In this interview/inquisition, Glenn Greenwald puts up with more establishment media questioning, i.e., reporters who feel that their job is to do the bidding of their governments rather than to shed light on government abuses and corruption.
Glenn Greenwald highlights a question he was recently asked on Reddit, and his response:
Glenn Greenwald: "I was also asked: "Do you see the US Democratic Party as hopelessly corrupt in terms of orchestrating progressive change? If so, what can we to do roll back abuses of surveillance state and take back system from the rich?" My reply: "I never see any political questions as hopeless or unchangeable, but consider this: "When I first began writing in 2005, I was focused primarily on the Bush NSA program, and I was able to build a large readership quickly because so many Democrats, progressives, liberal bloggers, etc, were so supportive of the work I was doing. That continued to be true through 2008. "Now, a mere four [years] later, Democrats have become the most vehement defenders of the NSA and the most vicious attackers of my work on the NSA - often, some of the very same people cheering so loudly in 2006 and 2007 are the ones protesting most loudly and viciously now. "Gee, I wonder what changed? In the answer lies all you need to know about the Democratic Party."
I've been trying out some headsets for my smart phone. Some of these are cheap, but got good reviews on Amazon. For instance, this Panasonic $9 headset (yes, I meant nine dollars), which requires a 3.5mm male to 2.5mm female adapter to use with a cell phone (as opposed to a cordless phone). I use headsets when talking on the phone at my desk to keep my hands free. I like the ones with microphones that wrap around right in front of my mouth, so that I need not disturb others when in my collaborative workspace. I've tried some other headsets too, including a bluetooth set that people complained about constantly. I simply don't want people staining to hear what I'm saying. I've found myself asking other how my voice is coming through when I speak on my cell phone (through the phone itself or using a headset). People will give vague answers, such as "It sounds OK." I've been wondering what my cell phone really sounds like on the other end. I think I've found an answer. I found a phone number that plays back your voice: 909-390-0003 . That's all this phone number does. When you call this number, you don't even hear a phone ringing. But you can immediately speak into it and hear what you sound like. Excellent. Problem solved. I'm going to recommend it to others. For instance, a friend of mine sounded all muffled. I told him about this a couple years ago. He eventually got a new phone and his voice quality immediately improved. I wondered whether fuzz or dirt got into his phone's microphone. Now his new phone sounds muffled. I can't hear his consonants. I'm going to give the test number to him, so he can hear it for himself. It turns out that my Panasonic $9 headset "sounds OK." No, really. It's a keeper. It sounds great.
Glenn Greenwald recently answered questions on Reddit, including the following: Reddit comment: "Thanks for doing this. At the university I work at, we are putting together a workshop for Media Professionals, including journalists regarding IT security. We plan on covering: PGP, truecrypt, TOR, OTR, and strongbox. What tools, concepts, or techniques should we be teaching aspiring journalists?" Glenn Greenwald: "That's so great to hear. One of the most gratifying things I've seen since this all started is how many journalists now communicate using PGP, Pidgen, OTR, TOR and similar instruments of encryption. Just as was true for me, so many national security journalists - including some of the most accomplished ones at large media outlets, the ones who work on the most sensitive materials - had no idea about any of that and used none of it. Now they do. In this age of a War on Whistleblowers and sources and ubiquitous surveillance, it's absolutely vital that journalists learn advanced encryption methods and use it." It's a shame that modern day journalists need to spend so much time learning about and using encryption technology to protect their sources from spying by the United States and other governments. What would the founding fathers have said about this more than 200 years ago, that the federal government is spying on its own citizens without probable cause and even spying on journalists?