To make a different but related reply, see the comment in which I responded to a submission from another? I attempted to direct the discussion to the hacker/technical aspects of the "Syrian Electronic Army." Their prolific hacking of large entities is rather noteworthy. I noted how a 'western' company named Bluecoat had their hardware installed by Assad, the logs were later leaked showing tracking of sexual and religious activity.

I tried by best to steer the conversation into a realm that truly does relate to "Hacker News." The real life ramifications of producing spyware, ISP data mirroring hardware. Of course the topic was deaded and my commments down-voted.

Is HN a place for commentary on Snowden and Manning sexual habits or for the details and real ramifications for our work?

I've been hell-banned and down-voted for trying to steer discussion into more than social observations of the actors involved. It lowers faith in this community and those involved moderating it.