Obituaries

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Former USSC Justice John Paul Stevens

John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1975 until his retirement in 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-oldest-serving justice in the history of the court,[1][2][3] and the third-longest-serving Justice. A registered Republican when appointed, Stevens was considered to have been on the liberal side of the court at the time of his retirement.[4][5] He had the longest life of the 114 justices in United States history.

Born in Chicago, Stevens served in the United States Navy during World War II and graduated from Northwestern University School of Law. After clerking for Justice Wiley Blount Rutledge, he co-founded a law firm in Chicago, focusing on antitrust law. In 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed Stevens to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Five years later, President Gerald Ford successfully nominated Stevens to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Justice William O. Douglas. He became the senior Associate Justice after the retirement of Harry Blackmun in 1994. Stevens retired during the administration of President Barack Obama and was succeeded by Justice Elena Kagan.

Stevens's majority opinions in landmark cases include Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Apprendi v. New Jersey, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Kelo v. City of New London, and Massachusetts v. EPA. Stevens is also known for his dissents in Texas v. Johnson, Bush v. Gore, D.C. v. Heller, and Citizens United v. FEC.

Much more at Wikipedia.

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Ernie Broglio, the pitcher that the Cubs got for trading Lou Brock to the Cardinals. Broglio fell apart as a pitcher, and Lou Brock starred in three World Series and set a record (now eclipsed) for career stolen bases.

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NASA director in the early years of space flight:


Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr. (February 28, 1924 – July 22, 2019) was an American aerospace engineer and NASA engineer and manager who was instrumental in establishing the agency's Mission Control operation. Following his graduation from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1944, Kraft was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor organization to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He worked for over a decade in aeronautical research before being asked in 1958 to join the Space Task Group, a small team entrusted with the responsibility of putting America's first man in space. Assigned to the flight operations division, Kraft became NASA's first flight director. He was on duty during such historic missions as America's first crewed spaceflight, first crewed orbital flight, and first spacewalk.

At the beginning of the Apollo program, Kraft retired as a flight director to concentrate on management and mission planning. In 1972, he became director of the Manned Spacecraft Center (later Johnson Space Center), following in the footsteps of his mentor Robert R. Gilruth. He held the position until his 1982 retirement from NASA. During his retirement, Kraft consulted for numerous companies including IBM and Rockwell International, and he published an autobiography entitled Flight: My Life in Mission Control.

More than any other person, Kraft was responsible for shaping the organization and culture of NASA's Mission Control. As his protégé Glynn Lunney commented, "the Control Center today ... is a reflection of Chris Kraft."[1] In 2011, the Mission Control Center building was named after him. When Kraft received the National Space Trophy from the Rotary Club in 1999, the organization described him as "a driving force in the U.S. human space flight program from its beginnings to the Space Shuttle era, a man whose accomplishments have become legendary."[2]

More at Wikipedia.

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Anner Bylsma, Dutch cellist


Anner Bylsma (born Anne Bijlsma, 17 February 1934, The Hague; died 25 July 2019, Amsterdam)[1] was a Dutch cellist who played on both modern and period instruments in a historically informed style. He took an interest in music from an early age.[2] He studied with Carel van Leeuwen Boomkamp at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and won the Prix d'excellence in 1957.

In 1959, he won the first prize in the Pablo Casals Competition in Mexico. Later he was for six years (from 1962 to 1968) the principal cellist in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He became an Erasmus Scholar at Harvard University in 1982. He was the author of the book Bach, the Fencing Master, a stylistic and aesthetic analysis of Bach's Cello Suites. He was one of the pioneers of the 'Dutch Baroque School' and rose to fame as a partner of Frans Brüggen and Gustav Leonhardt, who toured extensively together and made many recordings. Bylsma continued to be a towering figure in the baroque cello movement.

In 1979 Bylsma recorded the six Suites for unaccompanied cello (BWV 1007–1012) by J. S. Bach, the first of its kind on a period instrument. He later went on to recreate the same music in 1992 on the large Servais Stradivarius and on a five-string violoncello piccolo.

Anner Bylsma was married to Dutch violinist Vera Beths. He had a son and a daughter, documentary filmmaker Carine Bijlsma.

