A 'delusion of grandeur' is a psychological term for a person who thinks he is 'greater' than he actually is. Usually a person who suffers from a delusion of grandeur thinks he is amazingly great and he often thinks that he is being persecuted because of his greatness.
So a delusion of grandeur usually goes hand in hand with paranoia - the false belief that people want to harm you for no good reason. Many people with delusions of grandeur feel they are historically important people and the 'authorities' are trying to destroy them.
Edward Snowden's letter to the president of Ecuador seems to exhibit both a delusion of grandeur and paranoia. In reality Snowden was a high school drop out who initially worked as a security guard for a government agency. He revealed the US spy program called "PRISM" but failed to show that even one US citizen had his rights violated through this program.
President Obama has denied that any American citizens are being spied on. I tend to believe Obama this time. Very simply put, Obama can't afford to lie about PRISM since he has suffered from so many other scandals lately. It looks as if Snowden has over-exaggerated the meaning of the PRISM program. Full of sound and fury and signifying nothing...
Indeed, I tend to believe Obama because it was recently revealed that Snowden has been a supporter of a political candidate who seems to encourage paranoia in Americans - Ron Paul. Paul seems to believe that the US government is stealing our freedoms. Where? How? These folks don't give concrete answers, they just make these accusations which are never taken very seriously by many people anyway.
Furthermore, Snowden states that the people of the US have cried out their support for him. This is not true. Nearly every Congressperson in America wants to throw Snowden in jail and I believe the American people are beginning to realize that Snowden isn't what he first appeared to be.
Also, in his letter he writes, "No matter how many more days my life contains..." Nobody, however, wants to kill him. He is not in danger of being killed. If he feels he is right and the government is wrong, he is welcome to come back to the USA where celebrity lawyers will represent him for free and where his trial will be on TV every day of the week. Instead he is cowering in a Russian airport the way his apparent mentor Julian Assange is cowering to avoid what may be entirely legitimate sexual assault charges brought against him by women in Sweden.
Finally, he writes that he remains dedicated to the fight for justice in this 'unequal world.' May I please ask when Snowden ever did any volunteer work or tried to address the various inequalities in the USA? It seems to me that he has taken very good care of himself throughout his life (including a $200,000 a year job given to him by the government he is now attacking).
Here's an article about Snowden's letter to the president of Ecuador:
http://news.yahoo.com/edward-snowden-breaks-silence-threaten-u-disclosures-210531789.html
Showing posts with label ed snowden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ed snowden. Show all posts
Monday, July 1, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
Can we trust Ed Snowden? I don't think so.
I found an interesting article that provides a basic background on Ed Snowden.
What I found to be especially interesting is the fact that he donated $500 to Ron Paul when Paul ran for the presidency last time.
Please excuse me for saying this, but Ron Paul is kind of a nut. (A nut means a crazy person.)
Ron Paul keeps running for the presidency and, basically, nobody ever votes for him. He considers himself a 'libertarian.' This apparently means that he thinks a strong central government is a bad thing and that the less government there is, the better everyone will be.
Libertarians often believe that the US government is 'stealing' freedoms from the people. I have always felt that 'libertarians' were kind of nutty and paranoid. If you are paranoid, you believe that someone is trying to hurt you when, in fact, nobody is trying to hurt you.
So basically we can assume that as a Ron Paul supporter, Ed Snowden has believed that the US government is trying to steal the freedoms and rights of American citizens. Obama has denied that US citizens were spied on, however. And, everybody knows that suspicious foreigners are monitored by the US government.
So, basically, I don't trust what Snowden says. I think his support of a nutty political candidate compels me (forces me) to doubt anything he might say. I think he is kind of a paranoid guy who is making everyone else paranoid. He should not be taken seriously.
So here's something about Ed Snowden. May he enjoy his life in Ecuador.
The article:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/10/18882615-what-we-know-about-nsa-leaker-edward-snowden?lite
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
NSA leaker - National Security Agency employee who revealed secret information
a whiz - a genius. A computer whiz is someone who is really good with computers.
to divulge - to reveal.
his upbringing - his childhood
mounting disillusionment - greater and greater mistrust of the government
intrusion - if the government is intruding in the lives of Americans, it means they are looking into the lives of Americans when they should not be.
