#literature: us senate inquiry

[oneaugustevent]

There was nothing to do, sir. What was there to do?

testimony of Fifth Officer Harold Lowe, US Senate Inquiry

[moonwalkertrance]

Protests Across U.S. Call for End to Migrant Family Separations

Protesters marched into Lafayette Square opposite the White House on Saturday and chanted “families belong together” to counter President Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, and were joined in declaring that message by dozens of other rallies from New York to California. While the occupant of the White House was away for the weekend at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club, images of the rallies were broadcast by cable news networks throughout the day.

Animated by what they view as the cruel treatment of migrants seeking refuge in the United States from violence in their home countries, the crowds turned out Saturday bearing homemade signs that read “Abolish ICE” — the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency — and “Zero tolerance for family separation.”

For two sisters, Claudia Thomas and Monica Escobar, the sight of immigrant children being taken from their parents hit close to home. When they were young, they immigrated to the United States from Guatemala, one of several Central American countries that is a source of migrants today. They said they were out at Saturday’s protest in the nation’s capital to stand up for “human decency.”

“No human being should be going through what they’re going through,” Ms. Escobar said. “God bless those families.”

While Washington was the political epicenter of the protests, similar scenes unfolded in cities around the country, including large, border cities like El Paso, state capitals like Salt Lake City and Atlanta, and smaller, interior towns like Redding, Calif. In total, organizers anticipated more than 700 protests, in all 50 states and even internationally.

The protesters were largely peaceful as they descended on statehouses and Immigration and Customs Enforcement buildings, and gathered in plazas and in parks, where they danced, chanted and sang. Many clutched signs in one hand with messages berating Mr. Trump and his immigration policies. And, given the summer heat, many clutched water bottles in the other hand, as they sweltered under temperatures that across much of the United States crept into the 90s.

In Chicago, all police stations, fire departments and hospitals opened as cooling stations, and in Washington fire trucks misted attendees with water, to cheers.

Celebrities like Kerry Washington, star of the hit ABC series “Scandal,” and the comedian Amy Schumer joined the protests in New York, and politicians like Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, joined the demonstration in Boston.

Mr. Trump signed an executive order on June 20 meant to quell outrage over the separation of families by housing parents and children together, for an indefinite period, in ad hoc detention centers. The order explicitly states that the authorities will continue to criminally prosecute adults who cross the border illegally.

Many of the more than 2,300 children separated from their migrant parents remain at makeshift shelters and foster homes. Although a federal judge in San Diego issued an order on Tuesday calling for the reunification of families separated at the border within 30 days, White House officials have said that following the ordered timetable would be difficult.

“We don’t want a situation where we’re replacing baby jails with family camps,” said Karthik Ganapathy, a spokesman for MoveOn, a progressive advocacy organization that helped organized the protest.

The Washington rally was in many ways a festive affair, a moment of unification under a scorching sun. One protester arrived dressed as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; another wore a shirt saying “It’s Mueller time,” a reference to the special counsel leading the inquiry into Russian meddling in the election.

Adam Unger, a local software engineer, wore a five-gallon bucket turned into a drum, with a felt covering depicting an American flag with the insignia of the Rebel Alliance from “Star Wars” replacing the stars. “This drum has gotten its use over the last year and a half,” Mr. Unger said. He first used it to protest Mr. Trump’s travel ban on people from several predominantly Muslim countries when it was announced in January 2017.

Some showed up because they said they were angry; others, because they said they had not been angrier sooner. Maggie Mason, a new mother, said that for two weeks she could not go on Facebook because of news stories about children in detention centers, such as the audio published by ProPublica of immigrant children crying after being separated from their parents. Now, with her 7-week-old baby sleeping in the stroller next to her, she said it was time to come out.

Over the past month, marches across the country have cropped up, adding to the pressure on the Trump administration to yield to calls to end the practice of splitting up or detaining families.

“The idea of kids in cages and asylum seekers in prisons and moms being separated from breast-feeding children, this is just beyond politics, it really is just about right and wrong,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington State. On Thursday, she was arrested with more than 500 other women who occupied a Senate office building as part of a Women’s March protest against Mr. Trump’s immigration policy.

Ms. Jayapal said she has visited a federal prison just south of Seattle and met with 174 women and several dozen men who had been transferred from the Texas border. She said she was moved by the stories of asylum seekers and parents — stories of family members killed, of children left behind, of violent physical attacks and domestic abuse.

“I promised them that I would get their stories out and I promised them I would do everything I could to reunite their families,” Ms. Jayapal said.

In New York, protesters overflowed Foley Square in Lower Manhattan and filled the surrounding sidewalks. At every intersection on the way to the central march location, clusters of people chanted, “When children are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!”

Crowds also inched across the Brooklyn Bridge, a little more than a mile long, for more than two hours. On one side, in Brooklyn, protesters filed into Cadman Plaza, where people stood in the center or sat in the shade, displaying colorful signs and listening to speakers onstage.

“We were walking by cars and all the people driving were honking, giving us the peace sign, shaking fists,” said Laura Rittenhouse, who lives in Manhattan and walked across the bridge. “The most important question is what is the process to reunite these families?” she asked.

Carmela Huang, from Brooklyn, brought her two young children to the march. Both children were carrying rectangular cardboard signs they had made this morning that read “REUNITE” in large sharpie letters.

Ms. Huang said they had not been to a protest yet in 2018. “But today feels really important,” she said. “I’ve had my head in the sand, just feeling tremendously sad.” She described the march as “reassuring, energizing and rejuvenating.”

Some protesters carried rainbow umbrellas and blew bubbles, while a trombone player accented chants of activists.

Sadatu Mamah-Trawill, a community organizer with the group African Communities Together, brought her 9-year-old son to the protest. A Muslim woman, Ms. Mamah-Trawill said she still had family in Ghana, her place of birth, and could not imagine being separated from her children.

“I’m hoping our government hears us very clearly,” she said. “This is big. I don’t think anybody should miss it.”

A small group of mostly women and children rallied in Marquette, Mich., in one of the few counties in the state that voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Silke-Maria Weineck, a German studies and comparative literature professor at the University of Michigan, dressed her service dog, Meemo, with an “Abolish ICE” sign for the occasion.

“It’s certainly a conservative part of the country,” she added, “but people feel very strongly about their children.”

Outside the Bedminster country club where Mr. Trump was spending the weekend, a few protesters could be seen. “My civility is locked in a cage,” said one sign. “Reunite families now.”

Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks reported from Washington and Zoe Greenberg from New York. Mihir Zaveri contributed reporting from New York.

[sinrau]

President Trump and his administration have been unsettled by Bob Woodward’s book “Fear,” which will be published next Tuesday.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times

By Mark Landler and Maggie Haberman

WASHINGTON — President Trump so alarmed his defense secretary, Jim Mattis, during a discussion last January of the nuclear standoff with North Korea that an exasperated Mr. Mattis told colleagues “the president acted like — and had the understanding of — a ‘fifth or sixth grader.’”

At another moment, Mr. Trump’s aides became so worried about his judgment that Gary D. Cohn, then the chief economic adviser, took a letter from the president’s Oval Office desk authorizing the withdrawal of the United States from a trade agreement with South Korea. Mr. Trump, who had planned to sign the letter, never realized it was missing.

These anecdotes are in a sprawling, highly anticipated book by Bob Woodward that depicts the Trump White House as a byzantine, treacherous, often out-of-control operation — “crazytown,” in the words of the chief of staff, John F. Kelly — hostage to the whims of an impulsive, ill-informed and undisciplined president.

The New York Times obtained a copy of the book, “Fear,” which will be published next Tuesday by Simon & Schuster.

Mr. Woodward, a longtime Washington Post reporter and editor, has turned the internal dramas of several previous White Houses into best-sellers. In taking on Mr. Trump, he faced the challenge of an unusually leaky administration, which has already provided grist for countless news articles and one mega-bestseller, “ Fire and Fury ” by Michael Wolff.

But Mr. Woodward’s book has unsettled the administration and the president, in part because it is clear that the author has spoken with so many current and former officials, though all on the condition that they not be cited as sources for the information.

Mr. Trump, after initially brushing it aside as “just another bad book,” accused Mr. Woodward of making up quotes from Mr. Mattis and Mr. Kelly, and perpetuating a “con on the public.” In a tweet, he suggested that the author was a Democratic operative who had timed the publication to hurt the president politically before the midterm elections.

The White House, in a statement, dismissed “Fear” as “nothing more than fabricated stories, many by former disgruntled employees, told to make the president look bad.” After hours of saturation news coverage on cable networks, “Fear” rocketed to No. 1 on Amazon.

Some of the freshest details in the book involve Mr. Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general who has been viewed as an anchor in Mr. Trump’s cabinet. Mr. Woodward portrays Mr. Mattis as frequently derisive of the commander in chief, rattled by his judgment, and willing to slow-walk orders from him that he viewed as reckless.

In the North Korea meeting, during a period of high tension with the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, Mr. Trump questioned Mr. Mattis about why the United States keeps a military presence on the Korean Peninsula. “We’re doing this in order to prevent World War III,” Mr. Mattis responded, according to Mr. Woodward.

In April 2017, after President Bashar al-Assad of Syria launched a chemical attack on his own people, Mr. Trump called Mr. Mattis and told him that he wanted the United States to assassinate Mr. Assad. “Let’s go in,” the president said, adding a string of expletives.

The defense secretary hung up and told one of his aides: “We’re not going to do any of that. We’re going to be much more measured.” At his direction, the Pentagon prepared options for an airstrike on Syrian military positions, which Mr. Trump later ordered.

Mr. Mattis issued his own statement denying he ever used the “contemptuous words” that Mr. Woodward attributed to him. “While I generally enjoy reading fiction,” he said, “this is a uniquely Washington brand of literature, and his anonymous sources do not lend credibility.”

Mr. Woodward’s reporting adds another layer to a recurring theme in the Trump White House: frustrated aides who sometimes resort to extraordinary measures to thwart the president’s decisions — a phenomenon the author describes as “an administrative coup d’état.” In addition to Mr. Mattis and Mr. Cohn, he recounts the tribulations of Mr. Kelly and his predecessor, Reince Priebus, whose tensions with Mr. Trump have been reported elsewhere.

Mr. Cohn, Mr. Woodward said, told a colleague he had removed the letter about the Korea free trade agreement to protect national security. Later, when the president ordered a similar letter authorizing the departure of the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mr. Cohn and other aides plotted how to prevent him from going ahead with a move they feared would be deeply destabilizing.

“I can stop this,” Mr. Cohn said to the staff secretary, Rob Porter, according to the book. “I’ll just take the paper off his desk.”

Mr. Woodward reported new details about Mr. Cohn’s well-documented clash with the president over his equivocal response to the white nationalist violence in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017. Mr. Cohn, who threatened to resign over the episode, was particularly shaken after one of his daughters discovered a swastika in her college dorm.

Mr. Trump’s dealings with foreign leaders were similarly fraught. During a phone call to negotiate the release of an Egyptian-American detained in Cairo, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said, “Donald, I’m worried about this investigation,” referring to the Russia inquiry. “Are you going to be around?”

In July 2017, Mr. Woodward said, Mr. Trump told Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia that he would exempt his country from steel tariffs, only to claim, nearly eight months later, that he had never made that promise. Pressed on it by Mr. Turnbull, Mr. Trump said, “Oh yeah, I guess I remember that.”

Mr. Cohn, Mr. Woodward said, concluded that Mr. Trump was a “professional liar.”

He found a sympathetic ear in Mr. Kelly, another retired Marine general, who frequently vented his frustration to colleagues about the president, whom he labeled “unhinged,” an “idiot” and “off the rails.” Mr. Kelly’s reference to Mr. Trump as an “idiot” has been reported before.

“We’re in crazytown,” Mr. Kelly said in one meeting, according to Mr. Woodward. “I don’t even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I’ve ever had.”

Mr. Kelly also issued a denial on Tuesday, saying that “the idea I ever called the president an idiot is not true” and repeating his earlier insistence that he and Mr. Trump had “an incredibly candid and strong relationship.”

In Mr. Woodward’s account, Mr. Trump rarely returns the loyalty of his subordinates. He derided Attorney General Jeff Sessions, one of his earliest political supporters, as “mentally retarded” and a “dumb Southerner,” mimicking his accent and making fun of his halting answers during his Senate confirmation hearing.

(Mr. Trump denied that characterization late Tuesday, saying on Twitter that he had “never used those terms on anyone, including Jeff, and being a southerner is a GREAT thing.”)

Mr. Trump referred to Mr. Priebus as a “little rat” who just “scurries around.” For his part, Mr. Priebus described the White House as a Hobbesian world, in which officials delight in sticking knives into one another, according to the book.

“When you put a snake and rat and falcon and a rabbit and a shark and a seal into a zoo without walls, things started getting nasty and bloody,” said Mr. Priebus, whom Mr. Trump eventually ousted and abandoned on a rain-slicked tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base.

Mr. Woodward, who began speaking to Mr. Trump’s aides even before the inauguration, also documented the misgivings of the president’s former lawyer, John Dowd, about whether the president should submit to questions from the special counsel in the Russia investigation, Robert S. Mueller III.

“Don’t testify,” Mr. Dowd told the president. “It’s either that or an orange jump suit.”

Mr. Dowd denied on Tuesday that he ever said that.

Last January, Mr. Woodward writes, Mr. Dowd staged a practice session in the White House residence to dramatize the pressures Mr. Trump would face in a session with Mr. Mueller. The president stumbled repeatedly, contradicting himself and lying, before he exploded in anger.

“This thing’s a goddamn hoax,” Mr. Trump declared. “I don’t really want to testify.”

Mr. Woodward said he tried to get access to the president but did not interview him. After he had completed the manuscript, Mr. Trump called Mr. Woodward to express regret for not talking to him, blaming it on aides who he said had failed to inform him of interest. In a transcript and a tape of the call published Tuesday by the The Post, Mr. Woodward told Mr. Trump he interviewed many White House officials outside their offices, and gathered extensive documentation. “It’s a tough look at the world and the administration and you,” he told Mr. Trump.

“Right,” the president replied. “Well, I assume that means it’s going to be a negative book.”

[the-fat-brat]

On Some Books And Stuff

I work at a bookstore. For a brief and beautiful moment, I worked at two bookstores.  I have been reading more than I have since before I had a myspace, which is probably still less than some major readers (like my mom who will go to the library two or three times a week and read everything she checks out unless its bad).  I stopped reading books by men a few years ago and have pretty much only read good books since then; this rule has some exceptions, tho whitecishetmen are always rejected from my reading pile no matter how “good” the book is supposed to be. I keep track of what I read, but rarely review or discuss books, so here is a short review of each book I’ve read so far this year (without telling you what any of them are actually about).

 The Icarus Girl, by Helen Oyeyemi: What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Oyeyemi was the best book I read in 2016.  In all honestly I picked this up because someone I had a crush on said they were reading it too.  She writes with a heavy dose of magical realism and this book in particular blurs the line between what is real and what is beyond.  The ending is kind of abrupt, like she got tired of writing this and just wanted to finish it, but then again she was like seventeen when she wrote this and it’s better than anything I wrote when I was seventeen so how mad can I really be?

Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin: Gay, sad, French, what more could you want? (a French dictionary, I really could have used a French dictionary)

Virgin and Other Stories, by April Ayers Lawson: I picked this up because I saw it at the library and the cover is interesting and that’s how you know if a book is good or not, right?  This was ok, but I felt like because my background is neither Christian nor southern, there was some nuance I was missing.  Not mad I read it but probably wouldn’t recommend it to a friend.

Kindred by Octavia Butler: it’s just so fucking sad, like are you kidding me? Sci-fi doesn’t really do it for me, and this didn’t change that, but I get why it’s a cornerstone of American literature.  But also I finished this on the subway and was so affected someone asked me if I was alright.

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin: less than 200 pages and not divided into sections of any kind, this book is wild.  I read it in one sitting because I couldn’t bear to put it down.  The title is not a lie: it reads like fevered hallucinations, and it’s amazing.  Definitely one of my favorite things I’ve read this year so far.

A Separation by Katie Kitamura: I did not like this book. Probably because I don’t care to read about failing marriages, but also because I don’t think the main character changed or learned anything and that the second half was a huge cop out.  But the cover is so tite!

The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story by Edwidge Danticat: I’m not squeamish about death, but I don’t feel like I’m a morbid person either.  This small volume is fascinating; Danticat ruminates on the losses in her life and how she wrote about them (which is precisely the kind of shit I like to read). It made me think but didn’t bum me out too much.  It holds a similar place in my mind as didion’s magical thinking, but I would take this Danticat any day.

The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson: I didn’t know about Maggie nelson until I moved to New York and my mom and I were touring indie bookstores in Brooklyn and I saw Jane on a table of other indie books.  I read it and of course loved it and when a copy of the red parts came into my work I snagged it (along w a copy of the Argonauts which I still haven’t read but I’m gonna ok).  I’m pissed no one told me about nelson earlier—her writing scratches the same itch that didion and Solnit do, writing that is personal and honest and just good to read.

