BitCoins for Edward Snowden.

[chetalk]

 He's a hero! I love him.

[tabnloz]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA christ you kids crack me up.


The reason this kid 'left all behind' is because he was foolish enough to mistake his childish and vainglorious 'revolutionary' urge as something 'heroic'. He left his family, 'girlfriend' (a more selfish and self-absorbed bitch I have seldom seen - pole dancing shallow whore that she is), and his job not because he is an established and determined revolutionary - he is suffering under a VERY CHILDISH delusion that what he has done is something 'remarkable' and 'like a fighter for freedom'.

His every word and actions in running from the results of his actions prove him nothing less than a pathetic fool on the same level as bradley manning - insecure, infantile, and infinitely gullible kid easily manipulated and cajoled by reality who is only a hero in his own mind, along with multitude of similarly lacking peoples. His ultimate goal is self-congratulation, self-masturbatory delusions about 'standing up for something'. Well, he certainly didn't even attempt to stand up to something in a position that presented even a remote threat to him - he ran like a bitch to cower behind something else and spout their shallow nonsense from safety of someone else's skirt.

Is there any wonder why authorities and people in power look upon you with contempt when your standards are so pathetic?

Sitting behind a computer and bitching about 'civil liberties' must have felt very comfortable in the relative safety of 1st world nation, but I am sure reality slapped him around a few times when he decided to book it to china then russia, beacon of democracy and civil liberties that they are. I am sure MSS and FSB/SVR had much fun tossing this kid around like a cheap piece of meat and holding his strings.


Cowards like snowden exemplify everything that's wrong with younger 1st world generations today, and the fact that this loser and coward is being held up as a 'hero' by ignorant and petulant fools stands as an embarrassment for all who are citizens of those nations. His profile is practically a textbook example of insecure, childish internet 'hero' (a weaboo on top of that) whose notion of 'determination' consists of running away anything that presents even a slight real challenge.

Save your money. Save your pseudo-intellectual platitudes about 'liberty' and 'democracy'. If anyone's doing more to damage those two causes, it's you who think democracy and liberty are sunday morning cartoon themes.

Fish rots from the head - and the ultimate head of democracy is supposed to be the public. Your state is rotten indeed.


For Fucks sake, please grow a pair and grow the fuck up. 1st world doesn't need fools like these getting too mouthy for their own good.

SO wrong and misguided.

Lets look at some of your assertions:

 - Delusional that he has done something remarkable (exposed the largest, broadest, most abused spying program ever seen)

 - Running makes him level with Manning (who didn't run, rotted in solitary and is now imprisoned)

 - Cowardly because he sat behind a computer and exposed lies (risking life and liberty in standing up for his beliefs)


You seem to be upset that people could believe in the ideals under which the US was born or any ideals of justice, privacy etc.

Now, these ideals may not represent reality and global geopolitics may not leave room for niceties or equality (which seems to be what you are saying), but that isn't the point.

The point is that people deserve their own privacy and that the US has been invading, bombing, sanctioning and jailing in the name of the very ideals it had been violating on a massive unprecedented scale.

If the (Socrates) question were would you rather be a bad man who appears good, or a good man who appears bad, Snowden has unmasked the US.

[matt4054]

The NSA almost succeeded in making the whole encryption process a ridiculous masquerade by backdooring the PRNG

Actually, the NSA are doing a really good job, since they are by definition supposed to crack any kind of encryption, and establish global surveillance over global communications.

The question is why bother with "official" encryption in the first place, when we know that it's so weak. If I wanted to plot against the US Government, I wouldn't trust my /dev/random to be really (even pseudo-) random, when it comes from a "Designed in Cupertino" machine. Likewise, I wouldn't use any cipher algo that was designed by... the NSA itself

IMHO, the real Snowden effect is just a confirmation that mainstream, consumer-grade encryption is a farce: one the one hand, you have the US Gov. (DHS etc.) admitting that they will spy on any foreign (?...) communications, on the other hand, you have legal systems that are sold with the claim that they offer "privacy". It's just not compatible.

