Tag Archives: national security

Mafia “Don”? Laundering the Authoritarian President’s Image

07 Friday Sep 2018

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, American Domestic Affairs, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Political Psychology, Political Spychology, Politics

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Trump-Helsinki2018-moment

all I can do is ask the question my people came to me dan coates came to me and some others they said they think it’s Russia I have president putin he just said it’s not russia i will say this i don’t see any reason why it would be I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today and what he did is an incredible offer he offered to have the people working on the case come and work with their investigators with respect to the people I think that’s an incredible offer

Guardian News. “Key moments from the Trump-Putin press conference.” Start: 0:0:07.  Transcript machine generated.  July 16, 2018.

BackChannels has lived long enough to see “Active Measures” become a movie, “alternative facts” obtain traction in the arguments of some lost souls, and the “Fake News!” rise up en masse to denounce the source of the accusation.  Now the whole ugly stain attending the deeply foreign influenced election of America’s president has begun to seep and spread from the infernal nucleus of the Russian marriage between State and Mob and now a hint of the presence of the same in the United States of America.

How soon will the journalists be asking of the Russian mafia — and mafia generally — in America, “How broad, how deep, how high, how powerful?”

cover-HouseOfTrumpHouseOfPutin

“Dear friends, respected colleagues!” Nikonov said.  “Three minutes ago Hillary Clinton admitted her defeat in US presidential elections and a second ago Trump started his speech as an elected president of the United States of America and I congratulate you on this.”

Even though Nikonov did not add what many in the Kremlin already knew, his brief statement was greeted by enthusiastic applause.  Donald J. Trump had just become Vladimir Putin’s man in the White House.

Unger, Craig. House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia. Page 1.  New York: Dutton, 2018.

While readers may not find evidence quite so “hard” as a memo or recording between “Don” and “Vlad”, the darkly glittering atmosphere brewed by dirty or shady businesses, related events, FBI and other investigations, and innumerable lawsuits in all directions (with Trump Administration scandals, even the lawyers have needed lawyers) the preponderance of the evidence — in the worlds of investigators and journalists alike, the character of personal associations and relationship — becomes inescapable.

***

The art of reading has been changed by “broadband Internet”: these days, one may snooze between the hardcovers but also depart from any event or noun mentioned to find source and related materials online — or to chat with the “journo” should the same be so nice and unhurried as regards giving up a piece of his time o’ day.  With a book as rich in coverage as Craig Unger’s, there are mentions aplenty for mining.  Page 147, for example, a simple flip-open (it could have been any other page or chapter), makes mention of somebody “Nogueira” and a Reuters investigation — and a minute later, now listed in reference, Brad Brooks’ piece comes up (and may be read separately).  Of the man noted, here’s one more excerpt from Unger’s new book:

According to conversations secretly recorded by a former business partner, in 2013 Nogueira said he had laundered tens of millions of dollars through real estate.  “More important than the money from real estate was being able to launder the drug money — there were much larger amounts involved,” he said in the recording.  “When I was in Panama I was regularly laundering money for more than a dozen companies.”

Nogueira told Reuters that he became the leading broker for the project thanks in part to the support of Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who appeared in a promotional video with him.

What did Donald Trump do?

Trump licensed his name — attractive and synonymous with glamour, power, and wealth — to the project of interest and many others worldwide.  What crime could there have been in that?  His organization also held management contracts on real estate projects, but here BackChannels will leave the details to the curious among readers; however, the same litmus applies: he nailed a service contract: so what?

On the other hand, perhaps the “so what?” is in the “with whom” and the true “for what”.

At the end of his book, Unger notes, “Donald Trump has repeatedly said he has nothing to do with Russia.  Below are fifty-nine Trump connections to Russia” (p. 265).  “Below” begins with Roman Abramovich and ends with Viktor Yanukovych.

Reference

Brooks, Brad. “Former broker in Trump Panama project under investigation in Brazil.” Reuters, November 17, 2017.

Drehle, David Von. ” Trump resume is rife with mob connections.” Op-ed. The Washington Post, August 10, 2018.

