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Going Through Snowden Documents, Part 1

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Re: Going Through Snowden Documents, Part 1

#171

Post by ffsm8 »

keiferski wrote: post #154
sunaookami wrote: post #60

This comment section is strange, a lot of people trying to discredit Snowden, saying he shouldn't have released the files, should be in prison, etc. 12 years ago this was HUGE news and had a major impact on the internet and everyone thanked Snowden for these documents! I certainly am thankful. Disappointed in my country that they literally said that "spying between friends is a no-go" but then did nothing and intimid…

Hacker News would be better named Tech Industry Professional News. Most people here are very invested in corporations and government organizations, are very well paid for being so, and have little interest in anything “hacker” in the traditional sense of the word.

> and have little interest in anything “hacker” in the traditional sense of the word.

Couldn't agree more, but not for the reason you think

> The word "hacker" derives from the Late Middle English words hackere, hakker, or hakkere - one who cuts wood, woodchopper, or woodcutter.[13]

Sorry, couldn't help myself

Re: Going Through Snowden Documents, Part 1

#172

Post by nizbit »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #15
jjordan wrote: post #7

If you've ever watched the movie "Enemy of the State", which came out in 1998, I don't know how you can come away from that movie thinking anything other than someone in that script writing pipeline had some insider knowledge of what was happening. So many of the things they talk about in the film were confirmed by the Snowden releases that it's kinda scary. Today, it's almost a national societal resignation that "yo…

:) I've long held that a useful counterintelligence strategy is to weave real operations into fictional films, such that if someone catches on and tries to tell people about it, the response is simply "you schizophrenic - that's the plot of Die Hard 4!" Slightly less conspiratorial version is that agents and clerks with knowledge of operations get drunk at the same bars as Hollywood script writers

There is the CIA Publication Review board as described by author and former CIA analyst David McCloskey https://www.npr.org/2025/09/29/nx-s1-5442567/the-new-spy-thr...

Nothing jaw dropping but he surprised on what get through

Re: Going Through Snowden Documents, Part 1

#173

Post by conception »

TiredOfLife wrote: post #168
sunaookami wrote: post #60

This comment section is strange, a lot of people trying to discredit Snowden, saying he shouldn't have released the files, should be in prison, etc. 12 years ago this was HUGE news and had a major impact on the internet and everyone thanked Snowden for these documents! I certainly am thankful. Disappointed in my country that they literally said that "spying between friends is a no-go" but then did nothing and intimid…

That was before he became (or probably always was) a part of russian disinformation campaign. So everything he released became suspect.

Or was forced to to receive asylum.

Re: Going Through Snowden Documents, Part 1

#174

Post by mrwrong »

alphazard wrote: post #98
sunaookami wrote: post #60

This comment section is strange, a lot of people trying to discredit Snowden, saying he shouldn't have released the files, should be in prison, etc. 12 years ago this was HUGE news and had a major impact on the internet and everyone thanked Snowden for these documents! I certainly am thankful. Disappointed in my country that they literally said that "spying between friends is a no-go" but then did nothing and intimid…

"User" generated content on the internet is mostly bots, HN included. Opinions that seem too radical or stupid to be believed are often bots, or NPC humans repeating bot content that they read somewhere else.

[dead]

Re: Going Through Snowden Documents, Part 1

#175

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

squigz wrote: post #59
jazzyjackson wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

:) I've long held that a useful counterintelligence strategy is to weave real operations into fictional films, such that if someone catches on and tries to tell people about it, the response is simply "you schizophrenic - that's the plot of Die Hard 4!" Slightly less conspiratorial version is that agents and clerks with knowledge of operations get drunk at the same bars as Hollywood script writers

It's not a conspiracy - this is why Stargate exists!

I'm wondering if you're aware of the (allegedly, implying it goes on(emphasis mine)) former existence of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Project_(U.S._Army_un... ?

Re: Going Through Snowden Documents, Part 1

#176

Post by squigz »

LargoLasskhyfv wrote: post #175
squigz wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a conspiracy - this is why Stargate exists!

I'm wondering if you're aware of the (allegedly, implying it goes on(emphasis mine)) former existence of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Project_(U.S._Army_un... ?

So not only did they make a scifi show to cover up any leaks, not only did they put another scifi show in the first one as an extra cover, they conducted psychic experiments as a further coverup?!

There's clearly something here.

Re: Going Through Snowden Documents, Part 1

#177

Post by raxxorraxor »

bnjms wrote: post #129
mistrial9 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://hn.unlurker.com/replay?item=5850590

> You need to have been convicted to receive a pardon, the petition should be not to prosecute. Hahaha / I’ve made myself sad

The critics weren't ever the brightest lights in the sky, but this was horribly naive even for that time. It is as if you took the whole lot of human literature, took a dump on it and honestly believe you would know better.

Re: Going Through Snowden Documents, Part 1

#178

Post by raxxorraxor »

notepad0x90 wrote: post #152

Since it's been a while now, what are the thoughts on the snowden leaks contributing to the rise of distrust in the government and governmental institutions in the US? I'm wondering if trump could have ever succeeded without that path being prepared for him by snowden's leaks and occupy wallstreet. I'm not saying snowden did anything wrong, to the contrary, he thought things would change and they didn't, I'm wonderin…

For me personally it certainly contributed. I don't see Trump as an opposition to this, but it made clear that the current administrative landscape in most western nations is hostile, corrupt and criminal. Not only politicians, it is the whole administrative level as well.

I do think that the leaks did something good and we have more of a focus on government being a hostile data proprietor and schooled people to take more care. Perhaps not the masses, but for those that deal with hot information.

Trust in government is low. An achievement that took a lot of work, I guess. The Russian influence campaign was at least partially made up as well, government disinformation. Propaganda is mostly a domestic issue.

Re: Going Through Snowden Documents, Part 1

#179

Post by raxxorraxor »

psunavy03 wrote: post #40
ok123456 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably, that he did the right thing at the right time.

No, he violated a trust given to him, he deserves to be in jail, and if he had an ounce of moral character he'd come back and face trial like a man. Unlike the movies there aren't secret death squads out to get him, just a courtroom where he can face the consequences of his actions like an adult. Instead, he's hiding out playing the victim in a country that's actively genociding Ukrainians to a degree beyond anything…

Quite rich. A moral character would have ignored the mass surveillance and escalated internally? This is plainly stupid and dangerously naive on many levels.

Re: Going Through Snowden Documents, Part 1

#180

Post by array_key_first »

masfuerte wrote: post #128
sholain wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One cannot just release whatever one wants, and some of the docs should not have been released. There were huge variations in the nature of the content that he released, and this is the problem with the narrative. He's a 'whistle blower' and 'broke the law' at the same time. A lot of people seem to have difficulty with that. Edit: we need better privacy laws and transparency around a lot of things, that said, some st…

I find it very strange that so many people are more exercised by the small crime of Snowden releasing this information than by the large crime of the federal government spying on us all.

It's not strange, it's purposeful. It's the same logic as "well George Floyd had a counterfeit 20!"

It's an extremely effective propaganda technique whereby you discredit the person(s) who were affected by injustice, while simultaneously shifting the narrative away from said injustice. It preys on the human minds simple morality reasoning skills - bad people don't do good things, and good people don't do bad things.

Of course, that's not how it works, and it's both. George Floyd maybe did counterfeit a twenty, and that's illegal. But is the punishment for that public execution? What motivation do people have to bring that up? No good motivations, in my mind.

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