Category Archives: Ethics

UPDATE II: The Kid Is Alright. Ditto The British Guardian (Which Exposed Indirectly Corrupt US Media)

Ethics, Government, Journalism, Justice, Media, Morality, Ron Paul, Technology, The State

People like Edward Snowden are the very people to whom we should say, “Thank you for your service.” Uncle Sam will destroy Edward Snowden, as it is destroying Julian Assange and Bradley Manning. Snowden knew it, yet he did what he did anyway.

Via The Guardian:

The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden has been working at the National Security Agency for the last four years as an employee of various outside contractors, including Booz Allen and Dell.
The Guardian, after several days of interviews, is revealing his identity at his request. From the moment he decided to disclose numerous top-secret documents to the public, he was determined not to opt for the protection of anonymity. “I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong,” he said.

The kid is more than alright. He’s a hero.

UPDATED: Corrupt US Media Usurped. An heroic American whistleblower chooses, oh-so wisely, to expose Uncle Sam’s usurpations to the veteran reporters of the British Guardian, and not to the partisan hacks of the American press: This tells you all you need to know about the state of US press and the entity (the state) to which it has sworn allegiance.

The best of Edward Snowden:

I could be rendered by the CIA. I could have people come after me. Or any of the third-party partners. They work closely with a number of other nations. Or they could pay off the Triads. Any of their agents or assets,” he said.

…”We have got a CIA station just up the road – the consulate here in Hong Kong – and I am sure they are going to be busy for the next week. And that is a concern I will live with for the rest of my life, however long that happens to be.”
Having watched the Obama administration prosecute whistleblowers at a historically unprecedented rate, he fully expects the US government to attempt to use all its weight to punish him. “I am not afraid,” he said calmly, “because this is the choice I’ve made.” …
… he learned just how all-consuming the NSA’s surveillance activities were, claiming “they are intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them”.
…He described how he once viewed the internet as “the most important invention in all of human history”. As an adolescent, he spent days at a time “speaking to people with all sorts of views that I would never have encountered on my own”. …
…But he believed that the value of the internet, along with basic privacy, is being rapidly destroyed by ubiquitous surveillance. “I don’t see myself as a hero,” he said, “because what I’m doing is self-interested: I don’t want to live in a world where there’s no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.”
…Once he reached the conclusion that the NSA’s surveillance net would soon be irrevocable, he said it was just a matter of time before he chose to act. “What they’re doing” poses “an existential threat to democracy”, he said. …
…there still remains the question: why did he do it? Giving up his freedom and a privileged lifestyle? “There are more important things than money. If I were motivated by money, I could have sold these documents to any number of countries and gotten very rich.”
…For him, it is a matter of principle. “The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to. There is no public oversight. The result is people like myself have the latitude to go further than they are allowed to,” he said.

AND:

“Snowden said that he admires both Ellsberg and Manning, but argues that there is one important distinction between himself and the army private, whose trial coincidentally began the week Snowden’s leaks began to make news.
‘I carefully evaluated every single document I disclosed to ensure that each was legitimately in the public interest,’ he said. ‘There are all sorts of documents that would have made a big impact that I didn’t turn over, because harming people isn’t my goal. Transparency is.'”

He purposely chose, he said, to give the documents to journalists whose judgment he trusted about what should be public and what should remain concealed.

“I don’t want to live in a world where there’s no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.”

“The primary lesson from this experience was that ‘you can’t wait around for someone else to act. I had been looking for leaders, but I realised that leadership is about being the first to act.'”

UPDATE II: NO SURPRISE THERE; Edward Snowden had donated to libertarian Ron Paul.

Anti-Apartheid Does Not Mean Pro-Democracy

Democracy, Ethics, Etiquette, Individual Rights, Morality, South-Africa

Miguel write:

Mrs Mercer:

I purchased your book Into the Cannibal’s Pot and have just started reading it.