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay: Gay’s latest book of fiction. It didn’t hit me the same way untamed state did, but this collection was like sitting around a bar with a bunch of women talking unflinchingly about the weird shit that has happened to them and been done to them by men.  

I’m Fine But You Appear To Be Sinking by Leyna Krow: a great collection of short stories.  Like Oyeyemi, there is a constant blurring of the lines between real and otherworldly.  All the stories have to do with space and/or ocean animals so if you don’t like squid, you will probably like them or at least tolerate them after reading this.  Definitely one of my favorites of the year so far.

Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong: I ate this book up.  It’s so good and well-paced and smart and funny. Perfect subway read.  As soon as I finished it I lent it to a friend who said the same thing.  I picked it up mostly because of the cover and it’s just as good as I hoped it would be. Can’t wait to read Khong’s previous book all about eggs.

The Selfishness of Others, an Essay on the Fear of Narcissism by Kristin Dombek: short, good, interesting.  Equal parts personal essay and scientific inquiry, I learned a lot but felt like the form was a bit mismatched.  Would still recommend—how selfish are millennials???? Will the world ever truly know?

 If you like this and want to see more like this from me (read that in a robot voice, please) tell me!! So I know!! And like/comment/subscribe! Feed my ego!! Compliments to @thefatbrat69 complaints to anyone else (like maybe your senator)

[titheguerrero]

Remembering Dr Bernard Carroll

Dr Bernard Carroll passed away on September 10, 2018.  Dr Carroll had a distinguished career, so it was a surprise and delight that he also chose to be a stalwart Health Care Renewal blogger.  He was with us since 2005, contributing insightful, pithy, provocative and important posts.  He also authored some of our most widely read posts.  Most viewed was: JAMA Jumps the Shark.   His most recent post was Corruption of Clinical Trials Report: A Proposal.   All his posts can be found here. His obituary just appeared in the British Medical Journal. It began

A pioneer in biological psychiatry, more recently Bernard Carroll (‘‘Barney’’) became a withering critic of its compromised ethics and corruption by industry.

He was a scientific skeptic

A rigorous scientific sceptic, even about his own work, he refrained from claiming that the DST explained the aetiology of melancholia. He was critical of ill informed challenges to its clinical uses but opposed exaggerated claims for its role as a screening test.

He was a renowned teacher, mentor, and academic leader

Barney was a great clinical teacher and mentor, who never hesitated to say: 'I don’t know the answer to that—let’s look into it.' No one had a better command of the scientific literature or was better able to translate it to the complex exigencies of clinical practice. By his quiet example, Barney influenced hundreds of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and nurses, as well as basic neuroscientists, to become better clinicians, researchers, and educators. He was rigorous and demanding, but in the most nurturing and affable way. In 1983 Barney accepted the chair of psychiatry at Duke University. He turned a respected department of psychiatry into a great one—recruiting new faculty members, increasing external grant support 10-fold (raising it to sixth in the US), improving clinical services, and forging research and residency training partnerships with the public sector. I followed Barney as chair and found it to be one of the easiest jobs in the world. All I had to do was coast on his coat tails.

He was a campaigner for accountability, integrity, transparency, honesty and ethics

During the past 20 years, Barney became a critic of weak science, of ethical lapses, and of industry’s corruption of the research enterprise. He coined the term 'experimercial' to describe clinical trials that were really disguised exercises in marketing. He relentlessly exposed undisclosed conflicts of interest, hidden commercial promotions, inadequate research designs, biased analyses, misleading conclusions, exaggerated claims, and ghost writing. Barney became the conscience of psychiatry. With the frequent collaboration of Robert Rubin, he outed many high profile academic opinion leaders who had been co-opted by commercial interests. Barney never flinched in his David and Goliath battle to restore truth and integrity to the psychiatric research enterprise. His exposés comprised ethics critiques as well as aesthetic disapproval of degraded standards and tawdry behaviour. Barney’s 'right' prevailed against institutional and commercial 'might.' He helped to force the current upgrades of editorial oversight and full disclosure now demanded by Nature Publishing Group, by AMA journals, and most journals. The publicity surrounding Barney’s exposés triggered the conflict of interest inquiries conducted by Charles Grassley, chair of the US Senate Finance Committee, which had a profound impact on recalibrating ethics standards in all medical specialties. As he left us, Barney was encouraged by current trends towards improving transparency and increased integrity.

He persisted

Looking to the future, on the scientific side Barney cautioned against the loss of independent investigators and the diversion of research resources by 'big science' consortiums. On the ethics side, Barney’s main unfinished work is an ongoing petition to Congress to update US Food and Drug Administration oversight of analyses and reporting of clinical trials. Barney is remembered as a fair and generous colleague, an honest broker in review committees, a generative and avuncular mentor, a constant source of good ideas, a meticulous academic craftsman, and a tireless servant to the field. He did endless pro bono advocacy, editorial and committee work, and served as president of three professional societies. Barney was a great raconteur, a jolly companion, a dedicated writer of limericks, a courtly gentleman, a devoted husband and father, a wonderful friend, and a man for all seasons. He died as he lived—with grace, courage, and fortitude. Barney leaves his wife, Sylvia; a daughter; and a son. Bernard J Carroll (b 1940; q 1964; MD, PhD), died from cancer on 10 September 2018

Investigative journalist Paul Thacker provided these memories:

Since Barney retired as Chair of Psychiatry at Duke, he became a very important resource to a small number of reporters and experts trying to understand corruption in medicine. I was just watching the documentary 'Bleeding Edge' about the medical device industry, and one of the devices profiled was the Vagal Nerve Stimulator (VNS). I was watching the documentary thinking, 'God, that VNS crap made it on the market. Barney blew it up in the Wall Street Journal back in 2006.' Barney was critical to a lot of movement in trying to fix things behind the scenes. A couple years back, I was talking with Barney and asking him why he thought so many people in medicine behaved the way they did, doing things when it was obvious patients were either going to harmed or given some treatment that was likely pointless but expensive. Barney always had a colorful way of explaining these things. "When you get old, much of what you'll have are memories of what you did, and what you added during your time here. These people won't have s* but f* money. They didn't add a f*ing thing!' I think Barney added a lot. He was a great guy, who added a whole lot to our understanding of medicine while retired.

 We will all miss him. Article source:Health Care Renewal

[ladystylestores]

Your Wednesday Briefing – The New York Times

Europe is considering barring American travelers

European Union officials are racing to determine who can visit the bloc beginning July 1, as countries try to restart travel while keeping new coronavirus infections at bay.

A draft list of acceptable travelers includes those from China and Vietnam, but visitors from the U.S., Russia and Brazil will not be welcome, according to the document seen by The New York Times. A final decision is expected early next week, though European officials aid it was highly unlikely an exception would be made for the United States.

Prohibiting American travelers from entering the European Union has significant ramifications and is a blow to President Trump’s handling of the virus. Millions of American tourists visit Europe every summer. Business travel is common, given the huge economic ties between the United States and the E.U.

In other news:

Boris Johnson announced that pubs, restaurants, museums and hair salons in England would be allowed to reopen on July 4 and cut the required social distance between people to about three feet, prompting warnings from scientists on the increased risk of transmission.

Facebook, Google, Amazon and others in the business world reacted with anger after President Trump suspended new work visas for foreigners at least until the end of the year.

The virus is gaining steam across Latin America, and experts fear the worst is ahead. Inequality, densely packed cities, weak health care systems and fumbled government responses have contributed to the spread.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said at a congressional hearing that the next two weeks will be critical in the country’s disease-fighting efforts, as he warned of a “disturbing surge” in cases.

Novak Djokovic, the world’s No. 1 in men’s tennis, is the fourth player to be infected with the coronavirus after he organized an exhibition series in Croatia and Serbia.

The Times is providing free access to much of our coronavirus coverage, and our Coronavirus Briefing newsletter — like all of our newsletters — is free. Please consider supporting our journalism with a subscription.

Heartbreak as annual hajj is essentially canceled

Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that only about 1,000 people will be allowed to perform the annual hajj pilgrimage at the end of July — a decision that effectively cancels one of the world’s largest gatherings of Muslims.

The restrictions are meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the kingdom, which has one of the largest outbreaks in the Middle East. Last year, 2.5 million people took part in the pilgrimage. This year, those allowed to perform the hajj will have to be younger than 65 and will be required to undergo a virus test in advance.

The announcement disappointed Muslims around the world, many of whom have saved for years to travel to Mecca, and will deal a financial blow to the kingdom’s economy.

Paris death renews scrutiny of the police

“I’m suffocating.”

Those were the words Cédric Chouviat called out seven times as police officers in Paris pinned him to the ground and put him in a chokehold, according to footage analyzed in an internal police report in April, but revealed by French outlets this week.

The video of Mr. Chouviat, a white, 42-year-old delivery man who died with a broken larynx after the confrontation in January, is reigniting scrutiny of the heavy-handed tactics used by the police as protests against police brutality, particularly against black people, have swept the country.

The four officers involved in the arrest were not questioned about the incident until last week and have not been charged with any crimes. “We don’t understand why they still haven’t been suspended,” said Sofia Chouviat, Mr. Chouviat’s daughter.

Context: Earlier this month, France’s interior minister said chokeholds would be banned and that officers would no longer be allowed to press on a suspect’s neck. But the French police have pushed back, and officers will be allowed to use the technique in the field until September.

Case study: In the postwar era, Germany overhauled policing to confront in detail the shameful legacy of policing under the Nazis, and to prevent it from happening again. The country’s experience might offer insight into how to redesign institutions. But clashes between the police and young men in Stuttgart on Saturday point to long-simmering tensions and criticism, with immigrants saying they are racially profiled.

Also: Eton College, one of Britain’s most storied boys schools, has apologized to one of its former black students who said he was told never to return after publishing a book in 1972 detailing abuse at the school.

If you have 7 minutes, this is worth it

In West Africa, terror from both sides

Burkina Faso has fallen into chaos over the past four years, becoming a recruiting ground for international terrorist groups in West Africa. At least 2,000 people are thought to have been killed there in the past 18 months. Above, soldiers protecting refugees at a camp near Dori, in northern Burkina Faso.

Our correspondent and photographer traveled there and found that government forces are now killing about as many people as jihadists are. “The government is traumatizing people,” a herdsman and farmer said. “It’s what pushes people to sign up to the armed groups.”

Here’s what else is happening

Australia judge: A court inquiry found that Dyson Heydon, a judge who presided over the country’s highest court for a decade, had harassed at least six women. He has denied the accusations.

U.S.-China trade: Stocks on Wall Street followed global markets higher on Tuesday, after President Trump reaffirmed the trade war truce between the United States and China and investors focused on new signs of economic recovery instead.

U.S. presidential campaign: A surge in donations has helped Joe Biden cut into President Trump’s financial advantage ahead of the November vote. Mr. Biden will hold his first presidential campaign event with Barack Obama on Tuesday.

Snapshot: Art restoration experts in Spain called on Tuesday for tighter regulation of their work after a Baroque-era painting of the Virgin Mary, above, was disfigured by a furniture restorer. The Association of Conservators and Restorers said in a statement that, if the poor restoration is confirmed, “part of our heritage is disappearing by these disastrous actions.”

French literature: With her strident, pro-sex views, Virginie Despentes upsets people on the left and the right. After years of being the outsider, she is finally taking over France’s literary establishment.

What we’re reading: This Atlantic article about blackness and racism. “Imani Perry writes beautifully about the full-body grief of being a black American,” says Jenna Wortham, staff writer for The Times Magazine.

Now, a break from the news

Cook: This tomato chickpea salad is the taste of summer. If you can, savor this meal outside, which is always the best way to celebrate the beginning of tomato season.

Watch: The director Joel Schumacher, who died on Monday at age 80, will be remembered for the flash and style of “Batman Forever” and “Batman & Robin.”

Listen: While live concerts and operas are on hold, the spotlight has turned to individual artists. Here’s a look at some memorable solos.

Do: If you are fortunate enough to have a terrace, a porch or a backyard, here are a few tips on how to make the most of your outdoor space.

At Home has our full collection of ideas on what to read, cook, watch and do while staying safe at home.

And now for the Back Story on …

America’s unpredictable medical bills

Last week, Sarah Kliff, a Times reporter, noticed something strange. A medical lab in Dallas had charged as much as $2,315 apiece for coronavirus tests, even though a test typically costs $100. Sarah called the lab to ask about the price — and the lab quickly dropped it to $300.

It isn’t the first time something like this has happened. In her years of covering health care for Vox and now for The Times, Sarah has frequently reported on the arbitrary nature of medical costs, often highlighting extreme examples. After these examples receive public attention, health care providers sometimes reduce the prices.

Of course, most medical bills don’t become the subject of journalistic investigations. Which means that medical labs, drug companies, hospitals and doctors’ offices are often able to charge high prices to insurance companies and patients, without consequence.

“If you look at pretty much any other developed country — Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Singapore, the list goes on — the government does some version of rate setting,” Sarah told The Morning newsletter recently. “The United States doesn’t.” That’s one reason that the cost of health care in the U.S. is higher than in any other country.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Isabella

Thank you Melissa Clark wrote the recipe, and Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh provided the rest of the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S. • We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about the future of the U.S. Senate. • Here’s today’s Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: Like roasted marshmallows (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • Mary Suh is returning to The New York Times as acting Op-Ed Editor, Charlotte Greensit of The Intercept is the new managing editor and associate Editorial Page editor and Talmon Smith has been promoted to staff editor.

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Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2019

A lauded writer who brought to light stories overshadowed by prejudice. An actress and singer who helped embody the manufactured innocence of the 1950s. A self-made billionaire who rose from a childhood of Depression-era poverty and twice ran for president.

This year saw the deaths of people who shifted culture through prose, pragmatism and persistence. It also witnessed tragedy, in talent struck down in its prime.

In 2019, the political world lost a giant in U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings. He was born the son of a sharecropper, became a lawyer, then an influential congressman and champion of civil rights.

Cummings, who died in October, was chairman of one of the U.S. House committees that led an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump and was a formidable advocate for the poor in his Maryland district.

Another influential political figure, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, died in July. Stevens was appointed to the high court as a Republican but became the leader of its liberal wing and a proponent of abortion rights and consumer protections.

Wealth, fame and a confident prescription for the nation’s economic ills propelled H. Ross Perot ’s 1992 campaign against President George H.W. Bush and Democratic challenger Bill Clinton. He recorded the highest percentage for an independent or third-party candidate since 1912. He died in July.

The death of Toni Morrison in August left a chasm in the publishing world, where she was a “literary mother” to countless writers. She helped elevate multiculturalism to the world stage and unearthed the lives of the unknown and unwanted. She became the first black woman to receive the Nobel literature prize for “Beloved” and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

Among those in the scientific world who died in 2019 was Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first person to walk in space. Leonov died in October. Others include scientist Wallace Smith Broecker, who died in February and popularized the term “global warming” as he raised early alarms about climate change.

In April, Hollywood lost director John Singleton, whose 1991 film “Boyz N the Hood” was praised as a realistic and compassionate take on race, class, peer pressure and family. He became the first black director to receive an Oscar nomination and the youngest at 24.

Doris Day, a top box-office draw and recording artist who died in May, stood for the 1950s ideal of innocence and G-rated love, a parallel world to her contemporary Marilyn Monroe. She received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004.

The year also saw the untimely deaths of two young rappers, leaving a feeling of accomplishments unfulfilled. Grammy-nominated Nipsey Hussle was killed in a shooting in Los Angeles in March. Juice WRLD, who launched his career on SoundCloud before becoming a streaming juggernaut, died in December after being treated for opioid use during a police search.

Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2019 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):

JANUARY

Eugene “Mean Gene” Okerlund, 76. His deadpan interviews of pro wrestling superstars like “Macho Man” Randy Savage, the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan made him a ringside fixture in his own right. Jan. 2.

Bob Einstein, 76. The veteran comedy writer and performer known for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and his spoof daredevil character Super Dave Osborne. Jan. 2.

Daryl Dragon, 76. The cap-wearing “Captain” of Captain & Tennille who teamed with then-wife Toni Tennille on such easy listening hits as “Love Will Keep Us Together” and “Muskrat Love.” Jan. 2.

Harold Brown, 91. As defense secretary in the Carter administration, he championed cutting-edge fighting technology during a tenure that included the failed rescue of hostages in Iran. Jan 4.

Jakiw Palij, 95. A former Nazi concentration camp guard who spent decades leading an unassuming life in New York City until his past was revealed. Jan. 9.

Carol Channing, 97. The ebullient musical comedy star who delighted American audiences in almost 5,000 performances as the scheming Dolly Levi in “Hello, Dolly!” on Broadway and beyond. Jan. 15.

John C. Bogle, 89. He simplified investing for the masses by launching the first index mutual fund and founded Vanguard Group. Jan. 16.

Lamia al-Gailani, 80. An Iraqi archaeologist who lent her expertise to rebuilding the National Museum’s collection after it was looted in 2003. Jan. 18.

Nathan Glazer, 95. A prominent sociologist and intellectual who assisted on a classic study of conformity, “The Lonely Crowd,” and co-authored a groundbreaking document of non-conformity, “Beyond the Melting Pot.” Jan. 19.

