Did You Die In 2009? And Happy New Year 2010, from Dick Mac, Al Falafal, and Cavebat!

Thank you to our readers, news providers, and the Internet, for another year of blogging!

What follows is our annual list of celebrity deaths, compiled from the mailings of the good people at Celebrity Deathwatch, and Jon Stewart's Year In Review, from The Daily Show, on Comedy Central.

Also, this link will bring you to one of my earliest internet communiques, the year I learned about blogging, at the beginning of this decade, nine years ago, on January 1, 2001: 01/01/01.

Be safe tonight, and here's to a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2010!

Peace.

from Dick Mac

Celebrity and notable deaths during 2009:

Oral Roberts, evangelist, 91
Antonio de Nigris, athlete, 31
Ken Ober, game show host/producer, 52
Edward Woodward, actor, 79
Joseph Wiseman, actor, 91
Vic Mizzy, film and TV composer, 93
Clifford Hansen, former Wyoming governor, 97
Soupy Sales , TV comic, 83
"Captain" Lou Albano , legendary wrestling figure, 76
Sheila Lukins, author, 66
William Safire, columnist, 79
Susan Atkins, Manson "family" member, 61
Bob Stupak, Las Vegas impresario, 67
Crystal Lee Sutton, inspiration for 'Norma Rae', 68
Henry Gibson, actor, 73
Mary Travers, singer, 72
Patrick Swayze, actor and dancer, 57
Jim Carroll, Poet and Punk Rocker, 60
Larry Gelbart, "MASH" writer, 81
George Eckstein, writer and producer , 81
Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize winner, 95
Army Archerd, columnist, 87
Gertrude Baines, world's oldest person, 115
Adam Goldstein, disc jockey "DJ AM", 36
Ellie Greenwich, songwriter, 68
Dominick Dunne, author, 83
Edward 'Ted' Kennedy, longtime Massachusetts Senator,77
Robert Novak, conservative columnist, 78
Les Paul, musician, 94
Allen Shellenberger, musician, 39
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, advocate of the mentally disabled, 88
Willy DeVille, singer songwriter, 55
John Hughes, filmmaker, 59
Budd Schulberg, screenwriter, 95
Merce Cunningham, choreographer , 90
Sir Bobby Robson, athlete/manager, 76
Cory Aquino, Philippine people power heroine, 76
Frank McCourt, author, 78
Walter Cronkite, former CBS news anchor, 92
Robert McNamara, Former Defense Secretary, 93
Allen Klein, record label owner, 77
Mollie Sugden, actress, 86
Karl Malden, actor, 97
Fred Travalena, comedian and impersonator, 66
Billy Mays, TV Pitchman, 50
Farrah Fawcett, actress, 62
Michael Jackson, musician, 50
Ed McMahon, veteran TV personality, 86
Koko Taylor, singer, 80
Richard Quick, swim coach, 66
Harold Norse, beat poet, 92
Huey Long, musician, 105
Charles Donald Albury, pilot, 88
Millvina Dean, last survivor of Titanic, 97
David Carradine, actor, 72
Jay Bennett, musician, 45
Lucy Gordon, actress, 28
Dom DeLuise, comic actor, 75
Danny Gans, Vegas entertainer, 52
Jack Kemp, former Republican VP candidate, 73
Greg Page, boxer, 50
Bea Arthur, actress, 86
Ken Annakin, film director, 94
David Kellermann, acting CFO of Freddie Mac, 41
Ernest Stempel, Former AIG vice chairman, 92
J.G. Ballard, novelist, 78
Bruce Snyder, college football coach, 69
Svetlana Ulmasova, athlete, 56
Peter Rogers, producer, 95
Harry Kalas, Radio and TV broadcaster, 73
Mark Fidrych, former Detroit Tigers pitcher, 54
Marilyn Chambers, porn star, 56
Frederic J. Gaynor, child model for Daisy air rifle, 74
Jane O'Brien Dart, actress, 90
Dave Arneson, Dungeons and Dragons co-creator, 61
David "Pop" Winans, gospel group patriarch, 74
Lou Saban, athlete and coach, 87
Helen Levitt, photographer, 95
Earl Paulk, former mega-church leader, 81
Monte Hale, actor, 89
Andrea Mead Lawrence, Olympic athlete, 76
Irving R. Levine, journalist, 86
George Kell, athlete, 86
John Hope Franklin, historian, 94
Dan Seals, musician, 61
Jade Goody, British reality TV star, 27
Ron Silver, actor, 62
Alan W. Livingston, entertainment industry veteran, 91
Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook, sculptor, 95
Anne Wiggins Brown, singer, 96
Natasha Richardson, actress, 45
Alan Landers, "The Winston Man", 68
Horton Foote, actor/playwright, 92
John Cephas, musician, 78
Francis Magalona, musician/actor, 44
Paul Harvey, radio broadcaster, 90
Wendy Richard, actress, 65
Philip Jose Farmer, author, 91
Socks the Cat, former first cat, 20
Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez, musician, 76
Lux Interior, musician, 62
James Whitmore, actor, 87
Lukas Foss, composer, 86
Guy Hunt, former governor, 75
Billy Powell, musician, 56
John Updike, author, 76
Kay Yow, basketball coach, 66
Mariana Bridi, model, 20
José Torres, boxer, 72
Tapan Sinha, director, 84
Bob May, actor, 69
Andrew Wyeth, painter, 91
Patrick McGoohan, actor, 80
Sir Dai Llewellyn, British playboy, 62
Ricardo Montalban, actor, 88
Pat Hingle, actor, 84
Helen Suzman, anti-apartheid activist, 91
Claiborne Pell, senator, 90
Ron Asheton, musician, 60

