Monday, August 15, 2016

Something Interesting Not Related to Politics

While I was wiling away the weekend trying not, I sometimes scroll through the obituaries in the New York Times. Along with all the notable high society, well-known, and celebrity deaths, every once in while there are the most interesting entries.

This weekend I came across this obituary that might interest you old movie buffs. You may not have even known that she was a real person, but she was. Her name was Chris Costner Sizemore and she is the woman with multiple personalities, or as it is known today dissociative personality disorder, who was the basis for Joanne Woodward's Academy Award winning character in "Three Faces of Eve".

Chris Costner Sizemore - Real Patient Behind "Three Faces of Eve" Dies at 89


Here's another one for history buffs (nd movie buffs too!) that I read a few years ago. This one is about Tom Christian, the great-great-great-grandson of Fletcher Christian who lived his entire life on Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific where his famous (or infamous) decendant and crew settled after leading Mutiny on the HMS Bounty in the last 18th Century.

Tom Christian, Descendant of Bounty Mutineer, Dies at 77

If you read to the bottom, there is a really fun fact. In 1971, an Englishman just happened to disembark from freighter at Pitcairn Island, population 52, and was introduced to Mr. Christian. That Englishman was Maurice Bligh, the great-great-great grandsom of Captain William Bligh.

Enjoy these little bits of history as we take a break from the oppressive summer heat.

25 comments:

Kit said...

Since this is rather open thready, I'll mention that I just finished the third Harry Bosch novel. They make for fun reads.

AndrewPrice said...

That bounty thing is pretty interesting.

AndrewPrice said...

So, Obamacare is losing Aetna in all but four minor states. This is the third or fourth major insurer to back out of most markets.

Add in 13% price increases in California this year and around 10% in other places.

Add in the failure of the risk sharing plan.

Add in the failure of all but a couple of the cooperatives and things look bleak.

What's more, only 11 million have signed up, which is finally being acknowledged as less than half of what was expected at this point -- and many of those aren't paying.

Obamacare is failing.

AndrewPrice said...

And let me add this... there is massive flooding in Louisiana again. The emergency services people are overwhelmed. Obama had done nothing, and the Democratic governor is a failure... again. And yet, no one has even mentioned Katrina, much less accused Obama of wanting black people to die. I wonder why? Could it be that the attacks on Bush were just leftist smears?

Kit said...

Andrew,

"Could it be that the attacks on Bush were just leftist smears?"

I'm shocked —shocked that you would dare suggest such a thing!

ArgentGale said...

Interesting stuff, especially, as has been mentioned, the descendants of Fletcher and Bligh meeting. Also, Harry Bosch, Kit? What are they about? I could always use a new book to read. And Andrew, completely expected on both the Obamacare and the Louisiana flooding. Too bad that nobody's going to learn anything from either of them.

- Daniel

Anthony said...

Andrew,

I agree with the leftist smear of Bush part, but its also worth keeping in mind the latest flood (which isn't over) this year has thus far killed less than ten people. Katrina was associated with over 1800 deaths.

I have seen the two compared a bit. Even though the current flood hopefully won't come anywhere near Katrina's body count many thousands are currently homeless and clean-up and repair is going to take a lot.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/15/us/louisiana-flooding/index.html

Jessica May escaped New Orleans days before Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and made a new life in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. All was going well until one month ago, when her home went up in flames, she said.

After the fire, she and her partner, Denard Singleton, moved with their six kids, ages 10 to 4, into Singleton's parents' home in Denham Springs

Then, on August 13, she had to flee rising waters once again -- this time, from the Amite River.

Anthony said...

The father of the career criminal whose death triggered the Milwaukee riots blames himself.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sylville-smith-father_us_57b23c10e4b0a8e15024ecb6?section=&

The father of an African-American man whose shooting death by Milwaukee police set off a weekend of unrest blamed himself for being the “wrong role model” to his children.

Patrick Smith connected his lifestyle to Saturday night’s fatal police shooting of his son, 23-year-old Sylville Smith, in an interview with TV station WITI on Sunday. Police said Sylville Smith was killed after fleeing from a traffic stop and pointing a gun at a black officer.

