Edward Snowden At Comic-Con: 'I Live a Surprisingly Free Life' (theguardian.com) 52
An anonymous reader writes from a report via The Guardian: Director Oliver Stone talked to whistleblower Edward Snowden in front of an audience at a question and answer session on Thursday evening. He compared Snowden's anxiety over his own appearance in his Snowden biopic film "Snowden" to that of Donald Trump, who was cut from one of his films six years before. Snowden replied: "I'd like to avoid that association." At the event, Snowden did also shed some light on his personal life, years after his revelation of the NSA's secret surveillance of the American public's internet activity resulted in criminal charges under the Espionage Act that led to his exile in Russia. "I can confirm that I am not living in a box," Snowden said. "I actually live a surprisingly free life. This was not the most likely outcome. I didn't actually expect to make it out of Hawaii. I thought it was incredibly risky. I had a lot of advantages in doing what I did; I worked for the CIA on the human intelligence side, I worked for the NSA on the signals intelligence side, and I taught counterintelligence. This is not something that's covered that well in the media. I was about as well placed as anybody could be, and I still thought I was going to get rolled up at the airport and that there were going to be knocks on the doors of the journalists." When asked what he thought about Gordon-Levitt's performance in the film where he plays Edward Snowden, Snowden responded: "This is one of the things that's kind of crazy and surreal about this kind of experience: I don't think anybody looks forward to having a movie made about themselves, especially someone who is a privacy advocate. Some of my family members have said, 'He sounds just like you!' I can't hear it myself but if he can pass the family test he's doing all right." Snowden agreed to participate on the film because he thought it could raise awareness in ways his own advocacy could not. Snowden was also in the news recently for developing a way for potentially imperiled smartphone users to monitor whether their devices are making any potentially compromising radio transmissions.
Not surprised (Score:1)
That rumor is spread by big party political shitbags who want to keep people from stepping out of line just like their shit-lie "voting third party is a wasted vote."
November is coming. Time to fuck these shitburger fascists in the ass with a chainsaw.
I hope (Score:2)
snowden gives me some hope (Score:5, Insightful)
right now, life looks pretty dismal in so many ways. many problems in the world, problems at home; and for me, personal shit that is becoming hard to deal with.
but when I read about snowden, I feel a little bit better. it feels better knowing that the world is not 100% all corrupt and evil and that some few souls out there really do risk everything to make things better for us all.
I hope mr. snowden finds some peace in his life (sounds like its not all bad, there) and I consider him the #1 hero for our whole century, in terms of humanity and wanting to really improve things, at great personal cost.
mr. snowden: you are an amazing person and I'd do anything I could to help you in any way I could. we all owe you so much. and all we can say is a great big 'thanks!' (we can't even donate to you, which really sucks.)
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In my mind anyone who doesn't care about illegal government spying is a fool and traitor.
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Most Americans were outright ignorant about the extent to which government agencies were breaking the law in their data-gathering practices. Snowden gave us a much-needed education on that front.
Further, most Americans were naive in their belief that the government was just collecting what it realistically needed to keep us safe (false on both counts). Snowden gave us a much-needed wake-up call on that front.
Unfortunately, many Americans, you included, don't want to know the truth and don't care about th
Re:snowden gives me some hope (Score:5, Insightful)
The "secret" spy programs were only a secret to those who have not been paying a bit of attention...
We now have mainstream acceptance of things that were previously tinfoil-hat-only territory.
All he accomplished was to give Putin a propaganda victory...
The US revoked his visa. He happened to be in Russia at the time. There he stays.
OMG you just keep going on and on. Let's sum it up.
The US was (is) violating its own laws and Snowden made that public.
Rather than fixing the problems thus exposed, the US has chosen to try to persecute him for exposing gov't malfeasance.
Lets not call this something other than what it is.
