Obituaries

[Marypoza]

RlP Eric's Mom. Let's give Eric some hugs & condolences

[David Horn]

(07-19-2018, 12:31 PM)Marypoza Wrote: RlP Eric's Mom. Let's give Eric some hugs & condolences

Amen to that!  

[pbrower2a]

Thirded.

[Tim Randal Walker]

My condolences.   

[pbrower2a]

Adrian Cronauer, disc jockey for the (American) Armed Forces Network during the Vietnam War, brilliantly portrayed by the late great Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam



Adrian Cronauer (September 8, 1938 – July 18, 2018) was a United States Air Force sergeant and radio personality whose experiences as an innovative disc jockey on American Forces Network during the Vietnam War inspired the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam.[3][4]

In the late 1970s, Cronauer had an idea for a television sitcom that would be a blend of M*A*S*H and WKRP in Cincinnati, two popular TV series of that era. It was not until some years later that he was able to elicit interest in the proposal which became the film Good Morning, Vietnam.[8] The movie was based on his experiences as a Saigon-based DJ during the Vietnam War, where he served from 1965 to 1966.[9] His program was known as the "Dawn Buster." According to Cronauer, other than the film's portrayal of him being a radio host, very little of the film reflects his experiences,[10] except the bombing of a restaurant which Cronauer witnessed from nearby.[11] A subsequent special program on National Public Radio about the role of the American Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN-military radio and television) earned Cronauer a 1992 Ohio State Award and two 1991 Gold Medals from the New York Radio Festival. Prior to getting stationed in Vietnam he was stationed at Iraklion Air Station Crete, Greece.[12]

Cronauer attended the University of Pittsburgh where he led a group that founded the school's first student radio station, now WPTS-FM.[13] His subsequent media work included being the classical morning host at WVWR in Roanoke, Virginia (now Virginia Tech's WVTF),[14] during which time he created the proposal that would culminate in Good Morning, Vietnam.

He earned a master's degree in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research in New York City and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Cronauer's law practice concentrated in information and communications law. Cronauer consented to disbarment in the District of Columbia in October 2014 for reportedly misleading consumers through misrepresentations and deceptive and fraudulent loan modification and foreclosure prevention practices.[15] Later he worked as a special assistant to the Director of the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office.[16][17][18]

Cronauer was a member of Mensa[19] and a "lifelong card-carrying Republican", having taken an "active role" in both Bob Dole's 1996 unsuccessful presidential campaign and George W. Bush's 2004 successful presidential re-election campaign.[3]

Cronauer died on July 18, 2018, at his home in Western Virginia after a long illness two months before his 80th birthday.[1]

 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Cronauer

[pbrower2a]

Japanese screenwriter, collaborator with Akira Kurosawa

Shinobu Hashimoto (Japanese: 橋本 忍, Hashimoto Shinobu) (18 April 1918 – 19 July 2018) was a Japanese screenwriter, director, producer, and frequent collaborator with Akira Kurosawa.[2] He won some 16 awards for his writing, including a succession of Blue Ribbon Awards, particularly in the 1960s.

In 2008, Hashimoto's screenplay for I Want to Be a Shellfish (Watashi wa Kai ni Naritai), a post-World War II war crimes trial drama based on the 1959 Tetsutaro Kato novel and made into a film that same year, was remade, directed by Katsuo Fukuzawa and starring Yukie Nakama and Masahiro Nakai.

He turned 100 in April 2018. Hashimoto died in Tokyo on July 19th, 2018, from pneumonia. [1]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinobu_Hashimoto

[Eric the Green]

(07-19-2018, 12:31 PM)Marypoza Wrote: RlP Eric's Mom. Let's give Eric some hugs & condolences

Thank you Maryposa, David, Paul, Tim. She was a good lady.
http://www.lastingmemories.com/memorial/...eece?about

[pbrower2a]

Probably a distant relative:


Lincoln Pierson Brower was born in New Jersey in 1931. At high school he met Jane Van Zandt. He was educated at Princeton University where he gained a BA in biology in 1953. He and Jane married and took their PhDs in zoology together at Yale University in 1957, his on speciation in the Papilio glaucus group of butterflies, hers doing the first ever controlled experiments on Batesian mimicry in butterflies [5][6][7]. They spent two years at Oxford University, the first as Fulbright scholars, in E. B. Ford's ecological genetics laboratory. He then lectured at Amherst College from 1958, rising to the endowed Stone Professorship in 1976. In 1980 he moved to the Zoology Department at the University of Florida. On retiring in 1997, he moved to Sweet Briar College as a research professor.[8][9]

A butterfly and moth collector from an early age, he began studying the biology of the monarch butterfly while a postgraduate at Yale in 1954, and became a world expert on the species over six decades.[10][11] He has contributed to over 200 papers and 8 films, combining research, public education about the monarch butterfly, and conservation work.

He led a team of researchers studying the ecology of the overwintering grounds of the monarch in the mountains of Michoacan, Mexico, starting in the winter of 1977, incorporating aspects of thermal biology, predator-prey interactions, and chemical ecology.

He died on July 17. 2018 in Nelson County, Virginia. [12]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Brower

[Marypoza]

(07-20-2018, 03:25 AM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(07-19-2018, 12:31 PM)Marypoza Wrote: RlP Eric's Mom. Let's give Eric some hugs & condolences

Thank you Maryposa, David, Paul, Tim. She was a good lady.
http://www.lastingmemories.com/memorial/...eece?about

-- that is a nice bio Eric, your Mom was a very interesting lady. But l am curious: l grew up near Oxford, in the next county over. We used to go swimming @ Hueston Woods sometimes, which is outside of Oxford, anyhow l never heard of Western University. Do you know is it part of Miami University?

[Eric the Green]

(07-20-2018, 11:43 PM)Marypoza Wrote:

(07-20-2018, 03:25 AM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(07-19-2018, 12:31 PM)Marypoza Wrote: RlP Eric's Mom. Let's give Eric some hugs & condolences

Thank you Maryposa, David, Paul, Tim. She was a good lady.
http://www.lastingmemories.com/memorial/...eece?about

-- that is a nice bio Eric, your Mom was a very interesting lady. But l am curious: l grew up near Oxford, in the next county over. We used to go swimming @ Hueston Woods sometimes, which is outside of Oxford, anyhow l never heard of Western University. Do you know is it part of Miami University?

Yes it is now.

[pbrower2a]

Japan executes the six remaining  Aum Shinrikyo members on its Death Row for for cult-related murders.

TOKYO
UPDATE 13:30

Japan executed Thursday all six former members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult who remained on death row following the execution of founder Shoko Asahara and six other members earlier this month, the justice minister said.

The six — Satoru Hashimoto, Toru Toyoda, Kenichi Hirose, Yasuo Hayashi, Masato Yokoyama and Kazuaki Okazaki — were convicted of involvement in one or more of three crimes — the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, another sarin attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, in 1994, and the murders of a lawyer, his wife and their baby son in 1989.

"I ordered the executions after giving it careful repeated consideration," said Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa, adding she gave the green light Tuesday.

"The suffering of the victims, bereaved families and those who survived are unimaginable," she said.

Asahara, the mastermind of the series of crimes committed by the cult, was executed along with six of his former followers on July 6, nearly 12 years after his death sentence was finalized by the Supreme Court in September 2006.

The crimes, which courts said were committed to further Asahara's bid to "control Japan in the name of salvation," resulted in the deaths of 29 people among a total of over 6,500 victims.

