Open Letter to Ed Snowden: sticking it to the N.S.A.

Dear Ed Snowden,

     I was at the gym today and one of the news stations trotted out some news from last July. I remember when it first came out. Eric Holder "offering" you a guarantee of no death penalty if you will only come back and "plead guilty." Screw that. I hope that you don't come back here to the United States. Things have not gotten any better here. In my opinion, many of the politicians and the people talking about the N.S.A. are all bat-shit crazy. I don't think you can trust them. I certainly don't.

     The expectation of some minimal privacy here has pretty much gone down the toilet. The N.S.A. apparently has some land in Utah where the agency is planning to dump meta-data from all of our phone calls. Some court or other today said the N.S.A. surveillance program is illegal. I don't think that really matters. The N.S.A. will continue to do as it will, regardless of what any court or politician or president says. Don't come back here.

     I think they want you back here just so the publication of the leaks will [possibly] slow down or stop. I think the corporation referred to as the United States figures if you are imprisoned, then "we" will save face and not be embarrassed. Screw that. Those arguments do not impress me. They should not impress you either.
Even if you do come back and are given a lengthy prison sentence, I don't think you will get out of it alive.

     It has been said that some folks from the C.I.A. [or maybe other agencies, who really knows?] have gone to Mexico or South America and illegally kidnapped a king drug pin so he could stand trial in the U.S.A. and is now in prison somewhere. Maybe a super-max. And it has been said that some folks from the C.I.A. [ or...?] have gone down to Mexico or South America and killed off at least one problematic person. I think your idea about asking for personal protection from the Russian police force [or even if you have to pay for private bodyguards] is a wise one. Only I suspect the real danger is that some representatives from the C.I.A. [ or...?] will visit you in Russia and make you disappear or kidnap you. Our government has become the terrorist. Please be careful.

     I've never met you. I don't know you. But what you did has touched my life for sure and the lives of many other Americans. We are not the enemy here. I think the N.S.A. is pissed off because of all of the publicity. If you hadn't distributed the information, the N.S.A. would have been able to keep doing exactly what they want to do without the bother of publicity, transparency, or responsibility to the PEOPLE. Now they have to scramble a bit in order to cover their tracks. You did a noble and honorable thing. I want you to have a long and healthy and happy life. I beg you please don't come back here, regardless of any "assurances" from spokespeople who work for our government.

                    Sail Strong, Sail Safe,

                     radical sapphoq

Even the Landscape has Changed

     I am aging.  No doubt about that.  I have lived long enough to have gained a whole new vocabulary.  Here is a partial and highly incomplete list of words which at one time were rare or unknown (or their meanings have been added to and altered):

hacker
cracker
fuck you, N.S.A.
hashtag
Open Source or G.T.F.O.
remailers
coding
virus
man-in-the-middle
spell check
cypherpunk, nerd, geek, techie 
troll, sock, sock puppet
fluffy bunny, witch wars, big meanie poo-poo heads
404
blue screen (of death)
distro
surveillance
drones
manifesto
ninja
Anonymous
famefags, egofags, leaderfags
Centrex
fanfic
crash

     I was hunting through one of my collections of links and I started to reflect on these things.  The Interwebz has caused a profound alteration in the landscape of daily living.  From the rabid shopper who can "charge it" via the computer screen to the heart patient with arrhythmia whose cardiac specialist can now check on "what's happening" via a modem link and telephone wire to the copyright monopolists who have virtually killed fair use through the prodigious use of lawsuits and court orders, there is no innocence left.

     The innocence that I used to have the privilege of dwelling in fled in terror as I became more and more proficient in the use of my computer.  Suddenly, I was plugged in.  With a click of the mouse, I navigated my way across news sites and tech articles.  I could read fanfic, check out art exhibits, find a meet-up.  I found to my horror that genocide is a modern occurrence.  I discovered people who were like me with similar interests. 

     Having the computer and skating the Net soon wasn't enough.  I learned some digital art skills [which translated into an ability to edit professional photographs and many other things], traveled about and met some of my blogging buddies, picked up bits of coding, started defining the causes I wanted to fight for. 

     A strange thing occurred.  The causes that I started taking action on began to define me.  The stories and the struggles of others left their mark.  My anger became directed.  I was angry [and am angry] at the politicians who do not get what "transparency in government" means, the politicians who want to dictate laws governing human behavior based on their personally held religious convictions, the politicians who lied about things.  I was angry [and am angry] at the organizations that wish to collect our data, interfere in our lives, and offer false reassurances that we must sacrifice some measure of privacy in order to obtain some measure of safety as they define it.  The rallying cry of "All for one and one for all!" does not imply that we must blend in and conform like chocolate chip cookie dough facing a hot oven.  I know that.  But the people and places that are on my shit list do not appear to know that.

     So has the radical grown up?  No.  I think it's more that the radical has awakened from a deep and treacherous sleep.  The train has derailed and sprouted wings.   

radical sapphoq says:  Freeware has replaced free love.   


a few links just because

http://blog.thesecuritydialogue.org/

http://www.nsaspying.com/

http://keywordresistancefront.com/

http://www.codecademy.com/

https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/securedrop#faq

https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/encryption-works

http://www.activism.net/cypherpunk/manifesto.html

http://www.activism.net/cyber/

http://www.activism.net/cypherpunk/hackers.shtml

http://www.comedia.com/hot/jargon-4.4.6/html/koans.html

https://www.cdt.org/

http://www.qmail.org/top.html

http://www.openprivacy.org/