Obit watch: December 28, 2020.

December 28th, 2020

Phil Niekro, noted knuckleballer.

A right-hander, like his brother, Phil Niekro (pronounced NEEK-row) threw a total of 5,404 innings, placing him No. 4 on the major league career list, without ever incurring a sore arm, allowing him to endure in Major League Baseball far longer than most other players.
He tied Andy Messersmith in the National League for the most victories in 1974, when he was 20-13, and he tied Joe for the most wins in 1979, when he went 21-20 (also losing the most games in the league). Joe was 21-11 that season with the Houston Astros.
Phil, who retired after the 1987 season, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997. But for all of his achievements, he never made it to a World Series, his Braves teams reaching only the National League Championship Series twice, losing both times. Phil pitched for four teams and Joe for seven. They were teammates with the Braves in 1973 and ’74 and briefly with the Yankees in 1985.

Barry Lopez, noted writer.

Reginald Foster, a former plumber’s apprentice from Wisconsin who, in four decades as an official Latinist of the Vatican, dreamed in Latin, cursed in Latin, banked in Latin and ultimately tweeted in Latin, died on Christmas Day at a nursing home in Milwaukee. He was LXXXI.

Finally, Michael Alig is burning in Hell. He was one of the late 80’s NYC “club kids”. But he’s burning in Hell because he killed Andre Melendez.

Mr. Melendez, who was also known as Angel, was missing for months before his dismembered corpse washed up on Staten Island, which is when people began to believe Mr. Alig’s frequent claims that he had killed Mr. Melendez.
They had argued about money one night and, prosecutors and investigators said at the time, Mr. Alig, while under the influence of heroin, had murdered Mr. Melendez and dumped his remains in the Hudson River.
Mr. Alig pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in 1997, as did an accomplice, Robert Riggs. Mr. Alig served 17 years. He was released from prison in 2014 at the age of 48 and was met by friends and supporters.

Posted in Books, Law, Obits, Sports | 1 Comment »

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 271

December 27th, 2020

Science Sunday!

Today, let there be light.

“Einstein on Light; Light on Einstein”, a lecture by Douglas Hofstadter at Uppsala University in 2017. This is about 52 minutes, with a short introduction.

Bonus #1: A bit shorter: Douglas Hofstadter at Stanford on “Trying to Muse Rationally About the Singularity Scenario”.

Bonus #2, which is also kind of a bookmark: Someone at MIT taught a course on Gödel, Escher, Bach, and the lectures are posted on the ‘Tube. Here’s the first one, which should enable you to find the rest of them.

Posted in Geek, History | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 270

December 26th, 2020

364 shopping days until Christmas!

Seriously, do you ever feel like the days are just an oncoming freight train, constantly bearing down on us?

(I am obligated, of course, to point out that, as all people of goodwill know, the Christmas season actually runs through January 6th, and anyone who nags you about leaving your lights and decorations up is a Philistine and not a serious person.)

This is an odd one that didn’t pop up at random: someone on The Drive linked to it in the comments section. I have to apologize that it isn’t in English and doesn’t have subtitles, but I think there’s enough interesting imagery in this to overcome that.

According to the commenter, “Wehrhafte Schweiz / La Suisse vigilante / La Svizzera vigilante” is a 1960s Swiss military propaganda film, originally shot in Cinerama. I think this is a surprisingly good transfer: you might want to watch it on the ‘Tube in full screen mode. You might also want to fast forward past the opening, which is kind of trippy, but (again) does not have English subtitles.

English translation of the YouTube description from Google Translate:

The official doctrine is communicated after a lengthy prologue, which allows different positions on national defense to be heard. A large-scale, combined combat exercise demonstrates the interaction of various branches of weapon.

‘

Bonus: Since that was kind of short (especially if you skip over the tripping beginning), here’s something I didn’t know about previously: Wilson Combat has a YouTube channel.

What makes this interesting is that, starting in October, they started a new series: “Critical Mas(s)” with Massad Ayoob.