Japan has faced persistent international criticism for its death penalty.

The executions came at a time when the country is preparing for the abdication of Emperor Akihito in 2019, which will end the current Heisei era that started after Emperor Hirohito's death in 1989. With the cult's crimes being the deadliest terror attacks in the country during the era, the authorities decided to draw a line under them before the era comes to a close, according to sources.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference the justice minister "must have made the decision in light of upcoming schedules among various other factors."

Trials over the cult's crimes ended this January, meaning there was no need to keep the executions of the 13 on hold for trials of accomplices.

All 13 Aum death row inmates were initially kept at the Tokyo detention center, but seven of them were transferred to other facilities across the country in March, fanning speculation they could be executed anytime.

The order in which the inmates were executed apparently reflects ranks within the cult as the first group of inmates put to death were the leader and senior members who were described as ministers or secretaries in the cult, which adopted an organizational structure resembling the national government.

Lawyer Taro Takimoto, who was subjected to an Aum sarin attack, said the latest executions were "cruel," writing on his blog he wondered how the six executed Thursday must have felt during the 20 days since Asahara and the first six were hanged.

Japanese security authorities are stepping up vigilance and closely monitoring Aum's successor organizations — Aleph and two splinter groups.

Aum Shinrikyo evolved from a yoga school established by Asahara in 1984 and had about 1,400 live-in followers and over 10,000 lay followers at its height.

The doomsday cult also attracted over 30,000 other followers in Russia, which designated the group a terrorist organization in 2016. A senior member was arrested in Russia in May for recruiting others, indicating it is still active overseas.

https://japantoday.com/category/crime/Ja...ow-inmates

[pbrower2a]

Nikolai Volkoff, professional wrestler. You might remember his shtick in the ring even if you don't care for 'professional' wrestling..



Josip Nikolai Peruzović (October 14, 1947 – July 29, 2018),[3][4] better known by his ring name of Nikolai Volkoff, was a Croatian-American professional wrestler who was best known for his performances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Although the Volkoff on-screen character was often portrayed as a villainous Russian, Peruzović actually originated from Croatia and had a mixed background. He was known for teaming with The Iron Sheik, with whom he won the WWF Tag Team Championship at the inaugural WrestleMania event, and also with Boris Zhukov as The Bolsheviks.

....

In 1984, Volkoff returned to the now WWF and teamed with the Iron Sheik with the pair being managed by the "Hollywood fashion plate" "Classy" Freddie Blassie.[1] It was at this point that Volkoff pushed the envelope and began to sing the national anthem of the Soviet Union before every match after which the Sheik would grab the microphone and proclaim "Iran number one, Russia number one" before exaggerated spitting after saying "USA", in order to gain even more heat for being foreign heels.[1]
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The new team of Volkoff and the Iron Sheik captured the coveted [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tag_Team_Championship_(WWE)]WWF Tag Team Championship from The U.S. Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham) at the first ever WrestleMania, on March 31, 1985 after the Sheik had knocked out Windham with Fred Blassie's cane.[1] After losing the titles back to Rotundo and Windham three months later, Volkoff began to wrestle more in singles competition, including wrestling Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship on several occasions in 1985 and 1986 (including a flag match at the second ever episode of Saturday Night's Main Event at the Meadowlands Arena), but never defeated Hogan for the title.

Volkoff also feuded with former 82nd Airborne paratrooper Corporal Kirchner throughout 1985 and 1986, defeating him in a "peace match" on Saturday Night's Main Event. Their feud ended when Kirchner used Blassie's cane to defeat Volkoff at WrestleMania 2 in another flag match during the Chicago portion of the event.

In the fall of 1986, Volkoff's manager "Classy" Freddy Blassie sold half interest in his stable of superstars to the "Doctor of Style," Slick (kayfabe).[1] Giving Slick co-managerial rights to Nikolai Volkoff, Classy Freddy Blassie also shared the contracts of the Iron Sheik and Hercules. This was a storyline aimed at reducing the aging Blassie's active role and the "Hollywood fashion plate" eventually retired in the fall of 1986 at the age of 68. Sheik and Volkoff feuded with WWF newcomer Jim Duggan for the majority of 1987, including Hacksaw running to the ring and stopping the Big Russian's singing before their match against The Killer Bees at WrestleMania III (Sheik and Volkoff won by disqualification when Duggan entered the ring while chasing Volkoff and then hit the Sheik with his 2x4 while he had the Camel clutch on "Jumping" Jim Brunzell).


In late 1987, Volkoff was teamed with Boris Zukhov, another alleged Russian (actually an American wrestler whose real name was James Harrell), to form The Bolsheviks.[1] The Russians feuded with WWF newcomers The Powers of Pain, losing to them at the inaugural SummerSlam PPV in 1988, however The Bolsheviks did not gain the success as did his partnership with The Iron Sheik. As they lost the public eye due to many losses, they eventually lost their manager Slick and were eventually used as a comic relief team losing many matches to The Bushwhackers. The Bolsheviks never held any titles together, and are perhaps best remembered for being defeated in 19 seconds by The Hart Foundation at WrestleMania VI.[1] Eventually, by 1990, The Bolsheviks split up. Volkoff publicly ended the partnership prior to a match where he confronted Zukhov and then started singing "The Star-Spangled Banner", drawing loud cheers from the audience and turning babyface in the process. ....

More here.

[pbrower2a]

RON DELLUMS
Former Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums dies


OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) --
Former Bay Area Congressman and former Mayor of Oakland Ron Dellums has died.

Dellums died last night of an illness.

He was widely known for his social activism.

Dellums served in Congress from 1971 until the late 1990s.

He was one of the first to call for the integration of gays and lesbians into the military.

Dellums then served as Mayor of Oakland from 2007 to 2011.

Ron Dellums was 82-years-old.

http://abc7news.com/3848533/

He was 'my' Congressional Representative when I attended the University of California.

[pbrower2a]

Wikipedia article:

Ronald Vernie Dellums (November 24, 1935 – July 30, 2018) was an American politician who served as Oakland's forty-eighth (and third African-American) mayor. From 1971 to 1998, he was elected to thirteen terms as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Northern California's 9th Congressional District, after which he worked as a lobbyist in Washington D.C.

Dellums was born into a family of labor organizers, and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps before serving on the Berkeley, California, City Council. Dellums was the first African American elected to Congress from Northern California and the first openly socialist successful non-incumbent Congressional candidate since World War II.[2] His politics earned him a place on President Nixon's enemies list.
During his career in Congress, he fought the MX Missile project and opposed expansion of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber program. When President Ronald Reagan vetoed Dellums' Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, a Democratic-controlled House and a Republican-controlled Senate overrode Reagan's veto, the first override of a presidential foreign policy veto in the 20th century.[3]

 Dellums career in politics spanned over forty years. He held positions on the Berkeley City Council, in the United States House of Representatives, and was the mayor of Oakland from 2007 to 2011.[11]

Dellums was elected to the Berkeley City Council, after prompting from Maudelle Shirek,[13] and served from 1967 to 1970.[14]
 
U.S. Congress

Official Congressional portrait of Dellums.

