Mystery surrounds Yushchenko ailment

[Poll_Blind]

Mystery surrounds Yushchenko ailment

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- What ails Viktor Yushchenko? As Ukraine's popular pro-Western opposition leader claimed victory Tuesday in hotly contested presidential elections, the mystery surrounding an appearance-altering illness that twice prompted him to check into a Vienna hospital persisted.

Yushchenko accused the Ukrainian authorities of poisoning him. His detractors suggested he'd eaten some bad sushi.

<SNIP>

Adding to the intrigue, the Austrian doctors who treated him have asked foreign experts to help determine if his symptoms may have been caused by toxins found in biological weapons.

<SNIP>

But the illness, whatever it was, has dramatically changed his appearance since he first sought treatment at Vienna's private Rudolfinerhaus clinic on September 10.

Known for his ruggedly handsome, almost movie star looks, Yushchenko's complexion is now pockmarked. His face is haggard, swollen and partially paralyzed. One eye often tears up.

<SNIP>



Yushchenko pictured left in July 2004 and in November, after his illness. (Picture AP)

What the....? !

PB

[LiberalVoice]

1. Satan musta left ole georgie boy and found himself a new host.

[ilovenicepeople]

14. This brave man is trying to stop evil, he does not support Satan,

What's wrong are you jealous that the Ukraine has the balls to stand up for it's democracy?

[LiberalVoice]

18. oh cool your jets...

it was a friggin joke.

[mahina]

2. Yow! Poor thing!

Are you sure those are both the same man? Holy smokes! If he says hes being poisoned I bet he is. He was gorgeous! Yipes! What the hell has the world rolled around to, that people do this to each other?

[zann725]

47. Doesn't look like the same guy to me...even AFTER poison.

Maybe they DID kill the original guy with poison, and replaced him with a "Western-leaning" candidate that they felt would better 'fill' the job.

Very suspicious. The first guy looked kind of nice, while the "current face" looks down-right mean...more like someone Bushco would 'allign' themselves with.

[UpInArms]

3. ...

here's a pic of him on Monday



and here's one from 2002

[Ima]

4. This is terrible

He does look like he was poisoned or exposed to something. Poor thing. I hope they find out what did it and the antidote.

[Jack_DeLeon]

5. I dont doubt it was poison or a chemicle of some sort...

the Russians have made good use of bio/chem weapons for assassiniations.

Anyone remember that one case where some guy was stick with an umbrella and it injected into him a tiny ball filled with ricin. He died later. Was back in the 60s or 70s.

[jobycom]

7. That was a story told abut Richard Wright

Author of Black Boy and Native Son. It's never been proven, as far as I've heard. Wright was living in Paris, he came down with some sudden illness and died, and the story of the umbrella started circulating.

Don't know if that's the same story you mean.

[Mr Creosote]

8. No I'm sure he means

the assassination of Georgi Markov , the Bulgarian dissident, in London in the late 70s ('78?). He was indeed stabbed with a poison-tipped umbrella. Died more or less immediately I think.

[KDLarsen]

21. I think it took him longer

He was taken to the hospital & suffered some serious pains from the ricin, before dying a few days later.

[HereSince1628]

6. It reminds me of the awful post kalaazar syndrome pics

in my undergrad parasitology textbook.

[Fovea]

12. Some specialists have suspected Cloracne

and having seen it, it does remind me of it a bit.

[Cheswick2.0]

9. that picture has been photoshopped

I saw him and he does indeed look bad. But that picture has been photoshopped.

[Poll_Blind]

10. Nope, there are more pictures at the CNN site like this. n/t

[boi1946]

11. Medics out there...

Neurofibromatosis????

[Malva Zebrina]

13. Looks like that to me

I wonder about the relatively rapid onslaught though.

[genieroze]

16. This late in life

I thought you need to be born with that. That's the elephantman disease right?

[librechik]

50. might it be lupus erythema dermatosis or pemphigus?

or perhaps some other severe autoimmune reaction to environmental chemicals or antibiotics. Otherwise I'm going for poison. They tried to do it to Fidel. Why not in the Ukraine? Altho it is just as likely to be someone local who did it, if it was "done"

[Cheswick2.0]

29. look at the cigar...it is fake

I have seen him and he looks bad, but this pic is photoshopped.

[DemoTex]

35. That's not a cigar, it is a microphone.

Look closely.

