Nsa Contractor Identifies Himself As Source

[lomatopo]

The South China Morning Post reported Sunday that Edward Snowden was on a plane for Moscow, but that Russia was not his final destination. Snowden has talked of seeking asylum in Iceland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23019414#TWEET798841

Maybe some in Hong Kong encouraged him to leave?

And maybe now some can cease with the silly blathering re: China's involvement, or that Mr. Snowden is defecting to China.

Next up: details on the fascist regime in Iceland.

Edited June 23, 2013 by lomatopo

[midas]

The South China Morning Post reported Sunday that Edward Snowden was on a plane for Moscow, but that Russia was not his final destination. Snowden has talked of seeking asylum in Iceland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23019414#TWEET798841

Maybe some in Hong Kong encouraged him to leave?

And maybe now some can cease with the silly blathering re: China's involvement, or that Mr. Snowden is defecting to China.

Next up: details on the fascist regime in Iceland.

Iceland, Venezuela, and Ecuador have been discussed as other options for Snowden

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2013/06/edward_snowden_extradition_is_hong_kong_safer_than_iceland_ecuador_or_france.html

[FDog]

Well he wouldn't have been extradited from Hong Kong, regardless of what Publicus has said.

For that to happen the charges he faced had to be for something illegal in both the US AND Hong Kong and Hong Kong has no legislation relating to spying.

The judiciary in Hong Kong is considered very good and free from any political interference. However, Beijing does hold a veto over the court if it so wishes.

But the courts themselves would not be told what to do, they follow their own laws.

Not sure how safe he is from extradition in Iceland. I personally hope he finds a safe haven as he did the right thing. The public has a right to know when a govt, any govt, is doing wrong.

[midas]

And he doesn't have to bother too much about scheduled flights.........

Private Jet on ‘Standby’ for Snowden

An Icelandic businessman says he has made arrangements to spirit Edward Snowden away from Hong Kong to Iceland via a private jet, which he says is prepared to leave at just a few hours’ notice.

“We are on standby, and if something happens we can move fast,” said Olafur Sigurvinsson, who has been coordinating the effort in partnership with WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization that is assisting Mr. Snowden in his attempt to seek political asylum in Iceland.

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/06/21/private-jet-on-standby-for-snowden/

Edited June 23, 2013 by midas

[FDog]

I await his final destination details and then await the usual rantings about how THAT country's govt is the antichrist.

[Publicus]

Convicted U.S. spy Christopher Boyce: 'Snowden is doomed'

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/14/world/asia/hong-kong-boyce-snowden/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

Says Christopher Boyce of Edward Snowden:

"The fact is, he can never come back home.

"He's totally separated from everything he has ever known, from his family. He is always going to be a fugitive, until they get him. And eventually, they will. He will never see his family again unless they go to him. And if they do go to him, he'll no longer be in hiding. The only way that he can truly hide is to abandon his whole past, his entire life.

"When he realizes that, he's going to be racked with depression. I would imagine that his stress levels are at a point where they could actually make him physically sick. I'm sure everything is gnawing at him. And he's isolated."

[Publicus]

Well he wouldn't have been extradited from Hong Kong, regardless of what Publicus has said.

For that to happen the charges he faced had to be for something illegal in both the US AND Hong Kong and Hong Kong has no legislation relating to spying.

The judiciary in Hong Kong is considered very good and free from any political interference. However, Beijing does hold a veto over the court if it so wishes.

But the courts themselves would not be told what to do, they follow their own laws.

Not sure how safe he is from extradition in Iceland. I personally hope he finds a safe haven as he did the right thing. The public has a right to know when a govt, any govt, is doing wrong.

You really are certain you know what you're talking about concerning Beijing and its relationship to Hong Kong. It anyway is moot now.

However, you need to take notice of the fact that after Snowden spent some weeks in his paradise of freedom and untouchability, Hong Kong, he got out as fast as a bat out of hell for another country, hoping to travel on to yet another country. Much to his surprise, Hong Kong got too hot for him to remain there to fight extradition or to seek asylum. It's clear Snowden seriously miscalculated Hong Kong as his stated refuge.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Publicus

[FDog]

Convicted U.S. spy Christopher Boyce: 'Snowden is doomed'

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/14/world/asia/hong-kong-boyce-snowden/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

Says Christopher Boyce of Edward Snowden:

"The fact is, he can never come back home.

