Abdelaziz Bouteflika Has No Trouble With the Public

Rumors abound about Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's health. So what's his deal exactly? Just ask his staff.

[He] is healthy and working normally, the interior minister said in remarks published on Monday, responding to comments on a recent reduction in the head of state's public engagements.

"The president of the republic is in perfect health and he is working normally," Liberte daily quoted the minister, Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni, as saying on Sunday in answer to a reporter's question on a visit to the eastern town of Annaba.

Algerian newspapers began to wonder about the President after they noted his absences in recent weeks. Where has he been? The answers are kept in the Algerian Book of Secrets.

[Reuters Africa]

Birthday Backlog

Looks like this guy should stay far away from fireworks show. That should be relatively easy for him, being that he's dead and all.

OK, I know we've been very late with the birthdays this week. There's no real excuse, except for I was distraught over the Patrick Swayze news. I always loved "Too Wong Foo."

Sunday was somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Academy Award Winning Actress Jennifer Jones' Birthday. How Old Is She? 1,2,3,4... 89! And Never been Kissed By... Death

Jennifer Jones' name appears on "Remains to Be Seen's" roster

• Jones was born as Phylis Lee Isely. She was given the stage name of Jennifer Jones by Hollywood producer David O. Selznick.

Probably a good move. Who was the last Phylis that was attractive enough to appear in movies?

Sunday was somebody else's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Best-Selling Author Tom Wolfe's Birthday. How Old Is He? 1,2,3,4... 78! And Never been Kissed By... Death

Tom Wolfe's name appears on "Extended Weekend at Bernie's'" roster

• Asked to comment by the Wall Street Journal on blogs in 2007, to mark the tenth anniversary of their advent, Wolfe wrote that "the universe of blogs is a universe of rumors," and that "blogs are an advance guard to the rear."

We here at BDPE take offense to that. Has Mr. Wolfe seen himself reported as dead on the blog? I rest my case.

Sunday was somebody else's else's Birthday! Whose Birthday? President of Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika's Birthday. How Old Is He? 1,2,3,4... 71! And Never been Kissed By... Death

Abdelaziz Bouteflika's name appears on "Last Call's" roster

• In 1981, Bouteflika was sued for having stolen Algerian embassies' money between 1965 and 1979, On August 8, 1983, Bouteflika was convicted by The Court of Financial Auditors and found guilty of having fraudulently taken 60 million dinars during his diplomatic career.

That's the kind of guy you want running your country. One who isn't particularly adept at embezzling money.

... And Many More!

Abdelaziz Not Yet Given the Bouteflika

So, Abdelaziz Bouteflika is sick, eh? Dying, you say? He suffers from an illness? I see... so - according to your interpretation of this whole situation, he should be moping around the presidential house, holed up in his glorious bed, right?

Well then. I am forced to ask: How can he do this!?

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was in good fettle during his visit to Tamanrasset province (south of Algiers) where he inaugurated... infrastructures, public facilities, administrative institutions, a stadium and a military hospital.

Okay, that wasn't so impressive. But still... Where did the lighter fluid come from?

Health in Algeria a Growing Concern

Poor sanitation and unclean water in Algeria have caused tuberculosis, hepatitis, measles, typhoid fever, cholera and dysentery. Sure sounds like an unpleasant place to be, especially when you're the ruler over this country with unsanitary conditions.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika falls out of sight for weeks at a time, and was notably silent when suicide bombs tore through two important buildings in Algiers, one housing UN offices. That rang alarm bells about his health and questions about his political plans for a country he has sought to stabilize.

Is the 70-year-old Bouteflika, who has been treated for a stomach ailment, still sick? Or is this a strategy to prolong his presidency? Or is it something more cryptic?

Earlier this year, Bouteflika escaped a bomb attack where he was reportedly the target. This attempt was perhaps one effort to give a very public death to someone who has been less than overly concerned about public health.

[Taipei Times]

TWID - Labor Day Edition

This Week in Death brings you: This Week in Death! Below are all the notes and news to cover a week's worth of health and death. There are more health notices than a hospital, and more death than... well, a hospital. How is Billy Graham this week? What's the latest in baseless Fidel Castro rumors? Which Music or TV persona - whom I have never heard of - died? One way to find out...

Life was points-less this week. As always, health comes first. Eddie Vedder said it best, "Is something wrong, she said. Well of course there is. You're still alive, she said..."

