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October 29, 2010
Eric O'Neill: Hard times jeopardize security clearances.
In Washington, D.C. alone, over 300,000 people from all walks of life have a national security clearance or approval from the federal government to work in or around government secrets: everyone from U.S. intelligence community chiefs and analysts to electricians contracted for projects at the Pentagon or FBI buildings. Above, Eric O'Neill, lawyer, real life American hero, and CEO of The Georgetown Group, talks to CNN on how foreclosures and other financial problems are perceived, fairly or unfairly, to make some Americans with security clearances vulnerable to bribes by foreign spies.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:24 PM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2010
Dante's Charon: Crossings.
The Ferryman Charon. Gustave Doré's illustration to Dante's Inferno. Plate IX: Canto III:
And lo! towards us coming in a boat
An old man, hoary with the hair of eld,
Crying: 'Woe unto you, ye souls depraved!'
In Greek mythology, non-lawyer Charon took souls to Hades--the entrance to the underworld. He did, however, have a standard fee agreement. Supernatural Charon ferried the newly dead across the river Acheron other if they had an obolus (a silver coin worth a sixth of a drachma) to pay for the ride. If you couldn't pay him, you had to wander the shores for a period of one hundred years.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)