Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Sharon has massive cerebral hemorrhage

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has suffered an extremely massive cerebral hemorrhage. It sounds as though it might not be survivable, or, if it is, he is likely to be profoundly disabled.

The AP article describes the stroke as the type caused by a bleed, rather than the more common clot type, the latter being the variety of stroke that Sharon had (in a very mild version) a few weeks ago.

So it turns out that, in this case, the cure may have been far worse than the original disease. Like most stroke victims, Sharon was taking anti-coagulants to forestall the chance of the occurrence of another clot-type stroke--in his case, until a heart defect that had contributed to his first stroke was repaired. This latest and far more severe cerebral event occurred just hours before the heart surgery was due to begin.

Unfortunately, Sharon appears to be among that small percentage of patients in whom the blood thinners turn out to be terribly counter-productive. Of course, we'll never know, since the medications might have prevented another clot-type stroke, which could have caused a similar effect. Perhaps the truth is that Sharon just ran out of time.

Very unsettling news, although no doubt there are those who are celebrating. I am not among them; Sharon has been a far better Prime Minister than I ever expected him to be.

I would expect that Yehudit at Kesher Talk will have many updates on the matter. My guess is that Little Green Footballs will, as well.

17 Comments:

At 7:08 PM, January 04, 2006, Blogger al fin said...

Yes, controlling the coagulation system of the body is an extremely delicate balancing act, especially in older people with multiple medical problems.

Replacing all the blood vessels would be more efficacious, but is extremely difficult without nanotechnological assistance.

Sharon was a strong leader, a legend in such a young country. Israelis will tolerate only strong leaders at this point.

 
At 9:18 PM, January 04, 2006, Blogger SteveR said...

This is very sad news indeed.

I was not one of those who cheered when Sharon became PM, but I soon discovered that he has been mischaracterized all these years.

He has never been an idealogue, not a religious one nor a nationalist one. His overarching concern has always been the security of Israel. If that meant striking back at Palestinian terror, that's what he did. If that meant negotiating with Abbas for a two-state solution, that's what he did.

Sharon has been a very good Prime Minister.

 
At 10:01 PM, January 04, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sharon has been a strong leader, and this is not good news for Israel or the Middle East. I wonder how soon we will see the Palestinians dancing in the streets?

On a related note: I see the Egyptians are having big troubles with the Palestinians in Gaza. I coulda told 'em!

 
At 11:43 PM, January 04, 2006, Blogger Judith said...

Palestinians ARE dancing in the streets. Which seems clueless to me - isn't this an opening for Bibi? And he won't be as nice to them as Sharon was.

 
At 11:55 PM, January 04, 2006, Blogger John Salmon said...

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At 7:03 AM, January 05, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is a sad event for israel at a very precarious time. One wonders who will lead Israel now and in what direction.

 
At 10:16 AM, January 05, 2006, Blogger goesh said...

Transfatty acids and processed sugar are real killers. He was a great tank commander, a decorated combat veteran and I wish him all the best. Israel is the only true ally the US has in that neck of the woods and God only knows the number of attacks on Western interests that have been thwarted thanks to Mossad and their ability to penetrate islamic fundamentalist groups. It seems large framed Americans with their blue eyes and light complexions and crisp mid-west accents have trouble sneaking around 'over there' and infiltrating nefarious groups intent on the destruction of civilization via any means possible. Mr. N would of course make an excellent replacement and would be much more adept at PR, much needed by little Israel in this day and age, given the 143,000, or is it 144K, UN attempts at issuing formal condemnations of Israel. I had been harsh in my criticism of IDF withdrawal from certain areas but it is readily apparent the wisdom of one goy in America compared to many Israeli administrators is quite miniscule. Indeed, the palis are at each other's throats, imploding if you will. Pali implosion, it does have a nice ring to it if you stop and think about it. One could almost make a poem of it. Surely they are worthy of a good poem, I mean they are exempt from the war on terrorism after all. Yup, armed and masked terrorists gather all the time over there and the gunships stay grounded. Where in the hell is the Irgun when needed most, eh? Imagine the suprises they could have for such armed and masked gatherings. I may have to start a blog - A Goy's Advice To IDF by Goy Goesh. Damn, that is almost poetic in and of itself.

 
At 7:13 PM, January 05, 2006, Blogger Judith said...

"It seems large framed Americans with their blue eyes and light complexions and crisp mid-west accents have trouble sneaking around 'over there'"

Not to mention that half of all Israelis grew up in Arab countries or are children of same.

When I write I use "Pal", it's just easier to type.

 
At 9:24 PM, January 05, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bob... what about calling a Pakistani a "Pak" or "Paki" ? My Pakistani friend does it all the time. It's just easier to say/type. Sometimes things are convenient, not racist.

 
At 5:55 AM, January 06, 2006, Blogger Ymarsakar said...

I wish people would stop bringing up the racism card. I shortened the Japanese to "Jap" and the guy I was talking to mentioned "you just can't let it go, hrm?".

Can't let what go, WWII? Sorry, wasn't even born near that time, don't bring up shit that don't belong in the 21st century and maybe it won't for once.

The idiocy of the past, is cleansed each generation. But it is the old, teaching the new, that perpetuates injustices and myths.

