Jewish people in the US have not received anything close to the oppression that black people have
I can pick up your keyword even with my eyes closed:
Oppression
Now, sir, lemme ask you this:
Who hasn't been oppressed before ?
The one difference between the Jews and the so-called "black people" is that the Jews do not dwell on how oppressed they were, in the hand of the others.
You know, if the Jews want to play this game, they could !
There was a ship load of Jewish refugees from Europe that arrived at an American port. That was during Hitler's extermination campaign against the Jews were in full force. That ship was turned back.
When the ship finally reached Europe, all the Jewish passengers ended up in the ovens.
How many times the Jews play that "oppression song" ? How many times the Jews had to remind the world that "you owe us and you must pay back what you owe us" ?
No doubt. There are some Jews (mostly the losers) who have a liking to that kind of tune, but the vast majority of the Jews - what happened, happened, and they took that as a valuable lessen to remind themselves that they will never let themselves to be in that kind of situation again.
On the other hand... how long has slavery been ended in America ? Please tell us, how long,. Sir ?
I am not denying that many blacks are impoverished and disenfranchised. But before they continue their "I am dying because you ain't coming to help me" moaning, why don't they look at the "boat people" - the Vietnamese who arrived in the 1970's to the 1990's ?
Those Vietnamese arrived with practically _nothing_, and initially they were in a much dire strait than those blacks.
10, 20, 30, 40 years have passed, those Vietnamese climbed up the social ladder, while the blacks still remained at the bottom.
What I've found interesting is that the successful groups tend to have two other factors in common, and that is not just working hard, but working smart.
I won't speak for anyone but myself.
My culture reminded me that hard work is a virtue.
So, working hard for me is a no-brainer.
As for working smart - I was forced to do that for I didn't have any luxury to slack off (actually I didn't have time to slack off at all) and that in order to finish what I had to finish, I had to figure out a way to finish them somehow, while keeping up the quality of my work.
In other words, I had to top into that grey matter in between my ears to search for ways to accomplish my objectives.
American blacks have NEVER felt like part of mainstream society
When was the last time the Chinese were part of the "American mainstream society" ?
When was the last time the Jews feel like they are the "mainstream" anywhere but in Israel ?
Nope. None from the Chinese nor from the Jews.
However, both groups are thriving while the latino-americans and the african-americans are struggling, and you know why ?
The Jews never blame anybody else for their own failure, nor the Chinese.
When we (and I can speak only for the Chinese here) fail, we look into ourselves trying to find where we have failed - and in doing so, we mend up our weakness, and turn that failure into a lesson.
I can't speak for the Jews, but from what I observe (again, anecdotal) is that the Jews also dig deep within themselves whenever failure hits them.
I didn't even need to threaten my kids... I helped them doing what they want, until they suffered so much they stopped.
One time I saw my underage son smoking. Instead of berating him how bad smoking is, I went out to buy some big cigars, came back, cut one cigar for him, shoved that thing into his mouth, light that cigar, and then, I told him in a very very soft voice... "smoke it"
Yep. I sat there watching him cough, choke, cried, and threw up. By the time he finished that cigar (my wife was jumping mad at that time too, but I didn't barge even a micrometer), that son of mine looked at me, first time in his live, with a new revelation - his dad is a monster, a very very bad monster.
When I arrived on the shore of America I had nothing.
I didn't even speak English.
To make the long story short - two of the three factors were very vital for my survival, and ultimately put me to where I am - except for the "superiority" factor, because I was less than a nothing back then.
As I grow more accustomed to the American lives, I get to know people from different cultures - for one reason or another, I find one group very very interesting - the Jews.
They are in so many ways so similar to the Chinese - and yet, they are far superior to the Chinese (yes, insecurity complex at play here) in that the Jews have a purpose in their own private lives and also for their community lives - on the other hand, most Chinese do not.
At the end of the day, the success of the Jews is not a fluke - their culture is structured in such a way that death of one member is nothing - even a massacre of millions to the Jews is nothing - as long as their culture gets to live on.
The French was epic in industrial espionage until the Chinese caught up.
