[Variety] Tony Bennett, the master pop vocalist who had a professional career spanning eight decades with a No. 1 album at age 85, died on Friday morning in New York City. He was 96.
Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, but had continued to perform and record through 2021.
His peer Frank Sinatra called him the greatest popular singer in the world. His recordings — most of them made for Columbia Records, which signed him in 1950 — were characterized by ebullience, immense warmth, vocal clarity and emotional openness. A gifted and technically accomplished interpreter of the Great American Songbook, he may be best known for his signature 1962 hit "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."
He was equally at home in front of intimate combos (which often featured his pianist and longtime musical director Ralph Sharon) and lushly arranged orchestras. Though never strictly a jazz singer, he flourished in jazz settings, and cut memorable sessions with Count Basie’s big band and the lyrical pianist Bill Evans.
Active as a recording artist from 1949, and one of the top pop performers in the ’50s and early ’60s, Bennett saw his career surge anew in the ’90s and again in the new millennium, under the management of his son Danny.
In later years, he memorably dueted on the standard "Body and Soul" with Amy Winehouse, and released a full-length duet album with Diana Krall and a pair of recordings with Lady Gaga. Even after the revelation in early 2021 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he remained active.
His last public appearance came with Gaga at Radio City Music Hall in August 2021, two months before his last release, the Bennett-Gaga set "Love for Sale," the sequel to their chart-topping 2014 collaboration "Cheek to Cheek."
[Gov't Executive] A critical role in the national security community will soon become open. Director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency William Lietzau announced his plans to retire in an email announcement to staff on July 19. Lietzau says the departure will not be abrupt but hopes to give the agency adequate time to find a replacement before he makes his retirement from federal service.
It’s unclear who the next director of DCSA will be, but the DOD will likely carefully consider the right selection for the role given the current climate around security clearance process reforms in the wake of Airman Jack Teixeira’s alleged leaks of classified information, and the recent release of results of a 45-day review of the security clearance process.
The review includes a push for better training for the cleared workforce and a Joint Insider Threat Taskforce. Recommendations called for several other joint initiatives with the undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and DCSA. Those changes and initiatives come as the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) comes on board — the importance of NBIS to the personnel vetting program can’t be overstated and will have a significant impact on both DOD and the more than 100 federal agencies who use DCSA to conduct their background investigations.
Taking the helm of the nation’s largest security organization at a time of persistent threats coming from both internal and external actors may be a job no one wants — but it’s an important one. The right skills for the job include equal parts cat herder and train conductor, blending the personnel security, physical security, and technological advancement needed for a modern security agency. Overhauling technology and maintaining the workforce have been key muscle movements of Lietzau’s tenure — and will remain so in the months to come.
#2
If they're not going to be allowed to arrest obvious double agents like Daszak or Fauci, never mind the people who did the OPM database "oops we wuz hacked!" fiasco from ten years ago, what's the point of having one of these agencies?
What's the point of continuing with the United States and pretending it's a country?
#3
Who wants to be the controlled opposition? Prospects for advancement and graft are pretty slim.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/21/2023 12:38 Comments ||
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#4
#2 I've noticed certain quarters of our ruling caste of stopped pretending. They refer to "...their precious democracy" whatever the hell that is, but I hear nothing from them on the USA unless to say how racist it is.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/21/2023 12:40 Comments ||
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#5
What are the hours? I’m sick of working at DQ anyway?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/21/2023 19:03 Comments ||
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[ZeroHedge] ....the journal Science published an article confirming that COVID-19 vaccines are linked to autoimmune disorders, such as small fiber neuropathy and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
"We’ve been screaming from the top of our lungs about these things happening," Agnieszka Wilson, founder of #CanWeTalkAboutIt told The Defender. "And finally, slowly, it’s being acknowledged."
The #CanWeTalkAboutIt campaign is a global effort to break the silence around injuries from the COVID-19 vaccine.
Suzanna Newell, former board member of the vaccine-injured patient advocacy group React19, told The Defender:
"I am extremely grateful that doctors and medical institutions are now willing to talk about adverse reactions. [They] should have been listening to the injured. We even have many injured medical professionals among the injured who have had trouble being heard."
Science reported that in addition to abnormal blood clotting and heart inflammation, the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines give rise to "another apparent complication":
"[This] debilitating suite of symptoms that resembles Long Covid, has been more elusive, its link to vaccination unclear and its diagnostic features ill-defined.
"But in recent months, what some call Long Vax has gained wider acceptance among doctors and scientists, and some are now working to better understand and treat its symptoms."
Posted by: The Walking Unvaxed ||
07/21/2023 06:41 ||
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#1
I seem to remember them (Science Magazine) carrying water for the WuFlu Vaxxers at one point or another.
