The Times has an assessment of Ariel Sharon's prognosis. And it is very, very bleak. The article notes that the blood thinners prescribed for Sharon's earlier stroke -- caused by a blood clot rather than a hemorrhage -- greatly complicate treating this second stroke. Because of the blood thinners, reports the Times, this second event is "likely to be devastating and nearly impossible to treat."

The author of the piece quotes Dr. Matthew E. Fink, chief of the Division of Stroke and Critical Care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, as saying that in a case like Sharon's the "likelihood of death is greater than 80 percent."