omnibus PRISM/NSA/free Edward Snowden/encryption tutorial thread

crut how could you do this to us

Evo Morales is, with a stopover in Gran Canaria, now on the way home. But the involuntary stopover in Vienna Bolivian President leaves considerable repercussions. And questions, the answers are hidden in the false bottoms possibly that are standard in the diplomatic interiors.

i really enjoy google translate sometimes

‏@MartinxHodgson
Obama "not scrambling jets" to find #Snowden. Merely closing down European airspace and detaining a president!

Morales said Bolivia had not received a formal application for asylum from Snowden yet, but hinted it would consider any request favourably.

"If there were a request, of course we would be willing to debate and consider the idea," Morales told RT Actualidad, the Spanish-language service of Russian broadcaster RT.

"I know that the empires have an espionage network and are against the so-called developing countries. And in particular, against those which are rich in natural resources," he added.

His comments were echoed by favourable noises from Venezuela, another possible exit route for the former NSA contractor. President Nicolás Maduro said Caracas was also ready to consider Snowden's asylum should he ask for it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-snowden-bolivia-plane-vienna

Not scrambling jets, just searching the jet of another country's president

Amid a growing diplomatic storm, the Bolivian president, Evo Morales, has been allowed to fly out of Vienna, but only after a 12-hour interruption during which his plane was stopped and searched for the whistleblower Edward Snowden.

tho obv i'm in the free eddie camp there's a part of me that's coming around to the notion that turning himself in would be the fastest way to make this story about spying again instead of about the spy

wondering how many liberals in '71 were rushing to compare dan ellsberg to a bank robber

get him away from the people who want to use him at WL to keep gasping at relevance, away from the politicians that want to make him an accidental anti-imperialist mascot...but then, the alternative is how many years of solitary before a trial that would see him dismantled xp

It's not like the US is sending out the drones to blow up Snowden family weddings.

Yet.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, July 3, 2013 3:43 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah they'd never kill an american who said some treasonous shit that aided the enemy and maybe his family for being in the wrong place at the wrong time amirite

idk if this matters but my understanding of the pentagon papers was that, while classified, they didn't contain anything the public didn't already know from various news sources about what had happened in vietnam -- what the PP showed was that the pentagon itself knew how useless and hopeless the situation was, and had known for years (right?)

also when ellsberg leaked them he didn't have a bradley manning figure being put in solitary w/o charge for months previously...

oddly, i remember my journalism professor in college saying basically the same thing -- that the PP were no big deal and nixon (being nixon) just went beserk for no reason. but according to wiki:

The Papers revealed that the U.S. had expanded its war with bombing of Cambodia and Laos, coastal raids on North Vietnam, and Marine Corps attacks, none of which had been reported by media in the US. The most damaging revelations in the papers revealed that four administrations, from Truman to Johnson, had misled the public regarding their intentions. For example, the John F. Kennedy administration had planned to overthrow South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem before his death in a November 1963 coup. President Johnson had decided to expand the war while promising "we seek no wider war" during his 1964 presidential campaign, including plans to bomb North Vietnam well before the 1964 Election. President Johnson had been outspoken against doing so during the election and claimed that his opponent Barry Goldwater was the one that wanted to bomb North Vietnam.

mind you i don't think snowden = ellsberg or that the situations are exactly the same but all the same it's good to keep in mind that there was a time when ellsberg was not a beloved elder statesman of free speech et al, and that his actions were being denounced as treasonous. (also IIRC the PP were even more highly classified than what manning leaked, if not what snowden leaked.)

how many liberals in '71 were rushing to compare dan ellsberg to a bank robber

well, back then Obama Democrats woulda been right of Rockefeller Republicans

I think it's important to keep in mind this guy has spent the past 5+ years working with high level US secret intelligence across the world. Keep that in mind next time you read someone saying "This guy is stupid why didn't he do _this_ instead?" Clearly dude was privy to info the vast majority of us don't have, and undoubtedly that has informed his globe-trotting post-leak actions.

The truth prob lies somewhere between 'what a dolt' and 'he's super-informed and playing n-dimensional chess'.

bush jr was privy to all kinds of information but still thought invading iraq was a good idea, which i think indicates that access to intelligence doesn't necessarily replace personal intelligence.

yeah i saw a friend on twitter today suggesting 'what if all this asylum circus is just snowden's way of revealing the degree to which the us controls world affairs' and i was like um

There was just a piece in ... Wired? On NPR? Wherever. That went into about how much of the stuff Snowden leaked has been known, or at least highly suspected, for at least a decade. Will try to find.

Is the big Snowden revelation the extent to which the US has been spying on/in other countries? Because that seems to be more diplomatically damaging than domestic eavesdropping.

