Middle East Scholar Barry Rubin Has Died

I listened to Barry Rubin speak in Los Angeles in March, 2011, shortly after the revolution in Egypt. I blogged many of his articles over the years, but looking at my archives one of the last times I wrote of him was when he announced his lung cancer in 2012. Professor Rubin has now died.

The Times of Israel reports, "Barry Rubin, Middle East scholar, dies at 64." Also at JPost, "'Jerusalem Post' columnist Barry Rubin dies." (And Memeorandum.)

David Swindle has this as well, at PJ Media, "RIP Barry Rubin: You Changed My Life and Your Ideas Will Change the World."

And from Bruce Kessler, at Maggie's Farm, "Barry Rubin, my friend, was a Mensch":

About a year and a half ago, Barry was dignosed with lung cancer. He had never smoked. Israel has a generally well-working state-run health insurance system and good doctors, but costs are escalating and care getting slimmer. Barry was given a very short time to live and told to go home. Barry was, naturally, depressed. His mother-in-law, a doctor in the US, went to work researching and discussing, and came up with a medication that put Barry into full remission. Barry told me he felt it was like a rebirth, and that he should work all the harder to educate others about Israel and the Middle East. Our time on earth is limited but the potential of our contributions isn't.

At dinner in Tel Aviv, Barry said to me that the number of Americans collecting benefits from the government was the primary cause of President Obama's reelection. I replied that was secondary to the impact of the liberal dominated major media influencing swing voters. He sat back and thought a moment, and answered that was primary to Obama adding to his base supporters to be elected. Barry was always open to additional information and flexible to incorporate what was true into his own views. Civilized discourse was Barry's guiding star.

There's much more from Bruce, and you should read it all at the link.

Requiescat in pace, Barry Rubin.

Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead

Just seeing the news on Twitter.

Wut? RT @WilliamsJon: Police outside West Village apartment where Philip Seymour Hoffman found dead. pic.twitter.com/xzmbq4B5pp
— valerie (@valsocal) February 2, 2014

And at WSJ, "Award-winning Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead in Manhattan: The New York Police Department is investigating, and the Office of the Medical Examiner."

More:

Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead -- Dies of Apparent Overdose ... Needle in Arm http://t.co/K0uYl7Cykr
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) February 2, 2014

Not to speak ill or anything, but I'm amazed at celebrities who think they're immune from the consequences of hard partying.
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) February 2, 2014

Added: The New York Times has the obituary, "Philip Seymour Hoffman, Actor, Dies at 46."

Russell Johnson Dies: Starred as 'The Professor' on 'Gilligan's Island'

Wow. An icon from another age.

Who didn't love "Gilligan's Island"?

At LAT, "Russell Johnson, who played The Professor on 'Gilligan's Island,' dies at 89." And at Instapundit:

R.I.P. RUSSELL JOHNSON, aka “The Professor.” “Born in rural northeastern Pennsylvania, Johnson graduated from a private boarding school for orphaned children before joining the Air Force, flying dozens of combat missions in World War II — including one that turned him into a real-life castaway in the Philippines in 1945. Johnson’s B-25 bomber was shot down by heavy flak; he broke both his ankles during the mission, and received the Purple Heart.”

Also, Dave Madden, who played Reuben Kincaid on "The Partridge Family," has died as well. Blazing has more, "The Professor & Reuben Kincaid Have Died."

Typical: Leftists Erupt With Anti-Semitism at Death of Ariel Sharon

This was the last thing on my mind when I saw the news, but even my own timeline was littered with Jew-hatred and Israel-bashing.

At Twitchy, "Stomach-turning anti-Semitism celebrates Ariel Sharon’s death: ‘Rot in hell you dirty Jew’."

It's the "most foul" curation Twitchy's ever done.