Dellums was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1970 after being recruited by anti-Vietnam War activists to run against the incumbent, Jeffery Cohelan, a white liberal close to organized labor who had not opposed the war early enough to win reelection in the district. Dellums defeated Cohelan in the Democratic primary and won the general election, serving without interruption for 27 years.[15]

In 1972, Dellums was reelected to Congress, 60 to 38 percent over his Republican opponent, Peter D. Hannaford, an advisor to then Governor Ronald Reagan.[16]
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His politics earned him a place on the so-called [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon%27s_Enemies_List]Nixon's Enemies List, where his notation stated Dellums "had extensive EMK-Tunney support in his election bid."[17][18]

In January 1971, just weeks into his first term, Dellums set up an exhibit of Vietnam war crimes in an annex to his Congressional office, coordinated with the Citizens Commission of Inquiry (CCI).[19] The exhibit featured four large posters depicting atrocities committed by American soldiers, embellished with red paint.

The My Lai massacre was followed shortly thereafter by a series of hearings on war crimes in Vietnam, which began April 25, 1971. Dellums had called for formal investigations into the allegations, but Congress chose not to endorse the proceedings. As such, the hearings were ad hoc and only informational in nature. As a condition of room use, press and camera presence were not permitted; however, the proceedings were transcribed.[20] A small number of other anti-Vietnam War congressional representatives also took part in the hearings.
Anti-apartheid campaign


Dellums in the 1970s

In 1972, Dellums began his campaign to end the apartheid policies of South Africa. Fourteen years later, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Dellums' anti-apartheid legislation, calling for a trade restriction against South Africa and immediate divestment by American corporations. The bill, the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, had broad bipartisan support. It called for sanctions against South Africa and stated preconditions for lifting the sanctions, including the release of all political prisoners. President Reagan called for a policy of "constructive engagement" and vetoed the bill; however, his veto was overridden. It was the first override in the 20th century of a presidential foreign policy veto.[3]

Dellums' fight against apartheid in South Africa was the subject of a Disney Channel made-for-TV film, The Color of Friendship, released in 2000. The role of Congressman Dellums was played in the film by actor Carl Lumbly.[21]

As part of the Cold War struggle for influence in southern Africa, the United States joined with the apartheid government of South Africa in support of UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi, against the ultimately victorious Angolan forces of the MPLA supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba. Dellums was criticized for his support of Fidel Castro's involvement with the MPLA in Angola and was called "the prototype of the Castroite congressman" by the conservative press.[22] He also introduced legislation (which was unsuccessful) in September 1987 to prohibit economic and military assistance to Zaire, citing poor human rights, corruption, and collaboration with South Africa.[23]

Throughout his career Dellums led campaigns against an array of military projects, arguing that the funds would be better spent on peaceful purposes, especially in American cities. Programs he opposed included the Pershing II and MX missiles, and the B-2 bomber (popularly known as the "stealth bomber"). Because of his commitment to the closing of unneeded military bases, Dellums did not oppose the closing of the former Naval Air Station Alameda in his own district.[24]

The Peacekeeper missile was a "third-generation" inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM). One of its advantages over earlier missiles was its greater survivability. One early aspect of the design was for fifty missiles to be placed on trains that would be shuttled between numerous hiding sheds around a railroad loop located in remote Utah. Another advantage was that the Peacekeeper had a greater MIRV capacity than the Minuteman III — each missile had up to ten nuclear warheads, compared with the three aboard the Minuteman III.
Dellums argued that constructing the Peacekeeper would only propel the ongoing arms race and cause the Soviet Union to construct more weapons. He also argued that the issue of survivability of existing missiles was a red herring; the Soviet Union could not expect a first strike to go unpunished — U.S. nuclear-equipped submarines, bombers and cruise missiles would inflict devastating damage even if all American ICBMs were disabled. As part of the campaign, Dellums met with the LDS Church in Utah.
The rail project was eventually canceled and the missiles were placed in hardened silos, as with previous missiles such as the Minuteman III. The last Peacekeeper was decommissioned in 2005 as part of the START II treaty.

The B-2 Stealth Bomber is a long-range strategic bomber, that features stealth technology that makes it far less visible to radar. The B-2 was a major technological advance; however, it was designed during the Cold War for military scenarios that some argued were less relevant following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Its total program cost was estimated in 1997 at over US$2.2 billion per airplane.[25]
Although Dellums opposed the B-2 project from the start, Congress approved initial funding for production of 135 bombers in 1987. However, with the winding down of the Cold War, total B-2 production was reduced to 21 aircraft in the early 1990s. But in 1997, seven former Secretaries of Defense signed a letter urging Congress to buy more B-2s, citing the difficulty of assembling a similar engineering team in the future should the B-2 project be terminated.[26] Dellums, citing five independent studies consistent with his position, offered an amendment to that year's defense authorization bill to cap production of the bombers with the existing 21 aircraft. The amendment was narrowly defeated;[27] nonetheless, Congress never approved funding for additional B-2 bombers.
Dellums v. Bush (1990)

In 1990, Dellums and 44[28] of his congressional colleagues sued then-president President George H. W. Bush in D.C. Federal District Court in 1990, in the case Dellums v. Bush, 752 F. Supp. 1141 (1990) attempting to halt a preemptive military buildup in the Middle East in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The plaintiff members of Congress asserted that military action without a declaration of war would be unlawful under U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 11 of the United States Constitution. Dellums is notable in that it is one of only a few cases in which the Federal Courts have considered whether the War Powers Clause of the U.S. Constitution is justiciable in the courts. The Court in Dellums indicated that, in that instance, it was, but because Congress had not yet acted as a majority, the lawsuit was premature.

In 1993, Dellums was Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Though he argued in favor of integration, Dellums was the sole sponsor of H.R. 2401, introduced on June 14, 1993,[29] adding language to the Defense Authorization Act of 1994 to ensure continued support for unit cohesion in the military. Although the bill contained that language, Dellums pointed out that he personally found the language unacceptable, stating in the Congressional Record on August 4, 1993: "The bill also contains at least one policy that, while unacceptable to this Member in substantive terms, is not as retrograde as it might have been: It supports the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the issue of allowing gay and lesbian service members to serve their country." Remaining in the bill was Title V Section G "[e]xpresses as congressional policy the prohibition against homosexual conduct or activity in the armed forces. Requires separation from the armed forces for such conduct or activity. Directs the Secretary to ensure that the standards for military appointments and enlistments reflect such policy."[30] Dellums' "yes" vote on the bill with the unit cohesion support language was the first time in his 22-year congressional tenure that he voted in favor of any defense spending bill, previously opposing them on economic principles.[citation needed] However, Dellums gives several economic reasons in the Congressional Record for his "yes" vote, on H.R. 2401, including that "It cuts ballistic missile defense to $3 billion—less than one-half the level planned by the Bush administration ..." and: "it devotes a record $11.2 billion to environmental cleanup and improvement, and does so in a way that will stimulate the development of new technologies and new markets for American firms".

Dellums served as chairman of the House Committee on the District of Columbia and the House Armed Services Committee.
Dellums also served on the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Select Committee to Investigate the Intelligence Community.[31]
Dellums co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971.[32]


Dellums' official portrait in the 103rd Congress, 1993.

Dellums was reelected 11 times from this Oakland-based district, which changed numbers twice during his tenure–from the 7th (1971–75) to the 8th (1975–93) to the 9th (1993–98). He only dropped below 57 percent of the vote twice, in 1980 and 1982. In his last House election race, in 1996, Dellums bested his opponent, Republican Deborah Wright, by a 77%–18% margin.[33]
In 1997, Dellums announced that he was retiring from Congress in the middle of his term, forcing a special election for the balance of his term — which created a series of five special elections in 12 months as various East Bay politicians ran for different political offices. For more detailed information, see Special election musical chairs.