Many non-US businesses (i.e. cloud) are already benefiting from the Snowden effect, and the trend should continue. It's so obvious...

[NewLiberty]

The NSA almost succeeded in making the whole encryption process a ridiculous masquerade by backdooring the PRNG

Thanks for this, it is some detailed work that ought be repeated and confirmed by any with doubt.  FIPS is an interesting set of requirements, and raises the cost of a government contract significantly.

[Honeypot]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA christ you kids crack me up.


The reason this kid 'left all behind' is because he was foolish enough to mistake his childish and vainglorious 'revolutionary' urge as something 'heroic'. He left his family, 'girlfriend' (a more selfish and self-absorbed bitch I have seldom seen - pole dancing shallow whore that she is), and his job not because he is an established and determined revolutionary - he is suffering under a VERY CHILDISH delusion that what he has done is something 'remarkable' and 'like a fighter for freedom'.

His every word and actions in running from the results of his actions prove him nothing less than a pathetic fool on the same level as bradley manning - insecure, infantile, and infinitely gullible kid easily manipulated and cajoled by reality who is only a hero in his own mind, along with multitude of similarly lacking peoples. His ultimate goal is self-congratulation, self-masturbatory delusions about 'standing up for something'. Well, he certainly didn't even attempt to stand up to something in a position that presented even a remote threat to him - he ran like a bitch to cower behind something else and spout their shallow nonsense from safety of someone else's skirt.

Is there any wonder why authorities and people in power look upon you with contempt when your standards are so pathetic?

Sitting behind a computer and bitching about 'civil liberties' must have felt very comfortable in the relative safety of 1st world nation, but I am sure reality slapped him around a few times when he decided to book it to china then russia, beacon of democracy and civil liberties that they are. I am sure MSS and FSB/SVR had much fun tossing this kid around like a cheap piece of meat and holding his strings.


Cowards like snowden exemplify everything that's wrong with younger 1st world generations today, and the fact that this loser and coward is being held up as a 'hero' by ignorant and petulant fools stands as an embarrassment for all who are citizens of those nations. His profile is practically a textbook example of insecure, childish internet 'hero' (a weaboo on top of that) whose notion of 'determination' consists of running away anything that presents even a slight real challenge.

Save your money. Save your pseudo-intellectual platitudes about 'liberty' and 'democracy'. If anyone's doing more to damage those two causes, it's you who think democracy and liberty are sunday morning cartoon themes.

Fish rots from the head - and the ultimate head of democracy is supposed to be the public. Your state is rotten indeed.


For Fucks sake, please grow a pair and grow the fuck up. 1st world doesn't need fools like these getting too mouthy for their own good.

SO wrong and misguided.

Lets look at some of your assertions:

 - Delusional that he has done something remarkable (exposed the largest, broadest, most abused spying program ever seen)

 - Running makes him level with Manning (who didn't run, rotted in solitary and is now imprisoned)

 - Cowardly because he sat behind a computer and exposed lies (risking life and liberty in standing up for his beliefs)


You seem to be upset that people could believe in the ideals under which the US was born or any ideals of justice, privacy etc.

Now, these ideals may not represent reality and global geopolitics may not leave room for niceties or equality (which seems to be what you are saying), but that isn't the point.

The point is that people deserve their own privacy and that the US has been invading, bombing, sanctioning and jailing in the name of the very ideals it had been violating on a massive unprecedented scale.

If the (Socrates) question were would you rather be a bad man who appears good, or a good man who appears bad, Snowden has unmasked the US.

You are completely naive I don't know where to start with your little drivel about what you THINK is an American Ideal. Or any ideal for that matter.


I love it when fools are all of a sudden experts on US constitution and champion of liberty when they need to find excuses to bitch at US.

Have you read the profiles of Manning and Snowden? Do either of them remotely seem like even che guevara material (a false hero and a coward who met the result of his childish ignorance and adventurism in the forests of bolivia and had to be held on a leash by more level headed castro)?

