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Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance

Yeah, and he gave up a $200K/yr job and is a technical expert, unlike Obama.

;) friggin overpaid fat-cat contractors :mrgreen:



ahem.... so.... you know anything open......? :D
 
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:) not lately. As I've been saying, the possibility for good is as immense here as the possibility for abuse. If we as a people want to say that we think the latter outweighs the former, tthen that's fine. But we need to honestly admit that we are making a relative rather than an absolute judgement - there isn't an option where we retain only the power that can do good while losing only the power that can do evil.

That last is certainly true.

:lol: the exact opposite, actually :)

I gave you a like, but am not in full agreement by any means. When I was a teen, and then early in the Army, I was a bit programmed to believe that Daniel Ellsberg was a bit of a traitor with The Pentagon Papers. I was out of the service a few years, and well-read enough, before I realized the opposite. That he was a blue-blooded patriot. An American in the tradition of the Founders.

I see Snowden in the same light, although not close to Ellsberg's league.
 
I gave you a like, but am not in full agreement by any means. When I was a teen, and then early in the Army, I was a bit programmed to believe that Daniel Ellsberg was a bit of a traitor with The Pentagon Papers. I was out of the service a few years, and well-read enough, before I realized the opposite. That he was a blue-blooded patriot. An American in the tradition of the Founders.

I see Snowden in the same light, although not close to Ellsberg's league.

That remains (I think) to be fully seen. But I will agree there is a qualitative difference between him and (for example) Manning.
 
It's quite implausible. I suspect his gross before taxes was $100K/year, tops.:peace

....:shrug: I'm not a SIGINTer by trade, but from the folks I know in the business, I would find that less likely than $200K.
 
It's quite implausible. I suspect his gross before taxes was $100K/year, tops.:peace

Nah..working in SIGINT as a civilian contractor you can easily make that.. Specially for NSA.
 
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....:shrug: I'm not a SIGINTer by trade, but from the folks I know in the business, I would find that less likely than $200K.

Only the special pay scales for senior scientists. Average salary is about $85K/year.:peace
 
An excerpt from the DNI's public statement today:
"As our nation faces the most diverse set of threats I've seen in my 50 years in intelligence, the unauthorized disclosure of two important surveillance programs has inflicted potentially long-lasting and irreversible harm to our ability to identify and respond to those threats. As news coverage of these unauthorized disclosures continues, we need to press on with our mission and not let these disclosures distract us from our intelligence efforts.

"The articles published in conjunction with these leaks contain numerous inaccuracies, both in describing the purpose of our efforts and in the way they characterize the work that we do. They omit key information regarding how these classified intelligence collection programs are used to prevent terrorist attacks and the numerous safeguards Congress, the FISA Court and the Intelligence Community have put in place to protect privacy and civil liberties." :2usflag:
:lamo
Of course they would say this! Would you expect anything else from the government?
I would greatly recomned this new free documentary that just got released.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPa1egjdEpA
 
That remains (I think) to be fully seen. But I will agree there is a qualitative difference between him and (for example) Manning.

Agreed. He's gonna be a rock-star for quite some time though. If he wasn't making $200K per before, he'll get that, and a lot more, as all this unfolds. He absolutely has friends in high places now.
 
Nah..working in SIGINT as a civilian contractor you can easily make that.. Specially for NSA.

False. The contract may be worth something close to that, but the company takes about half for admin, employee benefits and their fee.:peace
 
Only the special pay scales for senior scientists. Average salary is about $85K/year.:peace

Problem is you are assuming that's how it works. NSA and CIA contractors don't work that way. If you have a skill they need they will pay you above and beyond for your service and secrecy. So $200k fits the bill for living in Hawaii.. in DC area it's about $150k.
 
Problem is you are assuming that's how it works. NSA and CIA contractors don't work that way. If you have a skill they need they will pay you above and beyond for your service and secrecy. So $200k fits the bill for living in Hawaii.. in DC area it's about $150k.

I worked in a relevant field for almost 34 years. I retired in 2009 and am a contractor now. I have lived and worked in the environment you are discussing since 1976.:peace
 
That is correct. We also don't know if the Government has been in contact with Aliens, or is actually running a Jason-Bourne esque super-Assassin program utilizing mind-altering drugs and enhanced interrogation methods. But what I am pointing out is that there is a difference between a program and an abuse of a program.

Well, at least when it comes to mind-altering drugs, it has in the past. Look up Project MKULTRA.
 
False. The contract may be worth something close to that, but the company takes about half for admin, employee benefits and their fee.:peace

That's your assumption. You have no clue what was in his contract. I knew a few people (including a family member) who were offered first time contracts @ $115k after things were taken out by the company..
 
That's your assumption. You have no clue what was in his contract. I knew a few people (including a family member) who were offered first time contracts @ $115k after things were taken out by the company..

War zone or hardship deployments?:peace
 
I worked in a relevant field for almost 34 years. I retired in 2009 and am a contractor now. I have lived and worked in the environment you are discussing since 1976.:peace

...... I think you may want to renegotiate your current compensation package. One of my good friends (stood at my wedding) was a SIGINTer with a mere 5 years experience and was offered $250K a year to go OCONUS as a contractor. Another friend of mine here in Okinawa is pulling $120K just as a regular IT guy. According to ClearanceJobs.Com's annual survey, the regular NSA guys with TS/SCI (not the contractors, who are paid larger salaries) are pulling down more than six figures in compensation, and that's before they get the locality pay of Hawaii. According to the OPM, that $100K mark get's crossed at GS-13 Step 7 for Hawaii.
 
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...... I think you may want to renegotiate your current compensation package. One of my good friends (stood at my wedding) was a SIGINTer with a mere 5 years experience and was offered $250K a year to go OCONUS as a contractor.

There are substantial premiums for war zone or hardship service, and if he's an independent contractor (vice working for a company) he loses half in taxes.:peace
 
War zone or hardship deployments?:peace


:) Hawaii is OCONUS.


look, I'm just a regular all-source guy. But if someone were to tell me that they wanted me to go to Hawaii for only $100K a year, I would whip out the trusty ole Cost-of-Living calculator and explain to them politely why I was being underpaid relative to the contracting workforce.
 
False. The contract may be worth something close to that, but the company takes about half for admin, employee benefits and their fee.:peace

Yet the guy can walk away from that job, go globe-trotting in some high-price venues while he eludes our long-arms, and is still out there. Maybe time to stop speculating about such unsupported trivia. He had a serious plan, and it seems well-funded so far.
 
I worked in a relevant field for almost 34 years. I retired in 2009 and am a contractor now. I have lived and worked in the environment you are discussing since 1976.:peace

Congrats.. Just cause you work in the field doesn't mean you know the game. They pay for knowledge and ability when you have it. There is very few people who can do the work this guy was required to do. So like I said $200k isn't out of the realm of possible.
 
Yet the guy can walk away from that job, go globe-trotting in some high-price venues while he eludes our long-arms, and is still out there. Maybe time to stop speculating about such unsupported trivia. He had a serious plan, and it seems well-funded so far.

Maybe. Maybe not. :peace
 
Congrats.. Just cause you work in the field doesn't mean you know the game. They pay for knowledge and ability when you have it. There is very few people who can do the work this guy was required to do. So like I said $200k isn't out of the realm of possible.

His skill set is not uncommon. Basically a system administrator.:peace
 
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