Dellums' successor, Barbara Lee, won the 2000 election by an even larger, 85%–9% margin.[34]
Congressional tribute

Upon his resignation, several members of Congress, including Nancy Pelosi,[35] Jane Harman,[36] William Coyne, Nick Rahall, Ike Skelton, Juanita Millender-McDonald and Tom DeLay gave speeches on the floor of the House in honor of Dellums. Millender-McDonald described Dellums as a "distinguished, principled [and] educated man." Her tribute went on:

Quote:Congressman Ron Dellums is revered on both sides of this aisle because of his integrity and his commitment to progressive ideas. He was always on the cutting edge of the issues. California will miss him in the ninth district, but the State has been enriched by Ron Dellums. While he towers above most of us physically, this attribute is matched by his intellect, faith in the process and optimism for peaceful resolution of conflict.[37]

Congressman Danny Davis of Illinois described Dellums:

Quote:A creative, piercing, probing, incisive, thought-provoking, inspiring, charismatic, careful, considerate and deliberative mind. The mind to stand up when others sit down. The mind to act when others refuse to act. The mind to stand even when you stand alone, battered, bruised and scorned, but still standing. Standing on principle, standing tall and standing for the people.[38]

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay described Dellums as "...one of the most giving, open and stalwart, a real stalwart man when he was Chairman"

Quote:We are losing one of its finest Members, a Member that I have great respect for, because he always did his homework, was so articulate and eloquent on this floor.
He always got my attention when he stood up and took the microphone. He would stop every Member in their tracks to hear what he had to say, and there are very few Members that have served in this body that can claim the respect that both sides of the aisle had for the gentleman from California. And the incredible reputation that the gentleman from California has brought to this House; he has elevated this House. He has elevated the distinction of this House by serving here, and this House will greatly miss him when he leaves.[39]

Dellums' voting records in Congress were "almost without exception straight As" from groups such as the Sierra Club, the National Organization for Women and the AFL-CIO.[24] He received 100% on consumer group Public Citizen's scorecard.[40] In contrast, he received an "F" from NumbersUSA, a group dedicated to limiting immigration.[citation needed]
Dismissal of drug use allegations

An eight-month investigation vindicated Dellums of allegations that he had used cocaine and marijuana, finding there was no basis for the allegations. The investigation of Dellums and two other congressmen, Texas Democrat Charlie Wilson and California Republican Barry Goldwater, Jr., began in 1983, based on a complaint from a House doorkeeper,[18] who pleaded guilty to drug charges on Capitol Hill himself in March 1983.[41]

In 1976, Dellums was nominated for president by the National Black Political Assembly but refused, stating "It is not my moment; it’s not my time."[42][43] That year, he received 20 delegate votes at the Democratic National Convention for the Vice-Presidency.[44]
Four years later, he was again nominated as the presidential candidate, this time for the Independent Freedom Party, but refused the nomination because the IFP had not yet created an effective political structure.[45] In that year’s Democratic National Convention, Dellums received three delegate votes for the Presidential nomination.[44]

Dellums has worked as a legislative lobbyist, which has drawn criticism described in the East Bay Express, a local newspaper.[24] Shortly after leaving office, Dellums began consulting for an international health-care company, Healthcare Management International which invests in health insurance programs in developing countries.

Dellums worked in Washington, D.C., as a lobbyist for clients such as the East Bay Peralta Community College District and AC Transit, the public transit district charged with offering mass transit throughout the East Bay. Dellums' firm lobbied for Rolls Royce, a company that manufactures aircraft engines. He has also worked on behalf of the San Francisco International Airport during its attempts to build additional runway capacity, which has been vigorously opposed by environmental groups. His company has been engaged in community relations work for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory which generates and handles radioactive waste, and has long had a contentious relationship with its residential neighbors and the Berkeley city council. In addition he has lobbied for Bristol-Myers Squibb, a multinational pharmaceutical corporation.

In 2017, Bill Browder testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that representatives of Vladimir Putin had hired "Howard Schweitzer of Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies and former Congressman Ronald Dellums to lobby members of Congress on Capitol Hill to repeal the Magnitsky Act and to remove Sergei’s name from the Global Magnitsky bill." The bill is named for the Russian lawyer was murdered in prison for pursuing the corruption of Putin's allies.[46] Browder also worked with the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative to oppose sanctions on Russia.[47][48]

Dellums lobbied for the Haitian government in 2001–2002[49] and has worked to support Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first democratically elected, former President of Haiti who was deposed in a 2004 coup.[50]

When running for mayor of Oakland, Dellums listed his most recent profession as "retired Congressman" in election filing forms.[51] When assistant City Clerk Marjo Keller informed the Dellums campaign that this description was unacceptable, the campaign elected to leave the occupation field blank.

A former East Bay Express columnist once wrote a column titled "Dellums for Dollars" criticizing Dellums' lobbying.[24] Speaking in defense of Dellums, Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson said that, if asked, Dellums would likely say "just because I'm advocating for a company that may be paying me consulting fees, I'm not selling out my beliefs."[24]

After Oakland Council President Ignacio De La Fuente and District 3 City Councilmember Nancy Nadel declared their mayoral candidacies, Dellums was recruited to run for Mayor of Oakland. An informal committee, "Draft Dellums," collected 8,000 signatures and presented them to the former Congressman at a public meeting at Laney College. Crowds of Oaklanders chanted "Run, Ron, Run".[52]
In October 2005, reportedly after weeks of deliberation and speculation, Dellums announced that he would run for mayor of Oakland. The incumbent mayor, former California Attorney General and current California Governor Jerry Brown, was prohibited by term limits from running again.

On June 16, 2006, after a careful ballot count, and a dispute over whether votes for unqualified write-in candidates such as George W. Bush and Homer Simpson counted towards the total, Dellums was unofficially declared the winner in the Oakland mayoral race. Dellums garnered a 50.18 percent majority to win the election. This was 155 votes more than needed to avoid a runoff. Dellums received 41,992 votes, while his nearest challengers received 27,607 votes, and 10,928 votes respectively.[53]

Mayor-Elect Dellums' transition to office involved 800 Oaklanders who joined 41 task forces to make recommendations on issues ranging from public safety to education and affordable housing.[54] Many of these recommendations helped to shape the policy agenda of the Dellums administration. The task forces recommended a land use policy which would emphasize zoning for job-creating business. This policy was adopted in 2007, and the city is being zoned. The task forces recommended a stronger policy on the hiring of local residents, and the City Council appointed a group to pursue this change. The task forces recommended a focus on the green economy, and the Mayor, along with a variety of community organizations created the Green Jobs Corps, an office of sustainability and the East Bay Green Corridor. The Mayor reports that approximately two-thirds of the recommendations had been implemented as of the end of 2009.[55] The Task Forces and the Inauguration itself, which included hundreds of the city's least affluent residents, were considered examples of grassroots democracy.[56]

Crime rates were high when Dellums took office in January 2007 and at his first State of the City Address in January 2008, Dellums called for hiring more police officers. Dellums promised that by year's end, the police department would be fully staffed at 803 officers.[57] On November 14, 2008, 38 Oakland police officers were added to the force after graduating the 165th academy, bringing the department's force to 837 officers, the most in OPD history.[58]

In addition, to follow through on his calls for hiring more officers, Dellums offered Measure NN on the November 2008 ballot, a voter initiative parcel tax to hire 70 additional police officers at a hiring and training cost of $250,000 each. Though 55 percent of Oakland voters supported Measure NN, this failed to meet California's "two thirds" constitutional requirement for the enactment of a new tax.
Dellums's administration negotiated the passage of a new police contract which was especially noteworthy, as it broke the Oakland Police Officers Association’s opposition to the civilianization of certain OPD positions which were previously staffed by "sworn," uniformed police officers, with concomitant payrolls and police academy training costs. OPD then hired "non-sworn" personnel to work some of its desk jobs and administrative jobs, freeing up academy uniformed officers for street patrol and investigative work.[59]

Dellums instituted a new community policing program under which Oakland has been divided into three geographic areas — central, east and north-west, the officers in these three areas overseen by three police captains who are purported to be held accountable for getting to know residents and neighborhood issues and reducing crime in his or her district. Dellums' staff successfully negotiated a police officers contract which allowed the police chief to set officers' hours which resulted in a larger number of police on the streets during the hours of greatest crime.