Antonio Mendez, 78. A former CIA technical operations officer who helped rescue six U.S. diplomats from Iran in 1980 and was portrayed by Ben Affleck in the film “Argo.” Jan. 19.

Harris Wofford, 92. A former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and longtime civil rights activist who helped persuade John F. Kennedy to make a crucial phone call to the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960 presidential campaign. Jan. 21.

Russell Baker, 93. The genial but sharp-witted writer who won Pulitzer Prizes for his humorous columns in The New York Times and a moving autobiography of his impoverished Baltimore childhood. He later hosted television’s “Masterpiece Theatre” on PBS. Jan 21. Complications after a fall.

Michel Legrand, 86. An Oscar-winning composer and pianist whose hits included the score for the ’60s romance “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” and the song “The Windmills of Your Mind” and who worked with some of biggest singers of the 20th century. Jan. 26.

Kim Bok-dong, 92. A South Korean woman who was forced as a girl into a brothel and sexually enslaved by the Japanese military during World War II, becoming a vocal leader at rallies that were held every Wednesday in Seoul for nearly 30 years. Jan. 28.

James Ingram, 66. The Grammy-winning singer who launched multiple hits on the R&B and pop charts and earned two Oscar nominations for his songwriting. Jan. 29.

Donald S. Smith, 94. He produced the controversial anti-abortion film “The Silent Scream” and, with help from Ronald Reagan’s White House, distributed copies to every member of Congress and the Supreme Court. Jan. 30.

Harold Bradley, 93. A Country Music Hall of Fame guitarist who played on hundreds of hit country records and along with his brother, famed producer Owen Bradley, helped craft “The Nashville Sound.” Jan. 31.

FEBRUARY

Kristoff St. John, 52. An actor best known for playing Neil Winters on the CBS soap opera “The Young and the Restless.” Feb. 4. Heart disease.

Anne Firor Scott, 97. A prize-winning historian and esteemed professor who upended the male-dominated field of Southern scholarship by pioneering the study of Southern women. Feb. 5.

Frank Robinson, 83. The Hall of Famer was the first black manager in Major League Baseball and the only player to win the MVP award in both leagues. Feb. 7.

John Dingell, 92. The former congressman was the longest-serving member of Congress in American history at 59 years and a master of legislative deal-making who was fiercely protective of Detroit’s auto industry. Feb. 7.

Albert Finney, 82. The British actor was the Academy Award-nominated star of films from “Tom Jones” to “Skyfall.” Feb. 8.

Jan-Michael Vincent, 73. The “Airwolf” television star whose sleek good looks belied a troubled personal life. Feb. 10.

Gordon Banks, 81. The World Cup-winning England goalkeeper who was also known for blocking a header from Pele that many consider the greatest save in soccer history. Feb. 12.

Betty Ballantine, 99. She was half of a groundbreaking husband-and-wife publishing team that helped invent the modern paperback and vastly expand the market for science fiction and other genres through such blockbusters as “The Hobbit” and “Fahrenheit 451.” Feb. 12.

Lyndon LaRouche Jr., 96. The political extremist who ran for president in every election from 1976 to 2004, including a campaign waged from federal prison. Feb. 12.

Andrea Levy, 62. A prize-winning novelist who chronicled the hopes and horrors experienced by the post-World War II generation of Jamaican immigrants in Britain. Feb. 14.

Lee Radziwill, 85. She was the stylish jet setter and socialite who found friends, lovers and other adventures worldwide while bonding and competing with her sister Jacqueline Kennedy. Feb. 15.

Armando M. Rodriguez, 97. A Mexican immigrant and World War II veteran who served in the administrations of four U.S. presidents while pressing for civil rights and education reforms. Feb. 17.

Wallace Smith Broecker, 87. A scientist who raised early alarms about climate change and popularized the term “global warming.” Feb. 18.

Karl Lagerfeld, 85. Chanel’s iconic couturier whose accomplished designs and trademark white ponytail, high starched collars and dark enigmatic glasses dominated high fashion for the past 50 years. Feb. 19.

David Horowitz, 81. His “Fight Back!” syndicated program made him perhaps the best-known consumer reporter in the U.S. Feb. 21.

Peter Tork, 77. A talented singer-songwriter and instrumentalist whose musical skills were often overshadowed by his role as the goofy, lovable bass guitarist in the made-for-television rock band The Monkees. Feb. 21.

Stanley Donen, 94. A giant of the Hollywood musical who, through such classics as “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Funny Face,” helped provide some of the most joyous sounds and images in movie history. Feb. 21.

Jackie Shane, 78. A black transgender soul singer who became a pioneering musician in Toronto where she packed nightclubs in the 1960s. Feb. 21.

Katherine Helmond, 89. An Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress who played two very different matriarchs on the ABC sitcoms “Who’s the Boss?” and “Soap.” Feb. 23.

Charles McCarry, 88. An admired and prescient spy novelist who foresaw passenger jets as terrorist weapons in “The Better Angels” and devised a compelling theory for JFK’s assassination in “The Tears of Autumn.” Feb. 26.

Jerry Merryman, 86. He was one of the inventors of the handheld electronic calculator. Feb. 27. Complications of heart and kidney failure.

Ed Nixon, 88. The youngest brother of President Richard Nixon who was a Navy aviator and geologist and spent years promoting his brother’s legacy. Feb. 27.

Andre Previn, 89. The pianist, composer and conductor whose broad reach took in the worlds of Hollywood, jazz and classical music. Feb. 28.

MARCH

John Shafer, 94. The legendary Northern California vintner was part of a generation that helped elevate sleepy Napa Valley into the international wine powerhouse it is today. March 2.

Keith Flint, 49. The fiery frontman of British dance-electronic band The Prodigy. March 4. Found dead by hanging in his home.

Luke Perry, 52. He gained instant heartthrob status as wealthy rebel Dylan McKay on “Beverly Hills, 90210.” March 4. Stroke.

Juan Corona, 85. He gained the nickname “The Machete Murderer” for hacking to death dozens of migrant farm laborers in California in the early 1970s. March 4.

Ralph Hall, 95. The former Texas congressman was the oldest-ever member of the U.S. House and a man who claimed to have once sold cigarettes and Coca-Cola to the bank-robbing duo of Bonnie and Clyde in Dallas. March 7.

Carmine “the Snake” Persico, 85. The longtime boss of the infamous Colombo crime family. March 7.

Vera Bila, 64. A Czech singer dubbed the Ella Fitzgerald of Gypsy music or the Queen of Romany. March 12. Heart attack.

Birch Bayh, 91. A former U.S. senator who championed the federal law banning discrimination against women in college admissions and sports. March 14.

Dick Dale, 83. His pounding, blaringly loud power-chord instrumentals on songs like “Miserlou” and “Let’s Go Trippin’” earned him the title King of the Surf Guitar. March 16.

Jerrie Cobb, 88. America’s first female astronaut candidate, the pilot pushed for equality in space but never reached its heights. March 18.

Scott Walker, 76. An influential singer, songwriter and producer whose hits with the Walker Brothers in the 1960s included “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” March 22.

Rafi Eitan, 92. A legendary Israeli Mossad spy who led the capture of Holocaust mastermind Adolf Eichmann. March 23.

Larry Cohen, 77. The maverick B-movie director of cult horror films “It’s Alive” and “God Told Me To.” March 23.

Michel Bacos, 95. A French pilot who’s remembered as a hero for his actions in the 1976 hijacking of an Air France plane to Uganda’s Entebbe airport. March 26.

Valery Bykovsky, 84. A pioneering Soviet-era cosmonaut who made the first of his three flights to space in 1963. March 27.

Agnes Varda, 90. The French New Wave pioneer who for decades beguiled, challenged and charmed moviegoers in films that inspired generations of filmmakers. March 29. Cancer.

Ken Gibson, 86. He became the first black mayor of a major Northeast city when he ascended to power in riot-torn Newark, New Jersey, about five decades ago. March 29.

Billy Adams, 79. A Rockabilly Hall of Famer who wrote and recorded the rockabilly staple “Rock, Pretty Mama.” March 30.

Nipsey Hussle, 33. A Grammy-nominated rapper. March 31. Killed in a shooting.

APRIL

Sydney Brenner, 92. A Nobel Prize-winning biologist who helped decipher the genetic code and whose research on a roundworm sparked a new field of human disease research. April 5.

Ernest F. “Fritz” Hollings, 97. The silver-haired Democrat who helped shepherd South Carolina through desegregation as governor and went on to serve six terms in the U.S. Senate. April 6.

Cho Yang-ho, 70. Korean Air’s chairman, whose leadership included scandals such as his daughter’s infamous incident of “nut rage.” April 7.

Marilynn Smith, 89. One of the 13 founders of the LPGA Tour whose 21 victories, two majors and endless support of her tour led to her induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame. April 9.

Richard “Dick” Cole, 103. The last of the 80 Doolittle Tokyo Raiders who carried out the daring U.S. attack on Japan during World War II. April 9.

Charles Van Doren, 93. The dashing young academic whose meteoric rise and fall as a corrupt game show contestant in the 1950s inspired the movie “Quiz Show” and served as a cautionary tale about the staged competitions of early television. April 9.

Monkey Punch, 81. A cartoonist best known as the creator of the Japanese megahit comic series Lupin III. April 11.

Georgia Engel, 70. She played the charmingly innocent, small-voiced Georgette on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and amassed a string of other TV and stage credits. April 12.

Bibi Andersson, 83. The Swedish actress who starred in classic films by compatriot Ingmar Bergman, including “The Seventh Seal” and “Persona.” April 14.

Owen Garriott, 88. A former astronaut who flew on America’s first space station, Skylab, and whose son followed him into orbit. April 15.

Alan García, 69. A former Peruvian president whose first term in the 1980s was marred by financial chaos and rebel violence and who was recently targeted in Latin America’s biggest corruption scandal. April 17. Apparent suicide.

Lorraine Warren, 92. A world-wide paranormal investigator and author whose decades of ghost-hunting cases with her late husband inspired such frightening films as “The Conjuring” series and “The Amityville Horror.” April 18.

Mark Medoff, 79. A provocative playwright whose “Children of a Lesser God” won Tony and Olivier awards and whose screen adaptation of his play earned an Oscar nomination. April 23.

John Havlicek, 79. The Boston Celtics great whose steal of Hal Greer’s inbounds pass in the final seconds of the 1965 Eastern Conference final against the Philadelphia 76ers remains one of the most famous plays in NBA history. April 25.

Damon J. Keith, 96. A grandson of slaves and figure in the civil rights movement who as a federal judge was sued by President Richard Nixon over a ruling against warrantless wiretaps. April 28.

Richard Lugar, 87. A former U.S. senator and foreign policy sage known for leading efforts to help the former Soviet states dismantle and secure much of their nuclear arsenal but whose reputation for working with Democrats cost him his final campaign. April 28.

John Singleton, 51. A director who made one of Hollywood’s most memorable debuts with the Oscar-nominated “Boyz N the Hood” and continued over the following decades to probe the lives of black communities in his native Los Angeles and beyond. April 29. Taken off life support after a stroke.

Ellen Tauscher, 67. A trailblazer for women in the world of finance who served in Congress for more than a decade before joining the Obama administration. April 29. Complications from pneumonia.

Peter Mayhew, 74. The towering actor who donned a huge, furry costume to give life to the rugged-and-beloved character of Chewbacca in the original “Star Wars” trilogy and two other films. April 30.

MAY

John Lukacs, 95. The Hungarian-born historian and iconoclast who brooded over the future of Western civilization, wrote a best-selling tribute to Winston Churchill, and produced a substantial and often despairing body of writings on the politics and culture of Europe and the United States. May 6.

Peggy Lipton, 72. A star of the groundbreaking late 1960s TV show “The Mod Squad” and the 1990s show “Twin Peaks.” May 11. Cancer.

Leonard Bailey, 76. The doctor who in 1984 transplanted a baboon heart into a tiny newborn dubbed “Baby Fae” in a pioneering operation that sparked both worldwide acclaim and condemnation. May 12.

Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, 98. The former patriarch of Lebanon’s Maronite Christian church who served as spiritual leader of Lebanon’s largest Christian community through some of the worst days of the country’s 1975-1990 civil war. May 12.

Doris Day, 97. The sunny blond actress and singer whose frothy comedic roles opposite the likes of Rock Hudson and Cary Grant made her one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the 1950s and ’60s and a symbol of wholesome American womanhood. May 13.

Tim Conway, 85. The impish second banana to Carol Burnett who won four Emmy Awards on her TV variety show, starred in “McHale’s Navy” and later voiced the role of Barnacle Boy for “Spongebob Squarepants.” May 14.

I.M. Pei, 102. The versatile, globe-trotting architect who revived the Louvre with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. May 16.

Niki Lauda, 70. A Formula One great who won two of his world titles after a horrific crash that left him with serious burns and went on to become a prominent figure in the aviation industry. May 20.

Binyavanga Wainaina, 48. One of Africa’s best-known authors and gay rights activists. May 21. Illness.

Judith Kerr, 95. A refugee from Nazi Germany who wrote and illustrated the best-selling “The Tiger Who Came to Tea” and other beloved children’s books. May 22.

Murray Gell-Mann, 89. The Nobel Prize-winning physicist who brought order to the universe by helping discover and classify subatomic particles. May 24.

Claus von Bulow, 92. A Danish-born socialite who was convicted but later acquitted of trying to kill his wealthy wife in two trials that drew intense international attention in the 1980s. May 25.

Prem Tinsulanonda, 98. As an army commander, prime minister and adviser to the royal palace, he was one of Thailand’s most influential political figures over four decades. May 26.

Richard Matsch, 88. A federal judge who ruled his courtroom with a firm gavel and a short temper and gained national respect in the 1990s for his handling of the Oklahoma City bombing trials. May 26.

Bill Buckner, 69. A star hitter who made one of the biggest blunders in baseball history when he let Mookie Wilson’s trickler roll through his legs in the 1986 World Series. May 27.

Thad Cochran, 81. A former U.S. senator who served 45 years in Washington and used seniority to steer billions of dollars to his home state of Mississippi. May 30.

Patricia Bath, 76. A pioneering ophthalmologist who became the first African American female doctor to receive a medical patent after she invented a more precise treatment of cataracts. May 30. Complications of cancer.

Leon Redbone, 69. The blues and jazz artist whose growly voice, Panama hat and cultivated air of mystery made him seem like a character out of the ragtime era or the Depression-era Mississippi Delta. May 30.

Frank Lucas, 88. The former Harlem drug kingpin whose life and lore inspired the 2007 film “American Gangster.” May 30.

JUNE

Leah Chase, 96. A New Orleans chef and civil rights icon who created the city’s first white-tablecloth restaurant for black patrons, broke the city’s segregation laws by seating white and black customers, and introduced countless tourists to Southern Louisiana Creole cooking. June 1.

Dr. John, 77. The New Orleans singer and piano player who blended black and white musical styles with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl. June 6.

John Gunther Dean, 93. A veteran American diplomat and five-time ambassador forever haunted by his role in the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia during the dying days of the Khmer Republic. June 6.

Sylvia Miles, 94. An actress and Manhattan socialite whose brief, scene-stealing appearances in the films “Midnight Cowboy” and “Farewell, My Lovely” earned her two Academy Award nominations. June 12.

Lew Klein, 91. A broadcast pioneer who helped create “American Bandstand” and launched the careers of Dick Clark and Bob Saget. June 12.

Pat Bowlen, 75. The Denver Broncos owner who transformed the team from also-rans into NFL champions and helped the league usher in billion-dollar television deals. June 13.

Charles Reich, 91. The author and Ivy League academic whose “The Greening of America” blessed the counterculture of the 1960s and became a million-selling manifesto for a new and euphoric way of life. June 15.

Gloria Vanderbilt, 95. The intrepid heiress, artist and romantic who began her extraordinary life as the “poor little rich girl” of the Great Depression, survived family tragedy and multiple marriages and reigned during the 1970s and ’80s as a designer jeans pioneer. June 17.

Jim Taricani, 69. An award-winning TV reporter who exposed corruption and served a federal sentence for refusing to disclose a source. June 21. Kidney failure.

Judith Krantz, 91. A writer whose million-selling novels such as “Scruples” and “Princess Daisy” engrossed readers worldwide with their steamy tales of the rich and beautiful. June 22.

Dave Bartholomew, 100. A giant of New Orleans music and a rock n’ roll pioneer who, with Fats Domino, co-wrote and produced such classics as “Ain’t That a Shame,” “I’m Walkin’” and “Let the Four Winds Blow.” June 23.

Beth Chapman, 51. The wife and co-star of “Dog the Bounty Hunter” reality TV star Duane “Dog” Chapman. June 26.

JULY

Tyler Skaggs, 27. The left-handed pitcher who was a regular in the Los Angeles Angels’ starting rotation since late 2016 and struggled with injuries repeatedly in that time. July 1. Choked on his own vomit and had a toxic mix of alcohol and painkillers fentanyl and oxycodone in his system.

Lee Iacocca, 94. The auto executive and master pitchman who put the Mustang in Ford’s lineup in the 1960s and became a corporate folk hero when he resurrected Chrysler 20 years later. July 2.