Never to be left behind, the United States jumped on the wagon - and applied the lesson learned from both the French and the Chinese, the United States of America has perfected the art of industrial espionage to such degree that no one, not even the Chinese, can ever dream of matching their success.
But unfortunately, 99% of the American corporations don't get to enjoy the fruit of the industrial espionage. Only HUGE industrial complexes (such as Boeing, Google, Corning, Citibank) get to benefit from the gems NSA manage to gather.
That is why, even today, most of the SMEs in America are still struggling, but on the other hand, those HUMONGOUS corporations grow leaps and bounds.
Even a true-blue Stasi operative (retired) couldn't help but to marvel at the level of sophistication the Western Stasi has in their possession.
Wolfgang Schmidt, 78, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Stasi, lamented that during his stint in the Stasi organization, their listening devices could only spy on 40 telephone lines at once. Targets had to be prioritized, and to take on a new spying subject, an old one had to be let go.
If Depardieu can be made a citizen over a petty tax dispute, surely the Russian government can extend the same courtesy over a more significant issue.
Think carefully about why they are only extending his asylum instead of giving him citizenship.
Perhaps Russia is extending Snowden's asylum instead of granting him a citizenship because that's (Russian citizenship) isn't what Snowden want.
You can say anything about Putin but there are two things that Putin really stands out...
1. Putin is no fool
2. Putin does not like to feel like a fool
Perhaps Putin already know Snowden will turn down the offer of the Russian citizenship, that is why he (Putin) isn't offering Snowden what he has offered that French guy. (That French guy actually asked for it so he doesn't need to pay that outrageous 75% income outrageous.
If Putin were to publicly offer Snowden a Russian citizenship and Snowden turns him down, that would be a major embarrassment for Putin and for Russia.
Of course Putin ain't gonna be stuck in that scenario.
Unfortunately America hasn't stood for those things in a verry long time.
Maybe if you did, and acted like you did. You wouldn't have so many terrorists bothering you all the time.
As I was not born in America, but have stayed in the States for quite a long time, I get to observe USA first hand, with a third-person vantage point.
There are TWO Americas.
One is the REAL AMERICA - the Americans, the people.
The other one is that illegal regime which has lorded over the United States of America for... God knows how many years...
The REAL AMERICA still stands for Liberty, Freedom, Equality, Democracy, and still believes in it.
The other one ? That's the one you have mentioned - the paranoid sociopath regime which has acted totally against the very spirit on which the United States of America was created for.
We see that there are people on this earth that have even less regard for lives of others and are ready to act violently. We may be confronted by them sooner that we think and it would be better if we had a moral high ground and many good friends like a powerful and freedom and human rights supporting US - but not only in speech but in acts of law and in actions of its agencies. Shame this does not seem to be happening.
I fully understand what you mean. I do.
Both of us came from the communist country background and both of us know how wrong can a system become and how badly it can fuck up people's lives.
When ***THAT*** fight comes (against those you-know-who), I do not think we can rely on any other people but our own selves.
USA is not only no longer a reliable entity, my worst case scenario (yes, I do plan ahead) is that illegal regime which lords over America may end up ***ASSISTING*** the "you-know-who" in conquering Europe, and then shove *that* problem to Russia and China (geopolitically USA is more immune to those you-know-who anyway).
I am not worth your respect. But there is one person that is worth all our respects - Mr. Edward Snowden.
He is the one giving us the proofs of the many dirty deeds of the government of the United States of America.
He is the one with the courage, the will, the determination, in telling the truth as it is, and he is the one, burdened with all the consequences of the courageous things that he had done for all of us.
If it wasn't Mr. Snowden, hundreds of millions of innocent people all over the world will continue to have their privacy invaded.
If it wasn't for Edward Snowden, more and MORE dirty programs would have been launched by the illegal regime that is lording over USA.
Yes, sir, that's the type of person deserving your respect, and mine, and many others.
There will always be those, like cold fjord, whom will do whatever they can to taint the reputation of Edward Snowden - and I guarantee you that they will play dirty, just like their NSA master, to achieve their goal.