Dellums called on the City Council and Police Chief Wayne Tucker to increase the number of recruits in the city's police academy, to establish incentives to keep older officers on the force beyond retirement — some of them to train new recruits — and to better prepare Oakland residents and others interested in law enforcement for jobs with the city's Police Department.

Other plans to reduce violence include training at-risk youth and ex-offenders for jobs, and intensifying police efforts to get weapons off the streets by cracking down on illegal gun dealers and establishing a city program to buy back guns.

On Saturday, March 21, 2009, during the 2009 Oakland police shootings incident, the Oakland Police Department lost three sergeants and one officer. One of the officers left instructions in his emergency packet that if he were killed in the line of duty that Dellums not be permitted to speak at his funeral. Two of the officers' families requested the same, and when Dellums attended the March 28 public memorial service at the Oracle Arena he honored the requests.[60][61]

In his State of the City address in 2008 Dellums promised to reduce the crime rate by 10% during 2009; the crime rate actually went down by 13%.[62]

In 2009 Dellums hired the highly regarded Anthony Batts, formerly the Long Beach police chief. Batts had a record of reducing both crime and officer-involved shootings in that Southern California city.

Noting that reducing teacher turn-over and improving the engagement of teachers with the families of their students would require increasing the number of teachers who came from the local community, Dellums initiated a program to create more teachers who were diverse local residents. He held teacher recruitment summits in City Hall, helped the Teach Tomorrow in Oakland program to obtain $2.7 million in federal funding, and spoke to the U.S. Conference of Mayors about the national potential of such programs.[63] The Community Task Forces remained active in these efforts.

In 2009 Dellums launched an anti-drop-out initiative which included sponsoring back to school rallies at City Hall and participating with the school district in truancy reduction efforts. He accepted an invitation from the national organization, America's Promise, to join their efforts at drop-out prevention. As part of this effort, he started Oakland's Promise, recruited several dozen community-based organizations to participate, held a Summit with 350 participants, and adopted an Action Plan to cut Oakland's drop-out rate in half.[64]
Commission appointments

The resident task forces requested that the Mayor appoint a resident of the "frontline" communities which are most health-impacted by truck and shipping emissions of the Port of Oakland. His first appointment to the Port Commission was Margaret Gordon, a well-known community activist credited with playing a major role in altering public policy on air quality.

In September 2008, members of the Oakland City Council blocked Mayor Ron Dellums' appointment of Ada Chan to the Oakland Planning Commission in a 3-4-1 vote. Chan has a history of land-use activism in San Francisco. In January 2008, newly elected at-large City Coucilmember Rebecca Kaplan appointed Chan as her office's Policy Aide.

As Mayor, Dellums proposed the idea of Oakland as a "Model City." He argued that Oakland is "big enough to be significant and small enough to get your arms around," and that the federal government needs a city like Oakland on which to try out new urban policy inventions.[citation needed]

Since 2008, Dellums has campaigned to bring millions in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act federal stimulus funding to Oakland, using both his extensive Washington contacts and the idea of the Model City. By the end of 2009, his efforts had yielded US$65 million in stimulus funding for Oakland, including the largest police grant of any city in the country, and the second largest amount in competitive funding after Chicago.[65]


After his election as mayor of Oakland, Dellums came under criticism for a wide range of issues, including a lack of transparency in government,[66][67] ineffectual governance,[68] and alleged extended absence from his duties at City Hall.[69] He was criticized for refusing to disavow a staff-generated letter sent in his name in July 2007 to a Federal Bankruptcy Court in support of the Your Black Muslim Bakery, whose owners were suspects in the 2007 murder of reporter Chauncey Bailey.[70] In 2009, Dellums and his wife were cited with failure to pay over $239,000 in federal income taxes.[71]

In 2007, Oakland reporter Elise Ackerman launched an unsuccessful campaign to recall Dellums and released an open letter addressed to Dellums.[72] When addressing a town hall-style meeting in 2007, Dellums declared: "I'm giving it everything that I have. If that's not enough, that's cool. Recall me and let me get on with my private life."[citation needed]
Dellums later announced he would not seek a second term as mayor of Oakland in the 2010 election.[73] He was succeeded by Jean Quan.

On July 30, 2018, Dellums died after a period of illness.[74][75] He was 82.

Though he ran as a Democrat, and caucused as a Democrat in Congress, Dellums described himself as a Socialist. He was the first self-described socialist in Congress since Victor L. Berger. In the 1970s, Dellums was a member of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC), an offshoot of the Socialist Party of America. He later became vice-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA),[10] which was formed by a merger between the DSOC and the New American Movement, and which works within and outside the Democratic Party. As of 2006, Dellums is no longer a vice-chair of the DSA.

While running for mayor of Oakland, Dellums was officially registered as a member of the Democratic Party.[14][76] All city offices in Oakland are officially non-partisan.

On October 1, 2007, Dellums endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary at a press conference held at Laney College in Oakland. He was named national chair of Clinton's Urban Policy Committee.[77][78]

Dellums was a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.[79]

From Wikipedia.

[Eric the Green]

sad to see him go (:

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One of the last actresses from the silent film era, and probably one of the very last living teenage actresses from the end of the silent film era:

Mary Carlisle (February 3, 1914[1] – August 1, 2018) was an American actress, singer, and dancer.

She starred in several Hollywood films in the 1930s, having been one of 15 girls selected as WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1932. Her first major role was in the 1933 film College Humor with Bing Crosby. The two went on to perform together in two additional films, Double or Nothing (1937) and Doctor Rhythm (1938).[1] Carlisle retired from her acting career shortly after her marriage in 1942, with Dead Men Walk (1943) being her final film credit.[1]


Carlisle's uncle, who lived in California, gave her the opportunity to appear in the Jackie Coogan silent movie Long Live the King in 1923. She was uncredited.[2]
[/url]


Carlisle in a 1933 publicity photo

Carlisle was discovered by studio executive Carl Laemmle, Jr., at the age of 14 while she was eating lunch with her mother at the Universal Studios commissionary.[6] Carlisle was praised for her angelic looks, and Laemmle offered her a screen test.[5][7] Though she passed the test and started doing extra work at Universal, she was stopped by a welfare officer who noticed that she was underaged and had to finish school first.[5]

After completing her education two years later, she headed to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio for work in movies.[6] Carlisle, who had lied about her good dancing abilities, took a one-day basic tap dancing lesson, won the part along with future star Ann Dvorak and appeared briefly in one film.[4] She signed a one-year contract with MGM[3] in 1930 and was used as a back-up dancer.[5]

