GossipGabe

Exactly this song popped into my mind when I heard about the Nobel Prize. Quite an unconventional laureate; I wonder whether this is just a one-off thing or the beginning of an era? (If the latter, Leonard Cohen could be the second guy to be honoured for song lyrics, although they better hurry since he's at the end of his journey now.)

If he does, they might just do away with the monarchy altogether (along with its highly anachronistic lèse-majesté laws) like they did in Nepal. (It'd be a good opportunity to do so since the new King is relatively unpopular, like Gyanendra was in Nepal.)

Just the usual stuff: tense media race to be first to cover "the story". Some false starts are only natural since everyone knows his death is imminent. I'd only take these reports seriously if they came from (or were corroborated by) the Palace itself or (online versions of) Thai broadsheets or major Western news agencies (e.g. Reuters).

I won't click on a bogus URL ending in .png. Besides, Fidel's death would be breaking news on some major news sites.

That's hardly surprising. Even if Carter were perfectly healthy, at his age doctors would likely recommend a less busy schedule; but his cancer definitely meant that he has to focus on what's important, and attending the funeral of Peres is something that the "youngsters" (e.g. Billy at the tender age of 70) should do.

Fahk sake, anyone at all can get a personal thread in these parts nowadays.You couldn't just post that shit in the Political Frailty forum? That skill eluded you? SC Dude, this thread's been here longer that you have. Not just that, but she's reasonably old, not very healthy and perhaps the most well known among all the Burmese politicians, despite being sidelined by the junta for a long time. Like a Burmese Mandela?

That debate seems more appropriate in the who will win the US Prez thread. Unless of course your high hopes are relating to her mortality. Well, some people say that those coughing fits and loss of consciousness were exaggerated by his opponents and were caused by pneumonia, some others insist she's hiding something from the public yet again. While I am a bit skeptical about these cancer rumours, the debate will let us assess whether she seems fit for the job (or fit for the list).

He claimed that he needed the money for his treatment rather than the funeral. So even if the drugs didn't stop the progression of his motor neuron disease, they might still slow it down enough to win him a few months. This case is also interesting from a legal perspective. Trusting his lawyer enough to give him money to invest without a proper formal contract was a really dumb decision. I can't imagine why someone would trust their lawyer over family and friends.

LOL @ all these false reports. I don't think it'd take much longer though.

I kind of agree that just because he's under suspicion, it does not make him a particularly likely candidate. (And his gf's been dead since 2015, so that's not news.) However, it'll be interesting to see how this case evolves.

That's what we call death erection, isn't it? Although you seem to get it for cheaper than most people, poor David Carradine had to hang himself to enjoy it.

Major breaking news story? In South Africa, surely. Everywhere in the West? Nah, I don't think so. He'd probably make the front page on major news sites, but hardly the most prominent spot. He's a symbol of black resistance under the Apartheid, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a South African hero, just like Mandela, but the latter was also a president and perhaps the most influential post-Apartheid politician in SA to date.

I think the answer is obvious: they want to harvest some clicks. They have strong incentives to report Any story that happens to originate from a janitor that works in the hospital where he was treated, or just happens to know the janitor that allegedly works in the hospital where he was treated. Even if the rumours are false, they are guaranteed to be the First to cover the story, so any subsequent report should cite Them as the primary source as the news spreads. Yeah, it'll soon turn out to be a hoax, but they aready have the clicks, don't they? On the other hand, if the rumour happens to be true, they might be the First site that covers the story. Even if subsequent news reports cite a more reliable source (hospital's spokesman), they might win the race for the social media since they might be shared/linked faster than their rivals. And social media people rarely care about reliability.

It's seeming to be fake. No major news sources are headlining it.