Tim-ber! Johnson Falls Back Into Senate Seat
Sen. Tim Johnson, a Democrat who has been recovering from brain surgery since December, plans to return to his Senate office on September 5, his office said on Wednesday. Johnson will be in his home state of South Dakota for the next few days before returning to Washington and he "plans to be in his Senate office and on the Senate floor on Wednesday, September 5th," according to his office.
[Reuters]

Back to Home, Back to Home. Billy's Got his Lunch Packed Up and His Boots Tied Tight, I Hope He Doesn't Get in a Fight. Seriously, It Would Kill Him
Evangelist Billy Graham may be able to return home this week from the hospital where he has been treated for more than a week for intestinal bleeding, doctors said Wednesday. Graham, 88, is continuing his program of exercise, physical therapy and full meals to rebuild his strength, said Merrill Gregory, a spokeswoman for Mission Health & Hospitals in Asheville.
[Washington Post]

Much Like Lindsay Lohan, Bouteflika Tired of Rumors Starting, Tired of Being Followed. Why Can't We Just Let Him Live?
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said Tuesday he was upset vis-à-vis the rumours on "his health deterioration". While visiting Sheikh Yossef Al Qaradaoui in Ain Naadja military hospital, the President seemed as if complaining as he was telling him: "I wish I could visit you the day you've been sent to hospital, but I decided to postpone the visit to avoid speculations about my alleged illness."
[El Khabar]

Fidel Fit? Finding Facts Feels Futile
There is no reason to believe that Cuban President Fidel Castro's life is in danger as he convalesces, Culture Minister Abel Prieto said late on Friday. The statement came amid a wave of rumours, especially among the Cuban-American community in Florida, that Cuba's long-time communist leader, who has not been seen in public since undergoing surgery over a year ago, is either dead or on his deathbed. "I have no element that leads me to believe that the life of Fidel is in danger," Prieto told reporters.
[iafrica.com]

Death? Eddie Vedder said it best, "I'm gone, Long gone, This time I'm letting go of it all, So long, This time I'm gone"

Gardner's Heart Shaken; Won't Stir
John Gardner, a prolific British thriller writer who wrote more novels about Bond — James Bond — than Ian Fleming did, died on Aug. 3 after collapsing near his home in Basingstoke, England. He was 80. The cause was heart failure, said his daughter Alexis Walmsley. Mr. Gardner wrote four dozen books in a career of more than 40 years. He was best known for the 14 Bond novels he wrote in the 1980s and '90s, which officially continued the work of Bond's creator, Fleming.
[New York Times]

No Use Crying Over Shattered Kristal; Hilly is Cold, Buried, Gone, Bye
Hilly Kristal, who founded CBGB, the Bowery bar that became the cradle of punk and art-rock in New York in the 1970s and served as the inspiration for musician-friendly rock dives throughout the world, died in Manhattan on Tuesday. He was 75. From its opening in late 1973, when Mr. Kristal, a lover of acoustic music, gave the club its name, an abbreviation of the kinds of music he originally intended to feature there — country, bluegrass and blues, CBGB presented thousands of bands within its eternally crumbling, flyer-encrusted walls.
[New York Times]

Richard - A Jewell of a Man. A Gem of a Person. A Diamond in the Rough. A Sapph--- OK, We're Good Now. Sorry About That
Richard A. Jewell, whose transformation from heroic security guard to Olympic bombing suspect and back again came to symbolize the excesses of law enforcement and the news media, died Wednesday at his home in Woodbury, Ga. He was 44. Mr. Jewell died of natural causes and that he had battled serious medical problems since learning he had diabetes in February.
[New York Times]

♫ No.... one... dies like Gaston ♫
Gaston Thorn, former prime minister of Luxembourg and president of the European Commission, died Sunday. He was 78. A longtime politician and businessman, Mr. Thorn led the government in the tiny Grand Duchy of Luxembourg from 1974 to 1979. He was known as a strong advocate of European integration.
[New York Times]

Nautilus's Mr. Jones Tells Fairy Tales and Stares at (and Marries) Beautiful Women
Arthur Jones, a wild-animal enthusiast, filmmaker and entrepreneur whose Nautilus fitness machines helped to transform the fitness industry and the way ordinary people exercise, died on Tuesday at his home in Ocala, Fla. He was 80. Mr. Jones died of natural causes, his son William Edgar Jones said. Mr. Jones was a rough-and-tumble character who had six wives, a nearly lifelong smoking habit and an affection for exotic animals like rattlesnakes and crocodiles, which he kept at his farm, the younger Mr. Jones said.
[New York Times]

This Week Was Somebody's Birthday! Whose Birthday? Some Death Pool Entrants' Birthdays. How Old Are They? 1,2,3... And Never been Kissed By... Death
Happy Birthday to:
August 30: Rich Cronin (32)
September 2: Meinhardt Raabe (92)
... And Many More!!!!!!!!

No points deaths this week means no change in the Top 5, who remain...

1. El Esta Adead - 76 points (6 deaths)
2. The Ex-Parrots - 58.5 points (5 deaths)
3. Kraut's Picks - 57.1 points (7 deaths)
4. Yiz-score - 54.3 points (4 deaths)
5. Die Hard - 46 points (4 deaths)

Eddie Vedder said it best again, "Can't find a better TWID"...
The Commissioner's Council