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Choosing Hong Kong Is a Brilliant Move by Edward Snowden

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Re: Choosing Hong Kong Is a Brilliant Move by Edward Snowden

#151

Post by brown9-2 »

pyre wrote: post #94
chengiz wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is in conspiracy theory territory. You really think there's no difference between sending strike teams to kill (a) the number one wanted war criminal responsible for the second biggest attack on your soil into a country where you already have troops for the same purpose, and (b) a regular old whistleblower into an independent country that owes you nothing?

Prior to the Osama bin Laden strike, claiming that such a thing could happen (the US sending a strike team into Pakistan without any approval/warning) would be in conspiracy theory territory. I'm not saying that the US will send in a strike team to Hong Kong (or Pakistan or another political heavy-weight) over Snowden. I was operating under the assumption that most of the countries with no extradition to the US might…

Prior to the Osama bin Laden strike, claiming that such a thing could happen (the US sending a strike team into Pakistan without any approval/warning) would be in conspiracy theory territory.

No it would not, because Presidential candidate Obama made it clear he would do this in a debate in October 2008:

And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act, and we will take them out.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/may/01/...

Re: Choosing Hong Kong Is a Brilliant Move by Edward Snowden

#152

Post by krapp »

beachstartup wrote: post #133
STRML wrote: post #79

I live in Hong Kong, and can verify that it is absolutely a technologist's paradise and an extremely easy place to move around in. Phones are incredibly cheap; the cheapest functional Android knockoff smartphones will run you about $50-80 (all prices in USD for simplicity), maybe less if you get it in Kowloon. "Burner"-style phones can be as low as $8. SIM cards are essentially free (usually about $8-10 deposit on th…

yeah to cut straight to the chase a special administrative region of the people's republic of china is actually more free than the USA.

a special administrative region of the people's republic of china is actually more free than the USA.

Define 'free' in this context.

Re: Choosing Hong Kong Is a Brilliant Move by Edward Snowden

#153

Post by wavefunction »

pondababa wrote: post #120
wavefunction wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And probably not even by the guy that went to prison for it.

Eh? What evidence is there for this, or is it like the JFK conspiracy theories?

James Earl Ray initially entered a guilty plea but later recanted. There are a lot of sources out there but never has anything been proven.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Earl_Ray

Head down to the "denial of confession" section. Whether or not there was a conspiracy, I just wanted to bring up that it was still questionable about who actually shot Dr. King.

Re: Choosing Hong Kong Is a Brilliant Move by Edward Snowden

#154

Post by wavefunction »

OstiaAntica wrote: post #136
wavefunction wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He mentioned picking up Mandarin in one of his Ars posts, I think. Not "fiendishly" clever, just apparently more clever than the folks running our intelligence services.

Mandarin is not widely spoken in Hong Kong-- locals speak Cantonese and Mandarin was not taught in school while HK was under British rule.

Certainly I know this about Cantonese, but I'm just relating to you what I had read.

Re: Choosing Hong Kong Is a Brilliant Move by Edward Snowden

#155

Post by wavefunction »

OstiaAntica wrote: post #141
wavefunction wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are questions surrounding who actually shot him. The man who went to prison for it may have been set up, as he denied personally shooting Dr. King. MLK was planning a huge "live in" on the National Mall to pursue greater income equality and there were plenty of interested parties that would have wanted to prevent that.

Actually the shooter initially pled guilty. Dept. of Justice looked at these "questions" and concluded they are junk. http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/crm/mlk/part2.php#over

I bring it up only to mention that it is perhaps not so cut and dry who shot MLK...

Re: Choosing Hong Kong Is a Brilliant Move by Edward Snowden

#157

Post by cwp »

rayiner wrote: post #150
beachstartup wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah to cut straight to the chase a special administrative region of the people's republic of china is actually more free than the USA.

As long as you don't care about the whole democracy thing.

Well, it sounds like their system is the polar opposite of the US: they can't choose their government, but it does what the people want.

Re: Choosing Hong Kong Is a Brilliant Move by Edward Snowden

#158

Post by clicks »

rayiner wrote: post #148
pg wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need to resort to insults.

Sorry, I got emotional and attacked him instead of his comment. For that I apologize. But he essentially implied that a black guy fighting segregation during the height of communist paranoia and racial tension in the 1960's could count on a fairer shake from the justice system than a wealthy white kid in 2013 with the support of a rich and influential segment of society. That's the kind of statement that tends to eng…

    But he essentially implied that a black guy fighting 
    segregation during the height of communist paranoia and 
    racial tension in the 1960's could count on a fairer 
    shake from the justice system than a wealthy white kid in 
    2013 with the support of a rich and influential segment 
    of society.
I get what you're trying to say... but I'm not sure if the latter point of that statement is so spot on. Manning was a wealthy white kid with the support of a rich and influential segment of society... as was Aaron Swartz, and yet they were both met with the heavy side of law.

Re: Choosing Hong Kong Is a Brilliant Move by Edward Snowden

#159

Post by rayiner »

cwp wrote: post #157
rayiner wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As long as you don't care about the whole democracy thing.

Well, it sounds like their system is the polar opposite of the US: they can't choose their government, but it does what the people want.

It does what a certain segment of the society wants. Government for the professional upper class by the professional upper class.
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