Yes, another Snowden thread: Do we actually know he exists? (EDIT: Yes)

[Recursion]

Ezra Klein said that as a joke, but I'm only half-joking right now. Has he been filmed or photographed other than in that pre-produced video? I haven't seen an image of him that didn't come from that; has anybody else? Is that what he actually looks like or was that an actor?

Who has seen him, and when? Do we know?

(yes, yes, this doesn't change the NSA blah blah blah.) This thread is about Snowden.

EDIT: OK, thanks. Somebody pointed me to an interview with his parents, which pretty much settles it for me that he's not a fiction. Thanks.

[Th1onein]

1. Good grief.

This bullshit again?

[Recursion]

2. So? When?

Do you have any photographs of him other than from that video? Or any trace of a social media history?

[darkangel218]

10. here

http://www.dailydot.com/lol/edward-snowden-2001-modeling-photos/

[struggle4progress]

3. Booze-All-Ham coulda saved themselves a lotta bad PR if they'd said: Never heard o'him

[Recursion]

4. Unless we're supposed to be chasing this wild goose

instead of something else.

[struggle4progress]

7. "Kim Kardashian had a baby!" and other such nonstop blather do that work all the time

[MNBrewer]

9. Oh lord, so could you!

[struggle4progress]

12. Oh, dear. Are you still upset that I have avoided jumping to conclusions about Mr Snowden?

It seems a messy little tale to me, leaving quite a lot of questions asked and unanswered

There are opportunities for productive activism, but we need to get the facts right

One possibility is that this story opens an attack on the privatization of US military and US security work

Another possibility is that one can use the story to educate the public about lots of things most probably don't know -- such as the old 180 day rule for emails or the current legal status of warrantless "metadata" collection -- and can successfully agitate for changes in the law, since most folk are unlikely to approve of that stuff

Mr Snowden's story will come up in such discussions, and it will be quite counter-productive to have an ideological rather than fact-based view of him

[MNBrewer]

13. YOu have done no such thing

You are a mouth piece for TPTB on this! as in everything.

[struggle4progress]

14. I suspect you begin with the conclusion you want, then select facts supporting it

[MNBrewer]

16. Project much?

[Jarla]

5. Reporters have interviewed his family and former neighbors

They tracked down court records of his parents' marriage, and then their divorce. They know where he went to school. They found pictures of him that he posted online in the ars technica forum when he was in his late teens. They know that he was once the webmaster for a small publisher that produced manga-style comic books.

Sorry, I don't have sources for all this info at my fingertips anymore. I had similar questions a few weeks ago and did some searching.

[Recursion]

6. OK, the family thing I didn't know. Thanks, that helps

That does persuade me he's not a made-up persona.

[HardTimes99]

8. Ou sont les Neigedens d'anton? - nt

[Gravitycollapse]

11. IS THIS ALL JUST A GRAND ILLUSION?!?

[kentuck]

15. PERHAPS IT IS?

Here is a post I made yesterday evening. Maybe it was his "mission"?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3094138