Eddard Stark.... Jon Snow..... Edward Snowden?

and all three are hero's of a sort.

On a more serious note, the revelation that the US government has been spying on us for the last six years is more than a bit scary, but not for some of the reasons that conspiracy nuts seem to think.

First - if you post something on facebook or twitter is is NOT private. It says so right in your terms of service if you had bothered to read them. You post something on your facebook wall it is in a public place. Same for twitter, blogs etc.

Second - The NSA is not reading your facebook page. Get over yourself.

The problem that I see is twofold. One that emails, phone calls and even facebook messages (where there is some assumption of privacy) are monitored as well. The other is that the US government is Cercei Lannister, seeing threats and enemies at every corner.




First, the US NSA has said that they monitor where phone calls are going, where emails are sent etc. but can only read them/listen in with a court order. Fair enough. Except that my sending an email to Lebanon is not suspect in any way. But more importantly, why should a US judge be making rulings that effect citizens of other countries? The excuse given from the White House with respect to this intrusion on individuals around the world was that they do nothing without a judges approval and do not spy within the US. Those things directly contradict one another. If you want to spy on Russian citizens shouldn't a Russian judge sign off on that? (good luck). Since when is US law applicable outside US territory? By that logic a Chinese judge can sign a court order to spy on US citizens?

Second, when did Barack Obama become Cersei Lannister? Every corner has a new enemy, every dissenting voice is treason, every slight an aggression or a threat. Bankrupt King's Landing on enough swords to keep yourself safe. Spy's ad spy's for those spy's. Instead billions are spent in security and countries refusing to extradite Snowden are threatened with "serious consequences" (the phrase often used by British prime minister's since 1947). Bellicose, paranoid, financially ruinous and largely ineffective because neither Cersei nor Barack ever stopped to ask WHY people want to blow them up. I see no reason NOT to blow the whistle on that.

As to Snowden. Yes he broke a contract by revealing this spy programme, but what is the greater evil, breaking your word or allowing a spy agency to act in defiance of all laws WHERE IT IS ACTUALLY OPERATING? To me that is an easy one. I am with the majority outside the US who thinks that Snowden will be remembered as a hero, even within the US. Remember that Gandhi was once seen as an enemy by the majority of Britons. For now, I hope he has a nice home in Equador waiting for him.