I’ve been thinking about my friends in the Austin Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni Association, how much I miss them, and how much I miss the CPA classes (which have been suspended due to the Chinese rabies). So I thought I’d highlight this first one, since it is relevant both to current events and to stuff we discuss in CPA: “Police Use of Deadly Force: Reasonable or Necessary?”

Posted in Cops, Guns, History, Law | Comments Closed

Obit watch: December 26, 2020.

December 26th, 2020

Col. Robert Thacker (USAF – ret.) passed away a few weeks ago, though his death was not confirmed until recently. He was 102.

You may remember Lieutenant (at the time) Thacker from this story, which took place on December 7, 1941:

His plane was among a flight of newly built B-17s arriving from California en route to the Philippines. As he began his descent to the Army Air Corps’ Hickam Field, at first unaware of anything amiss, he was astonished to see bombers and fighters roaming the skies and black smoke rising from the American base and adjoining military installations.
One of the fighters shot out the front landing gear of his Flying Fortress as he approached the runway. But he careened to a landing and led his crew to a swamp alongside the runway to escape the inferno.

You might also remember him for this:

In February 1947, about 18 months after Japan surrendered, he was back at Hickam Field, this time to make aviation history. Now a lieutenant colonel, he piloted a North American Aviation P-82 fighter plane on the first nonstop flight from Hawaii to New York City in what remains the longest nonstop flight, 5,051 miles, ever made by a propeller-driven fighter, according to the National Museum of the United States Air Force, near Dayton, Ohio.

…

Early in the Cold War, the P-82 was viewed by the Pentagon as a potential escort in the event bombers like the B-29 were called upon to attack the Soviet Union. The pioneering test flight by Colonel Thacker and his co-pilot, Lt. John Ard, provided evidence that the fighter could carry out such a mission.
During the 14½-hour flight from Hickam, a mechanical glitch prevented the plane from jettisoning three empty fuel tanks, and the P-82 fought drag from the unwanted weight and strong headwinds. By the time it touched down, it had only enough fuel left for another 30 minutes of flight.

…

He flew World War II bombing missions out of New Guinea, Italy and England. He later joined the nation’s leading test pilots in experimental flights over California’s high desert at Muroc Army Air Field in California, later renamed Edwards Air Force Base.
In addition to flying B-17 Flying Fortresses in World War II, Colonel Thacker piloted Superfortresses in the Korean War and high-altitude missions in the Vietnam War.

…

Mr. Thacker retired from the Air Force as a full colonel in 1970. His awards included two Silver Stars and three Distinguished Flying Crosses.

George Blake is burning in Hell.

Like the Cambridge-educated moles Kim Philby, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, Mr. Blake became a dedicated Marxist, disillusioned with the West, and a high British intelligence officer while secretly working for the Soviets. His clandestine life had lasted less than a decade, but cost the lives of many agents and destroyed vital British and American operations in Europe.
Unlike the Cambridge clique, who defected when the authorities closed in, Mr. Blake was caught in 1961, tried secretly and sentenced to 42 years in prison. Five years later, with inside and outside help, he escaped from the Wormwood Scrubs prison in London and fled to Moscow. He left behind a wife, three children and an uproar over his getaway, the tatters of a case that encapsulated the intrigues of a perilous nuclear age, with flash points in Korea and Germany, where Blake served.

…

In 1955, he was sent to Berlin to recruit Soviet officers as double agents. Instead he began passing British and American secrets to the Soviets, including the identities of some 400 spies and details of many Western espionage operations, among them two of the most productive intelligence sources of the Cold War: tunnels in Berlin and Vienna that were used to tap K.G.B. and Soviet military telephones.
Mr. Blake’s double life was exposed in 1961 by a Polish intelligence defector, Michael Goleniewski. Tried in closed court, he was given three consecutive 14-year terms. But in 1966, with outside help from three men he had met in prison, he escaped with a rope ladder thrown over the wall. A waiting car sped him to a hide-out, and he was smuggled out of the country and fled to Moscow.

Posted in History, Obits, Planes | Comments Closed

Art, damn it, art! watch (#58 in a series)

December 25th, 2020

No snark this time: I think this is kind of neat (both the art and the tweet):

Posted in Art | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 269

December 25th, 2020

Merry Christmas!

