John Hartson

Even though the last twenty years have bought about fantastic advances in the battle against cancer and Doctors can better treat the disease, the dreaded C word can still strike terror into our hearts.

The latest high profile victim is the ex footballer John Hartson the former Celtic west ham and Arsenal striker has testicular cancer,  this particular cancer has a good survival rate and does respond well to treatment if caught early enough,  in John’s case though it has spread very quickly to other parts of his body his brain and lungs taking the brunt of it.

Though he is in good hands and is receiving the best treatment the prognosis is not good and it will be a miracle if he is to beat this awful illness, but  John is a fighter and as tough as they come you only need to ask some of the defenders that came up against him in a glittering career. In 1995 he moved to Arsenal for 2.5 million pounds a record at the time for a teenager, he also earned 51 caps for Wales, in 1997  he moved on from Arsenal becoming surplus to requirements after they signed Dennis Bergkamp, he went  to West ham for a then club record of 3.2 million pounds. he was the second highest scorer in  his first full season for the hammers that year  behind Andy Cole.

In 1998 he was caught on camera kicking his club mate  Eyal Berkovic in the face after a training ground incident, following that he was moved on to Wimbledon again a club record signing this time for 7.5 million. he had a respectable scoring record there though he was plagued with injury. ending with him signing a pay as you play deal with Coventry.

Though he later had 5 successful seasons with Celtic, surgery put an end to a glorious career. I wish John Hartson all the best and will keep my fingers crossed that the hard man can win one more time.

Gazza

Poor Gazza, it’s tragic to watch Paul Gascoigne self destruct before our eyes but its proving impossible to help him,  numerous spells in rehab and even sectioning have failed to slow his downward spiral.

At this rate he will be dead within a year, at least that is the opinion of  a friend who spent a day with him this week, he started boozing at 11 am and by midnight had reportedly drunk 40 bottles of Stella Artois. Such is his state of mind that he believes he can get back into the England squad for the World cup finals in South Africa next year.

Gascoigne‘s problems seemed to have started when he retired from football he could not cope with the “civilian “ world, football has a discipline that he obviously cannot live without.

From a young age he has been guided by a code of  behaviour rising at a certain time fed a certain diet and had his day mapped out for him, combined with  the physical effort of training, culminating in the adulation of thousands at the weekend chanting his name and singing his praises as they marvelled at his skills.

Women  parties and  more money than he could cope with all these things were in abundance, but when he left the game the hangers on vanished, add to that  an unstable personal life, by now he had married and divorced acrimoniously and was fighting a bitter court battle over a settlement. A combination of all these added to the most important factor, which was no guiding influence, since his early years Paul had always had someone to map out his day and weeks suddenly he was alone.

He coped by hiding behind a false facade built on booze and drugs, he has tried to get help but each time he has slipped back, this latest episode seems to be connected to the death of his “second” father Bobby Robson who died from cancer in July this year, combined with the sad news that his mother has cancer.

I don’t see a good ending here its almost like he does not care if he lives or dies, this draws parallels with George Best who drunk himself into a premature grave, I hope Gascoigne can be saved but my expectations are not high, I would think that unless something dramatic happens this could be his Last chance.

DurdensView Tags: Gazza, Robson, Drink, Drugs, Cancer

Hartson fights back

Who says there is no good news around, John Hartson appears to be on the mend after the doom and gloom surrounding his condition, See Here. Doctors report he is getting stronger, and that his second brain op went extremely well, he had the operation at the weekend to relieve fluid from his brain.

He may soon be strong enough to start chemotherapy, after being diagnosed with testicular cancer which quickly spread to his brains and lungs, John was not expected to survive, but like the tough guy we know he is he continues to fight back. the  game is at half  time and the score between Hartson and Cancer is 1-0, lets hope he can keep it up.

John Hartson update

Great news for fans of John Hartson after his much publicised health problem. http://durdensview.blogspot.com/2009/07/john-hartson.html

I am pleased to report that John appears to be on the mend so much so that he is getting married., he will wed teacher Sarah McManus in South Wales this year.