"I do not want to live in a society where everything I do and say is being recorded." - everything we do and say is not being recorded.
bespectacled - wearing glasses
a self-proclaimed spy - he calls himself a spy (nobody else does).
a traitor - someone who betrays his country.
a brainiac - a very smart person. This brainiac never graduated from high school, however.
a general equivalency degree - if you do not finish high school you can take the GED test and get your high school diploma that way. The GED is a very easy test.
military service - he dropped out of high school and dropped out of the army.
the fallout - the negative consequences.
a spook - a spy. He likes to think of himself in very dramatic terms as a spy.
What I found to be especially interesting is the fact that he donated $500 to Ron Paul when Paul ran for the presidency last time.
Please excuse me for saying this, but Ron Paul is kind of a nut. (A nut means a crazy person.)
Ron Paul keeps running for the presidency and, basically, nobody ever votes for him. He considers himself a 'libertarian.' This apparently means that he thinks a strong central government is a bad thing and that the less government there is, the better everyone will be.
Libertarians often believe that the US government is 'stealing' freedoms from the people. I have always felt that 'libertarians' were kind of nutty and paranoid. If you are paranoid, you believe that someone is trying to hurt you when, in fact, nobody is trying to hurt you.
So basically we can assume that as a Ron Paul supporter, Ed Snowden has believed that the US government is trying to steal the freedoms and rights of American citizens. Obama has denied that US citizens were spied on, however. And, everybody knows that suspicious foreigners are monitored by the US government.
So, basically, I don't trust what Snowden says. I think his support of a nutty political candidate compels me (forces me) to doubt anything he might say. I think he is kind of a paranoid guy who is making everyone else paranoid. He should not be taken seriously.
So here's something about Ed Snowden. May he enjoy his life in Ecuador.
The article:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/10/18882615-what-we-know-about-nsa-leaker-edward-snowden?lite
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
NSA leaker - National Security Agency employee who revealed secret information
a whiz - a genius. A computer whiz is someone who is really good with computers.
to divulge - to reveal.
his upbringing - his childhood
mounting disillusionment - greater and greater mistrust of the government
intrusion - if the government is intruding in the lives of Americans, it means they are looking into the lives of Americans when they should not be.
"I do not want to live in a society where everything I do and say is being recorded." - everything we do and say is not being recorded.
bespectacled - wearing glasses
a self-proclaimed spy - he calls himself a spy (nobody else does).
a traitor - someone who betrays his country.
a brainiac - a very smart person. This brainiac never graduated from high school, however.
a general equivalency degree - if you do not finish high school you can take the GED test and get your high school diploma that way. The GED is a very easy test.
military service - he dropped out of high school and dropped out of the army.
the fallout - the negative consequences.
a spook - a spy. He likes to think of himself in very dramatic terms as a spy.
Friday, June 21, 2013
The US government files charges against Snowden and asks Hong Kong to arrest him
Here is a follow-up on the last story I posted concerning Ed Snowden.
The article:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/21/charges-reportedly-filed-against-nsa-secrets-leaker/
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
to file charges - the verb 'file' is often used in regard to legal matters. A person can 'file' a law suit if he/she wants to sue someone. To sue someone means to bring a person to court in order to obtain money from that person. The state can file criminal charges against a person. To 'file' these charges means the accusations against a person are now official and the person must appear in court. So basically 'charges' means the claim that a person has committed a crime.
espionage - spying; obtaining secret information and providing it to those who are not supposed to have it.
a leaker - someone who reveals secret information. If you have a cup and it leaks, water comes out when it is not supposed to.
prosecutors - these are lawyers for the state who try to prove that people accused of crimes are guilty.
a sealed criminal complaint - this means that the people cannot read the complaint; it is a secret complaint. a 'complaint' is the list of things a person supposedly did which supposedly broke the law.
classified - secret. Classified information is only supposed to be seen by certain people in government.
an unauthorized person - someone who wasn't supposed to see classified information.