Goldberg, Jeffrey. “Donald Trump’s Mafia Mind-Set: Listening to a legendary American mobster and hearing the president of the United States.” The Atlantic, August 23, 2018.

Graham, David A. “The Many Scandals of Donald Trump: A Cheat Sheet.” The Atlantic, January 23, 2017.

Hettena, Seth. “Michael Cohen, Lanny Davis and the Russian Mafia.” Rolling Stone, August 28, 2018.

Johnston, David Cay. “Just What Were Donald Trump’s Ties to the Mob?” Politico Magazine, May 22, 2016.

Layne, Nathan, Ned Parker, Svetlana Reiter, Stephen Grey, and Ryan McNeill.  “Russian elite invested nearly $100 million in Trump buildings.”  Reuters Investigates, March 17, 2017.

Locker, Ray. “New book looks into ties between Donald Trump, Russia, but there’s more smoke than fire.” Review. USA Today, August 14, 2018.

O’Harrow, Jr. Robert and Shawn Boburg. “The man who showed Donald Trump how to exploit power and instill fear.” The Washington Post, June 17, 2016.

Unger, Craig. House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia. New York: Dutton, 2018.

Unger, Craig. “Trump’s Russian Laundromat.” The New Republic, July 13, 2017.

Vesoulis, Abby. “Trump’s Team Keeps Using Mafia-Inspired Language — to Defend Itself.” Time, August 1, 2018.

Waldman, Paul. “President Trump brings mafia ethics to the GOP.” Op-ed. The Washington Post, August 23, 2018.

Addendum

Keatinge, Tom. “We cannot fight cross-border laundering with local tools.” Op-ed. Financial Times, September 9, 2018.

Unger, Craig. “Understanding Trump vs. Bruce Ohr: Think Russia’s top crime boss, Semion Mogilevich.” Just Security, August 30, 2018.

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FTAC: On the American Constitution and American Ideals

18 Saturday Aug 2018

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, American Domestic Affairs, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation, Politics

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Reactionaries Inspire Revolutionaries

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez caught a bit of criticism today for her control of a “town hall” type meeting — although partisan — on behalf of a portion of those discarded or discounted within the American system.

Regarding the young politician’s social concerns and the knee-jerk branding that is the ever malleable bogey ne “socialism” as framed by a self-righteous Right, a statement about comprehensive governance serving the American People seemed appropriate.

A whole systems approach to the governance of a nation need not be a totalitarian approach but rather sensible in producing and sustaining cohesion and national security, which is in part defined by a nation’s political coherence.

On the present course, the wealthy have become wealthier, the poor more overwhelmed by ordinary lifestyle costs (an issue that reliably drives inflationary battles for higher minimum wage), and the numbers of abandoned, addicted, droned out, incarcerated, and politically impotent Americans continue to rise. While it’s good to push the top of the game, as it were, one might consider it prudent to get a good image of what’s going on in the basement too — and respond to it by other than shrugging it away.

I’ll repeat — or not if I haven’t said this already — I’ve framed the present general challenges to democracies as “medieval v modern”. We have to choose by adjusting ourselves to where we think the _whole country_ needs to be in the next one or two generations. Divided between Left and Right, rich and poor, dotted by islands of prosperity surrounded by seas of misery: that’s not where I would want this ship to go.

While it would seem every age needs its Dickens, and this one seems no exception, our United States of America was born with extraordinary ideals and insight.  The nation was given a great future at the outset.   Also appearing earlier this in my part of the awesome conversation:

The authors of our Constitution created a document beyond their own time.

Americans have produced miracles in the multidimensional accomplishments designed to ensure “domestic tranquility”. However, much has been done as well to undo that progress and return us all to the capricious rule of the strong while returning the nation to the conditions of feudal estates.

[Steps off soap box].

I’ve had a look at the place; can’t fix it with a Facebook post; maybe it’s time to take another step back . . . .

I keep this scene handy:

Much of the American public has been trained to “argue” using slogans (e.g., “Two legs bad; four legs good”) — and then there’s an Administrative part that actually gets into the issues and argues through them to give us the public-private compacts — agreements that serve our capitalists and our public both. That’s being eroded and there’s not a thing I can do about it but . . . publish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitution#1787_drafting

Homeless Cody, American Citizen 2017

Posted to YouTube April 29, 2017.

