More Snow... .... ..... .... .... den.

So, Edward Snowden: Hero or Traitor?

We read an article about the guy today.  I'd talked about him a little bit before, enough that a couple of my students remembered.  One student even discussed the conversation with her parents - which I always love to hear.

She then went on to say that her parents think I'm a "lying crack-pot," which may have some truth to it, now that I think of it.  Seriously, I think something got lost in translation there.  :)

So, here's the link to the story.  You may have to put in a password, and I believe that's "birdbig479"

A little bit about what Snowden (and others) exposed, and the extent of the U.S. surveillance program: 

(You can look at these if you want, but I think the articles underneath give a better idea of what's going on.)

There's PRISM - which collects information.

There's MUSCULAR - which collects more information than PRISM, and doesn't need a FISA warrant.

Check out STORMBREW...

Qfire and TURMOIL

The spying is happening, and Snowden shed light on it.  It's not some left wing or right wing conspiracy...  for instance, here's the left-leaning ACLU:  click here.  Here's the right-leaning FOX News: click here.

And here's a website that details a lot of what's going on.

There are those who say Snowden was wrong, that he's a traitor, and living in exile in Russia proves it.  By "exposing" the surveillance, he is helping the terrorists - both with information, and morale, and he needs to be extradited and put on trial.

Others say he struck a blow for freedom.  He is a whistle-blower - that the government surveillance program is out of control, and needs to be reeled back in.  We should be celebrating what he did.

Call him a hero.  Call him a traitor.  Whatever.  But it's tough to deny the spying.

If you want the extra credit, read and discuss it with a parent or adult.  On a piece of scrap paper, write whether you think he's a hero or a traitor, and why.  Have the adult you read and discussed it with sign the paper.

If you'd rather leave it in a comment on the blog, that'd be great too.  (Or, if you take issue with anything I've said on here, feel free to let me know.)