You sermonize about 'ideals' of US when it's convenient. I expect you to follow them when they are not.

Look at the state of affairs in the rest of the world, the REAL state underneath all the excuses and bitching that fools empty gullible 1st world children. Who is in a position to sermonize to US about what its ideals are? At least past events have proven US is much more capable of ultimately bringing results where it really matters. But of course, every one conveniently forgets them.

Maybe you think, perhaps as an American citizen, you have the right to take potshots at your own country in the same tone and voice as those foreigners who seek to denigrate US. When all you can do is sit there and moan without knowing why such measures were necessary, you expose yourself not as an independent, proactive citizen but a mere complacent fool who doesn't know what it means to act as a member of society where the best results come from each and every individual carrying the heavy and powerful responsibility of being relatively independent. You are truly free when you can live up to your ideals in action and demeanor, as a person. Not when you sermonize about them.

You are right about ideals not being matched with reality. Therefore you disregard them as irrelevant when arguing about how important they are? 'That's not the point'? Ideals and goals are backed by will to power through the opposition. Those rights, no privileges, are granted as an opportunity, inalienable by actions or pressures of external origin. They are most DEFINITELY alienable by your own lack of virtue and ability uphold them as an individual. With your kind of selective mentality that is really just excuse making when convenient, I doubt you even know what that means.

The "evil empire" bull shit again? We are brining pain and misery to those who are fully asking for it. Their excuses and rationale are but a veneer of hypocrisy that changes words when it's convenient. Their cultures are full of 5000 years of 'glorious' hypocrisy that they never truly addressed and kept compounding upon itself. Results are much more poignant proof than any self-deceptive delusions about how they are 'spiritually, mentally' better. You are clearly too shallow to be influenced by such cheap self-serving bitching of these fools.

Snowden and the likes of Manning are all hiding behind excuses of 'constitution' while their actions clearly indicate they have no ability to become an actual professional for anything save childish self-glorification and spines of a jellyfish. They are both very insecure, empty individuals who are trying to act heroes.

'Risking his life and liberty'? Don't make me laugh. Being too self-absorbed to even maturely care about what he would do to his own self doesn't constitute courage. That's self-deluded fantasy at its lowest, most infantile form. When reality of the consequences hit him, snowden ran to fucking china and russia. He betrayed all that mouthy attitude in one moment, when he was truly challenged. Make whatever excuses. He and manning are just a couple of scared bitches, just like Assunge. 


"I have already won" LOL you can't make this shit up.

Bitch please.

[marcus_of_augustus]

Honeypot ... sounds like you are champion for

- indefinite Guantanamo Bay detentions without charge,
- extra-judicial drone killings,
- ubiquitous mass-surveillance,
- unaccountable militarised policing forces
- court martial for dissidents, whistleblowers
- political protest movement infiltration by State agents
- IRS politically-motivated harassment

rah, rah ... Hitler luvs thuggy guys like you, Jefferson not so much.

Do you know what you stand for anymore besides USA, USA, USA, rah-rah-rah!?

[Honeypot]

Honeypot ... sounds like you are champion for

- indefinite Guantanamo Bay detentions without charge,
- extra-judicial drone killings,
- ubiquitous mass-surveillance,
- unaccountable militarised policing forces
- court martial for dissidents, whistleblowers
- political protest movement infiltration by State agents
- IRS politically-motivated harassment

rah, rah ... Hitler luvs thuggy guys like you, Jefferson not so much.

Do you know what you stand for anymore besides USA, USA, USA, rah-rah-rah!?

Well fuck obama for one thing. Put a god damn infantile monkey in charge and this is what we get. Colin Powell, Condi or McCain would have done a better job of at least keeping things stable in terms of power on global stage, sans palin.

I am in favor of a dedicated nation who is willing to do what it takes, and citizens who are responsible and worthy of the privileges and opportunities that they were born with as Americans.