Ariel Sharon rest in hell u peice of jewish shit.
— Kai'Ju (@DoubleKebabRoll) January 11, 2014

Fuck, finally that Israeli jewish slut dies, Ariel Sharon. Fucking piece of filth, Hope a demon in hell makes you its fuckslave you cumslut.
— gυмвy (@AdilGumby) January 11, 2014

Ariel Sharon is dead! One less Jewish terrorist trying to ruin the world with their capitalist bullshit
— Ryan Murphy (@Murphyoo) January 11, 2014

A good Jew is a dead Jew. Burn in hell Ariel Sharon.
— Ignashevich Polya (@Innat0) January 11, 2014

Wow.

More at the Los Angeles Times, in any case, "Death of former Israeli leader Ariel Sharon met with tears and cheers."

Ariel Sharon, 1928-2014

The big man has died.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Ariel Sharon, Israel's controversial, iron-willed former leader, dies":

JERUSALEM — Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the iron-willed army general who fought in nearly all of his nation's major wars and spearheaded Jewish settlement of Palestinian territories, then years later presided over Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, died Saturday. He was 85.

The controversial leader, who had been incapacitated since suffering a severe stroke in 2006, was moved in 2010 to his ranch in the Negev desert at the request of his family. In September he underwent abdominal surgery, but his condition worsened this month as his organs deteriorated.

Sharon's death at a hospital near Tel Aviv was announced by his son Gilad.

"That's it. He's gone. He went when he decided to go," his son said.

Sharon, often called "the Bulldozer" for his aggressive style, endured many ups and downs in his lengthy career, but at the end was lauded as one of Israel's greatest leaders.

"[Sharon] was a brave soldier and a daring leader who loved his nation and his nation loved him," Israeli President Shimon Peres said in a statement. "He was one of Israel's great protectors and most important architects, who knew no fear and certainly never feared vision. He knew how to take difficult decisions and implement them."

Yet in the eyes of many Palestinians and even some Israelis, his actions were tantamount to war crimes; he was blamed for the massacres by Israel's Lebanese allies of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in southern Lebanon in 1982 and previous attacks in Jordan.

Sharon devoted decades to the dream of establishing a "greater Israel" by seeking to populate the West Bank and Gaza with tens of thousands of Jews and exhorting them to seize the hills. But in his eighth decade, the old warrior set about dismantling some of the settlements. He withdrew settlers from Gaza and four small West Bank settlements in 2005 and declared his belief that Israel's best chance for lasting security lay in drawing defensible borders and ultimately living side by side with a Palestinian state.

The shift infuriated Sharon's right-wing supporters and led him to abandon the hawkish Likud Party for a newly formed centrist party, Kadima. Just months later, Sharon suffered the stroke, leaving much of his agenda unfulfilled. Analysts still debate whether Sharon was intending to make peace with the Palestinians or unilaterally consolidate Israel's hold on the West Bank.

Most agree that the Gaza withdrawal did not turn out as Sharon had hoped. Weeks after he was stricken, the Islamist group Hamas won Palestinian elections, and it later seized control of the Gaza Strip, breaking with the rival Fatah party.

Two years later, prompted by a resumption of Hamas rocket attacks, Israel launched a 22-day military offensive in Gaza, killing 1,200 Palestinians and drawing an international outcry. The Kadima-led government was replaced by Likud, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in 2009.

Sharon, born Ariel Scheinerman to Russian immigrants on Feb. 27, 1928, lived his life in the bloody crucible of the Israeli-Arab struggle...

Continue reading.

Also at the New York Times, "Ariel Sharon, Fierce Defender of a Strong Israel, Dies at 85" (at Memeorandum).

Reactions at Israel Matzav, Jawa Report, and the Other McCain.

Barbara Branden Dies: Her Biography of Ayn Rand Sparked Rift in Objectivist Movement

A fascinating obituary.

At the New York Times, "Barbara Branden, Biographer of Ayn Rand, Dies at 84."

Gingrich Takes Heat for Praising Mandela

At Newsmax:

Appearing Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," Gingrich said he was surprised by the criticism. Some people returned up to five times repeating how angry they were, he said.

Gingrich didn't let the matter lie. He took to his online newsletter on Friday, responding with a post titled "What would you have done?"

