War criminal, serial liar, and complete incompetent Donald Rumsfeld has died at age 88.
Don’t bother reading the obituary. They make little to no mention about lying us into war or directly authorizing torture.
I imagine that he’s down in hell now, being waterboarded by Saddam Hussein, who has doubtlessly achieved trustee status by now.
There is a story, I’m not sure if it is urban legend, that Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins said this when discussing what Neil Armstrong should say when he set foot on the moon.
I hope that the story is True.
Michael Collins died today. He was 90 years old.
Former Senator and Vice President Walter Mondale died last night, and every single obituary downplays his role in passing the fair housing act.
He sponsored the bill, and got it through the senate after years of effort.
The above link does not even mention the Fair Housing Act, relegating it to the throw away line describing him as a, “Champion of such liberal causes as open housing and anti-poverty programs.”
And his whole life is reduced to, “The guy wot got destroyed in the 1984 Presidential election.”
This is a disgrace.
Rush Limbaugh has died of cancer at the age of 70.
Finally, he has done something to improve the world:
Rush Limbaugh, who has died aged 70 after suffering from cancer, virtually created the style of political “shock jock” radio that made him so influential. His broadcasts, featuring attacks on opponents as purveyors of what we now call “fake news”, became the template for television’s Fox News, and at its peak played a huge part in Newt Gingrich’s “Republican Revolution” of 1994, which recaptured the House of Representatives from Bill Clinton’s Democrats.
Limbaugh set the tone for the internet age of politics, calling women’s rights activists “feminazis”, referring to HIV/Aids as “Rock Hudson’s disease” and claiming “environmentalist wackos” were “a bunch of scientists organised around a political position”.
He argued that the existence of gorillas disproved evolution, characterised both the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (2010) and the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand (2019) as “false flag” operations organised by leftists, and accused the Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe of allowing the Charlottesville rioting in 2017 to worsen in order to boost his presidential ambitions. “Have you ever noticed how composite sketches of criminals always look like [the black activist] Jesse Jackson?” he asked his listeners.
Whether he was a vile person who was revealing himself, or just an actor playing a role does not mater.
The man was a stain upon humanity.
Spoiler: This incident from early in his career shows that he was just an asshole:
Limbaugh (pronounced “LIM baw”) was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, into a family of conservative judges that included his father, whose name was also Rush. His mother, Mildred (nee Armstrong), was the family clown, and encouraged “Rusty” in his love of radio. He did poorly at school, then quit Southeast Missouri State University after a year and found a job with a radio station in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, as “Bachelor Jeff Christie”, but was fired after he told a black caller he claimed to find difficult to understand to “take the bone out of your nose and call again”.
You will not be missed.
*A loose translation is, “God willing, Henry Kissinger (May his name be effaced) Next.
Gene Wilder has died at the age of 83:
Gene Wilder, who established himself as one of America’s foremost comic actors with his delightfully neurotic performances in three films directed by Mel Brooks; his eccentric star turn in the family classic “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”; and his winning chemistry with Richard Pryor in the box-office smash “Stir Crazy,” died on Sunday night at his home in Stamford, Conn. He was 83.
Eric Weissmann, who was Mr. Wilder’s lawyer for many years, confirmed the death. A nephew, Jordan Walker-Pearlman, said that the cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
………
He made his movie debut in 1967 in Arthur Penn’s celebrated crime drama, “Bonnie and Clyde,” in which he was memorably hysterical as an undertaker kidnapped by the notorious Depression-era bank robbers played by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. He was even more hysterical, and even more memorable, a year later in “The Producers,” Mr. Brooks’s first film and the basis of his later Broadway hit.
………
He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as the wizardly title character in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971). The film was a box-office disappointment, partly because of parental concern that the moral of Roald Dahl’s story — that greedy, gluttonous children should not go unpunished — was too dark in the telling. But it went on to gain a devoted following, and Willy Wonka remains one of the roles with which Mr. Wilder is most closely identified.
His next role was more adult but equally strange: an otherwise normal doctor who falls in love with a sheep named Daisy in a segment of Woody Allen’s “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask,” in 1972. Two years later, he reunited with Mr. Brooks for perhaps the two best-known entries in either man’s filmography.
In “Blazing Saddles,” a raunchy, no-holds-barred spoof of Hollywood westerns, Mr. Wilder had the relatively quiet role of the Waco Kid, a boozy ex-gunfighter who helps an improbable black sheriff (Cleavon Little) save a town from railroad barons and venal politicians. The film’s once-daring humor may have lost some of its edge over the years, but Mr. Wilder’s next Brooks film, “Young Frankenstein,” has never grown old.