"He's totally separated from everything he has ever known, from his family. He is always going to be a fugitive, until they get him. And eventually, they will. He will never see his family again unless they go to him. And if they do go to him, he'll no longer be in hiding. The only way that he can truly hide is to abandon his whole past, his entire life.

"When he realizes that, he's going to be racked with depression. I would imagine that his stress levels are at a point where they could actually make him physically sick. I'm sure everything is gnawing at him. And he's isolated."

I don't think he will actually be in hiding. Just trying to get somewhere that he won't be extradited.

But if the above is correct, and I have no reason to believe it is not, then that is a very sad and sorry thing that the pressure of a govt can do that to a person who simply outed their wrongdoings.

[Lite Beer]

RT@SkyNewsBreak: Update - Russian News Agency Interfax: source at Russian airline Aeroflot says there is a ticket in Snowden's name from Moscow to Cuba

[FDog]

Well he wouldn't have been extradited from Hong Kong, regardless of what Publicus has said.

For that to happen the charges he faced had to be for something illegal in both the US AND Hong Kong and Hong Kong has no legislation relating to spying.

The judiciary in Hong Kong is considered very good and free from any political interference. However, Beijing does hold a veto over the court if it so wishes.

But the courts themselves would not be told what to do, they follow their own laws.

Not sure how safe he is from extradition in Iceland. I personally hope he finds a safe haven as he did the right thing. The public has a right to know when a govt, any govt, is doing wrong.

You really are certain you know what you're talking about concerning Beijing and its relationship to Hong Kong. It anyway is moot now.

However, you need to take notice of the fact that after Snowden spent some weeks in his paradise of freedom and untouchability, Hong Kong, he got out as fast as a bat out of hell for another country, hoping to travel on to yet another country. Much to his surprise, Hong Kong got too hot for him to remain there to fight extradition or to seek asylum. It's clear Snowden seriously miscalculated Hong Kong as his stated refuge.

Are you a mind reader now?

Where was it ever stated that HK was his stated refuge? What makes you think he didn't already have plans to get to.....wherever, but used HK as a base until he was ready to go.

[Publicus]

Convicted U.S. spy Christopher Boyce: 'Snowden is doomed'

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/14/world/asia/hong-kong-boyce-snowden/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

Says Christopher Boyce of Edward Snowden:

"The fact is, he can never come back home.

"He's totally separated from everything he has ever known, from his family. He is always going to be a fugitive, until they get him. And eventually, they will. He will never see his family again unless they go to him. And if they do go to him, he'll no longer be in hiding. The only way that he can truly hide is to abandon his whole past, his entire life.

"When he realizes that, he's going to be racked with depression. I would imagine that his stress levels are at a point where they could actually make him physically sick. I'm sure everything is gnawing at him. And he's isolated."

I don't think he will actually be in hiding. Just trying to get somewhere that he won't be extradited.

But if the above is correct, and I have no reason to believe it is not, then that is a very sad and sorry thing that the pressure of a govt can do that to a person who simply outed their wrongdoings.

You choose to ignore the damage Snowden has done to national security and to global security. You miss critical factors and consequences - in a word, reality.

[lomatopo]

Interesting to compare and contrast the promises Obama made during his election campaign in 2008 regarding whistleblowers, and his actions once elected. Proof, if any were needed, that he is a fraud and would have said anything to get elected.

Here is the exact quote:

Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is

an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage

and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather

than stifled as they have been during the Bush administration. We need to empower federal employees as

watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to

protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that

federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to

courts and due process.

http://obama.3cdn.net/0080cc578614b42284_2a0mvyxpz.pdf

Hard to keep from gagging when reading the entire document.

Step 1: Completely gut enhance the Whistleblower Protection Act, see The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act.