Communist Fidel Castro with Nelson Mandela in South Africa

The more I read around on this, I'm increasingly astonished at the intense complexity of Nelson Mandela's legacy, and especially how his leadership in South Africa overlapped with some of the most important conflicts of the Cold War. When leftists uncritically supported South Africa's black liberation movement against apartheid, it's simply a fact that such solidarity placed them in alliance with Cuba and the Soviets against U.S. strategic interests in Africa.

Here's Pamela Falk, at Foreign Affairs, "Cuba in Africa":

The strategic importance of Africa, politically and economically, should not be underestimated. The 51 nations of Africa comprise the second-largest continent in the world, with over twice the population of the United States. The value of mineral and oil resources is estimated at several trillion dollars. The Horn of Africa provides easy access via the Red Sea to the Middle East; the Ethiopian ports of Assab and Massawa allow Cuba and the Soviet Union access to the Gulf of Aden and the ports of South Yemen. In addition, the Red Sea passage to the Suez Canal is of vital importance for transporting Soviet goods. North Africa gives Cuba proximity to U.S. bases around the Mediterranean as well as to critical sea lanes. The southeast African states such as Mozambique and Tanzania afford the Cubans access to the Indian Ocean. Off the coast of southern Africa are the "choke points" of the Cape of Good Hope and the Channel of Mozambique. Thus, Cuba’s early support of the MPLA’s quick victory in Angola was fortuitous, giving Havana an ideal staging ground for the entire Cape region of Africa.

In geopolitical terms, Angola is a bull’s-eye. Angola’s strategic importance in southern Africa is the key attraction to the Cubans. Angola has over 1,000 miles of coastline south of the Congo River, which serves as part of its northern border. This extensive access to the South Atlantic makes Angola a significant outlet for iron ore, diamonds and coffee, in addition to minerals from the central African nations. Angola’s border abuts Zaïre on the northeast, Zambia on the east, and Namibia (South West Africa) to the south. Cabinda, an enclave of Angola to the north which is not contiguous to Angolan territory, borders Congo and Zaïre.

Angola’s area is almost one-half million square miles, roughly equal to the size of South Africa. Luanda is the principal port city in the north; Lobito and Benguela are the two major central Angolan port cities, and Namibe is the southern port. Major railroad lines run eastward from these Atlantic ports to the interior. Though these lines have only functioned sporadically during the civil war they are important links even to nonborder nations such as Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique. Angola’s rail connections are thus a vital, even though largely potential, part of an Atlantic-to-Indian Ocean route bypassing the South African transit system.

Angola’s southern border with the former South African "mandate" territory of Namibia gives Angola additional strategic weight in East-West relations. The Namibian group opposing continued South African control, the South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO), established its headquarters in Angola, and Angolan involvement in Namibia’s fight for independence has inextricably linked the political fates of South Africa and Angola. If SWAPO were to win power, the South African government believes that the government on its northern border would be unfriendly, and South Africa would be susceptible to invasion by the Cubans from Angola through Namibia. Consequently, South Africa unswervingly demands the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola as a condition for Namibia’s independence. To force such a withdrawal, South Africa has repeatedly invaded Angolan territory, thereby increasing the perceived importance of Angola, and thus Cuba, in the geopolitics of the turbulent Cape of Good Hope....

Cuba has small amounts of troops, military advisers and technical advisers in several other sub-Saharan African nations, including: Zambia (200 troops), Uganda (250 troops), Tanzania (100 military advisers), Congo (3,000 troops and advisers), Equatorial Guinea (240 troops), São Tomé e Príncipe (500 military security personnel) and Lesotho, where seven Cuban military training officers represent a goodwill gesture rather than a military outpost. In northern Africa, Cuba has 3,500 troops stationed mainly in Libya and Algeria, giving Havana Mediterranean access. It also provides support to the Polisario rebels fighting for Western Sahara’s independence from Morocco. In the former colonies of French, British and Portuguese West Africa, Cuba has stationed civilian advisers in Benin (50), Sierra Leone (150), and Guinea-Bissau (125).