Mel Brooks movies were a part of my adolescence, and Mr. Wilder had a real skill in being both low key and hysterically funny at the same time.
Elie Wiesel, has died at age 87:
Elie Wiesel, the Auschwitz survivor who became an eloquent witness for the six million Jews slaughtered in World War II and who, more than anyone else, seared the memory of the Holocaust on the world’s conscience, died on Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 87.
Menachem Rosensaft, a longtime friend and the founding chairman of the International Network of Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, confirmed the death in a phone call.
Mr. Wiesel, a charismatic lecturer and humanities professor, was the author of several dozen books. In 1986, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. But he was defined not so much by the work he did as by the gaping void he filled. In the aftermath of the Germans’ systematic massacre of Jews, no voice had emerged to drive home the enormity of what had happened and how it had changed mankind’s conception of itself and of God. For almost two decades, the traumatized survivors — and American Jews, guilt-ridden that they had not done more to rescue their brethren — seemed frozen in silence.
He will be missed.
You know someone has lived a life when, at their funeral, you can see Kris Kristofferson get introduced to the president of Turkey.
—Charlie Pierce on the funeral of Muhammad Ali
Truly a remarkable live.
Legendary Beatles producer George Martin is dead at age 90:
George Martin, who produced much of the Beatles‘ classic catalog, has died. The cause of death has not yet been released. He was 90.
Ringo Starr reported the news on Twitter. “God bless George Martin,” he wrote late Tuesday night. “Peace and love to Judy and his family, love Ringo and Barbara. George will be missed.” In another post, accompanied by a photo of Martin with the Beatles, Starr wrote, “Thank you for all your love and kindness.”
Over the decades, many people have claimed to be the “fifth Beatle.” But the only person who can credibly hold that title was Martin. The producer not only signed the Beatles to their first record contract in 1962 but went on to work extensively with them on the vast majority of music they recorded over the next eight years, from “Love Me Do” to the majestic suite that wrapped up Abbey Road.
………
One of the many remarkable things about Martin is that he managed to produce highly complex, layered pieces of music like Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band, using a mere four-track recorder. “I felt that was the album which turned the Beatles from being just an ordinary rock & roll group into being significant contributors to the history of artistic performance,” Martin wrote in his memoir. “It was the watershed which changed the recording art from something which will stand the test of time as a valid art form: sculpture in music, if you like.”In 2011, Martin looked back fondly on his time with the Beatles. “I think they’re so damn good they’ll be with us for generations, into the middle of the next century,” he said. “They’re just great musicians and great writers, like Gershwin or Rodgers and Hammerstein. They are there in history, and the Beatles are there in history, too. They’ll be there in 100 years, too. But I won’t be.”
Also, read Paul McCartney’s tribute to Martin.
I don’t have anything to say, but read Charlie Pierce’s thoughts.
It’s actually rather kind.
Without Scalia on the court, business have lost a staunch defender of a business’s right to defraud its customers, and so they are settling with plaintiffs:
Dow Chemical Co (DOW.N) agreed to pay $835 million to settle a decade-long lawsuit on price fixing, saying it had less chance of winning its petition at the Supreme Court after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Dow, which is in the process of merging with Dupont (DD.N), said on Friday it decided to settle, without admitting any wrongdoing, citing “growing political uncertainties due to recent events within the Supreme Court.”
The chemicals company was found liable by a federal jury in Kansas in February 2013 in the class-action lawsuit, which alleged Dow had conspired to artificially inflate polyurethane prices.
………
Justice Scalia died earlier this month. The next justice could tilt the balance of the nation’s highest court, which was left with four conservatives and four liberals.
“While Dow is settling this case, it continues to strongly believe that it was not part of any conspiracy and the judgment was fundamentally flawed as a matter of class action law,” the company said in a statement on Friday.
While we think of Scalia as a culture warrior, his role as the leading opponent of consumer protection and corporate accountability on the court has arguably hurt more people than anything else that he has done.*
*Except, of course for Bush v. Gore, but, as that opinion notes, it doesn’t count. It never counts.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has died at age 79.
I have noted over the past few years (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) excessive levels of bile have appeared to produce neurological complications.
The Republicans are already saying that the next SCOTUS nomination should be put off until after the elections, which is no surprise.
I really do not think that they have anything to worry about though: I cannot see the Obama administration selecting someone in less than 3 months, at which point there will not be time.
