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.
Sorry, master of the blog, but perhaps a better epithet might be ‘keeper of the zoo’.
Pax.
John. 10 54am
Don’t despair just yet my friend.
Encore de stuff francais sur le sujet ici.
http://rt.com/news/reports-nsa-france-false-583/
And back off topic…
The conversation about military spending late last night got me thinking about the nature of the centralised state.
It seems that colossal military spending, in that instance at least, achieves the destruction of lives, both at home and abroad, in one fell swoop. Now that’s what I call efficiency!
I wonder if we’ll ever devolve power to bio-regions and bring the criminal elites to book.
I always found Bakunin made me think. Can anyone suggest any thinkers who have run with his ideas?
“Powerful states can maintain themselves only by crime, little states are virtuous only by weakness.” Mikhail Bakunin
I think the last bit needs expanding on a bit, but I get his drift. Any ideas?
Dreolin
You are probably right – I haven’t the strength to check all that out. The paranoid are always capable of finding monsters.
Thanks for the link Sofia. Well the US would say that wouldn’t they, to paraphrase Mandy Rice Davies.
I hate lentils SKN. Heehawheehaw…
Time for me nosebag.
Laters dudes. Got a crust to earn.
John Goss
I don’t think Edward Snowden is saying a lot on Uzbekistan at present – but I salute your attempts at self promotion. Just a small point but it is “Islam Karimov” not “Islom”.
However Snowden’s lawyer’s (you know the one who sits on the KGB public scrutiny board) think tank http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_Democracy_and_Cooperation is not so silent on the matter – just look at what its European Director says about Uzbekistan
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/19/usa.comment
A rather different view from that expressed by Craig you must agree – and my guess rather closer to Putin’s. I would be a little worried about who Snowden has got himself mixed up with.
“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.”
I think it was Dreo. Good thinking, so it wasn’t as if the MacDuffer simply clicked on the wrong name in a list of options. So he actually did type in ‘Mary’. Ironically his whole obsessive post was about others’ ‘impersonation’. So be it through divine intervention (the Virgin Mary Syndrome), or by being a victim of Sigmund Freud he made himself out to be the ass that he is. Mystery solved. Mackry!
“On this page, of which there are above 100 comments not one mentions the name of Edward Snowden.”
This is after all Page 9 of comments. So nothing unusual there. It is always thus.
Alex Thomson tweets
“#c4news tonight. Exclusive – police and army involvement in UVF killings across Armagh now revealed”
I’ll be watching that
I agree Dreolin. It does tend to go wild after a page or two.
ESLO thanks. Have changed the misspelling.
As to the figures in the Andijan massacre I do not think anybody disputes them, unless you know differently. And the Guardian article dismisses reports of people being boiled alive when that is exactly what happened. ‘Murder in Samarkand’ had not been published then. I agree over the Timisoara misrepresentations but then there was a global need to be rid of Ceausescu who had managed to get Romania’s national debt down to zero. This had been hard on the Romanian people and the bankers who like to be in control. All that is solved now because Romania’s debt is just like any other country’s. In another piece of flagrant self-promotion let me mention I blogged about Romania’s changing position in one of my first ever blogs.
http://johngossip.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/king-king-my-horsedom-for-king.html
The priest the west got to start the revolution László Tőkés was later rewarded with a vice-presidency of the European Parliament. That’s how it works. Those with dirty hands get somebody else to do the washing and cleaning.
ELSO.12 07pm
Yum! Thanks.
I just found this in “Granma Habba’s Tried and Trusted Recipies.” I think you might like it.
« Compote de Maculage à Chaud
In a small saucepan, bring 3/4 cup apricot nectar, smears and half-truths to a boil. Combine lentils (but not too many ‘cos we don’t want Mikey to throw another of his tantrums) and remaining smears until smooth; gradually whisk into nectar mixture. Return to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened and slimey. Remove from the heat; stir in lemon juice. Cool.
Stir in the banana, strawberries and kiwi. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before posting onto Uncle Craig’s blog.
Take with a large pinch of salt.
Not everyone can stomach it, but I’m sure it’ll by a pure delight for you. Enjoy.
ELSO. 12 07pm
On second thoughts I think Medialens show more clearly how smearing works.
http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/alerts-2013/746-journalist-or-activist-smearing-glenn-greenwald.html
What do you think?
Got to go. See ya later.
Excellent recipe Sofia. I expect we’ll all be getting some of that soon.
Sorry ESLO misspelled your acronym. No offence mate.
ESOL: “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.”
Firstly I have not accused Res Des, but highlighted the fact that he is the only positive link between that Post & this Blog, and expressed surprise that such hyper-sensitive & easily offended person iro anti-Jewish racism, was apparently browsing such an anti-Semitic site. In the absence of any evidence, the principle of Occam’s razor was all that I highlighting, not stating as a fact that it was Res Des.