Eva Kor, 85. A Holocaust survivor who championed forgiveness even for those who carried out the Holocaust atrocities. July 4.

Joao Gilberto, 88. A Brazilian singer, guitarist and songwriter considered one of the fathers of the bossa nova genre that gained global popularity in the 1960s and became an iconic sound of the South American nation. July 6.

Cameron Boyce, 20. An actor best known for his role as the teenage son of Cruella de Vil in the Disney Channel franchise “Descendants.” July 6. Seizure.

Martin Charnin, 84. He made his Broadway debut playing a Jet in the original “West Side Story” and went on to become a Broadway director and a lyricist who won a Tony Award for the score of the eternal hit “Annie.” July 6.

Artur Brauner, 100. A Polish-born Holocaust survivor who became one of post-World War II Germany’s most prominent film producers. July 7.

Rosie Ruiz, 66. The Boston Marathon course-cutter who was stripped of her victory in the 1980 race and went on to become an enduring symbol of cheating in sports. July 8. Cancer.

H. Ross Perot, 89. The colorful, self-made Texas billionaire who rose from delivering newspapers as a boy to building his own information technology company and twice mounted outsider campaigns for president. July 9. Leukemia.

Rip Torn, 88. The free-spirited Texan who overcame his quirky name to become a distinguished actor in television, theater and movies, such as “Men in Black,” and win an Emmy in his 60s for “The Larry Sanders Show.” July 9.

Fernando De la Rúa, 81. A former Argentine president who attracted voters with his image as an honest statesman and later left as the country plunged into its worst economic crisis. July 9.

Johnny Kitagawa, 87. Better known as Johnny-san, he was a kingpin of Japan’s entertainment industry for more than half a century who produced famous boy bands including Arashi, Tokio and SMAP. July 9.

Jim Bouton, 80. The former New York Yankees pitcher who shocked and angered the conservative baseball world with the tell-all book “Ball Four.” July 10.

Jerry Lawson, 75. For four decades, he was the lead singer of the eclectic cult favorite a cappella group the Persuasions. July 10.

Pernell Whitaker, 55. An Olympic gold medalist and four-division boxing champion who was regarded as one of the greatest defensive fighters ever. July 14. Hit by a car.

L. Bruce Laingen, 96. The top American diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran when it was overrun by Iranian protesters in 1979 and one of 52 Americans held hostage for more than a year. July 15.

Edith Irby Jones, 91. The first black student to enroll at an all-white medical school in the South and later the first female president of the National Medical Association. July 15.

John Paul Stevens, 99. The bow-tied, independent-thinking, Republican-nominated justice who unexpectedly emerged as the Supreme Court’s leading liberal. July 16.

Johnny Clegg, 66. A South African musician who performed in defiance of racial barriers imposed under the country’s apartheid system decades ago and celebrated its new democracy under Nelson Mandela. July 16.

Elijah “Pumpsie” Green, 85. The former Boston Red Sox infielder was the first black player on the last major league team to field one. July 17.

Rutger Hauer, 75. A Dutch film actor who specialized in menacing roles, including a memorable turn as a murderous android in “Blade Runner” opposite Harrison Ford. July 19.

Paul Krassner, 87. The publisher, author and radical political activist on the front lines of 1960s counterculture who helped tie together his loose-knit prankster group by naming them the Yippies. July 21.

Robert M. Morgenthau, 99. A former Manhattan district attorney who spent more than three decades jailing criminals from mob kingpins and drug-dealing killers to a tax-dodging Harvard dean. July 21.

Li Peng, 90. A former hard-line Chinese premier best known for announcing martial law during the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests that ended with a bloody crackdown by troops. July 22.

Art Neville, 81. A member of one of New Orleans’ storied musical families, the Neville Brothers, and a founding member of the groundbreaking funk band The Meters. July 22.

Chris Kraft, 95. The founder of NASA’s mission control. July 22.

Mike Moulin, 70. A former Los Angeles police lieutenant who came under fire for failing to quell the first outbreak of rioting after the Rodney King beating verdict. July 30.

Harold Prince, 91. A Broadway director and producer who pushed the boundaries of musical theater with such groundbreaking shows as “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Cabaret,” “Company” and “Sweeney Todd” and won a staggering 21 Tony Awards. July 31.

AUGUST

D.A. Pennebaker, 94. The Oscar-winning documentary maker whose historic contributions to American culture and politics included immortalizing a young Bob Dylan in “Don’t Look Back” and capturing the spin behind Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign in “The War Room.” Aug. 1.

Henri Belolo, 82. He co-founded the Village People and co-wrote their classic hits “YMCA,” “Macho Man” and “In the Navy.” Aug. 3.

Nuon Chea, 93. The chief ideologue of the communist Khmer Rouge regime that destroyed a generation of Cambodians. Aug. 4.

Toni Morrison, 88. A pioneer and reigning giant of modern literature whose imaginative power in “Beloved,” “Song of Solomon” and other works transformed American letters by dramatizing the pursuit of freedom within the boundaries of race. Aug. 5.

Sushma Swaraj, 67. She was India’s former external affairs minister and a leader of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Aug. 6.

Peter Fonda, 79. The actor was the son of a Hollywood legend who became a movie star in his own right after both writing and starring in the counterculture classic “Easy Rider.” Aug. 16.

Richard Williams, 86. A Canadian-British animator whose work on the bouncing cartoon bunny in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” helped blur the boundaries between the animated world and our own. Aug. 16. Cancer.

Cedric Benson, 36. A former NFL running back who was one of the most prolific rushers in NCAA and University of Texas history. Aug. 17. Motorcycle crash.

Kathleen Blanco, 76. She became Louisiana’s first female elected governor only to see her political career derailed by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Aug. 18.

David H. Koch, 79. A billionaire industrialist who, with his older brother Charles, was both celebrated and demonized for transforming American politics by pouring their riches into conservative causes. Aug. 23.

Ferdinand Piech, 82. The German auto industry power broker was the longtime patriarch of Volkswagen AG and the key engineer of its takeover of Porsche. Aug. 25.

Baxter Leach, 79. A prominent member of the Memphis, Tennessee, sanitation workers union whose historic strike drew the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to the city where he was assassinated. Aug. 27.

Jim Leavelle, 99. The longtime Dallas lawman who was captured in one of history’s most iconic photographs escorting President John F. Kennedy’s assassin as he was fatally shot. Aug. 29.

Valerie Harper, 80. She scored guffaws, stole hearts and busted TV taboos as the brash, self-deprecating Rhoda Morgenstern on back-to-back hit sitcoms in the 1970s. Aug. 30.

SEPTEMBER

Jimmy Johnson, 76. A founder of the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and guitarist with the famed studio musicians “The Swampers.” Sept. 5.

Robert Mugabe, 95. The former Zimbabwean leader was an ex-guerrilla chief who took power when the African country shook off white minority rule and presided for decades while economic turmoil and human rights violations eroded its early promise. Sept. 6.

Robert Frank, 94. A giant of 20th-century photography whose seminal book “The Americans” captured singular, candid moments of the 1950s and helped free picture-taking from the boundaries of clean lighting and linear composition. Sept. 9.

T. Boone Pickens, 91. A brash and quotable oil tycoon who grew even wealthier through corporate takeover attempts. Sept. 11.

Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, 83. A former Indonesian president who allowed democratic reforms and an independence referendum for East Timor following the ouster of the dictator Suharto. Sept. 11.

Eddie Money, 70. The rock star known for such hits as “Two Tickets to Paradise” and “Take Me Home Tonight.” Sept. 13. Esophageal cancer.

Phyllis Newman, 86. A Tony Award-winning Broadway veteran who became the first woman to host “The Tonight Show” before turning her attention to fight for women’s health. Sept. 15.

Ric Ocasek, 75. The Cars frontman whose deadpan vocal delivery and lanky, sunglassed look defined a rock era with chart-topping hits like “Just What I Needed.” Sept. 15.

Cokie Roberts, 75. The daughter of politicians and a pioneering journalist who chronicled Washington from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump for NPR and ABC News. Sept. 17. Complications from breast cancer.

David A. Jones Sr., 88. He invested $1,000 to start a nursing home company that eventually became the $37 billion health insurance giant Humana Inc. Sept. 18.

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, 83. The former Tunisian president was an autocrat who led his small North African country for 23 years before being toppled by nationwide protests that unleashed revolt across the Arab world. Sept. 19.

John Keenan, 99. He was the police official who led New York City’s manhunt for the “Son of Sam” killer and eventually took a case-solving confession from David Berkowitz. Sept. 19.

Barron Hilton, 91. A hotel magnate who expanded his father’s chain and became a founding owner in the American Football League. Sept. 19.

Howard “Hopalong” Cassady, 85. The 1955 Heisman Trophy winner at Ohio State and running back for the Detroit Lions. Sept. 20.

Karl Muenter, 96. A former SS soldier who was convicted in France of a wartime massacre but who never served any time for his crimes. Sept. 20.

Sigmund Jaehn, 82. He became the first German in space at the height of the Cold War during the 1970s and was promoted as a hero by communist authorities in East Germany. Sept. 21.

Jacques Chirac, 86. A two-term French president who was the first leader to acknowledge France’s role in the Holocaust and defiantly opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Sept. 26.

Joseph Wilson, 69. The former ambassador who set off a political firestorm by disputing U.S. intelligence used to justify the 2003 Iraq invasion. Sept. 27.

José José, 71. The Mexican crooner was an elegant dresser who moved audiences to tears with melancholic love ballads and was known as the “Prince of Song.” Sept. 28.

Jessye Norman, 74. The renowned international opera star whose passionate soprano voice won her four Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honor. Sept. 30.

Samuel Mayerson, 97. The prosecutor who took newspaper heiress Patty Hearst to court for shooting up a Southern California sporting goods store in 1974 and then successfully argued for probation, not prison, for the kidnapping victim-turned terrorist. Sept. 30.

OCTOBER

Karel Gott, 80. A Czech pop singer who became a star behind the Iron Curtain. Oct. 1.

Diogo Freitas do Amaral, 78. A conservative Portuguese politician who played a leading role in cementing the country’s democracy after its 1974 Carnation Revolution and later became president of the U.N. General Assembly. Oct. 3.

Diahann Carroll, 84. The Oscar-nominated actress and singer who won critical acclaim as the first black woman to star in a non-servant role in a TV series as “Julia.” Oct. 4. Cancer.

Ginger Baker, 80. The volatile and propulsive drummer for Cream and other bands who wielded blues power and jazz finesse and helped shatter boundaries of time, tempo and style in popular music. Oct. 6.

Rip Taylor, 88. The madcap, mustached comedian with a fondness for confetti-throwing who became a television game show mainstay in the 1970s. Oct. 6.

Robert Forster, 78. The handsome and omnipresent character actor who got a career resurgence and Oscar nomination for playing bail bondsman Max Cherry in “Jackie Brown.” Oct. 11. Brain cancer.

James Stern, 55. A black activist who took control of one of the nation’s largest neo-Nazi groups — and vowed to dismantle it. Oct. 11. Cancer.

Alexei Leonov, 85. The legendary Soviet cosmonaut who became the first person to walk in space. Oct. 11.

Scotty Bowers, 96. A self-described Hollywood “fixer” whose memoir offered sensational accounts of the sex lives of such celebrities as Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Oct. 13.

Harold Bloom, 89. The eminent critic and Yale professor whose seminal “The Anxiety of Influence” and melancholy regard for literature’s old masters made him a popular author and standard-bearer of Western civilization amid modern trends. Oct. 14.

Elijah E. Cummings, 68. A sharecropper’s son who rose to become a civil rights champion and the chairman of one of the U.S. House committees leading an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Oct. 17. Complications from longstanding health problems.

Alicia Alonso, 98. The revered ballerina and choreographer whose nearly 75-year career made her an icon of artistic loyalty to Cuba’s socialist system. Oct. 17.

Bill Macy, 97. The character actor whose hangdog expression was a perfect match for his role as the long-suffering foil to Bea Arthur’s unyielding feminist on the daring 1970s sitcom “Maude.” Oct. 17.

Marieke Vervoort, 40. A Paralympian who won gold and silver medals in 2012 at the London Paralympics in wheelchair racing and two more medals in Rio de Janeiro. Oct. 22. Took her own life after living with pain from a degenerative spinal disease.

Sadako Ogata, 92. She led the U.N. refugee agency for a decade and became one of the first Japanese to hold a top job at an international organization. Oct. 22.

Kathryn Johnson, 93. A trailblazing reporter for The Associated Press whose intrepid coverage of the civil rights movement and other major stories led to a string of legendary scoops. Oct. 23.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to be 48. He sought to establish an Islamic “caliphate” across Syria and Iraq, but he might be remembered more as the ruthless leader of the Islamic State group who brought terror to the heart of Europe. Oct. 26. Detonated a suicide vest during a raid by U.S. forces.

John Conyers, 90. The former congressman was one of the longest-serving members of Congress whose resolutely liberal stance on civil rights made him a political institution in Washington and back home in Detroit despite several scandals. Oct. 27.

Ivan Milat, 74. His grisly serial killings of seven European and Australian backpackers horrified Australia in the early ’90s. Oct. 27.

Vladimir Bukovsky, 76. A prominent Soviet-era dissident who became internationally known for exposing Soviet abuse of psychiatry. Oct. 27.

Kay Hagan, 66. A former bank executive who rose from a budget writer in the North Carolina Legislature to a seat in the U.S. Senate. Oct. 28. Illness.

John Walker, 82. An Arkansas lawmaker and civil rights attorney who represented black students in a long-running court fight over the desegregation of Little Rock-area schools. Oct. 28.

John Witherspoon, 77. An actor-comedian who memorably played Ice Cube’s father in the “Friday” films. Oct. 29.

NOVEMBER

Walter Mercado, 88. A television astrologer whose glamorous persona made him a star in Latin media and a cherished icon for gay people in most of the Spanish-speaking world. Nov. 2. Kidney failure.

Gert Boyle, 95. The colorful chairwoman of Oregon-based Columbia Sportswear Co. who starred in ads proclaiming her “One Tough Mother.” Nov. 3.

Ernest J. Gaines, 86. A novelist whose poor childhood on a small Louisiana plantation germinated stories of black struggles that grew into universal tales of grace and beauty. Nov. 5.

Werner Gustav Doehner, 90. He was the last remaining survivor of the Hindenburg disaster, who suffered severe burns to his face, arms and legs before his mother managed to toss him and his brother from the burning airship. Nov. 8.

Charles Rogers, 38. The former Michigan State star and Detroit Lions receiver was an All-American wide receiver who was the school’s all-time leader in touchdown catches. Nov. 11.

Raymond Poulidor, 83. The “eternal runner-up” whose repeated failure to win the Tour de France helped him conquer French hearts and become the country’s all-time favorite cyclist. Nov. 13.

Walter J. Minton, 96. A publishing scion and risk taker with a self-described “nasty streak” who as head of G.P. Putnam’s Sons released works by Norman Mailer and Terry Southern, among others, and signed up Vladimir Nabokov’s scandalous “Lolita.” Nov. 19.

Jake Burton Carpenter, 65. The man who changed the game on the mountain by fulfilling a grand vision of what a snowboard could be. Nov. 20. Complications stemming from a relapse of testicular cancer.

Gahan Wilson, 89. His humorous and often macabre cartoons were a mainstay in magazines including Playboy, the New Yorker and National Lampoon. Nov. 21.

Cathy Long, 95. A Louisiana Democrat who won her husband’s U.S. House seat after his sudden death in 1985 and served one term. Nov. 23.

John Simon, 94. A theater and film critic known for his lacerating reviews and often withering assessment of performers’ physical appearance. Nov. 24.

William Doyle Ruckelshaus, 87. He famously quit his job in the Justice Department rather than carry out President Richard Nixon’s order to fire the special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal. Nov. 27.

Yasuhiro Nakasone, 101. The former Japanese prime minister was a giant of his country’s post-World War II politics who pushed for a more assertive Japan while strengthening military ties with the United States. Nov. 29.

Irving Burgie, 95. A composer who helped popularize Caribbean music and co-wrote the enduring Harry Belafonte hit “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song).” Nov. 29.

DECEMBER

Allan Gerson, 74. A lawyer who pursued Nazi war criminals and pioneered the practice of suing foreign governments in U.S. courts for complicity to terrorism. Dec. 1.

Juice WRLD, 21. A rapper who launched his career on SoundCloud before becoming a streaming juggernaut and rose to the top of the charts with the Sting-sampled hit “Lucid Dreams.” Dec. 8. Died after being treated for opioid use during a police search.

René Auberjonois, 79. A prolific actor best known for his roles on the television shows “Benson” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and his part in the 1970 film “M.A.S.H.” playing Father Mulcahy. Dec. 8.

Caroll Spinney, 85. He gave Big Bird his warmth and Oscar the Grouch his growl for nearly 50 years on “Sesame Street.” Dec. 8.

Paul Volcker, 92. The former Federal Reserve chairman who in the early 1980s raised interest rates to historic highs and triggered a recession as the price of quashing double-digit inflation. Dec. 8.

