My Oh My.
From the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22857062
Article below.
This Edward Snowden is one of the most arrogant little pricks I have ever witnessed. Young, idealistic and full of himself. And incredibly selfish.
He is too young to know. What he has done is reduce the security of all of us.
I could go on. The prick will end up in prison and from all initial impressions will be very popular. As we speak hundreds if not thousands are rounding up donations of KY gel to send to the prison of his ultimate destination.
Two points:
First Europe is not really up in arms. Maybe they have to posture but in the background they are not upset. They are happy and hoping to work with the NSA in the US. Furthermore, and part of my first point, the majority of the public is in favor of increased surveillance. Jeez these terrorists are relentless and we have to use whatever means to find them.
Second. The little dweeb had alternative channels to pursue to express his concerns. He was only in the employ of the CIA for a few months. Zero effort to raise his concerns at more discreet levels.
I have many more points to make but this is a start.
That prick is going to jail for a long time and I am very very incredibly happy about that.
I know more than most how government bodies abuse power to destroy often innocent people. People on the inside with conscience are very much welcomed.
Not this way, however. You need to exhaust other alternatives before going to the last resort.
The article:.....
- Quote:
-
The EU is demanding assurances that Europeans are not having their rights infringed by a massive US surveillance programme.
Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding plans to raise the concerns with US Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday.
Last week a series of leaks by a former CIA worker led to claims the US had a vast surveillance network with much less oversight than previously thought.
The US insists its snooping is legal under domestic law.
The Obama administration is investigating whether the disclosures by former CIA worker Edward Snowden were a criminal offence.
More revelations promised Mr Snowden's employer, defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, said on Tuesday it had fired the 29-year-old infrastructure analyst for violating its ethics code.
Continue reading the main story Analysis Bethany Bell BBC News, Strasbourg --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's widespread anger in Europe about the reports that the US accessed personal data from leading internet companies, if the fiery debate at the European Parliament is anything to go by. Commissioner Tonio Borg said the EU wants a "clear commitment" from the US to respect the rights of European citizens when it comes to data protection.
He said the commission would raise the issue with the US at a meeting in Dublin on Friday. The German MEP, Manfred Weber, said it was "completely unacceptable" that the US has different rules for its own citizens and those of other countries. A Dutch MEP, Sophie In't Veld, criticised the commission for failing to protect EU citizens.
She said the reports of surveillance cast doubt on the special relationship between Europe and the US. But the British MEP Timothy Kirkhope warned against knee-jerk anti-Americanism, saying "friends listen most when you talk and not when you shout."
US officials say the snooping programme known as Prism, revealed in last week's leaks, is authorised under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa).
It gives the US National Security Agency (NSA) the power to obtain emails and phone records relating to non-US nationals.
But details about the individuals targeted under the act remain secret, and there are concerns the NSA is overstepping its powers.
Documents leaked to the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers claimed the US authorities had direct access to the servers of nine major US technology firms, including Apple, Facebook and Google.
Mr Snowden told the Guardian that individual operatives had the power to tap into anyone's emails at any time.
Although the firms have denied granting such access, saying they agreed only to legal requests, US officials have admitted Prism exists.
'Traitor' One of the Guardian journalists who wrote the Prism stories, Glenn Greenwald, has promised "more significant revelations" to come.
In the US, the controversy has focused on the possibility that conversations of US citizens may inadvertently be captured.
But overseas, governments and activists point out that US law provides foreigners with no protection.
Continue reading the main story World media reaction The Liberation Daily in China has harsh words for President Obama: "Five years ago, Obama came to power waving an anti-George W Bush banner. Five years later, he is still exactly the same as George W Bush on invasion of privacy issues." Russia's Izvestiya compares the revelations to a dystopian novel: "The frightening reality of the 21st Century is that the world has become a house with glass walls, notions of 'personal secrets' and 'confidential information' are turning into fiction before our very eyes." India's Tribune is more forgiving: "The 9/11 terrorist attacks have changed the environment where cyber snooping is now defendable, even acceptable." World media fume
Justice Commissioner Reding tweeted: "This case shows why a clear legal framework for the protection of personal data is not a luxury but a necessity."
Mr Snowden is believed to be in hiding a day after he reportedly checked out of a Hong Kong hotel.
In the US, Senator Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, said the American authorities were "aggressively" pursuing him.
The California Democrat also accused Mr Snowden of "an act of treason".
The top Republican in the US House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner, labelled Mr Snowden a "traitor".
"The disclosure of this information puts Americans at risk," he told ABC News on Tuesday morning. "And it's a giant violation of the law."
The government began wireless wiretapping after the 9/11 attacks, but the surveillance policy expanded under President Barack Obama.
|