I always apologize when the videos I post run long, but today’s videos may require a particular apology.

Or they may not: these are really more something you can put on in the background and stream while the family is gathered for Christmas. Or while you sit alone pining for the fjords today. Either way. (That’s also why I am posting them early.)

“The World War II News and Old Time Radio Channel” has posted a series of videos, each about 12 hours long, containing vintage Christmas radio programs from various years, in chronological order.

“Part 1 – 1930 – 1942”.

If you go to the ‘Tube directly, the descriptions contain links to the start of individual programs. So, for example, you can jump to December of 1941 and listen to Jack Benny promote bonds.

“Part 2 – 1942 – 1946”.

“Part 3 – 1947 – 1950”.

This starts off with the Lux Radio Theater adaptation of “It’s a Wonderful Life”, so you might want to skip ahead to the one hour mark.

“Part 4 – 1950 – 1959”.

Posted in Christmas, Radio | Comments Closed

Merry Christmas, everybody!

December 25th, 2020

It isn’t “I Saw Three Ships”, but I stumbled across this on the ‘Tube and knew I had to use it.

Werner Klemperer and John Banner sing. Plus Robert Clary.

Yes, you read that right. Colonel Klink and Sargent Schultz sing “Silent Night”. In German. And then Corporal LeBeau sings, too.

I would make fun of this, but I think all three of them are actually pretty good.

(I don’t think that part about the organ is true.)

Because it is a tradition, and because I really like this:

I like this, too:

This isn’t “I Saw Three Ships”, either, but it is a Christmas song that I like (and haven’t used before) from a totally unexpected source: Annie Lennox sings “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”.

Merry Christmas, one and all!

Posted in Christmas, Music, TV | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 268

December 24th, 2020

Travel Thursday!

How about a Christmas walk around London?

Bonus #1: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” But okay, then. “Christmas In Florence, Italy”. Complete with chocolate truffles and “gluten free, sugar free, dairy free chocolate balls”.

Bonus #2: “This is Christmas in Tokyo Japan” from the “I Will Always Travel For Food” channel.

Posted in Christmas, Food, History, Travel | Comments Closed

Obit watch: December 24, 2020.

December 24th, 2020

A couple of quick music related ones: Chad Stuart, of Chad and Jeremy.

Leslie West, of Mountain. (“Mississippi Queen”.)

Rebecca Luker, noted Broadway actress. She was only 59.

Ms. Luker’s Broadway career, fueled by her crystal-clear operatic soprano, brought her three Tony Award nominations. The first was for “Show Boat” (1994), in which she played Magnolia, the captain’s dewy-fresh teenage daughter, whose life is ruined by marriage to a riverboat gambler. The second was for “The Music Man” (2000), in which she was Marian, the prim River City librarian who enchants a traveling flimflam man who thinks — mistakenly — that he’s just passing through town.

…

When she earned her third Tony nomination, this one for best featured actress in a musical, it was for playing Winifred Banks, a married Englishwoman with two children and a gifted nanny, in “Mary Poppins” (2006).

Lawrence tipped me off to the death of James E. Gunn, one of the greats in SF.

Gunn launched his career writing short stories for pulp magazines in 1949 and went on to author dozens of books, starting with 1955’s Star Bridge. He saw his 1962 short story “The Immortals,” about a group who discovers the secret to immortality, made into an ABC movie of the week in 1969 and become a 1970-71 hourlong series.
In addition to fiction, Gunn was known as an editor of anthologies and an author of academic works. He earned a Hugo for 1983’s Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction, an exploration of famed author Isaac Asimov’s contributions to the science fiction genre.

…

In 1969, he taught one of the first classes at a major university on science fiction, becoming a pioneer for treating the genre as a serious academic subject. He created a $1.5 million endowment for the James E. and Jane F. Gunn Professorship in Science Fiction, named for himself and his late wife, in 2014.

That’s one part of his career that I’m afraid will get short shrift. As important as he was as a writer and critic, his most important contribution to the genre may have been as a teacher.

