Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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Snowden: “Put him on a plane to Venezuela”? UPDATED

!:30PM THIS JUST IN: Looks like they’re putting him on a plane to Quito.
ECUADOR SAYS SNOWDEN SEEKING ASYLUM THERE

Earlier today,
Life imitates the Cohen brothers (video NSFW), and Putin may have channeled J. K. Simmons:


WIRE: SNOWDEN LEAVES FOR VENEZUELA VIA RUSSIA, CUBA

Reuters says

Itar-Tass cited its source as saying Snowden would fly from Havana to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

Other reports name Ecuador and Iceland,

Separately, the South China Morning Post, the city’s leading English-language newspaper, said that Mr. Snowden had boarded a 10:55 a.m. flight on Sunday headed to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport. The paper said that Moscow wasn’t his final destination, citing Ecuador and Iceland as possible destinations.

For now, it’s all a “where’s Waldo?” moment.

UPDATE,

Rick Moran:

If Snowden is, in fact, on his way to Venezuela, Wikileaks has a very strange notion of a “democratic country.” Freedom House, in their 2013 report on “Freedom in the World,” lists Venezuela as “partly free,” which may be a generous designation given that the internal security apparatus is run by Cubans and that “Chavista” bully boys routinely show up at opposition rallies to threaten and intimidate opponents. Snowden, who claimed he wanted to end up in a country with democratic values, could have made a better choice.


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Snowden is in Hong Kong?

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden headed to Hong Kong after releasing a series of sensitive documents to the Washington Post.

Hong Kong is part of China, a country that has blocked access to my blog at times. Not the most transparent place for internet communications.

Now he’s seeking asylum in Iceland, which means he’s hoping that

  • the Chinese won’t deport him to the USA
  • Iceland will grant him asylum

    Kristín Árnadóttir, Icelandic ambassador to Beijing, told the South China Morning Post that Snowden needs to be in Iceland in order to apply for asylum.

  • the Chinese will grant him safe passage to Iceland.

So far, he’s checked out of his hotel.

Memeorandum is abuzz,

 Barton Gellman / Washington Post:

Code name ‘Verax’: Snowden, in exchanges with Post reporter, made clear he knew risks  —  He called me BRASSBANNER, a code name in the double-barreled style of the National Security Agency, where he worked in the signals intelligence directorate.  —  Verax was the name he chose for himself, “truth teller” in Latin.
RELATED:

 Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Greenwald Says ‘There’s A Lot More Coming,’ Argues NSA Revelations Don’t Harm Security  —  The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald on Monday defended the 29-year-old who served as the source of one of the biggest intelligence leaks in history, arguing that the revelations of the National Security …
Discussion: Hot Air, Guardian and The Daily Banter

 The Atlantic Online:

Edward Snowden in Hong Kong  —  I’m glad we have this information; I am sorry we are getting it from Hong Kong.  —  Three points:  —  1) I believe what I wrote two days ago: that the United States and the world have gained much more, in democratic accountability, than they have lost …

 New York Times:

Booz Allen Grew Rich on Government Contracts  —  WASHINGTON — Edward J. Snowden’s employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, has become one of the largest and most profitable corporations in the United States almost exclusively by serving a single client: the government of the United States.

 Daniel Ellsberg / Guardian:

Edward Snowden: saving us from the United Stasi of America  —  Snowden’s whistleblowing gives us a chance to roll back what is tantamount to an ‘executive coup’ against the US constitution  —  In my estimation, there has not been in American history a more important leak than Edward Snowden’s release …

 Guardian:
Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations

Discussion: The Raw Story, New York Times, Washington Monthly, Firedoglake,ThinkProgress, USA Today, Washington Post, The Atlantic Online, China Real Time Report, immi.is, Power Line, Politico, Wonkblog, BBC, msnbc.com, Daily Mail, News Desk, Activist Post, Capital New York, Daily Kos, Yahoo! News, The BRAD BLOG, The Week, Business Insider, Infowars, Alan Colmes’ Liberaland,Hot Air, New Republic, Mediaite, kottke.org, Wall Street Journal, Reuters,ViralRead, The Sun, TechCrunch, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The PJ Tatler, Doug Ross, The Agonist, Good Gear Guide, The Daily Caller, Althouse, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, Secrecy News, RT, Informed Comment, Telegraph,Towleroad News #gay, Prairie Weather, FP Passport, KALW, The Gateway Pundit, AMERICAblog, Gawker, americanthinker.com, Boing Boing, AMERICAN DIGEST, The Hill, Balloon Juice, First Read, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Impolitic, PoliticusUSA, UrbanGrounds, Post Politics, Forbes, NO QUARTER USA NET, The Dish, The BLT, Little Green Footballs, Washington Examiner, Fox News Insider, The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, Lawfare,Hit & Run, The Hinterland Gazette, Runnin’ Scared, Instapundit, Vox Popoli,Wired, American Power, CANNONFIRE, Whiskey Fire, The Verge, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Scared Monkeys, U.S. News, Washington Free Beacon,Liberal Values, AllThingsD, GigaOM, LewRockwell.com Blog, emptywheel,Engadget and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

 Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
DOJ launches criminal probe of NSA leaker

Discussion: Politico
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Person(s) of Interest

No, not them,

Us,

 

US intelligence chief denounces info ‘leak’…

NYT: Obama has lost all credibility…

Paper ‘quietly changes published editorial to make less damning’…

RELATED:

 New York Times:

President Obama’s Dragnet  —  Within hours of the disclosure that the federal authorities routinely collect data on phone calls Americans make, regardless of whether they have any bearing on a counterterrorism investigation, the Obama administration issued the same platitude it has offered every …


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FYI,

in case you missed it,

NSA is collecting the phone records of MILLIONS of Verizon customers daily under top secret order issued in April and it lasts into July

Because of the lack of distinction, it means that the phone records are not just being collected for suspected terrorists, but the company’s entire consumer base.

Meanwhile, Obama and Google swap staff


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