Ray McGovern and the Sam Adams party have presented the Sam Adams award to Edward Snowden. I am delighted. This from Ray’s account of the event:
In brief remarks from his visitors, Snowden was reassured — first and foremost — that he need no longer be worried that nothing significant would happen as a result of his decision to risk his future by revealing documentary proof that the U.S. government was playing fast and loose with the Constitutional rights of Americans.
Even amid the government shutdown, Establishment Washington and the normally docile “mainstream media” have not been able to deflect attention from the intrusive eavesdropping that makes a mockery of the Fourth Amendment. Even Congress is showing signs of awaking from its torpor.
In the somnolent Senate, a few hardy souls have gone so far as to express displeasure at having been lied to by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and NSA Director Keith Alexander — Clapper having formally apologized for telling the Senate Intelligence Committee eavesdropping-related things that were, in his words, “clearly erroneous” and Alexander having told now-discredited whoppers about the effectiveness of NSA’s intrusive and unconstitutional methods in combating terrorism.
Coleen Rowley, the first winner of the Sam Adams Award (2002), cited some little-known history to remind Snowden that he is in good company as a whistleblower — and not only because of previous Sam Adams honorees. She noted that in 1773, Benjamin Franklin leaked confidential information by releasing letters written by then-Lt. Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Hutchinson to Thomas Whatley, an assistant to the British Prime Minister.
The letters suggested that it was impossible for the colonists to enjoy the same rights as subjects living in England and that “an abridgement of what are called English liberties” might be necessary. The content of the letters was so damaging to the British government that Benjamin Franklin was dismissed as colonial Postmaster General and had to endure an hour-long censure from British Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn.
There has been a determined attempt by government to justify the need to intercept everybody’s communications, all the time. We have, yet again, had MI5 claim there are many thousand violent Islamic terrorists running around the UK, (yet somehow not managing to kill anybody). The cry of “paedophiles” is raised, as always. I can imagine them suggesting the entire population be shot dead, and justifying it as making sure they get the paedophiles. The tabloids would go with that.
There still had not been a single credible claim by the mainstream media that any named individual has died, despite that contingency being trotted out all the time as the reason Snowden and Manning should not have revealed state crimes and abuse of power. I am hopeful that, with the internet still largely free to the dissemination of information, out next massive whistleblower is only weeks away.
Villager: “Hopefully we can have more substantive observations around the article.
My 727-billion*-question is why has Saudi Arabia not been able to better support their Palestinian brethren better over the years/decades?”
Good luck Ben, if you chose to try to educate the greatest political ignoramus that’s ever blighted a political Blog.
“What you don’t take into account is that if those thousands of millions of dollars were spent on meeting the needs of US citizens you wouldn’t get amazing art like this”
I was unaware Palestinian digs had been sold as art.
Ben.
Spot the difference.
Here’s a house in Detroit where your tax money’s not spent.
http://brandonrechten.deviantart.com/art/Urban-Decay-57025727
Here’s one in Gaza where it is!
http://www.zimbio.com/Israel+World+News/articles/XEiIA51x6xJ/New+Facebook+Images+IDF+Abuse+During+Cast
” if you chose to try to educate the greatest political ignoramus that’s ever blighted a political Blog.”
I generally try to avoid personal squabbles, and I have wondered why Villager has attached himself to the return of hab, which to me seems like Bilbo Baggins defending the civil rights of Sarumon as seen through the eyes of Villager.
Like Sir Thomas More pitted against the Cardinal and special Prosecutor for Henry VIII, Villager sees a greater good in his strategy and i applaud his courage, I just don’t think it’s well placed in it’s integrity. He is under no penalty of death, like More. In addition, I think he has absorbed, by osmosis, a similar tac in his comments. I regret that. He doesn’t have to swallow the Flounder, whole. It’s a cafeteria. Try this; try that. Be here now.
Ben: “I generally try to avoid personal squabbles”
It’s not so much as engaging in personal squabbles than trying to make this Blog Comment section worth visiting again after they have virtually wrecked this place, and that involves beating back the trolls, and their gormless helpers.
Notice how already they shy away 😉
@ Jemand,
Yes, words can become semantics and, per their being, always leave room for maneuverability, negotiations and final settlements.