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Dutch actor Rutger Hauer:


Rutger Oelsen Hauer (Dutch: [ˈrɵtxər ˈulsə(n) ˈɦʌuər]; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, writer and environmentalist. In 1999, he was named the Best Dutch Actor of the Century by the Dutch public.[1][2]
Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series Floris, and surged with his leading role in Turkish Delight (1973), which in 1999 was named the Best Dutch Film of the Century.[1] After gaining international recognition with the film Soldier of Orange in 1977, he moved into American films such as Nighthawks (1981) and Blade Runner (1982), starring in the latter as self-aware android Roy Batty.[3] His performance in Blade Runner brought him roles in films such as The Osterman Weekend (1983), Ladyhawke (1985), The Hitcher (1986), Escape from Sobibor (for which he won the 1987 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in the television film category), Blind Fury (1989), The Blood of Heroes (1989), and Wedlock (1991).

From the 1990s on, Hauer moved into low-budget films, and supporting roles in major films such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Batman Begins (2005) and The Rite (2011).[4] He also made a return to Dutch cinema, and won the Rembrandt Award for Best Actor for his lead role in The Heineken Kidnapping (2011). Outside of acting, he founded the Rutger Hauer Starfish Association, an AIDS awareness organization. He was made a knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2013.[5]

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

The slight Dutch ancestry that I have grieves.

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the first freely-elected President of Tunisia, and the only one so far (died in office).



Mohamed Beji Caid Essebsi (or es-Sebsi; Arabic: محمد الباجي قائد السبسي‎, romanized: Muhammad al-Bājī Qā’id as-Sibsī, pronunciation (help·info); 29 November 1926[1] – 25 July 2019)[2] was a Tunisian politician who was the fifth President of Tunisia from December 2014 until his death. Previously he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1981 to 1986 and as Prime Minister from February 2011 to December 2011.[3][4]

Essebsi's political career spanned six decades, culminating in his leadership of Tunisia in its transition to democracy.[5] Essebsi was the founder of the Nidaa Tounes political party, which won a plurality in the 2014 parliamentary election. In December 2014, he won the first regular presidential election following the Tunisian Revolution, becoming Tunisia's first freely elected president.[6]

More at Wikipedia.

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Richard Harvey Berg (1943-2019) was a prolific wargame designer from Charleston, South Carolina.

Education:

B.A. (History), Union College, Schenectady NY
J.D. (Law), Brooklyn Law School, New York
Military Service: US Army, 1967-69. With my degree in Asian History and 2 years of Chinese language the geniuses in Army Personnel assigned me as Music Director for the Army Theater in Frankfurt, Germany. Did lots of shows; met my first wife. I did not complain; better than Vietnam.

Rock Singer. Late 50's, early 60's. Sang with The Escorts, recorded with Tiny Tim. Made six records, received no money. Learned not to trust anyone in the Music industry. Group is currently listed in Billboard's Encyclopedia of Rock Groups.

Attorney. From 1971 to 1988, Criminal Defense trial attorney for both the Legal Aid Society and in private practice. Interesting clientele, some of whom may be getting out now.

Composer. Wrote music and lyrics for two Off-Broadway shows: "The Adventures of Peter Pan", 1972, performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and "Alice", 1973, performed at City Center in NYC. Career ceased when I realized that the NY Times' review of the music in "Alice" - "boring and derivative" - was true.

Communications Consultant. (1990-2000). For CommCore Inc., a firm that trains upper-level execs, physicians, celebs, sports figures, you name it, in such as areas as Presentation Skills, Media Communication skills, Crisis Management, IPO/Road shows, anything that has to do with helping someone sound more interesting/memorable. Clients include Pfizer, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, AT&T, et al. Run by my ex-wife, Karen Berg, an amazing, brilliant woman who is also a cabaret singer.

Writer. Co-author of "The London Times History of War" (Harper Collins, UK, 2000) and Author, "The Dutchman's Gold", Fiction. (X-Libris Publishers, 2001). Editor and Publisher, "Berg's Review of Games (BROG)" Newsletter, New York (1984-5 and 1991-1999) and Staff Editor, "Strategy & Tactics" Magazine, Simulations Publications, Inc., New York, NY, 1975-1985). Winner, Charles Roberts Award, Writer of the Year, 1989, 1991; Winner, Publisher/Editor, Best Industry Newsletter, 1992. Newsletter, "BROG", awarded Hall of Fame status in 1998; Screenplay for "Miniatures", a documentary film feature on the hobby of miniature figures, 1978; Speech writer for a wide variety of clients, such as the CEO of Coopers-Lybrandt, various top-level Pfizer executives, and Bonnie Blair, Olympic Speed Skating champion.

