Saw a little bit on the BBC this morning after getting out the shower. Thought meh, probably better off with out him. Better thing to worry about today, like my daughters school project. I mean have you ever made a dalmation dog out of paper mache'?
Anyone going to watch the Snowden interview on NBC tonight?
- Thread starter Mick
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Truth!
I feel your pain...my son and I made a turtle out of paper mâché then I did it all over again because his twin brother chose a giraffe.
Back on topic, I did not watch but I am interested in viewing the interview so I hope it comes on again or is hosted on the interweb.
Snowden is a hero.
Yes. The more you know, the better for everyone.
I don't know what I think. Watched it today. I'm more sympathetic to him than I was before. Don't think I believe him 100% but nor do I believe the government 100%. Wish I knew what he really took and what he revealed to who. If it's just a matter of revealing the massive data collection he's did us a service. If he really did have more and gave it to another government then there should be consequences. I doubt we will ever know.
The spin by our govt is absurd. The justification by snowden is inexcusable. There is enough ammo to go around. Both need to be hauled in and held accountable. But it is what it is in the world of espionage. Win some, loose some.
I didn't watch it but did read the interview. I don't watch much TV, especially bias media productions. As a Constitution loving and defending citizen, I find what he revealed very disturbing that actually HAS changed some policy. As an American I find the way he went about it repulsive. I will NOT be a government Brown Shirt and think the government does no wrong. We must fight for our God given rights and freedoms daily, especially against our own government.
I watched the interview. I was surprised by how well he spoke, and the depth and intelligence of his answers. I got the feeling that this interview was rehearsed, and that Snowden was given the questions in advance and had plenty of time to prepare his responses.
And I couldn't help but keep wondering how he has been supporting himself all this time ... someone, somewhere might be bankrolling him in exchange for exclusive rights to his story.
Has Snowden actually been charged with any crime(s) yet? I wonder if he ever stands trial, this interview might be used as evidence against him.
And has the NSA and other government agencies changed any of their surveillance practices since their cover was blown? I doubt it.
Personally, I think the best thing for all concerned is to just let him fade into obscurity. The less attention paid to his case, the better. I don't consider him a threat to National Security now that he no longer has access to classified information. Putting him in jail won't gain anything.
And I couldn't help but keep wondering how he has been supporting himself all this time ... someone, somewhere might be bankrolling him in exchange for exclusive rights to his story.
Has Snowden actually been charged with any crime(s) yet? I wonder if he ever stands trial, this interview might be used as evidence against him.
And has the NSA and other government agencies changed any of their surveillance practices since their cover was blown? I doubt it.
Personally, I think the best thing for all concerned is to just let him fade into obscurity. The less attention paid to his case, the better. I don't consider him a threat to National Security now that he no longer has access to classified information. Putting him in jail won't gain anything.
+1000. When people started supporting The "Patriot" Act I knew we weren't the same country anymore.
The NSA does not hire stupid people.
I just saw the Snowden piece yesterday.
Those with conservative credentials may feel that his views are anti-American, while some in the American government (including the President) say that Snowden has compromised our interests.
DPM802 really hit it on the head, though. Snowden comes across as smart and articulate; but it's ironic that many in political power - and that includes a spectrum from Fox News to President Obama - find him threatening.
Snowden makes a good point. While politicos have claimed that the Snowden leaks has irrevocably damaged America, nobody has been able to point to any leak that's hurt people or compromised American interests. But is Snowden a "traitor"? If so, who - specifically - can you point to?
Interesting interview.
Those with conservative credentials may feel that his views are anti-American, while some in the American government (including the President) say that Snowden has compromised our interests.
DPM802 really hit it on the head, though. Snowden comes across as smart and articulate; but it's ironic that many in political power - and that includes a spectrum from Fox News to President Obama - find him threatening.
Snowden makes a good point. While politicos have claimed that the Snowden leaks has irrevocably damaged America, nobody has been able to point to any leak that's hurt people or compromised American interests. But is Snowden a "traitor"? If so, who - specifically - can you point to?
Interesting interview.
Anyone taking the time to keep up with the news over the past 13 years would have known the important facts regarding NSA's collection of data. Senators and others with inside knowledge carefully and responsibly pointed out everything that we needed to know in order to form our opinions regarding government policy.
Edward Snowden is a relatively uneducated and unbalanced individual with significant computer skills and an inflated opinion of his role in world history. He admits that he took jobs in the intelligence industry with the intention of dumping enormous amounts of raw data, and that when he took oaths to maintain secrecy he intended to violate those oaths. He also appears to be admitting that he committed serious crimes. He has chosen to live in Putin's Russia while pontificating about "freedom."