Pete Frates, 34. A former college baseball player whose battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease helped inspire the ALS ice bucket challenge that has raised more than $200 million worldwide. Dec. 9.

Marie Fredriksson, 61. The female half of the Swedish pop duo Roxette that achieve international success in the late 1980s and 1990s. Dec. 9.

Kim Woo-choong, 82. The disgraced founder of the now-collapsed Daewoo business group whose rise and fall symbolized South Korea’s turbulent rapid economic growth in the 1970s. Dec. 9. Pneumonia.

Danny Aiello, 86. The blue-collar character actor whose long career playing tough guys included roles in “Fort Apache, the Bronx,” “Moonstruck” and “Once Upon a Time in America” and his Oscar-nominated performance as a pizza man in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing.” Dec. 12.

Robert Glenn “Junior” Johnson, 88. The moonshine runner turned NASCAR driver who won 50 races as a driver and 132 as an owner and was part of the inaugural class inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010. Dec. 20.

Elizabeth Spencer, 98. A grande dame of Southern literature who bravely navigated between the Jim Crow past and open-ended present in her novels and stories, including the celebrated novella “Light In the Piazza.” Dec. 22.

Lee Mendelson, 86. The producer who changed the face of the holidays when he brought “A Charlie Brown Christmas” to television in 1965 and wrote the lyrics to its signature song, “Christmas Time Is Here.” Dec. 25. Congestive heart failure.

Jerry Herman, 88. The Tony Award-winning composer who wrote the cheerful, good-natured music and lyrics for such classic shows as “Mame,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “La Cage aux Folles.” Dec. 26.

Don Imus, 79. The disc jockey whose career was made and then undone by his acid tongue during a decadeslong rise to radio stardom and abrupt plunge after a nationally broadcast racial slur. Dec. 27. Complications from lung disease.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/12/31/final-goodbye-recalling-influential-people-who-died-in-2019-2/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/12/31/final-goodbye-recalling-influential-people-who-died-in-2019-2/

[rolandfontana]

Kamala Harris, Police Shootings and ‘Safety’

In her recently released broad-ranging plan for reforming criminal justice, Democratic presidential contender Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) called for a National Police Systems Review Board, based on the model of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), for the review of police shooting cases.

According to her plan, such a board would “collect data and review police shootings and other cases of severe misconduct, and work to issue recommendations and implement safety standards based on evidence revealed in these reviews.”

It was one of the elements of the former California Attorney General’s justice blueprint that got the most attention.

You might expect that, for someone like me—who has been hectoring the criminal justice world about picking up the lessons that the safety experience of fields like aviation and medicine provides—this would be good news.

Well, yes and no.

There is considerably less to Harris’ proposal than meets the eye.

Harris’ proposal is not “innovative,” as some commentators claim.  Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld suggested using the NTSB as a model for examining errors over 20 years ago.

Moreover, the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing included “sentinel event reviews” of bad outcomes on its list of recommendations. Some police forces, Tucson’s for example, already conduct serious “critical incident reviews” of dangerous encounters.

The federal Department of Justice, at least when it has a properly led and resourced Civil Rights Division, has the power to review and prosecute police shootings and other serious police criminal misconduct.

It isn’t even clear that Harris’s proposal is especially serious. It makes no effort to state (or, perhaps, it makes an effort not to state) whether it contemplates “performance reviews” of individual frontline practitioners or full, forward-looking, “event reviews” that analyze systems weaknesses in training, resources, communication, and policies in overlapping “silos.”

You aren’t really talking about safety if you aren’t wrestling with those problems—that is, unless you’re looking at prevention of repeats, not simply at blame and punishment for past outcomes.

Trying to blame and prevent at the same time will cripple your pursuit of both of those goals unless you have taken the time to disentangle them in your own mind.

At this point it is possible to marshal a compelling literature that undertakes this work by applying modern Safety concepts to criminal justice.

A bibliography compiled for the National Institute of Justice for National Criminal Justice Reference Service librarian Scott Hertzberg is regularly updated to track safety materials with criminal justice cross-over potential.

Even in the specific area of police shootings there have been multiple sophisticated analyses by Joanna Schwartz, John Hollway, Sean Smoot, David Klinger, Lawrence Sherman and others that mobilize safety concepts and draw on the experiences of other fields in utilizing them. All of these writers argue for widening the lens beyond the cop who pulled the trigger.

Harris’s proposal doesn’t tell us much about how they will be incorporated into the planning.

But the fact that this proposal is less than it might be does not mean that it is nothing.

Yes, it could be that Harris sees “safety” and “NTSB” mostly as magic words: ways to talk about crime that will finesse her own record of discordant choices as San Francisco’s District Attorney in police shooting cases. Maybe “safety,” for her, is just a way to promise to do something—but without backtracking on what she has done already and alienating the people for whom she did it.

Maybe the safety Harris is thinking of is her own.

Even so, in the perverse fundamental logic of our public life, politicians find it first advantageous to say something, then it becomes attractive to send the staff off to seek advice, to read, and to learn. This may be exactly backward, but it’s how things go.

After all, they think, why would you invest energy in learning about something you can never talk about?

But Safety! Who can be against Safety? The fact that Harris sees an advantage here might be an important harbinger of things to come. Others will see it too.

Now, the challenge is to make sure we know what Safety means and don’t vandalize an opportunity to make it work in criminal justice—to leave behind our sterile battle over Crime Control v. Due Process, and start some productive investigation into ensuring everyone’s safety: the citizens’, the cops’, and the communities’.

Is Safety a Palliative, or a Disrupter?

Harris is caught in a tough bind: her prosecutorial experience, which once seemed to be a sterling credential, is now a liability among many activist Democrats. Talking about Safety could seem to present a plausible way out: a way to thread the needle between police unions and Black Lives Matter activists and to calm things down.

But take a look at what Safety practice would require in a well-known case from Harris’ term as San Francisco DA and you can see that far from offering a muted version of business-as-usual, the Safety perspective upsets the whole apple cart.

When San Francisco police broke down a door inside a group home for mentally disabled people in 2008 and shot a 56-year-old resident, then-District Attorney Kamala Harris didn’t charge the officers with a crime.

Instead, she prosecuted the schizophrenic woman who was severely injured in the shooting for assaulting the police.

The jury refused to convict; the case was not retried; and the resident ultimately settled a civil case with the city.

From the Safety perspective the decision whether to charge the cops or charge the victims can be made rightly or wrongly. But that decision is seen as a bad place to stop. If you want to understand the outcomes generated by a complex system you need an all-stakeholders approach, specifically aimed at “forward-looking accountability.”

You need to begin by understanding that, prosecution or no prosecution, lawsuit or no lawsuit, no one wants this to happen again. The goal of a Safety approach would be not a report for people to read, but the creation of a vibrant and sustained culture of safety in which everyone is continuously working to included their contribution to a just and harm-free collective outcome.

You need the perspective of the frontline cops, and you need to understand the influences that shaped their choices. What was their training? How were communications handled? How were they equipped? What about the shift work demands? Did the department have a Critical Incident mental health worker capacity?

No one would believe a Safety inquiry could be confined to one “silo:” police, prosecution, or mental health. Did the public health system have plans for summoning police? You need to hear from the patients’ families and the frontline group home workers.

The Safety inquiry can’t end with “Who? You have to ask “Why did people zig when in hindsight we think they should have zagged?”

In important ways the Safety approach also disrupts what we might call the Ecology of Reform.

Neither a single federal entity nor the tradition of handing down wisdom from the foundations and think tanks can accommodate the challenge of a landscape that includes over 16,000 police departments. The center of gravity of a genuine safety effort will have to be in state and local contexts where the harms occur, and the gritty reality of how things are can’t be skipped along the way to how they should be.

Things are as they are for reasons.

Follow the “Our Team” link on any reform-minded organization’s website and you will see an array of well brought up and analytically impressive researchers. Often they have had some experience in the system—a few years as an Assistant United States Attorney, for example—and often that experience has deepened their commitment.

But although they have been in the system, they are not of the system, and they are certainly not going back. The challenges raised by their new 25-point checklist won’t be theirs to confront.

The bet has to be placed on the frontline worker, not on the mandarins in Washington and New York. The reform organizations and entities such as the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) have important rules in supporting the capacity building that safety-oriented reforms require. (The NIJ Sentinel Events Initiative, with which I’ve been involved, provides one example of how this can be approached.)

Expertise, particularly in identifying, harvesting, and interpreting data can play an important role in assisting productive all-stakeholders “event reviews” on the state and local level.

And, as with the NTSB, the centralized entities can play an indispensable role in disseminating the lessons of local reviews throughout the community: illuminating dangerous conditions and influences; emphasizing sources of resilience.

But this means not one new Board, but a whole new paradigm.

Safety as a Fig Leaf

The disruption that Safety thinking promises is at this point long overdue.

The danger is that Senator Harris has seized on a rhetorical flourish that might short-circuit this shift—a way to talk about doing something without doing too much.

“Safety” could easily be hyped on a something-for-everyone basis that forecloses realizing the genuine promise of the robust body of learning that aviation has earned, and medicine and other fields have begun to adapt.

One of the principles of the Safety people is that nothing is ever “fixed.” Any “fix” you contrive is under immediate attack from its environment. That will be true of any National Police Review Board too.

Let’s hope we can look to Safety as a something we will have to keep continuously working to improve, and not stop at a new agency, a new Board.

James M. Doyle is a Boston defense lawyer and author, and a frequent contributor to The Crime Report. He welcomes readers’ comments.

Kamala Harris, Police Shootings and ‘Safety’ syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/

[oneaugustevent]

I remember the many husbands that turned their backs as the small boat was lowered, the women blissfully innocent of their husbands' peril, and said goodbye with the expectation of seeing them within the next hour or two.

testimony of first-class passenger Eloise Smith, US Senate Inquiry

[newssplashy]

World: Protests across U.S. Call for end to migrant family separations

WASHINGTON — Protesters marched into Lafayette Square opposite the White House on Saturday and chanted “families belong together” to counter President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy.

Animated by what they view as the cruel treatment of migrants seeking refuge in the United States from violence in their home countries, the crowds turned out bearing homemade signs that read “Abolish ICE” — the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency — and “Zero tolerance for family separation.”

For two sisters, Claudia Thomas and Monica Escobar, the sight of immigrant children being taken from their parents hit close to home. When they were young, they immigrated to the United States from Guatemala, one of several Central American countries that is a source of migrants today. They said they were out at the protest in the nation’s capital to stand up for “human decency.”

“No human being should be going through what they’re going through,” Escobar said. “God bless those families.”

While Washington was the political epicenter of the protests, similar scenes unfolded in cities around the country, including large, border cities like El Paso, Texas; state capitals like Salt Lake City and Atlanta; and smaller, interior towns like Redding, California. In total, organizers anticipated more than 700 protests, in all 50 states and even internationally.

The protests were largely peaceful, although there were a few arrests.

In Huntsville, Alabama, police said one man was arrested after he got into a scuffle with protesters and pulled out a handgun; no one was injured. In Columbus, Ohio, one person was arrested on a charge of obstructing official business, police said. And the Dallas Police Department said five people were arrested during a protest outside of an ICE building.

Otherwise, protesters caused few disturbances as they descended on statehouses and Immigration and Customs Enforcement buildings, and gathered in plazas and in parks, where they danced, chanted and sang. Many clutched signs in one hand with messages berating Trump and his immigration policies. And, given the summer heat, many clutched water bottles in the other hand, as they sweltered under temperatures that across much of the United States crept into the 90s.

In Chicago, all police stations, fire departments and hospitals opened as cooling stations, and in Washington firetrucks misted attendees with water, to cheers.

Celebrities like Kerry Washington, star of the hit ABC series “Scandal,” and comedian Amy Schumer joined the protests in New York, and politicians like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., joined the demonstration in Boston. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of “Hamilton,” and Alicia Keys, the singer-songwriter-pianist, performed in Washington.

Trump signed an executive order June 20 meant to quell outrage over the separation of families by housing parents and children together, for an indefinite period, in ad hoc detention centers. The order explicitly states that the authorities will continue to criminally prosecute adults who cross the border illegally.

Many of the more than 2,300 children separated from their migrant parents remain at makeshift shelters and foster homes. Although a federal judge in San Diego issued an order Tuesday calling for the reunification of families separated at the border within 30 days, White House officials have said that following the ordered timetable would be difficult.

“We don’t want a situation where we’re replacing baby jails with family camps,” said Karthik Ganapathy, a spokesman for MoveOn, a progressive advocacy organization that helped organized the protest.

The Washington rally was in many ways a festive affair, a moment of unification under a scorching sun. One protester arrived dressed as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; another wore a shirt saying “It’s Mueller time,” a reference to the special counsel leading the inquiry into Russian meddling in the election.

Adam Unger, a local software engineer, wore a 5-gallon bucket turned into a drum, with a felt covering depicting an American flag with the insignia of the Rebel Alliance from “Star Wars” replacing the stars. “This drum has gotten its use over the last year and a half,” Unger said. He first used it to protest Trump’s travel ban on people from several predominantly Muslim countries when it was announced in January 2017.

Some said they showed up because they were angry; others, because they had not been angrier sooner. Maggie Mason, a new mother, said that for two weeks she could not go on Facebook because of news stories about children in detention centers, such as the audio published by ProPublica of immigrant children crying after being separated from their parents. Now, with her 7-week-old baby sleeping in the stroller next to her, she said it was time to come out.

Over the past month, marches across the country have cropped up, adding to the pressure on the Trump administration to yield to calls to end the practice of splitting up or detaining families.

“The idea of kids in cages and asylum seekers in prisons and moms being separated from breast-feeding children, this is just beyond politics, it really is just about right and wrong,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. On Thursday, she was arrested with more than 500 other women who occupied a Senate office building as part of a Women’s March protest against Trump’s immigration policy.

Jayapal said she has visited a federal prison just south of Seattle and met with 174 women and several dozen men who had been transferred from the Texas border. She said she was moved by the stories of asylum seekers and parents — stories of family members killed, of children left behind, of violent physical attacks and domestic abuse.

“I promised them that I would get their stories out and I promised them I would do everything I could to reunite their families,” Jayapal said.

In New York, protesters overflowed Foley Square in Lower Manhattan and filled the surrounding sidewalks. At every intersection on the way to the central march location, clusters of people chanted, “When children are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

Crowds also inched across the Brooklyn Bridge, a little more than a mile long, for more than two hours. On one side, in Brooklyn, protesters filed into Cadman Plaza, where people stood in the center or sat in the shade, displaying colorful signs and listening to speakers onstage.

“We were walking by cars and all the people driving were honking, giving us the peace sign, shaking fists,” said Laura Rittenhouse, who lives in Manhattan and walked across the bridge. “The most important question is what is the process to reunite these families?” she asked.

Carmela Huang, from Brooklyn, brought her two young children to the march. Both children were carrying rectangular cardboard signs they had made this morning that read “REUNITE” in large sharpie letters.

Huang said they had not been to a protest yet in 2018. “But today feels really important,” she said. “I’ve had my head in the sand, just feeling tremendously sad.” She described the march as “reassuring, energizing and rejuvenating.”

Some protesters carried rainbow umbrellas and blew bubbles, while a trombone player accented chants of activists.

Sadatu Mamah-Trawill, a community organizer with the group African Communities Together, brought her 9-year-old son to the protest. A Muslim woman, Mamah-Trawill said she still had family in Ghana, her birthplace, and could not imagine being separated from her children.

“I’m hoping our government hears us very clearly,” she said. “This is big. I don’t think anybody should miss it.”

A small group of mostly women and children rallied in Marquette, Michigan, in one of the few counties in the state that voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Silke-Maria Weineck, a German studies and comparative literature professor at the University of Michigan, dressed her service dog, Meemo, with an “Abolish ICE” sign for the occasion.

“It’s certainly a conservative part of the country,” she added, “but people feel very strongly about their children.”

Outside the Bedminster country club where Trump was spending the weekend, a few protesters could be seen. “My civility is locked in a cage,” said one sign. “Reunite families now.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks and Zoe Greenberg © 2018 The New York Times

source https://www.newssplashy.com/2018/07/world-protests-across-us-call-for-end_2.html

[latia24n43523-blog]

Dark Past history Month Isn't really Creating Life Better For African-american Americans.