I guess a natural irk against a need to bridge gaps [not you] along whatever fault lines they may run, doesn’t facilitate the proper breeding ground for peace processes to fully bloom. As Grams used to say, “It takes 2 to tango…”
Funny that you should mention technological development over the past decade or so. Yesterday, on the way home, I stood in a streetcar and, except for 2 very old ladies and myself, everyone else was incredibly busy on whatever handheld device you can think of.
I think you will appreciate this article [or at least it might be of interest], No castaways on the net.
Oh, and Israel only ‘defends’ itself after an ‘unprovoked attack.’ It would never preemptively do anything…
@ Ben,
That shutdown didn’t stop the War Machine 1 iota now, did it?
Jemand and Villager,
Are you idiots still whining away with yer drivel again?
Geez peace ya eejits.
Are you no embarrassed by your bought and paid for 3rd hand riffs?
Shameful troll fakes.
http://us.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2013/10/22/exp-tsr-sciutto-drone-strikes-war-crime.cnn.html
Video report at link http://us.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2013/10/22/exp-tsr-sciutto-drone-strikes-war-crime.cnn.html
World Bank acknowledges Palestine is being disappeared.
Nevermind @6:44pm digs in his clicking heels to defend a discredited myth that aims to depict German soldiers as victims of a massive atrocity. The intent, I gather, is to distribute the burden of moral failure uniformly on all sides so that no one is in a position to point fingers (at Germans).
He then goes on to recommend that I read up on the subject of ‘ecology’ wrt fracking, as if I need advice from someone with zero scientific credentials. My comments re fracking were (perhaps too) brief but still valid. I’ll add that fracking is unquestionably problematic, albeit having more localised problems similar to terrestrial oil spills than globalised ones such as oceanic pollution. The point of my post was how big problems drift into the background while smaller, fashionable problems catch the headlines. Fukushima is drifting off the front pages as its radioactive pollution is drifting into the sea and fading public consciousness.
So this is the kind of character who has put himself up for election to a post that demands public trust including trust in his ability to get the facts straight. Would you trust this man to do an important job after reading these links?
Nevermind posting under another handle, “Ingo” (this is why we dislike sock-puppeting) –
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2010/07/westminster_fou/#comment-293752
Shocking Revelation – Eisenhower murdered a million German POWs –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_Losses
Citizen journalists fight for ‘Truth and Justice’ –
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/t819760/
The New York Times pours cold water on the story –
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/24/books/ike-and-the-disappearing-atrocities.html
Yes, Sir Thomas More was a wise man.
When Elizabeth was born, her nurse praised God for having her produce a boy without a winkle. Until Sir Thomas wisely pointed put that a boy without a winkle is actually a girl.
@Daniel Rich
Thanks for the link, but .. 404 Doc not found
Hi Jives!
You shouldn’t stay up so late, you have school tomorrow. Go to bed!
Back to basics, folks ! So why was the Almighty SILENT not only in Poland but also in Cambodia and Rwanda? NEVER AGAIN will we see steel framed skyscrapers collapse like the WTCs, is that why we had the five dancing DIYs filming away in the NY car park? NEVER AGAIN will we be conned by impossible ballpoint pen Diaries of Ann Frank or 911 cell fone calls way before their time !! But habba and co keep on trying !
Daniel – working. Typo in link, quote mark at end. Thanks.
@ “ישראל בכל מקום” I don’t have a problem with nations existing who behave justly. But if they do not do so, can they count on the help of Providence forever? If you really want to help the economy of the Palestinians, help them to build infrastructure, agriculture and industry. Young people whose energy is constructively engaged are less likely to put it into terrorist actions.
“As for you being a good zionist, there is no such thing, moishe…”
I didn’t say I was a good zionist, I said I could be thought of as an honest one. And if such a thing did not exist, it would be necessary to invent it….
Meanwhile, good Zionists in the ADL are ensuring that our message (Israel is ours, and we’re not sharing it with towelheads) continues to be promoted among our providers of military aid. Note that we’re beginning to discourage advocates of a two-state solution. The facts on the ground are pretty well established, and it is time we weaned our more moderate fans off the idea:
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/abraham-greenhouse/adl-issues-2013-list-top-10-anti-israel-groups
“Along with MPAC, the press release grants special attention to Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), despite how the only fact about the group cited in the statement which was not also present in the original 2010 report is the existence of its Rabbinical Council. The full report, however, describes JVP as “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States” and discusses “the unique role played by JVP in the larger anti-Israel movement, namely to shield the movement from allegations of anti-Semitism.” The report notes JVP’s expansion to boast more than thirty chapters across the US, which the ADL partially attributes to the organization’s “embrace of online marketing tools and its strong presence on social networking sites.”