Seems that has changed, or at least some of it.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/21/2023 8:24 Comments ||
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#2
"New shit has come to light, man!"
/Jeffrey "Big" Lebowski
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/21/2023 9:11 Comments ||
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#3
The journal Science lost me with their never ending climate propaganda. I usually skim the headlines pretty quick to find something readable. Dropped the paper subscription many years ago.
Posted by: Cleared Cookies Lost Nic ||
07/21/2023 9:52 Comments ||
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#4
Truth used to come to the universities first. This time it arrived like a roast chicken at The Walmart.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/21/2023 10:00 Comments ||
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[GEO.TV] At least 10 villagers in western Maharashtra, India, were killed in a deadly landslide on Thursday, while around 100 people mainly women and kiddies are feared to be still trapped in there after the disaster.
The rescue workers in search of potentially trapped victims worked through the night as they battled difficult terrain and bad weather while the incessant rain soaked a mountain slope, officials said.
A wave of extreme heat, wildfires, torrential rain and flooding has wreaked havoc around the world in recent days, raising new fears about the pace of climate change.
The land collapsed in the middle of the night in the remote mountain hamlet of Irshalwadi, in the western state of Maharashtra, about 60 km (37 miles) from Mumbai, officials said.
Ten bodies had been recovered and more than 80 people had been rescued.
It was estimated that at least 225 people lived in the hamlet, the state's deputy chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, told the state assembly. More than 100 of them were feared trapped in the debris.
Rescue workers are having to trek with their equipment for almost two hours to reach the landslide, some accompanied by sniffer dogs.
They then have to labour in heavy rain and fog, occasionally dodging big boulders tumbling down the slope, in their search for survivors nearly 12 hours after the disaster, a Rooters witness and media reported.
"The debris at some of the places is 10 to 29 feet deep," S B Singh, an official with the National Disaster Response Force, told the Indian Express newspaper.
Recently, due to a drastic rise in heavy rainfall, the corpse count has skyrocketed in various countries including India, Pakistain, South Korea and Japan as a result of deadly landslides and flash floods believed to be a cause of climate change.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2023 00:00 ||
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[WGTC] Right now, Disney is under assault in more conservative parts of the country. Those likely to vote for a former game show host or a man who allegedly eats pudding with his fingers say the company is a bunch of groomers, and, in a nod to America’s increasing polarization, are now trying to build a theme park in a safely deep red state.
For those who may not be familiar, on July 19 a group of developers, public officials and former Walt Disney Imagineers and Disney Parks builders announced the American Heartland Theme Park will be in Vinita, OK. near the Cherokee Nation in the Northeast side of the state and along the path of U.S. Route 66. It is expected to cost $2 billion, will feature an RV park and campground, and aims to conjure up the Americana the so-called "mother road" has become famous for in pop culture like Cars.
The project is expected to open in three years and will bring more than 4,000 jobs to the region if local media reporting turns out to be accurate. Those involved include officials from Mansion Entertainment like Steve Hedrick, Kristy Adams, and Founder and Chief Creative Officer Gene Bicknell (who at one point owned a lot of Pizza Hut franchises and used to be an actor), and there is generous support from the state government. Oklahoma Department of Commerce Interim Director General Hopper Smith was present at the announcement, and when done the full project will span 1,000 acres and is estimated to bring in millions. According to Bicknell,
"As far as fun rides, as a place to be. And our main goal is to make it affordable. So a family of mom and dad and a couple of kids, you know their whole dream is to take their kids to a park of this type, and [charity] fills my heart. We have a record and a family charity. We have a record of helping orphans and people all around the world getting education and improving lives. I hope this park will help generate that for this area and many more."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/21/2023 07:47 ||
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#1
One of the rumored 'extreme' rides would a parachute tower, like at Ft Benning, where you would hang in the harness and wait for a supercell to come along. And then the ride begins.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
07/21/2023 9:07 Comments ||
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#2
"I'd buy that for a dollar..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/21/2023 10:08 Comments ||
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#3
Maybe you could be suspended in air like in A Man Called Horse.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/21/2023 10:31 Comments ||
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#4
Make the shooting gallery like Billy Dixon at Adobe Walls and watch the line form.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/21/2023 10:36 Comments ||
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#5
Razorfist the Rageholic has a funny take on Disney’s future.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/21/2023 13:04 Comments ||
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Joshua Falgoust, 34, achieved the unbelievable patriotic look with a roll of tape
The Marine Corps fighter pilot said the process only took him about ten minutes ...ten minutes to attach the tape, 2 1/2 hours to acquire that painful sunburn. "his antics may have been fueled by some celebratory beverages"
#2
I'd post the pic of Wendy O. Williams of the Plasmatics wearing nothing but electrical tape above the waist, but I think that might be wrong side of the line for the comments here.