Theater. Roles include such historical figures as FDR (in "Annie") and Ben Franklin (in "1776"). Militarily there's Major General Stanley (in "Pirates of Penzance"), Sir Joseph Porter KCB (in "HMS Pinafore"), Corporal Schultz (in "Stalag 17"), and The Duke of Plaza Toro (in "The Gondoliers). In terms of playing myself, throw in Sheridan Whiteside (in "The Man Who Came to Dinner"), Mr Applegate (The Devil, in "Damn Yankees"), Sganarelle (in Moliere's "The Doctor in Spite of Himself"). The Judge (in "Trial by Jury"), Lord Mountarrarat (in "Iolanthe") and both The Mikado and Pooh-Bah (but not at the same time, in "The Mikado"). Then there are the 'classic' Broadway roles, such as Nathan Detroit (in "Guys and Dolls"), Tevye (in "Fiddler on the Roof"), Lycus and Pseudolus (in "Funny Thing . . .Forum") and my sole opera role, Don Alonso (in Gomes's "Il Guarany"). Among others.

Game Designer. 1975 [until death]. Known as The Pope of Wargaming. Over 140 published games. Winner, Industry Award for Best Game Design, 11 times; Awarded GAMA "Hall of Fame" for oeuvre, 1993; Awarded Charles Roberts Award for Lifetime Achievement in Simulation Design, 1990, and The Bloomgren/Hamilton Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2003.

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If like father, like son, then good riddance:


Hamza bin Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: حمزة بن أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن‎; born 1989 - died 2019), better known as Hamza bin Laden, was a son of Osama bin Laden. His father, as well as his brother Khalid, were killed in the 2011 Navy SEAL raid.[3]

On July 31, 2019, it was reported that bin Laden had died. The report, sourced to unnamed U.S. officials, alleged that bin Laden had been killed during the first two years of the Trump administration. It was also reported that the US government played a role, but it was not clear how. [1]

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

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Nick Buoniconti, football player and denier of the connection between smokeless cancerweed and 'medical distress'


As a tackle, Buoniconti was the captain of the 1961 Notre Dame football team, but NFL scouts considered him "too small" to play pro football. Drafted by the Boston Patriots in the 1962 American Football League college draft and switched to linebacker, Buoniconti made an immediate impact, as he was named the team's rookie of the year. The following year, he helped Boston capture the 1963 AFL Eastern Division title. With Boston, he appeared in five AFL All-Star Games, and recorded 24 interceptions, which is still the seventh-most in team history. He was named 2nd team All-AFL in 1963 and the following season began a run of five consensus All-AFL seasons in the following six seasons, missing only 1968 when he was named second-team All-AFL. Buoniconti is a member of the Patriots All-1960s (AFL) Team and the AFL All-Time Team.

He was traded to the AFL's Miami Dolphins in 1969. He continued to play well with the Dolphins, in 1969–1974 and 1976, and made the AFL All-Star team in 1969 and the NFL Pro Bowl in 1972 and 1973, when he led the Dolphins in Super Bowl wins. Buoniconti was also named All-AFC in 1972.

His leadership made him a cornerstone of the Dolphins' defense. During his years there, the team advanced to three consecutive Super Bowl appearances under Don Shula, the second of which was the team's 1972 undefeated season. In 1973, he recorded a then-team record 162 tackles (91 unassisted). He was named to the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl in 1972 and 1973.

Buoniconti ended his career with an unofficial 24 sacks, eighteen with the Patriots and six while with the Dolphins. He was named the Dolphins' Most Valuable Player three times (1969, 1970, 1973). In 1990, he was voted as a linebacker on the Dolphins' Silver Anniversary All-Time team. On November 18, 1991, he was enshrined on the Miami Dolphin's Honor Roll at Hard Rock Stadium.




Buoniconti earned his law degree during his years with the Patriots. He was a practicing attorney for a short time. As an agent over the years, he represented some 30 professional athletes, including baseball players Bucky Dent and Andre Dawson.[4] He was also president of the United States Tobacco Company during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Buoniconti was a leading critic of studies which showed that smokeless tobacco caused cancer of the mouth as well as other types of cancer.

