[url=https://apnews.com/article/mlb-phil-niekro-baseball-hall-of-fame-b26edd6857341e61468ab02322f65049]Phil Niekro[/url][quote]ATLANTA (AP) — Phil Niekro threw a pitch that baffled hitters and catchers.

Heck, he didn't even know where it was going most of the time.

But the knuckleball carried Niekro to more than 300 wins, earned him a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame and left him with a nickname that stuck for the rest of his life.

Knucksie.

The longtime stalwart of the Atlanta Braves rotation died after a long fight with cancer, the team announced Sunday, becoming the seventh member of the Hall of Fame to pass away in 2020. He was 81.[/quote]

[URL="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/28/entertainment/armando-manzanero-death-scli-intl/index.html"]ARMANDO MANZANERO LEGENDARY Mexican singer and composer[/URL].


[QUOTE]Manzanero was a prolific composer, with more than 600 songs to his name, according to the society. His songs were interpreted by artists from around the world, including Elvis Presley, Dionne Warwick, Perry Como, Spanish singer Raphael, and fellow Mexican star Luis Miguel.

He went on to win a Lifetime Achievement award in 2014, becoming the first Mexican to receive this honor.
[/QUOTE]

[url=https://www.npr.org/2020/12/29/951062266/pierre-cardin-french-fashion-designer-dies-at-98]Pierre Cardin[/url][quote]French designer Pierre Cardin, who extended his brand far beyond the fashion world, has died at age 98. The son of Italian immigrants worked with luminaries such as Jean Cocteau and Christian Dior before launching his own fashion house, drawing on his love for futuristic design.

Cardin's family announced his death to Agence France-Presse Tuesday. The French Académie des Beaux-Arts also issued several statements mourning his passing.[/quote]

[url=https://apnews.com/article/newark-gainesville-florida-new-jersey-f703edd235a0edb4c0de182c14219346\]Principal Joe Clark[/url][quote]GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Joe Louis Clark, the baseball bat and bullhorn-wielding principal whose unwavering commitment to his students and uncompromising disciplinary methods inspired the 1989 film "Lean on Me," died at his Florida home on Tuesday after a long battle with an unspecified illness, his family said. He was 82.

Clark started teaching at a Paterson grade school in Passaic County, New Jersey, before becoming principal of PS 6 Grammar School.

He was later hired as principal of the crime and drug-ridden Eastside High School. In one day, he expelled 300 students for fighting, vandalism, abusing teachers and drug possession, and lifted the expectations of those who remained, continually challenging them to perform better. Roaming the hallways with a bullhorn and a baseball bat, Clark's unorthodox methods won him both admirers and critics nationwide. President Ronald Reagan offered Clark a White House policy adviser position after his success at the high school.[/quote]

[URL="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0920171/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1"]Dawn Wells[/URL], who played Mary Ann on the popular 60's show Gilligan Island.

[QUOTE=rogue;567774][URL="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0920171/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1"]Dawn Wells[/URL][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Don't post "bare" links. Tell us why we should follow it. In the 'RIP' thread, tell us about the person, what they did or who they are.[/QUOTE].

[URL="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/31/us/samuel-little-serial-killer-obit-trnd/index.html"]Samuel Little[/URL], believed to be America's worst serial killer.

[URL="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/george-carruthers-dead/2020/12/31/ca5a366e-4acc-11eb-a9d9-1e3ec4a928b9_story.html"]George R. Carruthers[/URL], scientist who designed telescope that went to the moon

[QUOTE=rogue;567774][URL="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0920171/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1"]Dawn Wells[/URL], who played Mary Ann on the popular 60's show Gilligan Island.[/QUOTE]

She was the young and pretty face. My parents liked this show. I didn't care for it. To each, their own.

[url]https://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKKBN2962CB[/url]

Carlos do Carmo, the 'Sinatra' of Portugal's fado, dies aged 81

[url=https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-pittsburgh-dick-thornburgh-746fe9abb81012e54d20ee94da078fe3]Dick Thornburgh, ex-governor and US attorney general[/url][quote]Dick Thornburgh, who as Pennsylvania governor won plaudits for his cool handling of the 1979 Three Mile Island crisis and as U.S. attorney general restored credibility to a Justice Department hurt by the Iran-Contra scandal, has died. He was 88.[/quote]Restoring the credibility of the US Department of Justice in those days was a Herculean task, akin to cleaning the Augean stables.

To say that the US Justice Department was "hurt by the Iran-Contra scandal" is more than a bit disingenuous. To say its credibility had been hurt would be a spectacular understatement. The damage had been done by the blatantly unethical behavior of (then) Attorney General Edwin Meese. Then Assistant Attorney General William Weld, head of the criminal division, had actually started a criminal investigation of his boss, connected to favors bestowed by E. Bob Wallach, of Wedtech scandal infamy. I began calling Meese "The Loan Arranger."

Weld's investigation ended when his boss - the subject of the investigation - ordered him to stop. When asked about what he had found, Weld could not of course comment on the particulars, but he did say he had gotten convictions on less evidence.

This [url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/03/30/2-top-justice-officials-quit/febcb857-712f-45a8-910a-03508a414fb3/]March 30, 1988 WAPO article[/url] describes a sequel, which is one of the most dramatic "protest resignations" I can recall:[quote]The Justice Department's second-ranking official and the head of its criminal division abruptly announced their resignations yesterday, prompted by what Reagan administration sources described as mounting frustration with the functioning of the department amid the continuing legal difficulties of Attorney General Edwin Meese III.

Deputy Attorney General Arnold I. Burns, Assistant Attorney General William F. Weld and four of their top aides said they were quitting. Weld's resignation took effect at the close of business yesterday. John C. Keeney, a career prosecutor, was named acting assistant attorney general.[/quote]