Did see her live sporting that get-up. Long before the stuff in the bikini pix above.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/20/2023 10:38 Comments ||
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#8
Magpie, yeah, but unlike a tattoo, the tan will fade.
My son used to be a Marine. When he was stationed at Camp Pendleton, he was shacked up with a woman. He went down to Tijuana, got her name tattooed on his shoulder. He got out, she dumped him. Then he met his wife. Who has a different name. Twenty three years later, he still has the tattoo. And the wife, fortunately. She is actually cool with it - her attitude is that she got him, so it all worked out.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/21/2023 14:20 Comments ||
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[PULSE.NG] Dr Cosmas Omeh, State Epidemiologist and Disease Reporting Officer in the Ministry’s Veterinary Services Department, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, July 20, 2023 in Enugu.
NAN reports that Anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by a spore-forming bacterium, which mainly affects animals. Human beings can become infected with anthrax through contact with an infected animal alive or dead as well as by inhaling spores.
The symptoms of anthrax can range from a skin ulcer with a dark scab to difficulty breathing. However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... antibiotic treatment cures most infections. Inhaled anthrax is harder to treat and can be fatal.
Omeh said: "residents should not panic. I do occasionally wonder what The Authorities consider sufficient grounds for panic.
The veterinary Services Department is alert and proactive to protect the health of all by daily ensuring disease-free, fit and wholesome meat for human consumption in all markets. Say you set fire to yourself. Don't panic! Stop, drop, and roll.
"Area Veterinary Officers and Surveillance Officers at the Zonal and LGAs, have been the mandate to watch out for the clinical signs/ symptoms of anthrax daily," he told NAN. Robbers smashing your front door in with an ax? Don't panic! Call 911.
The state epidemiologist noted that the clinical signs/ symptoms of anthrax included: sudden death, bleeding from the orifices such as mouth, nose, ear and anus, rapid bloating, absence of rigor mortis, swelling from the face and neck of an animal. Sudden death? Don't panic! You're dead. When I wake up in the morning without rigor mortis I've always considered that a good sign.
He said that vet doctors are to report any irregularities immediately through the appropriate channel, knowing full well the implications of anthrax as a zoonotic and reportable disease in veterinary medicine. Zoonotic and reportable disease? Don't panic! Call a vet.
"Our veterinary officers and area vet officers are already sensitising the stakeholders in the animal business which includes animal handlers, butchers, livestock owners and merchants, on the dangers of concealing information or even coming in contact with affected animals. Massive nuclear attack incinerates half the nation? Don't panic! I'm not sure why not.
"We have warned handlers of meat to wear protective materials and maintain optimal personal and business place hygiene as well as ensure that carcasses of animals which have died from, or are suspected to have died from Anthrax, must not be opened.
"They should ensure immediate notification of suspected disease through competent authority (Veterinary Services staff or the nearest Veterinarian).
"Milk, meat, wool, hair, hides and skin from animals showing clinical signs should not be removed from the carcass but disposed of following standard operating procedures.
"They should seek medical advice if any of the following occur: if a person feels unwell following handling of suspected or infected carcass or animal; or exposure without appropriate personal protective equipment to suspected or infected animal," he said.
Omeh said that there should be appropriate disposal of potentially infected things; decontamination of affected premises and potentially infected items, equipment and facilities (stables/shed), using formalin, peracetic acid, formaldehyde under different concentration and time duration.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2023 00:00 ||
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#1
They are correct. The time for panic is far behind.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
07/21/2023 9:13 Comments ||
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[Aljazeera] London, United Kingdom — In the early 1980s when Amandip Sidhu was growing up in Harrow, a suburb on the fringe of northwest London, his South Asian family was one of only a handful of non-white households in the area. Having spent some of his childhood in East Africa, where his father was a civil servant, Amandip and his family keenly felt the racist microaggressions that were common across the United Kingdom at the time.
This early experience of prejudice profoundly changed his brother Jagdip, who was five and a half years older than him. Jagdip decided that the best way to beat discrimination was to prove that he was better than his peers. "He was very much the golden boy, and everyone loved him," Amandip says.
After leaving secondary school with top grades, Jagdip went on to tertiary college, which was at the time a prerequisite for entrance into university. Just to outdo himself, he made a request to the college to be allowed to take four subjects instead of the maximum three for his exams. The request was rejected, but Jagdip refused to be deterred. He bought himself a textbook and taught himself physics, eventually scoring straight As.
Amandip found it tough being continually compared with his accomplished sibling. "I’m not academically gifted, and my dad would have a go at me about it sometimes," he says. "And my brother would step in and say, ’Look, just leave him alone.’ He was the only person my dad would listen to."
