Ariel Sharon on Respirator

[pippadaisy[$]]

... after suffering "significant stroke"

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/...ron/index.html

[hadassahchana[$]]

This one is bad, apparently. I was reading about it on A7 when the article I was reading changed. The original article stated that he had a hole in his heart and was going to have surgery tomorrow. The changed version said he had had a very significant stroke and that Ehud Olmert has been made acting PM. I'm trying to lisetn to it all on the radio now - he's just been taken into surgery.


Cindy

[hadassahchana[$]]

Update: severe cerebral hemorrhage, in surgery now, paralyzed from waist down. Not good, I am guessing.

[poseidon]

Wow. What is really sad is that tomorrow he was due to go in for surgery to prevent further strokes.

[erik_kosberg]

Any idea why they drove through the Negev for an hour in an ambulance rather than medevacing him by helicopter?

[pippadaisy[$]]

From what I've read, he just felt sort of off. They didn't think it was a big deal at that point.

[hadassahchana[$]]

Yep. He felt dizzy, and so they had decided to move up the surgery to repair the hole in his heart. While he was waiting, he had a massive stroke.

I can't get any of the Israeli news sites to load this morning, so I don't know what's going on.


Cindy

[poseidon]

I think that his new Forward party is going to have a heck of a time building a coalition now. Nobody had the presence or balls that he had.

My prediction is that Netanyahu will win.

[erik_kosberg]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/05/in...05medical.html

The huge stroke suffered last night by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, caused by uncontrolled bleeding into the brain, is likely to be devastating and nearly impossible to treat because Mr. Sharon, 77, is taking blood thinners, neurologists say.

Although Mr. Sharon was taken to surgery to try to remove the blood pouring into his skull, it was a desperate move, neurologists said.

Hemorrhages in the brain while the patient is taking blood thinners "are usually devastating events," said Dr. Matthew E. Fink, chief of the Division of Stroke and Critical Care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. "This sounds really terrible."

Statistically, the likelihood of death is greater than 80 percent, Dr. Fink said.

[theworm[$]]

[erik_kosberg]

Pat Robertson has it all figured out.

Why does anyone take that moron seriously?

[theworm[$]]

why does his rubbish get reported?

[poseidon]

erik_kosberg said

Pat Robertson has it all figured out.

Why does anyone take that moron seriously?

There is, of course, the possibility that he could be right.

I don't buy it, but that doesn't excuse the possibility.

wormie said

why does his rubbish get reported?

The same reason that Farakkahn (sp?) and other morons get the limelight. They're connected. Robertson owns his own TV station, so that makes it a bit easier.

[theworm[$]]

poseidon said

There is, of course, the possibility that he could be right.

I don't buy it, but that doesn't excuse the possibility.

The Rev. Pat Robertson said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is being punished by God for dividing the Land of Israel.

Or it could have been a voodoo doll.

[AuntieEmma[$]]

I think that in the last few years, Sharon became committed to forging a peace -- I believe he wanted that to become his legacy. Some people thought that the withdrawal from Gaza was a ruse to cover up an expansion in the West Bank, but I think it was a sincere step taken with peace in mind, and I think the Palestinians and their supporters should have been a lot more appreciative.

And Robertson's glee at Sharon's being near death just gives more proof, IMO, that Sharon was on an honest, and effective, path towards peace, because peace is what is most threatening to Robertson. As to why Robertson's opinions should be reported -- the opinions of the American Christian right do have a big influence in what happens in Israel. For anyone interested in this, I recommend a book I recently read, End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount

Anyway, I'm sad that Sharon is so ill -- I do think he had become a force for progress, and maybe, in the way that only Nixon could have gone to China, only Sharon could have forged a lasting peace. But hopefully he's not the only one, and maybe it is time for a new generation -- Arafat and Sharon had dominated the scene for so long.

[AuntieEmma[$]]

Actually, if God was sending any kind of "message" to us via Sharon's stroke, it would probably be something like "Hey folks, don't let yourself get so overweight! Pay attention to your health!"

