Gwynhafyr

Now that is an image I could have done without.

... and so easily confused by end tags, grammar and spelling. That made me giggle.

Actually the Second Amendment says the Americans have the right to bare arms to form militias. This was originally because there was very little formal policing around when the constitution was formed and therefore it was written in to the consitution to allow small towns and farms to protect themselves. It doesn't say that every American has the right to bear arms for self protection, that is a common misconception.

Looks like it was Alzheimer's disease that got him in the end. Might be the explaination to the rather odd and agressive appearance in Shooting Columbine. Absolutely adored him as an actor, absolutely hated his stance on guns. Always found it strange that someone who portrayed so many religious related characters would be such a bigot in real life. I guess that shows how good and actor he really was.

Aww this is a sad one for me. I really liked him. Shame.

I have recently been diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) and my treatment and the treatment of those like me is now under threat. Please could you read the following message and if you feel able to please click on the link and sign the petition. I and hundreds like me will be very grateful. Today (March the 3rd 2008) sees the publication of a set of preliminary recommendations made by the National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence (NICE), which if implemented will mean people who in future are newly diagnosed with the life threatening lung disease Pulmonary Hypertension (PH), or existing PH patients requiring a change in their treatment regime, will have the options available to them curtailed. NICE were not looking at the drugs used in the treatment of PAH and asking if they work or are safe because they are all licensed for the treatment of this disease. The questions they asked is this: Are the drugs cost effective and by this they mean is the benefit derived from the drugs worth paying for? The charity PHA-UK (Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK) are mounting a challenge to these preliminary recommendations and we are trying to get as many people as humanely possible to sign an online petition in support of our campaign. If you click through the link below, you'll be able to find out more, sign the online petition and view a series of films on a cross section of patients who are on the treatments that NICE would deny future patients. We need to get as many people to sign up by the 24th of March, so we'd be grateful if you'd pass this email on to those you can trust to sign the online petition and send it on to others that they trust do the same. http://www.pha-uk.com/petition_nice_introduction.asp The treatment and care provided by the NHS via the 8 specialist centres throughout the UK is the envy of the world. PHA-UK want to keep it that way and ensure that PH patients have every treatment option available to them to provide the quality and quantity of life they deserve. Thanks for your consideration.

Done, and good luck on Monday. I've done select committees myself, and there's no need to get too nervous. Some hints, for ehat thet're worth: 1 - You know more than they do 2 - NICE will get a much tougher ride as they are publicly accountable. 3 - The setup looks inquisitorial, but the atmosphere generally isn't. 4 - If they ask something you don't know the answer to, just say so and offer to send the information later. That way, you can build up an ongoing dialogue. 5 - It's always quite warm in the committee rooms, so don't wear too many layers. You'll do splendidly, I'm sure - I just hope they take note. Thank for this advice. It sounds a lot less imposing than I thought.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. You don't know how much this means. Yes Yanks do count. The American branch of the PHA are our biggest supporters. I'm off to the House of Commons on Monday to represent people with the condition at a select committee meeting. The place is going to be packed with MP and Lords. I'm nervous as hell.

Well it looks like he only just beat Thatcher as she's been rushed into hospital and seems all set to do a Suharto. I'm surprised she isn't on this years list as she now seems a dead (pardon the pun) cert to be next to shrug off this mortal coil.

Me too, though thank goodness that it isn't Jeb Bush, he's even more gung-ho than George. Personally I think Obama might just win it.

They'll probably wait until 3am in the morning and then leak it online, like they did this time.

Damn! I got my e-mail notification of a new post on this thread and was working myself up thinking he'd finally done the decent thing. Life is full of disappointment.

What a shame, I quite like the lingerers. I'd also secretly bet that he'd make it in to february just to annoy us.

Why? I'm enjoying it and so are a few others I suspect. If you don't like the thread stop reading it.

Ahhh, come on. For sheer entertainment value and a whole new lexicon of medical terminology like "brain failure" it's been hard to beat. And the latest one, hot off the press...... http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/24/...sia-Suharto.php "JAKARTA, Indonesia: Former Indonesian dictator Suharto ate half a biscuit Thursday as his health improved marginally but he remained in critical condition and attached to a ventilator, doctors said." then further down the same article "...has suffered multiple organ failure and is on a ventilator, dialysis machine and is being fed through a tube". Does it count as "eating" if they've fired a custard cream down a tube??? Given his latest supposed problem maybe a digestive biscuit would have been more appropriate?? Of course it's a hoax, but I'm enjoying the farcical execution of it. Not as much as I'd enjoy his actual execution though. I agree if nothing else its very entertaining and at least has given us something to talk about. I wait with baited breath for the next episode in the saga. Its like a dreadful Aussie soap, so bad you can't help but get hooked.

If he did die on the operating table I would not like to be the surgeon doing the op. He'd be accused of murder by Suharto's supporters and therefore public enemy number one. He'd also be accused of murder by those who want Suharto to survive long enough for a trail, and so would also be public enemy number one. No way would either side be ready to accept it was because people die during operations, especially the very old and very ill.

I agree Well I was glued yesterday playing the 'will she, won't she' game on whether Britney would turn up to her court hearing and how late she'd be. You know it's a pity Brtiney wasn't included in this years list because I'm willing to bet on at least on suicide attempt between now and 2009.

Still not gone and once again slightly improved from yesterday. He's a bit like a yo-yo isn't he.

Agreed! Maybe its something to do with divine retribution. The more horrible you are in life the longer you take to die. Sharon, Fidel, Arafat and now Suharto all seem to be following the same path and were all far from saintly. Mind you my arguement falls down with Saddam but only because Bush wanted his pound of flesh, I suspect he could have gone on for years suffering from something horrible, if given a chance.

BBC are now saying he has improved slightly.

I was going to ask if anyone had an update. I've not heard or read anything since early last week so was wondering what the state of play was. He could be another Sharon of course and survive for months on life support until we all lose interest.

Glad we're off to an early start but sad that it had to be him. I told my 14 year old about it this morning and his reaction was 'who?' Disgraceful! Anyway back to the subject at hand. Does anyone know whether he returned to bee-keeping after his great achievement? Just curious.

Oh rats!

According to the BBC this morning he is now 'critical' after his condition deteriorated overnight. His condition is now described as 'stable' but he has been put on kidney dialysis and needs a second pacemaker operation. I doubt he's get the pacemaker, I don't think he sounds well enough to survive the op. Looks like we might be off to and early start for 2008. (Sorry didn't see the article posted above. I heard the news on the radio).

Oh I agree there has to be a limit to any medical intervention but I still think all the stops will be pulled out to keep him going for as long as possible. It always amazes me that an individual can be so vital to a countrys stability that he has to be kept alive at all costs. If it were you or me our relatives would be nagged to turn the machines off within a week because they 'need the bed'. Christopher Reeve had the best care possible and he still took the deep dive to never never. There is only so much modern science can do. Fair point and I don't for one minute think Sharon will last as long as Reeve did. Reeve was fitter to start with and remained mentally active right to the end, we know Sharon is probably brain dead and he had been a candidate for a heart attack or stroke for a good few years prior to the stroke. Also there is a difference between being injured by external forces (Reeve) and having the body injure itself (Sharon). However this is all academic as there is nothing to say that Sharon isn't already in a freezer somewhere waiting for the appropriate time to 'die'. After all we only have someone's word that he's still with us and family can be paid off or intimidated.