I see that the Villager Idiot, living up to his name, also subscribes to the laughable & deluded paranoia that I am Mary or Mary is me, and that I have such supernatural powers that I posted on a race hate site, impersonating Mary, urging racists to flock here to attack this Blog’s own Islamophobic trolls (!), knowing that this Post would be found by somebody who posts here !
The best joke is that this wacky, loony nut-job conspiracy theory, is being pushed by those that love to mock others of being CT nuts !
Mackey. 1 20pm
The best joke is that this wacky, loony nut-job cons
Mackey. 1 20pm
The best joke is that this wacky, loony nut-job conspiracy theory, is being pushed by those that love to mock others of being CT nuts !
Spot on!
I always know things are going to get weird when I see Little Bro peddling off in his Sherlock suit! Last time he used a bit too much of that white powder and ended up bending the front wheel on the Prendergasts’ gate post, again!
Sofia
I you look closely you will find that Snowden’s lawyer Anatoly Kucherena was sitting on his right hand side during the Sam Adam’s presentation. It would be interesting to know who financed the get together including flying all the ex CIA/FBI agents to Moscow and facilitating their visas, which are often notoriously difficult for ex agents to get hold off? And of course his membership for 6 years of the KGB public scrutiny board (appointed by the head of the KGB of course), his personal relationship with Putin, his “think” tank which takes a slavishly pro-Putin line, his previous pronouncements supporting the Russian State’s internet monitoring all make him the ideal person to take up Snowden’s case. Perhaps someone close to Wikileaks can explain how they alighted on such an evidently suitable choice of lawyer for Snowden?
If you think that this is a smear then please point out where my facts are incorrect Sofia.
SKN, You do make me laugh. I occasionally do mild annoyance, but never a tantrum, except when it comes to clobbering racists.
Don’t forget a soupcon of bile in your cold mucus, just to add some bite…
SKN, You do make me laugh. I occasionally do mild annoyance, but never a tantrum.
Don’t forget a soupcon of bile in your cold mucus, just to add some bite. Serve with elan, brio and sliced gusto.
Of course no helpful well connected Russia laywers to help those who threaten the regimes personal financial interests
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/18/letter-greenpeace-protester-russia-cell
-2C max -7C min today in Murmansk
ELSO. 2 07pm
Your tired old recipe (12 07pm) is known as “Guilty by Association”
“An association fallacy is an ‘inductive informal fallacy’ of the type ‘hasty generalization’ or ‘red herring’ which implies that qualities of one thing are inherently qualities of another, merely by an irrelevant association….”
You can check it out at, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_fallacy
Dammit they have “Dear Leaders”!
Ours are only “Strong Leaders”
Dammit they ignore popular will of their people because they are despots undemocratic oppressors!
Ours don’t ignore our people, because they know our people are wrong and cannot tell apart their elbow from their butt, our leaders make a decision for our people.
If you don’t agree with this then you are a conspiracy loon nut job tinfoil hat ……………………. and you know it. What is the point of having a leader and not listening to him/her/it?
Yep Sofia – Snowden just selected Kucherena out of a hat and wasn’t at all interested in his associations. Watch out for flying pigs.
Mike.
Thanks for the cookery tips.
Maybe you shouldn’t take Grannma Habba’s ramblings too personally. She had a way of driving even the most sanguine of her neighbours into fits of blind rage, like that time when the Gandhis all flew off the handle and trashed the Prendergasts’ favourite camelia and then rampaged down Beechwood Close and burned down the kindergarden.
Sofia
Might I also suggest that if you are interested in pursuing those who play the guilt by association game there are plenty others here who regularly play that game and rely on far more tenuous associations than I do. Perhaps you should look at what happened here to David Nott this weekend – a game in which you also appear to have indulged.
ELSO. 2 32pm
You know, I reckon you must be right.
And don’t forget his girlfriend’s a stripper too!
Well, the Ghandis and the Prendergasts never saw eye to eye, especially on the back of back to back u turns. They went from being cheek by jowl to toe to toe to toe to…
Nurse!
ELSO or should I say RD?. 2 26pm
Not Nott AGAIN!,/em>
But wait. I’ll let my higher self in here and remind you that we’re still awaiting a response to A Node’s perfectly reasonable question re the good doctor.
19 Oct, 2013 – 1:29 pm
“Resident dissident
If you’d heard someone question the honesty of the sobbing nurse who described Saddam’s troops throwing babies out of their incubators, would you have said: “What a pathetic and cowardly attack on a good woman man who gives of her own time and skills to help those injured in the conflict in Iraq?”
Surely there’s been plenty of time to come up with a half convincing response by now.
From John Goss at 13h02
“..there was a global need to be rid of Ceausescu who had managed to get Romania’s national debt down to zero.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So now, at last, we have the answer to the mystery – the egregious Ceausescus, blessed be their memeory, were got rid off because they got the Romanian national debt down to zero.
As wild an accusation as those you would have heard during the show trials in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, I should say.
******************
Always look on the….truthful…side of life!
Addendum – were the Rothschilds behind their ouster, John? Or perhaps the Bilderbergers?