in to the Military Industrial Complex" wasn't a warning, it was a confession, and perhaps, an apology.
Learn to love Alaska
Hopefully, the NSA will be able to lean on twitter to geolocate his posts, and drop a bunker buster on him.
Right, because bombing Moscow in order to carry out the extra-judicial assassination of an American citizen is such a fantastic outcome here. You're a moron.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
The US went due to a stupid agreement with France ... the US had ridiculous nightmares about communists taking over the world.
I've read the stories of one of member of Deer Team of OSS sent to help Viet Minh, under Ho Chi Minh.
Why Vietnam?: Prelude to America's Albatross by Archimedes L.A. Patti
That said, he, Ho Chi Minh, love U.S.A (he was here, when he was finding 'way to liberate the country', he may like the 'freedom' breath he felt there). He considered U.S.A was the symbol of country against colonialism. He must be good friend with U.S.A.
But, U.S.A don't want 'good friend', they need some one they can control, like Dr. Hämsterviel in Lilo and Stich:
Your minions shouldn't like you. They only need to fear you!
No, it's not 'stupid', or 'ridiculous' decision, it's careful planned: to control the resources:
http://users.humboldt.edu/ogay...
Communist control of Southeast Asia would give Americans control over "strategically important commodities" like natural rubber, tin, coal, iron ore, and oil.
Communist control over Vietnam's rich rice fields and Japan's dependence upon rice would make it extremely difficult to prevent Japan's eventual capitulation to Communism.
Communism was just the bogeyman at that time. Just like 'terrorism', 'dictators' today.
But, what if Ho Chi Minh was puppet of U.S.A, the history must be different. He should be king of Saudi Arabia, instead of Assad/Syria, or Iran.
Snowden follows NSA
Can I point out that the NSA is only doing what the current administration tells them to do and that it is President Obama that has not pardoned him and is pushing for his arrest?
Yes, the executive branch and congress are complicit in this. How does that make it any "better?" Also, this started a long time ago. In case some nitwit wants to turn this into an Obama sucks rant. He does suck in this regard. And so did Bush. And no doubt Clinton. And every blowhard that's a serious contender for president on both sides of the aisle. And the vast majority of congress.
Honestly, I think you have it backwards. The president and congress do what the NSA tells them. Not in a crazy conspiracy way. Just in the simple, "you don't want to risk an attack on your watch, do you?" sort of way.
Some privacy policy Slashdot.
Snowden reveals true intentions - to garner enough vitriol from the US government that they pay attention when he actively trolls them on twitter.
The main reason for Putin;s invasion of Crimea is Sevastopol. Over the years, Russia / USSR has poured billions into this town, and it is a strategic naval base. From a military standpoint, Putin would have been stupid to just let it go.
McCarthy didn't kill anyone. Beria sent his enemies to death camps.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
I dunno, Britain has given up Hong Kong in accordance to an ancient agreement with China and that was that. No scandal, no war — honest dealing.
But thank you for — despite trying to excuse Putin's armed invasion and annexation — not trying to bring up "Ukrainian nazis" or "Kiev's junta" or "referendum" or some such crap...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
As is, of course, perfectly clear from my post, I do not object to all taxation. I do object to taxation required to fight the colossal failure lovingly referred to as "War on Poverty". The cost of which happens to eclipse the combined costs of all of our nation's real wars since the very establishment of the Republic combined.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Doesn't being a paid shill grow boring, mi?
The far more apt comparison would be of Beria (responsible for millions dead) vs. McCarthy (responsible for dozens laid off). Quantity transcending into quality and all that...
The population of GULAG was never above two million: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... , while US prisons right now contain more than two million inmates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
I am not defending GULAG, it was certainly terrible. I just wanted to point that the scale, a quantity, was not that exceptional.
You have it backwards. I can't be the only one that noticed President Obama did a near 180 from Candidate Obama, far more than the usual irrelevant campaign lies. Gitmo stayed (and is still) open for business, no one from the Bush admin were prosecuted for their CRIMES, and the number of cowardly extra-judicial remote control murders went through the roof.