In a televised interview on the Comedy Channel toward the end of 1990, when asked his reaction to the last two undefeated teams of the season suffering losses the same Sunday, Buoniconti, indicating his cheerful countenance, told Night After Night's Allan Havey, "You know, I think this smile might just stay permanently on my face."[5]

Buoniconti also appeared in one of the Miller Lite "Do you know me?" TV ads, in which he talked about the No-Name Defense. The punch line was a variation on an old joke, with Buoniconti remarking that everyone knows him now. A passerby remarks, "Hey, I know you... you're... uh... uh..." trying to recall Buoniconti's name. Upon being told that it's Nick Buoniconti, the passerby says, "No, that's not it."
Buoniconti put his verbal talent to use as a co-host of the HBO series Inside the NFL until 2001. That same year, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Buoniconti is a member of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.
Buoniconti openly shared that he struggled with neurological issues, with one or several different diagnoses potentially being the cause.[4] On November 3, 2017, he announced that he would posthumously donate his brain to aid CTE research.[6] In March 2018, he joined with former NFL stars Harry Carson and Phil Villapiano to support a parent initiative called Flag Football Under 14, which advises no tackle football under that age.[7]

More at Wikipedia.

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Harold Prince, theater impresario, giant of the Broadway musical:

Harold Smith Prince (January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019) was an American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known Broadway musical productions of the 20th century.

Over the span of his career, he garnered 21 Tony Awards, more than any other individual, including eight for directing, eight for producing the year's Best Musical, two as Best Producer of a Musical, and three special awards.

Prince began work in the theatre as an assistant stage manager to theatrical producer and director George Abbott. Along with Abbott, he co-produced The Pajama Game, which won the 1955 Tony Award for Best Musical.[8] He went on to direct his own productions in 1962 beginning with A Family Affair and hit a series of unsuccessful productions.[9]
He almost gave up musical theater right before he hit success with Kander and Ebb's Cabaret in 1966. 1970 marked the start of his greatest collaboration, with composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim. They had previously worked on West Side Story and at this point decided to embark on their own project. Their association spawned a long string of productions, including Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Pacific Overtures (1976), and Sweeney Todd (1979).[9] Following Merrily We Roll Along (1981),[10] which was not successful, running for 16 performances, they parted ways until Bounce (2003).[9][11]
Prince directed operas[11] including Ashmedai, Willie Stark, Madama Butterfly, and a revival of Candide. In 1983 Prince staged Turandot for the Vienna State Opera (conductor: Lorin Maazel; with José Carreras, Éva Marton).[12]
He directed two of Andrew Lloyd Webber's successes, Evita (1979) and The Phantom of the Opera (1986).[9][11] He was offered the job of directing Cats by Lloyd Webber but turned it down.[citation needed]
Despite creating a number of hugely popular musicals in the late 1970s and early 1980s such as Sweeney Todd and Evita, Prince had his first critical failure with Stephen Sondheim in 1981 with Merrily We Roll Along.[10]
Determined to bounce back, he started working on a new musical A Doll's Life with lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green that would continue the story of Nora Helmer past what Henrik Ibsen had written in A Doll's House. It was also badly received and ran for 5 performances; The New York Times reviewer wrote "It was overproduced and overpopulated to the extent that the tiny resolute figure of Nora became lost in the combined mechanics of Broadway and the Industrial Revolution."[13]
Prince's other commercially unsuccessful musicals included Grind (1985), which closed after 71 performances,[14] and Roza (1987). However, his production of The Phantom of the Opera, debuting on Broadway in 1988, eventually became the longest-running show in Broadway history.[15] Prince ultimately stopped producing because he "became more interested in directing".[9][11]
Prince was the inspiration for John Lithgow's character in Bob Fosse's film All That Jazz.[citation needed] He was also assumed to be the basis of a character in Richard Bissell's novel Say, Darling, which chronicled Bissell's own experience turning his novel 7½ Cents into The Pajama Game.[16]
In 2000, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.[17] In 2006, Prince was awarded a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.[18] On May 20, 2007, he gave the commencement address at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In 2008 Prince was the keynote speaker at Elon University's Convocation for Honors celebration.[19]
Prince co-directed, with Susan Stroman, the 2010 musical Paradise Found. The musical features the music of Johann Strauss II as adapted by Jonathan Tunick with lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh. The book was written by Richard Nelson, based on Joseph Roth’s novel The Tale of the 1002nd Night. The musical premiered at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London on May 19, 2010 and closed on June 26, and starred Mandy Patinkin.[20][21]
A retrospective of his work, titled Prince of Broadway, presented by Umeda Arts Theater, premiered in Tokyo, Japan in October 2015.[22] The book was written by David Thompson with additional material and orchestrations by Jason Robert Brown. The revue is co-directed by Susan Stroman and Prince. The revue opened on Broadway in August 2017 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.[23][24] Directed by Prince and Stroman (also choreographer), the cast featured Chuck Cooper, Janet Dacal, Bryonha Marie Parham, Emily Skinner, Brandon Uranowitz, Kaley Ann Voorhees, Michael Xavier, Tony Yazbeck, and Karen Ziemba.[25]
The Harold Prince Theatre at the Annenberg Center of the University of Pennsylvania is named in his honor.[26]