Anyway, I think it's sad that Sharon is not going to be able to finish the work that he had started.

As far as what's going to happen next -- here's some speculation from Ha'aretz. I'm not going to speculate myself -- Israeli internal politics are so complicated, I can never keep up.

P.S. Pat Robertson has company in gloating over Sharon's condition -- the holocaust-denying Iranian president, and the group Islamic Jihad. Maybe they could all get together and have a little party.

[hadassahchana[$]]

Yep, and you should read quotes from Hamas leaders. Unappreciative doesn't even come close.

Cindy

[poseidon]

AuntieEmma said

And Robertson's glee at Sharon's being near death just gives more proof, IMO, that Sharon was on an honest, and effective, path towards peace, because peace is what is most threatening to Robertson.

I don't think one has a damned thing to do with the other. Sharon was on an honest path toward peace. I didn't agree with him (we can get into why, but 99.99% of it revolves around the Palestinians and others not being satisfied until the Jews are dead and gone), but I honored and respected his motives. I believe that he honestly believed this was the path to peace (this is very hard for me, I seem to be talking like the man is dead, and I don't mean to, but it is totally unlikely that he will recover and be in power again). I believe that he found a very temporary solution to a very complex problem.

I also know that you tend to equate nutfudges like Robertson to the viewpoints of what most Christians believe. I think you're way out of the ballpark, especially on this account. For instance, my church is always praying for peace in the middle East. I don't consider my church to be out of the christian mainstream, despite it being a church that espouses "conservative" christian values. I have friends who do not attend my church who also pray continuously for peace.

Peace may be threatening to Robertson. I stopped wondering what went through that man's mind years ago. But, it pains many christians to learn about the violence that happens in Israel at the hands of terrorists. And, when the rare and occasional Israeli terrorist rears his ugly head, it pains us as well, and for me, at least, even harder.

[AuntieEmma[$]]

poseidon said

I also know that you tend to equate nutfudges like Robertson to the viewpoints of what most Christians believe.

Why do you think that?

I mean, it's not true, and I've said repeatedly that that's not what I believe. But what I'm curious about here is why you think (actually, why you say you "know") that I believe something that I do not.

(When you say that you "know" that I believe something that I do not, in fact, believe, is it because you have been told that Christians are being persecuted by people like me? Or is there some other reason for your "knowledge"?)

What I actually do believe is that Pat Robertson is representative of the beliefs of the premillenial dispensationalists, who I think represent about 20% of American Christians. 20% is not the same thing as "most." It is a minority, but one that bears watching because it does play a significant role in world events.

I think you're way out of the ballpark, especially on this account. For instance, my church is always praying for peace in the middle East. I don't consider my church to be out of the christian mainstream, despite it being a church that espouses "conservative" christian values. I have friends who do not attend my church who also pray continuously for peace.

Peace may be threatening to Robertson. I stopped wondering what went through that man's mind years ago. But, it pains many christians to learn about the violence that happens in Israel at the hands of terrorists. And, when the rare and occasional Israeli terrorist rears his ugly head, it pains us as well, and for me, at least, even harder.

I'm not going to get into your beliefs about Israel with you, because you will just yell at me for the next two years, and it's not worth it to me.

[poseidon]

AuntieEmma said

Why do you think that?

Because it is how you come across.

I mean, it's not true, and I've said repeatedly that that's not what I believe. But what I'm curious about here is why you think (actually, why you say you "know") that I believe something that I do not.

If you've said it, then I've missed it each and every time.

I'm not going to get into your beliefs about Israel with you, because you will just yell at me for the next two years, and it's not worth it to me.

I'm glad you're not into starting pissing matches anymore. But, again, you're wrong. I'd not yell at you, and for similar reasons -- it ain't worth my blood pressure to do so.

[brian_igo]

Ah, I was wondering if anyone had heard the latest from Reverend Batshit J. Crazee.


Carry on.

[AuntieEmma[$]]

poseidon said

Because it is how you come across.

Ok, fine. If it makes you happy, I'll say