An exploration of lifespan aboard the International Spaceport station, as well as the astonishing causes the mission is still rewarding. The Sunshine is actually skyrocketing through Leo as well as your commitment-focused 7th home until August 22, stressing collaborations from all kinds. Experimental Uranus retrograde could provide you a bit of a straying eye, however don't be innocent concerning the achievable disadvantages right here. When Mercury heads in to your team industry August 31 to September 5, Unity attacks the skids. Ensure everyone is actually crystal clear as well as on the exact same web page. When it pertained to pinpointing ripped off debtors, our team inherited a baroque set from guidelines as well as no recognized method at all," claimed James Kvaal, which provided in a variety of senior management tasks at the Division of Learning and also the White House under Head of state Obama. That really is fantastic that the supervisors as well as workers can easily keep that together by reducing anywhere they can," claimed Arthur Kramer, which last year left a post as crown from the College from Illinois's Beckman Institute for Advanced Scientific research and also Technology, a 313,000-square-foot proving ground, for a provost position at private Northeastern University in Boston. If you have any inquiries regarding the place and how to use http://realmemento.info/, you can get in touch with us at the web site. Mercury switches right into Leo throughout, hindering company and leading to uncertainties with workers. Difficulty Days: August 2: Uranus retrograde up until January 2, 2018 Disruptive Uranus backspins through your intimacy home, which could possibly lead to mood swings and also extreme seconds. August THIRTEEN: Sun-Saturn trine You get a burst from can-do and industrious electricity today, therefore deal with a duty or job you've located discourageding. With two life-changing eclipses (- astrology/solar-and-lunar- eclipses/) on the chart-- one in YOUR indicator-- your connections and also private targets are about to obtain reshuffled.

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From 2003 to 2010, 10 American astronauts which survived the station always kept a diary as aspect of an analysis study administered by Jack Stuster, an anthropologist who analyzes folks staying in harsh atmospheres. A Health-Care Policy at the Forgiveness from Our lawmakers: Trump's day-one purchase on Obamacare decided the management's resistance without in fact achieving any kind of meaningful rollback of the regulation. This was Head of state Ronald Reagan, in his 1984 State from the Union speech, who drove NASA to generate and also permanently personnel a space station, which he predicted would certainly permit quantum leaps in our research in scientific research, communications, in metallics, and in lifesaving medicines which may be made merely in space." NASA's authentic sight for the station was as enthusiastic as that had actually been for Apollo or even the shuttles. That is actually why he's blasting the press in their attempts to keep him liable, exploding in matches of rage at campaign-style rallies, going to war with Senate Republicans as well as trying to criticize the filibuster guideline. In the USA, the average laborer invests 47 a week at his or her task and also appreciates just 16 times a year from paid out leave But also in summer courses, pupils are commonly put away early in the mid-day, well just before the close from a common organisation day. The media also reply to notable quotes, particularly off neighborhood people - your state president, condition MIOSM chairperson, teachers, or students. Capture your trainees doing and consist of an overview from your head, mayor, or even an additional innovator illustrating their help for popular music learning.

March marks the yearly event from popular music in our country's universities. As an undergraduate, I was a couple of courses except earning a level in Songs Education and learning instead of English Literature and Viewpoint and also, interestingly enough, virtually pursued a POSTGRADUATE DEGREE in Popular music instead of Political Science.

[columbuswinston-blog]

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[drrobinjwillcourt-blog]

The Keystone Cops of Australian Medicine PART 2

Did AHPRA make an example of Dr Fettke? Prior to AHPRA’s ruling, a 2013 Senate Inquiry highlighted the failings of AHPRA’s complaints-handling in order to guarantee public safety. As a result of this investigation, there was a call for a more strict handling of complaints against practitioners by AHPRA. This could have motivated relentless pursuing of legal action against Dr Fettke for giving out unsolicited nutrition advice in favour of low carb. Gary Fettke: punished for speaking the truth The dietary evidence points to a low carb diet as the only non drug-mediated way that people with diabetes can truly control insulin and stabilise their blood sugar levels. For the majority of scientists interested in nutrition, if a new evidence-based approach provides better outcomes, then this evidence should be more explicitly reflected in patient care. Sadly, with low carb, this is often not the case, for many regulatory bodies think that it is not within a doctor’s remit to advise patients about this diet. Yet, Fettke’s patients have greatly benefited from his advice, and the diet reportedly caused no harm to any of them. But, AHPRA considers that Gary is not an expert in the field of nutrition or diabetes, and therefore has no authority to give such advice. The AHPRA has completely overlooked the fact that a great deal of Fettke’s patients suffered from weight-related joint issues and/or diabetes. Fettke was therefore immersed in the scientific literature about diabetes and nutrition research for years. Promoting high fat, low carb comes at a cost The mere act of informing patients about low carb and recommending it to them on a voluntary basis can trigger serious consequences for doctors these days. Meanwhile, patients are being given the wrong information and led to believe that there is nothing they can do besides treatment to help reverse their type 2 diabetes. The current recommendation, of eating less and moving more, that patients receive has not been proven as effective as reducing carbohydrate intake in a growing number of studies. In the UK, GPs tend not to give weight loss advice, because they know that standard recommendations don’t work, and, that if they push something like low carbing instead, they will be condemned for rebutting the official eat-well guidelines in use. Doctors have to follow national guidelines, or they run the risk of receiving complaints for not maintaining standard of care. The natural consequence of this idiotic ruling, is that NO doctor is capable of talking about dietary issues with patients. How does that affect GPs having to deal with diabetics, and people with heart disease? Clearly, they cannot breathe a word. Ah, the Law of Unintended Consequences. Surely AHPRA must see that there is a class action lawsuit to forbid all doctors and other professionals from discussing dietary advice with patients. If AHPRA is being consistent (and ignorant) they should immediately demand this- or, are they being driven by special interest groups and thus being vindictive? There are NO other possibilities. They are certainly known for being both. The issue here is who or what is an expert? Gary Fettke was using very well-reasoned and scientifically studied data on LCHF diets, of which Pete Evan’s Paleo diet is a part: for simplicity, LCHF diet = Paleo + Dairy. In Australia, it takes little to be an expert- you usually just have to announce yourself: usually an academic position, or a head of an organization will do and presto! you are an expert. I have listened to way too many radio and TV interviews with these ‘experts’ and in most cases I want to explode. Their ignorance and their arrogance are simply stultifying, as they so often make comments about a current controversy without having any clue about the science or otherwise about the content about which they are pontificating. Listen to the childish slop uttered by an expert, lifted from an earlier blog I did.   Researchers at the University of Sydney announced that: Paleo diet leads to ‘shorter lifespan’. “The Paleo people will be screaming and howling and they have a personal and professional interest in doing it,” says Professor Stephen Simpson the academic director of Sydney University’s Charles Perkins Centre. “One of the best ways to combat the lure of fad diets is to provide hard, experimental evidence,” he says. He should take his own advice. Not only was his comment above, less than academically articulate but it is dead wrong. He has not used one bit of solid scientific evidence to back up this outrageous claim. Instead he quotes data obtained from mice that were fed a diet that they normally don’t eat, got sick and died earlier than anticipated. Just the sort of dietary advice adjusted for humans that he and the other non-expert dietary pundits have been telling us to eat for the last 30 years with the obvious catastrophic health issues that have resulted.  Instead, the diet we evolved on for over 2.5 million years is described as a fad while something that has been in effect for 30 odd years is ‘normal.’ It doesn’t get much sillier except that you cannot take mice data and extrapolate it to humans as was done here. We have different physiologies.  Really? Yes, silly and sillier… Paleo, low carb high fat is NOT what mice eat and this invalidates the study. You have to shake your head when a supposedly educated man, and who one would assume has some degree of professorial decorum comes out with stuff like this, “The Paleo people will be screaming and howling”—well, excuse me, but isn’t that Drs Simpson and Gannon? In a Machiavellian twist on things, OZ’s own CSIRO has come out in support of the LCHF diet for Type 2 Diabetics. I am not sure how AHPRA can take their license away, but I imagine they are working on it. Meanwhile all healthcare practitioners in Australia, except dieticians (and the CSIRO), are putting their licenses on the line every day they mention the words sugar or fat… This is part of the summary of the CSIRO paper: "The most amazing benefit of the low carbohydrate diet was the reduction in the patient’s medication levels, which was more than double the amount than the volunteers following the lifestyle program with the high-carbohydrate diet plan. "Some of the participants managed to cease their medications altogether, and many described the study as life changing”. https://www.csiro.au/en/News/News-releases/2016/Improved-diabetes-control-with-new-diet Er, but, isn’t that what Pete Evans said? Seriously, Dr Gannon, arm yourself with the info before you speak. Now WTF is AHPRA  going to do with THAT information? As you can see, inconsistency and hypocrisy are nationally embedded traits in our governing bodies. So how can the doctors and the public ever get things straight?   Click to Post

[kansascityhappenings]

Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2019

A lauded writer who brought to light stories overshadowed by prejudice. An actress and singer who helped embody the manufactured innocence of the 1950s. A self-made billionaire who rose from a childhood of Depression-era poverty and twice ran for president.

This year saw the deaths of people who shifted culture through prose, pragmatism and persistence. It also witnessed tragedy, in talent struck down in its prime.

In 2019, the political world lost a giant in U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings. He was born the son of a sharecropper, became a lawyer, then an influential congressman and champion of civil rights.

Cummings, who died in October, was chairman of one of the U.S. House committees that led an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump and was a formidable advocate for the poor in his Maryland district.

Another influential political figure, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, died in July. Stevens was appointed to the high court as a Republican but became the leader of its liberal wing and a proponent of abortion rights and consumer protections.

Wealth, fame and a confident prescription for the nation’s economic ills propelled H. Ross Perot ’s 1992 campaign against President George H.W. Bush and Democratic challenger Bill Clinton. He recorded the highest percentage for an independent or third-party candidate since 1912. He died in July.

The death of Toni Morrison in August left a chasm in the publishing world, where she was a “literary mother” to countless writers. She helped elevate multiculturalism to the world stage and unearthed the lives of the unknown and unwanted. She became the first black woman to receive the Nobel literature prize for “Beloved” and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

Among those in the scientific world who died in 2019 was Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first person to walk in space. Leonov died in October. Others include scientist Wallace Smith Broecker, who died in February and popularized the term “global warming” as he raised early alarms about climate change.

In April, Hollywood lost director John Singleton, whose 1991 film “Boyz N the Hood” was praised as a realistic and compassionate take on race, class, peer pressure and family. He became the first black director to receive an Oscar nomination and the youngest at 24.

Doris Day, a top box-office draw and recording artist who died in May, stood for the 1950s ideal of innocence and G-rated love, a parallel world to her contemporary Marilyn Monroe. She received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004.

The year also saw the untimely deaths of two young rappers, leaving a feeling of accomplishments unfulfilled. Grammy-nominated Nipsey Hussle was killed in a shooting in Los Angeles in March. Juice WRLD, who launched his career on SoundCloud before becoming a streaming juggernaut, died in December after being treated for opioid use during a police search.

Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2019 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):

JANUARY

Eugene “Mean Gene” Okerlund, 76. His deadpan interviews of pro wrestling superstars like “Macho Man” Randy Savage, the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan made him a ringside fixture in his own right. Jan. 2.

Bob Einstein, 76. The veteran comedy writer and performer known for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and his spoof daredevil character Super Dave Osborne. Jan. 2.

Daryl Dragon, 76. The cap-wearing “Captain” of Captain & Tennille who teamed with then-wife Toni Tennille on such easy listening hits as “Love Will Keep Us Together” and “Muskrat Love.” Jan. 2.

Harold Brown, 91. As defense secretary in the Carter administration, he championed cutting-edge fighting technology during a tenure that included the failed rescue of hostages in Iran. Jan 4.

Jakiw Palij, 95. A former Nazi concentration camp guard who spent decades leading an unassuming life in New York City until his past was revealed. Jan. 9.

Carol Channing, 97. The ebullient musical comedy star who delighted American audiences in almost 5,000 performances as the scheming Dolly Levi in “Hello, Dolly!” on Broadway and beyond. Jan. 15.

John C. Bogle, 89. He simplified investing for the masses by launching the first index mutual fund and founded Vanguard Group. Jan. 16.

Lamia al-Gailani, 80. An Iraqi archaeologist who lent her expertise to rebuilding the National Museum’s collection after it was looted in 2003. Jan. 18.

Nathan Glazer, 95. A prominent sociologist and intellectual who assisted on a classic study of conformity, “The Lonely Crowd,” and co-authored a groundbreaking document of non-conformity, “Beyond the Melting Pot.” Jan. 19.

Antonio Mendez, 78. A former CIA technical operations officer who helped rescue six U.S. diplomats from Iran in 1980 and was portrayed by Ben Affleck in the film “Argo.” Jan. 19.

Harris Wofford, 92. A former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and longtime civil rights activist who helped persuade John F. Kennedy to make a crucial phone call to the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960 presidential campaign. Jan. 21.

Russell Baker, 93. The genial but sharp-witted writer who won Pulitzer Prizes for his humorous columns in The New York Times and a moving autobiography of his impoverished Baltimore childhood. He later hosted television’s “Masterpiece Theatre” on PBS. Jan 21. Complications after a fall.

Michel Legrand, 86. An Oscar-winning composer and pianist whose hits included the score for the ’60s romance “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” and the song “The Windmills of Your Mind” and who worked with some of biggest singers of the 20th century. Jan. 26.

Kim Bok-dong, 92. A South Korean woman who was forced as a girl into a brothel and sexually enslaved by the Japanese military during World War II, becoming a vocal leader at rallies that were held every Wednesday in Seoul for nearly 30 years. Jan. 28.

James Ingram, 66. The Grammy-winning singer who launched multiple hits on the R&B and pop charts and earned two Oscar nominations for his songwriting. Jan. 29.

Donald S. Smith, 94. He produced the controversial anti-abortion film “The Silent Scream” and, with help from Ronald Reagan’s White House, distributed copies to every member of Congress and the Supreme Court. Jan. 30.

Harold Bradley, 93. A Country Music Hall of Fame guitarist who played on hundreds of hit country records and along with his brother, famed producer Owen Bradley, helped craft “The Nashville Sound.” Jan. 31.

FEBRUARY

Kristoff St. John, 52. An actor best known for playing Neil Winters on the CBS soap opera “The Young and the Restless.” Feb. 4. Heart disease.

Anne Firor Scott, 97. A prize-winning historian and esteemed professor who upended the male-dominated field of Southern scholarship by pioneering the study of Southern women. Feb. 5.

Frank Robinson, 83. The Hall of Famer was the first black manager in Major League Baseball and the only player to win the MVP award in both leagues. Feb. 7.

John Dingell, 92. The former congressman was the longest-serving member of Congress in American history at 59 years and a master of legislative deal-making who was fiercely protective of Detroit’s auto industry. Feb. 7.

Albert Finney, 82. The British actor was the Academy Award-nominated star of films from “Tom Jones” to “Skyfall.” Feb. 8.

Jan-Michael Vincent, 73. The “Airwolf” television star whose sleek good looks belied a troubled personal life. Feb. 10.

Gordon Banks, 81. The World Cup-winning England goalkeeper who was also known for blocking a header from Pele that many consider the greatest save in soccer history. Feb. 12.

Betty Ballantine, 99. She was half of a groundbreaking husband-and-wife publishing team that helped invent the modern paperback and vastly expand the market for science fiction and other genres through such blockbusters as “The Hobbit” and “Fahrenheit 451.” Feb. 12.

Lyndon LaRouche Jr., 96. The political extremist who ran for president in every election from 1976 to 2004, including a campaign waged from federal prison. Feb. 12.

Andrea Levy, 62. A prize-winning novelist who chronicled the hopes and horrors experienced by the post-World War II generation of Jamaican immigrants in Britain. Feb. 14.

Lee Radziwill, 85. She was the stylish jet setter and socialite who found friends, lovers and other adventures worldwide while bonding and competing with her sister Jacqueline Kennedy. Feb. 15.

Armando M. Rodriguez, 97. A Mexican immigrant and World War II veteran who served in the administrations of four U.S. presidents while pressing for civil rights and education reforms. Feb. 17.

Wallace Smith Broecker, 87. A scientist who raised early alarms about climate change and popularized the term “global warming.” Feb. 18.

Karl Lagerfeld, 85. Chanel’s iconic couturier whose accomplished designs and trademark white ponytail, high starched collars and dark enigmatic glasses dominated high fashion for the past 50 years. Feb. 19.

David Horowitz, 81. His “Fight Back!” syndicated program made him perhaps the best-known consumer reporter in the U.S. Feb. 21.

Peter Tork, 77. A talented singer-songwriter and instrumentalist whose musical skills were often overshadowed by his role as the goofy, lovable bass guitarist in the made-for-television rock band The Monkees. Feb. 21.

Stanley Donen, 94. A giant of the Hollywood musical who, through such classics as “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Funny Face,” helped provide some of the most joyous sounds and images in movie history. Feb. 21.

Jackie Shane, 78. A black transgender soul singer who became a pioneering musician in Toronto where she packed nightclubs in the 1960s. Feb. 21.

Katherine Helmond, 89. An Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress who played two very different matriarchs on the ABC sitcoms “Who’s the Boss?” and “Soap.” Feb. 23.

Charles McCarry, 88. An admired and prescient spy novelist who foresaw passenger jets as terrorist weapons in “The Better Angels” and devised a compelling theory for JFK’s assassination in “The Tears of Autumn.” Feb. 26.

Jerry Merryman, 86. He was one of the inventors of the handheld electronic calculator. Feb. 27. Complications of heart and kidney failure.

Ed Nixon, 88. The youngest brother of President Richard Nixon who was a Navy aviator and geologist and spent years promoting his brother’s legacy. Feb. 27.

Andre Previn, 89. The pianist, composer and conductor whose broad reach took in the worlds of Hollywood, jazz and classical music. Feb. 28.

