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R.I.P. Tag

In my memory, there are certain place markers in the history of terrorism that led to where we are today. The 1972 Munich Massacre of Israeli athletes (1972); the bombing of the Beirut Marine Barracks (1983), the World Trade Center attacks (1993 and 2001); the Jerusalem Sbarro Pizza bombing (2001) and the videotaped beheading of Daniel Pearl, February 1, 2002. I don't diminish the significance and horror of other attacks, it's just that these are memory reference points for me.

I saw the Roches in the late 1970s, and have followed them since....

There have been many deaths we have written about this year, from great musicians to actresses to astronauts to Nancy Reagan. But there may have been no other who so touched our lives. Fox News reports, Creator of the Red Solo Cup dies at 84:
The creator of the Red Solo Cup died on Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at the age of 84. Robert Leo Hulseman lived in Northfield, Illinois, but spent much of his time in Scottsdale, Arizona. He began working for his father’s business – the Solo Cup Company – at the age of 18. He then worked his way to the top to become president and CEO.

As Kemberlee Kaye so eloquently demonstrated in her post, This Christmas, few relationships are as defining as one between a mother a child. Apparently the loss of her child yesterday was more than legendary actress Debbie Reynolds could bear. She passed away of a stroke, less than 48 hours after her daughter Carrie Fisher died from a heart attack.
Debbie Reynolds -- who rose to stardom in "Singin' in the Rain" and quickly became a staple among Hollywood royalty -- died Wednesday as a result of a stroke, TMZ has learned ... just one day after her daughter Carrie Fisher passed away ... this according to her son Todd.

As the rock generation of the 60s and 70s ages, we're seeing increasing number of deaths at relatively "young" ages based on current average life expectencies. We can't write about them all, but this one is special, at least to me. Greg Lake died yesterday. BBC reports:

Legal Insurrection readers are part of a small community of people outside the inner-city of Chicago who may be familiar with Joe Watkins, who passed away this week after a battle with cancer. We've published a few videos and interviews with Joe on this site, including Rebel Pundit's "Chicago Unchained," which reached more than 1 million views after it was first published in 2014: But readers may not realize that Watkins's outspoken denunciation of Democrat rule over the poor, black inner-city communities may have paved the way for enormous changes in the way our political landscape unfolds.

Leonard Cohen passed away. Rolling Stone reports:
Leonard Cohen, the hugely influential singer and songwriter whose work spanned nearly 50 years, died Monday at the age of 82. Cohen's label, Sony Music Canada, confirmed his death on the singer's Facebook page Thursday evening. "It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away," the statement read. "We have lost one of music's most revered and prolific visionaries. A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date. The family requests privacy during their time of grief." A cause of death was not given.

Anyone who enjoyed stand-up comedy in the 80's and 90's will certainly remember Kevin Meaney whose routine usually revolved around his parents protesting his jokes by saying "that's not right" and warning him "we'll lose the house." Meaney passed away Saturday at the age of 60. At the time of this writing, the cause of death hasn't been determined. The Hollywood Reporter has the story:
Kevin Meaney, Veteran Stand-Up Comic, Dies at 60 Kevin Meaney, a veteran stand-up comedian and actor, has died. He was 60. Meaney's agent confirmed that he was found in his home in Forestburgh, N.Y., and that an autopsy is pending.

Earlier this month we brought news about Marine Pfc. George Traver, who was killed during the battle of the Tarawa Atoll in 1943. His body was only recently identified, and preparations made for his return to the U.S. and funeral near Albany, NY. I've learned since that original post that the return of those, like Pfc. Traver, who have been unidentified for several decades, is a project of the History Flight:
History Flight is a true non-profit charity in which 96% of donations go directly to pay for program costs to find and recover the 84,000 missing service members from America's wars of the 20th Century. History Flight is a non-governmental organization dedicated to finding, recovering and repatriating America's war dead to American soil. Over the last ten years History Flight has sent over 100 search and recovery teams all over the world to locate loss sites of missing servicemen and to recover them. History Flight deployed cutting-edge, multi-disciplinary remote-sensing methodologies to find MIA loss sites where more than 500 American Servicemen are still missing.
Through the efforts of History Flight, another fallen hero has returned, Dale Geddes of Grand Island, Nebraska. The Omaha World-Herald reported,  ‘Our boy is coming home:’ After 72 years, World War II Marine Dale Geddes will be buried in Grand Island:
The remains of U.S. Marine Corps Pvt. Dale Robert Geddes of Grand Island, who was killed 72 years ago during the World War II Battle of Tarawa, have been positively identified through DNA comparisons and dental records.

I'd be surprised if any time is taken out from studying social justice warfare for school children or even college students to study the history of WWII other than to denounce the U.S. for dropping the A-bomb. So the Battle of Tarawa atoll likely means nothing to them. But to the generation that fought WWII and their relatives, and those of us who actually were taught history in school, the term Bloody Tarawa is bone chilling: Most of the Americans killed were gunned down on the beaches during the amphibious landing:

Just breaking, more to follow. https://twitter.com/ReaganWorld/status/706522349571612672 https://twitter.com/ReaganWorld/status/706528130014580736

Andrew Breitbart died four years ago today:
Very sad news to report, just breaking. Andrew Breitbart is dead.... There are few people who are irreplaceable, but Andrew may have been one of those few.
I really can't add a lot to what I wrote the day of his death, A personal note on the death of Andrew Breitbart:
I only spoke once with Andrew Breitbart. He reached out to me, and we spoke by phone. The topic is not important, but I was shocked that he even knew who I was; but as I’ve come to learn, Andrew seemed to know who everyone was in the conservative blogosphere. He was just that way. Since my wife called this morning to let me know of Andrew’s death, it has been hard to focus on anything else. In her words, we don’t have that many bright media lights, and to lose him hurts.

Just Breaking:
Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead of apparent natural causes Saturday on a luxury resort in West Texas, federal officials said. Scalia, 79, was a guest at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa. According to a report, Scalia arrived at the ranch on Friday and attended a private party with about 40 people. When he did not appear for breakfast, a person associated with the ranch went to his room and found a body. Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia, of the Western Judicial District of Texas, was notified about the death from the U.S. Marshals Service.
Justice Scalia leaves behind 28 grandchildren: https://twitter.com/DouthatNYT/status/698629400900870145 A selection of our prior posts about Justice Scalia (apart from dozens of posts about Supreme Court rulings):

Scalia always was the Happy Jurist, and Warrior.

This CBS interview was excellent: