Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

yeah i was half trolling but the guys been getting ego dick sucked for two years and there are some points worth making for the other side. we're probably better off without the panopticon-like surveillance, but the wikileaks-type behavior i think sets a bad example. there are reasons for secrecy and there are millions of extremely noble and great people in the defense department keeping america safe. stealing secret shit and giving it to assange or flying to fucking china with it is not behavior to encourage... there is no shortage of dumbasses and we dont want them doing that. why didnt he go to to ecuador or something? china? its because it was poorly thought out. here's what happened. he stole the shit and then he knew he would get caught so he panicked and flew to china because its close to where he was living, hawaii. dude's got issues. he's not a savior.

america is not the fourth reich, far from it. in a rapidly evolving world the us government does a pretty good job checking itself as it adapts and evolves, and part of that process necessarily is temporary imperfections. part of the system is people pointing a finger at the man... but another part of it is me reminding people not to take those peoples sweeping generalizations and doomsaying too seriously.

snowden really fucked himself. i knew about mass surveillance before snowden. so did a lot of people. it wasnt blown up the way he blew it up, but it was out there. was there really no other avenue for him to take? he couldnt have quit and worked within the bounds of the law to raise awareness? or fought within the system for reform? he purports to have been the only adult in the defense department but i think he was acting childish.

so, to talk against myself a little further, i do think he acted with noble motivations, but the execution was lacking.

Snowden's main point is that all of the data collection (and the extent of the type of data that is being collected) is hidden from the public. Americans should be made privy to this, and if the public finds it valuable, should open it up to public debate.

I agree with him, and I'll add that "keeping America safe" is not as important as keeping America's liberties intact.

Check out this Frontline documentary: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/united-states-of-secrets/

there's also no evidence that any of this type of surveillance has actually succeeded in preventing anything. they manage just fine using the standard spy-craft everyone's been using for hundreds of years, as in actual humans out in the field developing contacts and so on.

  On 11/8/2015 at 7:53 PM, ThatSpanishGuy said:

flol

  On 11/9/2015 at 4:49 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

also i can't help but feel the person that made that image is some tory asshole who is jealous that someone they disagree with is successful. i'm trying to get into the mindset of the person who made that post and i have a bad feeling in my stomach.

lol that's a lot of thinking for something nobody knows, YEAH THAT'S RIGHT FOX QUIT IT

*laughter*

THE POINT IS *tries to contain himself* maybe you think too much

Yum, money

good luck to the bloke & his dulcet Midlands tones

the show's writing is 1 of the few things worth watching/catching up on, even if as a Brit i find it a bit US-centric in its profiling of certain stories. It also balances that with global news items presented to its main US-audiences in an educational and entertaining format. Proof that, yes, there is a wider world beyond certain national borders and ignoring shit doesnt make it go away, it just makes things worse in the long run

Watching the most recent episode now and I love this show. It highlights issues people don't know exist and casts a bigger spotlight on issues I know about but don't think about day to day though they are huge problems and travesties.

John Oliver himself makes difficult topics palatable and easy to watch and understand. I would rather have this show on the air than not and I think everyone would agree with that. If you don't...you're probably trolling.