Snowden (who really does, apparently, have epilepsy) helps an epileptic.

[MADem]

198. If you dig down into other posts in this thread, you will see where I am going with this.

The OP is the first thing I have seen that is a "first person" account of Snowden talking to someone about his seizures and indeed, "doing the Frist" to help this woman. It pretty much cemented the diagnosis. There have been plenty of flat out lies and shadings of the truth tossed out about this guy (his salary was the first and biggest one) and any time a piece of information can be fairly well verified -- and that's by someone other than Greenwald, who is an advocate and who is making money off the Snowden "product," you see--then it deserves to be given more credence.

You will notice, I hope, that I take huge pains to indicate when I am speculating. There are a couple of people on this thread, sadly, who believe that "speculation" is a synonym for a "claim." I claim to know nothing, but this IS a discussion board, and if we're fearful of discussing a subject, well, this discussion board won't be much use, now, will it? And that would be a shame.

I never demand, like some here do, that people AGREE with me, but I don't think it's right to try to smother differing POVs. And that is what has been happening in this thread: "Don't talk about the topic of the OP, talk about how terrible the NSA is!!!" As IF there's a limit to the number of threads people are allowed to start! This isn't a "Dem" issue, either, we do NOT own the "Pro-Snowden" viewpoint, "Bring Ed Home" won't be a plank in our national platform --there are people on both sides of the aisle who are Snowden cheerleaders and Snowden detractors.

I would like to know who's paying his bills--I do think that is important. Is Greenwald giving him money from the book sales? Is Greenwald's boss subsidizing him? Is Assange sending him a cut of what the Russian government has sent to him? Is the Russian government giving him the equivalent of FSB welfare? There was a story that he was going to be employed by the Russian "facebook" equivalent, but I seem to remember reading that this job didn't come to fruition. Did he get some other job, and does he go to an office or work from home? Is he a double/triple agent, employed by someone controlled by the CIA that Putin knows nothing about? (OK, I admit that's some crazyass James Bond speculation, but hey...if we're to discuss, let's not limit ourselves!) So the question of how he is supporting himself IS--and remains--absolutely salient. Money does buy more than food, shelter and clothing. It buys safety and security, particularly when you don't know the language, customs and culture.

As for his medical condition, what medications he is on can give one a strong clue as to what type of epilepsy he has. It's not a diagnosis, but it can give a reporter a basis for asking those types of questions.

Also, as a complete aside, really more tangential to the conversation than anything else, (though it may have been reassuring once Snowden took asylum in Russia) the Russians are no slouches when it comes to epilepsy research. They have at least one proprietary, Russian-produced, prescription-required anti-seizure drug of their creation (apparently it can be bought outside Russia w/o a prescription and it's a black market "club drug" hit in the UK). They also have available many of the newer drugs for patients in the RF.
For example, they have given approval for a "monotherapy" (one a day) drug out of Asia and it recently became available in Russia. They are most assuredly "in the pack" on this subject when it comes to R and D, and they have their share of studies up and running and/or published in the medical magazines.