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Please read the book Anxiety as an Ally by Dan Ryckert, I had bad personal shit going on, this book helped a lot, reading it kept me going through some dark times. I feel much more on top of things even though my life hasn't changed so much, and things are getting easier as I go on
Best of luck
Trust no one (Score:5, Insightful)
Question authority. And the more authoritarian they act, the harder you should question. If someone tells you, "I'm the only one who can fix this problem", run away as fast as you can.
Re:Trust no one (Score:4, Informative)
> Question authority.
Teacher: Question Authority!
Student: Says who!
Teacher: *smiles as student gets it*
There are actually a some fantastic social commentaries about authority ...
* Network (1976) [imdb.com] (I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore" [youtube.com])
* They Live (1988) [imdb.com] (by the famous John Carpenter -- Obey [youtube.com])
* The Newsroom (2012) [imdb.com] (amazing monologue by Jeff Daniels on Why America isn't the greatest country in the word [youtube.com])
Re:Trust no one (Score:4, Informative)
I'm glad so many people seem to agree with this sentiment.
Here is a quote from Trump's speech last night:
http://www.theatlantic.com/pol... [theatlantic.com]
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If someone tells you, "I'm the only one who can fix this problem", run away as fast as you can
The only time I've ever heard that line is from cops. DO NOT run away as fast as you can in that situation. Especially if not white.
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"I'm the only one who can fix this problem", run away as fast as you can.
"Come with me if you want to live!" (- from the movie "Terminator" [and hand in your geek card if you needed this citation])
It seems that "question authority" has more recently been all but replaced by a more-PC "question only authority (and those who hold it) that we say to question...all other authority that agrees with us is sacrosanct".
Start questioning the authority of certain things and suddenly all that "question authority" crap goes right out the window for many, many people and turns to "get 'em!".
at Comic-Con? (Score:1)
I'm here in San Diego where the big convention is ongoing. I look to my left, I look to my right ... I don't see Snowden. Is he in a bathroom or maybe a nearby pub? Or are you referring to some other Comic-Con in some other time or universe? Please explain the headline:
"Edward Snowden At Comic-Con: 'I Live a Surprisingly Free Life'"
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Well, Snowden is in Russia, which is a surprisingly more free country than the USA. So, yes, he is correct.
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also, the way he appeared. on a telescreen.... it could be an actor with makeup for all you know!
make this appearance so russia looks good. come on.
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Re:a surprisingly free life in a surprisingly fasc (Score:4)
Snowden has personally criticiszed oppressive Russian surveillance laws and never claimed that the life of the general populace if freer in Russia than the USA. His life is what's relatively free in Russia, because of his special circumstances, and that's all he's talking about.
Life in Russia (Score:3)
I've read this comments thread, and I need to admit that the MSM propaganda works. I presume that's what Snowden could have meant (alright, I can't read minds so I don't know) by "surprisingly" free -- that life in Russia turned out to be better than what he could have expected from reading the MSM.
Of course Russia isn't a human rights paradise, but neither is it a nightmare. And if you believe the media are your eyes through which you can see other countries without actually bothering to pay a visit there, you are very wrong.
"At" (Score:2)
Edward Snowden At Comic-Con
Well... not actually "at."
"free life" :/ (Score:2)
He lives "free life" in bloody dictatorship that shoots few political opponents in the center of the capital, or poisons them with radioactive materials across the Europe, annexes territories from neighboring countries just like Nazis in 1939 and promotes hate of any freedom as freedom is foreign enemy invention. What a poser.
WARNING: Stay out of Philadelphia Mr. Snowden! (Score:2)
We know you have managed to elude the most powerful intelligence apparatus on Earth, and we see your Telepresence bot rolling around. It must be really cramped in there. But you're no match for Philadelphia Mr. Snowden! Stay away!
On August 1, 2015 Hitch-Bot met its end in a pool of its own of torn circuits in a place called corner of Elfreth's alley. [ctvnews.ca]. Some of us who realize that robot lives matter, will never forget.
Which is why I updated the Wikipedia page for Elfreth's Alley [wikipedia.org] 'History section' to also not
reviews (Score:1)