Do you stand for anything? You should ask your question to any idiotic anti-US fools around the world about what they stand for.

Always with the bitching. Try to apply that standard for once outside of US and see how many people even deserve to live to see the next sun rise. At least US produced resulted and even now ensures the stability of key aspects around the world.

[matt4054]

Always with the bitching. Try to apply that standard for once outside of US and see how many people even deserve to live to see the next sun rise. At least US produced resulted and even now ensures the stability of key aspects around the world.

You know what?

As a liberal, non-US citizen, I agree with the last part of your reasoning.

When I was 14 (I'm now 32), I was admiring the US so much, it was really the land of my dreams, as it embodied my ideal of a leading nation in the world, producing most of its technological advances, enforcing an ideal of freedom and democracy, etc.

I had the map of the US pinned to my wall. I learned the (US) English language, the geography and the 50 states, the history, the constitution, I impregnated myself with the culture through the exported TV shows and movies (at least the mainstream thing, carried by the mass media). I learned about Thanksgiving, Halloween, jocks and nerds, bullies in high school, the proms, US football and the cheerleaders, so many things we didn't have on the other side of the pond.

Overall, my vision of politics and the world — as a teenager in the 1990s — was that US standards were indeed far above those of other countries, and that what could be perceived as arrogance was merely a byproduct (or collateral damage as they would later say) of excellence, or simply plain jealousy. But all in all, the US deserved respect from the rest of the world because they had achieved so much.

It's hard for me to say that my vision has changed since then. Of course, I'm no longer a teenager and even the thought of any nation embodying any ideal seems totally naive to me now. But specifically about the US, I have visited that country almost 10 times in my life now and since that infamous 9/11 (or is it a coincidence?), and I feel like things have changed.

I still have a positive opinion, overall, and a lot of respect for the US as a nation in the world. But I'm afraid that many US citizens are blinded by the fantastic achievements of their nation in the 20th century. The world is evolving, very fast, and the focus of economical growth has shifted to Asia and other places in the world. The US is still among the world leaders, but it's got competition.

tl;dr:
You WERE right, 30 years ago.
Now that we're in 2014, I would strongly recommend more modesty towards the rest of the world, for your own sake!

Cheers

PS: some useful fact checking here (i.e. US still doing good but competing with many others)

• List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita
• List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita
• List of countries by Human Development Index
• PISA 2012 test results
• List of countries by military expenditures

... and don't forget about the debt, we are Bitcoiners for a reason ;-)

[TiagoTiago]

The terrorists didn't like the freedoms the people of the US had; so the government bowed down and systematically eroded those freedoms away. Who is the traitor again?

[QuestionAuthority]

Have you seen this: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h__uutzcQXc&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dh__uutzcQXc

[matt4054]

Have you seen this: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h__uutzcQXc&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dh__uutzcQXc

This is a very good piece that pretty much says it all...

I still believe the US has all the dynamics needed to move forward, adapt and compete in this new world setting, but those who missed the wind of change have yet to acknowledge that new setting first.

[oscarg]

The Snowden Defense Fund address now contains more than US$120,000

https://blockchain.info/address/1snowqQP5VmZgU47i5AWwz9fsgHQg94Fa


It is no exaggeration to say that were it not for Bitcoin, it might not have been possible to get him any money.


Without Bitcoin, a repeat of the Wikileaks Blockade by PayPal/Visa/Mastercard would have been likely.
With Bitcoin, such a Blockade would be pointless.


                This is an incredible victory that cannot be understated.


A system of financial Tyranny has been neutralised.
People have LOST WARS for less and thought it was worth it.


To the Entire Bitcoin Community, from Satoshi, to the coders, to the Basement miners,
right down to the confused forum trolls, whether you agree with Snowden or not


               You should all be immensely proud of what has happened here, such victories are rare.



And to the cynical Wielders and abusers of the world financial system.
You made Bitcoin necessary with your systematic abuse, it broke your stranglehold.
There is more to come. Butthurt Much?

