Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations.

[CleanShavenJesus]

Right here. Perhaps I misread your intended meaning.

Besides, half of the people engaging in the kind of social protest that people think the government is trying to track are already conspiracy theorists who think they're being watched 24/7. This news does not affect what I read, what I buy, what I search, or what I talk about on the phone. If I protest, I'll protest. If I buy a book about the Secrets of the Government, I won't be paranoid. There's no reason to be.

I wasn't refering to the "being watched 24/7" as this situation. But there are some conspiracy nutjobs who are paranoid about EVERYTHING they do and think Big Brother is everywhere. The Illuminati, Bilderberg, reptile people type.

[Minimalist]

Of more significance is this shit which is being pulled on Bradley Manning.

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/16...l-lynching

The military trial of Bradley Manning is a judicial lynching. The government has effectively muzzled the defense team. The Army private first class is not permitted to argue that he had a moral and legal obligation under international law to make public the war crimes he uncovered. The documents that detail the crimes, torture and killing Manning revealed, because they are classified, have been barred from discussion in court, effectively removing the fundamental issue of war crimes from the trial. Manning is forbidden by the court to challenge the government’s unverified assertion that he harmed national security. Lead defense attorney David E. Coombs said during pretrial proceedings that the judge’s refusal to permit information on the lack of actual damage from the leaks would “eliminate a viable defense, and cut defense off at the knees.” And this is what has happened.

So documents which are a minimum of 4 years old - and doubtlessly much older - are still so sensitive that they cannot be discussed in court?

Or, is the decision more to protect the reputations and careers of army brass which authorized torture?

[mathew]

Nice sharing.

[downbeatplumb]

What Snowden showed was how stupid it is to link all Defence computer systems together and give blanket access to anyone with a certain level clearance.

Which is what we are moving towards. We never learn from the yanks mistakes.