I send my best wishes to John and his bride to be and hope that his respite from cancer is permanent.

DurdensView Tags: John Hartson, cancer, married

John Hartson

I am pleased to say John Hartson has come through his latest operation to remove lesions from his lungs with no problems.

Hartson was diagnosed with testicular cancer last July http://durdensview.blogspot.com/2009/07/john-hartson.html which then spread to his lungs and Brain, it was touch and go whether he would survive, John has already undergone brain surgery.

He is expected to have two more operations but is well enough to be allowed home. my best wishes to him.

DurdensView Tags: John Hartson

Death by Dignity

Sir Edward Downes and his wife Joan died yesterday in a Swiss suicide clinic. Joan had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and only had a matter of weeks to live, Sir Edward had various complaints associated with a man of 85 but nothing life threatening, he  decided he did not want to live without his wife of 54 years, he said he simply loved her to much.   A file has been sent to the director of public prosecutions to see if any charges can be bought against the son and daughter who supported and aided their parents in this courageous decision. Sir Edward was a world famous conductor and his wife a talented Ballerina, who in later life worked as a choreographer and then as assistant to her husband. They both had full and enjoyable lives that produced as it turns out two remarkable children. I believe that provided you are of sound mind you should be allowed to choose the timing of your own death if you so decide, I applaud the courage of this couple and admire their dedication to one another. I hope common sense prevails and no action is taken against the Son and Daughter who showed immense courage and  understanding to be with their parents at the end. The decision taken by this couple has absolutely zero impact on anybody outside the immediate family, they have not left behind any dependants, and their passing will not hurt anyone. Its about time our lawmakers looked at this issue again.

Miracle’s Do Happen

What an unbelievable story of the 14 year old girl who survived the Yemeni air crash. She was thrown clear when the A310 Airbus hit the water, that in itself sounds incredible, that anybody could survive that kind of impact is a miracle,  according to Bahia Bakari she then grabbed a piece of debris in pitch darkness  and stayed afloat until help arrived, she clung to that debris in freezing waters from 1.30 am to 3 pm the next day when she was plucked from the sea, I’m not sure when push comes to shove just how religious I am, but there does seem to be a higher power at work here, it will be interesting to monitor this young girl and see what become of her life, will she go on to become a great person, was she spared for a reason, perhaps she will grow up to find a cure for cancer, or rid the world of hunger. I do hope  that she does make something of herself, because this morning, unless there was divine intervention, she is the luckiest girl in the world.

Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi

Mystery surrounded the Lockerbie bomber last night after he could not be reached at his home or in hospital.

Libyan officials could say nothing about the whereabouts of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, and his Scottish monitors could not contact him by telephone. They will try again to speak to him today but if they fail to reach him, the Scottish government could face a new crisis.

What a shock,  he is still alive and he has disappeared, I said at the time I did not believe how ill he was and this was just about BP getting a huge oil deal. http://durdensview.blogspot.com/2009/08/lockerbie.html

Relatives of the victims were furious in August when Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary, released al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds because he was expected to die of prostate cancer within three months.

al-Megrahi was monitored by Jonathan Hinds, of East Renfrewshire council who called him by telephone every other Tuesday.

What an absolutely water tight security procedure.

As usual we have become the laughing stock of the World, and though its a Scottish problem everybody knows it was sanctioned by Westminster.

DurdensView Tags: Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, Macaskill

Edward Kennedy

The Death of Edward Kennedy has produced in some quarters commentary that is describing him in almost Saintly fashion, agreed that Kennedy as a senator did do a lot to change America, he instigated or was involved in up to 300 laws being passed.

Including immigration, cancer research, health insurance, apartheid, disability discrimination, AIDS care,civil rights, mental health benefits, children's health insurance, education.

But there was another side to the youngest brother of the assassinated President, and this was a lying, womanising, pathetic excuse for a man, to hide from his family the fact that he was driving while drunk whilst bringing home a girl for the night, and worried about his political image he left a innocent young girl to die.

