Edward Snowden support thread

[Gandalf]

1. Nobody has said Russia is a bastion of free speech. As long as Snowden is safe, then that is good enough for me. If Russia is willing to chip in then I am glad of that.

2. The second line is quite wonderful and is absolutely true.

3. I disagree with you on these points. The Assange case alone has shown how dodgy the Swedes are. As for Britain and Canada, both have been lurching ever more right and are largely seen as US stooges. If we are to talk of human rights and the UK, you only have to bring up the torture of Iraqi's and the training of the Khymer Rouge to deploy mines against civilians, the propping up of Apartheid South Africa and the continued ignorance of Palestinian human rights. Or do you mean human rights in Britain itself? A country in which you can say boo to a goose and get arrested, get detained for a month without provision of evidence against you, and cannot even protest in London without special permission. It is a joke of a country and you are blind if you cannot see that.

4. Transportation is a word. Get over it and stop being so pedantic. British public transportation is also largely privatised and costs an arm and a leg. Brazilians are upset about the first increase since 2011 and it went up 6% which is well below inflation. Now you compare how much prices rise in the UK and you know full well how expensive it is. I don't know for sure, but I struggle to imagine any (or many) countries with such costly public transportation the globe over. If you have a car getting to work is expensive. If you take the bus or train it is just as expensive. Again, you seem to take these stands without knowing what it is like in other countries. Korean public transportation and car costs are cheap. When people are getting scammed they should take to the streets and people in the UK do not protest these kinds of things. The things that are affecting them daily. Britain has been privatised and is expensive, the NHS is kind of going the same way with doctors preferring not to treat people and referring them to private practices.

Sure there were significant numbers over Iraq years ago, but the people lost and they have been dwindling ever since. Also, with kettling and protesting rights getting harder and harder, you are seeing the numbers tumble. Student protests? Bankers? Diminishing returns and more and more ignored by the media.

You have some kind of pride in your country and don't like how me and Brockton are hacking away at it with evidence, honesty and a little bombast. It's all largely true and I can imagine how prickly it can make one feel.

I see the Queen has got herself a raise of 5% too. For what exactly, I do not know, but everyone else must suffer and the monarchy continues freely. Good old tradition eh, just as long as we have the national anthem, a monarchy, tradition and the memory of the war to make us feel better about something. We have to feel we are in it for the right reasons otherwise, you have nothing left but the stark reality that the power shift has gone quite a bit too far to the other side.