JVP responded to its inclusion in the list by reposting an earlier statement responding to similar claims from the ADL. The statement thanks the ADL for its “recognition of our growing strength,” while questioning “the right of the ADL to declare a monopoly on Jewish values” and criticizing the ADL’s record of “fomenting Islamophobia, spying on leftist and human rights groups, denying the Armenian genocide, and surveillance and infiltration against Arab American activists.” The response goes on to state that it was “not a surprise, and even a badge of honor, that the ADL would attack us.”
There is no place for ANY zionist to hide now,honest or not, everybody can see through their yarmulkers now, and its not a pretty sight. Their only hope is the Gharqad, but there too their spell on the goyim underpinned by the blood of the Lamb is now broken, thanks to the muzzies and their powerful Quran.
Good morning,
Just putting down a marker. I haven’t been driven away — in case Macky and Fedup think they have ‘achieved’ something. They haven’t. I see they’re trolling away, flinging poo in all directions.
And Mary, I didn’t ask for you help, thanks. I thought your silence was remarkable. I had my suspicions about the reason for it, and it turns out I was right.
As for, “they even talk to them” (or whatever your exact words were) — how silly can you get?
I now have a mental image of you in leafy lanes, your nose in the air, refusing to respond to the “Good morning!s” of, say, known Tory voters. Or believers in the GWOT … Extraordinary, if that’s how you carry on.
I owe an apology to Villager, for not including you in my earlier thanks. It was an oversight. Sorry!
And I’m one of your interested readers, Jemand, even if we wouldn’t always agree.
Back anon
“If you really want to help the economy of the Palestinians…..”
We don’t, obviously. Though it’s handy to be able to point to some token gestures in that direction. Lord Blair is extremely helpful with this. Helping to set up a mobile phone network in Gaza benefited him, and benefited us (we can listen at will). Repairing the dire sewage system, ensuring water, fuel and power supplies – they don’t help us at all. We’ve just cut off construction materials again, and we’ve got the Egyptian military scouring the desert for tunnels and smugglers trying to beat our blockade.
One day we’ll let them all out, and they won’t even want to come back.
On the top of the morning to yer, Dreoilin.
Amazing results from an examination of Google’s autocomplete in searches
“The fact these results even show up in the autocomplete suggestions is proof that many of these opinions are in the majority, as opposed to just the thoughts of a select few.”
http://www.psfk.com/2013/10/google-autocomplete-sexism-united-nations.html
Further
http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2013/10/women-should-ads
Have any comments ever posted under “Mary” ever shown the slightest resemblance to anything posted under “Macky”, or vice versa ?
I can think of one comment on another website that you have accused Resident Dissident of having posted without any evidence whatsoever. Me thinks thou does protest too much.
Hi Jemand,
I don’t know where you are exactly but it must be evening there with you … about 6.30pm in Melbourne!
Good morning Dreoilin –good to see you. No need to apologise, we already understand each other. objectivity is key and scarce.
“I can think of one comment on another website that you have accused Resident Dissident of having posted without any evidence whatsoever. Me thinks thou does protest too much.”
All a bit odd … But to be fair, the comment on another website was posted as Flaming June, was it not? maybe I’m wrong.
Dreoilin, there is currently a three hour stretch from East to West (DLS) and one hour North of NSW because they don’t need more light in Brisbane. Hah! You needn’t worry exactly where I am, for I am here with you.
🙂 @ Jemand
and another @ Villager
Methinks the blog goeth downhill.
On this page, of which there are above 100 comments not one mentions the name of Edward Snowden. Yesterday I refrained from linking this article. Nevertheless it mentions Snowden and other notable whistle-blowers particularly Craig Murray, who some might care to recall, is master of the house.
http://newsjunkiepost.com/2013/10/21/uzbekistans-dictatorship-is-no-laughing-matter/