Obituaries.

Once a dictator, always a dictator: Suharto of Indonesia has died at at the age of 86.

Unlike Garbo or Madonna, Suharto didn't have any other name to speak of. It was synonymous with dictator.
_____

Gordon B. Hinckley, 97, head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, died this evening. He had been president of the church since 1995, when he was a mere 84 years old.

Snip:

With the shrewdness of a politician, Hinckley downplayed the more controversial aspects of LDS history. He welcomed the world to Utah for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, promising everyone they could get a drink here and accepted one of America's highest honors - the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
He highlighted Mormon commonality with other Christians, forging alliances with other faith groups while scolding LDS Church members for being too clannish, self-righteous and unfriendly to their neighbors.
"This church has grown into a great worldwide organization affecting for good the lives of people in more than 140 nations," Hinckley told The New York Times in 1995. "You can't, you don't, build out of pessimism or cynicism. You look with optimism, work with faith, and things happen."

Featured Post

The Good Die Young: James Dobson (1936-2025)

 One of the leading figures of the religious right of the past fifty years, Dr. James Dobson, 89, reportedly died today.  No cause of death ...