[marcus_of_augustus]

Thanks all for getting out and voting with your wallets!

Financial tyranny is subtle yet every bit as evil as any other.

[elbill]

If Snowden was russian, russia already would have killed him.

However, it's admirable that has given up a normal life to protect the freedom of others

[mises]

If anyone believes that Snowden could have made a tiny dent in NSA and government behaviors by following normal channels of communication, I have 10 million Dogecoins i want to trade you for 10 million BTC.

THERE IS ZERO POSSIBILITY that the NSA or government would have done anything if Snowden would have followed proper channels. ANY Channel available to him would have led to 1) losing his job 2) worse 3) the government plugging the holes that Snowden used and furthering their lies to the American people. There is no end to corruption and manipulation in an organization that has every email about every person at their disposal. How many Senators would Ed Snowden have had to talk to before he found one that was incorruptible and had not dirt in his email closet. ALL OF THEM and he would have failed.

Snowden will go down in history as a hero of our times. I doubt if anyone criticizing him would have ever had the courage to do what he did or the foresight to understand the folly of doing anything else.

The exposure and change we are seeing related to our privacy has been nothing but amazing and we have only one man to thank and that is Edward Snowden.

Well said.. It's unfortunate that our public news channels in the US are being used to propagate his demonization to the public.

[NewLiberty]

Well said.. It's unfortunate that our public news channels in the US are being used to propagate his demonization to the public.

It is not a one-sided discussion on the media.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/rieder/2014/01/02/does-edward-snowden-deserve-clemency/4288535/
New York Times and USA Today are widely circulated.

"We hope," the paper wrote, "that calm heads within the present administration are working on a strategy to allow Mr Snowden to return to the US with dignity, and the president to use his executive powers to treat him humanely and in a manner that would be a shining example about the value of whistleblowers and of free speech itself."

[vokain]

Am I on a list now? 

Curious, does Obama passing this new crazy Gestapo law have any affect on Monero? 
These types of laws are just going to increase use cases for Monero, etc. and increase BTC mixing sites.

(Taken from reddit)
http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/31443f/donating_to_snowden_is_now_illegal_and_the_us/
Donating to Snowden is now illegal and the U.S. Government can take all your stuff. - Thanks Obama.

"Sec. 2. I hereby determine that the making of donations of the type of articles specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to section 1 of this order would seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in this order, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 1 of this order.

Sec. 3. The prohibitions in section 1 of this order include but are not limited to:

(a) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; and

(b) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person."

Sec. 7. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render those measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in this order, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1 of this order." ... aka, they can take all your stuff without due process instantly if you have "constitutional rights" in the US (wow).

The rabbit hole is deep people. This is almost as bad as the patriot act... a national emergency LOL what a joke. I pray that non of you donated to Snowden using Coinbase or any other bitcoin platform that keeps your identity on file

source - https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/04/01/executive-order-blocking-property-certain-persons-engaging-significant-m

[Kprawn]

Well mocking the US government with alternative methods to sponsor Snowden are just going to provoke a negative backlash.

They have the power to over regulate Bitcoin or to ban it completely and we are giving them the incentive to do it, by doing this.

I can see why people want to do this and I also support transparency and privacy, but this might have bad consequences for Bitcoin.

It's a typical Win-Lose situation. 

[vokain]

Well mocking the US government with alternative methods to sponsor Snowden are just going to provoke a negative backlash.

They have the power to over regulate Bitcoin or to ban it completely and we are giving them the incentive to do it, by doing this.

I can see why people want to do this and I also support transparency and privacy, but this might have bad consequences for Bitcoin.

It's a typical Win-Lose situation.  

Sorry but they already legitimized (regulated) Bitcoin thinking because they can track it, it wouldn't be a problem. The cat is out of the bag, and Bitcoin was the Trojan horse.

[marcus_of_augustus]

Well mocking the US government with alternative methods to sponsor Snowden are just going to provoke a negative backlash.

mocking is out then ... so you are saying freedom of speech is dead too?