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

Stage productions

Source: Playbill (vault)[9]; Internet Broadway database[30]
 

• Tickets, Please! (1950) - assistant stage manager
  
• Call Me Madam (1950) - assistant stage manager
  
• Wonderful Town (1953) - stage manager
  
• The Pajama Game (1954) - co-producer
  
• Damn Yankees (1955) - co-producer
  
• New Girl in Town (1957) - co-producer
  
• West Side Story (1957) - co-producer
  
• Fiorello! (1959) - co-producer
  
• West Side Story (1960) - co-producer
  
• Tenderloin (1960) - co-producer
  
• A Call on Kuprin (1961) - producer
  
• Take Her, She's Mine (1961) - producer
  
• A Family Affair (1962) - director
  
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962) - producer
  
• She Loves Me (1963) - producer, director
  
• Fiddler on the Roof (1964) - producer
  
• Baker Street (1964) - director
  
• Flora, The Red Menace (1965) - producer
  
• It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman (1966) - producer, director
  
• Cabaret (1966) - producer, director
  
• Zorba (1968) - producer, director
  
• Company (1970) - producer, director
  
• Follies (1971) - producer, director
  
• The Great God Brown (1972) - artistic director
  
• Don Juan (1972) - artistic director
  
• A Little Night Music (1973) - director, producer
  
• Sondheim: A Musical Tribute (1973) - performer
  
• The Visit (1973) - director
  
• Chemin de Fer (1973) - artistic director
  
• Holiday (1973) - artistic director
  
• Candide (1974) - producer, director
  
• Love for Love (1974) - director
  

• The Member of the Wedding (1975) - artistic director
  
• The Rules of the Game (1974) - artistic director
  
• Pacific Overtures (1976) - producer, director
  
• Side by Side by Sondheim (1977) - producer
  
• Some of My Best Friends (1977) - director
  
• On the Twentieth Century (1978) - director
  
• Sweeney Todd (1979) - director
  
• Evita (1979) - director
  
• Merrily We Roll Along (1981) - director
  
• Willie Stark (1981) - director
  
• A Doll's Life (1982) - producer, director
  
• Play Memory (1984) - director
  
• Diamonds (1984) - director
  
• Grind (1985) - producer, director
  
• The Phantom of the Opera (1986) - director
  
• Roza (1987) - director
  
• Cabaret (1987) - director
  
• Grandchild Of Kings (1992) (Off-Broadway) - adaptation (from the stories of Seán O'Casey) director and adapter[31][32]
  
• Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993) - director
  
• Show Boat (1994) - director
  
• The Petrified Prince (1994) - director
  
• Whistle Down the Wind (1996)
  
• Candide (1997) - director
  
• Parade (1998) - director, co-conceiver
  
• 3hree (2000) - supervisor, director (The Flight of the Lawnchair Man)[33]
  
• Hollywood Arms (2002) - producer, director
  
• Bounce (2003) - director
  
• LoveMusik (2007) - director
  
• Paradise Found (2010) - director
  
• Prince of Broadway (2015) - director
  

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Good riddance, and ROAST IN HELL!



Nuon Chea (Khmer: នួន ជា; born Lau Kim Korn; 7 July 1926 – 4 August 2019),[3][4] also known as Long Bunruot (Khmer: ឡុង ប៊ុនរត្ន) or Rungloet Laodi (រុងឡឺត ឡាវឌី Thai: รุ่งเลิศ เหล่าดี),[5] was a Cambodian politician who was the chief ideologist of the Khmer Rouge. He also briefly served as acting Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea.