and from Al Falafal

The year in review from the most trusted name in journalism...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Decade in Review - 2009
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

People Of The Year - 2009

by Dick Mac

10. Health Care Reformers. Democrats proved, yet again, that they are wholly incapable of representing the majority of Americans, especially those who consider themselves to the left of center. A terribly lame health care reform package is being put forward, with no real public option and no relief from the whimsical avarice of insurance companies.

09. Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor was catapulted from the appeals court to the national spotlight when she was nominated to fill the seat on the Supreme Court vacated by David Souter. Originally appointed to the federal court by President George H.W. Bush, her subsequent appointments by Presidents Clinton and Obama were met with the boring, dangerous and predictable delay tactics that the American fringe-right, represented wholly and solely by the Republican Party, have come to use as an impediment to progress. Sotomayor, who enjoys a stellar reputation and has made some landmark decisions in her career, was unflappable in her confirmation hearings.

08. Disney's Princess Creators finally created an animated fairy-tale princess who is not white or beige, she is black. Princess Tiana stars in the latest Disney feature "The Princess And The Frog." Oddly, this black woman does not to get to enjoy her promised regal lifestyle as a stroke of bad-timing leaves her and her prince . . . well, I won't spoil the ending for you.

07. Seattle Sounders FC, this year's expansion team in Major League Soccer, won the U.S. Open Cup in their inaugural year. Quite a feat. Comprised of an impressive line-up that includes Casey Keller and Freddie Ljungberg, as well as Freddy Montero and coach Sigi Schmid, the team also made an impressive run through the playoffs. The team is owned by a group headed by Hollywood producer Joe Roth, Microsoft's Paul Allen, and television personality Drew Carey. The team sold all 22,000 season tickets, making them the league leader in season ticket holders.

06. Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped on June 10, 1991. She was eleven years old. On August 26, 2009, she re-appeared after a series of events that led her to a parole officer who was supposed to be monitoring her kidnapper, Phillip Garrido. Jaycee had been held by Garrido and his wife, Nancy, for 18 years in an outdoor compound of tents and sheds behind their home in Antioch, California. During her captivity, she gave birth to two children, one of whom was born when Jaycee was fourteen years old. Held for 18 years, Jaycee became part of her kidnappers' lives and considered herself to be part of their family. Little is known about her today, but a publisher has been lined-up for a book.

05. Stock Market Investors who entered the market after March 9, 2009, have made a lot of money. Many are simply making back the money they lost in 2008; but, some who entered the market for the first time this year have seen their investments grow. Financial stocks have grown between 25% and 400%; some conglomerates have doubled in value since hitting their low; and a $10,000 investment in Ford Motor Company on March 10, 2009, is worth over $55,000 today (a mere nine months later).

04. Lady Gaga is sometimes referred to as the heir to David Bowie's legacy. Well, David Bowie isn't dead yet, so that might be premature. Although some of her music is reminiscent of modern-day pre-packaged pop stars, using some heavy techno beats, Lady Gaga's songs and performances are of a caliber that reminds me of David Bowie's much-storied career. She is smart and sexy, her use of costumes, props, and dancers is sophisticated, and she gives a great interview.

