

How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets - arman0
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/magazine/laura-poitras-snowden.html

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jmedwards
"On one occasion, Poitras says, they did seize her computers and cellphones
and kept them for weeks. She was also told that her refusal to answer
questions was itself a suspicious act. _Because the interrogations took place
at international boarding crossings, where the government contends that
ordinary constitutional rights do not apply, she was not permitted to have a
lawyer present_."

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CurtHagenlocher
The most amazing thing about this is that the government asserts that the
"constitutional-rights-free-zone" at the border extends _100 miles_ away.

[http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/fact-sheet-us-
con...](http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/fact-sheet-us-constitution-
free-zone)

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hackinthebochs
I don't get why they don't just do away with the constitution altogether. It's
clear that those in power have no belief in it and work to circumvent or strip
away its protections every chance they can. Why even keep up with the
pretense?

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ajays
I'm sure they would _absolutely_ love to. But the Constitution came with
conditions to prevent this very thing.

But don't worry: sooner or later they'll figure out a "threat" big enough to
get rid of it, while people are busy worrying about who'll be the next
American Idol and whether to join Team Jacob or Team Edward.

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quattrofan
Someone posted this on reddit, thought I would repost here as its timely:

From a jail interview with Hermann Göring during the Nuremberg Trials:

Göring: Why, of course, the people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on
a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it
is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don't
want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter
in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the
country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the
people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a
Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.

Gilbert: There is one difference. In a democracy, the people have some say in
the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States
only Congress can declare wars.

Göring: Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can
always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to
do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of
patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any
country.

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bthomas
No new information (and personally I'd prefer not to see this on Hacker News)
but...this is a really remarkable article. It reads like a spy thriller in a
way none of the short form reporting has.

It also introduces a new protagonist that is much more appealing than Snowden
or Greenwald. Poitras seems like a truly remarkable woman. I cannot wait to
see her final product.

This is the type of article that would make my parents - lifelong Democrats
who refuse to consider that Obama could be wrong and a pesky computer geek be
right - finally come around on Snowden.

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hnha
This page is fixed size on my android meaning I cannot adjust the text size.
When I rub to scroll it sits still for a moment and then jumps before
scrolling properly. Does anyone else get the same bugs and maybe know the
cause or workarounds?

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JonSkeptic
It's a shame when someone asking for a workaround gets downvoted on
hackernews.

