ghostinthemachine
And he's only one of the first. There was this great article...I believe it was the Open Letter To The NSA where the author talks about how these are the ideals of the people that they are looking to hire, lest we forget that the government seeks out hackers. Who hasn't received that top secret for your eyes only invite...and then laughed at the prospect of working for the gross miscarriage of justice known as the United States government.

westfinch
Would Mick Jagger suffice? "I don't think President Obama is here tonight... but I'm sure he's listening in."

Feel free to speak your mind friend, it doesn't just have to be about music.

 

Don't insult me with that BS. He's a traitor. You think that's all he talked about? WHO IN THE WORLD doesn't know that the US spies on citizens? Who? What about other countries that have almost total control of theirs? Please stop with that conspiracies and such like this ONLY happens here. And look how China and Russia reacted.. you may not live in the US or agree on how it's ran, but to put a entire country (with citizens who also don't agree with how it's governed) at risk is NOT how things get solved. Nor does it spark a revolution.

 

Hero... please.

 

Watch your mouth. If you don't have a point to make, don't disrespect me.

 

Places in the world can't even USE internet or phone. Can't even have as many kids as you want to. Women don't have any rights. People have to worship other human beings. And you guys are talking about the US Govt spying on our internet, etc... SMH

How significant. Nowhere in the world is free. NOWHERE.

 

Just thought I would inject a little levity. Jagger would do!! Where are all the musicians of the 60's & 70's that spoke their minds through their music. I'm sure many of them are dead or beyond airplay, but it sure would be nice to see the young up & coming artists taking a stand. I'm sure there are some, but it takes a united front to change things, and there are really no "songs" of this generation to equal those times. A little history lesson of Woody Guthrie, Dylan, Pete Seeger, The Byrds, Neil Young, Simon & Garfunkel, "early" Chicago Transit Authority, Hendrix, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, & thousands of others should be a prerequisite of song writing with a purpose. Freedom is a terrible thing to waste. Especially for the almighty dollar. But, then again, what do I know?!!

 

That is the usual illogical argument that people make in these kinds of cases. Here's an analogy: just because your friend has worse problems doesn't make your problems any easier to deal with right? When are we going to stop looking at the dirt to justify our pathetic existence? People that made a difference looked to the sky and that's why they were able to effect any kind of real change. This isn't the evolution of a nation, it's the decline. And if the United States isn't free maybe we should stop referring to it as The Land of the Free. That's the real problem...the asinine hypocrisy.

westfinch
I'm going to have to disagree there...ever heard of Industrial? It's underground but the genre as a whole makes a strong statement against this sort of thing. *yes*

Case in point, this is from 2005:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYq90TEdxIE
Count your blessings
Walk the line
Don't move too fast
Or fall behind
There are rules you must obey
They get re-written by the day
Don't do this - don't say that
Your every move is logged and tracked
By the all oppressive eye
Spy satellites in friendly skies

The new american century
Has only just begun
No one exempt from the tragedy
Counterattack start pushing back

Fight the power
That chokes your speech
Fight the power
That makes you bleed
Fight the power
That propogates lies
To keep you weak
Keep you in line
Fight the power that reigns you in
Divides and conquers
Defines your sin
Fight the power
For one and all
Before the power swallows us whole

No one dares to say a word
Our panic drives all human herds
In the land where cash is king
Our silence bought and sold for free
The future's banging on our door
When real I.D. will be the law
Love thy neighbor and turn him in
It's call patriotism

The world is watching in disbelief
Chanting shame on you
How can you stand by so quietly
Letting them rape your liberties

You can't be bothered or concerned
You see no reason for alarm
Prejudice, religion hate
Usher in new mandate
Absolute and resolved
One nation under one god
Lack of interest has its price
As we're stripped of all our rights

Those who cannot learn from history
Are doomed to repeat it!

 

So then again, why cry when others may have it worse? We cannot change the "Land of the Free" theory, why should piss you off every time? There are people who feel the exact way you do, but they put on bombs and blow people to bits or fly planes into buildings, that's their way of "doing something to change it." What Edward did can be potentially similar. America is indeed flawed, but so is everywhere.

 

"just because your friend has worse problems doesn't make your problems any easier to deal with right?" Yeah, BUT...

If you get shot in the pinky toe and the person next to you gets shot in the neck and chest, but still has a pulse, do you think the ambulance will rush you to the hospital or the other person? Even you with the pinky toe wound would hobble to help the dude with the more significant wounds.

 

Well there's a big difference between speaking the truth and strapping on a bomb. He didn't name any names nor did he expose the algorythms that are used...he simply pointed out the hypocrisy of this nation. I think you're also forgetting the little fact that what the government is doing is ILLEGAL by their own laws and therefore they should be held just as accountable. It really scares the shit out of me that you would rather not know and you don't see any of this as a problem...it seems you're stuck in the matrix my friend. Even worse because you chose to be there. How the information got here is at this point irrelevant, what matters now is what you DO with it.

And concerning the pinky toe analogy: we do just as much if not more of the shooting than rushing to help, lest we forget the war in Iraq. The US goes around sanctimoniously telling everyone else what to do and here the mask has been removed and everyone can see the reality of the situation...the government is as much a terrorist organization as the nutjobs flying planes into buildings...they just have more funding and are better at it.