Videographer Mark Horvath’s “Invisible People” project has made the “invisible” quite plainly seen and now into the millions of views.  From BackChannel’s perspective, there has been a cold and impersonal aspect to life in America despite the Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman humanism built into her foundations.  Fill in the gaps in the “precipitating event” part of Cody’s story: how did we become — when did we become — so callous and so cruel a national culture?

No need to blame President Trump on this score.  The problem didn’t develop with his tenure.  Nonetheless, one may question the developing atmosphere and mentality that “kicks to the curb” or just leaves there 0.17 percent of the nation’s headcount, rejects culpability, and looks away.

Americans – San Francisco Public Transportation Shooting Gallery 2018

Posted to YouTube April 25, 2018.

They may not all be Americans (I don’t know), but America’s opioid crisis also begs the Whisky Tango Foxtrot question:  how did this happen?  It’s hard linking business and political elements to so troubling an aspect of personal and social behavior, but there too one may wonder how so many, many souls became so unfathomably lost in America.

We know all about machines and systems but seem either unable to defend the vulnerable or address their motivations before the great slide down the groove to a make-shift make-do “Skid Hallway”.

As I’ve referenced Orwell in this post, any interested in a refresher may find it here:

For another sort of “refresher” or an introduction to civic responsibility and sense, I recommend acquaintance with the following:

United States of America: Basic Training

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Also in Media: “LIVE STREAM: House Open Hearing w/ FBI’s James Comey On Trump & Clinton Russia 2016 Election Hacking” | Live at Posting

20 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Also in Media, American Domestic Affairs, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Political Spychology

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Posted by President Trump Live Speech and Press Conference

Related:

Rep. Schiff spoke both points in session.

Also regarding President Trump’s assertion of Obama Administration wiretapping, FBI Director Comey reports, “The Department has no information that supports those tweets.”

Related: http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/20/politics/comey-hearing-russia-wiretapping/index.html – “Comey confirms FBI investigating Russia, Trump ties” (Stephen Collinson).

Related on BackChannels to “east-west-” Russo-American political relations: https://conflict-backchannels.com/2017/03/11/reflexive-control-process-allahu-akbar-terrorism-new-nationalism-neo-feudalism/

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Re. Roger Stone, Paul Manfort: https://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/former-top-trump-aides-roger-stone-and-paul-manafort-both-wanted-for-questioning-in-russia-investigations/ 3/19/2017

Reference

“FISA 702”.  U. S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

v

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Worth the Second Look – President Obama’s 2013 National Security Speech, May 23, 2013, and His Comment on the Drone Program

03 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Politics

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▶ Barack Obama Speech on the U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy – YouTube – 59:42 minute video – Posted 5/25/2013

Alternative source: Digital Report: President Obama Delivers National Security Speech | Video – ABC News –  1:10:00 minute video – 5/23/2013.

Location: Fort McNair, National Defense University (5/23/2013).

For the serious (aided by coffee, perhaps), I’d advise watching the more complete ABC News presentation, but, at a glance, they’re close to parity.  The applause and heckler interruption takes place at about 49 minutes, and while it seems that portion has made the rounds, the complete video tells a much, much greater and more thoughtful story.

After the heckler, at around 56 minutes, Obama notes, “We face down dangers far greater than Al Qaeda.  By staying true to the values of our founding, and by using our constitutional compass, we have overcome slavery and civil war and fascism and communism.”

Obama’s not only right on that score, but one would have to watch with hate in the heart and a fair dose of internally-generated paranoia to demonize him as some kind of remote international socialist Muslim.  All of that just isn’t there in the breadth, depth, and expanse of the national security presentation.

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The ABC News page supporting the one hour and ten minute clip reports seven tweets and 84 Facebook shares, a pathetically low number for a remarkably candid and comprehensive speech by President Obama on national security, related legal practices, and the drone program that has been in the news recently with the assassination of Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud.

At about 38 minutes, Obama sums up basic concepts in his foreign policy:

  • Target actions against terrorists;
  • Effective partnerships;
  • Diplomatic engagement and assistance.