Who the f**k is he?Lead singer of a band called the Tragically Hip. The Tragically Hip even toured with The Who before. Very well known in Canada, and Gord Downie could definitely be obitable. Although you rarely listen to people's suggestions, so...We don't do 'Famous in their own back yards'. Downie is guaranteed a QO, there's no question about that. Alright, he's not a household name outside of Canada, but Joost van der Westhuizen, Sandy Gall and Robert M Pirsig are by no means household names. Besides, Gord Downie is far more famous than the likes of Fergie Frederiksen who had a spot on the 2011 list, so I see no reason why Downie can't have a spot on DL 2017. Fergie Frederiksen was a mistake. In fact, a notorious double mistake, since he didn't die in the year when he was supposed to, and didn't get the sort of obit that he was supposed to. I guess that he might have been chosen after one of the committee members read "Former Toto singer has incurable cancer" in the news and mistakenly believed that since Toto had been famous, he too should've been. In fact, it would have required some more research to discover that he had a brief and unremarkable tenure at Toto, and that he had nothing to do with their biggest hits like Africa etc. But a one-off mistake is hardly the gold standard to which the DL should adhere. Sure, not everyone cares about Rugby, but at least Joost v. d. W. is known to Rugby enthusiasts. OTOH, is Gord Downie known to rockers within the UK? Did he or his band have any single/album that charted in the UK?

Well, it's mostly a question of taste, but with many thematic threads available, we might not need a separate thread for every dying guy that merely has "a high chance of being obitable" as opposed to being household names. Sure, he might be a lucrative DDP pick. But DL candidate? Not really.

Not looking like dying anytime soon then He might be safe for this year, but we're talking about a metastatic melanoma that had spread to multiple distant sites (liver, 4 different spots in the brain) before it was treated. If the cancer ever comes back, they might run out of viable options pretty fast, so he'd be a good bet for 2017. Or at least better than Dukakis or McCain.

http://hungarytoday.hu/news/sandor-csoori-renowned-hungarian-poet-writer-dies-aged-86-23052 Virtually unknown outside Hungary and mostly known for his politics and an allegedly anti-semitic article (rather than his poems) in his native country, Csoóri was eulogized as "the conscience of our Nation" by the Hungarian government. http://www.kormany.hu/hu/hirek/bucsu-csoori-sandortol (link in Hungarian)

I'm not so sure about that. IF he survives 2016 (and thats a very questionable starting point), he might even linger on for a while, perhaps even 2-3 years, cause if the stroke has seriously affected his vital functions, he'd be dead within a month or two. If it hasn't, quality healthcare could extend his life. As a former president and prime minister, he'd likely be attended by multiple nurses, doctors etc. OTOH, his quality of life is a different question. I don't think that he'll ever be able to work again. I have known some people that were mere shadows of their former selves after their strokes, but could still live a few more years, sometimes even a decade.

As it was stated many times previously, "critical but stable" is a quite frequently used term in press statements on medical conditions, but it's kind of an oxymoron since "critical" in itself means that "vital signs are unstable and not within normal limits". The American Hospital Association discourages the use of this term.

He's not on this year's list though.

Yep. About the same as Kirk DouglasEDIT: I swear I saw his name in one of the early 90s, can't seem to find him. I did find though that Fidel Castro was first on the death in 94 Kirk was first present on the List in 1997 at the age of 80. He suffered a severe stroke in 1996, so that provides an explanation for his relatively early inclusion. OTOH, AFAIK he didn't really have any major health scare before that.

Any chance of him being assassinated on live TV? Could be interesting.

This is a real gem. I was a little bit worried that I might get sued for calling the Prince “a parasite”, but the wording of that petition is an honest and open admission that this is a correct description for the man. Kinda ironic for Gabor, since she had a similar relationship with Conrad Hilton, just the other way around.

AFAIK there's not much to sort out about the succession. According to the relevant Thai Law only the King may designate an heir, or remove an heir from the line of succession. And nothing indicates that he has any plans to do so, or if he even has the mental faculties to do so. So despite being hugely unpopular, the heir apparent Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn is almost certain to succeed after the demise of the current King. Of course, his lack of popularity could then offer the government a chance for a kind of coup d'état à la Nepal, namely to abolish the monarchy altogether.