Thus, I urge you, and all, to defend Mr. Snowden when he's under unfair criticism.
I am not saying that Mr. Snowden is perfect. He is just a human being, just like you or me. But at the very least, he has done good things for us, and we owe Mr. Edward Snowden this much, to return the favor.
I mean, we can talk all day and say that Snowden made great personal sacrifices, but did anyone ever ask why he was working with the NSA in the first damn place?
Yes, I did, and because I did ask that question, I did some research into how what Snowden had done, and how he managed to get into that little circle under the NSA canopy.
Unlike most regular posters in/., Mr. Edward Snowden didn't graduate from some fancy university, in fact, he didn't even have a high school diploma !!
Mr. Edward Snowden studied at Anne Arundel Community College to gain the credits necessary to obtain a high-school diploma but he did not complete the coursework.
Mr. Snowden's first step action in his infiltration into the NSA circle was working as a Security Guard guarding the building in which NSA's contractors was using.
From that position he gets to know people who work with the NSA contractors, and he gets to know what kind of position is opened.
Once he learned that the NSA contractor needed sys-admins, Mr. Snowden studied very hard, self-study style, all the computer/network related skills needed to be employable as a sysadmin.
From there he gained entry to the NSA contractor's computer systems, and from there he gained access to the - alleged - millions of secret files.
I have analysed what Snowden did and I was very impressed with his determination and his other skill in hiding his real intention very very well ! That takes a lot of pre-planning, a lot of self-control, and a helluva load of patience.
As have stated, Mr. Snowden wasn't a kid from a "high caste" of the American society. In fact, his family background, - if I am allowed to put it, and advanced apology to Mr. Snowden and his family for stating the fact - has been routinely categorized as "White Trash" by many Sociologists.
But yet, unlike millions of others, Mr. Snowden loves his country, and it's His Pure Love Of The Country that he did whatever he had to do in order to gain access to the secretive evidences of the illegal activities of the Government of the United States so that he can expose it to his fellow citizens, in the hope that, one day, his beloved country may be better.
True, he worked under the canopy of NSA, and true, NSA is part of the totally despicable regime which is ruling over the nation of the United States of America.
But without getting inside the NSA, how was Edward Snowden going to gain the SOLID evidences of the dastard deeds which the invalid government of the United States of America has committed.
It has been well known for many of us that the USA is no longer free. On the surface it is, but deep inside too many damn dirty things had happened, and we, the citizens, couldn't do a squat about it.
There had been rumors floating around on the many secret programs that were in violation of the Constitution of the United States, but without solid evidences, there is NOTHING to proof.
Before Mr. Snowden's revelation, every single time when I talk to others about the (then alleged) secret programs people looked at me as if I am one of those nuts who believe in conspiracy theories.
It is because of Mr. Snowden, and thanks to his solid evidences, that today, even people who previously pooh-pooh at me whenever I talked about the illegality of the US government are coming to me to talk about the very matter that previously they thought were conspiracies.
Last, but not least, remember the adage:
"Judge not, lest thou be judged"
You have unfairly judged Mr. Edward Snowden due to his working under the NSA program. Unless you want to be judged by others the same way you have judged Mr. Snowden, I suggest that you begin your own path of redemption.
Unlike Mr. Edward Snowden, none of you have the guts to do the right thing, and yet, after the personal sacrifices Mr. Snowden has gone through - may even turn out to be a lifelong exile from the country he loves so much - you guys post smart-ass comments, demonstrating the very freedoms that make this country so great.
FTFY.
Ok, maybe not. But you know how when someone insults the soldier who defended that person's right to throw that insult? I like pointing out the irony of such acts.
Thank you for pointing out that irony.
Yes, I do recognize that irony - although unfortunately most of my fellow Americans seem to be unable to see that.
My message was aiming at those two person whose attempt in cracking inane jokes about the predicament to Mr. Edward Snowden after he has so bravely disclosed to the world the secretive and activities carried out by the government of the United States of America in clear violation of the Constitution of the United States of America, which I personally find very distasteful and very insulting to the intellect of the many millions of True Patriots of America.