Far more important to Cuba are the ties it has successfully forged with the opposition movements of two nations in the turbulent Cape region: Namibia’s SWAPO and South Africa’s African National Congress. SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma makes frequent trips to Cuba and has met with Cuban Politburo member Jorge Risquet in Angola. The ANC’s Oliver Tambo, while more cautious, continues to maintain strong ties of solidarity with Cuba. Though they know it may take years, Cuban leaders are banking on an eventual change of government that will bring these groups to power in their respective nations.

Here's the summary of the chapter by Hedelberto López Blanch, "Cuba: The little giant against apartheid," in The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Volume 3, International Solidarity:

From the very start, after the triumph of the Revolution in January 1959, Cuba supported the anti-apartheid struggle, including at different international events, where its representatives condemned the racist policies and racial segregation of that system institutionalized by Pretoria; at the same time, they urged support for the South African people's fight for national liberation. That support increased continually, and is the subject of Chapter 15, written by Hedelberto Lopez Blanch. Cuban troops, sometimes numbering up to 50,000, fought together with Angolan forces against South Africa's troops, until then described as "invincible." Intense military combat took place in Angola from 1975 to 1988, culminating in the disaster for the racist South Africans at the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. Given the constant threats against Cuba by various administrations of the United States - a staunch enemy that in 1960 imposed an unending, ferocious blockade against the small Caribbean island - and the modesty that has characterized leaders of the Cuban Revolution, many of the events and information narrated in this chapter appear for the first time, given that author Hedelberto López Blanch was given access to recently declassified documents.

The tripartite talks between Cuba, the ANC and the Soviet Union; the holding of the Seventh Congress of the South African Communist Party in Cuba; the training of ANC guerrilla fighters in Cuba and other African countries; the combats against racist forces in Angola, and the discussions that opened the way to Namibia's independence and subsequently, the first free elections in South Africa, as well as comments by high-ranking leaders of the ANC and outstanding South Africans, are included in this chapter, which is also a reflection of the Cuban people's lofty spirit of humanism and internationalism.

And here's a couple of pieces from the Trotskyite Militant on Mandela's alliance with Communist Cuba, "'Internationalism Contributed to Victory': South Africa President Nelson Mandela Addresses Cuba Solidarity Conference," and "Fidel Castro Gets Hero's Welcome in South Africa."

Nelson Mandela Looks Great Compared to 'Racist Looters Like Jacob Zuma, Robert Mugabe, and Barack Obama...'

Ouch!

See the hammering entry at Moonbattery, "Revering Nelson Mandela":

Although Mandela led a brutal gang of socialist revolutionaries best known for the practice of necklacing; allied himself with a rogue’s gallery of terrorists and maniacs, including Fidel Castro, Yasser Arafat, and Muammar Gaddafi; and also threw in with the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, he was far from the worst leader Sub-Saharan Africa has produced. When he took power, he behaved for the most part responsibly, refraining from aggressively repressing whites, in stark contrast to the goons who run South Africa now. No one in his right mind would want to live under him, but he looks great in comparison to racist looters like Jacob Zuma, Robert Mugabe, and Barack Obama.

Actually, no one lowers the bar like Obama, but it's good. RTWT.

Nelson Mandela 'Kept Portraits of Lenin and Stalin Above His Desk at Home...'

Black supremacist Ta-Nehisi Coates is leading the chorus of attacks on "racist" Cold War conservatives who questioned the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s. See, "Apartheid's Useful Idiots."

You have to read the whole thing, but literally the bottom line is that to raise any questions about Mandela's legacy, regardless of the historical context, and most importantly, regardless of Mandela's terrorism and Communism, and you're a racist. Coates argues that "the overall failure of American conservatives to forthrightly deal with South Africa's white-supremacist regime, coming so soon after their failure to deal with the white-supremacist regime in their own country, is part of their heritage, and thus part of our heritage." He then links to this Wall Street editorial as racist data-point for the right, "Nelson Mandela (at Google)":

The bulk of his adult life, Nelson Mandela was a failed Marxist revolutionary and leftist icon, the Che Guevara of Africa. Then in his seventies he had the chance to govern. He chose national reconciliation over reprisal, and he thus made himself an historic and all too rare example of a wise revolutionary leader.