to detain - to stop a person from leaving; to keep a person in custody
provisional - it can be changed later
an arrest warrant - an official document that gives the police the right and ability to take a person into custody (to detain him).
a contractor for the NSA - he worked for a company which worked for the government.
a three-count complaint - supposedly he committed three crimes.
willful communication - he deliberately communicated secrets - he didn't accidentally co0mmunicate secrets.
to be outspoken - to have a strong opinion and to express it forcefully.
treason, treasonous - to do something to harm your country.
take him into custody - this is when the police arrest a person and take him to the police station.
to extradite him - to force him to leave Hong Kong and to come back to the United States to face justice.
disclosures - stuff he revealed, stuff he told the newspapers about.
to ignite - to start something. When you start a fire you ignite a fire.
to disrupt - to mess up; to stop something from happening.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you like this blog and are benefitting from it, please consider buying my e-book on amazon. It's a lot of fun and has really good vocabulary words and reading passages in it. You'll also learn a lot about New York City and America through this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS
If you want a free copy of the book, please e-mail me at djg51qu@gmail.com
I will be happy to send you a copy via Word attachment. Please let me know whether you have Word 2010 or I should use an earlier version (like 2007 etc.)
The article:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/21/charges-reportedly-filed-against-nsa-secrets-leaker/
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
to file charges - the verb 'file' is often used in regard to legal matters. A person can 'file' a law suit if he/she wants to sue someone. To sue someone means to bring a person to court in order to obtain money from that person. The state can file criminal charges against a person. To 'file' these charges means the accusations against a person are now official and the person must appear in court. So basically 'charges' means the claim that a person has committed a crime.
espionage - spying; obtaining secret information and providing it to those who are not supposed to have it.
a leaker - someone who reveals secret information. If you have a cup and it leaks, water comes out when it is not supposed to.
prosecutors - these are lawyers for the state who try to prove that people accused of crimes are guilty.
a sealed criminal complaint - this means that the people cannot read the complaint; it is a secret complaint. a 'complaint' is the list of things a person supposedly did which supposedly broke the law.
classified - secret. Classified information is only supposed to be seen by certain people in government.
an unauthorized person - someone who wasn't supposed to see classified information.
to detain - to stop a person from leaving; to keep a person in custody
provisional - it can be changed later
an arrest warrant - an official document that gives the police the right and ability to take a person into custody (to detain him).
a contractor for the NSA - he worked for a company which worked for the government.
a three-count complaint - supposedly he committed three crimes.
willful communication - he deliberately communicated secrets - he didn't accidentally co0mmunicate secrets.
to be outspoken - to have a strong opinion and to express it forcefully.
treason, treasonous - to do something to harm your country.
take him into custody - this is when the police arrest a person and take him to the police station.
to extradite him - to force him to leave Hong Kong and to come back to the United States to face justice.
disclosures - stuff he revealed, stuff he told the newspapers about.
to ignite - to start something. When you start a fire you ignite a fire.
to disrupt - to mess up; to stop something from happening.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you like this blog and are benefitting from it, please consider buying my e-book on amazon. It's a lot of fun and has really good vocabulary words and reading passages in it. You'll also learn a lot about New York City and America through this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS
If you want a free copy of the book, please e-mail me at djg51qu@gmail.com
I will be happy to send you a copy via Word attachment. Please let me know whether you have Word 2010 or I should use an earlier version (like 2007 etc.)
What will happen to Ed Snowden?
Is Ed Snowden a hero or a villain? Good guy or bad guy?
He released information to newspapers that the US government was 'spying' on people in the USA. President Obama has denied that US citizens are being monitored, but it looks as if the US government has been secretly gathering information from telephone records and the internet.
This is just one of several recent scandals that the Obama administration has had.
The US government would now like to arrest Snowden and throw him in jail. Russia has suggested they might offer him political asylum and Iceland is also considering this.
What do you think? Should Snowden be protected from the US government?
