Swamp Musings

One wonders about Arafat, the winner of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize and exemplary citizen of the world.

Mrs. Arafat keeps husband on life support

Where's his money?

Special to World Tribune.com
GEOSTRATEGY-DIRECT.COM
Thursday, November 4, 2004

RAMALLAH — Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has died. He was 75 years old.

Israeli and Palestinian officials said Arafat died on Thursday in a military hospital in Paris. They said Arafat was deemed clinically dead, but is still attached to life support systems on the insistence of his wife, Suha.

Palestinan Authority's Yasser Arafat: Abbas and Qurei sought to acquire his power to allocate money as the PA chairman departed for Paris. But as he boarded a Jordanian Air Force helicopter, Arafat refused. "I'm still alive, thank God, so don't worry," Arafat was quoted as saying. Reuters/Loay Abu Haykel
"He is dead, but neither Arafat's wife nor the Palestinian leadership is ready to announce this," a PA official said. "The announcement could take place on Friday."

The problem is that Arafat is still the only Palestinian official who can pay the bills. And it is unclear who, if anyone, has access to the estimated $2-3 billion in his personal Swiss bank accounts, according to a report in the current edition of Geostrategy-Direct.com. Even his wife is said to be unaware of how to access the funds. ..snip..



Actually, this is what is keeping him somewhat alive:




The evangelicals kept the Poodle from the Presidency?

Hello, Uranus? Got Any Room?
Must. Move. Away. Cannot endure more Bush. Soul about to implode. Right? Not so fast

by Mark Morford, SF Gate columnist

"After all, you don't hand over all your children the first time the flying monkeys bang on your door. You don't give up your dream house just because a bunch of gangbangers moved in down the block. You become a bit more wary and alert and you stock up on the superlative porn and the expensive wine and the deepened sense of true beauty and sex and love and hope and you hunker down and grit your teeth and dig in for the long haul, and you work on making your own goddamn garden more beautiful than even you could have imagined, because, well, the neighborhood -- and the world -- needs it, more than ever."

"The bottom line: Don't disband the newfound army just because one ugly battle was lost. Mourn, commiserate, lick wounds, lick each other, drink heavily, spit out your stale gum of disappointment and pop in a fresh clove of laughter and spiritual heat and then regroup and sober up and take an even deeper breath and watch in hot wet spiritually emboldened amusement as the cosmic circus unfolds."



Maybe this'll help the poor lefties:

Electroconvulsive Therapy Improves Mood, Quality of Life
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) improves mood, quality of life and activities of daily living in patients with major depression, according to researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center,

“Quality of life and function are improved in ECT patients as early as two weeks after the conclusion of ECT,” said Vaughn McCall, M.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine and the lead author, writing in the November issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.

ECT is a treatment for severe mental illness, especially major depression, in which a brief application of electric stimulus – a shock – is used to produce a generalized seizure. ..snip..



...wonder if this bunch will require "green" power for their ECT treatments?

On the Avowed Left Coast, a Feeling of Being Left Out


Fascinating. It's been updated since yesterday, even better.

Election 2004 Results
Robert J. Vanderbei

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this boy isn't too bright

I should be outside doing all that good Fall stuff, still yet to winterize the joint and finish up the multiple 'cane cleanup & repair. Couldn't find the latest photo of the big sweet gum in front of the house and have to do with this one from 2001. These are "before" shots all compressed for dialup:



Somehow I misplaced all but one of the photos taken just after Frances came to visit with her 18 inches of rain and mal-aria. Yesterday I pulled out the chainsaw to cut up the gum tree, I had been waiting for the fig tree to go somewhat dormant so it could turn it into lots of cuttings, besides, the gum would dry out better just left perched on top of the greenhouse.



The weather was absolutely delightful yesterday afternoon, mid-60's, cool enough for chainsaw fun, warm enough to leave the chilly clothing in the closet. I was cutting the tree from either end to keep it balanced as it is MUCH easier on the old back to do the job with it perched in the air. On the 3rd cut at the big end, the limb (36" circumference) elected to shift slightly over my head. Kept cutting. It took another shift when cut through and gave a little bump to the trajectory of the falling section.

I was wearing sandals.

Perfect end-on impact from 6' up.

Dead center on the bone on top of my hoof.

It's such a pretty thing today. All big and fat, such a lovely shade of purple. Two pairs of stout work boots in the closet and not two brain cells talking to each other. "Hello. My name is doofus. Watch me do dumb stunts."