MARCH

John Shafer, 94. The legendary Northern California vintner was part of a generation that helped elevate sleepy Napa Valley into the international wine powerhouse it is today. March 2.

Keith Flint, 49. The fiery frontman of British dance-electronic band The Prodigy. March 4. Found dead by hanging in his home.

Luke Perry, 52. He gained instant heartthrob status as wealthy rebel Dylan McKay on “Beverly Hills, 90210.” March 4. Stroke.

Juan Corona, 85. He gained the nickname “The Machete Murderer” for hacking to death dozens of migrant farm laborers in California in the early 1970s. March 4.

Ralph Hall, 95. The former Texas congressman was the oldest-ever member of the U.S. House and a man who claimed to have once sold cigarettes and Coca-Cola to the bank-robbing duo of Bonnie and Clyde in Dallas. March 7.

Carmine “the Snake” Persico, 85. The longtime boss of the infamous Colombo crime family. March 7.

Vera Bila, 64. A Czech singer dubbed the Ella Fitzgerald of Gypsy music or the Queen of Romany. March 12. Heart attack.

Birch Bayh, 91. A former U.S. senator who championed the federal law banning discrimination against women in college admissions and sports. March 14.

Dick Dale, 83. His pounding, blaringly loud power-chord instrumentals on songs like “Miserlou” and “Let’s Go Trippin’” earned him the title King of the Surf Guitar. March 16.

Jerrie Cobb, 88. America’s first female astronaut candidate, the pilot pushed for equality in space but never reached its heights. March 18.

Scott Walker, 76. An influential singer, songwriter and producer whose hits with the Walker Brothers in the 1960s included “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” March 22.

Rafi Eitan, 92. A legendary Israeli Mossad spy who led the capture of Holocaust mastermind Adolf Eichmann. March 23.

Larry Cohen, 77. The maverick B-movie director of cult horror films “It’s Alive” and “God Told Me To.” March 23.

Michel Bacos, 95. A French pilot who’s remembered as a hero for his actions in the 1976 hijacking of an Air France plane to Uganda’s Entebbe airport. March 26.

Valery Bykovsky, 84. A pioneering Soviet-era cosmonaut who made the first of his three flights to space in 1963. March 27.

Agnes Varda, 90. The French New Wave pioneer who for decades beguiled, challenged and charmed moviegoers in films that inspired generations of filmmakers. March 29. Cancer.

Ken Gibson, 86. He became the first black mayor of a major Northeast city when he ascended to power in riot-torn Newark, New Jersey, about five decades ago. March 29.

Billy Adams, 79. A Rockabilly Hall of Famer who wrote and recorded the rockabilly staple “Rock, Pretty Mama.” March 30.

Nipsey Hussle, 33. A Grammy-nominated rapper. March 31. Killed in a shooting.

APRIL

Sydney Brenner, 92. A Nobel Prize-winning biologist who helped decipher the genetic code and whose research on a roundworm sparked a new field of human disease research. April 5.

Ernest F. “Fritz” Hollings, 97. The silver-haired Democrat who helped shepherd South Carolina through desegregation as governor and went on to serve six terms in the U.S. Senate. April 6.

Cho Yang-ho, 70. Korean Air’s chairman, whose leadership included scandals such as his daughter’s infamous incident of “nut rage.” April 7.

Marilynn Smith, 89. One of the 13 founders of the LPGA Tour whose 21 victories, two majors and endless support of her tour led to her induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame. April 9.

Richard “Dick” Cole, 103. The last of the 80 Doolittle Tokyo Raiders who carried out the daring U.S. attack on Japan during World War II. April 9.

Charles Van Doren, 93. The dashing young academic whose meteoric rise and fall as a corrupt game show contestant in the 1950s inspired the movie “Quiz Show” and served as a cautionary tale about the staged competitions of early television. April 9.

Monkey Punch, 81. A cartoonist best known as the creator of the Japanese megahit comic series Lupin III. April 11.

Georgia Engel, 70. She played the charmingly innocent, small-voiced Georgette on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and amassed a string of other TV and stage credits. April 12.

Bibi Andersson, 83. The Swedish actress who starred in classic films by compatriot Ingmar Bergman, including “The Seventh Seal” and “Persona.” April 14.

Owen Garriott, 88. A former astronaut who flew on America’s first space station, Skylab, and whose son followed him into orbit. April 15.

Alan García, 69. A former Peruvian president whose first term in the 1980s was marred by financial chaos and rebel violence and who was recently targeted in Latin America’s biggest corruption scandal. April 17. Apparent suicide.

Lorraine Warren, 92. A world-wide paranormal investigator and author whose decades of ghost-hunting cases with her late husband inspired such frightening films as “The Conjuring” series and “The Amityville Horror.” April 18.

Mark Medoff, 79. A provocative playwright whose “Children of a Lesser God” won Tony and Olivier awards and whose screen adaptation of his play earned an Oscar nomination. April 23.

John Havlicek, 79. The Boston Celtics great whose steal of Hal Greer’s inbounds pass in the final seconds of the 1965 Eastern Conference final against the Philadelphia 76ers remains one of the most famous plays in NBA history. April 25.

Damon J. Keith, 96. A grandson of slaves and figure in the civil rights movement who as a federal judge was sued by President Richard Nixon over a ruling against warrantless wiretaps. April 28.

Richard Lugar, 87. A former U.S. senator and foreign policy sage known for leading efforts to help the former Soviet states dismantle and secure much of their nuclear arsenal but whose reputation for working with Democrats cost him his final campaign. April 28.

John Singleton, 51. A director who made one of Hollywood’s most memorable debuts with the Oscar-nominated “Boyz N the Hood” and continued over the following decades to probe the lives of black communities in his native Los Angeles and beyond. April 29. Taken off life support after a stroke.

Ellen Tauscher, 67. A trailblazer for women in the world of finance who served in Congress for more than a decade before joining the Obama administration. April 29. Complications from pneumonia.

Peter Mayhew, 74. The towering actor who donned a huge, furry costume to give life to the rugged-and-beloved character of Chewbacca in the original “Star Wars” trilogy and two other films. April 30.

MAY

John Lukacs, 95. The Hungarian-born historian and iconoclast who brooded over the future of Western civilization, wrote a best-selling tribute to Winston Churchill, and produced a substantial and often despairing body of writings on the politics and culture of Europe and the United States. May 6.

Peggy Lipton, 72. A star of the groundbreaking late 1960s TV show “The Mod Squad” and the 1990s show “Twin Peaks.” May 11. Cancer.

Leonard Bailey, 76. The doctor who in 1984 transplanted a baboon heart into a tiny newborn dubbed “Baby Fae” in a pioneering operation that sparked both worldwide acclaim and condemnation. May 12.

Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, 98. The former patriarch of Lebanon’s Maronite Christian church who served as spiritual leader of Lebanon’s largest Christian community through some of the worst days of the country’s 1975-1990 civil war. May 12.

Doris Day, 97. The sunny blond actress and singer whose frothy comedic roles opposite the likes of Rock Hudson and Cary Grant made her one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the 1950s and ’60s and a symbol of wholesome American womanhood. May 13.

Tim Conway, 85. The impish second banana to Carol Burnett who won four Emmy Awards on her TV variety show, starred in “McHale’s Navy” and later voiced the role of Barnacle Boy for “Spongebob Squarepants.” May 14.

I.M. Pei, 102. The versatile, globe-trotting architect who revived the Louvre with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. May 16.

Niki Lauda, 70. A Formula One great who won two of his world titles after a horrific crash that left him with serious burns and went on to become a prominent figure in the aviation industry. May 20.

Binyavanga Wainaina, 48. One of Africa’s best-known authors and gay rights activists. May 21. Illness.

Judith Kerr, 95. A refugee from Nazi Germany who wrote and illustrated the best-selling “The Tiger Who Came to Tea” and other beloved children’s books. May 22.

Murray Gell-Mann, 89. The Nobel Prize-winning physicist who brought order to the universe by helping discover and classify subatomic particles. May 24.

Claus von Bulow, 92. A Danish-born socialite who was convicted but later acquitted of trying to kill his wealthy wife in two trials that drew intense international attention in the 1980s. May 25.

Prem Tinsulanonda, 98. As an army commander, prime minister and adviser to the royal palace, he was one of Thailand’s most influential political figures over four decades. May 26.

Richard Matsch, 88. A federal judge who ruled his courtroom with a firm gavel and a short temper and gained national respect in the 1990s for his handling of the Oklahoma City bombing trials. May 26.

Bill Buckner, 69. A star hitter who made one of the biggest blunders in baseball history when he let Mookie Wilson’s trickler roll through his legs in the 1986 World Series. May 27.

Thad Cochran, 81. A former U.S. senator who served 45 years in Washington and used seniority to steer billions of dollars to his home state of Mississippi. May 30.

Patricia Bath, 76. A pioneering ophthalmologist who became the first African American female doctor to receive a medical patent after she invented a more precise treatment of cataracts. May 30. Complications of cancer.

Leon Redbone, 69. The blues and jazz artist whose growly voice, Panama hat and cultivated air of mystery made him seem like a character out of the ragtime era or the Depression-era Mississippi Delta. May 30.

Frank Lucas, 88. The former Harlem drug kingpin whose life and lore inspired the 2007 film “American Gangster.” May 30.

JUNE

Leah Chase, 96. A New Orleans chef and civil rights icon who created the city’s first white-tablecloth restaurant for black patrons, broke the city’s segregation laws by seating white and black customers, and introduced countless tourists to Southern Louisiana Creole cooking. June 1.

Dr. John, 77. The New Orleans singer and piano player who blended black and white musical styles with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl. June 6.

John Gunther Dean, 93. A veteran American diplomat and five-time ambassador forever haunted by his role in the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia during the dying days of the Khmer Republic. June 6.

Sylvia Miles, 94. An actress and Manhattan socialite whose brief, scene-stealing appearances in the films “Midnight Cowboy” and “Farewell, My Lovely” earned her two Academy Award nominations. June 12.

Lew Klein, 91. A broadcast pioneer who helped create “American Bandstand” and launched the careers of Dick Clark and Bob Saget. June 12.

Pat Bowlen, 75. The Denver Broncos owner who transformed the team from also-rans into NFL champions and helped the league usher in billion-dollar television deals. June 13.

Charles Reich, 91. The author and Ivy League academic whose “The Greening of America” blessed the counterculture of the 1960s and became a million-selling manifesto for a new and euphoric way of life. June 15.

Gloria Vanderbilt, 95. The intrepid heiress, artist and romantic who began her extraordinary life as the “poor little rich girl” of the Great Depression, survived family tragedy and multiple marriages and reigned during the 1970s and ’80s as a designer jeans pioneer. June 17.

Jim Taricani, 69. An award-winning TV reporter who exposed corruption and served a federal sentence for refusing to disclose a source. June 21. Kidney failure.

Judith Krantz, 91. A writer whose million-selling novels such as “Scruples” and “Princess Daisy” engrossed readers worldwide with their steamy tales of the rich and beautiful. June 22.

Dave Bartholomew, 100. A giant of New Orleans music and a rock n’ roll pioneer who, with Fats Domino, co-wrote and produced such classics as “Ain’t That a Shame,” “I’m Walkin’” and “Let the Four Winds Blow.” June 23.

Beth Chapman, 51. The wife and co-star of “Dog the Bounty Hunter” reality TV star Duane “Dog” Chapman. June 26.

JULY

Tyler Skaggs, 27. The left-handed pitcher who was a regular in the Los Angeles Angels’ starting rotation since late 2016 and struggled with injuries repeatedly in that time. July 1. Choked on his own vomit and had a toxic mix of alcohol and painkillers fentanyl and oxycodone in his system.

Lee Iacocca, 94. The auto executive and master pitchman who put the Mustang in Ford’s lineup in the 1960s and became a corporate folk hero when he resurrected Chrysler 20 years later. July 2.

Eva Kor, 85. A Holocaust survivor who championed forgiveness even for those who carried out the Holocaust atrocities. July 4.

Joao Gilberto, 88. A Brazilian singer, guitarist and songwriter considered one of the fathers of the bossa nova genre that gained global popularity in the 1960s and became an iconic sound of the South American nation. July 6.

Cameron Boyce, 20. An actor best known for his role as the teenage son of Cruella de Vil in the Disney Channel franchise “Descendants.” July 6. Seizure.

Martin Charnin, 84. He made his Broadway debut playing a Jet in the original “West Side Story” and went on to become a Broadway director and a lyricist who won a Tony Award for the score of the eternal hit “Annie.” July 6.

Artur Brauner, 100. A Polish-born Holocaust survivor who became one of post-World War II Germany’s most prominent film producers. July 7.

Rosie Ruiz, 66. The Boston Marathon course-cutter who was stripped of her victory in the 1980 race and went on to become an enduring symbol of cheating in sports. July 8. Cancer.

H. Ross Perot, 89. The colorful, self-made Texas billionaire who rose from delivering newspapers as a boy to building his own information technology company and twice mounted outsider campaigns for president. July 9. Leukemia.

Rip Torn, 88. The free-spirited Texan who overcame his quirky name to become a distinguished actor in television, theater and movies, such as “Men in Black,” and win an Emmy in his 60s for “The Larry Sanders Show.” July 9.

Fernando De la Rúa, 81. A former Argentine president who attracted voters with his image as an honest statesman and later left as the country plunged into its worst economic crisis. July 9.

Johnny Kitagawa, 87. Better known as Johnny-san, he was a kingpin of Japan’s entertainment industry for more than half a century who produced famous boy bands including Arashi, Tokio and SMAP. July 9.

Jim Bouton, 80. The former New York Yankees pitcher who shocked and angered the conservative baseball world with the tell-all book “Ball Four.” July 10.

Jerry Lawson, 75. For four decades, he was the lead singer of the eclectic cult favorite a cappella group the Persuasions. July 10.

Pernell Whitaker, 55. An Olympic gold medalist and four-division boxing champion who was regarded as one of the greatest defensive fighters ever. July 14. Hit by a car.

L. Bruce Laingen, 96. The top American diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran when it was overrun by Iranian protesters in 1979 and one of 52 Americans held hostage for more than a year. July 15.

Edith Irby Jones, 91. The first black student to enroll at an all-white medical school in the South and later the first female president of the National Medical Association. July 15.

John Paul Stevens, 99. The bow-tied, independent-thinking, Republican-nominated justice who unexpectedly emerged as the Supreme Court’s leading liberal. July 16.

Johnny Clegg, 66. A South African musician who performed in defiance of racial barriers imposed under the country’s apartheid system decades ago and celebrated its new democracy under Nelson Mandela. July 16.

Elijah “Pumpsie” Green, 85. The former Boston Red Sox infielder was the first black player on the last major league team to field one. July 17.

Rutger Hauer, 75. A Dutch film actor who specialized in menacing roles, including a memorable turn as a murderous android in “Blade Runner” opposite Harrison Ford. July 19.

Paul Krassner, 87. The publisher, author and radical political activist on the front lines of 1960s counterculture who helped tie together his loose-knit prankster group by naming them the Yippies. July 21.

Robert M. Morgenthau, 99. A former Manhattan district attorney who spent more than three decades jailing criminals from mob kingpins and drug-dealing killers to a tax-dodging Harvard dean. July 21.

Li Peng, 90. A former hard-line Chinese premier best known for announcing martial law during the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests that ended with a bloody crackdown by troops. July 22.

Art Neville, 81. A member of one of New Orleans’ storied musical families, the Neville Brothers, and a founding member of the groundbreaking funk band The Meters. July 22.

Chris Kraft, 95. The founder of NASA’s mission control. July 22.

Mike Moulin, 70. A former Los Angeles police lieutenant who came under fire for failing to quell the first outbreak of rioting after the Rodney King beating verdict. July 30.

Harold Prince, 91. A Broadway director and producer who pushed the boundaries of musical theater with such groundbreaking shows as “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Cabaret,” “Company” and “Sweeney Todd” and won a staggering 21 Tony Awards. July 31.

AUGUST

D.A. Pennebaker, 94. The Oscar-winning documentary maker whose historic contributions to American culture and politics included immortalizing a young Bob Dylan in “Don’t Look Back” and capturing the spin behind Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign in “The War Room.” Aug. 1.

Henri Belolo, 82. He co-founded the Village People and co-wrote their classic hits “YMCA,” “Macho Man” and “In the Navy.” Aug. 3.

Nuon Chea, 93. The chief ideologue of the communist Khmer Rouge regime that destroyed a generation of Cambodians. Aug. 4.

Toni Morrison, 88. A pioneer and reigning giant of modern literature whose imaginative power in “Beloved,” “Song of Solomon” and other works transformed American letters by dramatizing the pursuit of freedom within the boundaries of race. Aug. 5.

Sushma Swaraj, 67. She was India’s former external affairs minister and a leader of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Aug. 6.

Peter Fonda, 79. The actor was the son of a Hollywood legend who became a movie star in his own right after both writing and starring in the counterculture classic “Easy Rider.” Aug. 16.

Richard Williams, 86. A Canadian-British animator whose work on the bouncing cartoon bunny in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” helped blur the boundaries between the animated world and our own. Aug. 16. Cancer.

