It's hard not to be addicted at some level to Vanity Fair, with the constant stream of uber-glorious Hollywood photographs and the "insider" information on the stars, both past, present, and wannabe. The air-brushed pictures with perfect lighting and dramatic styling are irresistible, and the annual VF Oscar after-party is widely hailed as the hardest ticket of all in Tinseltown. The glamour advertisements alone are jaw dropping.
It also must be said that VF runs extremely interesting investigative and pseudo-investigative reporting, with excellent articles. The current issue includes two block busters: a fourteen page paean to Salman Rushdie (including 8 pages of striking photos), and a whopping twenty-two page story regarding the Edward Snowden affair (including four pages of photos) that is chock full of background information, both regarding Snowden's personal life as well as other important players in this riveting drama.
All of us have been watching the developments regarding Edward Snowden and his expose' of America's NSA's surveillance procedures, at least to some extent, but as mostly uninformed lay people with little or no expertise in security procedures or legal processes. The current issue of Vanity Fair (May 2014) includes an astonishing (from both the length and informed journalistic perspectives) article on the man as well as the apparent motivations and procedures he used to obtain an unprecedented amount of classified information. In addition, the methods he chose to divulge the information: how and to whom, are incredible. On one hand, these are much plainer and simpler than a John LeCarre spy novel, yet in some ways more fascinating. It recounts how a very young man, without any college, and self-taught in computer science, managed to gain access to virtually the entire NSA computer records of secret surveillance proceedings, garnered a treasure trove of classified information of the utmost sensitive nature, contacted a triumvirate of expert-level but disparate people who were informed and likely to be able to get this out into the public, left the U.S., managed to hide for a while in Hong Kong, and then traveled publicly to Moscow en route to seek political asylum (he intended to fly on to another country, but was not able to at the time).
Snowden, clearly very smart and somewhat introverted, became an expert in computer software technology, and then moved inside the nation's security infrastructure to a point at which he had access to what appears to be almost an unlimited database in a series of both planned and somewhat lucky (for him, unlucky for the NSA) developments following the hell-bent-for-leather build up in personnel following 911.
How do I feel about all this? As a small town guy from West Virginia, brought up to trust the government and the local police as forces for good, it makes me wonder where this country is headed. Basically, according to this story, NSA has the capability to "open" our cell phones to make then operate as both a video and audio transmitter back to them through the network of Verizon or ATT, or whichever carrier we use. NSA can read, if they desire and if approved by a special court (do you trust this procedure more or less now?) our emails and listen to any of our phone calls. No doubt they can access any of our bank records. Basically, we now live in a world where the cell phone, the wondrous invention (and my last key assignment: the chip set for Motorola's initial RAZR phone) opens up almost any activity we do to potential intrusion and information. That doesn't even count the GPS-tracking that will pop up ads and come-ons for the next retail store or other inducement a block ahead of our location. Hey, the future's so bright that ya gotta wear shades, according to one song. Pardon the sarcasm.
Take a couple of quiet hours and read this story. It's terrific background, with Vanity Fair's signature elements of both information, personal intrigue, and a few requisite tidbits. Whether you come down on the side that Snowden is a national hero or a traitor, and history might take some time to sort that out, the read is worth it.
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James Kennedy George, Jr (Jim George)
Author, Reunion, a novel about relationships.
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