Canadian Paul

I'm conflicted too. On one hand he's younger(ish), on the other, conflicting reports confuse me. In the end, I'll probably keep him on.

Ah good, finally something to do other than study for my last final. The following may helpful to all, if I may have a go... As we saw with Freeman, things are not always what they seem. Thought Drake would be gone before him, but apparently not. If you've got more certain wagers, I'd leave him off. Definitely going to die, but I'm a bit wary of hedging my bets on the condemned after Hussain... And speaking of Hussain... we have Hussein! I'm leaving them all of HDP as a matter of personal pride, but this is one matter that certainly warrants further discussion. Dead in five years? Certainly. Dead next year? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps worth the gamble given the new age restructuring. See above After Nguema, I'm a bit wary with taken Western assessments of the health of African leaders. I'm leaning towards keeping him, but only because there is a broad consensus that he's a goner soon. He's got a tricky disease. Also in the same category as Ray Kennedy if I'm not mistaken. I'll probably end up leaving them off since I'll not be able to decide between the two. Deffo keep on my list, but as I said I'm a tad biased. Still, he's doing quite poorly... active as per the posted news articles, but not exactly in good health. I suppose this one depends on your personal assessment of how sick he is. Missing his birthday was a bad sign... but it'd be hard to justify putting him, Pavarotti, Sharon and Ford all on the same list... I don't trust the news reports enough to believe that he's that close to death, and at 80 years old it's probably not worth the risk. Absolute keep I'd say, all the signs point to him not lasting out next year, if he evens makes it that far. Back in April his family said that they didn't expect him to last the year, and now they're keeping tight-lipped, despite the fact that he had asked for all details about his illness to be made public. Leave him off I'd say. He's supposedly cured of his cancer, and again, age is not worth the risk. I'm going to try and find out what time his Christmas Special is on tonight and get back to you on this one. CarolAnn - this is a job for you, because I KNOW he'll be on in Texas (they're pre-empting something else for it an atheists got all pissy) Doesn't recognize visitors anymore, and I personally hope the miserable old bastard carks it soon, but if Reagan is any indicator, he might go on for a while yet, especially since Reagan had it for 11 or 12 years - Shamir's had it for 3 or 4 tops. Won't be able to tell until nearer to the end of December, though personally I think he's full of sh*t. Wouldn't hurt to be proven wrong in this case though. Again, really depends on how sick you believe he is. I'm fiddling with his position on my list, leaning towards off, but unsure at the moment. I have a feeling that if I add him, come January 1 he'll be up on stage telling everyone how moon men cured him. Definitely keep I'd say, he can't possibly hang on much longer. One of the 90+s that are worth keeping I'd say. *Whew* From the above analysis, I'd say drop Drake, d'Oliviera, Vidal, Forsythe and Shamir for sure. Wait to see about Graham and Pinochet. Past that, I guess it's all subjective. Hope that helped someone.

103 years old today!

I think old Pav has to be on my list for next year but a word of caution, although pancreatic cancer is not easily treatable and tends to spread fairly quickly it is possible to live for more than a year if the diagnosis is early. He's not a racing certainty for 2007. A few bars of Nessun Dorma each evening might just get him in to 2008. Unlikely, I admit, but he could hang in there a little longer than might be supposed. I agree there Godot. It's a bad one to have, but the five year survival rates are... well five year. He and Ford keep bouncing on and off my lists...

Boo hoo. If he dies, I think I slide down to 83rd place.

Review of latest performance. Not too often you can say that about good a DL candidate.

