Michael Hastings, Journalist and American Hero Dies at 33...

[notdrunk]

He may or may not have these documents, but the question is has he released them yet, he probably has not released them because they are a bargaining chip for him. And if they were for China specifically he probably did it to show us the hypocrisy of the US government for condemning other countries for cyber attacks when we do the exact same thing.

Our economy would be destroyed if China stopped imports to the US how much do we get from China, and how much do we get from other countries. Could we replace the 50% or so total imports we get from China within the span of a week probably not. China on the other hand ships to many other countries than the US so yes their economy will suffer but not as much as ours. Also they would just set a due date for the loans we have gotten for them, how will that affect our economy?

How is Russia not our ally, are we at war? No. Are we currently at each others necks? No. And Syria does not count that is Russia's ally they are defending them, and we are trying to defend our ally Israel. If we are not enemies, and are not at war then at least we are friends, even if we are on other sides of an issue. Britain, France, Germany, and Japan are our allies and our friends but we don't always see eye to eye. Pakistan is our ally and how do we treat them buy using drones to kill their civilian populace. So even if we are not allies with Russia we are their friend and whatever anyone else says they should be considered a form of ally. And if any one wants to not be their friend or ally, and would rather be their enemy they are touched in the head, they are still a super power and their army is still a force to be weary about.

And apologies to the OP for inadvertently highjacking this thread to a great man, and a great journalist. May he Rest in Peace.

No, he believes in a delusional fantasy that the boogieman aka US Government is going to kill him. It isn't hypocrisy that the NSA is cyber attacking various organizations. They already admitted that they do:

http://www.scmagazine.com/china-behi...rticle/219054/

The National Security Agency (NSA) is claiming a dozen groups connected to China's People's Liberation Army and six nonmilitary groups connected to universities are largely behind cyber spying campaigns

How did they know about Chinese universities engaged in cyber spying? The NSA had to access those computers.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...rwar/?page=all

The electronic spying and code-breaking agency provided a rare public look at its views on cyberwarfare by releasing this month redacted copies of its internal newsletter, which show that NSA has been engaged in cyberwarfare for more than a decade.

Even Obama admitted that we are engaged in offensive cyber warfare:

http://epic.org/privacy/cybersecurit...-FactSheet.pdf

Difference is that Snowden laid out that specifics of our operations. This possibly allows the Chinese to change their security protocols. While, the Chinese will continue to hack various computers for their gains.

Actually, the United States is the number one destination for Chinese products. No country comes close. So, it would be suicide for them stop sending their imports to the United States. It is MAD but economic instead of nuclear.

Russia is just there. It isn't an exactly an ally or enemy similar to the Soviet Union. Our relationship with Western European and Japan is a lot stronger than with Russia. Russia has its goals and the United States has its goals. The goals tend to clash more so than allies of the United States.

[volkov2006]

No, he believes in a delusional fantasy that the boogieman aka US Government is going to kill him. It isn't hypocrisy that the NSA is cyber attacking various organizations. They already admitted that they do

How did they know about Chinese universities engaged in cyber spying? The NSA had to access those computers.

Even Obama admitted that we are engaged in offensive cyber warfare:

Difference is that Snowden laid out that specifics of our operations. This possibly allows the Chinese to change their security protocols. While, the Chinese will continue to hack various computers for their gains.

Actually, the United States is the number one destination for Chinese products. No country comes close. So, it would be suicide for them stop sending their imports to the United States. It is MAD but economic instead of nuclear.

Russia is just there. It isn't an exactly an ally or enemy similar to the Soviet Union. Our relationship with Western European and Japan is a lot stronger than with Russia. Russia has its goals and the United States has its goals. The goals tend to clash more so than allies of the United States.

But Snowden has not sold or told anything to anyone, an escort with him says that he has no money, if he sold info why does he not have money?

But I think we are getting away from the big picture, not who or what Snowden did or did not do, but the information that the US government is spying on the public. It goes against the 4th amendment, and now people are calling for Glenn Greenwald to be tried as an aider and abetter to Snowden for reporting this story which goes against the 1st amendment. Whether the government says it is legal or not all these people calling gun control is going against the 2nd amendment but are in favor of these unconstitutional things which are much worse than any of the gun control things ever were.

Also as I said before the government is instituting a new justice system that says you are guilty until proven innocent, what is right with that statement? They say that they are not looking at the content of these things but they also said just a month ago that they don't do these programs, why should we believe them now, this is an organization whose main job is to lie. And the argument that if you have nothing to hide so it is okay is completely missing the point, everyone has something to hide. Also they are just storing this info for when someone does something wrong, and if you think they won't just look up what happened during the Occupy protests, and Eliot Spitzer. Eliot Spitzer was the governor of New York he went after the big banks when they were committing fraud that collapsed our economy, what did the friends of the banks do they went into his past an found out that he visited a prostitute and killed his career with that. So they are not going to not miss use this info to attack their political enemies, whether they be in government or just outspoken about the government.

How is this a democracy anymore if the people do not control the government but instead the government control the people?

I don't really care what Snowden did or did not do in his past or in the future, or what these countries may do with it, if Snowden didn't tell them I am pretty sure that they would have figured it out one way or another if they did not already know. We need to look at the big picture not the character assassination of the person that released the info from the people who are in bed with the government rather than checking to make sure that the government is not going out of control.

[Ben]

Snowden's no hero.
He sounds more and more like someone who wanted his moment of fame from the get go..only to escape through countries whose track records of personal privacy (and human rights) are more dismal than the country he's trying to expose.
He's a criminal.

Well, Daniel Ellsberg broke the law, Rosa Parks broke the law, Nelson Mandela broke the law, Martin King Jr. broke the law.
I mean, if you've done any illicit narcotic in your life you've broken the law. How many millions of Americans have broken marijuana laws? How many millions of men have broken prostitution laws?
I don't believe either prostitution or drug use should be criminalized. Drugs are a health issue. Not a criminal issue.
Actually, take, say, zoos. Why are zoos not illegal/banned? I mean, to me, anyway, they're quite disgusting. They're about abducting, forcibly confining animals. They're about putting animals in prisons.
Well, they're legal because money can be made.
The act of JAYWALKING is a crime. How many people have broken that law????
Point is: who makes the laws and why do they look the way they do....
Daniel Ellsberg addressed Snowden fleeing, as it were. He pointed out: it's a different country now. When Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers, well, he was out on bail.
Snowden might've -- and probably would have -- been treated much like Brad Manning. Essentially: tortured.
Snowden could -- and should -- be charged with theft.
I agree with that.
I mean, he broke the law, much like Manning, to expose bigger crimes, state crimes.
But, as Glenn Greenwald pointed out, awhile ago, we've been inculcated or taught to believe that politicians are above the law.