Israel is not so much of an ally as it is a proxy nation. And it hasn't been of much use to us after the Cold War ended. A lot of things has been that way. A lot of dead end alliances, like France, hanging on the US's coattails milking us for stuff they know we wouldn't pay for if we had a choice. (UN)

The old miasmas still clinging to the new, and makes everyone sick and tired.

Nobody will use the word Jap anymore, simply because they are scared of being misunderstood. Keeping the meaning of that word alive, also keeps hate alive by proxy. Until everyone that remembers the meaning of that word dies, the idea itself can't be killed. It's just like Vietnam. Stuff that lives on in people cause they keep it alive for whatever reason.

Hard to kill an idea when people keep teaching others about it.

 
At 8:07 AM, January 06, 2006, Blogger goesh said...

I thought a JAP was a Jewish American Princess?? Palis are an admixture of people coming from Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan, all nicely intermingled, and many of them were displaced by invading Arab armies that sought to eradicate Jews in the Jewish homeland of Israel. The palis in part because of their hodge-podge origins and allegiance to various tribes and nations, became disgruntled and found it most convenient to blame the Jews for their problems, after all it is well known that Jews cause earth quakes, famine and plague. Many palis had made legitimate contracts with Jews for the sale and purchase of land but because Arab type folks had displaced them in large numbers during the unsuccessful attempted invasions of Israel, the palis decided it would be the most convenient to claim that the Jews had stolen their land. One bunch of palis, the PLO, decided that Jordan was their rightful place to occupy and control and they caused problems in Jordan but lo and behold! the PLO was forced into a condition called expulsion and many thousands of palis were killed - some say as many as 70,000. Hating the Jordanians and the Syrians and Egyptians but not being very close to them, the palis then decided it would be best to vent their frustrations by killing Jewish women and children, and men at times, by blowing them up with bombs in icecream parlors and discos and wedding receptions and other assorted resturants and of course on buses while the Jews were on their way to cause more famine and plague and earthquakes.

So you see Bob, palis are pretty much a mongrel group, though of course not all are bad folks that need large holes blown in their heads, but many do and I have made it a practice to hold people that need killing in contempt, though by no means do I consider the word "pali" to be derogatory. Since I think a fair number of palis need killing, I probably should call them rag-heads or camel-jockeys, or even gooks, but it is just a whole lot easier to call this admixture of self-pitying, corrupt and homicidal people palis. I hope you don't take it too personal Bob when I tell you to fuc*-off and mind your own business, after all, there is a war on against terrorism and since a number of groups of palis are the real-deal when it comes to groups of terrorists, at least according to the US State Department, it seems only fitting that they be deemed and labeled other than brothers, compatriots and allies. Eh, Bob? I kind of have to draw a rural analogy with the palis. Growing up on a farm and in hot weather, every once in a while a rabid animal would come around threatening not only us humans, but our livestock. Guess what, Bob? We would grab a gun, kill the rabid animal and quickly bury it deep in the ground. I really think this needs to be done when identified groups of terrorists gather, like at hamas funerals, wearing masks and toting AK-47s and RPGs - get a gun, shoot them in the head and bury them deep. It is best to handle rabid animals in this manner, rather than employing moral persuasion.

 
At 3:51 PM, January 06, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Megan,

Having lived in London for a year, I'm pretty confident in saying "Paki" is definitely a slur there. When I heard it there, it was usually from a white Briton and usually followed an adjective begining with an "f" and ending with an "ing."

 
At 4:13 PM, January 06, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Goesh,

That was hilarious. You're like one of those liberals who posts as a cliche conservative nut job to make conservatives look bad. Right?

 
At 12:16 AM, January 08, 2006, Blogger goesh said...

Bob,

Fu**-off again. Who appointed you moral guardian? you're like one of those guys from the Viagra commercials that tries to emulate the rest of us. Right? I think you are soft, literally and figuratively. Right? Now that's hilarious, Bob. Or is it Bahbie?

 
At 4:22 PM, January 08, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Goesh,

Actually I'm a conservative who doesn't like bigots like you giving us a bad name. You really need to take some prozac or something. You should check out "The Big Lebowski." You remind me so much of the character Walter played by John Goodman.

Megan,

If you have any doubt that Goesh did not intended "pali" as a slur just check out the his last two responses above.

 
At 1:57 AM, January 09, 2006, Blogger Ymarsakar said...

Some people need to get a thicker skin. If words upset people, then I don't even want to know what a few rounds of .45 will do to them.

Bob asked, "how about Palestinian" and Goesh write a long post explaining his position. Then Bob returns with an anecdote of idiots living in London, with their suicide shit and their home grown terroists, and tries to bring it to conservative America. Okay, maybe the last is over the top, but the first part is true.

Other than bridge London stupidity with Liberal PCness, Bob reposted with a personal attack.

That's about it. Don't even need stochastic analysis.

I think an armed society really is a polite society, if you have duels, and if you have rules preventing the majority of lethalities.

 
At 4:15 PM, January 09, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ymarsakar,

Hey, I'm all for arming myself. Hell, I've got a couple of great rifles. But words are still powerful-- those you use or don't use. Example: Southern conservatives have gained a lot of power by refraining from using nigger in public and voting republican.

That's my story.

 

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