Like, here's an NPR interview with James Risin from 2003:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5127932

INSKEEP: Can I get you to explain your best understanding of the nuts and bolts of what the National Security Agency has been doing? Who's calling from where, who's listening and how are they doing that, as best you've been able to determine?

Mr. RISEN: Well, what the government says they've been doing is eavesdropping on telephone and e-mail communications into and out of the United States without search warrants.

Sorry, that was 2006

the big Snowden revelation to me is the extent to which Russia and Bolivia still give a shit about keeping in Amerikay's good graces.

Yeah, that part is surprising!

The new Wired has a big NSA piece:

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/06/general-keith-alexander-cyberwar/all/

But just six months later, Alexander and the rest of the American intelligence community suffered a devastating defeat when they were surprised by the attacks on 9/11. Following the assault, he ordered his Army intercept operators to begin illegally monitoring the phone calls and email of American citizens who had nothing to do with terrorism, including intimate calls between journalists and their spouses. Congress later gave retroactive immunity to the telecoms that assisted the government.

Anyway, this all might explain why Americans don't seem to care too much about this stuff. We've been sort of primed for these sorts of revelations, which I suppose is another sign of how bad it's gotten. So is the fact that Snowden, hero or loser or whatever he is, is afraid to return home to America to "face justice," given he knows absolutely well what a sham that would be.

yeah i was working my way through that on the train this morning, need to finish it

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/07/hacker-jester-targets-assange-snowden-ecuador

The Jester, who has one of his computers on display in the International Spy Museum, is famous for launching cyberattacks against WikiLeaks and Al Qaeda-linked web sites. According to a May story in Newsweek, he's also sought to reveal the identities of jihadists recruiting online and affiliates of the hacktivist group Anonymous. The Jester told the magazine that he views his hacking as an extension of his former military service (he claims that he was affiliated with a "rather famous" unit in Afghanistan), but he said that he has "no official relationship with law enforcement agencies." On his website he describes himself as "pro OUR Military, LEA [law enforcement agencies], & Intel Communities who do the same job no matter who is sitting in the big seat."

In a June 26 blog post, the Jester writes that Snowden "is not a goddam hero, here to save Americans from 'the government' because of privacy infringements and breaches of the 4th amendment, he is a traitor and has jeopardized all our lives." He launched a similar tirade against Assange, who has been living in London's Ecuadorean Embassy for more than a year to dodge extradition, writing, "Let's not forget Assange isn't seeking asylum because he's some heroic whistleblower or do-gooder. He's wanted for questioning on a rape charge."

On July 1, the Jester tweeted this:

http://www.motherjones.com/files/Screen%20shot%202013-07-02%20at%202.48.47%20PM.png

In a subsequent series of tweets, the Jester alluded to hacking into the embassy's fire alarm system to force Assange out of the building. If Assange were to leave the embassy compound, he would face extradition to Sweden—where he's under investigation for sexual assault—or potentially to the United States, where Assange fears he could be prosecuted in connection with the publication of classified information allegedly leaked by Bradley Manning.

Yesterday the Jester tweeted photos of what he believed to be fire alarms on the exterior of the Ecuadorean Embassy, asking locals to crowd-source the name and logo of the alarms. The Jester also tweeted the following map, isolating what he says are the wifi networks that Assange may be using within the embassy.

http://www.motherjones.com/files/Screen%20shot%202013-07-02%20at%202.45.45%20PM_1.png

In addition to targeting Assange and Ecuador, the Jester circulated a list of 52 servers used by the Venezuelan government, which Snowden has reportedly also petitioned for asylum. The hacker told FoxNews.com on Tuesday that he would treat countries that consider housing Snowden as "enemies" (Snowden is requesting asylum in at least 21 countries). The Jester did not respond to an interview request from Mother Jones.

The Jester, who has one of his computers on display in the International Spy Museum
The Jester, who has one of his computers on display in the International Spy Museum
The Jester, who has one of his computers on display in the International Spy Museum
The Jester, who has one of his computers on display in the International Spy Museum
The Jester, who has one of his computers on display in the International Spy Museum
The Jester, who has one of his computers on display in the International Spy Museum

this two-part piece on the history of the NSA and whistleblowers is a must-read:

https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/nsa-whistleblowers-for-dummies/412c6c31f2a8081c10456a2f2c1087f345176369/

https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/nsa-whistleblowers-for-dummies-ii/81bc80840972053356854f3ac8c87cc4834afb97/

Chris Hayes made a point of reminding people of Admiral Poindexter's efforts in 2002.

Slate:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/view_from_chicago/2013/07/edward_snowden_and_asylum_he_is_a_terrible_candidate.html

Snowden has few options left. Any country with an extradition treaty with the United States would probably extradite him—so his efforts to get into Germany or France are pretty pointless. Perhaps, if he reached Cuba or Bolivia, he could stay in one of those countries, in the process giving up the civil liberties that he holds so dear.

