The latest news is that Snowden is in Moscow and trying to get asylum to Ecuador. This seems to be getting weirder all the time. Why did he go to Hong Kong (essentially China) in the first place and why Russia now? My analysis, which may be way off base, is that China and the U.S. have made a deal in the last few days that they would not fight or waste energy over this. I think that China realizes that even if Snowden is of some propaganda value right now, it is not worth getting the U.S. angry by giving asylum. On the other hand, just handing him over to the U.S. would seem to say that Snowden's accusation of U.S. hacking into the Chinese government is untrue. The U.S. realizes it has a losing hand on this right now and so was not going to push Hong Kong (China) over extradition. When words get back to Snowden that the two super powers are not going to fight over him, he realizes he has to go some place else. So he flees to Russia. He understands that Russia will probably act like China but maybe it has influence over Cuba, Venezuela or Ecuador to take him in. Also WikiLeak is helping him and Assante is already getting protection in the Ecuador embassy in England. If Russia, like China, lets him go to another country, then we can conclude that Snowden does not have any secrets of importance. Without secrets to offer, China and Russia have no interest in keeping Snowden. I have a feeling Cuba is not interested either. So I think Ecuador may be his last hope.
I did try the baseball quiz. Got 4 out of 10. I think the questions were intended to fool people because even if you don't know anything about baseball you should have gotten about 50% since the questions were true or false. I would be interested to see what umpires would get. I also saw the David Henry Hwang play. It was quite entertaining. I have recommended it to a few people already. Thanks to LBOAYM for the suggestion.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
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I think Snowden will now realize that maybe you shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you. Or maybe the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Snowden is like a hot potato that no one wants. It will be interesting to see what happens with him next. I can't imagine living in Ecuador is great. I know I don't want to try to live there.
ReplyDeleteWhat are your predictions for Wimbledon?
I can't imagine anyone out of the blue will win.
-LBOAYM
Snowden should have gone to an Ecuadorian embassy someplace instead of trying to go to Ecuador itself. That is what Assante did. So maybe Snowden misunderstood Assante's advice. So far Russia and China have expressed little outrage about U.S. spying and the U.S. is expressing little outrage at Russia and China for not turning over Snowden. I think all the big powers are trying to not make a big deal out of this.
ReplyDeleteSerena Williams look unbeatable recently. No reason to bet against her. I was going to saying the winner of the Darcis and Nadal match will win the men's title but I guess I will erase that prediction. I will take Andy Murray over Jokovic. Murray may not be able to handle the pressure but he did win the Olympics at Wimbledon last year.
I am not surprised that Nadal lost early (though I don't think I would have predicted a first round exit to an unranked player).
ReplyDeleteI guess if there were ever a time for Murray to win, it would be now. I'll be pulling for him even though I am a big Jokovic fan. Do you think Federer will make any noise? I am interested to see how far Tsonga will go. His game is suited for Wimbledon but he's too inconsistent.
On the women's side, it's hard to go against Serena. If there's anything going against her, it may be the controversy surrounding her. I like Sharapova and will be rooting for her. But I think she will have her hands full against Azarenka if they end up against each other.
-LBOAYM