Mubarak initially was said to be either clinically dead or o n life support, according to reports out of Cairo, but later a government official said the deposed president was alive and in critical condition, according to news reports.

FORBES: Former Egyptian Leader Mubarak's Health In Question Amid Conflicting Reports

As you will know (don't yawn) if you read this column, this economic malaise has been characterised by many weak businesses being put on life support and turned into the living dead, or (to use what is now a cliche, so sorry) zombies.

BBC: Is there good news in HMV's collapse?

You also should have enough to cover life's inevitable, unanticipated expenses, like a leaky roof or dead furnace not just in your primary home but also in all of your investment properties (which likely suffered abuse and neglect on their way to becoming bargains).

WSJ: Breaking the Home-Buying Habit -- WSJ House Talk

Fortunately, these storms did not occur in the dead of winter, or there may have been much greater life safety issues to deal with.

FORBES: With All Eyes On Hurricane Sandy, A Good Time to Evaluate Micro-Grids

But if two people carry firearms, a confrontation that might otherwise have ended in words or blows ends instead with one man dead, and the other man on his way to prison for life.

CNN: America's gun problem is not a race problem