Jagdip sailed through medical school, his scholastic record peppered with awards. Then he started work at Ealing Hospital in West London. Amandip recalls how his brother bought a new pair of shoes and, a short time after he started work, showed him his feet. They were bleeding and covered in blisters. Amandip was shocked, but Jagdip was pleased. He was so busy at the hospital that he had been rushing around for 10 miles (16km) a day.
"He felt it was a badge of honour, the fact that his shoes were worn out, that he didn’t have anything to eat or drink or even go to the toilet," Amandip explains. It was almost as if these were accepted symbols of the dedication needed to be considered a good doctor by the profession and health systems.
#1
You've got a job working for a government department providing minimal required services for a customer base that can't escape.
Sound almost like the Postal Service.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
07/21/2023 9:04 Comments ||
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#2
Once a medical system requires euthanasia protocols to keep costs in line, the doctors are in grave danger. Only God can help. The prodigal Europeans needs to return to Him stat.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/21/2023 10:10 Comments ||
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#3
In the Age of Sail the Royal Navy ship's doctor would drink themselves to death ...slowly. Futility does that to people.
Around the world, doctors are two to five times more likely than the general population to die by suicide with female and junior doctors especially high risk.
Here in the U.S. doctors have also been retiring at an increasing rate, and not just because the Baby Boom cohort reached retirement age, while the numbers heading into medical school have not been enough to replace them, never mind meet the increased needs of an aging population. And all that before the demands of COVID protocols.
On the sidelines of his current visit to Beijing, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said that China will pump $36 billion in investments in his country in the fields of agriculture, industry and technology. pic.twitter.com/9KJeB3ZmQ5
The European Union relies on #China for about 98 percent of its rare metal imports, raising strategic concerns among its policymakers.https://t.co/8slvXvDXXj
TURNING TO The Solomon Islands: This Is How China Strengthens Its Presence In The Pacific
[ALESTIKLAL.NET] China has recently succeeded in fully securing its southern flank overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea after signing a comprehensive strategic partnership with the Solomon Islands aimed at enhancing cooperation in areas such as the police, navy, combating terrorism, and organized crime.
The agreement, which would provide the Chinese military with a foothold in the South Pacific, has alarmed political circles in the West, including the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
Thus, the countries of the South Pacific have been transformed from small islands that the world hardly knows into the epicenter of a major crisis between China and the West.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2023 00:00 ||
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[KCNAWATCH.ORG] (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun Thursday in an article says that innovative entities showing the development of Juche Korea and its tremendous might have appeared one after another, thanks to the grandiose plan and strenuous practical ability of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), striking the world people with wonder. Yeah. Y'gotta wonder.
The Korean people are now feeling the high pride and honor of having the best Party, state and social system in those monumental edifices symbolic of their great happiness and civilization, the article notes, and goes on: The stream of immigrants into North Korea is an indicator of how happy and content its people are.
It is thanks to the energetic guidance of the respected General Secretary Kim Pudge Jong-un ...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished... that the WPK could fulfill its mission and duty as a party serving the people and build great epochal entities on this land.
The General Secretary would say that the phrase "people's world" is not a mere slogan for our Party which regards the unconditional service for the people as its peculiar climate and that the Korean people reliably upholding their illusory sovereignty with their own hands are proud masters who deserve to enjoy all sorts of civilization and happiness on this land.
The innovative entities on this land are a precious fruition of the spirit of absolute and unconditional service for the people and the noble outlook on them of the General Secretary who set it as the most important task to realize the people's well-being and as the cherished work to provide the people with more stable and civilized living conditions. Endeavor to persevere!
Thanks to the energetic guidance of the WPK which has made ceaseless journey of devoted service for the people's wellbeing, regarding it as the greatest pleasure to create something for the people, the DPRK will be wonderfully turned into a socialist ideal country envied by the world and into a socialist paradise where all the people enjoy the highest civilization and lead a comfortable and harmonious life.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Chinese-linked hackers hacked the email of US Ambassador to Beijing Nicholas Burns and gained access to hundreds of thousands of messages. This was written on July 20 by the Wall Street Journal.
It is noted that cyber hackers also penetrated the mail of the curator of the East Asian direction at the US State Department, Daniel Kritenbrink .
The attacks compromised at least hundreds of thousands of US government emails.
As reported by IA Regnum , the Lithuanian Department of State Security is investigating an incident involving alleged theft by hackers of classified information about the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12.
Crackers were able to access a number of secret data. The hackers have leaked many confidential documents online, including the minutes of the meeting of the Security Subgroup of the Security Summit. Crackers? That's rayyccisss
The website and mobile application of JSC Russian Railways were subjected to a massive hacker attack.
Video has emerged from Manipur state in India showing two Christian women stripped naked, paraded through streets by a Hinduu mob who then allegedly gang raped them. The women's family who tried to protect them were bludgeoned to death. https://t.co/M9iyeeFoQd
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.