The news came out recently about a fellow named Edward Joseph Snowden as being the person responsible for leaking U.S. Government intelligence data to the media. He's already been tried in the "people's court of opinion" and in the press, where you can find him branded a traitor or a hero. I really have no opinion regarding his loyalty or patriotism as of yet, and it will take some time (indeed, if ever) for all of the facts to surface. The timing could probably be not much worse for the Obama Administration, as it struggles to confront any number of high level missteps among several agencies.
The ethics are also highly questionable, especially given that the information, whatever it may be, apparently came from the National Security Agency (NSA). And the stuff that these folks work with is just a bit more sensitive than, say, your zynga.com password. It is the stuff of which movies could be made- the kind of movies which critics say, "Wow! What a cool, fantastic plot. The writer must have really worked hard on all of those plot twists, because that could NEVER happen in real life."
Well, guess again.
The information I have about Mr. Snowden is all from the Chicago Tribune's June 13, 2012 print edition. As I've alluded, I'm not here to judge Edward Joseph Snowden's actions or motives for the disclosures/leaks. What I really am curious about is how the Central Intelligence Agency or a firm such as Booz Allen Hamilton even hired him in the first place. And this where I call Mr. Snowden's ethics into question.
Snowden apparently was a student who struggled academically in high school, eventually dropping out. He went on to obtain a GED (high school diploma equivalent) from a local community college, and I'll give him credit for earning the GED. Then, through an Army program, he was able to try out for the Special Forces without first going through Basic Training. After around four months, he was discharged from the Army- without ever having gone through Basic Training. With this less-than-stellar record, the following year he was hired by the Center for Advanced Study of Languages at the University of Maryland, which is operated by the NSA as a security specialist. From there, he was employed by the CIA, and then by Booz Hamilton. The CIA apparently awarded him a high level clearance, which was probably a major selling point in getting hired at Booz Allen Hamilton.
The Tribune described Snowden as a low level operative that made $122,000 USD per year and lived in Hawaii with his girlfriend.
Obviously, there's a lot more to the story that what I read in the paper. I am fairly convinced that I wouldn't trust Mr. Snowden with much of anything, but what really boggles the mind is this: how did he land those jobs? I've worked hard, am loyal and honest, graduated high school, am a decorated and honorably discharged veteran who held a security clearance, and not only am I looking for work, I've never made anything like the money that Mr. Snowden made at Booz Allen Hamilton in my life.
In any event, that is the end of my rant. We had some massive rain storms that came through the area last night- we were blessed with no hail, damaging winds or flooding. Timehack 1700 CST
The next blog entry will return to some exciting data stuff.
Until then,
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
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