Change: Obama administration eliminates 100,000 potential whistle-blowers...

The Edward Snowden effect...

Via Tech Dirt:

The government swears it protects whistleblowers but the efforts it makes undermines its assertions. Telling people the government is targeting them for reasons it doesn't seem to be able to put into words is called a "criminal act." But here's the most surprising fact from Evanina's profile.

One crisp action taken following agency auditing after Snowden’s exposure: 100,000 fewer people have security clearances than did a year ago, Evanina said. “That’s a lot.”

This looks like the proper response to someone like Snowden. Handing out too many security clearances undermines security. But it's more than that: it's a consolidation of power. By stripping 100,000 people of their clearances, the government eliminates 100,000 potential whistleblowers. With fewer eyes watching surveillance programs, odds of abuse multiply. Someone has to watch the watchers and sometimes that someone is nothing more than a government contractor.

Snowden/Greenwald finale: Reveal names of US citizens targeted by their own government

This could cause an uproar...

(RCP)- The man who helped bring about the most significant leak in American intelligence history is to reveal names of US citizens targeted by their own government in what he promises will be the “biggest” revelation from nearly 2m classified files.

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who received the trove of documents from Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, told The Sunday Times that Snowden’s legacy would be “shaped in large part” by this “finishing piece” still to come.

His plan to publish names will further unnerve an American intelligence establishment already reeling from 11 months of revelations about US government surveillance activities.

Greenwald, who is promoting his book No Place To Hide and is trailed by a documentary crew wherever he goes, was speaking in a boutique hotel near Harvard, where he was to appear with Noam Chomsky, the octogenarian leftist academic.

“One of the big questions when it comes to domestic spying is, ‘Who have been the NSA’s specific targets?’," he said.

Snowden: NSA uses data it collects for economic purposes

But we were told they were only trying to keep us safe... 

Berlin (AFP) - The US National Security Agency (NSA) sometimes uses data it collects for economic purposes, intelligence leaker Edward Snowden reveals in an extract of an interview with a German television chain to be broadcast Sunday.

"If there is information, for example on Siemens, which is in the national interest, but has nothing to do with national security, they will still use this information," said Snowden, according to the German translation of the interview on public television ARD. 

The interview was carried out by a journalist for NDR, a regional chain belonging to the broadcaster that has analysed secret documents that Snowden leaked to journalists.

Under top secrecy, the chain this week in Moscow filmed the first interview with Snowden since he left Hong Kong in 2013 to seek refuge in Russia.

Should Snowden be given amnesty to stop his leaks?

Hmm...

Via CBS News:

CBS News learned Thursday that the information National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has revealed so far is just a fraction of what he has. In fact, he has so much, some think it is worth giving him amnesty to get it back.
Rick Leggett is the man who was put in charge of the Snowden leak task force by Gen. Keith Alexander, who heads the NSA. The task force's job is to prevent another leak like this one from happening again. They're also trying to figure out how much damage the Snowden leaks have done, and how much damage they could still do.
Snowden, who is believed to still have access to 1.5 million classified documents he has not leaked, has been granted temporary asylum in Moscow, which leaves the U.S. with few options.

Tweet of the Day: Putin says Russia never turning over Snowden...

Putin says Russia will never hand over Edward Snowden to the U.S. #breaking
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) July 1, 2013

In other news, Snowden has reportedly applied for asylum in Russia...

Report: Snowden headed to Ecuador...

#Snowden surrounded by journalists, gets into #Ecuador embassy car | http://t.co/yvLGKKwoA6 | pic.twitter.com/IaQYK9nxkj

— Mohit Kumar (@unix_root) June 23, 2013

Fun Video: Nutroots Boos Nancy Pelosi For Calling Edward Snowden a Criminal

Pelosi booed after saying Snowden violated the law. "You suck!" someone in the crowd yelled out. #nn13
— Seema Mehta (@LATSeema) June 22, 2013

Nutroots Boos Nancy Pelosi For Calling Edward Snowden a Criminal 

 

Breaking: Snowden is ion the move...

And headed to Moscow? Or is that a stopover on the way somewhere else? 

Via RT:

Hong Kong authorities have said NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is on his way to the Russian capital in a bid to elude the US extradition order against him. However, RT sources report that the former CIA contractor is already in Moscow.

A spokesperson from the Hong Kong government confirmed that Edward Snowden had "legally and voluntarily" left the country.

Ron Paul is worried that the government might kill Edward Snowden with a drone or something...

I would like to say this is batsh*t crazy talk, but we are dealing with the Obama administration...

“I’m worried about somebody in our government might kill him with a cruise missile or a drone missile. I mean we live in a bad time where American citizens don’t even have rights and that they can be killed, but the gentlemen is trying to tell the truth about what’s going on.”

Interestingly, Snowden was a Ron Paul supporter and donated $500 to his 2008 presidential campaign.