Does this speech ring any bells?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg-jvHynP9Y

 

Go, Eddie, go!

I hope he's doing alright, and we'll soon hear the news he landed in Cuba or some South American country perhaps.

I would also like to commend Catalyst for bringing this to our attention, and I absolutely agree that we should get all kinds of news around here, not just concerning audio.

Way to go, mate!

 

Actually I have! Good choice! Like I said, I know they are out there, but it takes airplay and a united front to bring the brave message of the underground to a rally point. Of course, the radio DJ's that are left have very little power to air such things. Such a shame that song, and others like it, aren't heard more. Just more freedom gone. At least we get to dance to Taylor Swift's latest failed romance thousands of times a day!! Lucky me!

 

I LOVE America. I was born here and fought for here. If you've never BEEN in war (which you may have or not) then don't speak to me on that. And I see no end to this here argument. Edward is a coward and a traitor. America is flawed, but check (since you research) how many foreigners come here annually for a new life. Enjoy your day. I will enjoy my "terrible" life here in America.

 

That's just brainwashing...I LOVE America too. America is not a place, it's an idea...and that idea is dead. The irony is I was betting my life that you served in the military because I have seen a pattern in terms of opinion when it comes to this sort of thing with people that served. I know many that served including my own brother and they came back shells of who they used to be. We weren't in it for freedom or safety or any of that stuff, we were fighting a war that was completely unnecessary. How you can say that you approve of the Patriot Act, the NDAA and warrantless spying is beyond me and just a symptom of the problem eating away at the US. PS I added some stuff to my last comment including a video that you may have forgotten about.

 

Espionage only provokes "warrantless spying"... you don't think so?

 

Me serving has no impact on my point. You brought up Iraq, I didn't wanna take that route off of the topic. There's no right in America wanting to spy on its own, but there have been cases where this would've prevented massacres. At the end of the day, YOU and I and Edward can't do anything about it. And you make it sound like you know exactly what Edward told them. You don't know what exactly he gave to them. Regardless of how you feel, don't risk 330,000,000 lives because "the government is soooo bad"

 

Tbis isn't espionage as Snowden isn't a spy sent by a foreign entity. He is simply a concerned citizen that sees the unchecked growth of the military-industrial complex as a big problem. At this point whether it provokes more warrantless spying is irrelevant because they're already doing it and the right of the public to at the very least know that they are being spied greatly outweighs any repercussions. By your rationale we should always blindly trust that America has the best interests of their citizens. Unfortunately it doesn't and that can be clearly seen by the myriad assortment of ridiculous scandals that are prevalent in the news. You also forget that the citizens of the rest of the world also have rights which Big Brother can't trample under the guise of safety. The very idea that we have to sacrifice freedom for security is inherently unconstitutional and against the spirit of what this nation is all about. And so far you have not given me any evidence that Edward has risked any lives whatsoever. Both 9/11 and the Boston marathon could have been prevented not with billions of dollars of funding for survellance sponsored by a government completely out of control but by reading the memos that they were given in advance.

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
-Benjamin Franklin

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
-Thomas Jefferson

 

Well, you haven't stated anything proving he's a hero? What did he change? Who/how many lives did he save? Did he put at end to our Govt's unlawful spying? Why doesn't he want to return here? Your perspective is just as subjective as mine. You reiterate how the US is unconstitutional, but that's the way of the world, my man. Nothing's free, nothing fair. From the gov't down to your common petty thief. Are you afraid of being monitored, Catalyst? You're being monitored on the daily. There are security cameras prob in your hallway (if you live in an apt. building) of by your home. Your govt' (wherever that is) know exactly when & where you went today/tonight. Is it the fact that they don't have a camera inside of your home that gives you a sense of not being watched? Use Google for anything? Should I even mention what it does when you search something? (maybe you don't use Google) My point is, it's definitely wrong to monitor people, but it's not new. And we don't know exactly what this guy exchanged to China (a place whom the US isn't on a good side with) The unknown is the X-factor that he may have put lives at risk.

 

I'm not a superstitious guy, bro. But we are living in the last days, as cliche as that sounds. Be ready to spill blood when you have to. Until that day, live and enjoy your life the best you can.

 

This is the "dumbing" down of our society. For so many years, the powers that be have been wanting to get back to "the haves" and "the have nots". "You've gotta stop children, what's that sound, everybody look what's going down". The middle class is eroding at a great speed. Our society is more worried about Facebook, reality television, and smart phones. They don't see what is going down. The thing of it is, none of us are gonna leave this great country. So we should at the very least, join together for a common cause........our own survival. The "haves" want us to be obedient paupers, i.e. before workers rights. They just haven't figured out how they are going to get the poor to pay for gasoline and cars in order to get richer. The U.S. got caught with their pants down. So what? Not the first time! Our country does very nasty things. But they sugar coat it such as the WWII movies that came out after the war. They didn't want us to know that many innocents were murdered. John Wayne was always righteous. I've been in war and I've been in peace. One thing always holds true: No one wins in a war, and peace is only a state of mind. We are always preparing for the next war, but not for a long lasting peace. If the press allows, we will find out who is the "real" traitor. Until then, we can only sit back, and watch our television drama, play angry birds on our phones, and wait on a message from Facebook. Unless..............