A summary of Snowden's recent talk about the range and methods status of NSA mass surveillance.

A major US TV news show, whose host is "obsessed with elections", mentioned many possible presidential candidates, but not Bernie Sanders.

Apparently someone powerful doesn't like him. Which is why I am going to vote for him.

The New York Times presented various Republican candidates, but mentioned no Democratic candidate other than Clinton.

1/4 of US greenhouse gas emissions come from fossil fuels extracted from public land. The US should charge for this based on the harm that the emissions will cause.

The Baltimore thug department posted false reports that it was under attack from the public, apparently to stir up fear and demonize protesters.

You can't blame Baltimore blacks for responding to violence with violence.

The US government paid football teams millions to "honor" local soldiers. This is part of what convinces so many Americans that they have to "support the troops" (which, in practice, means don't criticize wars).

The most important support Americans should give US troops is not to send them to fight a war that isn't morally imperative. They signed up to serve their country, not to build somebody's empire. War is hell in any case, but war for an unjust cause is hell at two levels.

I refuse to endorse some secondary kind of "support" which serves as a distraction from this essential one.