Mandela, who died Thursday at age 95, had a patrician upbringing and a Methodist education. But his coming of age coincided with the rise of apartheid. Winning whites-only elections in 1948, the National Party lavished its Afrikaner base of European descendants with state jobs and privileges. Black, mixed-race and Indian South Africans were disfranchised.

Trained as a lawyer, Mandela was drawn to the African National Congress, which was founded by professional, educated blacks in 1912. He was not a born communist, but as he rose in its ranks the ANC moved toward Marxism and an alliance with the Soviets. Mandela kept portraits of Lenin and Stalin above his desk at home. Frustrated with the ANC's ineffective peaceful resistance, he embraced armed struggle in the early 1960s and trained to become a guerrilla leader. He was arrested for plotting sabotage.

His 1964 trial gave Mandela a platform. In his famous closing argument, he said: "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

This speech was the last the world saw of him for 26 years. He started his life sentence at Robben Island prison near Cape Town a would-be Lenin. He walked out of jail on February 11, 1990—at age 71—an African Havel.

Age mellowed him. Times changed. The apartheid leadership had opened secret talks with the ANC in the mid-1980s. While still in prison, Mandela became "president in training" under F.W. de Klerk, the last apartheid leader. In early 1990, Mr. de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC.

Mandela ditched the ANC's Marxism and reached out to business. Somehow—another miracle—the illiberal ANC and the illiberal National Party together negotiated a liberal new constitution with strong protections for minorities and an independent judiciary. "You do not compromise with a friend," Mandela often said, "you compromise with an enemy."

He won the country's first free presidential elections in 1994 and worked to unite a scarred and anxious nation. He opened up the economy to the world, and a black middle class came to life. After a single term, he voluntarily left power at the height of his popularity. Most African rulers didn't do that, but Mandela said, "I don't want a country like ours to be led by an octogenarian. I must step down while there are one or two people who admire me."

Look, these are just facts, but for the morally-stunted left, facts are "racist."

There's going to be lots more leftist hissy-fits over the weekend. Rightfully call Mandela a Communist and you'll be branded a reactionary and racist.

More at the Other McCain, "1987: Thatcher Responds to ‘Further Intensification of the Armed Struggle’."

And see Saberpoint, "Nelson Mandela: Some Sour Notes Amid The Chorus of Praise."

PREVIOUSLY: "Nelson Mandela: Terrorist and Communist."

Nelson Mandela: Terrorist and Communist

I was teaching yesterday, in the early afternoon, and at the end of the class a student came up and asked if I'd seen the news that Nelson Mandela had died. I had not, but of course immediately realized the significance of the news, and I mentioned to the student that Mandela leaves a "tremendous legacy."

I shortly went on the web and clicked on the New York Times' obituary, "Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s Liberator as Prisoner and President, Dies at 95." And it's pretty much what you'd expect. Mandela was an outsized historical figure, blah blah. How could he emerge from 27 years in prison without bitterness and anger, blah blah?

No doubt he was one of the most important historical figures of the 20th century --- and interestingly, folks online yesterday placed his legacy as somewhere between Vladimir Lenin and Vaclav Havel. That sounds about right, although the main priority here is for people to look beyond the whitewash, to understand Mandela as a deeply flawed individual who was hardly the saint that the leftist culture has so effectively manufactured.

Here's the tweet yesterday from the Communist Party of the United Kingdom:

Nelson Mandela has died. A hero against all the odds. True friend of ordinary ppl & progressive politics, we miss u pic.twitter.com/7pOZbH227Y

— Communist Party (@communist_party) December 5, 2013

We know that Mandela, in his membership with the African National Congress, was a terrorist and Communist, even though his ties to the Moscow-led revolutionary world program were disguised at the time. Here's Telegraph UK from last year, "Nelson Mandela 'proven' to be a member of the Communist Party after decades of denial." (And see the fascinating contemporary piece from Thomas Karis, at Foreign Affairs, "South African Liberation: The Communist Factor." Also, here's a communique from South African Communist Party Leader Joe Slovo from 1989, "Message by Joe Slovo, General Secretary of the South African Communist Party, to the Soweto rally for the released ANC leaders.")