He was commonly known as "Brother Number Two" (Khmer: បងធំទី២), as he was second-in-command to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, General Secretary of the Party, during the Cambodian genocide of 1975–1979. In 2014, Nuon Chea received a life sentence for crimes against humanity, alongside another top-tier Khmer Rouge leader, Khieu Samphan, and a further trial convicted him of the crime of genocide in 2018.

Nuon Chea was born as Lau Kim Lorn at Voat Kor, Battambang in 1926. Nuon's father, Lao Liv, worked as a trader as well as a corn farmer, while his mother, Dos Peanh, was a tailor. An interview by a Japanese researcher in 2003 with Nuon Chea quoted that Liv was Chinese, while Peanh was the daughter of a Chinese immigrant from Shantou and his Khmer wife.[6] In 2011, however, Chea told the Khmer Rouge Tribunal that he was only a quarter Chinese through his half-Chinese father.[7] As a child, Nuon Chea was raised in both Chinese and Khmer customs. The family prayed at a Theravada Buddhist temple, but observed Chinese religious customs during the Lunar New Year and Qingming festival. Nuon Chea started school at seven, and was educated in Thai, French and Khmer.[6]
In the 1940s, Nuon Chea studied law at Thammasat University in Bangkok and worked part-time for the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He began his political activities in the Communist Party of Siam in Bangkok.[8] He was elected Deputy General Secretary of the Workers Party of Kampuchea (later renamed as the Communist Party of Kampuchea) in September 1960.[9] In Democratic Kampuchea, he was generally known as "Brother Number Two." Unlike most of the leaders of Khmer Rouge, Chea did not study in Paris.

As documented in the Soviet archives, Nuon Chea played a major role in negotiating the North Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1970, with the intent of forcing the collapse of Lon Nol's government: "In April–May 1970, many North Vietnamese forces entered Cambodia in response to the call for help addressed to Vietnam not by Pol Pot, but by his deputy Nuon Chea. Nguyen Co Thach recalls: "Nuon Chea has asked for help and we have liberated five provinces of Cambodia in ten days." In 1970, in fact, Vietnamese forces occupied almost a quarter of the territory of Cambodia, and the zone of communist control grew several times, as power in the so-called liberated regions was given to the CPK [Khmer Rouge]. At that time relations between Pol Pot and the North Vietnamese leaders were especially warm."[10] The North Vietnamese trusted Nuon Chea more than Pol Pot or Ieng Sary, although Chea "consistently and consciously deceived the Vietnamese principals concerning the real plans of the Khmer leadership." As a result, "Hanoi did not undertake any action to change the power pattern within the top ranks of the Communist Party to their own benefit."[10]


As the recently proclaimed state legislature, the Kampuchean People's Representative Assembly held its first plenary session during 11–13 April 1976, Chea was elected president of its Standing Committee. He briefly held office as acting prime minister when Pol Pot resigned for one month, citing health reasons.[11] According to Dmitry Mosyakov, "In October 1978, Hanoi still believed that 'there were two prominent party figures in Phnom Penh who sympathized with Vietnam—Nuon Chea and the former first secretary of the Eastern Zone, So Phim....Vietnamese hopes that these figures would head an uprising against Pol Pot turned out to be groundless: So Phim perished during the revolt in June 1978, while Nuon Chea, as it is known, turned out to be one of the most devoted followers of Pol Pot—he did not defect to the Vietnamese side....It is difficult to understand why until the end of 1978 it was believed in Hanoi that Nuon Chea was 'their man' in spite of the fact that all previous experience should have proved quite the contrary. Was Hanoi unaware of his permanent siding with Pol Pot, his demands that 'the Vietnamese minority should not be allowed to reside in Kampuchea', his extreme cruelty, as well as of the fact that, 'in comparison with Nuon Chea, people considered Pol Pot a paragon of kindness'?"[10] Nuon Chea was forced to abandon his position as president of the Assembly, along with all others as the Vietnamese captured Phnom Penh in January 1979.