Even Snowden’s supporters realize that he must face the music. The Guardian, having wrung him dry of secrets, has solemnly declared that he should be tried albeit as a “whistleblower,” whatever that means. If he returns to the United States, prosecutors can and will charge him under whatever law he broke, and that includes the Espionage Act. He is likely to be convicted, but he has an outside chance of an embarrassing mistrial, a nullifying jury, even a sympathetic judge who goes easy on him in sentencing. Americans have a soft spot for people like Snowden. This country has a long history of unsuccessful prosecutions of dissenters, from the alleged Nazi sympathizer Elizabeth Dilling, to the Chicago Eight, to Daniel Ellsberg. Thoreau, abettors of fugitive slaves, civil rights protesters, and Vietnam-era draft dodgers are honored in historical memory. The founders themselves were traitors who made good. Today, secure but stifling in the embrace of a government that protects us from crime, terrorism, old age, and ill health by keeping track of our every move, we play Patrick Henry and enact harmless mini-rebellions by cheering on people like Snowden and Julian Assange. They defy the system without threatening it.

eric posner doesn't know what a 'whistleblower' is, huh?

I think he meant that he doesn't know what "being tried as a 'whistleblower'" means. Glad I could help.

Does contemporary Bolivia have a notably poor record on civil liberties?

lol did the guardian actually say he should be tried???

thank you us government for protecting me from ill health with cellphone metadata what a country

Protecting us from old age wtf?

Does contemporary Bolivia have a notably poor record on civil liberties?

Indeed. Morales seems to be even worse on this than his hero Chavez.

As a total aside, here's a site that streamlines the entire process of filing a FOIA request to pull FBI files: http://www.getgrandpasfbifile.com

It's fun! Getting an envelope in the mail addressed from the FBI (logo and all!) is such a cheap thrill.

this two-part piece on the history of the NSA and whistleblowers is a must-read:

https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/nsa-whistleblowers-for-dummies/412c6c31f2a8081c10456a2f2c1087f345176369/

https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/nsa-whistleblowers-for-dummies-ii/81bc80840972053356854f3ac8c87cc4834afb97/

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, July 3, 2013 5:30 PM (Yesterday)

thanks for this!

i'd never heard of this mag/blog before, but that was a really well-written piece. makes me want to finally pick up takeover and finish it for good. interesting thesis that it was the shift from economics to reacting against the expanding security state that led to the sorry democratic party we've got today (though the author doesn't go into how the democrats managed to reverse themselves on the former). teaser for morbs:

That turn against government and towards market solutions eventually led to where we are today under Obama, the worst of both the national security state and austerity politics, a smoldering toxic dump of all the worst that the Democratic Party has offered.

It's run by Mark Ames who used to do The Exile with Matt Taibbi - quite a few of the writers (Yasha Levine, etc) are the same. I've been meaning to get a subscription for a while.

ftr, that sentence i quoted isn't representative of the article itself at all; it's an excellent history

also the article does address the left's slide away from protecting leakers (with the ACLU as the vanguard!) - i hadn't finished the last section

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/07/05/french_surveillance_program_european_nation_has_similar_spying_program_as.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/us/in-secret-court-vastly-broadens-powers-of-nsa.html

NY Times sums up how FISA Court gave NSA more power; and how FISA Court is selected by Justice Roberts and is largely a rubberstamp despite its claims of being more than that

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/daniel-ellsberg-nsa-leaker-snowden-made-the-right-call/2013/07/07/0b46d96c-e5b7-11e2-aef3-339619eab080_story.html?hpid=z2

Ellsberg editorial re Snowden being correct in fleeing

Part 2 of Snowden interview.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jul/08/edward-snowden-video-interview

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/07/10/196362/trapped-an-air-escape-from-moscow.html

Snowden’s best hope for breaking out of the transit area most likely hinges on whether he could sneak onto one of five weekly, direct flights to Havana, Cuba. One such flight landed Tuesday evening, another leaves Thursday afternoon. The main drawback? The path takes the plane directly over the United States, which could flout a standing treaty and force a regularly scheduled commercial flight to land.

Has everyone else amassed hundreds of links related to surveillance states due to Snowden's leaks? At one point I was reading about 5 articles about or related to it a day for a couple of weeks. Then I realised I wasn't reading anything else and couldn't really continue. But I keep all those links and many more to read for later.

I'm surprised no one has made a repository for links related to the surveillance state.

The NSA has done so.

So Snowden may just stay in Russia because its too difficult for him to fly anywhere

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/snowden-wants-meeting-with-human-rights-activists-lawyers/2013/07/12/237d5254-eac6-11e2-a301-ea5a8116d211_story.html?hpid=z1

Curmudgeon, link?