Skip to main content

Snowden: Spy or whistle-blower?





Seems the NSA, despite collecting millions of cellphone records and billions of metadata, still has no idea ifSnowden is a whistleblower or a spy.

Admiral Michael Rogers, the new NSA chief, has this to say (according to the NBC website):
Asked whether he thought Snowden was or is working for the FSB, the Russian security service, Rogers said: "Could he have? Possibly. Do I believe that that's the case? Probably not."

Now that’s some fuzzy “possibly/possibly not” intelligence right there for the most omniscient agency in the world. Which goes to show you that listening to a billion phonecalls about homework and dinner may actually be the wrong strategy, in terms of collecting intelligence.

Since traditional methods of intelligence, taken to monster extremes, as evidenced by the NSA global surveillance strategy, has clearly failed, I thought I’d help the NSA out here with my trusty astrological calculator. Snowden: spy or whistleblower?

Edward Joseph Snowden
June 21, 1983 (age 30)
Elizabeth City, North Carolina, United States

If the above information is correct (and from the chart, I’d hazard a guess the information is correct), then my trusty astrological calculator tells me this:

  1. A Libra moon: Saturn is exalted in Libra, and this happens only once in 29.5 years. The current phase of Saturn’s exaltation started on November 2011 and will go on till November 2014. Snowden has a retrograde Saturn in Libra. Saturn by itself is incredibly powerful in Libra, but retrogrades are even more powerful. Obama has retrograde Saturn in 10th house in Capricorn, for example. Not to mention Berlusconi. If Snowden was to shoot to prominence, this was the right moment, astrologically.
  2. Jupiter retrograde in Scorpio in 2nd house: The second house is the house of speech. Jupiter signifies truth and wisdom. Jupiter retrograde is twice as powerful as a regular Jupiter. Obama has this in 10th house of karma, or “profession”, as well.
  3. Ketu in third house of communications, and house of brothers: Snowden is probably a little alienated from his peers and “brothers.” But Ketu also signifies the underhand, secretive and other unseen activities he took part in regarding “communication.” Ketu is resting in Sagitarius, another house that is interested in truth and global philosophical and ethical concerns.
  4. His fourth house of motherland, or matribhava, is ruled by Saturn. Saturn is retrograde in lagna, so a close association between the motherland (America) and the lagna (self.) There is no foul play here.
  5. Fifth house of creative works is again ruled by Aquarius, whose dispositor is Saturn: Saturn  retrograde in lagna/ascendant shows that his “creative works” may be related to his self, rather than any foreign powers.
  6. Seventh house/yuvati bhava, or house of partnerships, is ruled by Aries. Aries’ dispositor is Mars. Mars is in 9th house of destiny, along with Rahu and the Sun. Rahu is the sign of foreigners. And it is in his house of destiny. The Sun signifies confidence and fame. And Mars of course is war and conflict. So his “house of destiny”, which incidentally is also the “house of the fatherland”, is loaded with the fame he will get, once he leaves his “motherland” for the “fatherland” or the land of his destiny. I assume this is Russia. But there’s no indication that Russia was in any ways involved with Snowden prior to his escape there.
  7. The Eighth House of secrets and genius has Mercury in it. Mercury is the dispositor of his Ninth House of Destiny. This shows an incredibly intelligent man, possibly a genius, whose genius will, for good or ill, impact the “fatherland.” In another words, his actions bring war to Russia (Mars and Rahu signify war, and 9th house is loaded with Sun, Mars and Rahu.)
  8. And here’s the final proof that he’s working for himself, rather than a foreign power. Tenth House of Karma (The House of Profession, in Western lingo) is ruled by Cancer, which is the house of the Moon. Because he has his Moon in Libra (his “Moon sign”), and because Venus, dispositor of Libra, is sitting pretty in House 10, this causes a "parivartan yoga" between Venus and the Moon. The two are intimately linked--his self and his profession. This is a clear sign that the self is involved in the activities that would be categorized as “his profession.”

In other words, Snowden is a whistleblower, not a spy.

Maybe installing astrological software instead of spy software on people’s phones may be a most cost effective way of gathering intelligence?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Bitter Truth: Talat Abbasi's Bitter Gourds

The stories are small, but with a spicy aftertaste that could be from nowhere else but the subcontinent. Talat Abbasi's Bitter Gourd and Other Stories is a collection of nugget sized, delectable tales laid out, in typical desi fashion, amongst the detritus of social stratification, family ennui, economic marginalization and diaspora. Gently dousing her stories with a generous portion of irony and satire, the Karachi born writer brings to the fore the small hypocrisies and the mundane corruptions of everyday life in Pakistan. Whether dealing with a birdman or a poor relation, a rich widow or an immigrant mother, Ms. Abbasi touches the mythic heart that ticks besides all these caricatures. The ghostly narrative influence of Virginia Woolf, with a pinch of Victorian lit thrown in for good measure, is discernable, although most of the voices are centered around the "how kind, how kind" echoes of South Asia. The book starts, appropriately, with a story about a feudal patro

INTERVIEW: TOM ARENS

KHULA MANCH Tom Arens first came to Nepal in 1972 as the South Asian representative of World Neighbors, a small American INGO. He stayed for 28 years. He was one of the founding members of the Federation of NGOs. Arens talked with Sushma Joshi of the Nation Weekly about the changes he has seen in the development scene in Nepal, as well as his thoughts about the direction in which the nation should take in the coming years. What was Nepal like in 1972? When World Neighbors first started, we worked with The Nepal’s Women’s Organization and Paropakar. These were the only two established smaller NGOs. We started with small funds: $50,000-100,000 the first couple of years. The government was ambivalent about smaller non-profits, so we couldn’t get registered until 7 years later, when the Social Service Welfare Council was established. The Queen was the chair. The Council helped to give status to smaller non-profits and to facilitate our work. What was your first program? Our first program w

Milk and rice

Sushma Joshi I am the youngest of seven cousins. When we were little, we used to play lukamari , or hide-and-seek, games in the garden. My eldest cousin sister, taking pity on me, would allow me to be a dudh-bhat (milk and rice) during our games. A dudh-bhat is someone too young to play the game adequately, but the older children allow this young one to tag along and never be “outed” from the game because they might cry if made to leave. So this means you are endlessly in the game, even when in reality you should really be out. Of course, being the youngest means you may always retain the status of a dudh-bhat even when you do grow up. In Nepal, as we know all too well, the hierarchy of age allows the young some privileges, along with the old. It appears to me Madhav Kumar, even though he's lost the game twice in two elections, is being allowed to be the dudh-bhat by his wiser and more tolerant elders. He is allowed to be in the game endlessly even though in reality he should real