In December 1998, Chea surrendered as part of the last remnants of Khmer Rouge resistance which was based in Pailin near the Thailand border.[12] The government under Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself a former member of the Khmer Rouge, agreed to forsake attempts to prosecute Chea, a decision that was condemned by Western nations.[13]

 
On 19 September 2007, 81 year old Chea was arrested at his home in Pailin and flown to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Phnom Penh, which charged him with war crimes and crimes against humanity[14] and was held continuously in detention ever since. In February 2008, Chea told the court that his case should be handled according to international standards. He argued that the court should delay proceedings because his Dutch lawyer, Michiel Pestman, had not yet arrived.[15] In May 2013, Chea told the court and the victims' families, "I feel remorseful for the crimes that were committed intentionally or unintentionally, whether or not I had known about it or not known about it."[16] On 7 August 2014, the court convicted Chea of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his life.[17] His lawyer immediately announced that Chea would appeal against his conviction.[18] Chea faced a separate trial for the crime of genocide in the same court.[19][20] The court found him and Khieu Samphan guilty of genocide against the Vietnamese people and the Chams on 16 November 2018.[21]

Nuon Chea died on 4 August 2019 at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh, aged 93.[22]

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

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Don Banks, a longtime NFL writer who worked at Sports Illustrated for 16 years, has died after covering the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions in Canton, Ohio. He was 56.

Paramedics on Sunday were called to his hotel, where he was pronounced dead. No cause was given.

Banks covered pro football for more than three decades. He recently was hired by the Las Vegas Review-Journal to oversee coverage of the Raiders, who are moving to Las Vegas next year. His first story for the newspaper was published Sunday, hours before his death.

“Banks was an NFL lifer,” his former boss at Sports Illustrated, Peter King, wrote in tribute. “At SI, his ‘Snap Judgments’ column on Sunday evenings became appointment reading for NFL fans.”

Banks also worked for Bleacher Report, the New England Patriots website and The Athletic. He was a longtime voter for The Associated Press NFL individual awards and All-Pro team. Review-Journal executive editor Glenn Cook called Banks a “sports writing institution.”

“No NFL journalist commanded more respect,” he said. “The sport has lost one of its finest storytellers.”

Patriots coach Bill Belichick expressed condolences on behalf of the organization. He described Banks as “very professional, very passionate.”

“I just had a lot of respect for the way he did his job,” he said at a news conference.

Banks is survived by his wife, Alissa, and sons Matt and Micah from a previous marriage.

His newspaper said funeral arrangements are pending.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/spo...story.html

[Marypoza]

RlP Toni Morrison

[pbrower2a]

If you love the French language, then here was one of the informal enforcers of its quality:

André Goosse (16 April 1926, Liège – 4 August 2019) was a Belgian grammarian. The son-in-law of Maurice Grevisse, he took over editing and updating Grevisse's last book, Le Bon Usage. In 1988, he married the Belgian writer France Bastia. Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain,[1] he was also the president of the Conseil international de la langue française.
His earliest research was carried out on the work of the 14th century writer from Liège, Jean d'Outremeuse. His work, carried out under the direction of Omer Jodogne, turned into a thesis which he defended in 1959, which was published in 1965.
Notable among his publications is a work exposing and commenting on the Les rectifications de l'orthographe ("corrections to orthography"), which was a report published on 6 December 1990 in the Journal officiel de la République française. Goosse's book, trying to make the debate less personal, was titled La « nouvelle » orthographe, Exposé et commentaires, published by Ed.Duculot in 1991. ISBN 2-8011-0976-2. The topic, according to Goosse, was less of a "reform" than of "developments" aimed at eliminating certain "anomalies and absurdities" as well as "contradictions existing among dictionaries".
Also noteworthy is Une langue, une communauté. Le français en Belgique, published in 1997 with Daniel Blampain, Jean-Marie Klinkenberg, Marc Wilmet ("One language, one community. French in Belgium").
In Novembre 2007, Goosse was the editor, at De Boeck, of the 14th edition of Le Bon Usage.[2] This edition was a complete rewrite. "This time", he told Belgian newspaper Le Soir, "it's like 2,000 pieces of a puzzle have been thrown into the air. Then, we had to rebuild."
André Goosse was the secretary of the Académie de Langue et de Littérature françaises de Belgique (Royal Academy of French Language and Literature in Belgium) from 1996 until 2001.
Goosse died on 4 August 2019, at the age of 93.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Goosse

[pbrower2a]

Comic strip artist Ernie Colón

Ernie Colón (July 13,[1] 1931[2] – August 8, 2019[3][4]) was an American comics artist known for his wide-ranging career, including working in the fields of children's comics, horror, and nonfiction.