On the night of July 18, 1969, Kennedy was on Martha's Vineyard at a party for the “ Boiler Room Girls” a group of young women who had worked on his brother Robert's presidential campaign the year before. Kennedy left the party, driving a 1967  Oldsmobile Delmont 88 with one of the women, 28-year-old Mary jo  Kopechne and later accidently drove off Dike Bridge into the Poucha Pond inlet, a tidal channel on Chappaquiddick Island. Kennedy escaped the overturned vehicle, swam to safety and left the scene. He did not call authorities until after Kopechne's body was discovered the following day.

On July 25, Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was given a sentence of two months in jail,suspended. That night, he gave a national broadcast in which he said, "I regard as indefensible the fact that I did not report the accident to the police immediately", but denied driving under the influence of alcohol and denied any immoral conduct between him and Kopechne. Kennedy asked the Massachusetts electorate whether he should stay in office and, after getting a favourable response, he did so.

In January 1970, an inquest into Kopechne's death took place in Edgartown, Massachusetts. At the request of Kennedy's lawyers, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court  ordered the inquest be conducted in secret. The presiding judge, James A. Boyle, concluded that some aspects of Kennedy's story of that night were not true, and that "negligent driving appears to have contributed to the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.  A grand jury on Martha's Vineyard staged a two-day investigation in April 1970 but issued no indictment, after which Boyle made his inquest report public Kennedy deemed its conclusions "not justified. Doubts about the Chappaquiddick incident generated a large number of articles and books over the next several years.

Kennedy easily won re-election to another term  in the Senate in 1970 with 62 percent of the vote against underfunded Republican candidate Josiah Spaulding, although he received about 500,000 fewer votes than in 1964.

There has not been any mention of this incident in the many tales about Kennedy this week, just what a “Great Guy” he was , tell that to the family of Mary Jo.

 

DurdensView Tags: America, Kennedy, Martha's Vineyard, Kopechne

Climate Change – A lot of hot air?

I don’t believe that climate change is happening to the extent the Government scientists claim, I’m sure that is a change in climate but that is cyclical it has happened since the earth was created, and will continue to change with or without our help,  just look at the ice age.

Are we expected to believe our way of life now is affecting the climate, when for 300 years every house in Europe used coal for heat and our chimneys billowed thick black smoke around the clock.

Though we are more efficient in our factory’s now it was not always like that, our factory’s also fouled  the atmosphere with smoke , in China it is still happening, China is the worlds worst polluter of  air.

Climate change is just a tool used as a scare tactic to extract extra taxes from the population, its just the latest scare of many.

In the early 80’s I can remember the adverts claiming that within 5 years everybody in the Country would know someone who had aids or had died of aids, then we had Ebola that was meant to kill half the worlds population, Salmonella, bird flu, Swine flu, its always something, coffee is good for us coffee is bad for us , a glass of red a day prevents heart disease, then a few years down the line a glass of red a day causes heart disease.

Back in the 50’s we were told smoking was good,  it made men manly and attractive to women, ( remember the Marlboro man) it made women  sexy and sophisticated, today it kills us, smoking is bad. Incidentally the Marlboro man died of lung cancer caused by smoking.

So for now they beat the climate change drum with enthusiasm, until its noticed that the World is ticking along ok, and then its on to the next scare.

DurdensView Tags: Climate Change, Aids, Swine flu

Lockerbie

I am absolutely disgusted that Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing is to be released on so called humanitarian grounds. this is the man convicted of the killing in 1988 of 259 people on the plane and another 11 on the ground.

Al-Megrahi an intelligence officer for Libya was only imprisoned in 2000 with a recommendation that he serve minimum of 27 years, the so called humanitarian grounds are that he has terminal pancreatic cancer and has only three months to live.I say so what, other prisoners have died in jail, this mans crime is so terrible that not only should the authorities  let him die in jail they should leave his corpse in a cell for the full 27 years.

The real reason for this is to curry favour with the Libyan Leader Gaddafi, once again it is all about oil. The final decision is yet to be made officially, I hope that Kenny MacAskill the Scottish Justice Minister thinks long and hard about the effect on relatives of the survivors, what a way to serve the memory of those killed.

DurdensView Tags: Gaddafi, Lockerbie. Libya