Posted in Books, Music, Obits, Theatre | Comments Closed

The cold green splendor of that beautiful legal tender…

December 23rd, 2020

This is a little old, but it came across Hacker News Twitter this morning, and I hadn’t seen it previously. From the “CrimeReads” website: “The Rise and Fall of the Bank Robbery Capital of the World“.

Between 1985 and 1995 the approximately 3,500 retail bank branches in the region were hit 17,106 times. 1992, the worst year of all, there was an almost unimaginable 2,641 heists, one every 45 minutes of each banking day. On a particularly bad day for the FBI that year, bandits committed 28 bank licks. There were years during that stretch when the L.A. field office of the FBI, which covers the seven counties in the Los Angeles metro region, handled more cases than the next four regions combined.

The article is by Peter Houlahan, who also wrote Norco ’80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History (previously mentioned in this space).

Summary: why was LA the bank robbery capital of the world? Answer: banks, cars, freeways, and cocaine.

Why did LA stop being the bank robbery capital of the world? Answer: the banks tightened up security (they couldn’t care less about the money that was being taken at gunpoint, but when staff started quitting and filing worker’s comp claims for PTSD, and when customers started suing, that got their attention), and the virtual abolition of parole in the Federal system.

The new guidelines allowed for much longer sentences for simple robbery, with stiff “enhancements” for those involving weapons. More importantly, it mandated a minimum of 85% of a sentence be served before eligibility for parole. The customary sentence for bank robbery immediate jumped to 20 years with a minimum of 17 served. Use a gun and you were not going to see the light of day for five more on top of that.

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Cops, FBI, Law | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 267

December 23rd, 2020

I’m going to ride this Christmas donkey until it drops.

(No, that’s just a Rifftrax promo clip, that’s not the full movie. Though I believe you can find the full movie on YouTube.)

And now for something completely different: “Never Mind The Baubles – Christmas ’77 with The Sex Pistols”.

Johnny Rotten handed out badges, posters and other Sex Pistols-branded goodies. Teens and young children hit the dancefloor with Sid Vicious to boogie to pop hits such as Baccara’s Yes Sir, I Can Boogie and (yes, really) Daddy Cool by Boney M. Then Rotten leapt into a giant Christmas cake and the band and audience smeared each other with food.

Bonus: I’m kind of marginal about “Retail Archaeology”, but “A Very Dead Mall Christmas” provided me with about 15 minutes worth of amusement.

Bonus #2: “Cooking for the Queen At Christmas”.

Posted in Christmas, Food, History, Music, TV | Comments Closed

Strippers. Always with the strippers.

December 22nd, 2020

The Washington Football Team said it is aware of pictures on social media showing quarterback Dwayne Haskins not wearing a mask while attending an event with strippers.
The team said Tuesday it will handle the incident internally.

Posted in NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 266

December 22nd, 2020

I’m hoping I won’t be doing this next Christmas. I’m hoping that we will be back to “normal” (whatever the new “normal” is) and that we won’t be scrounging for paper goods or wearing masks everywhere and that I’ll even be able to get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.

But in the meantime, I intend to have some fun with the Christmas theme.

“Rankin/Bass CBS Christmas Special W/Vintage Commercials”. Four hours of Christmas specials.

The main features of this simulated CBS Rankin Bass Christmas special include Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Little Drummer Boy, Santa Clause is Coming to Town and Frosty the Snowman. A few bonus classic Christmas cartoons are also included near the end, And all commercial breaks are packed full of nostalgic Christmas commercials from mostly the 70’s and 80’s.

Bonus video: I had a video I was thinking about putting here, but she turned out to be dull. (And she had good material to work with, too.) So today’s bonus video is really a question for the huddled, wretched masses yearning to breathe free:

Is it just me, or does Alton Brown:

kind of look scarily like Walter White these days?

(I picked a season 2 clip because Lawrence and I have only gotten through season 2. The resemblance may be more pronounced in later seasons, but since we haven’t watched those…)

Posted in 1970s, Christmas, Food, History, TV | 1 Comment »

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 265

December 21st, 2020

Today’s video is a Christmas present for Lawrence, so I’m bending the rules a bit and embedding a work of fiction.