The bottom line for me is that a low-level technician does not get to supersede decisions made by the people who hired him and by the people chosen by American voters to make such judgments, particularly when he knew he would be committing crimes by doing so. The massive amounts of details he dumped to the press are of no value to an electorate who need to consider these important issues when choosing our government leaders. Instead, he has damaged our country's ability to defend ourselves from terrorists and nations that would like to do us harm. It's nice that his crimes have generated the kind of publicity that encourages voters to think about issues of security versus privacy, but I can't think of anything else positive to say about this coward who refuses to come home to face the music.
(By the way, I am a liberal who is very concerned about the intelligence community's collection of data regarding U.S. citizens.)
Edward Snowden is a relatively uneducated and unbalanced individual with significant computer skills and an inflated opinion of his role in world history. He admits that he took jobs in the intelligence industry with the intention of dumping enormous amounts of raw data, and that when he took oaths to maintain secrecy he intended to violate those oaths. He also appears to be admitting that he committed serious crimes. He has chosen to live in Putin's Russia while pontificating about "freedom."
The bottom line for me is that a low-level technician does not get to supersede decisions made by the people who hired him and by the people chosen by American voters to make such judgments, particularly when he knew he would be committing crimes by doing so. The massive amounts of details he dumped to the press are of no value to an electorate who need to consider these important issues when choosing our government leaders. Instead, he has damaged our country's ability to defend ourselves from terrorists and nations that would like to do us harm. It's nice that his crimes have generated the kind of publicity that encourages voters to think about issues of security versus privacy, but I can't think of anything else positive to say about this coward who refuses to come home to face the music.
(By the way, I am a liberal who is very concerned about the intelligence community's collection of data regarding U.S. citizens.)
Heard at a satirical play this weekend:
People say Snowden is in hiding in Russia. This is patently not true! If we was in hiding he would have conducted this interview with MSNBC.
ba da boom
People say Snowden is in hiding in Russia. This is patently not true! If we was in hiding he would have conducted this interview with MSNBC.
ba da boom
An absolute gem of how we bend to please otheres.
You highlight a number of interesting points, especially that anyone paying attention already knew the CIA/Feds were gathering a lot data on everyone. But I don't think many understood the depth or breadth of the intelligence gathering. IMO there are a lot of gray areas in trying to "judge" Snowden and his actions and I don't have enough understanding either way to have firm opinions. On the one hand I applaud him trying to put a brake on anti-constitutional behavior, while on the other hand I think he went too far in exposing the means and methods that will harm the country long term. Time will tell. (And this is ignoring any personal oath or motivations he may have had).
Going off-topic, but do people remember the Elliot Spitzer call girl takedown? I am the last person to think of conspiracy as a reason behind such an outcome, but I remember one news opinion guy making such remarks back during that news cycle, that the big banks were behind bringing Spitzer down because he was about to bring pressure on them. When the Edward Snowden story broke that story came back to mind. As it would be so easy for one of the big NYC banks to slip an NSA/CIA/Fed guy a few 100K to look in their databases to see what Elliot might up to, to dig up some mud. Given what Snowden was able to expose at his level, think of the all the other NSA employees who could do the same. Benevolence is not universal.
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+1 People are more worried about who's on American Idol or some other stupid TV show. It pisses me off.
speaking of collecting data - I'm sure there are some here who use FaceBook. Well you might want to reconsider. FaceBook has a new feature that uses your phone microphone to listen to your surroundings every time you post a status update. 
Supposedly it filters out everything but TV commercials and music. 
Collects the data and directs ads to you based of the information.
You can turn this off of course, but how? Heck I don't know. And how long before they make it so you can't turn it off.
Supposedly it filters out everything but TV commercials and music. Collects the data and directs ads to you based of the information. You can turn this off of course, but how? Heck I don't know. And how long before they make it so you can't turn it off.
I think that feature (not yet implemented) is an opt-in toggle. You must deliberately turn it on. I just looked through the Facebook privacy settings and I see no mention of it, but I have read news reports that announced it is in the works and may be released in the future.speaking of collecting data - I'm sure there are some here who use FaceBook. Well you might want to reconsider. FaceBook has a new feature that uses your phone microphone to listen to your surroundings every time you post a status update.
You can turn this off of course, but how? Heck I don't know. And how long before they make it so you can't turn it off.
I use a browser plug-in called Social Fixer to get a better grip on controlling my Facebook experience. It has many options to alter how Facebook appears and removes annoyances. It is free, but the author (Matt Kruse) gladly accepts donations via PayPal. Check it out at www.socialfixer.com