Notably, while speaking of terrorism generically, Obama goes on to address the American relationship with its Muslim complement.

“As we guard against dangers from abroad, we cannot neglect the daunting challenge of terrorism from within our borders . . . today a person can consume hateful propaganda, commit themselves to a violent agenda, and learn how to kill without leaving their home . . . the best way to prevent violent extremism is to work with the Muslim community, which has consistently rejected  terrorism . . . .  These partnerships can only work when we recognize that Muslims are an integral part of the American family . . . .   In fact, the success of American Muslims and our determination to guard against any encroachments on their civil liberties is the ultimate rebuke to those who say that we are at war with Islam.”

Related Reference

Pakistan on high alert after Taliban leader killed by US drone strike | World news | theguardian.com – 11/2/2013.

Two U.S.-Born Terrorists Killed in CIA-Led Drone Strike | Fox News – 9/30/2011.

Drone Wars Pakistan: Analysis | The National Security Studies Program (New America Foundation) – current.

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A Note on the U.S. Domestic Submerged Black Intelligence Behemoth

29 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by in Political Spychology

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What is in my head is my intellectual property. There will be no flash drive, no research notes, nothing to find that is digital. I am done with digital archives.

Correspondence with Tammy Swofford, former LCDR USN, a nurse at Baylor Hospital and in her “spare time” a columnist for the Daily Times Pakistan and Economic Affairs Pakistan.

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The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work.

A hidden world, growing beyond control | washingtonpost.com – Updated to September 2010.

Top Secret America | washingtonpost.com — video: first narration: “You think you know America, but you don’t know top secret America.”

Monitoring America | washingtonpost.com

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From inducing paranoia in the bloggorati to upsetting the presidents of foreign states, the world would seem to have a yet emerging issue in the proliferation of every form of intrusive information extraction (or shall we just call it “spying”).

May no signal, whether contained or transmitted by gadget, tablet, computer, or phone, go unrecorded, even if unremarked.

As suggested by Ms. Swofford, the countermeasure to all of this may be to abandon electronic repositories and minimize note keeping.

Create no trails.

* * *

Even on the cusp of dissection, which complete dissection The Washington Post has done quite well, one notices the menage made between elements of the national defense, intelligence, and law enforcement communities.  In essence, and as regards terrorism, the ultimate behavior of interest — whether it has to do with, say, breaking into parked vehicles at a mall during the holiday shopping season or blowing up the same mall — is criminal behavior.

Even so —

Maryland State Police and federal agents used a search warrant in an unrelated criminal investigation to seize the private reporting files of an award-winning former investigative journalist for The Washington Times who had exposed problems in the Homeland Security Department’s Federal Air Marshals Service.

Armed agents seize records of reporter, Washington Times prepares legal action – Washington Times – 10/25/2013.

On the U.S. domestic frontier of this new Black Intelligence Behemoth, opportunities for mischievous, suspicious, and vindictive behavior would seem rife.  Appearing in the news earlier this year:

NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds – The Washington Post – 8/15/2013.

Feinstein: NSA hasn’t ‘intentionally abused its authority’ – 8/16/2013.

* * *

The practice isn’t frequent — one official estimated a handful of cases in the last decade — but it’s common enough to garner its own spycraft label: LOVEINT.

NSA Officers Spy on Love Interests – Washington Wire – WSJ – 8/23/2013.

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The power garnered by NSA may make one wonder about the clout of the annual $52-billion intelligence industry overall.

From The Washington Post:

Generally, the NSA reveals nothing in public about its errors and infractions. The unclassified versions of the administration’s semiannual reports to Congress feature blacked-out pages under the headline “Statistical Data Relating to Compliance Incidents.”

Members of Congress may read the unredacted documents, but only in a special secure room, and they are not allowed to take notes. Fewer than 10 percent of lawmakers employ a staff member who has the security clearance to read the reports and provide advice about their meaning and significance.

NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds – The Washington Post – 8/15/2013.

It appears here that a substantial part of government of, for, and by the people has been supplanted by what will probably remain unknown persons but much like ourselves . . . but how much, we don’t know and won’t.