Cedric Benson, 36. A former NFL running back who was one of the most prolific rushers in NCAA and University of Texas history. Aug. 17. Motorcycle crash.

Kathleen Blanco, 76. She became Louisiana’s first female elected governor only to see her political career derailed by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Aug. 18.

David H. Koch, 79. A billionaire industrialist who, with his older brother Charles, was both celebrated and demonized for transforming American politics by pouring their riches into conservative causes. Aug. 23.

Ferdinand Piech, 82. The German auto industry power broker was the longtime patriarch of Volkswagen AG and the key engineer of its takeover of Porsche. Aug. 25.

Baxter Leach, 79. A prominent member of the Memphis, Tennessee, sanitation workers union whose historic strike drew the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to the city where he was assassinated. Aug. 27.

Jim Leavelle, 99. The longtime Dallas lawman who was captured in one of history’s most iconic photographs escorting President John F. Kennedy’s assassin as he was fatally shot. Aug. 29.

Valerie Harper, 80. She scored guffaws, stole hearts and busted TV taboos as the brash, self-deprecating Rhoda Morgenstern on back-to-back hit sitcoms in the 1970s. Aug. 30.

SEPTEMBER

Jimmy Johnson, 76. A founder of the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and guitarist with the famed studio musicians “The Swampers.” Sept. 5.

Robert Mugabe, 95. The former Zimbabwean leader was an ex-guerrilla chief who took power when the African country shook off white minority rule and presided for decades while economic turmoil and human rights violations eroded its early promise. Sept. 6.

Robert Frank, 94. A giant of 20th-century photography whose seminal book “The Americans” captured singular, candid moments of the 1950s and helped free picture-taking from the boundaries of clean lighting and linear composition. Sept. 9.

T. Boone Pickens, 91. A brash and quotable oil tycoon who grew even wealthier through corporate takeover attempts. Sept. 11.

Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, 83. A former Indonesian president who allowed democratic reforms and an independence referendum for East Timor following the ouster of the dictator Suharto. Sept. 11.

Eddie Money, 70. The rock star known for such hits as “Two Tickets to Paradise” and “Take Me Home Tonight.” Sept. 13. Esophageal cancer.

Phyllis Newman, 86. A Tony Award-winning Broadway veteran who became the first woman to host “The Tonight Show” before turning her attention to fight for women’s health. Sept. 15.

Ric Ocasek, 75. The Cars frontman whose deadpan vocal delivery and lanky, sunglassed look defined a rock era with chart-topping hits like “Just What I Needed.” Sept. 15.

Cokie Roberts, 75. The daughter of politicians and a pioneering journalist who chronicled Washington from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump for NPR and ABC News. Sept. 17. Complications from breast cancer.

David A. Jones Sr., 88. He invested $1,000 to start a nursing home company that eventually became the $37 billion health insurance giant Humana Inc. Sept. 18.

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, 83. The former Tunisian president was an autocrat who led his small North African country for 23 years before being toppled by nationwide protests that unleashed revolt across the Arab world. Sept. 19.

John Keenan, 99. He was the police official who led New York City’s manhunt for the “Son of Sam” killer and eventually took a case-solving confession from David Berkowitz. Sept. 19.

Barron Hilton, 91. A hotel magnate who expanded his father’s chain and became a founding owner in the American Football League. Sept. 19.

Howard “Hopalong” Cassady, 85. The 1955 Heisman Trophy winner at Ohio State and running back for the Detroit Lions. Sept. 20.

Karl Muenter, 96. A former SS soldier who was convicted in France of a wartime massacre but who never served any time for his crimes. Sept. 20.

Sigmund Jaehn, 82. He became the first German in space at the height of the Cold War during the 1970s and was promoted as a hero by communist authorities in East Germany. Sept. 21.

Jacques Chirac, 86. A two-term French president who was the first leader to acknowledge France’s role in the Holocaust and defiantly opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Sept. 26.

Joseph Wilson, 69. The former ambassador who set off a political firestorm by disputing U.S. intelligence used to justify the 2003 Iraq invasion. Sept. 27.

José José, 71. The Mexican crooner was an elegant dresser who moved audiences to tears with melancholic love ballads and was known as the “Prince of Song.” Sept. 28.

Jessye Norman, 74. The renowned international opera star whose passionate soprano voice won her four Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honor. Sept. 30.

Samuel Mayerson, 97. The prosecutor who took newspaper heiress Patty Hearst to court for shooting up a Southern California sporting goods store in 1974 and then successfully argued for probation, not prison, for the kidnapping victim-turned terrorist. Sept. 30.

OCTOBER

Karel Gott, 80. A Czech pop singer who became a star behind the Iron Curtain. Oct. 1.

Diogo Freitas do Amaral, 78. A conservative Portuguese politician who played a leading role in cementing the country’s democracy after its 1974 Carnation Revolution and later became president of the U.N. General Assembly. Oct. 3.

Diahann Carroll, 84. The Oscar-nominated actress and singer who won critical acclaim as the first black woman to star in a non-servant role in a TV series as “Julia.” Oct. 4. Cancer.

Ginger Baker, 80. The volatile and propulsive drummer for Cream and other bands who wielded blues power and jazz finesse and helped shatter boundaries of time, tempo and style in popular music. Oct. 6.

Rip Taylor, 88. The madcap, mustached comedian with a fondness for confetti-throwing who became a television game show mainstay in the 1970s. Oct. 6.

Robert Forster, 78. The handsome and omnipresent character actor who got a career resurgence and Oscar nomination for playing bail bondsman Max Cherry in “Jackie Brown.” Oct. 11. Brain cancer.

James Stern, 55. A black activist who took control of one of the nation’s largest neo-Nazi groups — and vowed to dismantle it. Oct. 11. Cancer.

Alexei Leonov, 85. The legendary Soviet cosmonaut who became the first person to walk in space. Oct. 11.

Scotty Bowers, 96. A self-described Hollywood “fixer” whose memoir offered sensational accounts of the sex lives of such celebrities as Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Oct. 13.

Harold Bloom, 89. The eminent critic and Yale professor whose seminal “The Anxiety of Influence” and melancholy regard for literature’s old masters made him a popular author and standard-bearer of Western civilization amid modern trends. Oct. 14.

Elijah E. Cummings, 68. A sharecropper’s son who rose to become a civil rights champion and the chairman of one of the U.S. House committees leading an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Oct. 17. Complications from longstanding health problems.

Alicia Alonso, 98. The revered ballerina and choreographer whose nearly 75-year career made her an icon of artistic loyalty to Cuba’s socialist system. Oct. 17.

Bill Macy, 97. The character actor whose hangdog expression was a perfect match for his role as the long-suffering foil to Bea Arthur’s unyielding feminist on the daring 1970s sitcom “Maude.” Oct. 17.

Marieke Vervoort, 40. A Paralympian who won gold and silver medals in 2012 at the London Paralympics in wheelchair racing and two more medals in Rio de Janeiro. Oct. 22. Took her own life after living with pain from a degenerative spinal disease.

Sadako Ogata, 92. She led the U.N. refugee agency for a decade and became one of the first Japanese to hold a top job at an international organization. Oct. 22.

Kathryn Johnson, 93. A trailblazing reporter for The Associated Press whose intrepid coverage of the civil rights movement and other major stories led to a string of legendary scoops. Oct. 23.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to be 48. He sought to establish an Islamic “caliphate” across Syria and Iraq, but he might be remembered more as the ruthless leader of the Islamic State group who brought terror to the heart of Europe. Oct. 26. Detonated a suicide vest during a raid by U.S. forces.

John Conyers, 90. The former congressman was one of the longest-serving members of Congress whose resolutely liberal stance on civil rights made him a political institution in Washington and back home in Detroit despite several scandals. Oct. 27.

Ivan Milat, 74. His grisly serial killings of seven European and Australian backpackers horrified Australia in the early ’90s. Oct. 27.

Vladimir Bukovsky, 76. A prominent Soviet-era dissident who became internationally known for exposing Soviet abuse of psychiatry. Oct. 27.

Kay Hagan, 66. A former bank executive who rose from a budget writer in the North Carolina Legislature to a seat in the U.S. Senate. Oct. 28. Illness.

John Walker, 82. An Arkansas lawmaker and civil rights attorney who represented black students in a long-running court fight over the desegregation of Little Rock-area schools. Oct. 28.

John Witherspoon, 77. An actor-comedian who memorably played Ice Cube’s father in the “Friday” films. Oct. 29.

NOVEMBER

Walter Mercado, 88. A television astrologer whose glamorous persona made him a star in Latin media and a cherished icon for gay people in most of the Spanish-speaking world. Nov. 2. Kidney failure.

Gert Boyle, 95. The colorful chairwoman of Oregon-based Columbia Sportswear Co. who starred in ads proclaiming her “One Tough Mother.” Nov. 3.

Ernest J. Gaines, 86. A novelist whose poor childhood on a small Louisiana plantation germinated stories of black struggles that grew into universal tales of grace and beauty. Nov. 5.

Werner Gustav Doehner, 90. He was the last remaining survivor of the Hindenburg disaster, who suffered severe burns to his face, arms and legs before his mother managed to toss him and his brother from the burning airship. Nov. 8.

Charles Rogers, 38. The former Michigan State star and Detroit Lions receiver was an All-American wide receiver who was the school’s all-time leader in touchdown catches. Nov. 11.

Raymond Poulidor, 83. The “eternal runner-up” whose repeated failure to win the Tour de France helped him conquer French hearts and become the country’s all-time favorite cyclist. Nov. 13.

Walter J. Minton, 96. A publishing scion and risk taker with a self-described “nasty streak” who as head of G.P. Putnam’s Sons released works by Norman Mailer and Terry Southern, among others, and signed up Vladimir Nabokov’s scandalous “Lolita.” Nov. 19.

Jake Burton Carpenter, 65. The man who changed the game on the mountain by fulfilling a grand vision of what a snowboard could be. Nov. 20. Complications stemming from a relapse of testicular cancer.

Gahan Wilson, 89. His humorous and often macabre cartoons were a mainstay in magazines including Playboy, the New Yorker and National Lampoon. Nov. 21.

Cathy Long, 95. A Louisiana Democrat who won her husband’s U.S. House seat after his sudden death in 1985 and served one term. Nov. 23.

John Simon, 94. A theater and film critic known for his lacerating reviews and often withering assessment of performers’ physical appearance. Nov. 24.

William Doyle Ruckelshaus, 87. He famously quit his job in the Justice Department rather than carry out President Richard Nixon’s order to fire the special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal. Nov. 27.

Yasuhiro Nakasone, 101. The former Japanese prime minister was a giant of his country’s post-World War II politics who pushed for a more assertive Japan while strengthening military ties with the United States. Nov. 29.

Irving Burgie, 95. A composer who helped popularize Caribbean music and co-wrote the enduring Harry Belafonte hit “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song).” Nov. 29.

DECEMBER

Allan Gerson, 74. A lawyer who pursued Nazi war criminals and pioneered the practice of suing foreign governments in U.S. courts for complicity to terrorism. Dec. 1.

Juice WRLD, 21. A rapper who launched his career on SoundCloud before becoming a streaming juggernaut and rose to the top of the charts with the Sting-sampled hit “Lucid Dreams.” Dec. 8. Died after being treated for opioid use during a police search.

René Auberjonois, 79. A prolific actor best known for his roles on the television shows “Benson” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and his part in the 1970 film “M.A.S.H.” playing Father Mulcahy. Dec. 8.

Caroll Spinney, 85. He gave Big Bird his warmth and Oscar the Grouch his growl for nearly 50 years on “Sesame Street.” Dec. 8.

Paul Volcker, 92. The former Federal Reserve chairman who in the early 1980s raised interest rates to historic highs and triggered a recession as the price of quashing double-digit inflation. Dec. 8.

Pete Frates, 34. A former college baseball player whose battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease helped inspire the ALS ice bucket challenge that has raised more than $200 million worldwide. Dec. 9.

Marie Fredriksson, 61. The female half of the Swedish pop duo Roxette that achieve international success in the late 1980s and 1990s. Dec. 9.

Kim Woo-choong, 82. The disgraced founder of the now-collapsed Daewoo business group whose rise and fall symbolized South Korea’s turbulent rapid economic growth in the 1970s. Dec. 9. Pneumonia.

Danny Aiello, 86. The blue-collar character actor whose long career playing tough guys included roles in “Fort Apache, the Bronx,” “Moonstruck” and “Once Upon a Time in America” and his Oscar-nominated performance as a pizza man in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing.” Dec. 12.

Robert Glenn “Junior” Johnson, 88. The moonshine runner turned NASCAR driver who won 50 races as a driver and 132 as an owner and was part of the inaugural class inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010. Dec. 20.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/12/24/final-goodbye-recalling-influential-people-who-died-in-2019/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/12/24/final-goodbye-recalling-influential-people-who-died-in-2019/

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Usa : according to a note in secret, Moscow has a sex-tape … – The Parisian

A memo invérifié of 35 pages, reinforcing the thesis of collusion between the president-elect of the United States and Russia during the election campaign, has just been published in the american press.

Le paper, explosive, remains to authenticate. And its content is quite embarrassing for the leaders of the u.s. intelligence have decided to inform Donald Trump, last week, of its existence. The american press revealed Tuesday that a memo of up to 35 pages collecting very sensitive information, collected for years by Russian billionaire republican, was in circulation in the highest circles of Washington.

“False information – a witch-hunt complete!” responded the president-elect of the United States on Twitter, writing the whole of his message in capitals.

The incumbent president Barack Obama, who has made his farewell to the white House Tuesday evening, has already said on NBC, that it does not “comment, not the classified information”.

Video. The rumor that has roiled Washington 9 days of the inauguration of Trump

The author, a former agent of MI-6 british

CNN and other media outlets reported Tuesday the existence of this memo, composed of a series of notes dated from June to December 2016 and it’s written by a former agent of the counter-espionage, british, deemed credible by u.s. intelligence for political opponents to Donald Trump.

According to the media, including CNN and the New York Times, the leaders of the u.s. intelligence presented to the president-elect a two-page summary of these 35 pages, at the same time that they were comprised of their report, partially declassified Friday, summarizing all the operations of Russian computer hacking and disinformation in the United States. The fact that this summary has been submitted to Donald Trump, Barack Obama and several leaders of the Congress highlights the importance given to these documents by the heads spies.

escapades Of sex with Russian prostitutes

The 35-page were published Tuesday by the news site BuzzFeed, which has, however, clarified that he was not able to authenticate. Their content has not been certified by official sources. The notes, themselves, circulated among the political circles and media in Washington for several weeks.

They mention in particular the existence of a video of a sexual nature filmed secretly by the Russian secret service during a visit to Trump in Moscow, in 2013, with Russian prostitutes, the Kremlin has thus, at need, a means of pressure on the candidate. The document also makes reference to exchanges of information expected for several years between Donald Trump, his family and the Kremlin, in both directions.

The lawyer for Trump defends itself

Michael Cohen, a lawyer for the billionaire and vice-president of the family organization, has rejected the notes, which mentioned several times and in detail a trip to Prague at the end of August or early September to meet with Russian interlocutors. “I never went to Prague in my life”, he defended himself on Twitter.

This information, despite the shadow areas, have caused the disorder in Washington, including in Congress. “If these allegations of coordination between the campaign of Trump and Russian agents are proved, and allegations that Russians have compromised the independence of the elected president Trump, it would be really shocking. This would be explosive,” responded on CNN, democratic senator Chris Coons.

democrats called for an investigation

The former spokesman for Hillary Clinton, Brian Fallon, has called on the head republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, to authorize a special commission of inquiry. In addition, on Tuesday, elected democrats have directly challenged the director of the FBI, James Comey, during a hearing on whether the FBI had investigated these relations alleged. James Comey replied that he was forbidden to answer such a question at a public meeting.

Russia denies

Russia has no records “compromising” on the president-elect, Donald Trump, said on Wednesday the Kremlin, the seat of the Russian presidency, denouncing the accusations of the leaders of the u.s. intelligence as a “false full” intended to undermine relations with Washington. “The Kremlin does not have a kompromat on Donald Trump”, has declared to journalists the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, using a term inherited from the jargon in the soviet designated information incriminating collected against persons who may be subject to blackmail.

According to the Russian agencies, he has called “the literature of station” the fact that the Russian authorities seek to collect such information. “It is a false information, a manufacture, a non-integral sense”. He also added that the Russian services do not have information compromising on the rival unhappy that Donald Trump in the presidential race, Hillary Clinton.

Interference in Russian in the campaign : Trump admits the existence of cyber-attacks

the consensus of The intelligence services in the us is that Vladimir Putin has ordered a campaign of influence in the United States by hacking including emails from officials-democrats to discredit Hillary Clinton in order to boost the chances of Donald Trump. The Kremlin denies the accusations of interference. Donald Trump, who has campaigned on advocating a rapprochement with Moscow, after having long refused to accept the conclusion of the Obama administration over the interference in Russian, he finally admitted last Friday that Russia, among other actors-state and private, had launched cyberattacks in the United States, particularly against the democratic party.

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