In the beginning of her movie career, she had small parts in movies such as [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madam_Satan]Madam Satan and Passion Flower.[8][9] She also had a role in Grand Hotel in 1932, where she played a bride named Mrs. Hoffman.[3] She gained recognition when she was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars (young actresses believed to be on their way to stardom) in 1932.[10]

Her major acting break came when Paramount Studios loaned her to star in the 1933 musical comedy College Humor alongside Bing Crosby.[5] The performance was critically acclaimed and catapulted her into a leading actress.[11] She went on to make two more movies with Crosby: Double or Nothing[5] and Doctor Rhythm.[2] She continued working for different studios, mainly in B-movies as a leading lady. Being an actress whose beauty was considered a favorable trait among the studios, she often dieted to keep her figure.[3]

She acted in more than 60 movies in a career that spanned about a dozen years.[6] She retired in 1943 with her final film being Dead Men Walk.[8]

More at Wikipedia

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Big cat conservationist:

Alan Robert Rabinowitz (December 31, 1953 – August 5, 2018) was an American zoologist who was the chief scientist at Panthera Corporation, a nonprofit conservation organization devoted to protecting the world's 40 wild cat species.[2] Called the "Indiana Jones of Wildlife Protection" by Time, he studied jaguars, clouded leopards, Asiatic leopards, tigers, Sumatran rhinos, bears, leopard cats, raccoons, and civets.[3]

Alan Rabinowitz was born to Frank and Shirley Rabinowitz in Brooklyn, New York, but moved to Queens, New York, soon after.[4] In grade school, he had a severe stutter.[5] Unable to communicate with his peers and teachers, Rabinowitz became interested in wildlife, to which he could communicate.[6]

Once his career became established, Rabinowitz frequently told his childhood story in interviews, lectures, books and other publications to explain how he became interested in wildlife conservation.[7][8] In 2008, the video of Rabinowitz telling this story on The Colbert Report went viral.[9] He served as a spokesperson for the Stuttering Foundation (SFA).[10]

In 1974, Rabinowitz received his bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) in Westminster, Maryland. He then received his M.S. (1978) and Ph.D. (1981) in ecology from the University of Tennessee.[11]

 Prior to co-founding Panthera with the organization's Chairman, Thomas Kaplan, in 2006, he served as the Executive Director of the Science and Exploration Division for the Wildlife Conservation Society, where he worked for nearly 30 years.[11]

While working in Myanmar's Hukaung Valley in 1997, he discovered four new species of mammals, including the most primitive deer species in the world, Muntiacus putaoensis, or the leaf deer.[12] His work in Myanmar led to the creation of five new protected wildlife areas, including the country's first marine park, Lampi Island Marine National Park; Myanmar's first and largest Himalayan national park, Hkakabo Razi National Park; the country's largest wildlife sanctuary, Hukaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary; the world's largest tiger reserve and one of the largest protected areas in the world, Hukaung Valley Tiger Reserve, and Hponkhan Razi National Park, an area which connects Hukaung Valley and Hkakabo Razi for a contiguous protected area of more than 5,000 square miles, called the Northern Forest Complex.[13]

Rabinowitz also established the world's first jaguar sanctuary[6] — the Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Preserve — in Belize and the Tawu Mountain Nature Reserve, Taiwan's largest protected area and last piece of intact lowland forest.[14] In Thailand, he conducted the first field research on Indochinese tigers, Indochinese leopards, and Asian leopard cats, leading to the designation of the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary as a UNESCO world biosphere reserve.[15]

One of his achievements was the conceptualization and implementation of the Jaguar Corridor,[16] a series of biological and genetic corridors for jaguars across their entire range from Mexico to Argentina. Rabinowitz also initiated Panthera's Tiger Corridor Initiative, an effort to identify and protect the world's last remaining large interconnected tiger landscapes, with a primary focus on the remote and rugged Indo-Himalayan region of Asia.[17]

His project to establish a chain of protected tiger habitat across the southern Himalaya was the focus of the BBC Natural History Unit's 2010 documentary series Lost Land of the Tiger. An expedition team spent a month investigating the status of big cats in Bhutan, leading to the rediscovery of tigers living at much higher altitudes than previously realized.[18]

In November 2017, Rabinowitz stepped down as President and CEO to serve as the Chief Scientist of Panthera,[19] where he oversaw the organization's range-wide conservation programs focused on tigers, lions, jaguars, and snow leopards and additional projects devoted to the protection of cougars, cheetahs, and leopards.[20]

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rabinowitz

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Politician, mentor of Ronald Reagan Paul Laxalt

Paul Dominique Laxalt (August 2, 1922 – August 6, 2018) was an American politician who was Governor of Nevada from 1967 to 1971 and a United States Senator from 1974 to 1987. He was one of Ronald Reagan's closest friends in politics. In fact, after Reagan was elected President in 1980, the national press began to refer to Laxalt as "The First Friend." He was the older brother of Robert Laxalt, who was a noted and prolific writer. He was a member of the Republican Party.


Paul Laxalt's first attempt for public office was in 1950 when he ran for District Attorney of Ormsby County, Nevada, turning out the incumbent D.A. He served from 1950 to 1954. Laxalt's first run for statewide office came in 1962 when he ran for Lieutenant Governor against former Rep. Berkeley L. Bunker. Using innovative television ads and personal television appearances, Laxalt was able to introduce himself to the electorate, particularly in Southern Nevada where he was virtually unknown. In the middle of the campaign, at a Fourth of July rally in Las Vegas, Republican gubernatorial candidate and then-Lt. Gov. Rex Bell, a former Hollywood actor who had persuaded Laxalt to run with him on the GOP "ticket", dropped dead of a heart attack. A great amount of pressure was applied to Laxalt to run in Bell's place, but the young attorney demurred, and he remained in the lieutenant governor's race. He ended up defeating Bunker by a comfortable margin. Laxalt served one term as lieutenant governor from 1963 to 1967.[citation needed]

In 1964, Laxalt, while serving as lieutenant governor, ran for the United States Senate against freshman Democratic incumbent Sen. Howard Cannon. Laxalt had wanted to remain lieutenant governor. However, he declared his candidacy in mid-1964 after no other serious Republican contenders expressed interest. He did not have to give up his lieutenant governor's post for this race, since he was not up for reelection until 1966.[citation needed]

Republican candidates, running concurrently with the 1964 federal election, were undermined by the unpopularity of Sen. Barry Goldwater from Arizona, the Republican nominee for President against incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson, and the leader of their political ticket. Not long before election day, Goldwater scheduled a visit to Las Vegas. Laxalt's advisors told him he should "duck" Goldwater as they feared any association with Goldwater would spell trouble. Laxalt, who often described Goldwater as his "political Godfather", reportedly told his aides, "Listen, Barry Goldwater is my friend. If I snubbed him now, I could never look him in the face again. I would rather lose." The Laxalt-Goldwater meeting on the tarmac was splashed on the front pages of local newspapers. (Goldwater lost Nevada by 28,000 votes.) Still, the Laxalt-Cannon race remained far closer than expected. As he watched the returns come in from his home in Carson City, Laxalt was stunned when one of the television networks actually declared him the winner. The next morning he flew to Las Vegas where he was told that certain precincts reported late and that Cannon had won by 48 votes, among the narrowest margins in a popular election for the U.S. Senate. The race was the subject of intense controversy for years.[citation needed]