And as you have put it so succinctly, yes, their juvenile attempt has, ironically, presented to the world the True Quality of Democracy, Liberty and Freedom which America should represent.
My remark was more about equating Putin and Obama's behavior toward dissidents than it was about Snowden himself.
This world is occupied by 4.5 big thugs - China, Russia, USA, Japan, plus UK, which can only be rated as 0.5big, since they are living in their past glory.
USA is trying its best to hunt down Snowden. Japan and Britain are USA's lap dogs.
That leave China and Russia being the two entities left in this planet big and fierce and crazy enough to stand against USA.
So, where do you want Snowden to go ?
Sweden ? that another lap dog of USA ?
Bolivia ? Whose presidential plane was forced grounded by yet another USA lap dog (Spain) ?
I know very well (and I am not the only one in this) that Russia is far from the ideal location for Snowden to seek refuge in, but short of a miracle (that Obama and all his gang of traitors are thrown to jail), Mr. Edward Snowden is facing a stark future of being on the run all his life.
We've put ourselves in the position where a vicious thug gets to posture as the nice guy and leave us with very little to do. We are depending on a thug to protect the fate and future of a man who initiated one of the most important discussions in our nation's political history.
Before I comment, I need to clarify that I am an American citizen, a naturalized citizen since I wasn't born in the United States of America.
It is true that Russia is a thug. And it is true that right now, as we correspond on/. the fate of the conscience of the nation of the United States of America rests on the decision of the Russian thug.
However, if we take a step backward, we can see that the government of the United States of America has become a thug itself, and a thug that is not unlike that notorious thug in Russia.
On the Snowden affair, only a thug would tried so hard to hunt down Snowden, so much so that they actually grounded a plane carrying the president of another sovereign nation.
The United States of America was the nation that I chose to be when I escaped from yet another thug - China - and I am very sad to say, the regime which is governing the land who has saved me from a thug has become a thug.
... I was a researcher in a very advance research facility. At that time we had a (supposedly) "big pipe" to the Net, a 100Mbps line. (That was several decades ago)
I was feeling kinda "proud" that I get to "play" with the "high speed link" to the world, that I, somehow, is on a higher pedestal than the rest of the peons... until I visited South Korea.
In a friend's home, yes, private house, I experienced for the first time, what raw speed meant.
The 1Gbps speed just blew my fucking mind away, and imagine, they got that in their home, and I, a researcher, only get to play a supposedly "big 100Mbps pipe".
The "should be tried and executed like any traitor" clause should be applied to Dianne Feinstein, James Clapper and all the rest of the bastards who have knowingly violated the Constitution of the United States of America, to the detriment of the nation of the United States of America and to the hundreds of millions of the citizens of the United States of America !
Both you and "ackthpt" should be ashamed of yourself.
Unlike Mr. Edward Snowden, none of you have the guts to do the right thing, and yet, after the personal sacrifices Mr. Snowden has gone through - may even turn out to be a lifelong exile from the country he loves so much - you guys post smart-ass comments as if you are some how "better" than Mr. Snowden.
Slashdot Mirror
Jewish people in the US have not received anything close to the oppression that black people have
I can pick up your keyword even with my eyes closed:
Oppression
Now, sir, lemme ask you this:
Who hasn't been oppressed before ?
The one difference between the Jews and the so-called "black people" is that the Jews do not dwell on how oppressed they were, in the hand of the others.
You know, if the Jews want to play this game, they could !
There was a ship load of Jewish refugees from Europe that arrived at an American port. That was during Hitler's extermination campaign against the Jews were in full force. That ship was turned back.
When the ship finally reached Europe, all the Jewish passengers ended up in the ovens.
How many times the Jews play that "oppression song" ? How many times the Jews had to remind the world that "you owe us and you must pay back what you owe us" ?
No doubt. There are some Jews (mostly the losers) who have a liking to that kind of tune, but the vast majority of the Jews - what happened, happened, and they took that as a valuable lessen to remind themselves that they will never let themselves to be in that kind of situation again.
