Araft passed away

[Pi]

I just read some german and french newspaper online, and both claim that Arafat died this afternoon (MEZ) in France.
I wonder what will happen now in Palestina. Good thing, bad thing, I can't tell...

Update : A spokesman of the hospital denies the infos of the israeli military radio.

[Kitsune]

Interesting. The man didn't die of an Isreali rocket attack or sniper, so there might not be any anger over this? Or maybe it'll happen, anyways.

Now if only someone would finally admit that the pope has been dead for years. We all know that man is being moved around by strings like a puppet when the body appears in public.

[Elspode]

Last I heard, he was not dead, but as good as...

The general media opinion on the situation seems to be that, once he's gone, Intifada will reach new heights of violence and bloodshed.

I also note that all the commentary on his medical symptomology seems rather flummoxed. I wonder if anyone has considered that he may have been poisoned? If anyone could do that, the Israelis could. Think about it...Arafat dies, the Palestinians rise up with renewed vigor and hostility, and the Israeli government immediately has a justification for increased suppression, refusal to leave the West Bank (which has been getting serious discussion and planning lately)...

Oh...wait...I hate conspiracy theories.

[wolf]

Is Arafat to become the Generalissimo Francisco Franco of the Oughts in his valiant fight to remain dead?

I saw a news story tonight that hinted that Arafat's illness may be somewhat controversial.

Warning: Entering Tinfoil Hat Territory

If this report IS true, I doubt that there will ever be confirmation, but if there is, it will certainly be announced as having been part of a nefarious CIA plot of some kind.

[Kitsune]

"For several years there have been suggestions that Arafat was bisexual."

This line in the article comepletely threw me. It seemed wildly out of place when I read it until I checked the site the article is hosted on. Weird.

[jaguar]

Hard to tell, timing would be funny if they did off him, unless it was some nefarious slow process. He's a tired old man, it's probably entirely natural. Who knows what'll happen there now, I'm hopeful however, he became a roadblock in the process of reforming the PLA into a competent, uncorrupt body.

[Elspode]

I've got to start seeing what IE says the link is going to be before I click on it. Now I've got 365gay.com on my Net Nanny web record.

I sure hope no one spends much time reading my McAfee Security log...

[Kitsune]

I've got to start seeing what IE says the link is going to be before I click on it. Now I've got 365gay.com on my Net Nanny web record.

Umm, wha? Why are you running Net Nanny? Trying to protect yourself from questionable content?

[wolf]

His employer in america's heartland is.

So is mine.

I decided a while ago that I just really don't give a shit what my employer thinks about my and my coworker's surfing habits.

I also know that nobody has time to really monitor, and the logging feature will really only come into play if a complaint is issued. (they fired a guy everybody hated and INSTALLED the netnanny because the dumbass was looking at tits on company time in front of female employees. And drooling. And pointing. And shouting "ooh, look at these babies." And before you ask, this guy wasn't 22 and just out of college. He was in his 50s, and was just vile.

I'm fairly boring in my surfing habits anyway ... although I do admit to every now and again going to sites guaranteed to raise an eyebrow, just in case they DO look. Other than that, I honestly don't care if my boss knows I read Witchvox at work ...

[Kitsune]

His employer in america's heartland is.

Ouch. I feel for the both of you.

I find this very saddening. We had firewalls at my office that used published lists to block sites with "questionable content", but that all stopped that day we were being interviewed and tested for ISO compliance. On that day, more than half of the outside links in our documentation were blocked by the proxy because they "contained adult content and nudity". I had no idea disk defragging software could be so... suggestive. The auditors found it amusing enough to note and it got escalated.

Thank goodness NetNanny restricts to wholesome sites like The Cellar. *coughWhalePeniscough*

[Elspode]

I read Witchvox at work sometimes too...in fact, we're hoping Wren and Fritz will come to Fest this year. We haven't had them there for quite some time, and they're fascinating people.

With my Net Nanny, it isn't a matter of just what people know...it actually blocks stuff...

[xoxoxoBruce]

Boeing has flat out fired an average of 5 people a month for inappropriate sites. Many more wrist slapped. Every month!

[Cyber Wolf]

I heard this morning that it's offically liver failure Arafat's ailing from and that he's not in a coma but he is deteriorating. Anyone hear any different this time?

So. What's the chances of him getting transplant, yknow, with him being such a powerful world leader and all... And generally, what's the countdown cycle from liver failure to system shutdown?

[Elspode]

We have resident expert on this subject, if she chooses to comment.

[404Error]

A friend of mine just passed away last Saturday from liver failure. We buried him Wednesday. It was a matter of weeks from the time of diagnosis, he appeared jaundiced, then went into a coma for a few days and died shortly after. He didn't even have time to be put on a list for a transplant. I don't know if his situation is normal of liver failure or not, and there may be more about his condition that I'm not aware, but it was sudden to those of us who knew him.