While I do understand that the friends and family of Antonin Scalia, including Justice Ruth Bader “Notorious RBG” Ginsburg, are mourning their loss, the fact that a partisan hack who had stopped caring has left the court is a net plus for the people of the United States.
Another victim of repeated head trauma in the NFL, only this time it is a quarterback, Ken Stabler of the Oakland Raiders:
Former Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, who died in July at the age of 69 of colon cancer, was found to have suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease found in people who have had repeated blows to the head, according to a researchers at Boston University.
Stabler’s diagnosis is the latest in a line of former NFL players who have been found to have the disease. Scientists in Boston said that on a scale of one to four, Stabler had high stage three CTE.
“He had moderately severe disease,” Ann McKee, the chief of neuropathology at the VA Boston healthcare system and a professor of neurology and pathology at Boston University school of medicine, told the New York Times.
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After his death, Stabler’s brain was removed and donated to researchers at the NFL’s “brain bank” at Boston University, who spent months dissecting it for clues as to why the quarterback’s mind declined in his final years. During the last few years of his life, Stabler rapidly slowed down in his cognitive functions. He began complaining of a high-pitched ringing in his head, couldn’t handle bright lights or loud noises, and began repeating himself.
McKee, who conducted the examination, called Stabler’s case “pretty classic”.
“It may be surprising since he was a quarterback, but certainly the lesions were widespread, and they were quite severe, affecting many regions of the brain,” McKee, who conducted the examination, said. “There was no question about the diagnosis.”
If this happens to a quarter back, it happens to everyone on the field.
Mothers, do not let your kids play football.
Actor Abe Vigoda is dead at 94.
First David Bowie, and now Alan Rickman.
He was the only reason that Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was even remotely watchable.
He was the best thing in almost every movie I ever saw him in.
I never bought any of his albums or singles, but my favorite song of his is Putting out a Fire from the 1982 movie Cat People.
I saw it, but was not particularly impressed. I preferred the original 1942 movie, which is widely viewed as a classic.
Most of my experiences with Bowie as an artist were as an actor.
I saw him in the 1976 film, The Man Who Fell to Earth, which was a his cinematic debut, and quite literally the worst cinematic experience in my life.
It was boring, pretentious, confusing, ponderous, and dull.
Looking back, I am left the question, “How the f%$# can you cast David Bowie as an alien, and completely f%$# it up?”
By the same token he was also in one of my favorite films, the Tony Scott’s criminally unappreciated The Hunger, a stylish film starring Bowie, Susan Sarandon, and Catherine Deneuve.
It is a stylish vampire film that eschews many of the cliches, and it is unbelievably hot. (Watch it)
Of Labyrinth, one of Jim Henson’s few fizzles, the less said the better.
I do see a parallel between his music career and his theatrical career, in that he never seemed to settle on a personae.
Both in music and in film, he was a sort of character actor, where he reveled in changing who he was in public.
Any of the music and cinema buffs out there, feel free to tell me that I am full of it.
From the New York Times, we see the obituary for Hall of Frame catcher, Yogi Berra:
Yogi Berra Dies at 90; Yankee Star Built His Fame 90% on Skill, and Half on Wit
Berra was a standout as a catcher, as well as achieving success as a manager, but much of his fame came from his penchant for mangling the English language, with such memorable quotes as, “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded,” and, “It’s déjà vu all over again!”
The headline is a fitting homage to Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra.
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper, nee Roderick Toombs, has died of a heart attack at age 61.
To the degree that I’ve followed wrestling, I had a house mate who was big into it, it was after Piper’s move to acting, so I do not have much of a comment on this, but I do recall his performance in the iconic John Carpenter film They Live:
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper, the kilt wearing trash-talker who headlined the first WrestleMania and later found movie stardom, died Friday. He was 61.
The WWE confirmed the death. The wrestling organization provided no additional details.
Piper, born Roderick Toombs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is the second WWE Hall of Famer to die this summer, following the June death of Dusty Rhodes. ………
In addition to his celebrity in the ring, Piper appeared in John Carpenter’s 1988 cult classic “They Live.” In that film, he delivered the memorable line: “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass — and I’m all out of bubblegum.”
If you haven’t seen They Live, do so.
It is a rather irreverent commentary on the Reagan era, and is perhaps even more relevant now.
