NSA and GCHQ siphoning huge quantities of data from undersea fiber optic cables

[amstech]

Saying Snowden is a traitor has got to be, without a doubt, the dumbest post I've read in 2013 on this site.

 

[Nobina]

SNOWDEN is a traitor. He made a deal when you got the job not to tell anything to anybody. I like how people think a man who does not keep his word is a hero. And know he has to live somewhere hiding like a piece of crap for the rest of his life.

I really don't give a crap what the Government spies on. I have nothing to hide. I think over 99% of the people in this world are incapable of making decisions anyways. That is kind of why we have government. They have been doing this crap forever why cry now?

So if you have nothing to hide, maybe someone else has.

 

[IvanAwfulitch]

I don't want someone snooping around in my personal life just because I have nothing to hide. You wouldn't want me digging through all your drawers in your bedroom even if you had nothing to hide. Just admit it. You're absolutely dead wrong.

Our forefathers guaranteed that the right to a citizen's privacy could never be unjustly violated. There are these things called warrants that allow the government and the police to do all the snooping they want. If they're really afraid that there's a terrorist in America, get a subpoena or a warrant and THEN have a look around. Looking for a terrorist on skype, facebook, or gmail is like looking for a fish in Death Valley. You're just NOT going to find one because you're looking in the wrong place. Keeping tabs on us constantly via spying is completely wrong.

And because they're looking in the wrong place, they're trampling our Constitution and our Bill of Rights in the process-- things that the government promised never to violate.

Just like President Obama calling for gun controls right when an emotional public is reacting to the Zimmerman trial, or the Newtown shooting, spying for the sake of spying on the American people to find terrorists isn't going to get you anywhere. It's just simply the government taking a stranglehold on civil liberties in the name of 'freedom' and 'democracy'.

If the US government is guilty of criminal acts, then blowing the whistle does in fact make Snowden a hero, like it or not. And he deserves the protection of the general public around the world because of his noble act. I wouldn't sit idly by while an innocent citizen's life is destroyed because of wrongfully suspected terrorism. I would call it out too. It's the responsible thing to do. France is doing it, Russia is doing, the US is doing it... they're all bed-fellows. And as soon as Snowden made it to Russia, Russia just wanted assurances that their own spying program wouldn't be leaked; France started sh***ing itself too after PRISM got exposed because their spying program is actually WORSE than the one in America.

The American people have decided that their Constitution and their Bill of Rights are essential, and that they want to protect those rights. Crying now is the best time for it because any later is far too late. Believing anything else is complete and utter idiocy at its worst. And if you still insist on what you believe, you're just a big fat troll. Get back on 4chan, fa**ot.

 

[gingerbill]

I think Benjamin Franklin said it best " They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

 

[Guest]

Yep in Australia you don't need guns you got your blow pipe with poison to kill someone or just slip a mamba in their bed.

 

[tonylukac]

They essentially want privacy for their secrets yet want to violate our privacy.

 

[Mikymjr]

Snoden is nothing but a TRAITOR. Why? Having exposed US secrets, he then tried to hide in China and Russia - fact. He will now likely get protection in a tin-pot dictator state, as neither China or Russia will touch him (a smart decision).

These surveillance systems are in place not to read your trivial emails or catch you downloading porn, but to assist in the prevention of acts of terrorism and provide evidence in other significant crimes (perhaps such as child porn, money laundering etc). People who whine about potentially being snooped are either being foolishly anarchist or have something to hide.

Sonden has forever damaged the governments ability to protect the innocent and prosecute the guilty. As the old saying goes, if you have nothing to hide....

I look forward to Snoden's body washing up on a beach somewhere, and the sooner the better. A true WORM of a character who is NOT a hero by any measure (unless you are Al-Qaeda or Taliban).

Do NOT worship anyone who removes the protection of the innocent. I would give up absolute privacy for a safer country any day. Period.

Let's think about this for a second. You're wishing for someone to be dead. You wanna take Gods place? Your ignorance annoys me. God does not belong to any country nor any government. Why are you putting Guest as your name? Unless you also like privacy and are just bragging. And what's with the "I'd like to give up my privacy for privacy sake". It sounds more like you're worried about your own life. About people who died from a terrorist attack? Yeah it happened and they have my condolences and respect. You wanna get revenge? Start with how Terrorists got this way. Terrorists get to drive because of your mindset. Sure I'd like to kick people who are bad, or stop them in their plans if I got the chance, but how did they get like this? It's stereo-typing, racism, the poor getting poorer that's what leads to these things. Do something about it instead of saying the government will take care of me. Every good starts with yourself being good to others even if they might sometimes be bad. I could also start with how thousands of people die in traffic every day because of reckless drivers or drunks. People who died in aircraft crashes because of faulty maintenance or ignorance. Why not put the ones responsible for those deaths as terrorists? If you want to make it better for others sake so it doesn't happen to them, start doing something to help improve everyone's situation (every person on earth) instead of brushing it of as "it's not my problem cause I only want revenge"

 

[Guest]

I agree. Edward Snowden is a public servant; he cannot possibly be a traitor because, in order to be so labelled, one has to be ".... a person who commits treason by betraying his or her country."

He hasn't, and yes, if he were British, I would feel exactly the same.

By the way, stories such as this were never in the domain of the tinfoil hat brigade - that's government propaganda for you. Check the date of this story:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/503224.stm

"Enemy of the State" was a good film, but it spouted 'current technology' that was already 20 years old.

 

[Satki]

So if terrorism is the no. 1 reason for PRISM, why is Germany the number 1 target? Specifically Bavaria, which just so happens to contain 60% of German industry. This is about control and stealing industrial secrets from allies, stopping terrorism is just a diversion for the headlines

 

[Guest]

"Saying Snowden is a traitor has got to be, without a doubt, the dumbest post I've read in 2013 on this site."

Saying he's not a traitor has got to be, without a doubt, the dumbest mentality someone can have. You can consider him a hero if you want, but by definition, he is a traitor nonetheless...

 

[cliffordcooley]

"Saying Snowden is a traitor has got to be, without a doubt, the dumbest post I've read in 2013 on this site."

Saying he's not a traitor has got to be, without a doubt, the dumbest mentality someone can have. You can consider him a hero if you want, but by definition, he is a traitor nonetheless...

The fact that we bicker whether or not he is, proves there is reasonable doubt.