In any case, it's no surprise that we're seeing overwhelming acclaim for Mandela's legacy from the left and the right, although it's pretty pathetic that even so-called conservatives are attempting to tamp down the meme that Mandela was a Communist.

@rsmccain There is more to the story of his life than that picture and #Mandela was not a communist even if Slovo (at right) certainly was.

— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) December 5, 2013

And for more on that, read Robert Stacy McCain, "‘Unspeakable Atrocities’."

Plus, don't miss Kathy Shaidle's piece from earlier this year, "Raining on the Nelson Mandela Parade."

Erin Gloria Ryan, Jezebel News Editor, Wishes Death on Scott Walker After 'Faster and Furious' Actor Dies

Saw this just now on Twitter:

Wtf. RT "@moderncomments: The disintegration of political discourse, right here. Stay classy, @morninggloria pic.twitter.com/sfsIutloew"
— Krystle (@TarheelKrystle) December 1, 2013

And at Fire Andrea Mitchell, "Paul Walker of Fast and Furious dies – leftists wish it was Scott Walker."

Also at Twitchy, "Jezebel editor on Paul Walker’s death: Why couldn’t it have been Scott Walker? Update: Tweets deleted."

EARLIER: "Paul Walker, 1973-2013."

Paul Walker, 1973-2013

Just 40 years-young. What a shame.

At the Los Angeles Times, "'Fast and Furious' actor Paul Walker dies in fiery Valencia car crash":

Actor Paul Walker, who gained fame as an undercover detective in the hugely successful “The Fast and the Furious” franchise, was killed Saturday in a car accident in Valencia, his representatives confirmed.

The single vehicle collision occurred about 3:30 p.m. in the 28300 block of Rye Canyon Loop. Deputies from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station and the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrived to find a vehicle engulfed in flames. Two people in the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene.

The cause of the collision is under investigation, said Sheriff’s Deputy Kim Manatt. According to a statement on his Twitter account, Walker, 40, was attending a charity event to aid Filipino victims of Typhoon Haiyan for his organization Reach Out Worldwide, formed in 2010 as a quick response first-aid organization.

“It is with a truly heavy heart that we must confirm that Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident while attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide,” the statement read. “He was a passenger in a friend's car, in which both lost their lives. We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news.”

More at that top link.

Also at Gateway Pundit, "'Fast and Furious' Actor Paul Walker Dies in Car Crash" (via Memeorandum).

Doris Lessing, 1919-2013

From LAT's obituary, "Doris Lessing dies at 94; British novelist of the 'female experience'":

Lessing resisted being called a feminist, in fact frankly condemned the man-hating excesses of the early women's movement.

"I think they missed a great many opportunities," she said in a 2007 interview with The Times. "Just to oversimplify, they went political. From the moment they went political, inevitably they were going to fragment and bitch-bite and call each other names. They did some unspeakably bad things, like rubbish women who were bringing up children," she said.

"If I say the 1960s motto was 'women good, men bad,' I think I've summed it up," she said. "But things have changed. I think I have noticed that what young women are doing is looking for a husband, just as if there hadn't been any so-called feminist revolution.... Not saying they want to get married, necessarily. I also know a lot of women who don't want children, which I think is marvelous. What a liberation that is, in that nobody even blames them for it!"

RTWT.

And from Instapundit, "DORIS LESSING HAS DIED":

Let me again call attention to this column of hers on political correctness and communism, and this piece on why feminism should stop attacking men, which was linked back in the very earliest days of InstaPundit.

Click through and follow the links.

She was a fascinating woman. I had no idea --- and I'm supposed to be well-read, lol.