“I had to blame myself for a lot of things, too, because your hero is your dad and I played a very big part in my family’s role model for them,” Patrick Smith said. “Being on the street, doing things of the street life: Entertaining, drug dealing and pimping ― and they’re looking at their dad like, ‘He’s doing all these things.’

“I got out of jail two months ago, but I’ve been going back and forth in jail and they see those things. So I’d like to apologize to my kids because this is the role model they look up to. When they see the wrong role model, this is what you get.”

tryanmax said...

I think the overarching lesson is, get out of Louisiana. Bring your cooking with you, though. ;-)

tryanmax said...

Re: Patrick Smith, it's rare to see that kind of introspection.

Kit said...

That kind of introspection is rare.

Anyway, I've been spending the weekend wandering through Bosch-land and Trek-land with occasional forays into Olympic-land and I've been happier for it. Anyway, that means I'm a tad behind in the news.

BevfromNYC said...

Yes, the chronically criminal father of the chronically criminal man killed by cops while pointing a gun at them that sparked a destructive riot in Milwaukee finally took some shred of responsibility. Too little, too late. I have little sympathy.


As for the flooded out Louisianians where the Dem in the State House isn't doing anything. This is what happened with Kathleen Blanco. She didn't ask for anything either, but then turned around and blamed Bush for not just sending " rescue stuff" anyway. Good news is that Obama won't get the blame for not rushing in with life boats to personally save people. If anyone complains, the reason will be that the Pres. can't just order stuff into a state with the Gov. requesting it. Btw, that was also true in 2005. It's Constitutional thang. Whatever happened to Kathleen Blanco?

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew - Aetna pulling out of Obamacare and all the rest. I am convinced this was the plan all along - to so cripple or kill the health insurance industry, that the gov't would have to step in with a single-payer gov't run system to keep the medical system/hospitals open.

AndrewPrice said...

Sadly, his sister is a piece of shit:


On Sunday, his sister Sherelle (left) spoke at a burned down gas station (inset) and told protesters to take the violence to the suburbs. 'You're burning down s*** we need in our community. Take that s*** to the suburbs. Burn that s*** down,' she said.


Of course, the problem with trying to burn the suburbs is that I doubt suburbia is going to tolerate that and suburbia is armed.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I think the insurers wrongly believed the government's lies that they would subsidize them the whole time. At the same time, the government wrongly believed that people would give in to "the inevitable" (sound familiar) and would sign up in vast numbers. It's always been a house of cards.

BevfromNYC said...

I am not sure why the press isn't hounding the BLM leadership and demanding that BLM repudiate this riot like they would if they wer....oh, I can't even finish that sentence.

AndrewPrice said...

I can't even finish that sentence

Funny, isn't it? That's just a taste of what it's like to live under the Nazis.

AndrewPrice said...

BTW, the "cowardly" Swedish women's soccer team is going to the gold medal game having defeated Brazil in a penalty kick shootout. Meanwhile, Hope Solo flies home... to beat her loved ones.

Critch said...

My brother-in-law served under Brig. General Nathan Bedford Forrest III in Europe in WWII. His grandfather served under Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest in Tennessee and Mississippi. That's neat historical marker.

BevfromNYC said...

Critch - That is so cool!

EPorvaznik said...

>> Meanwhile, Hope Solo flies home... to beat her loved ones. >>

I'll pick up the tab for the spit-take-drench monitor this time, but the next time's on you. Beauty, eh?

AndrewPrice said...

Thanks Eric. LOL! It seems appropriate. Good luck with the monitor.

Critch said...

Did you read abouit the "perfect" college student who took some drug and attacked a couple, he tried to chew the one of them's face off.....things like this remind me why I carry a gun almost everywhere. It's a very random world out there.

Kit said...

Daniel,

The Bosch novels are a book series written by Michael Connelly about an LAPD police detective named Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch.

The first one is Black Echo: LINK

ArgentGale said...

Thanks, Kit. I'll definitely put them on the list. Right now I'm working on the Dead Six books and I'm about to go through Son of the Black Sword again for a small project...

- Daniel

Post a Comment