Laxalt then decided to challenge two-term Gov. Grant Sawyer. Although the election would not take place until November of 1966, Laxalt launched his campaign in the middle of 1965. One of the most hotly debated issues during the campaign was the federal government's involvement in Nevada gaming operations. The FBI and Justice Department had deep suspicions about organized crime's involvement in the gambling industry. Sawyer took the position that the federal government should stay out of Nevada's affairs. Laxalt took the position that Nevada had to cooperate with "the Feds" in order to be in a position to regulate gambling credibly. (In fact, one of Laxalt's first moves after his election was to meet with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to express Nevada's desire to establish a cooperative relationship.) During the gubernatorial campaign, Laxalt also led a movement to purge members of the John Birch Society from the state Republican Party. Sawyer was defeated by an unexpectedly wide margin (nearly 6,000 votes). Laxalt served one term as governor, from January 1967 to January 1971.[citation needed]

Laxalt's tenure as governor was noteworthy for coinciding with the purchase of several hotel-casinos by reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. Laxalt allowed Hughes to secure his gaming license without appearing before the state's gaming regulatory authorities because he thought having an internationally acclaimed businessman involved in Nevada gaming would send a positive signal about the legitimacy of the industry. Laxalt also supported corporate ownership of gaming operations in Nevada, which helped pave the way for modern-day gambling. With the financial support of Hughes, Laxalt helped establish the state's first community colleges and Nevada's first medical school.[citation needed]

Along with Gov. Ronald Reagan of neighboring California, Laxalt helped create the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, to protect scenic Lake Tahoe. He also expanded the park system and promoted prison reform in Nevada. On one occasion, Laxalt, against the advice of his staff, went to the Nevada State Penitentiary during a prisoner uprising. He met personally with several prisoners who described to the governor the deplorable conditions under which they were living. Laxalt sympathized with their concerns and ordered the prison staff to address the problems. When he was later asked by the media if he had qualms about entering the prison yard, Laxalt, a former trial lawyer, said, "No, not really. Many of them were my former clients!"[citation needed]

In 1970, Laxalt lobbied President Richard Nixon to reduce the prison sentence of notorious Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa after Hoffa was convicted of attempting to bribe Sen. Howard Cannon, whom Laxalt had unsuccessfully challenged in 1964. While governor, Laxalt worked with Teamster officials on gambling investments in Nevada.[3]

Laxalt governed Nevada as a fiscal conservative, but felt compelled to raise taxes at the outset of his administration because of the budget situation. Laxalt did not seek a second term. He bequeathed a budget surplus to his successor, Gov. Mike O'Callaghan. He left office saying that he had "a gut-full" of politics.[4]

 After leaving the governor's mansion, Laxalt and his family opened a hotel/casino in Carson City. In 1974, when twenty-year Democratic incumbent Sen. Alan Bible announced his retirement, Republican political insiders pressed Laxalt to re-enter politics and seek the open U.S. Senate seat. He eventually agreed and wound up running against the Democratic nominee, then-Lt. Gov. Harry Reid. At that time the Watergate scandal was a burden for all Republicans running for national office in 1974. Nonetheless, early in the campaign, Laxalt enjoyed a consistent but tight lead on Reid in most polls. However, after President Gerald Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon, Laxalt's prospects, like Republican prospects everywhere, suddenly took a dramatic turn for the worse. Laxalt compared it to having "a hundred pound weight around my neck." Still, he managed a victory by fewer than one thousand votes. To give Laxalt a leg-up in seniority, Sen. Bible resigned three weeks early on December 18, 1974. Gov. Mike O'Callaghan (Laxalt's successor as governor) appointed Laxalt to finish out Bible's term.

In 1980, Laxalt won re-election over former state Sen. Mary Gojack with 59% of the vote.[citation needed]

In his first term in the United States Senate, Laxalt was active in many legislative battles. In 1977, he led the fight against President Jimmy Carter's proposal to transfer the Panama Canal to the Panamanian government. Despite being in the minority in the Senate, Laxalt helped build a coalition opposed to the Panama Canal Treaties. Opponents successfully built a grassroots campaign designed to put pressure on the Senate. On the day of the vote, Laxalt was confident that he would be able to secure the 34 votes needed to defeat the treaties. However, his colleague, Sen. Howard Cannon (also from Nevada), decided to support the treaties. Even in defeat, Laxalt had won plaudits from both sides of the aisle for the manner in which he led the opposition. Indeed, throughout his Senate tenure, Laxalt remained popular among his colleagues, principally because he was viewed as a "straight shooter" and someone who never allowed political differences to turn personal. He was good friends with conservative Sen. Jesse Helms from North Carolina and liberal Sen. Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts. (At the request of Sen. Kennedy, Laxalt arranged to have President Ronald Reagan present Ethel Kennedy with the original copy of the medal honoring her late husband Robert F. Kennedy.)[citation needed]

During Laxalt's two terms in the U.S. Senate, he served on several influential committees, including the Labor and Public Welfare Committee, the Appropriations Committee, and the Judiciary Committee. When Republicans took control of the Senate in 1981, Laxalt became chairman of the Judiciary Committee's Regulatory Reform Subcommittee, and the Appropriations Committee's State, Justice and Commerce Subcommittee. In 1986, while serving on the Judiciary Committee, Laxalt played a key behind-the-scenes role in securing the committee's approval of President Reagan's nomination of then-Associate Justice William Rehnquist for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Negotiating principally with Sen. Ted Kennedy and Sen. Joe Biden from Delaware, Laxalt was able to strike a deal that allowed the committee to vote on the nomination.[citation needed] Rehnquist was subsequently approved by the full Senate by a margin of 65–33.[citation needed]

Laxalt had become close friends with Ronald Reagan during his time as governor, when Reagan was also in his first term as governor of neighboring California. They worked on many issues of mutual interest to both states, particularly those dealing with the preservation of Lake Tahoe. During Reagan's presidency, Laxalt was sometimes referred to as "The First Friend".[5] Laxalt was national chairman of three Reagan presidential campaigns and placed Reagan's name in nomination at the Republican National Conventions of 1976, 1980, and 1984. During the 1980 Republican National Convention, Laxalt's name was floated as a potential Vice Presidential nominee for the Reagan ticket, but George H. W. Bush was chosen instead.[6] At the behest of President Reagan, Laxalt served in the then-unprecedented role of General Chairman of the Republican Party from 1983 to 1987. In fact, during Laxalt's second Senate term, due in large measure to his relationship with Reagan, several Nevadans came to Washington, D.C. to serve in prominent governmental and campaign positions. His long-time aide, Barbara Vucanovich, had been elected to serve in the House in 1982, becoming the first female elected to a federal position from Nevada. A long-time friend and prominent Nevada trial attorney, Frank Fahrenkopf, was elected to serve as Chairman of the Republican National Committee where he helped oversee Reagan's re-election and the 1988 election of President George H. W. Bush. Bob Broadbent of Boulder City became Assistant Secretary for Water and Science in the Department of the Interior; Bob Horton of Reno became Director of the Bureau of Mines; Cameron Batjer of Reno, a former Nevada Supreme Court Justice, served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission; Reese Taylor of Las Vegas served as Chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission; and Ed Allison of Reno, Sig Rogich of Las Vegas, and Ralph V. Whitworth of Winnemucca all served in key roles in Reagan's 1984 re-election campaign. In early 1987, Laxalt was at the top of the short list to replace Donald Regan as White House Chief of Staff, but he declined because he intended to run for President in 1988. Instead, he recommended former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Majority Howard Baker, who took the job.[7]