From your book and other sources on your website, I understand that you and your family (particularly your father) held an anti-apartheid stance.

Your book however, describes the current situation in SA, particularly after the multi-racial, democratic elections of 1994, as having resulted in a borderline lawless state.

My question to you is: Did you believe, prior to 1994, that the an end to the apartheid regime would bring a more beneficial political and quality of life process to SA.

Thanking you advance

It goes without saying that I make a point of replying to almost all letters I get, provide they’re polite. Thousands, since I began writing. As George Will once wrote, “manners are the practice of a virtue. The virtue is called civility, a word related—as a foundation is related to a house—to the word civilization.”

I’ll address in a future post the issue of what failing to answer your mail says about you. For now, here’s my reply to Miguel:

Hello Miguel,

Thank you for reading Into the Cannibal’s Pot: Lessons for America from Post-Apartheid South Africa.

I believe that nowhere in my book do I state the belief below. Moreover, from the fact that I oppose state-enforced apartheid—it does not follow that I support what I call in The Cannibal, a “raw, ripe democracy.”

By the end of the book, you will better understand this perspective. My involvement in SA as a young woman was humanitarian, not political.

You are correct in your assessment of my father’s thinking.

ILANA Mercer

Politicians And Their Aides Are ‘Paid Liars’? You Don’t Say!

Barack Obama, Democrats, Ethics, Politics, Propaganda, Republicans

Of course White House Press Secretary Jay Carney is a “paid liar.” So was Robert Gibbs, Carney’s predecessor at the White House. As was ditzy Dana Perino, who continues to shill for “The Shrub” on Fox News.

Politicians are “paid liars” by definition. Witness how Republicans are calibrating the Obama scandals for maximum political effect, not wishing to sound too alarmist, but sounding the alarm just enough to alarm.

Recoiling from so much as a hint of the truth (such as that Carney is a liar and that he is lying for Obama), the worst among the Republicans—you guessed it: John McCain—has even turned on Rep. Darrell Issa for aptly describing Carney as a liar.

Truth is immaterial to the Republicans—to the quislings from both parties. The game here is to retain political power or grab some more, as you safeguard your privileges as leech for life.

The latest kerfuffle Via HiffPo:

The Internal Revenue Service agents who inappropriately targeted conservative groups had been following orders from the Obama administration, House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said on Sunday. And he called the administration’s top spokesman a liar.

Shaping The News By Omission; Passing The Buck For Barack

Barack Obama, Ethics, Journalism, Media, The State

CNN, as you know, often veers into the business of shaping the news, rather than simply reporting it. It does so both by commission and by omission.

Thus has CNN steered clear of the scandals that have enveloped The Beloved, Barack Hussein Obama.

Over the past few days you were able to relive the manhunt for Bin Laden and the Boston bombers; watch the neurotic network doctor hype his latest health scare, hear about the collapse of a bridge in Skagit County, in my neck of the woods, learn of a baby born during the tornado; cry to “Emotional Stories of Survival,” “Examine Sexual Assault in the Military,” marvel at the audacity of Jodi Arias, hackers, but never BHO.

Look at the “CNN Transcripts for the entire day of May 24, 2013” (a service I appreciate). Buried in the links is a small notice, “IRS Non-Profit Chief Placed On Leave.” I was unable to find a fleshed-out report.

The “CNN Transcripts for May 23, 2013” are not much better.

Finally today, May 25, the network editorial board must have determined that it was time to mentions that “the Justice Department’s decision to seek a warrant to search a FOX News reporter’s private e-mail went all the way to the top. A Justice official tells CNN that Attorney General Eric Holder vetted the application himself and then the application was approved by a federal magistrate.”

CNN was likely shamed into news reportage by MSNBC, which is generally the worst offender, but seemed to have decided that indicting a journalist for doing his job was where passing the buck for Obama would stop, at least for a now.

Never know when the guy will sic his zealots on me.