Snowden spy row grows as US is accused of hacking China

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/snowden-departs-hong-kon...

The above has been recently published in the Asia & Pacific edition of the Washington Post. Interesting. Snowdon is achieving what Assange hoped to achieve.......or at least appears to be.

Assange was a public figure for quite a while. Snowden knew the crack-down was coming ahead of time.

I'm incredibly surprised that Snowden hasn't ended up like Michael Hastings... Because,... you know,... 2013 Mercedes C250s are KNOWN to drop their power train and explode on impact in high speed collisions (are my sarcasm tags on?!?!),...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-26/putin-confirms-nsa-whi...

The above info was posted on our national broadcaster, the ABC 47 minutes ago, Wed.28Jun, 8.17am EST.

Looks like Snowdon will be able to move to his final destination without hindrance.

I'm not sure he would be completely comfortable with the phrase "final destination." :-)

@CFWhitman........ LOL :-)

Personally, I'd like Snowden's destination to be a US prison awaiting trial.

@caitlyn: that's a shame that you think like that, I would have thought someone using Linux would be immune from the MSM brainwashing and would support someone like Snowden who made a huge personal sacrifice in an attempt to fight the totalitarian surveillance regime that is keeping humanity (or at least large parts of it) in a stranglehold...

I started this thread out of sheer interest because Snowdon is the second example of a search light being shone on the hitherto largely unknown surveillance that is taking place via the internet, cloud and data storage and as such it affects us all in the Linux world. Personally, I take no sides on the matter, and I think we should leave it strictly at that and respect that each of us has different concepts.

The personal drama of Edward Snowden is what the media focuses on. The real problem is the unwarranted, unconstitutional behavior of a taxpayer-funded organization that has taken over the direction of the United States in what is practically the definition of a military coup.

You all may appreciate this cartoon: http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BN9jW9GCUAAikcV.jpg:large

> The real problem is the unwarranted, unconstitutional behavior of a taxpayer-funded organization that has taken over the direction of the United States in what is practically the definition of a military coup.

There are two problems, actually. The first is an out of control federal government which ignores it's constitutional limits. The second is an extremely divided electorate, many of whom support such a government. (especially if their chosen leaders are the ones running it).

Unfortunately, I don't see a peaceful solution which both portions of the electorate will accept, much less that the federal government will. Fortunately, indications are that the money for running such an out of control government won't be available much longer.

Quoting:You all may appreciate this cartoon: http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BN9jW9GCUAAikcV.jpg

Who? Now that's funny!

Quoting:The second is an extremely divided electorate, many of whom support such a government. (especially if their chosen leaders are the ones running it).

Yes. The collectivists versus the individualists.

Quoting:Fortunately, indications are that the money for running such an out of control government won't be available much longer.

One can hope.

Has anybody else read Bellwether by Connie Willis? I can't help thinking that it's more apropos then we would like...

@jdixon.......that cartoon is a classic.

All the reports I have now seen indicate that Snowdon is "stuck" in the transit area at the Moscow airport. What I do know is that information from Snowdon continues to pour out and the latest news bulletins indicate that the EU is now very upset over what they have learnt.

I guess that the fugitives last name is really Snowden with an "e". At least according to the U.S.'s petitioning of the Obummer Administration to Pardon Edward Snowden at the Whitehouse.gov site.

@ridcully,

> All the reports I have now seen indicate that Snowdon is "stuck" in the transit area at the Moscow airport.

The press here in the U.S. had a field day over these reports and whether or not he'll eventually escape to Ecuador or somewhere else. But then again, the non-IT U.S. public tends to be fickle and easily distracted by some OTHER national news item to replace that of Snowden and his revelations....

2c

@flufferbeer........dead right.....SnowdEn.......my embarrassed mistake..... Thanks.

The NSA's metastasised intelligence-industrial complex is ripe for abuse Where oversight and accountability have failed, Snowden's leaks have opened up a vital public debate on our rights and privacy by Valerie Plame Wilson and Joe Wilson

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/23/nsa-inte...

Valerie Plame Wilson and Joe Wilson's public comment on the whole mess. (I'd say those two are exceptionally well qualified to have and express an opinion on this matter).

Thankyou very, very much for that link BernardSwiss. I've read and deeply appreciated the points the authors make, especially the one in the last small paragraph which you quote above. One tiny thought: This affair is now eerily becoming like an initial episode in the tv series of Chuck. If you've seen any of them, you can easily make the connection.