Wednesday Reads

 Obituary:  Prominent actor Val Kilmer, 65,  died from pneumonia, it was reported.  Eleven years ago, he survived a bout with throat cancer.

He was especially popular in the 1980s and 1990s.

Snip:

Kilmer was born in Los Angeles, California in 1959 to parents Eugene and Gladys, though they later divorced. Tragedy struck the Kilmer family in 1977 when Kilmer’s younger brother Wesley drowned at the young age of 15.

“He was a genius,” Kilmer told The New York Times in 2002. Kilmer praised his brother as an aspiring filmmaker, calling him so talented that he could have been another Steven Spielberg or George Lucas.

Shortly after his brother’s death, Kilmer became the youngest person at the time to be accepted into the famed Juilliard School’s Drama Group. This became the start of his acting career.

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Can the shingles vaccine actually prevent dementia?

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April Fools Reads

 Good riddance to that sexist establishment. I don't know what they were ever thinking to create such a misogynist idea as "Hooters."

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Although Democrats lost the two Florida House races, they did way better than expected.  The way trends are going, Democrats should win big in the midterms, assuming we have elections then.

Susan Crawford won the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, which was closely watched all over the country especially when Eloon poured tons of money to help her opponent.

It was money well wasted.

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The "manosphere" had a lot to do with why Trump is in the White House.  Vance's campaign was mostly made up of MRA dogwhistles.

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Obituary: Richard Chamberlain

 Noted television actor Richard Chamberlain, 90, died yesterday in Hawaii from complications from a stroke, according to his publicist.

Chamberlain first became known for his performance in the title role of the television version of Dr. Kildare, which, as I recall, premiered the same year and ended the same year as the similar television series, Ben Casey, which ran on ABC from 1961-1966.  Chamberlain's program ran on NBC.  Both shows were very popular during that era.  Chamberlain went on to become a fixture on television miniseries like Shogun and The Thorn Birds.  

Chamberlain was a good actor who had a good life.  In my own life, I often got him mixed up with James Franciscus, who was exactly two months older and about three inches shorter than Chamberlain.  They looked quite a bit alike, and they were acting contemporaries.  Franciscus was one of the most underrated of television actors, but he, like Chamberlain, was a solid actor who never got enough praise.

Chamberlain spent his later years in Hawaii.  Around 2003,  he decided to out himself as gay even though the entire world knew he was and he didn't shock anybody with that revelation.  However, back in his early career, it would have ruined him to admit he was.    He spent decades with his partner, Martin Rabbitt.

Chamberlain also distinguished himself on stage and on the big screen.  He even took a stab at singing.

He would have been 91 on Monday.  Snip:

Born George Richard Chamberlain in Los Angeles on March 31, 1934, he attended Beverly Hills High and later Pomona College, where he graduated with a degree in art. After a two-year stint in the Army, stationed in Korea in the mid-’50s, Chamberlain returned to Los Angeles, where he studied acting and guest starred on such TV series as “Bourbon Street,” “Mr. Lucky,” “Thriller,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and “Gunsmoke.”

He made his feature debut in a 1960 horror cheapie, “Secret of the Purple Reef.” His first major studio film was MGM’s “A Thunder of Drums.” Through a former high school classmate, George Le Maire, he was tested for an MGM TV series, “The Paradise Kid.” He got the part but the series idea was scrapped. Soon, however, came an MGM contract and “Dr. Kildare.”

A Few Reads for Saturday

 From January is this article about Chicago Public Schools having fired its CEO, Pedro Martinez, the same Pedro Martinez dumped by Washoe County School District a decade ago and who sued and got a big settlement from said district because it violated the Nevada's open meeting law.

Martinez was expected to stay until at least June, but he is fighting his termination in the courts.

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More articles about that ludicrous "pro-natalism" conference in Austin, Texas, this weekend:

Austin Chronicle:

The Natal Conference has been criticized for featuring speakers with histories of advocating for genetic selection and race science. Among them:

• Malcolm and Simone Collins: Organizers of the event and founders of Pronatalist.org, the Collinses have publicly discussed the use of genetic technology to “preserve cultural values” through selective reproduction. They have also supported selecting embryos based on genetics they believe would suit the child to a specific profession.

• Jonathan Anomaly: A philosopher known for his work on “liberal eugenics,” Anomaly has argued in favor of genetic selection to “improve” future generations.

• Jordan Lasker (aka Crémieux): A speaker with known ties to race science, Lasker has written extensively on population genetics in ways that scholars argue align with white nationalist ideology.

• Terry Schilling: President of the American Principles Project, a conservative group that has pushed for traditional family structures and opposed LGBTQ+ rights.

• Dr. Steve Turley: A right-wing commentator known for his discussions on demographic shifts and the “decline of the West.”

The Guardian (UK)

It's all the same "Bell Curve" bullshit, coupled with a giant scoop of misogyny (since high birthrates are incompatible with women's rights), that is driving this bullshit.

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From a couple of months ago is this obituary of longtime SF radio talk show host (KGO) Jim Eason, 89, who died in February after a long illness.  I used to listen to him fairly often in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

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A Few Friday Reads

 I haven't laughed this hard in ages.  This ridiculous "conference" only proves P.T. Barnum's or Joseph Bessemer's saying right:  "There's a sucker born every minute."

Given deadbeat centibillionaire Eloon Musk is trying is damnedest to repopulate the earth with perfect white babies, these desperate men are also trying to give baby trapping a try, if they can find ANY women desperate enough to bother with them.

The conference website home page misuses a picture of Jackie Kennedy with daughter Caroline taken on a beach in 1959 by Mark Shaw.  The Kennedy family should express their outrage over the misuse of the photo.

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A Few Reads for Wednesday

 Speaker Mike Johnson is a creepy nitwit who has no business in an elected position.

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Speaking of nitwits, those who are in charge of "intelligence" certainly displayed a lack thereof:

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Some Reads for Sunday

 Obituary: Larry Tamblyn, known for playing keyboard for the 1960s group the Standells ("Dirty Water"), died at the age of 82.  He was also a brother of actor Russ Tamblyn.

Snip:

Tamblyn’s nephew Dennis first confirmed his uncle’s March 21 death on social media, with the Standells also announcing Larry’s death on Facebook; no cause of death was provided.

When the Standells formed as a doo-wop band in the early Sixties, Tamblyn initially served as their lead singer, including on their debut 1964 single “Girl In My Heart.” After the band signed with Liberty Records, they shifted toward rock music and enlisted Dick Dodd as their drummer and lead vocalist; Dodd died in 2013.

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Leave it to an business newspaper to pen an article claiming women are opting to remain single not because they actually choose it but that they have no choice.  It is a bunch of bullshit, of course.  Women are rejecting marriage, and it is a permanent trend.  There is no way to salvage the institution in the West.  It is dying.  This isn't about women making the best out of a bad situation or being "resigned" to being single.  Women actually like it and don't need a bunch of entitled dudes anymore to wait on hand and foot.

Men are so bogged down with fantasies of an era which never really was (the 1950s) and will never return.

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