Thumbing my way through the news stories that have posted since the formal expiration of The Patriot Act and its reconstitution in The USA Freedom Act (albeit shorn of its phone data collection permissions) its clear that a number of thoughtful people are collecting there wits and in so many words saying “Wow! That was something! So where do we stand now and what's next?”
Of the active links in the text of my last Orwell Report posting of June 4th, the embedded ref to “The EFF” (The Electronic Frontier Foundation) seems to be especially useful in this regard, itself carrying in its text a number of links essential for the reader to begin to educate themselves on the answers to this question.
And though I've not gone through these nearly thoroughly enough nor through a number of other worthy stories posted at The AntiWar.Com aggregate news site, as a warm up I can present some worthwhile material on the entire "Snowden Affair" celebrating as it does a second anniversary in the wake of all this activity
Poetically following closely upon the court finding on the illegality of The Patriot Act, the Acts' expiration on June 1st and the passage of the “reform” legislation on June 2nd, is the second anniversary of Edward Snowden's self-disclosure to the world as the source of the NSA revelations then being published by The Guardian. The occasion has led to a renewal of the calls for Snowden's pardon including one from Lincoln Chafee who recentlly announced his bid to win the Democratic party nomination for the next presidential election. Bizarrely it's also renewed calls for his prosecution from the "responsible journalist" establishment - go figure. (See The LA Times and the forever execrable neocon Max Boot.) Of interest too are the reflections on the risks Snowden took to initiate the social, political and legislative consequences that we're only beginning to see by fellow whistleblowers such as Daniel Ellsberg and Thomas Drake.
Not escaping due notice is the abysmal hypocrisy of much of the political class grand standing in their support of the “reformed” legislation just passed while continuing to call for Snowdens prosecution under the Espionage act.
Of the active links in the text of my last Orwell Report posting of June 4th, the embedded ref to “The EFF” (The Electronic Frontier Foundation) seems to be especially useful in this regard, itself carrying in its text a number of links essential for the reader to begin to educate themselves on the answers to this question.
And though I've not gone through these nearly thoroughly enough nor through a number of other worthy stories posted at The AntiWar.Com aggregate news site, as a warm up I can present some worthwhile material on the entire "Snowden Affair" celebrating as it does a second anniversary in the wake of all this activity
Poetically following closely upon the court finding on the illegality of The Patriot Act, the Acts' expiration on June 1st and the passage of the “reform” legislation on June 2nd, is the second anniversary of Edward Snowden's self-disclosure to the world as the source of the NSA revelations then being published by The Guardian. The occasion has led to a renewal of the calls for Snowden's pardon including one from Lincoln Chafee who recentlly announced his bid to win the Democratic party nomination for the next presidential election. Bizarrely it's also renewed calls for his prosecution from the "responsible journalist" establishment - go figure. (See The LA Times and the forever execrable neocon Max Boot.) Of interest too are the reflections on the risks Snowden took to initiate the social, political and legislative consequences that we're only beginning to see by fellow whistleblowers such as Daniel Ellsberg and Thomas Drake.
Not escaping due notice is the abysmal hypocrisy of much of the political class grand standing in their support of the “reformed” legislation just passed while continuing to call for Snowdens prosecution under the Espionage act.