On the other hand ... how long has slavery been ended in America ? Please tell us, how long,. Sir ?
I am not denying that many blacks are impoverished and disenfranchised. But before they continue their "I am dying because you ain't coming to help me" moaning, why don't they look at the "boat people" - the Vietnamese who arrived in the 1970's to the 1990's ?
Those Vietnamese arrived with practically _nothing_, and initially they were in a much dire strait than those blacks.
10, 20, 30, 40 years have passed, those Vietnamese climbed up the social ladder, while the blacks still remained at the bottom.
Why don't you ask yourself "Why ?" ?
What I've found interesting is that the successful groups tend to have two other factors in common, and that is not just working hard, but working smart.
I won't speak for anyone but myself.
My culture reminded me that hard work is a virtue.
So, working hard for me is a no-brainer.
As for working smart - I was forced to do that for I didn't have any luxury to slack off (actually I didn't have time to slack off at all) and that in order to finish what I had to finish, I had to figure out a way to finish them somehow, while keeping up the quality of my work.
In other words, I had to top into that grey matter in between my ears to search for ways to accomplish my objectives.
... In his first sentence, Jim Goad used a four-letter word for female genitalia to describe Amy Chu
One of the people that I admire is Mahatma Gandhi. One time he was heard saying the following:
"âoeFirst they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win."
I think i would add a 4th catagory...
The lack of crazy.
Nope.
This world owes more to the crazed nuts than you give them credit for.
Take Ben Franklin - a grown man flying a fucking kite when the lightning were aplenty - if that's not a foolish/crazy act, what is it ?
And yet, without that crazy stunt, Mr. Franklin might not have gotten his proofs that electricity existed.
If you know what's the most valued item of your child/children --- either you spied on them too much, or your children are leaving fake leads.
Children are much much smarter than you could ever realize.
American blacks have NEVER felt like part of mainstream society
When was the last time the Chinese were part of the "American mainstream society" ?
When was the last time the Jews feel like they are the "mainstream" anywhere but in Israel ?
Nope. None from the Chinese nor from the Jews.
However, both groups are thriving while the latino-americans and the african-americans are struggling, and you know why ?
The Jews never blame anybody else for their own failure, nor the Chinese.
When we (and I can speak only for the Chinese here) fail, we look into ourselves trying to find where we have failed - and in doing so, we mend up our weakness, and turn that failure into a lesson.
I can't speak for the Jews, but from what I observe (again, anecdotal) is that the Jews also dig deep within themselves whenever failure hits them.
I didn't even need to threaten my kids ... I helped them doing what they want, until they suffered so much they stopped.
One time I saw my underage son smoking. Instead of berating him how bad smoking is, I went out to buy some big cigars, came back, cut one cigar for him, shoved that thing into his mouth, light that cigar, and then, I told him in a very very soft voice ... "smoke it"
Yep. I sat there watching him cough, choke, cried, and threw up. By the time he finished that cigar (my wife was jumping mad at that time too, but I didn't barge even a micrometer), that son of mine looked at me, first time in his live, with a new revelation - his dad is a monster, a very very bad monster.
When I arrived on the shore of America I had nothing.
I didn't even speak English.
To make the long story short - two of the three factors were very vital for my survival, and ultimately put me to where I am - except for the "superiority" factor, because I was less than a nothing back then.
As I grow more accustomed to the American lives, I get to know people from different cultures - for one reason or another, I find one group very very interesting - the Jews.
They are in so many ways so similar to the Chinese - and yet, they are far superior to the Chinese (yes, insecurity complex at play here) in that the Jews have a purpose in their own private lives and also for their community lives - on the other hand, most Chinese do not.
At the end of the day, the success of the Jews is not a fluke - their culture is structured in such a way that death of one member is nothing - even a massacre of millions to the Jews is nothing - as long as their culture gets to live on.
BBC has a very interesting program on the revival of Jewish culture in Krakow, Poland -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programme...
What the Chinese have is number. What the Jews have is determination.
But other than that, in many other aspect in lives, what the Jews are can very much be found in the Chinese.
And I am not the only one who is saying this - read the following article (written by a Jew) to find out what he says ---
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/C...