My brother made an interesting observation about the NPR obituary for Theodore Bikel: There was no mention whatsoever of the fact that Bikel was Jewish:
There is a word missing from NPR’s obituary for Theodore Bikel (Theodore Bikel, Who Starred In Broadway’s ‘Fiddler On The Roof,’ Dies).
That Jew. Or for the squeamish, Jewish.
The piece was delivered (and one assumes written) by Lynn Neary, described as having” develop[ed] NPR’s first religion beat. [And] As religion correspondent….covered the country’s diverse religious landscape”.
………
The closest NPR came to hinting that Bikel might have a Jewish connection was that his family fled Vienna to the Palenstine Mandate. All NPR chose to say was that Bikel’s family fled.
I am curious why it was so hard for NPR to say the word Jew, or even Jewish?
It is interesting.
I will note that I have been leery of NPR’s religion beat reporters since the ties between NPR religion reporter Barbara Bradley Hagerty and the religious right hit the blogosphere over a decade ago.
Please note, I don’t think that there is some sort of secret agenda in what NPR is doing here: I think that public broadcasting is being driven by their abject terror of what the Congressional Republicans might do to them.
It’s been that way since Gingrich was speaker.
One final note: Nice catch by my bro. I missed the omission completely.
Aka Stephen Saroff o o The Bear who Swims
(_)_____o
~~~~(______)~~~~~~~~~~
oo oo
And Fox f%$#s it up
I will never think about the song :The Little Drummer Boy” the same way again.
I am referring to the iconic British actor Christopher Lee, who died Monday at the age of 93:
Any actor who played a definitive Dracula and Saruman in “Lord of the Rings” would surely be welcomed in the realm of heavy metal fans. But Sir Christopher Lee, the estimable British actor who died Monday, is a particular hero to fans of heavy rock.
Lee, a lifelong musician, had dabbled in vocal performance and recorded a track for the score of his 1973 film “The Wicker Man.” But Lee’s foreboding baritone and arch screen presence turned out to lend itself perfectly to a heavy metal setting.
The actor, beloved for his turns in both classic and B-movie horror, cut his first metal album at the age of 90: “Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross.”
The album, an operatic concept piece recounting the life of the first Holy Roman Emperor, remains a cult favorite in metal, and earned him a “Spirit of Metal” award at the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden Gods award ceremony (presented by no less a figure than Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath).
Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner, a fellow legend of British metal, told the site Loudwire that Lee was “a very metal guy, he embodies the whole spirit of metal.”
Lee followed it up with a 2013 sequel, “Charlemagne: The Omens of Death.” But Lee is perhaps most adored in metal for his exquisitely droll “A Heavy Metal Christmas” recordings, where he lent his gravitas to some magnificently silly holiday originals.
FYI, Lee was a direct descendant of Charlemagne.
As to the SAS bit, roll the Wiki:
Lee’s stepfather served as a captain in the Intelligence Corps, but it is unlikely he had any influence over Lee’s military career. Lee saw him for the last time on a bus in London in 1940, by then divorced from Lee’s mother, though Lee did not speak to him. Lee mentioned that during the war he was attached to the Special Operations Executive and the Long Range Desert Patrol, the precursor of the SAS, but always declined to go into details.
“ I was attached to the SAS from time to time but we are forbidden – former, present, or future – to discuss any specific operations. Let’s just say I was in Special Forces and leave it at that. People can read in to that what they like.
Here is a guy who lived an amazing life.
He wrote Amazing headlines for the New York Daily News:
V.A. “Vinnie” Musetto, a longtime former New York Post editor known for writing the tabloid’s most famous headline more than three decades ago, died early Tuesday morning at the age of 74.
The cause was pancreatic cancer, Musetto’s daughter, Carly VanTassell, told Capital. He had entered end-of-life care at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx recently after receiving a sudden diagnosis.
Musetto had a long career at the Post, where he worked for more than 40 years as an editor and later as a film critic, a position he held until August 2013. He had retired two years earlier but continued writing film reviews until the Post cut off his freelance assignments.
He is most well known for coming up with the headline “Headless body in topless bar” in 1983. It was the type of lurid, can’t-make-this-stuff-up story that the tabloids live for, about a man who fatally shot the owner of a topless bar and forced a hostage to decapitate the body.
The headline was one for the history books and remains an object of fascination among newspaper wonks. But Musetto’s personal favorite is another infamous headline that he wrote, said VanTassell: “Granny executed in her pink pajamas.”*
I aspired to be 1/10 as good at writing headlines as he was one day.
*Velma Barfield, the first women executed in the US after the death penalty came back in 1976.