The Whistleblower Protection Act supposedly protects government employees from management retaliation, but the Supreme Court has ruled this protection only applies to government workers when the disclosure is not directly related to the job. The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) uses agency lawyers in the place of "administrative law judges” to decide federal employees’ whistleblower appeals. These lawyers, dubbed “attorney examiners,” deny 98% of whistleblower appeals; the Board and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals give great deference to their initial decisions, resulting in affirmance rates of 97% and 98%, respectively.[1]

Only read this if you have a strong gag reflex:

The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act was introduced in 2009 by Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) to amend federal personnel law relating to whistleblower protections to provide that such protections shall apply to a disclosure of any violation of law, except for an alleged violation that is a minor, inadvertent violation that occurs during the conscientious carrying out of official duties.[3] Senator Akaka has introduced similar bills in the 107th, 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses and every effort to pass the law has failed. Although a stronger version of the bill had been introduced and twice passed the House of Representatives (see H.R. 985 introduced in the 110th Congress and H.R. 1507 in the 111th Congress), the Senate repeatedly refused to adopt the stronger House version. During the 2008 presidential campaign, several candidates, including then-Senator Barack Obama, pledged to support the stronger House version of the bill (H.R. 985) if elected president.

In July 2009, Senator Akaka proposed a controversial amendment to S. 372 that further weakened the bill and contained several provisions that were insisted upon by the powerful federal agency managers lobby and the Obama administration[citation needed]. Despite campaign promises to support the stronger House bill, after the election, President Obama disappointed many when his administration actively supported the weaker Senate bill and Obama administration officials helped craft some of the controversial provisions contained in the Senate mark-up version of the bill in 2009[citation needed]. The Senate sponsors of S. 372 delayed presenting the controversial bill for full Senate approval until the latter stage of the lame-duck session of the 111th Congress. The Senate version of the WPEA contained only modest reforms of whistleblower rights and actually contained a few provisions that would have made it more difficult for federal employees to bring whistleblower claims. The Senate bill differed substantially from the House version and the delay tactics by the Senate sponsors of S. 372 ensured that the House was given only a take-it-or-leave-it option to take up the weak Senate bill. When the House finally considered the weaker Senate bill on the last day of the 111th Congress, the bill's sponsors needed a two-thirds vote to pass the bill on the House suspension calendar. Lacking the votes necessary to pass the weaker Senate bill, and to avoid objections raised by Republicans to the intelligence agency protections, the House sponsors of the Senate bill stripped out all protections for intelligence agency and FBI employees. The WPEA was killed in the Senate on December 22, 2010, when a senator placed an anonymous hold on the bill.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012’’

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s743enr/pdf/BILLS-112s743enr.pdf

Edited June 23, 2013 by lomatopo

[lomatopo]

RT@SkyNewsBreak: Update - Russian News Agency Interfax: source at Russian airline Aeroflot says there is a ticket in Snowden's name from Moscow to Cuba

Guantanamo?

[FDog]

Convicted U.S. spy Christopher Boyce: 'Snowden is doomed'

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/14/world/asia/hong-kong-boyce-snowden/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

Says Christopher Boyce of Edward Snowden:

"The fact is, he can never come back home.

"He's totally separated from everything he has ever known, from his family. He is always going to be a fugitive, until they get him. And eventually, they will. He will never see his family again unless they go to him. And if they do go to him, he'll no longer be in hiding. The only way that he can truly hide is to abandon his whole past, his entire life.

"When he realizes that, he's going to be racked with depression. I would imagine that his stress levels are at a point where they could actually make him physically sick. I'm sure everything is gnawing at him. And he's isolated."

I don't think he will actually be in hiding. Just trying to get somewhere that he won't be extradited.

But if the above is correct, and I have no reason to believe it is not, then that is a very sad and sorry thing that the pressure of a govt can do that to a person who simply outed their wrongdoings.

You choose to ignore the damage Snowden has done to national security and to global security. You miss critical factors and consequences - in a word, reality.

You fail to realise that certain govts have done a lot more damage to national and global security than this guy could ever do.

What possible damage can be done to security by telling the world they are being watched at every move? Wouldn't that make it safer?

Wasn't it you saying before that it is congress to blame for the laws? Why would you try and lay 'blame' for such laws when you obviously agree with them. So you support those that are in congress.

[FDog]

RT@SkyNewsBreak: Update - Russian News Agency Interfax: source at Russian airline Aeroflot says there is a ticket in Snowden's name from Moscow to Cuba

Guantanamo?

That was my initial thought too.

I guess the CIA won't have far to take him once he is kidnapped in an extraordinary rendition.