The leader of the secret court that is supposed to provide critical oversight of the government’s vast spying programs said that its ability to do so is limited and that it must trust the government to report when it improperly spies on Americans.

Court: Ability to police U.S. spying program limited – The Washington Post – 8/15/2013.

Related: What to say, and not to say, to ‘our overseers’ – The Washington Post – 8/15/2013.

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I know this post will look haphazard and slap-dashed, but it’s just a glance at a profound shift in boundaries enabled by reliance on electronic communications and data processing.  In turn, and goosed by 9/11, the same appears to have given birth to a black intelligence campus of monstrous scale.

Odds ‘N’ Ends In No Particular Order

Armed agents seize records of reporter, Washington Times prepares legal action – Washington Times – 10/25/2013.

Top senator: Obama didn’t know of U.S. spying on Germany’s leader – CNN.com – 10/29/2013.

White House sees need for ‘constraints’ on NSA spying | Reuters – 10/28/2013.

NSA spied on 60 million phone calls in Spain: report  – NY Daily News – 10/28/2013.

Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing: Tim Shorrock, Dick Hill: 9781400157723: Amazon.com: Books

NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders after US official handed over contacts | World news | The Guardian – 10/24/2013.

Merkel spying claim: with allies like these, who needs enemies? | World news | theguardian.com – 10/23/2013.

The Intelligence National Security Alliance – Building a Stronger Intelligence Community / Homeland Security Intelligence Council / Council on Technology and Innovation / Intelligence Champions Council / Security Policy Reform Council (the goals of reform have nothing to do with reduction in research breadth, intensity, or reach) / SMART Change Task Force / Marketing and Communications Committee (“The committee’s guidance and experience helps strengthen INSA’s marketing and communications strategy, build brand awareness and tell INSA’s story while building relationships and generating membership “buzz.” — is it government, business, or Disneyland in there)?

Spy Agencies Under Heaviest Scrutiny Since Abuse Scandal of the ’70s – NYTimes.com – 7/25/2013.

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State and Major Urban Area Fusion Centers | Homeland Security

More About Fusion Centers | American Civil Liberties Union

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HSPI | Homeland Security Policy Institute (The George Washington University)

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An Offered Coin – “Political Spychology”

11 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Philology

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Permanent (if the money holds out) residence:

https://conflict-backchannels.com/coins-and-other-terms/political-spychology/

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Coined!

I believe the general public — and not merely the generally paranoid — have for a long time had a good sense about the world’s secret worlds, and that whether involving business (intelligence) or government (intelligence).  With an American cuckoo and two peacocks in, out, or avoiding dock, as it were, and publications like Spies for Hire, the dawning realization that our “military-industrial complex” includes a $52 billion annual spook bill may take some time developing weight.

Talk about “cloud computing”!

Involved are competitive urges — to “get the goods” on an adversary, alley, customer, or supplier (perhaps) — within an era of decaying or reorganizing cultural, political, and social boundaries.  The Ayatollah’s nuclear program, for example, may present an “existential threat” to mine, grant me that, in Israel, but the problem is with the Ayatollah’s power and ambitions bound up with nuclear weapons technology and not my hip Iranian friends on Facebook — or, for that matter, perhaps, here and reading, thinking, reconsidering, formulating, imagining, defining, bonding, separating, all in new ways.

New poetry.

Updated poetics.

The questions outside the box may not be too far from where they are inside the box: who’s looking at what with what expectations?

One of my correspondents wrote to me this morning, “I contend that with the NSA capabilities the Believers will drill more deeply into the bedrock of their faith for unbreakable codes.”

So they may.

Not too long ago, the same person had me scouring the Internet for radioactive clay disks (a Believer would understand).

Whaddayaknow . . . .

I see the link has gone private.  But that was then: I had to add “rock” to “radioactive” find the above memory serving analog.

Today’s environment has been affected by Fukushima Daiichi and, indeed, clay-related solutions may be involved in solving that disaster and show up tops today on similar searches — and then trust the National Security Agency (or Booz Allen and Hamilton — who knows?) to do similar things a billion times faster.

String theory.

And there are so many “strings” extant!