03. The Murderers of New York City have had less action this year than last. Only 462 murders were committed in the City last year, an 11% decrease from 2008.

02. The People of Maine showed themselves as homophobic bigots when they voted to deny homosexuals the right to marry. I encourage everyone to boycott Maine and everything from Maine. Buy potatoes from Idaho and apples from New York. Buy lobster from Massachusetts and do not plan a vacation to Vacationland.

01. The Opposition in Iran is up against it. The theocratic regime controlling Iran has no intention of letting loose their stranglehold on the country and opposition protesters are regularly arrested, beat-up, or killed. Democracy is dead, and the ideologue who stole the last election is working diligently to make Iran a nuclear power. The United States, however, has wasted vast resources attacking Iraq and Afghanistan, to no fruitful end, and allowed fascist states throughout the Middle East to prosper. It is important that we support, in any way possible, the opposition in Iran.

Health Care Reform Nightmare - WAKE UP!!!

by Al Falafal

It looks like the worst case scenario is actually about to become reality in imminent passing of the much ballyhooed so-called "health care reform" bill brought to you by the National Democratic Party. Of course, this only comes after the Dems totally caved in to the Repugnican Party's demands in order to win the support of the repugnicans hiding out in their own midst. It sure hasn't done anything to win over any out-of-the-closet Repugs.

It's all Business As Usual in the Nation's Capital. Happy Holidays!

Anything with even a remote chance of actually reducing our health care expenses (Medicare buy-in, prescription drug re-importation, even a feebly weak public option) has been systematically stripped out of the Senate Bill on direct ORDERS from the White House, not that corrupt members of Congress needed any serious prodding from that end.

President Obama is out there right now laying it on thick with three primary promotional touts, all of which are such transparent bunko it is astounding that they even need to be debunked.

First, he says the Senate Bill is a good thing because it contains a so-called "bill of rights", and isn't that all we wanted anyway he says, to just curtail a certain laundry list of the most egregious medical insurance industry rip-offs. Second, he talks about how wonderful any bill that provides health care to 30 million new people must be. And third, he argues that the Senate bill must be something great, because he claims the insurance companies are strongly opposed to it.

As to the "bill of rights" spin job, how drop kick stupid do they think we are? Wasn't it just last May that they passed with great fanfare a so-called Credit Card Holder's Bill of Rights. Oh yes,

that's exactly the same deceptive way they framed that one too. Didn't we just fall for this same PR ruse? The worst credit card abuses would be stopped the sell job went. But in just the same way, any provision that would have ensured a real reduction in outrageously usurous credit card interest and charges (like a reasonable cap on interest rates) was rejected.

Instead, credit card companies have played every possible game to raise rates since, and just this week we heard that one of the worst offenders came out with a new card with, get this, an effective interest rate of 80%, all in full compliance with the shiny new bill of rights law. What a mean-spirited, cruel and pathetic trick to play on the American people. Are you starting to get it yet, folks??

The Shinola Stops Here Action Page: http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum1024.php

Boycott Ballot Measures on Marriage Equality

by Al Falafal

Opponents of marriage equality for same-sex couples brag about the fact that 31 states have already voted on same-sex marriage at the ballot box, and all 31 states have rejected it.

With New Jersey set to pass Marriage Equality legislation that Gov. Corzine has indicated he would sign during his lame duck time left, we can expect that the right wing nuts in the State will be out collecting signatures to put the issue on a ballot soon enough. If not in New Jersey, it will likely come up on a ballot in DC or somewhere else. When it does, will we continue our losing strategy or try something new, daring and truly meaningful?

Now, we all know that putting civil rights issues up for a vote is intrinsically wrong. We have been through this enough that explaining why it is wrong is just preaching to the choir. So now, if we are serious in our conviction that our civil rights should not, must not and cannot be the subject of a popular vote or referendum, it seems to me that we must be ready to do more than waste our time, money and effort by trying to defeat any such ballot measure next time it comes up.

Wasting time, effort and money is all we do whenever we mount an opposing effort to vote FOR marriage equality (or any other civil rights issue). By going along with an election that is mounted to formally deny our rights, aren't we just playing the anti-gay movement's game? Aren't we playing right into their hands?

