1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

NSA whistleblower: Edward Snowden, 29

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Songbird, Jun 9, 2013.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
Page 4 of 6
  1. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    They opted wisely.
    Obama knows how to manipulate the herd.
    There is already fatigue from the scandals.
    More people are discussing "Game of Thrones" than the erosion of their human rights.
     
    3_Octave_Fart, Jun 10, 2013
    #37
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    The Patriot Act itself is an abuse. And it's what makes all of this possible -- it's legal, even if it is really unconstitutional. We've just pushed the constitution aside.

    They made this notion of FISA courts -- secret proceedings, giving the NSA authority to do things like spy on us -- into a legal notion.

    We should never have gotten to this place. There is no way we should have ever allowed something as antithetical to our Constitution as the Patriot Act -- with its wiretapping and secretive procedures and harvesting of phone data and monitoring of internet usage -- to happen.

    But now that it is a reality, what this guy did as a pretty courageous act of civil disobedience, in my opinion.

    What is sad is that I suspect most Americans are just don't give a shit. Someone with an elected position and American flag on his lapel tells you that we need to give vast powers to the executive branch to use secretively in order to be safe, and people nod their heads and don't ask questions.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 10, 2013
    #38
  3. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    With a number of opportunities to discontinue since it was instituted but few politicians
    has the balls to speak out against it. Instead it has become "The Patriot Act On Steroids".
     
    Boom_70, Jun 10, 2013
    #39
  4. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    It's easier to vote through these abuses than to explain to an ignorant populace why you are "soft" on terrorism -- what you are going to get hit with when you run for reelection.

    It's why this is so particularly dangerous. It just fuels itself.

    Even if you don't have an inherent distrust of the president, senate, congress. ... the NSA director was out there defending this stuff saying that before voting for this stuff, members of congress were welcome to come on and see what the NSA was up to. But the few who showed up to even look, just got a mass of raw data dumped on them. They didn't have the training or ability to understand what it is they were even looking at, the means being used to gather than data and the potential uses of that data -- which DOES included private behavior by American citizens.

    Now take out the fact that the average congressperson is a dumbfuck. Even if they fully understood the magnitude of the apparatus they were putting in place, why should we trust a small group of people to take that kind of vast power -- used secretively?
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 10, 2013
    #40
  5. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    One of the big winners in this is The NRA.
     
    Boom_70, Jun 10, 2013
    #41
  6. BNWriter

    BNWriter Active Member

    More idiocy: Petition circulating that Snowden should be pardoned -- http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/10/18886451-pardon-edward-snowden-petition-seeks-white-house-response?lite

    More fringe idiocy being promoted/celebrated. When does this kind of stupidity come to an end....? And he ought to be tried for treason -- seriously.
     
    BNWriter, Jun 11, 2013
    #42
  7. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Want to browse anonymously?

    https://www.torproject.org/

    Looks solid. Facebook didn't like me using it when I tried logging in and made me answer 2 security questions and a captcha then made me jump thru other hurdles.

    And for secure searches (even tho I love Google): https://ixquick.com/eng/
     
    Songbird, Jun 11, 2013
    #43
  8. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
    Armchair_QB, Jun 11, 2013
    #44
  9. JRoyal

    JRoyal Well-Known Member

    The data mining was first reported by Wired magazine in 2012. The details of how it's being used weren't part of that story, IIRC (Story here http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/). It was picked up some other news agencies at the time, but because the story didn't deal in a lot of specifics (it's been a year since I read it, so I can't remember all of it), it's a tough one to do a lot on. At the time, there was a lot of talk in the media about "Big Data." This is part of that whole phenomenon.

    As for the others, what media sources broke those stories? I honestly don't remember.

    One thing I'd point out -- it's a lot harder for American media to break stories nowadays for several reasons, including the layoffs since 2008. There just aren't as many journalists chasing down the stories anymore. And with the crackdowns on whistleblowers in the last two administrations (Bush did it, too, lest you forget), it's tougher to get stories now than it used to be.

    That all said, am I just not reading the right stuff, or are there liberals who have actually attacked Snowden? Boom suggests liberals don't see him as a hero, but I know a lot of liberals (including myself) who see him in the same light as the previous whistleblowers who have come forward.
     
    JRoyal, Jun 11, 2013
    #45
  10. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    Just as reminder that "Bush did it, too" isn't much of a defense regarding any issue. As noted previously, Bush was an overmatched incompetent buffoon of a president. If Obama is doing many of the same things Bush did, well... You can draw your own conclusion.
     
    da man, Jun 11, 2013
    #46
  11. JRoyal

    JRoyal Well-Known Member

    Not a defense. Cracking down on whistleblowers is bad no matter who does it. Just pointing out that those criticizing Obama probably weren't too critical of Bush when he was in office.
     
    JRoyal, Jun 11, 2013
    #47
  12. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Obama's problem are statements like this one hanging out there:

    "As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.

    Our founding fathers faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations.

    Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake"


    Does not seem that long ago that democrats wanted Alberto Gonzales head on a platter.
     
    Boom_70, Jun 11, 2013
    #48
Page 4 of 6
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page