[lomatopo]

It should be noted that Mr. Boyce was perhaps a more successful bank robber than a spy, apologies to Timothy Hutton who portrayed Mr. Boyce in the film, "Falcon and the Snowman".

[wealth]

it looks like gov agencies are foaming right now. 555 ...

now they are sending them in circles. Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, Iceland to Denmark, Norway, Dubai, Iran ... you name it ... 555 ... everything is possible ...

he's getting another citizenship and probably a diplomatic passport from Montenegro, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Iceland, Brazil and whatsoever countries ... call it globalization without the corporate warmongers.

But it is sad to see brainless blood-hounds in action.

What about the UK now? A new thread?

[Publicus]

Well he wouldn't have been extradited from Hong Kong, regardless of what Publicus has said.

For that to happen the charges he faced had to be for something illegal in both the US AND Hong Kong and Hong Kong has no legislation relating to spying.

The judiciary in Hong Kong is considered very good and free from any political interference. However, Beijing does hold a veto over the court if it so wishes.

But the courts themselves would not be told what to do, they follow their own laws.

Not sure how safe he is from extradition in Iceland. I personally hope he finds a safe haven as he did the right thing. The public has a right to know when a govt, any govt, is doing wrong.

You really are certain you know what you're talking about concerning Beijing and its relationship to Hong Kong. It anyway is moot now.

However, you need to take notice of the fact that after Snowden spent some weeks in his paradise of freedom and untouchability, Hong Kong, he got out as fast as a bat out of hell for another country, hoping to travel on to yet another country. Much to his surprise, Hong Kong got too hot for him to remain there to fight extradition or to seek asylum. It's clear Snowden seriously miscalculated Hong Kong as his stated refuge.

Are you a mind reader now?

Where was it ever stated that HK was his stated refuge? What makes you think he didn't already have plans to get to.....wherever, but used HK as a base until he was ready to go.

The following are statements made by Edward Snowden to the South China Morning Post after he'd arrived in Hong Kong.

EXCLUSIVE: Whistleblower Edward Snowden talks to South China Morning Post

“I have had many opportunities to flee HK, but I would rather stay and fight the United States government in the courts, because I have faith in Hong Kong’s rule of law,” he added. (Emphasis added by me, Publicus, to which I also add that, well, now Snowden did flee Hong Kong - it got too hot for him to stay. Snowden left Hong Kong of his own choosing as far as we know at this point. We have not heard anything about Hong Kong asking him to leave. It simply got too hot for him there. Now back to the SCMP exclusive interview with Snowden.)

Snowden says he has committed no crimes in Hong Kong and has “been given no reason to doubt [Hong Kong’s legal] system”. “My intention is to ask the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide my fate,” he said

Edward Snowden says he wants to ask the people of Hong Kong to decide his fate after choosing the city because of his faith in its rule of law.

Earlier, in the interview in which he revealed his identity to the world, Snowden explained that he had sought refuge in Hong Kong because it “has a strong tradition of free speech” and “a long tradition of protesting in the streets.” (Emphasis added.)

He vowed to fight any extradition attempt by the US government, saying: “My intention is to ask the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide my fate. I have been given no reason to doubt your system.’’

Snowden said yesterday that he felt safe in the city.

“As long as I am assured a free and fair trial, and asked to appear, that seems reasonable,” he said.

He says he plans to stay in Hong Kong until he is “asked to leave”.

Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor director Law Yuk-kai said he was surprised by Snowden’s choice, adding: “Snowden’s positive view of Hong Kong no longer matches the reality.”

[Publicus]

Convicted U.S. spy Christopher Boyce: 'Snowden is doomed'

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/14/world/asia/hong-kong-boyce-snowden/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

Says Christopher Boyce of Edward Snowden:

"The fact is, he can never come back home.

"He's totally separated from everything he has ever known, from his family. He is always going to be a fugitive, until they get him. And eventually, they will. He will never see his family again unless they go to him. And if they do go to him, he'll no longer be in hiding. The only way that he can truly hide is to abandon his whole past, his entire life.

"When he realizes that, he's going to be racked with depression. I would imagine that his stress levels are at a point where they could actually make him physically sick. I'm sure everything is gnawing at him. And he's isolated."

I don't think he will actually be in hiding. Just trying to get somewhere that he won't be extradited.