Edward Snowden can't go home. I still can. I do not want to find myself lock out of my own country - America.
At least not yet.
It's a free market all right, it's a free "to spy on everybody and steal their secret" market !!
The French was epic in industrial espionage until the Chinese caught up.
Never to be left behind, the United States jumped on the wagon - and applied the lesson learned from both the French and the Chinese, the United States of America has perfected the art of industrial espionage to such degree that no one, not even the Chinese, can ever dream of matching their success.
But unfortunately, 99% of the American corporations don't get to enjoy the fruit of the industrial espionage. Only HUGE industrial complexes (such as Boeing, Google, Corning, Citibank) get to benefit from the gems NSA manage to gather.
That is why, even today, most of the SMEs in America are still struggling, but on the other hand, those HUMONGOUS corporations grow leaps and bounds.
Iron curtain, no. Stasi, maybe
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/201...
Even a true-blue Stasi operative (retired) couldn't help but to marvel at the level of sophistication the Western Stasi has in their possession.
Wolfgang Schmidt, 78, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Stasi, lamented that during his stint in the Stasi organization, their listening devices could only spy on 40 telephone lines at once. Targets had to be prioritized, and to take on a new spying subject, an old one had to be let go.
I do not trust the RNC as much as I do not trust the DNC - but at the very least the RNC is doing something.
Meanwhile ...
https://www.techdirt.com/artic...
Dianne Feinstein still insists to keep all NSA program running !!
If Depardieu can be made a citizen over a petty tax dispute, surely the Russian government can extend the same courtesy over a more significant issue.
Think carefully about why they are only extending his asylum instead of giving him citizenship.
Perhaps Russia is extending Snowden's asylum instead of granting him a citizenship because that's (Russian citizenship) isn't what Snowden want.
You can say anything about Putin but there are two things that Putin really stands out ...
1. Putin is no fool
2. Putin does not like to feel like a fool
Perhaps Putin already know Snowden will turn down the offer of the Russian citizenship, that is why he (Putin) isn't offering Snowden what he has offered that French guy. (That French guy actually asked for it so he doesn't need to pay that outrageous 75% income outrageous.
If Putin were to publicly offer Snowden a Russian citizenship and Snowden turns him down, that would be a major embarrassment for Putin and for Russia.
Of course Putin ain't gonna be stuck in that scenario.
Unfortunately America hasn't stood for those things in a verry long time.
Maybe if you did, and acted like you did. You wouldn't have so many terrorists bothering you all the time.
As I was not born in America, but have stayed in the States for quite a long time, I get to observe USA first hand, with a third-person vantage point.
There are TWO Americas.
One is the REAL AMERICA - the Americans, the people.
The other one is that illegal regime which has lorded over the United States of America for ... God knows how many years ...
The REAL AMERICA still stands for Liberty, Freedom, Equality, Democracy, and still believes in it.
The other one ? That's the one you have mentioned - the paranoid sociopath regime which has acted totally against the very spirit on which the United States of America was created for.
We see that there are people on this earth that have even less regard for lives of others and are ready to act violently. We may be confronted by them sooner that we think and it would be better if we had a moral high ground and many good friends like a powerful and freedom and human rights supporting US - but not only in speech but in acts of law and in actions of its agencies. Shame this does not seem to be happening.
I fully understand what you mean. I do.
Both of us came from the communist country background and both of us know how wrong can a system become and how badly it can fuck up people's lives.
When ***THAT*** fight comes (against those you-know-who), I do not think we can rely on any other people but our own selves.
USA is not only no longer a reliable entity, my worst case scenario (yes, I do plan ahead) is that illegal regime which lords over America may end up ***ASSISTING*** the "you-know-who" in conquering Europe, and then shove *that* problem to Russia and China (geopolitically USA is more immune to those you-know-who anyway).
At this point it is just a matter of choosing the poison you want to die of. Russia or the US are different only in degree, not in nature.
Since I came from yet another poisonous concoction - China - I'll say this ...
