memeorandum: Iain Banks dies of cancer aged 59 (BBC)

1:15 AM ET, June 10, 2013

Top Items:

Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations — The 29-year-old source behind the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA's history explains his motives, his uncertain future and why he never intended on hiding in the shadows — • Q&A with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden …

Discussion: New York Times, Talking Points Memo, The Caucus, Daily Mail, BBC, The Sun, The Impolitic, USA Today, Yahoo! News, Business Insider, No More Mister Nice Blog, RT, Balloon Juice, Firedoglake, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, Forbes, Hit & Run, PoliticusUSA, Telegraph, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, China Real Time Report, NO QUARTER USA NET, News Desk, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice, The Gateway Pundit, Little Green Footballs, The Dish, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Doug Ross, Lawfare, CANNONFIRE, msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway, Instapundit, Wired, VentureBeat, Scared Monkeys, Vox Popoli, The Hinterland Gazette, GigaOM, American Power, Fox News Insider, Washington Free Beacon, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The PJ Tatler, The Huffington Post, Mashable, U.S. News, The Daily Caller, Power Line, AllThingsD, Gawker, Lawyers, Guns & Money, emptywheel, Liberal Values, Althouse, Whiskey Fire, Engadget and LewRockwell.com Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Guardian:

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: ‘I do not expect to see home again’ — Source for the Guardian's NSA files on why he carried out the biggest intelligence leak in a generation - and what comes next — Edward Snowden was interviewed over several days in Hong Kong by Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Daily Caller, Yahoo! News, Business Insider, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, The Daily Banter, Talking Points Memo, Obsidian Wings, BuzzFeed, Telegraph, The Verge, Mediaite, BBC, The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and TechCrunch

The Atlantic Online:

Edward Snowden in Hong Kong — I'm glad we have this information; I am sorry we are getting it from Hong Kong. — Three points: — 1) I believe what I wrote two days ago: that the United States and the world have gained much more, in democratic accountability, than they have lost …

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and Pressing Issues

Booz Allen Hamilton:

Booz Allen Statement on Reports of Leaked Information — Booz Allen can confirm that Edward Snowden, 29, has been an employee of our firm for less than 3 months, assigned to a team in Hawaii. News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking …

Discussion: Guardian, Firedoglake, Business Insider, Forbes, The Hinterland Gazette, Engadget, Hit & Run and New York Times

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

What's the Deal with Hong Kong? — Having given some initial reactions to the Snowden revelation below, let me say a bit more about Snowden's decision to go to Hong Kong. — Let's start by saying that the US has very long arms when it comes to seeking the extradition of people who've broken the laws at quite Snowden's scale.

Discussion: Guardian, VentureBeat and Business Insider

Washington Post:

Edward Snowden identified as source of NSA leaks — Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old system administrator and former undercover CIA employee, unmasked himself Sunday as the principal source of recent Washington Post and Guardian disclosures about top-secret NSA programs, denouncing what he described …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Wonkblog, Lawfare, Patterico's Pontifications, Post Politics and The Reaction, more at Mediagazer »

Guardian:

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: 'I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things' - video — The source behind the Guardian's NSA files talks to Glenn Greenwald about his motives for the biggest intelligence leak in a generation

Discussion: The Hill, Hullabaloo, Washington Free Beacon and emptywheel

Charlie Spiering / Washington Examiner:

Edward Snowden: I mistakenly believed in Obama's promises … Edward Snowden, the self-revealed whistle-blower at the National Security Agency, explains that part of the reason he decided to come forward was because President Obama did not roll back the surveillance measures put into place by the Bush Administration.

Discussion: AMERICAN DIGEST, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Guardian and The Daily Caller

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

DOJ launches criminal probe of NSA leaker — The Justice Department on Sunday confirmed that it is conducting a criminal investigation into the leak of classified information detailing the National Security Agency's phone and internet surveillance programs.

Discussion: Politico

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
NSA leaker reveals self, has no apologies

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and americanthinker.com

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Paul weighs Supreme Court challenge to NSA surveillance programs

Discussion: Mediaite, Politico, Hot Air, National Review, CNN, The PJ Tatler and Taylor Marsh

Peggy Noonan's Blog:

The Era of Metadata — Five blunt thoughts on the growing surveillance state: — 1. The thing political figures fear most is a terror event that will ruin their careers. The biggest thing they fear is that a bomb goes off and it can be traced to something they did or didn't do, an action they did or didn't support.

Discussion: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

BBC:

Iain Banks dies of cancer aged 59 — Author Iain Banks has died aged 59, two months after announcing he had terminal cancer, his family has said. — The Scottish writer revealed in April he was suffering from terminal gall bladder cancer and was unlikely to live for more than a year.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Verge and Lawyers, Guns & Money

CNN:

Santa Monica shooting victim dies, bring toll to 5 — Shooting at Santa Monica College — Santa Monica, California (CNN) — [Breaking News Update] — Marcela Franco, 26, has died from wounds suffered when she was shot, along with her father, in an SUV near Santa Monica College on Friday …

Discussion: PJ Media, Patterico's Pontifications and The Week

Kevin Liptak / CNN:

Senators should have known about snooping, says McCain — (CNN) - Lawmakers who are now expressing outrage over the government's surveillance of phone records and Internet activity should have paid closer attention when they were voting to reauthorize provisions in the Patriot Act, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said Sunday.

Discussion: Politico, Balloon Juice and National Review

Jim Sensenbrenner / Guardian:
This abuse of the Patriot Act must end | Jim Sensenbrenner

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and Runnin' Scared

James Hohmann / Politico:
Voters give government leeway to snoop

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Hot Air and The PJ Tatler

Kelly Ayotte:

Op-ed: Why I'm backing legislation to fix our broken immigration system — Everybody agrees that America's immigration system is broken, threatening our security and holding back our economy. The combination of porous borders and lax enforcement has made us a magnet for illegal immigration.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Pirate's Cove, ThinkProgress, First Read and Outside the Beltway