“The Tanks Are Coming”, a 1951 film:

During the second-half of 1944, various Allied units stationed in Belgium attempt to smash their way through the tough German defenses at the Siegfried Line. If successful, the way to Germany is wide-open. One of these units is the American 3rd Armored Division. The film’s story concerns a particular five-tank platoon, commanded by Lt. Rawson, the best platoon in Captain Bob Horner’s Company C. During an ambush, the lead tank, California Jane, commanded by Master Sgt. Joe Davis, is seriously damaged by a German Panther tank. Davis is severely wounded and his driver is killed.

One IMDB reviewer describes the story as pedestrian, but praises the integration of actual combat footage. I post, you decide. (Noted: Samuel Fuller wrote the story, though the actual screenplay was credited to Robert Hardy Andrews.)

Bonus: From 1950, “They Were Not Divided”.

Two Welshguard armoured officers blitz through Europe.
This movie shows real footage of tank operations in the ETO after D-Day and the live action is true to the tactics used. And we see why the Sherman was nicknamed by the British as “The Ronson”.
WWII British Tank Regiments Advance From France into Germany. This movie begins in a World War II training depot of a Welshguards armored regiment where recruits from many walks of life learn to survive the strict discipline and training together before going into battle in tanks.

Posted in Christmas, History, Movies | Comments Closed

Historical note, suitable for use in schools.

December 21st, 2020

50 years ago today, on December 21, 1970, the president of the United States, Richard Nixon, met with one of the greatest singers of all time, Elvis Presley, at the White House.

The story goes that Elvis requested the meeting with Nixon, as he wanted the president to appoint him a “federal agent at large” in what was then known as the “Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs”. (BNDD merged into the DEA in 1973.) Elvis believed he could be a force for good and fight drug use among the young people.

Smithsonian magazine has a slightly different version of the story (written by the great Peter Carlson):

The story began in Memphis a few days earlier, when Elvis’ father, Vernon, and wife, Priscilla, complained that he’d spent too much on Christmas presents—more than $100,000 for 32 handguns and ten Mercedes-Benzes. Peeved, Elvis drove to the airport and caught the next available flight, which happened to be bound for Washington. He checked into a hotel, then got bored and decided to fly to Los Angeles.

…

Elvis was traveling with some guns and his collection of police badges, and he decided that what he really wanted was a badge from the federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs back in Washington. “The narc badge represented some kind of ultimate power to him,” Priscilla Presley would write in her memoir, Elvis and Me. “With the federal narcotics badge, he [believed he] could legally enter any country both wearing guns and carrying any drugs he wished.”

Anyway, Elvis wrote a letter to Nixon (reproduced here, transcription here) asking for the position and a badge. There was some internal discussion at the White House, but presidential aide Egil “Bud” Krogh persuaded Nixon to agree to the meeting.

That personal gift Elvis mentions in his letter? It was a Colt .45. I have seen it asserted both that the Secret Service confiscated it before Elvis got in to see Nixon, and that Elvis got it past the guards and personally presented it to Nixon.

Nixon’s famous taping system had not yet been installed, so the conversation wasn’t recorded. But Krogh took notes: “Presley indicated that he thought the Beatles had been a real force for anti-American spirit. The President then indicated that those who use drugs are also those in the vanguard of anti-American protest.”
“I’m on your side,” Elvis told Nixon, adding that he’d been studying the drug culture and Communist brainwashing.

Elvis asked for a BNDD badge, and Nixon basically said “Make it so.”

Before leaving, Elvis asked Nixon to say hello to Schilling and West, and the two men were escorted into the Oval Office. Nixon playfully punched Schilling on the shoulder and gave both men White House cuff links.
“Mr. President, they have wives, too,” Elvis said. So Nixon gave them each a White House brooch.
After Krogh took him to lunch at the White House mess, Elvis received his gift—the narc badge.

The meeting was kept secret at the time: Jack Anderson covered it a year later, but apparently nobody actually gave a tinker’s damn back then.