In fact, when we participate in a vote on any Civil Rights issue aren't we just buying into a system that we duly hold as invalid?

WE NEED TO STOP PLAYING ALONG WITH THE BIGOTS IN THEIR NEVER-ENDING GAMES THAT ALWAYS END IN THE DENIAL OF OUR RIGHTS.

So the next time any anti-gay group collects enough signatures to put our rights up for a vote in any jurisdiction we should not just let the smug opposition add another humiliating defeat to what they count as 31 straight victories over us.

WE MUST MOUNT A VIGOROUS CAMPAIGN TO TOTALLY BOYCOTT ANY SUCH ELECTION.

We've heard calls for boycotts AFTER ballots were taken in California and Maine. After the election is too late. We should have called for a boycotts OF those elections.

Obviously, it does no good to simply vote Yes or No to support LGBT Civil Rights. It does no good - we will be outnumbered and outmaneuvered every time by the well-funded expert manipulators of public opinion who have a stake in maintaining the status quo: keep the queers in their place!

In the next electoral campaign we should put out the word: "If you support LGBT Rights and Marriage Equality DO NOT VOTE on this ballot measure."

Make the BOYCOTT be the campaign. Publicize the boycott far and wide. Urge EVERYONE among our friends and allies who wish to show their support for our cause NOT to vote one way or the other but to BOYCOTT the election altogether as it is an unfair, inappropriate and insulting action against the LGBT Community to ever put our rights up for a vote.

If a ballot measure wins with such a lopsided majority it simply cannot be seen as valid. Think of how we scoff at those fraudulent elections in foreign countries where the corrupt President wins by 100% of the vote. It's a joke at best: an expose of the absurdity of the electoral process.

Just think of it: in any American election where zero votes are cast for one side of an issue the same would have to hold: the vote would have to be seen for what it is: a cynical vicious attack on the rights of a minority.

ZERO VOTES should be our goal in any such future referendum: ZERO VOTES in opposition to the anti-gay question. We should not dignify the question with any response.

CONSCIOUSLY NOT VOTING SHOWS THAT WE REFUSE TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE BY BALLOT. Voting on Civil Rights issues is absurd.

BOYCOTT ANY BALLOT ISSUE THAT DEALS WITH CIVIL RIGHTS INCLUDING MARRIAGE EQUALITY!!!

BOYCOTT BIGOTRY! It's what we should have been doing all along.

Christmas Week Videos: Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt

by Dick Mac

"Santa Baby" is a 1953 Christmas song written by Joan Javits (the niece of Senator Jacob K. Javits), Philip Springer, and Fred Ebb. Although Tony Springer is listed as co-writer, he was a legal fiction created for purposes of membership in the performing rights organization BMI.

The song is a tongue-in-cheek look at a Christmas list sung by a woman who wants the most extravagant gifts like sable, yachts, and decorations from Tiffany's.

. . .

Covered in recorded and live performances by many other artists throughout the years, including Maria Muldaur, Everclear, RuPaul, Kate Ceberano, Taylor Horn, Shakira, Madonna, Jhene, Macy Gray, Natalie Merchant, Faith Evans, Boney James, Kylie Minogue, The Pussycat Dolls, Lina, LeAnn Rimes, Kellie Pickler, Mae West, and Taylor Swift, as well as in an Ally McBeal episode by the title character (Calista Flockhart), by Chris Mitchell, and by The Swingle Singers. Miss Piggy sang the song in the film It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie and recorded another version for the album A Green and Red Christmas.

Vanessa L. Williams, Patti LaBelle, and Eartha Kitt performed the song in the 2001 animated Christmas TV special entitled Santa Baby!

The version recorded by the Pussycat Dolls entered the Top 70 Billboard charts in the Philippines, peaking at #22. Although it was a b-side the song picked up radio airplay in the Philippines. This version also appeared as track 1 on CD 1 of The Perfect Christmas 2006 album.

Rev Run has also re-recorded this song for A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 3.

In December 2007, Kylie Minogue's version of the song reached #76 in the UK due to download sales. She used it as a b-side to her single "Over The Rainbow". . . . (from Santa Baby, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Today I share the original Eartha Kitt recording from 1954, and the faster tempo version by Kylie Miinogue from 2007:

Eartha Kitt:


Kylie Minogue:


Merry Christmas!