RIP Ivan Cameron

Another sad bit of breaking news on this busy Wednesday morning.

Ivan Cameron, aged only 6, has passed away as a result of Ohtahara Syndrome (often confused with cerebral palsy). He was the son of opposition Tory leader, David Cameron.

Here the poor lad is being cradled most lovingly by his dad. My deepest condolences to the Camerons.



Losing a child, any child, is unimaginable. I hope there is no media circus about this, or any child of a notable personality.

I Would Take The Pain Away

Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, slain ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto's daughter, has come out with a very unusual tribute to her mother.

...a rap song called, "I would take the pain away".



You know, a lot of people might be taken aback (can you imagine a teenage Caroline Kennedy having done the same about her father, à la Jefferson Airplane?), but the times, they are a-changin'.

If the University of Edinburgh student finds this an outlet that resonates with her and her generation, then good luck and God bless.

The Question Of Guinea

President Lansana Conté's death was announced on Tuesday in Conakry, Guinea, aged 74. The cause was said to be diabetes.

The last of the so-called "African Big Men" (which included Nkrumah of Ghana, Moi of Kenya, Senghor of Senegal, Kaunda of Zambia), he had held on to power for 24 years, before his death. NGO "Transparency International" had once declared Guinea to be the most corrupt nation on earth, right next to Haiti...

Here is he is, next to then French President Jacques Chirac, in happier times in 1999.



Conté had had Islamic schooling before attending French military boarding schools in Senegal and in the Côte d'Ivoire. Having come to power in a military coup, it comes as no surprise to find out that upon his death, the military have stepped in and declared the government, null and void.

It will be interesting to see how the half-Kenyan US President 'attacks' the continent of Africa. Though unwieldy, and the problem child of the world's continents, I have to say many African countries like Botswana have loads of upside potential. I personally am excited to see how they embrace democracy, and flourish because of it.

You know, President GW Bush, even by Bono's own admission, has been the most generous US President in the history of Africa. His administration sent billions upon billions of dollars of aid to the continent, especially in attempts to curtail the AIDS epidemic -- meeting with some success in such previously hopeless places like Uganda.

Yet I predict here and now that even if Obama does half this, he will reap the rewards in publicity and goodwill far and beyond anything accorded to the departing George Bush.

But then that's not really a prediction, so much as pragmatic reasoning.

She Looked Like She Needed A Good Spankin'

RIP Bettie Page.

She lived to the ripe-old age of 85, dying of pneumonia in Los Angeles on Thursday. But if you've ever seen Bettie's photos from the '50s, you know she was no stranger to drafts.



Here is dear old Bettie, being an unimaginably sultry seductress and stuff, at least for the standards of that decade. Hey, I like Dita von Teese, but this is the burlesque gold standard right here.



ADDED: Oh gosh. Van Johnson, that red-haired All-American actor, died on Thursday too. He was one of Lucille Ball's best friends, who once joked they were too similar to fall in love. RIP.

RIP Madelyn Dunham

Excrutiatingly sad news for Senator Barack Obama. His grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, and ex-Vice President of a Hawaiian bank, has passed away due to cancer.

That means that both gentlemen running for the Democratic ticket, have had tragedy touch their lives this campaign season. Joe Biden's mother-in-law passed on last month.

Once again, I have many problems with Senator Barack Obama's positions, but my heart goes out to him tonight.



IN THE COMMENTS: PatCa echoes what my mother just said, on seeing this photo of Senator Obama crying:

Where did you get the photo of Obama? I have never seen him with emotion!

I scour the local newspapers and several news sources until I get the money shot, PatCa. Not to be morbid, but since it made an impression on you (and me), here's another.



This emotion was really the only thing missing from his campaign so far. Unlike Hillary Clinton's waterworks in New Hampshire, I tend to believe it's more genuine.

Jill Biden's Mother Passes Away

RIP.

There's politics, and then there's not. This is one of those "not" times. Condolences to Senator and especially Mrs. Biden on their loss.

The AP Slams Tony Snow Even In Death

Veteran newsman, and recent White House Press Secretary, Tony Snow, has died after a long bout with cancer.



This comes at the very heels of the extremely abrupt death by NBC's Tim Russert. American journalism has lost two powerful, professional voices.

If you want to read a truly wonderful blogpost eulogising his life, get yourselves over to Optimistmom's blogpost about it:

"I took perhaps too much delight when he put Helen Thomas in her place. I know there won't be the outpouring of gushing praise for him like happened with Russert's death. But I didn't cry for Russert. I do for Tony."

Beautifully put, and me too, Ruth Anne.

But I had heard a lot of viewers felt the 24-hour coverage one got from ALL news media channels for Russert was a little excessive -- they wrote in by the hundreds. I've no sympathy with such feelings, but I knew if something similar happened (a newsman dying suddenly after Russert) next time, the coverage would be more muted.

