RIP

[kriesel]

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/bart-...ack-dies-at-85

[kriesel]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/o...bone-dead.html

[Dr Sardonicus]

Leon Redbone's rendition of Lazy Bones is a classic.

[masser]

Murray Gell-Mann

Several of you might be interested in the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Colonel James Ketchum, 87.

He was head of the psychopharmacology branch at Edgewood Arsenal, during the Edgewood Arsenal human experiments.

A transcript of an interview with the author of the New Yorker article Operation Delirium may also be of interest.

[xilman]

Dr John

[kladner]

Originally Posted by xilman

Dr John

Sigh. The Night Tripper has tripped out.

[masser]

Such a Night

[kladner]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/201...th-Anniversary

Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts. He accepted chemical castration treatment, with Diethylstilbestrol (DES), as an alternative to prison. Turing died in 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning. His death was pronounced as a suicide, but there is some evidence that it could have been an accidental poisoning.
The NYT, notable for writing obituaries of notable men and women, never wrote his obituary — until this week, accompanied by an apology.

Alan Turing's genius embraced the first visions of modern computing, but he was cast aside, and died a criminal for his homosexuality. He never received a New York Times obituary until now. https://t.co/eYIpCTTxbt pic.twitter.com/T72t21gZgu
NYT Obituaries (@NYTObits) June 5, 2019

The above Kos piece refers to an apology in the NYT's slightly belated obituary. The only apology I find mentioned is a reference to the UK government's. Neither do the words "regret" or "sorry" appear. It seems this Kossack might have read more carefully.

The "Paper of Record," the "Arbiter of Truth:"

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/o...verlooked.html

On June 7, 1954, Alan Turing, a British mathematician who has since been acknowledged as one the most innovative and powerful thinkers of the 20th century — sometimes called the progenitor of modern computing — died as a criminal, having been convicted under Victorian laws as a homosexual and forced to endure chemical castration. Britain didn’t take its first steps toward decriminalizing homosexuality until 1967.
Only in 2009 did the government apologize for his treatment.

[Nick]

For anyone interested in the history, the biography of Alan Turing by Andrew Hodges is scholarly and well worth reading: https://www.turing.org.uk/

The play/TV film Breaking the Code is also worthwhile, but I would not recommend the Imitation Game film.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a public apology in September 2009.

Turing was also given a posthumous royal pardon on December 24, 2013 (and you can click on a link to see a .JPG of the actual pardon). The long campaign to get the pardon had failed as recently as the previous year, as described here:

There had been a long campaign to clear Turing's name, including a private member's bill. In 2009, an "unequivocal apology" was issued by then prime minister Gordon Brown.

An e-petition calling for a pardon received 37,404 signatures when it was closed in November last year. The request was declined by the then justice minister Lord McNally on the grounds that Turing was properly convicted of what at the time was a criminal offence.

A pardon is normally granted only when the person is innocent of the offence and where a request has been made by someone with a vested interest, such as a family member. On this occasion, a pardon has been issued without either requirement being met.

EDIT: I append a quotation that suddenly occurred to me.

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The thronèd monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptered sway.
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute to God Himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this:
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea,
Which, if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant
there.

— Portia (The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare; Act 4, Scene 1)