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Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down. In 2013, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United States government was secretly pursuing the means to collect every single phone call, text message, and email. The result would be an unprecedented system of mass surveillance with the ability to pry into the private lives of every person on earth. Six years later, Snowden reveals for the very first time how he helped to build this system and why he was moved to expose it.
posted by holmesian on Oct 3, 2019 - 3 comments

A group of NSA agents headed by Jon Voight conspires to kill a Congressman and to cover it up after a tape of the murder is discovered. Gene Hackman plays Brill, as a "continuation of The Conversation" from 1974. Jason Lee plays Daniel Zavitz. Jack Black plays Fiedler. Tom Sizemore plays mob boss Pintero. One of Tony Scott's 10 best films. The film inspired the US military to develop the WAMI hyper-surveillance technology.
posted by growabrain on Jun 12, 2019 - 9 comments

The Parallax View, directed by Alan J. Pakula, stars Warren Beatty as a reporter who unearths evidence of a massive conspiracy to assassinate political figures, the work of the sinister Parallax Corporation. It’s part of a wave of similarly paranoid thrillers that swept through movie theaters in the 1970s in response to post-1968 disillusionment and the bona fide conspiracy of Watergate: Pakula’s All the President’s Men, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, Sydney Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor, and many more. [more inside]
posted by growabrain on Jul 21, 2017 - 11 comments

As Jane's past and primary purpose is revealed to the Kurt's FBI team, they must decide whether they can ever trust her again as part of the team. We learn about Jane's real identity and origins, while she struggles with loyalty for either side. [more inside]
posted by numaner on Oct 24, 2016 - 8 comments

This week: The House passes the "USA Freedom Act," which might ultimately curtail of the NSA's phone record collection. FIFA elects a new president, and is somehow expected to reëlect scandal-prone Sepp Blatter. Johnny Depp illegally brought two dogs to Australia, and its government threatened to kill them unless he took them away. LWT produces a short piece demanding Australia remove Australian things from the US. Main story: chicken farmers (YouTube 18m), and the systems of contract farming, gladiator payouts and vindictive secrecy that keeps them impoverished and the chickens mistreated.
posted by JHarris on May 18, 2015 - 9 comments

This week: An extra-long episode of Last Week Tonight. Iranian nuclear talks, with John Kerry, the Beau Rivage Hotel and the Inglorius Fonkers. Real democracy makes inroads in Nigeria. President Obama goes to Utah, but hasn't been to South Dakota, so LTW produced a tourism video featuring "hobo George R.R. Martin." Main story: Government surveillance (YouTube 33m), plus interview with Edward Snowden. (Oliver: "HO-LEY SHIT. HE ACTUALLY CAME. EDWARD FUCKING SNOWDEN!") MeFi [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Apr 6, 2015 - 15 comments

Citizenfour is a documentary film directed by Laura Poitras concerning Edward Snowden and the NSA spying scandal.
posted by roolya_boolya on Nov 1, 2014 - 9 comments

Chloe returns to a hacker group of which she is a member.
posted by mathowie on May 6, 2014 - 3 comments