Lou Reed, 1942-2013

At the New York Times, "Lou Reed, Rock ’n’ Roll Pioneer, Dies at 71."

Rolling Stone posted the news earlier today, but the write up was really sloppy (at Memeorandum).

And from Bob Belvedere, "Lou Reed, Requiescat in pace – Sweet Jane (Live)."

Here's another version, recent and good quality:



And don't miss Matt Welch, at Reason, "How Lou Reed Inspired Anti-Communist Revolutionaries and the Rest of Us."

Cal Worthington, 1920-2013

You know, I've been posting all these obituaries, but frankly I've felt guilty for not posting on Cal Worthington. I drive by his dealership nearly every day. And as kid I used to crack up at his "Go see Cal" television commercials. Who didn't?

At the Los Angeles Times, "Cal Worthington dies at 92; car dealer known for wacky 'dog Spot' ads'."

Tom Clancy, 1947-2013

He was just 66 years old.

At the New York Times, "Tom Clancy, Best-Selling Master of Military Thrillers, Dies at 66":

Mr. Clancy’s debut book, “The Hunt for Red October,” was frequently cited as one of the greatest genre novels ever written. With the book’s publication in 1984, Mr. Clancy introduced a new kind of potboiler: an espionage thriller dense with technical details about weaponry, submarines and intelligence agencies.

It found an eager readership. More than 100 million copies of his novels are in print, and a remarkable 17 have reached No. 1 on the New York Times’s best-seller list, including “Threat Vector,” released last December. Prolific until his death, Mr. Clancy had been awaiting publication of his next book, “Command Authority,” set for Dec. 3.

The impact of his books has been felt far beyond the publishing world. Some were adapted by Hollywood and became blockbusters starring Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin and Ben Affleck as Mr. Clancy’s hero protagonist, Jack Ryan. Mr. Clancy arranged for his thrillers to be turned into video games that were so realistic, the military licensed them for training. And on television, fast-paced espionage using high-tech tools in the Clancy mold found a place in popular shows like “24” and “Homeland.”

I read a few of Clancy's works, but nothing compared to "The Hunt for Red October."

First saw the news of his death yesterday on Twitter. I was a little shocked.

Ken Norton Dies at 70: Former Heavyweight Champ Once Beat Muhammad Ali

At the Los Angeles Times, "Former heavyweight boxer Ken Norton Sr. dies at 70."

And at the Washington Post, "Former heavyweight Ken Norton dies at age 70":

Norton broke Ali’s jaw in their first bout, beating him by split decision in 1973 in a non-title fight in San Diego. They fought six months later, and Ali won a split decision.

They met for a third time on Sept. 28, 1976, at Yankee Stadium and Ali narrowly won to keep his heavyweight title.

Norton would come back the next year to win a heavyweight title eliminator and was declared champion by the World Boxing Council. But on June 9, 1978, he lost a bruising 15-round fight to Larry Holmes in what many regard as one of boxing’s epic heavyweight bouts and would never be champion again.

“Kenny was a good, good fighter. He beat a lot of guys,” said Ed Schuyler Jr., who covered many of Norton’s fights for The Associated Press. “He gave Ali fits because Ali let him fight coming forward instead of making him back up.”

Video here, "Muhammad Ali vs Ken Norton I - March 31, 1973 - Entire fight - Rounds 1 - 12 & Interviews."

David Frost Has Died

For a minute I was thinking, "And what am I supposed to remember about him?"

And then it came to me, the Frost/Nixon interview.

See the New York Times, "David Frost, Known for Nixon Interview, Dies at 74."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "David Frost: A self-producing, self-perpetuating brand of his own."

Controversial Journalist Helen Thomas Dead at 92

A raving anti-Semite, Helen Thomas ended an otherwise pathbreaking career in ignominy.

At Blazing Cat Fur, "White House Gargoyle Helen Thomas Dead."

And at the New York Times, "Helen Thomas, Barrier-Busting White House Reporter, Is Dead at 92." (At Memeorandum.)

The video covers her entire professional life, including her shift to radicalism and Jew-hatred.