And some, I hope,  get the alphasoup metonymic overlay and tonal jumble just about right.

“Political Spychology” — has a nice ring to it.

Put it to use.

Your way.

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China’s had a bad case of patent contempt goin’ on, but I think it has so far avoided Enormous Public Presence as regards its spy programs, but both the U.S. and Russia have had their curious and free enough among journalists (not to mention again the three little birds that have so recently flown off their own electromagnetic disks) — and more to come, Polonium notwithstanding, I’m sure.  For those interested in the shadows built and cast by Big Governments, I recommend reading both Spies for Hire and The New Nobility.

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A Passel of Updates on the Snowden Story

10 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Fast News Share, Free Speech, North America

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What they’re ignoring is that this is actually how democracy works. Even in a free society, the state has to have some secrets. The means and methods by which it tracks terrorists should, I’d suggest, be one of them. Should those means and methods be subject to scrutiny? Yes. Should that scrutiny come from our democratically elected representatives? Yes. Should the powers being scrutinised also be the subject of checks and balances from the courts? Yes. In other words, precisely what has been happening with Prism.

Hodges, Dan.  “We don’t want to spy on terrorists, we don’t want to kill them, we don’t want to deport them.  What do we want?”  The Telegraph, June 10, 2013.

Jeffrey Toobin posting on The New Yorker’s web site: “Indeed, Snowden was so irresponsible in what he gave the Guardian and the Postthat even these institutions thought some of it should not be disseminated to the public. The Postdecided to publish only four of the forty-one slides that Snowden provided. Its exercise of judgment suggests the absence of Snowden’s.”

Toobin’s colleague John Cassidy provides counterpoint: “He is a hero. (My colleague Jeffrey Toobin disagrees.) In revealing the colossal scale of the U.S. government’s eavesdropping on Americans and other people around the world, he has performed a great public service that more than outweighs any breach of trust he may have committed.”

In Politico, Tal Kopan has worked up a scathing indictment of Snowden’s character founded on the slant of the details, from Snowden’s dropping out of high school, albeit completing his GED coursework in the community college system, to the stickers on his laptop: “4. His laptop stickers reveal his beliefs. Stickers on Snowden’s laptop express support for Internet freedom, The Guardian said. One reads, “I support Online Rights: Electronic Frontier Foundation,” and another is for the Tor Project, an online anonymity software.”

From Kim Hjelmgaard filing from London and published in USA Today with the title, “Edward Snowden says he seeks safe harbor in Iceland”:

But Iceland says he is missing a key element.

“The main stipulation for seeking asylum in Iceland would be that the person must be in Iceland to start the process,” said Johannes Tomasson, the chief spokesman for Iceland’s Ministry of Interior in Reykjavik. “That would be the ground rule No. 1.”

Uh oh.

Also appearing in USA Today:

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook, Apple, AOL and Paltalk erected what the New York Timesdescribes as “locked mailboxes” in which to place data on suspicious persons requested by the government under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. The Times’ description, published Saturday, used unnamed sources.

Basically, it looks like the post-911 Bush Administration launched a broad and comprehensive effort to detect terrorists and their operations (apparently, ignoring plain old gumshoe Russian intelligence sharing prior to the Boston Marathon bombing shouldn’t be mixed in with this NSA story), and, legally, Congress-approved, by law, Obama has sustained the Bush Administration plan.

This is for my paranoids — it’s at least four years old, has been viewed more than 57,000 times, and it will take you where you want to go.

I’ll save readers the trouble of clicking around: NOVA.  “The Spy Factory.”  Video.  Aired February 3, 2009.

God has not exempted geeks from having their own character and personality issues, so here I may lump Assange, the Wikileaks guy (click for the latest on that), and Snowden together — birds of similar feather, says I, and asylum, indeed, is what they have needed.

Other Reference

Owen, Paul and Tom McCarthy.  “Edward Snowden revealed as NSA whistleblower – reaction live.”  News Blog, The Guardian, June 10, 2013.

UTTM. “Edward Snowden: Ex-CIA worker drops out of sight, faces legal battle.”  Interview with Michael Cohen and accompanying reportage.  Chicago Tribune, June 10, 2013.