If I were to have a choice - and I'm going to die anyway - I will die the way I choose, by ***FIGHTING AGAINST*** those fucking bastards.
I rather die fighting than die being poisoned,
Dear Sir,
I am not worth your respect. But there is one person that is worth all our respects - Mr. Edward Snowden.
He is the one giving us the proofs of the many dirty deeds of the government of the United States of America.
He is the one with the courage, the will, the determination, in telling the truth as it is, and he is the one, burdened with all the consequences of the courageous things that he had done for all of us.
If it wasn't Mr. Snowden, hundreds of millions of innocent people all over the world will continue to have their privacy invaded.
If it wasn't for Edward Snowden, more and MORE dirty programs would have been launched by the illegal regime that is lording over USA.
Yes, sir, that's the type of person deserving your respect, and mine, and many others.
There will always be those, like cold fjord, whom will do whatever they can to taint the reputation of Edward Snowden - and I guarantee you that they will play dirty, just like their NSA master, to achieve their goal.
Thus, I urge you, and all, to defend Mr. Snowden when he's under unfair criticism.
I am not saying that Mr. Snowden is perfect. He is just a human being, just like you or me. But at the very least, he has done good things for us, and we owe Mr. Edward Snowden this much, to return the favor.
I mean, we can talk all day and say that Snowden made great personal sacrifices, but did anyone ever ask why he was working with the NSA in the first damn place?
Yes, I did, and because I did ask that question, I did some research into how what Snowden had done, and how he managed to get into that little circle under the NSA canopy.
Unlike most regular posters in /., Mr. Edward Snowden didn't graduate from some fancy university, in fact, he didn't even have a high school diploma !!
Mr. Edward Snowden studied at Anne Arundel Community College to gain the credits necessary to obtain a high-school diploma but he did not complete the coursework.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E...
Mr. Snowden's first step action in his infiltration into the NSA circle was working as a Security Guard guarding the building in which NSA's contractors was using.
From that position he gets to know people who work with the NSA contractors, and he gets to know what kind of position is opened.
Once he learned that the NSA contractor needed sys-admins, Mr. Snowden studied very hard, self-study style, all the computer/network related skills needed to be employable as a sysadmin.
From there he gained entry to the NSA contractor's computer systems, and from there he gained access to the - alleged - millions of secret files.
I have analysed what Snowden did and I was very impressed with his determination and his other skill in hiding his real intention very very well ! That takes a lot of pre-planning, a lot of self-control, and a helluva load of patience.
As have stated, Mr. Snowden wasn't a kid from a "high caste" of the American society. In fact, his family background, - if I am allowed to put it, and advanced apology to Mr. Snowden and his family for stating the fact - has been routinely categorized as "White Trash" by many Sociologists.
But yet, unlike millions of others, Mr. Snowden loves his country, and it's His Pure Love Of The Country that he did whatever he had to do in order to gain access to the secretive evidences of the illegal activities of the Government of the United States so that he can expose it to his fellow citizens, in the hope that, one day, his beloved country may be better.
True, he worked under the canopy of NSA, and true, NSA is part of the totally despicable regime which is ruling over the nation of the United States of America.
But without getting inside the NSA, how was Edward Snowden going to gain the SOLID evidences of the dastard deeds which the invalid government of the United States of America has committed.
It has been well known for many of us that the USA is no longer free. On the surface it is, but deep inside too many damn dirty things had happened, and we, the citizens, couldn't do a squat about it.
There had been rumors floating around on the many secret programs that were in violation of the Constitution of the United States, but without solid evidences, there is NOTHING to proof.
Before Mr. Snowden's revelation, every single time when I talk to others about the (then alleged) secret programs people looked at me as if I am one of those nuts who believe in conspiracy theories.
It is because of Mr. Snowden, and thanks to his solid evidences, that today, even people who previously pooh-pooh at me whenever I talked about the illegality of the US government are coming to me to talk about the very matter that previously they thought were conspiracies.
Last, but not least, remember the adage:
"Judge not, lest thou be judged"
You have unfairly judged Mr. Edward Snowden due to his working under the NSA program. Unless you want to be judged by others the same way you have judged Mr. Snowden, I suggest that you begin your own path of redemption.