The article (there are three pages to this article after you click on it):
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2013-06/21/content_16642133.htm
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
a villain - a bad guy. (pronounced: VIL in)
to spy on - to secretly watch someone is to spy on him/her.
to deny - to say that something didn't happen.
to be monitored - to be watched or to have one's actions followed.
a scandal - a situation in which a famous or powerful person gets into trouble.
to arrest - when the police capture or take a person into custody.
political asylum - when one country gives a safe place to live to a person who is being threatened by his/her own government.
to hang in the balance - to be uncertain. If something is hanging, it could remain hanging or it could fall.
the fate of - the fate of a person is what ultimately or finally will happen to a person. Fate usually has a bad connotation or meaning. Destiny usually has a good connotation or meaning.
a contractor - someone who works for a company that signs a contract to do a job for the government.
a whistle-blower - someone who reports something that is wrong.
an intermediary - a third person who represents Snowden. He is intermediate between Snowden and other people.
to extradite someone - this is when a person who is hiding in another country is forced to go back to his own country to face justice.
concrete ways to get into the country - real, actual ways.
to disclose - to reveal, to show, to tell.
a bid - an attempt.
an intelligence leak - this is when secret information gets out into the public - like a liquid leaking from something.
to be cornered - to be stuck in one place; to be stuck in a corner. To be unable to move.
subsequent - following.
to amplify - to make something bigger. Rock musicians use amplifiers to make the sound of their music louder.
repercussions - consequences. Results - usually negative results.
intruded on the rights of citizens - to intrude is to go somewhere where you are not supposed to go. The government should have allowed people to have their privacy, but intruded into their privacy.
classified materials - secret material.
surveillance programs - programs to watch what people do.
a threat - a situation which can cause harm to someone.
Discussion/writing:
Would you have done what Snowden did? He learned that the government was doing something wrong and he reported it. Wasn't that the right thing to do?
Should the government of the USA just leave Snowden alone? Will your opinion of Obama change if he has this person arrested because the person did what he thought was right?
He released information to newspapers that the US government was 'spying' on people in the USA. President Obama has denied that US citizens are being monitored, but it looks as if the US government has been secretly gathering information from telephone records and the internet.
This is just one of several recent scandals that the Obama administration has had.
The US government would now like to arrest Snowden and throw him in jail. Russia has suggested they might offer him political asylum and Iceland is also considering this.
What do you think? Should Snowden be protected from the US government?
The article (there are three pages to this article after you click on it):
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2013-06/21/content_16642133.htm
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
a villain - a bad guy. (pronounced: VIL in)
to spy on - to secretly watch someone is to spy on him/her.
to deny - to say that something didn't happen.
to be monitored - to be watched or to have one's actions followed.
a scandal - a situation in which a famous or powerful person gets into trouble.
to arrest - when the police capture or take a person into custody.
political asylum - when one country gives a safe place to live to a person who is being threatened by his/her own government.
to hang in the balance - to be uncertain. If something is hanging, it could remain hanging or it could fall.
the fate of - the fate of a person is what ultimately or finally will happen to a person. Fate usually has a bad connotation or meaning. Destiny usually has a good connotation or meaning.
a contractor - someone who works for a company that signs a contract to do a job for the government.
a whistle-blower - someone who reports something that is wrong.
an intermediary - a third person who represents Snowden. He is intermediate between Snowden and other people.
to extradite someone - this is when a person who is hiding in another country is forced to go back to his own country to face justice.
concrete ways to get into the country - real, actual ways.
to disclose - to reveal, to show, to tell.
a bid - an attempt.
an intelligence leak - this is when secret information gets out into the public - like a liquid leaking from something.
to be cornered - to be stuck in one place; to be stuck in a corner. To be unable to move.
subsequent - following.
to amplify - to make something bigger. Rock musicians use amplifiers to make the sound of their music louder.
repercussions - consequences. Results - usually negative results.
intruded on the rights of citizens - to intrude is to go somewhere where you are not supposed to go. The government should have allowed people to have their privacy, but intruded into their privacy.
classified materials - secret material.
surveillance programs - programs to watch what people do.
a threat - a situation which can cause harm to someone.
Discussion/writing:
Would you have done what Snowden did? He learned that the government was doing something wrong and he reported it. Wasn't that the right thing to do?
Should the government of the USA just leave Snowden alone? Will your opinion of Obama change if he has this person arrested because the person did what he thought was right?
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