Today:

Of all the requests made each year to the National Archives for reproductions of photographs and documents, one item has been requested more than any other. That item, more requested than the Bill of Rights or even the Constitution of the United States, is the photograph of Elvis Presley and Richard M. Nixon shaking hands on the occasion of Presley’s visit to the White House.

You can download copies of the photos from the George Washington University National Security Archive (their site has been a major help in writing this). NARA has a site devoted to the meeting, but it is annoying as all get out. You can order a print here, as well as some other related merchandise.

“Bud” Krogh apparently wrote a book about the meeting (called, fittingly, The Day Elvis Met Nixon (affiliate link)) which I believe is out of print but readily available from Amazon.

Posted in Elvis, Guns, History, Music, Nixon | Comments Closed

Happy hollandaise!

December 21st, 2020

Posted in Christmas, Food | Comments Closed

Your loser update: week 15, 2020.

December 21st, 2020

The Rams and the Jets each had one job:

The Rams’s job was to beat the Jets.

The Jets’s job was to get the top first round draft choice.

Both teams blew it. Jacksonville is now the favorite to get the first round draft pick (if both teams go 1-15, Jacksonville wins out on strength of schedule).

NFL teams that still have a chance to go 0-16:

None.

That’s a wrap for this *season, folks. We plan to be back in 2021.

Posted in Loser, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 264

December 20th, 2020

Science Sunday!

Today’s video is another long one, but it is Sunday. This popped up in my recommendations totally at random.

“The American Rocketeer”, a documentary about the life of Frank Malina (born in Texas, mech engineering grad from Texas A&M).

Why is he significant? He was one of the pioneering figures in American rocket development: protege of Theodore von Kármán, one of the members of the “Suicide Squad” (other members included Jack Parsons and Qian Xuesen), second director of JPL, and artist.

Bonus: This is a lot shorter, and might be interesting to people who want to know a little more about Jack Parsons: “Jack Parsons: ‘Sex Magic’, Drugs, and Rocket Science”.

I’ve read Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons (affiliate link), but I’m thinking I need to look up some of the other books on the early days of JPL, rocketry, and the personalities involved. Thread Of The Silkworm might be a good start…

Posted in Books, Geek, History | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 263

December 19th, 2020

Going a little long again today, but this popped up, and I thought it was appropriate and timely.

From 1994, “Pancho’s Guest Ranch Hotel and Happy Bottom Riding Club”.

I’m sure almost all of my readers are familiar with the Happy Bottom Riding Club. But in case there are any teenagers out there…

The Happy Bottom Riding Club (1935–1953), was a dude ranch, restaurant, and hotel operated by aviator Pancho Barnes near Edwards Air Force Base in the Antelope Valley of California’s Mojave Desert. Barnes and the club were both featured in Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book, The Right Stuff, and the 1983 film adaptation.
Also known as the Rancho Oro Verde Fly-Inn Dude Ranch, the establishment was a favored hangout for both test pilots and the Hollywood elite during the 1940s, boasting over 9,000 members worldwide at the height of its popularity. When the United States Air Force intended to buy the club via eminent domain in order to extend their runways, a long and contentious series of lawsuits ensued. Barnes eventually won the lawsuits, but after the club was destroyed by fire in the 1950s, her plans to re-open in a nearby location never came to fruition.

Bonus: “Pancho Barnes – Return to the Ruins”. There’s an unexpected tie-in here, but I won’t spoil it for you as this one is only 10 minutes.

Posted in History, Mammals, Planes | Comments Closed

Obit watch: December 19, 2020.

December 19th, 2020

Catching up on some from the past few days, just for the historical record:

Barbara Windsor, British actress (“EastEnders”, some “Carry On” films).

Jeremy Bulloch. He appeared in several Bond films, and did quite a bit of TV as well as movies. He was perhaps best known as “Boba Fett” in a couple of the “Star Wars” movies.

Ann Reinking. Lawrence put up a brief tribute to her in his Linkswarm yesterday, and I can’t add much to it. “All That Jazz” probably would not make my top ten movie list, but it would be very close to the top of the second tier. And Ms. Reinking is just absolutely luminous in it: heck, everyone involved in that movie is at the peak of their game.

