Thread: Edward Snowden and his stay in Russia

Originally Posted by Deborski

The lower case letter "e" is not open, but filled in. That trait indicates selective listening.

His lower case letter "i" is dotted directly above the "i". That trait indicates attention to detail.

Granted, it is a very short sample, and it was written in print rather than cursive, so my analysis is rather limited. But his signature reveals a lot about his emotional state. He is clearly experiencing a lot of regret, most likely not for his actions, but rather for the situation he is in. He slashed at his own name repeatedly as if trying to scratch it out. Classic sign of self-loathing.

I have heard that in France, they do (or did until recently) require handwriting samples from people applying from professional jobs. Like a handwritten letter. The employer then has it analyzed to get a personality summary - to check if it's the kind of person they'd like to hire, or not.
Hence people in France take the matter of penmanship very seriously and it's taught extensively in school - they have very elegant handwriting.
It's a bit of a science in some countries.
Personally, I must be a bit schizophrenic - my handwriting varies quite a bit.

Originally Posted by diogen_

The application is written in a typically Russian style as if it was dictated to Snowden word by word)). Even the date format is typically Russian, not American. Such applications, written in Russian, on blank sheets of paper are dime a dozen here. But Snowden or whoever dictated him the text missed to enumerate the reasons for his request. So, I’m afraid, the plea can be easily rejected on formal grounds by some anonymous clerk of the Russian Migration Service.

Apparently Russia had 28,000 political refugees if I remember the stats from RT correctly. Over something like 5 years. That was a surprise to me. Do they actually live off the state year after year, like in Western Europe, or does Russia have some clever process that lets them work from Day 1? Is it the same crowd that comes to the EU, i.e. Afghans, Somalians, Iraqis and Libyans? Or others...?

28,000 is obviously a drop in the ocean compared with Russia's population, but it's much larger than I had expected. I can't recall how many were accepted. Below are figures for the EU.
Anyone's got any idea how many refugees the USA takes?

Number of applications:


Number of "Positive" decisions ( you can see why Northern Europe has a problem.... But anyone who wants to see a truly "white" country, go to the Baltic states. )

Originally Posted by Hanna

I have heard that in France, they do (or did until recently) require handwriting samples from people applying from professional jobs. Like a handwritten letter. The employer then has it analyzed to get a personality summary - to check if it's the kind of person they'd like to hire, or not.
Hence people in France take the matter of penmanship very seriously and it's taught extensively in school - they have very elegant handwriting.
It's a bit of a science in some countries.
Personally, I must be a bit schizophrenic - my handwriting varies quite a bit.

Handwriting analysis certainly used to be a big part of the hiring process in Europe as well as at some US companies. They do the analysis primarily to weed out the trait of dishonesty, which is an easy one to spot. Some companies probably still use handwriting analysis - although cursive is being taught less and less these days, and I can see the time coming when cursive will die out completely.

Sloppy handwriting does not necessarily indicate a "bad" personality or a "schizophrenic." For example, the American serial killer, Ted Bundy, had perfectly flawless handwriting. Like a typewriter. The kind of writing that shows a brilliant and focused mind. Unfortunately, you can't tell from someone's writing if they are a killer. You can tell if they might have argumentative tendencies, sometimes you can tell if they are physically or mentally impaired or using drugs. You can even tell if the person is emotional. But a psychopath like Bundy is so adept at blending in and appearing normal, that even his handwriting appears flawless and "normal."

From Snowden's handwriting, I see someone who is going through a lot of emotional turmoil right now, but who has a great deal of determination and is an honest person - not a liar.