SNOWDON IN RUSSIA

I'm sure everyone has heard of Edward Snowdon by now and his presumed living in the Moscow Airport reception area.  He seems to be one of those people who never fits in.  Though plenty smart enough, he couldn't stand the discipline of graduating from high school, for example.  He left the U.S., first to China and then to Russia because he leaked the fact that the National Security Agency (NSA), for whom he worked, was compiling the phone numbers millions of people were calling on their cell phones (and land lines as well?).  So far as I am concerned the NSA is welcome to include my phone numbers.  Innocents are protected by the massiveness of the data base.  I haven't heard of anyone hurt by this massive data base.

It is very difficult to identify terrorists beforehand by searching such a data base.  You pretty much have to have called or been called by a known or suspected terrorist to get into trouble, and this could have happened by mistake (wrong number?).  After all, they didn't catch the Boston Bombers that way, though we (the U.S.) were warned about the older brother beforehand.  Its main use, I suppose, is after the fact because after the Boston Marathon attack, they could find out who the Boston Bombers were talking to and check out if there was a wider conspiracy.

Though Snowdon is keen on civil rights, it is ironic that he has traveled to two countries not known for their protections of civil rights.  He has applied for temporary asylum in Russia, and I feel that might be a good place for him.  He may find out that the good old U.S.A. isn't so bad after all.  And if I was the Russian government, I wouldn't want Snowdon nosing around in their civil rights or international affairs businesses.  Next thing you know, he might be leaking their secrets.  I suppose Snowdon's contacts and movements will be closely monitored.