Posted in Movies, Obits, Theatre | Comments Closed

Today in journalism fraud.

December 18th, 2020

The New York Times has retracted the core of its hit 2018 podcast series Caliphate after an internal review found the paper failed to heed red flags indicating that the man it relied upon for its narrative about the allure of terrorism could not be trusted to tell the truth.

…

“We fell in love with the fact that we had gotten a member of ISIS who would describe his life in the caliphate and would describe his crimes,” New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet tells NPR in an interview on Thursday. “I think we were so in love with it that when we saw evidence that maybe he was a fabulist, when we saw evidence that he was making some of it up, we didn’t listen hard enough.”
The highly produced series was announced to much fanfare in March 2018 at the South By Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas, as a worthy complement to the paper’s hit news podcast, The Daily.

NYT statement:

In September — two and a half years after the podcast was released — the Canadian police arrested Huzayfah, whose real name is Shehroze Chaudhry, and charged him with perpetrating a terrorist hoax. Canadian officials say they believe that Mr. Chaudhry’s account of supposed terrorist activity is completely fabricated. The hoax charge led The Times to investigate what Canadian officials had discovered, and to re-examine Mr. Chaudhry’s account and the earlier efforts to determine its validity. This new examination found a history of misrepresentations by Mr. Chaudhry and no corroboration that he committed the atrocities he described in the “Caliphate” podcast.

…

From the outset, “Caliphate” should have had the regular participation of an editor experienced in the subject matter. In addition, The Times should have pressed harder to verify Mr. Chaudhry’s claims before deciding to place so much emphasis on one individual’s account. For example, reporters and editors could have vetted more thoroughly materials Mr. Chaudhry provided for evidence that he had traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State, and pushed harder and earlier to determine what the authorities knew about him. It is also clear that elements of the original fact-checking process were not sufficiently rigorous: Times journalists were too credulous about the verification steps that were undertaken and dismissive of the lack of corroboration of essential aspects of Mr. Chaudhry’s account.

…

The newspaper has reassigned its star terrorism reporter, Rukmini Callimachi, who hosted the series.

Posted in Media | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 263

December 18th, 2020

A little long today. I thought it might be fun to continue with the Christmas theme, and ran across these two:

“The Judy Garland Christmas Show” from 1963.

And as a bonus (“…in color!”), the “Dean Martin Christmas Show” from 1968.

Tragically, while there are short clips on the ‘Tube, I am unable to find a complete version of any of Kathy Lee Gifford’s Christmas specials.

Posted in Christmas, History, TV | Comments Closed

Merry Christmas!

December 18th, 2020

Old meme is best meme.

(Inspired by this, which I commend to your attention.)

Posted in Christmas, Guns, History | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 262

December 17th, 2020

Travel Thursday!

I thought it might be fun to do something a little seasonal, so…

“A German Christmas market in Dresden” from the DW Documentary channel.

Bonus #1: “Tastiest treats at German Christmas markets”.

Bonus #2: Slightly less seasonal: “Street Food In Germany”.

Bonus #3: Just one more. “2018 Vienna Advent | Europe Christmas Market Tour”. This is a bit longer than the others (about 30 minutes).

Posted in Christmas, Food, History, Travel | Comments Closed

Art, damn it, art! watch (#57 in a series)

December 17th, 2020

I was going to try to make a Yakov Smirnoff reference here, but I decided to leave it as an exercise for the reader.

Guy in Peoria is hired to paint a “Soviet-style mural of Cookie Monster” on a building and gets paid (well, he claims) in cash. Guy paints mural.

Guy finds out after the fact that the person who hired him was not the property owner, but someone posing as the property owner. Hilarity ensues.

In a brief interview, Mr. Comte [the real one, the guy who owns the building – DB] expressed fury over the attention that the apparent prank had gotten from national and international news outlets.
“This isn’t news,” Mr. Comte said, then added an expletive. “I’ll give you a headline: Man paints his own building wall.”
“I don’t hate art,” he earlier told The Journal Star of Peoria. “But I don’t know what the hell that was.”

Posted in Art | Comments Closed

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