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I Was a CIA Whistleblower, Now I'm a Black Inmate

theintercept.com

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Re: I Was a CIA Whistleblower, Now I'm a Black Inmate

#21

Post by x1798DE »

danso wrote: post #6
x1798DE wrote: post #4

What is the point of the "Read More" button that blocks half the article? Usually I get to one and think, "No thanks" and just leave the article. Is there a way to configure an ad-blocker to block them in the first place?

I believe it's a concession/"feature" for mobile users -- you don't see it on desktop, even if you narrow the window to a mobile-equivalent media query. Not sure what the analytics say about it, but I'm guessing the reasoning is that on mobile, there's no room for the usual sidebar or even headernav to allow the user to bounce somewhere else on the site if they're bored with the article. The "Read More" makes it easy…

Oh, I see, I didn't realize that the page continues below "read more" on to another story. I suppose that makes sense, though it would be nice if a link to the story was enough to signal that you actually want to go to the story.

Re: I Was a CIA Whistleblower, Now I'm a Black Inmate

#22

Post by 1024core »

zeveb wrote: post #13

He wasn't a whistleblower: he was a leaker. He permitted national-security information to fall into the hands of someone not cleared to handle it. Moreover, he shows not one whit of repentance for his crime.

Hmmm... sorta like Petraeus, then?

Re: I Was a CIA Whistleblower, Now I'm a Black Inmate

#23

Post by jacquesm »

tptacek wrote: post #14
lostboys67 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so where is the public interest to justify whistleblowing?

Here I am veering from simply providing a précis to something closer to analysis, but not too close --- I think this is uncontroversial: Sterling isn't in prison for "whistleblowing", which describes the actions he took to alert the Senate Intelligence Committee to his concerns about "Merlin" and his complaints to CIA's IG about racial discrimination inside the agency. He's in prison for leaking details of a sensitiv…

Of course no whistle-blower ever got convicted of 'something else' as an act of retaliation for the whistle-blowing.

Re: I Was a CIA Whistleblower, Now I'm a Black Inmate

#24

Post by 1024core »

lostboys67 wrote: post #10
tptacek wrote: post #5

As background: Sterling was convicted after it discovered that he'd been leaking details of "Operation Merlin" to reporter James Risen. "Merlin" was a scheme in which blueprints for Russian nuclear arms technology was to be altered, such that attempts to test those weapons would fail, and then passed through to Iran's nuclear program. "Merlin" ultimately failed.

so where is the public interest to justify whistleblowing?

The blueprints weren't altered enough, apparently, and the Iranians were still able to use them to advance their nuclear program. Thus, it was sheer stupidity on the CIA's part.

And you know what you don't do? Point out the big, mean guy's stupidity in public. He gets angry.

Re: I Was a CIA Whistleblower, Now I'm a Black Inmate

#25

Post by tomschlick »

js8 wrote: post #16
lostboys67 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so where is the public interest to justify whistleblowing?

Not an U.S. citizen, just a wild guess: It's not very wise to give somebody, even altered, nuclear blueprints. It's a similar type of stupid stuff that NSA does when it puts backdoors into devices or cryptosystems.

It's not a bad plan as the idea is that the victim would spend billions developing a weapon that is flawed from the drawing board. Nothing would work right and they would have to start over setting them back many years from a workable weapon.

Re: I Was a CIA Whistleblower, Now I'm a Black Inmate

#26

Post by NoGravitas »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #20
yread wrote: post #15

Off topic but what is the name for this (as a style element?): > "Man, this is prison." > "Man, this is America."

If I get what you're saying... 1: Regular text 2: >greentext On 4chan, starting a line with ">" makes the text green, hence the name. It is often used to write stories in the present tense, as in: >be me >be bored at work >go on HN >lol new * can't even greentext. >told him to delete system32

I don't think the GP is asking about quoting, but about the slightly altered repetition. "This is prison." "This is America."

The best I can do for giving a name to it is [literary parallelism][0]. There may be a more specific poetic term, but I don't know it and couldn't come up with it.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallelism_(rhetoric)

Re: I Was a CIA Whistleblower, Now I'm a Black Inmate

#27

Post by tptacek »

1024core wrote: post #24
lostboys67 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so where is the public interest to justify whistleblowing?

The blueprints weren't altered enough, apparently, and the Iranians were still able to use them to advance their nuclear program. Thus, it was sheer stupidity on the CIA's part. And you know what you don't do? Point out the big, mean guy's stupidity in public. He gets angry.

As I understand it --- corrections welcome --- he leaked details of the program while it was still in progress.

Re: I Was a CIA Whistleblower, Now I'm a Black Inmate

#28

Post by tptacek »

jacquesm wrote: post #23
tptacek wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here I am veering from simply providing a précis to something closer to analysis, but not too close --- I think this is uncontroversial: Sterling isn't in prison for "whistleblowing", which describes the actions he took to alert the Senate Intelligence Committee to his concerns about "Merlin" and his complaints to CIA's IG about racial discrimination inside the agency. He's in prison for leaking details of a sensitiv…

Of course no whistle-blower ever got convicted of 'something else' as an act of retaliation for the whistle-blowing.

I guess, but that's a difficult argument to falsify; you could make the same claim about pretty much any prosecution.

Re: I Was a CIA Whistleblower, Now I'm a Black Inmate

#29

Post by zzzcpan »

zeveb wrote: post #19
3chelon wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, very early on he says, "I was charged with, and a jury convicted me of, leaking classified information to a New York Times reporter." He doesn't try to protest his innocence.

> He doesn't try to protest his innocence. No, but neither does he seem to have any real recognition that he did wrong. Indeed, reading his article I get the sense that he's a narcissist.

Maybe don't assume that he's wrong. You only see what government presents to you about him. And you know, government would never make itself look bad.

Re: I Was a CIA Whistleblower, Now I'm a Black Inmate

#30

Post by [deleted] »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #20
yread wrote: post #15

Off topic but what is the name for this (as a style element?): > "Man, this is prison." > "Man, this is America."

If I get what you're saying... 1: Regular text 2: >greentext On 4chan, starting a line with ">" makes the text green, hence the name. It is often used to write stories in the present tense, as in: >be me >be bored at work >go on HN >lol new * can't even greentext. >told him to delete system32

[deleted]
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