[genieroze]

15. Holy crap

:wtf:

[Poll_Blind]

17. How much of a leap would it be to say he clearly looks poisoned?

Jesus, every time I see the picture it looks like...I dunno, I dunno if poisoning in the conventional sense has taken place or he has been infected with some agent or agents. This man is being attacked biologically. That much is clear. I have no idea what the superpowes have cooked up over the years in their underground labs but I would imagine they would have some pretty evil shit.

PB

[burn the bush]

19. looks like radiation poisoning or something like that

[proudbluestater]

20. Horrible! SOMETHING has happened!

He looks like a handsome young man, quickly morphed into Buddy Hackett! Horrible!

[spooked]

22. More before and after photos

Photo taken 11/26/04



WOULDN'T IT BE NICE IF KERRY COULD LEAD US IN PROTEST!!??

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/11/23/yushchenkomarch.shtml

Yuschenko Leads March to Presidential Administration Building

Opposition candidate for Ukrainian president, Viktor Yushchenko, led thousand of demonstrators in a march to the president’s office in Kyiv, Russian Information Agency Novosti reported on Tuesday.

Earlier, Yushchenko read presidential oath in the building of the Ukrainian parliament. According to the preliminary information provided by the Central Election Commission, he lost the elections to the pro-Russian candidate, current prime minister Viktor Yanukovich.

[merci_me]

38. It seems odd

that there is such a change to the skin on his face, yet the skin on his hands looks relatively smooth.

Wouldn't some sort of poison in his system that effects the face also show some change to his hands? Unless it was a localized "burn". Laser beam?

[NYC]

23. Scleroderma?

Does anyone know?

[Chicago Democrat]

24. Unbelievably horrible!!! THE US MUST SPEAK OUT!

Ok Bushie... Act like a nazi for our team for once.

[Ima]

25. He is...belive it or not.

[LisaL]

26. Have you been sleeping?

Bush is very upset about voter FRAUD-in Ukraine.
:eyes:

[Zynx]

27. That picture contrast is stunning.

His color has changed too.

[Algorem]

28. They messed him up bad:

Those BASTARDS!

[sally343434]

31. The pix on the right is Steve Kroft of CBS.

[Algorem]

32. That's JUST what they want you to think.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

34. bad misguided joke or freep?

hmmmmmm?

you should have changed the addy - too easy.

[goodboy]

30. I've never seen such a drastic change like this. The right picture

looks like Jelly from Analyze This

[LifeDuringWartime]

33. the evil dead

its like the evil dead has taken posession of him, but only his skin.

[Sara Beverley]

36. Would you want a leader who looked like that?

Something is up. That nation is headed toward civil war and the US is helping the war along. They want Russia engaged in military expense that will thwart any gains they have made or are making economically. We know for sure how war has ruined our economy and how it ruined the USSR and ultimately defeated them. The only way to ensure that Russia does not rise again is to keep them on the war path.

[LisaL]

37. I don't know what had happened to him, but one would think

if he was really poisoned, he would be dead.

[wordout]

39. probably got it from bush's ass cheeks

surprise he doesnt have a widdle brown button nose!

[genieroze]

40. Everyone read this

This sounds sooo much like our country it's creepy.
http://www.cpod.ubc.ca/tracker/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=2591

[UpInArms]

44. it would be nice if Lugar were as concerned with

the validity of the elections in the USoA.

from your link:

U.S. senator Richard Lugar—the chairman of the U.S. Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee—declared in Kiev that "a concerted and forceful program of election-day fraud and abuse" had taken place in Ukraine. The EU also demanded an urgent evaluation of the results.

[WhiteTara]

41. And what was Arafat's strange illness before death?

Is my mine just working overtime connecting these two
illnesses?

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[shesemsmom]

43. Judging from his color looks like liver failure

which would go hand in hand with toxic poisoning

[Califooyah Operative]

45. OTHER PICS/LINKS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/what_ails_yushchenko

[Califooyah Operative]

46. brrrrrrr that's a cold war. nt

[juliagoolia]

48. YIKES Before After.. 5 months later......

Viktor Yushchenko (left) as he appeared in July 2004 and (right) as he appeared in November after the alleged poisoning
(Gleb Garanich/Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

[alexisfree]

49. He might be a lizard like bush except he wants to help his people by ...

working together...

[Traction]

51. Anyone into Star Wars?

He looks totally like Sen. Palpatine's transformation into the Emperor! In fact it's so alike it's scary!