Unlike Mr. Edward Snowden, none of you have the guts to do the right thing, and yet, after the personal sacrifices Mr. Snowden has gone through - may even turn out to be a lifelong exile from the country he loves so much - you guys post smart-ass comments, demonstrating the very freedoms that make this country so great.
FTFY.
Ok, maybe not. But you know how when someone insults the soldier who defended that person's right to throw that insult? I like pointing out the irony of such acts.
Thank you for pointing out that irony.
Yes, I do recognize that irony - although unfortunately most of my fellow Americans seem to be unable to see that.
My message was aiming at those two person whose attempt in cracking inane jokes about the predicament to Mr. Edward Snowden after he has so bravely disclosed to the world the secretive and activities carried out by the government of the United States of America in clear violation of the Constitution of the United States of America, which I personally find very distasteful and very insulting to the intellect of the many millions of True Patriots of America.
And as you have put it so succinctly, yes, their juvenile attempt has, ironically, presented to the world the True Quality of Democracy, Liberty and Freedom which America should represent.
My remark was more about equating Putin and Obama's behavior toward dissidents than it was about Snowden himself.
This world is occupied by 4.5 big thugs - China, Russia, USA, Japan, plus UK, which can only be rated as 0.5big, since they are living in their past glory.
USA is trying its best to hunt down Snowden. Japan and Britain are USA's lap dogs.
That leave China and Russia being the two entities left in this planet big and fierce and crazy enough to stand against USA.
So, where do you want Snowden to go ?
Sweden ? that another lap dog of USA ?
Bolivia ? Whose presidential plane was forced grounded by yet another USA lap dog (Spain) ?
I know very well (and I am not the only one in this) that Russia is far from the ideal location for Snowden to seek refuge in, but short of a miracle (that Obama and all his gang of traitors are thrown to jail), Mr. Edward Snowden is facing a stark future of being on the run all his life.
We've put ourselves in the position where a vicious thug gets to posture as the nice guy and leave us with very little to do. We are depending on a thug to protect the fate and future of a man who initiated one of the most important discussions in our nation's political history.
Before I comment, I need to clarify that I am an American citizen, a naturalized citizen since I wasn't born in the United States of America.
It is true that Russia is a thug. And it is true that right now, as we correspond on /. the fate of the conscience of the nation of the United States of America rests on the decision of the Russian thug.
However, if we take a step backward, we can see that the government of the United States of America has become a thug itself, and a thug that is not unlike that notorious thug in Russia.
On the Snowden affair, only a thug would tried so hard to hunt down Snowden, so much so that they actually grounded a plane carrying the president of another sovereign nation.
The United States of America was the nation that I chose to be when I escaped from yet another thug - China - and I am very sad to say, the regime which is governing the land who has saved me from a thug has become a thug.
... I was a researcher in a very advance research facility. At that time we had a (supposedly) "big pipe" to the Net, a 100Mbps line. (That was several decades ago)
I was feeling kinda "proud" that I get to "play" with the "high speed link" to the world, that I, somehow, is on a higher pedestal than the rest of the peons ... until I visited South Korea.
In a friend's home, yes, private house, I experienced for the first time, what raw speed meant.
The 1Gbps speed just blew my fucking mind away, and imagine, they got that in their home, and I, a researcher, only get to play a supposedly "big 100Mbps pipe".
I don't care what you call it/try to spin it.
He should be tried and executed like any traitor.
The "should be tried and executed like any traitor" clause should be applied to Dianne Feinstein, James Clapper and all the rest of the bastards who have knowingly violated the Constitution of the United States of America, to the detriment of the nation of the United States of America and to the hundreds of millions of the citizens of the United States of America !
Both you and "ackthpt" should be ashamed of yourself.
Unlike Mr. Edward Snowden, none of you have the guts to do the right thing, and yet, after the personal sacrifices Mr. Snowden has gone through - may even turn out to be a lifelong exile from the country he loves so much - you guys post smart-ass comments as if you are some how "better" than Mr. Snowden.