Ah yes, where to begin with this one? When did I personally claim that he was a criminal? Now that you've brought it up though, I will make that claim. A man who was put on trial and found guilty is a criminal by dictionary definition. Nothing subjective about that. So if I risk my life for someone else, that means I can kill people? Why didn't you tell me before! True no doubt, but if kill 2000 people and you kill 10,000, does that mean my crimes can be forgotten? Hell, there's a lot of serial killers out there, I should at least be able to get away with killing two or three people I don't like. As a Middle Eastern Studies major, yes in fact, it did. But as the courts have decided, and my subjective analysis of the evidence leads to, Sadaam was clearly excessive in his methods - he didn't need to send people through industrial paper shredders and boil them in acid. Weren't you the one who, just one section ago, defended by Sadaam by claiming that he did what was necessary to prevent the killing of innocents? I never liked the idea of going in there in the first place and I'm opposed to the death penalty in principle - but I'm not going to go picket to have it abolished in this case either. We can have a discussion about moral extremes and their place in generalized debate at some other juncture. As for Bush and Rumsfeld, my moderate side tells me to go through the picky details that enhance the differences, but my blunt side wants to agree with you. I love how you trash Americans on a forum that's clearly British and, even if you hadn't noticed that, you responded to someone who's name was Canadian Paul (and I might add, to a complete objective piece of news at that). So I doubt that I'll have to pay any price for any American stupidity, except maybe the time I lost pointing out yours. My opinion on the Iraq War I'll save for some other time perhaps.

I'm leaving him off... I really don't see it being worth the risk, especially since he's not exactly guaranteed a UK obit. Probably put him on the WDP next year if he's still around then though.

Sadaam appeals death sentence.

Rigged poll! Now my vote is nilled and I can't vote again!

This reminds me a lot of the George Best poll... and we all remember what happened with that... Though for many other reasons, I voted this week, because if it's not this week, it's probably not this year, and I don't think he's got that much more time left.

Nah, it's pointless having him in next years DDP - he's over 90. I've got him this years DDP and if he goes he goes and if not, he won't in my 2007 list coz he's too old and well known. Nonagenarians in the 07 list would have to be relatively obscure so as to pick up a unique pick point Points are still points. Five dead 90 year olds are still worth more than three dead 60 year olds. If you think he's likely to die, you should put him on your list, unless you think there's 20 younger people who are more likely to die.

Pinochet improving, but still in danger. I agree with the article's estimate - if he dies, he's likely to go tomorrow or the day after.

"Stable, conscious and breathing without assistance" Wonder if it's true...

Check your PM inbox. Oh, that's easy. Emmanuel de Graffenreid and Tony Rolt. Aged 92 and 86 respectively, IIRC. Not that I trust Wikipedia, but it claims that Rolt is actually 88, if that makes a difference to anyone. Though really, I'd trust M. Lawrenson's knowledge of the facts over the above.

If he's in the hands of God, he's screwed. Seriously though, if I had to be an optimist given the factors involved, I'd say it looks like Pinochet is on the way out... I predict two more deaths for DL before the year's end, here's hoping Pinochet's one of them.

Graham to host televison program this holiday season.

Awww, she's fabulous. Her autobiography is a great read. Although that article says she's 80, has anyone (including herself) ever found out her real age? IIRC, there was no birth certificate or anything, hence she's a woman who can truly call herself ageless. Yes, they found her birth certificate.

I think in the picture he looks pretty good, despite his silly face from biting the turkey. At the very least, he looks pretty good for someone who's just about to touch 90.

Latest on Charlton Heston - family will no longer reply to inquiries on his health. Given that he advocated full disclosure of the progress of his condition some years back, I'd say he must be in very dire straits right now. Definitely one to keep on for next year.

Happy birthday w90! You're not old enough for birthday sexiness yet, instead here's birthday "stern, parental, authoritative figure." Enjoy!

ACK! I've been hiding that one on my list since like, March. No health news, but his movement has been decreased in recent years. He wasn't on my top 20, but he was on my top 30. I have so few secrets left now. Onoda update. Bad lungs, but also active in the community and partying all night. Make of it what you will.

The first one that I remember was Jim Varney, back in 2000. Before that, I had never really cared about celebrity deaths. I'm a young 'un I guess. I didn't even have my first hit until 2004, with Ronald Reagan!

With 70% burns I'd put his chances at no better than 50/50. Is Uncle Vladimir at it again? To slightly misquote a line from Monty Python, "he's getting better!"

Site updated to reflect the death of Allen Carr. Unexpected, but not as much so as Robert Altman.