It was the 1976 Republican presidential race that may have cemented the tight political friendship between Laxalt and former-Gov. Reagan. In 1976, Reagan had decided to run for president, challenging President Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination. Ford enjoyed widespread support among the Republican establishment, particularly in Washington, D.C. Reagan decided that having Laxalt serve as his national chairman would give his campaign credibility it was otherwise lacking. Although Laxalt was not well-known on a national level, he was well liked and respected in the U.S. Congress, and he was similarly respected by many prominent members of the national media. Laxalt eventually acceded to Reagan's request, even though doing so severely jeopardized his relationship with the Ford White House. Laxalt campaigned all over the United States on behalf of Reagan, often campaigning by his side.[citation needed]
With his back to the wall, Reagan won shocking victories in North Carolina and Texas, which propelled the race all the way to the national convention in Kansas City. Laxalt nominated Reagan at the convention. Eventually, the Reagan campaign lost a key procedural vote to Ford and the sitting President eked out a victory. Although he was on the losing side, Laxalt's national profile increased dramatically as a result of his efforts on behalf of Reagan. When Reagan defeated Democratic incumbent President Jimmy Carter in 1980, with Laxalt again serving as national chairman of Reagan's campaign, Laxalt's profile rose even higher.[citation needed]

MJore at Wikipedia.

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NHL Hall-of-Famer Stan  Mikita

Stanislav Mikita (born Stanislav Guoth; May 20, 1940 – August 7, 2018), was a Slovak-born Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League, generally regarded as the best centre of the 1960s.[1][2] In 2017, he was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players.[3]

 
Mikita was born in Sokolče, Slovak Republic as Stanislav Guoth and raised in a small farming community there until late 1948,[4] but moved to St. Catharines, Ontario, as a young boy to escape Communist-controlled Czechoslovakia. He was adopted by his aunt and uncle, Anna and Joe Mikita, who gave him their surname.[5][4]

After three starring junior seasons with the St. Catharines Teepees of the Ontario Hockey Association, Mikita was promoted to the parent Chicago Blackhawks in 1959–60. In his second full year, in 1961, the Blackhawks won their third Stanley Cup. The young centre led the entire league in goals during the playoffs, scoring a total of six.[6]

The following season was his breakout year. Stan Mikita became a star as centre of the famed "Scooter Line", with right wing Ken Wharram and left wingers Ab McDonald and Doug Mohns.[5] Combining skilled defense and a reputation as one of the game's best faceoff men using his innovative curved stick, Mikita led the league in scoring four times in the decade, tying Bobby Hull's year-old single-season scoring mark in 1966–67 with 97 points[7] (a mark broken two years later by former teammate Phil Esposito[8] and currently held by Wayne Gretzky).[9] The 1967–68 season, an 87-point effort from Mikita, was the last year a Chicago player won the scoring title until Patrick Kane's 106-point 2015–16 season.[10]

In his early years, Mikita was among the most penalized players in the league, but he then decided to play a cleaner game and went on to win the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for particularly sportsmanlike conduct combined with excellence twice. Mikita's drastic change in behavior came after he returned home from a road trip. His wife told him that while their daughter, Meg, was watching the Blackhawks' last road game on television, she turned and said, "Mommy, why does Daddy spend so much time sitting down?"[4] The camera had just shown Mikita in the penalty box again (from Mikita's autobiography I Play to Win).[citation needed]

During his playing career, in 1973, Mikita teamed up with Chicago businessman Irv Tiahnybik to form the American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association (AHIHA), to bring together deaf and hard-of-hearing hockey players from all over the country, and he founded the Stan Mikita School for the Hearing Impaired, inspired by a friend’s deaf son who was an aspiring goalie. He also helped bring the Special Olympics to Chicago, bringing his family out to volunteer at races.[4]

 
Mikita and teammate Bobby Hull were a well-known forward duo in the 1960s, gaining notoriety for using sticks with curved blades.[11][12] Such sticks gave a comparative advantage to shooters versus goaltenders. As a result, the NHL limited blade curvature to ½" in 1970.[13] Mikita reportedly began the practice after his standard stick got caught in a bench door, bending the blade before he hit the ice; he soon was borrowing a propane torch from team trainers to create a deliberate curve.[4]

Mikita was also one of the first players to wear a helmet full time, after a December 1967 game in which an errant shot tore a piece off one of his ears (it was stitched back on).[4]

 Mikita's later years were marred by chronic back injuries, leading to his retirement during the 1979–80 season.[5] At that time, only Gordie Howe and Phil Esposito had scored more points in the NHL, and just six players had appeared in more games. Mikita was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983,[14] and into the Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.

After retiring, Mikita became a golf pro at Kemper Lakes Golf Club. His other business interests, under Stan Mikita Enterprises, included making the small plastic sauce containers that accompany chicken nuggets at McDonald’s.[4] He owned Stan Mikita's Village Inn in the 1960s and 1970s, located in the Oakbrook Shopping Center, Oak Brook, Illinois.[15]

Mikita provided the foreword to the children's book "My Man Stan" by Tim Wendel.[16] Mikita is featured as a main character in the book.
He became a goodwill ambassador for the Blackhawks' organization,[17] and in fall of 2011, the Blackhawks raised a statue honouring Mikita at Gate 3½ at Chicago’s United Center.[18] For three decades the Blackhawks Alumni Association has hosted an annual golf tournament named in Mikita’s honour.[4]

On May 24, 2011, Mikita was diagnosed with oral cancer and would be undergoing external beam radiation therapy.[19] On January 30, 2015, the Chicago Tribune released this statement: “Stan has been diagnosed with suspected Lewy body dementia, a progressive disease, and is currently under the care of compassionate and understanding care givers," [20] In June, it was revealed that due to his illness, he has no memory of his former life and is being cared for by his wife Jill.[21]

Mikita is currently 14th in regular-season points scored in the history of the NHL,[22] and just three other players (Steve Yzerman, Alex Delvecchio, and Nicklas Lidstrom) have appeared in more games while playing for only one team over their careers.[23]

Mikita appeared as himself in a cameo role in the film Wayne's World, which featured a "Stan Mikita" doughnut shop, spoofing the Canadian doughnut chain Tim Hortons (co-founded by Hockey Hall of Fame member Tim Horton).[4] A restaurant named "Stan Mikita's" and closely resembling the movie's version opened in 1994 at the Virginia amusement park Kings Dominion[24] and at Paramount Carowinds in Charlotte.[25]

Mikita died on August 7, 2018, three years after his family announced that he had been diagnosed with Dementia with lewy bodies.[26][27]


More at Wikipedia.

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The recognized master of an obscure instrument (outside of Hungary and Romania)


Dumitru Fărcaş (12 May 1938 – 7 August 2018) was a Romanian taragot player. He played the instrument on all major stages in the world and made the taragot known all over the world.[1]
He was born in the Groşi village. He grew up in a family of pipe players, and his older brothers played the clarinet. He studied the oboe at the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca.[2]
He is the leader of the "Mărţişorul" orchestra from 1962, with which he won many national and international awards.
He was made Honorary citizen of the cities Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest, Reşiţa and Baia Mare, as well as Pyongyang.
In 2008 he was awarded Doctor honoris causa by the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy.
In 2009 he became the honorary patron of the tarogato/taragot website "11fhMSE.com ".

More at Wikipedia.


On the taragato as a musical instrument