Little did I realise the Associated Press would take this attitude of restraint, and transform it into a cheap shot at a dead colleague who just happened to lean Conservative.

Just take these few excerpted paragraphs on their article announcing his death:

With a quick-from-the-lip repartee, broadcaster's good looks and a relentlessly bright outlook — if not always a command of the facts — he became a popular figure around the country to the delight of his White House bosses.

During daily briefings, he challenged reporters, scolded them and questioned their motives as if he were starring in a TV show broadcast live from the West Wing.

Critics suggested that Snow was turning the traditionally informational daily briefing into a personality-driven media event short on facts and long on confrontation. He was the first press secretary, by his own accounting, to travel the country raising money for Republican candidates.

"If not always command of facts"? "First press secretary to travel the country raising money for Republican candidates"? Are you kidding me?

Did the AP mention that Russert worked for Democrat politicians, Moynihan and Cuomo, and was a life-long Democratic Party supporter AND draw some kind of smear from these facts? Never. It's not germaine THEN.

AP have completely lost whatever shred of neutrality they clung to, these past few months in 2008.

Doing so at the expense of a dead man whose politics they didn't agree with, and then cloak it with insidious little jabs at his legacy is just the last straw for me.

Tony, thanks for your life's work and dedication to your craft. You did it better than many others I can mention, but even when they pass, I won't snarkily point out their failings, real or imagined, in their obit. And I'm just an amateur.

RIP.

UPDATE 14 July 2008: President and Mrs. Bush will be attending Tony Snow's funeral on Thursday. They were also present at Tim Russert's wake. I knew the President wouldn't let the very very discrete coverage of Snow's death go unmourned more officially.

Related

Tim Russert -- Dead
In One Year

Tim Russert -- Dead

NBC newsman, and one of the most respected journalists in America, Tim Russert, is dead today of a heart attack. He was 58.



In terms of unexpected shock value, this outdoes the passing of Frank Reynolds (predecessor of Peter Jennings), and Charles Kuralt -- perhaps only trumped by the death of the self-same Peter Jennings, of throat cancer.

Journalists being struck down, either by infirmity or death, seem to be a more common occurence these days. NBC was especially hard hit when popular correspondent, David Bloom, died of a deep vein thrombosis, due to being embedded inside an US tank in Iraq (often constricted in the same position).

But Russert's passing is particularly haunting, as recently it was said he was one of two opponents to the new tone of political bias on his associate cable channel, MSNBC.

Both he and David Gregory had apparently wished to separate themselves from the rank partisanship expressed by MSNBC journalists, Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann. Now Gregory must go it alone, against a tetchy Olbermann (with a history of walking away from jobs in a snit), and rude boy Chris Matthews.

But even the towering David Gregory had been called on the carpet once by Tim Russert, for his imperious tone to wait staff at a restaurant:

"About a month ago, he joined NBC colleague Tim Russert at a Washington D.C. restaurant for dinner, where he showed his lack of appreciation for the help. David Gregory: Not a consummate dining companion?

The twosome’s waitress somehow messed up their dinner order, and Gregory [...] let’s say, caustically reminded her how bad she erred.

But the server wasn’t the only one who got a scolding: Russert chewed Gregory out for his tactless behavior. “Russert warned Gregory never to behave that way in front of him again,”."

In a business where arrogant and rude get results, Russert's Buffalo working-class boy attitude rarely failed to seem just a bit better than the rest. He never forgot his origins, and why he loved doing what he did.

Certainly American journalism is the poorer for his passing. RIP.

UPDATE: Is it ghoulish to start wondering who his long-term replacement will be on Meet The Press? Perhaps, but some in the Blogosphere already are.

Picking a replacement for Tim will be hard, but in the middle of an election season a few names come to mind, like David Gregory, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, John Harwood, Chuck Todd or Andrea Mitchell.

Hey, it's journalism. It's ghoulish by default. As Don Henley cynically said, "Get the widow on the set, give me dirty laundry...".

Related

Altouse Dreads To Think Of Elections Without Him
Hugh Hewitt Calls Russert 'A Great American'
Right Voices Reminds Us Big Russ (His Father) Outlived His Son
Malkin Praises Russert For Courtesy
Times Like This I Don't Feel Very Clever Or Nice

Charlton Heston -- An American Classic

Charlton Heston has died of complications following his fight with Alzheimers. He was 84.

I think a lot of us felt as Argentine actress Norma Aleandro once did, when she was partnered with Heston at the Oscars. Instead of reading the cue-cards with her intro, she stopped, took a deep breath, looked up at the still amazingly handsome actor next to her, and rasped out:

"My God, I can't believe I'm standing next to Moses"

In my opinion, Old Hollywood -- the Hollywood of the epic, of the studio system, of the true cinematic moment of grandiosity and glamour, of plain old family entertainment...is officially over.

May both Rest in Peace.