Colón began his professional career at Harvey Comics as a letterer. He later worked, uncredited, as an artist on titles including Richie Rich and Casper the Friendly Ghost.[2] At Harvey, he met Sid Jacobson, who became his editor and frequent creative partner.

His first confirmed, credited work was penciling and inking the two-page story "Kaleidoscope of Fear" in Wham-O Giant Comics #1 (cover-dated April 1967, published by the toy company Wham-O).[5] He drew three issues of Gold Key Comics' Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom (#24–26, July 1968–Jan. 1969), and did much work for Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror-comics magazines Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella.[5] In 1979, he collaborated with writer Roger McKenzie on an adaptation of Battlestar Galactica for Marvel Comics.[6]

At DC Comics, Colón co-created the historical fantasy Arak, Son of Thunder with writer Roy Thomas and the character was introduced in a special insert in The Warlord #48 (Aug. 1981).[7] Two years later, he introduced Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld with writers Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn in a similar preview in The Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #298 (April 1983).[8] Colón was an editor for DC Comics from 1982 to 1985[9] and oversaw titles such as Arion, Lord of Atlantis, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman.

His other artistic credits include Grim Ghost for Atlas/Seaboard Comics; Airboy for Eclipse Comics; Magnus: Robot Fighter for Valiant Comics; and Damage Control and Doom 2099 for Marvel Comics. Also for Marvel, Colón wrote, drew, colored and lettered the 1988 science-fiction graphic novel Ax.[10] In the late 1980s, Colón penciled the short-lived Bullwinkle and Rocky series for Marvel's children's imprint Star Comics, edited by Sid Jacoboson. Colón returned to Harvey with Jacobson in the early 1990s and worked on such projects as Monster in My Pocket and Ultraman. From 2005[2] until the tabloid's demise in 2007, he drew the weekly comic strip "SpyCat" in the Weekly World News.[11]

Colón and Jacobson created a graphic novel version of the 9/11 Commission Report titled The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation (cover-dated Aug. 2006).[12] They released a 160-page follow-up, After 9/11: America's War on Terror (Aug. 2008). The duo's A Graphic Biography: Che was released in 2009. The following year, Farrar, Straus and Giroux published their next collaboration, Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography, published by Hill & Wang.[13][14]

He illustrated The Great American Documents: Volume 1 by Ruth Ashby, published by Hill and Wang in May 2014.[15] Colón reunited with writer Dan Mishkin to produce The Warren Commission Report: A Graphic Investigation Into the Kennedy Assassination in 2014.[16]

Ernie Colón at Wikipedia

[sbarrera]

Jeffrey Epstein. Surprise, surprise.

[Marypoza]

(08-10-2019, 08:34 AM)sbarrera Wrote: Jeffrey Epstein. Surprise, surprise.

-- l guess that means the Donald, Prince Andrew, & Mr Bill can RlP too

[beechnut79]

I am surprised nobody yet mentioned the author Toni Morrison who passed just a couple of days ago.

[pbrower2a]

(08-10-2019, 08:34 AM)sbarrera Wrote: Jeffrey Epstein. Surprise, surprise.

What did he have to live for, anyway? He had tried suicide before and failed... I accept this as knowledge of guilt. This said, a potential embarrassment to some high-placed people will never get to talk. As gangster Lepke Buchalter said of the mobster Abe Reles who was pushed out of a window to his death,

"If you are going to sing like a canary you had better be able to fly like one". (Buchalter would later be convicted in the gangland murder and was electrocuted in Sing Sing).

Someone may have made arrangements to get him a rope and to distract the guards... It seems all too convenient among people who have Mob connections, whether Sicilian or Russian. If there is a Deep State, it wanted to keep Epstein alive so that he could talk.

This man will never hurt another vulnerable young female again with his mad-scientist plots. OK, he is not a legitimate scientist and never was on... real scientists operate scrupulously.

Eugenics, which he revived as himself as the superman progenitor, was a mad... pseudoscience.



Logo from the Second International Eugenics Conference, 1921, depicting eugenics as a tree which unites a variety of different fields[1]

(Wikipedia)

God forbid that he be the progenitor of another brilliant sociopath like himself!

[Marypoza]

(08-10-2019, 09:35 AM)beechnut79 Wrote: I am surprised nobody yet mentioned the author Toni Morrison who passed just a couple of days ago.

I did scroll up a little ways