Which is more likely, Ockham: the first black Democratic president turns out to be more right-wing than Nixon, or just after the oath of office, he and his family are threatened by the Security-Intelligence empire that has more power than Hoover could have ever fantasized about?
Oh yeah? What happened to âoeLet every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.â? We defend Taiwan from China, South Korea from the North. Israel â" from its mad neighbors. We kept USSR at bay throughout the Cold War â" why is Ukraine less worthy of American help today than France or Germany was in 1970-ies?
Team America World Police is a stupid policy that is bankrupting our nation and endangering our citizens. We a large scale global threat emerges with the potential to harm us, yes we should deal with it. Otherwise we should stay in relative safety between two great oceans and let the rest of the world solve its own problems.
To understand is to forgive" â" you, obviously do like Putin's behavior better, than you like that of American governments.
Sure the same way I forgive gravity for causing things to fall down. I am simply stating what a large number of people familiar with US Russian politics will echo. Putin actions are predictable responses to our own. Either the surprise and astonishment that comes from the administration is feigned for political effect or they are dangerously naive and inept.
There is one stark and undeniable difference remaining, though â" when the US invades, it is never to steal land â" our last acquisition was Hawaii. We had multiple opportunities since (such as Philippines, but didn't use them). Putin's invasion into Crimea â" ostensibly to "defend Russian-speakers" against the imaginary threat of the imaginary "nazist junta" â" was nothing but a land-grab.
Right because we know total control and administration of a territory is difficult and expensive work. Just ask Paul Bremer about Iraq. With some exceptions our policy could be summed up as "That's a nice country you have there it would be shame if something happened to it." I don't see the great justice. We install a leadership that is either unpopular with its own people or incapable of survival given its neighbors without our continued support, we then make sure they 'play ball' with the threat of leaving them to twist if they don't. We do leave them to twist when they don't, ask Hamid Karzai or Nouri al-Maliki. This is a nice way of not stealing anything, but the results are not so different.
I really am not defending Russia, or Putin. I don't like him. He is a global menace. I am saying "People in glass houses should not throw stones." Geopolitical events are complicated and you can always make excuses and justifications about how you have some kind of moral authority. In the end though you are either melding in the affairs of others or you are not; you killing and maiming people who don't threaten you or you are not. I think ultimately it really is that simple or needs to be thought about in that way. I think that because in reality its two complicated to even know what the ends are when we go melding and looking back on pretty much every post WWII conflict its damn hard to say the ends justified the means.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
I don't trust that sort of reasoning. There's a lot of argument about free will vs. determinism, and moral responsibilities, but in a discussion I like to keep the same position in that argument. This sentence sounds an awful lot like saying that the US has free will and moral responsibilities, but Putin is acting deterministically, and presumably amorally.
I got that sensitivity from arguments about the origins of WWII, which blamed WWII on Allied actions at the end of WWI, without considering that those Allied actions were in a context also. You can make the argument that Hitler's reactions to the Versailles treaty were wrong, or you can make the argument that the Versailles treaty was a result of treaties like the one ending the Franco-Prussian War, or the Brest-Litovsk treaty between Germany and the nascent Soviet Union.
Of COURSE governmental surprise and astonishment are almost always feigned for political effect. In international politics, official pronouncements are carefully prepared concerning what they say and imply, and they often don't adhere strictly to the truth.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
I suspect that, if you were to research it, you'd find that the majority of the population would want Snowden to stand trial and serve time. He is a fugitive, and is not a criminal only in the sense that he hasn't been convicted.
I believe that most Slashdotters want him exonerated (I do, and like everybody else I extrapolate from one data point), but we're not a representative sample of the US population.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
So President Obama is going to keep doing illegal things because an election is coming... Yeah that is better.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
"Honestly, I think you have it backwards. The president and congress do what the NSA tells them. Not in a crazy conspiracy way. Just in the simple, "you don't want to risk an attack on your watch, do you?" sort of way."
The NSA and CIA are under the president not congress he can fire the directors without congressional approval.
So you are saying that he is breaking the law because he does not want to be blamed for an attack on US soil? Yea that makes things better.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Not pardoning Snowden is illegal?
Learn to love Alaska