But if the above is correct, and I have no reason to believe it is not, then that is a very sad and sorry thing that the pressure of a govt can do that to a person who simply outed their wrongdoings.

You choose to ignore the damage Snowden has done to national security and to global security. You miss critical factors and consequences - in a word, reality.

You fail to realise that certain govts have done a lot more damage to national and global security than this guy could ever do.

What possible damage can be done to security by telling the world they are being watched at every move? Wouldn't that make it safer?

Wasn't it you saying before that it is congress to blame for the laws? Why would you try and lay 'blame' for such laws when you obviously agree with them. So you support those that are in congress.

I said Congress made the laws. I said nothing about Congress being to "blame" concerning the laws. You need radically to improve your reading comprehension and focus, concentration.

[Lite Beer]

RT@SkyNewsBreak: Update - Interfax: source at Russian airline Aeroflot says Edward Snowden's final destination is Venezuela after stopover in Havana

[wealth]

The Hong Kong government said a US request for his extradition did not meet legal requirements and Snowden could not be prevented from leaving.

[wealth]

RT@SkyNewsBreak: Update - Interfax: source at Russian airline Aeroflot says Edward Snowden's final destination is Venezuela after stopover in Havana

call me a fortune teller. Didn't see it. My guess is that he won't end up in Venezuela either. To many MI5 and CIA/NSA undercover there.

[lomatopo]

I'd take Venezuela over Iceland any day. Margarita Island is supposed to be beautiful. Well done sir.

Not that the circumstances are exactly similar, but the charges are; Samuel Morison was pardoned by President Clinton:

Samuel Loring Morison (born October 30, 1944) is a former American intelligence professional, who was convicted of espionage and theft of government property in 1985, and pardoned in 2001. He was "the only [American] government official ever convicted for giving classified information to the press.[1]

On October 17, 1985, Morison was convicted in Federal Court on two counts of espionage and two counts of theft of government property.[8] He was sentenced to two years in prison on December 4, 1985.[9] The Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal in 1988.[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Loring_Morison

[Publicus]

The Hong Kong government said a US request for his extradition did not meet legal requirements and Snowden could not be prevented from leaving.

Now there's a non sequitur. If the extradition request failed to meet Hong Kong's legal requirements, then I should think Snowden would be home free in Hong Kong, but he instead fled HKG. The Hong Kong government is unsuccessfully trying to feed us and the world a double talking line of crap which comes directly from Beijing.

The fact is Hong Kong simply became too hot for him to stay there. Beijing wants nothing to do with this messy situation and neither does HKG. It would only complicate the relationship of each to Washington to continue to shelter Snowden. Pass it off to other countries. Snowden had a valid visa and still apparently has a valid passport, so Snowden made his awkward and uncomfortable exit from Hong Kong, i.e. from the PRC.

Snowden's publically stated plan to stay in HKG ran up against some hard and harsh realities that he'd completely missed in his high praise of the supposedly independent legal system of HKG, which Beijing has been eroding steadily since it regained sovereignty over HKG in 1997. With the anniversary of the July 1 reversion of sovereignty date fast approaching, and Hong Kong's annual mass demonstrations already scheduled against Beijing, Beijing also wanted Snowden out of sight, out of mind in HKG.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Publicus

[Scott]

An off-topic conspiracy post has been deleted.

Please stay on topic.

[FDog]

Antarctica?

[FDog]

For the 3rd time. HK could not have extradited him as the charges he is facing in the US are not illegal in HK. They must be illegal in both the US AND HK for him to be extradited.

He was safe in HK, from extradition anyway. But may have received a better offer from another country.

I know that simple concept doesn't float with the tin foil hat brigade.

[theblether]

Any sympathy that some people may have had for him will disappear when he's pictured in Moscow.

Idiot.

[wealth]

Antarctica?

no, but I think I know where he's going for the next 2 - 3 weeks. Give him a rest. He will come by himself again.

using Aeroflot was another smart choice. He's not going to roam around in Moscow.

Edited June 23, 2013 by wealth

[lomatopo]

Any sympathy that some people may have had for him will disappear when he's pictured in Moscow.

Idiot.

Is it idiot-proof if he just transits DME?

DTouche.

Probably smarter than transiting LAX?

Edited June 23, 2013 by lomatopo