edward snowden applies for asylum in Ireland

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

He's more of a hero than any soldier returning from Afghanistan.

I think you need to get your dictionary fixed.

I was going to ask how you managed to change the Last Edited by bit but then I realised you can put things in Italics:o

Pherekydes wrote: »

Hands up anyone who thought the NSA, the CIA and other intelligence agencies weren't spying on just about everyone before Mr Snowden rendered his invaluable public service?


Whistleblowers are all well and good, when they're telling the public about falsified health reports, or some such, but where does it end? Would you like your bank details plastered all over the papers in the national interest?

As a member of the NSA he would have signed a very strict Official Secrets act. It's treason, plain and simple.

He has two choices: go home and face the music, or live his life out in beautiful Russia. "Ve haf a nice dacha for you in central Siberia. Very nice, this time of year..."

its akin to the anglo tapes ... everyone knew the "bankers" were running the country and the politicians were in awe of them, but no-one cared ....until the tapes (PROOF) were released recently.

so whistleblowers have their place and without them we dont know the inner runnings of various corporations and what illegalities they are getting upto.

for example: The various Gardai who operated their own "system" - depsite protocol and procedures in place with the handling of information/tipoffs ...and allowed drug dealers to continue their operations in exchange for information on others in the system (kieran boylan sound familiar ...if not google it) .... or the penalty points scandal closer to home, everyone knew someone who had points knocked off or fines disappeared by being related to or friendly with the local Garda sargeant ...but only when it was brought to light by whistleblowers that the general public are annoyed/upset and realise the extent of the situation.

I'm sure the vast majority of Americans didn't suspect that their phone conversations, texts and internet usage was being monitored...but now they know its done and for the vast majority they dont care because ..."its for the greater good"

its like every situation ... who polices the police !! - they are elements of every organisation which break the rules - but what do you do when the organisation chooses to ignore the laws and rules and does what they want.... who can/will punish them ?

I can see Ed get protected by the EU. Iy will be their way of getting back at the USA.

Jester252 wrote: »

I can see Ed get protected by the EU. Iy will be their way of getting back at the USA.

Sadly for him - no such country.

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

Invasion of privacy. But you know that.

google your name and you may well be shocked by what you see,

Wow he's only 30.

When I heard the reports I pictured Sean Connery in The Hunt for Red October defector type.

SpaceTime wrote: »

Sure just have a few CCTV cameras linked by IP back to the NSA HQ in your house, maybe in the bedroom and the toilet and make sure you photocopy all your mail and send it in too.

Also just give them access to your phone bills, your phone line, your mobile phone, all your email accounts, your Facebook, Twitter, and maybe your bank, credit card, and other financial records.

Use that data to create a map of why you call, text, speak to etc for how long, what you say all that kind of stuff. Search your texts for keywords, see where you shop, etc

While you're at it, any health files you might have - medicines you've been taking, surgeries you've had ..

Maybe the library books your borrow and your internet net search history could be checked out.

Take a quick look at what your Netflix records are like and where you drive to and from. Who you meet, how long you meet with them for.

All that kind of stuff.

Sure if you've nothing to hide, you wouldn't find that intrusive at all I'm sure.

All this information is held somewhere already. Putting it in the public domain could potential harm someone. Who or what is threatening to put this info in the public domain or use it for personal reasons against that person?

gramar wrote: »

I'd say you know the anwser to that.




Did I say that? The man is revealing sensitive secrets about his Goverment. He's a traitor whether you agree or not with what they are doing.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!!!!
Since when did blowing the whistle on CRIMINALITY constitute "revealing sensitive secrets"? So now exposing a crime constitutes TREACHERY?? So whoever revealed all the expenses scandals in Westminster was a traitor?
It's not as if this guy endangered national security by giving the blueprints of the stealth bomber to the Russians or revealed all the login passwords to all the Pentagon's systems to the bloody North Koreans. He exposed government spying. But I suppose he did reveal secrets alright.....DIRTY little secrets.

You know who I feel sorry for? Jim Corr. He's been trying to make a variety of 'revelations' over the years and he's never been the subject of a worldwide manhunt. Not even something a bit local. He must be so jealous right now.

Come on, Jim! Up your game! At least now you know if you do stumble across something accurate 'they' will come looking for you!

SpaceTime wrote: »

All this information is *not* supposed to be held somewhere anyway in any kind of a linked up way by a single agency.
Do you seriously think it's OK to just collect all this random information about people's lives and collate it into a big database!

When someone walks into the supermarket, they aren't filming them to find out what's in their basket - they are doing it for security purposes.

To
a) protect
b) prosecute those who do steal

Seriously, why are people in here ranting about the US government, when a private company, their ISP, arguably has more information?

Logically you should be complaining about both if that is the case.

It just sounds like selective paranoia to me.

It's getting to such a silly stage really.

That said, I think Obama should stand up and publically scrap the program, and next time they miss a large domestic or foreign terrorist attack then tough.