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You are here: Home / Open Threads / President Biden Awards Presidential Medal of Freedom at 2 pm (LIVE)

President Biden Awards Presidential Medal of Freedom at 2 pm (LIVE)

by WaterGirl|  July 7, 20225:45 pm| 115 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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President Biden will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 people today.

I checked out the list of people before deciding whether to put up a post for this.  Lots of great people are being honored.  There are a couple of people that wouldn’t have been on my list.   I must have been out watering when Biden called to get my input.

Speaking of which (sort of related) I added Imm’s great comment yesterday to the rotating tags.

“You didn’t get a personal candygram about what the State Department is doing?”

Open thread.

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Reader Interactions

115Comments

  1. 1.

    different-church-lady

    July 7, 2022 at 1:52 pm

    How dare he continue to do normal presidential-type things when he should be screaming at people on Twitter.

  2. 2.

    Betty Cracker

    July 7, 2022 at 1:55 pm

    @different-church-lady: He could multitask during remarks on McCain’s posthumous medal, noting that without the saintly senator’s moderating influence, his party devolved into a troop of poop-flinging fascist baboons. Even better if Meghan McCain is accepting on the deceased’s behalf…

  3. 3.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    July 7, 2022 at 2:02 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Instead, MAGAs scream at him on Twitter in the replies, which he never reads lol

  4. 4.

    Mike in NC

    July 7, 2022 at 2:07 pm

    Congrats to the recipients. But Steve Jobs was a genuinely terrible person, no matter his technical abilities. The fact that Rush Limbaugh was presented with one by a fellow fat golfer will forever diminish its value.

  5. 5.

    trollhattan

    July 7, 2022 at 2:14 pm

    Can he claw back Limbaugh’s from his rotting corpse? Twofer.

  6. 6.

    Betty Cracker

    July 7, 2022 at 2:17 pm

    @Mike in NC: What was so terrible about Jobs? I’ve heard he was a shitty father to his first child (at least at first, when he denied paternity), and I assume he was an asshole as a businessman because statistically, people who claw their way to the top tend to be assholes. Was it more than that?

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    July 7, 2022 at 2:26 pm

    Music just started, Joe is here!

  8. 8.

    Immanentize

    July 7, 2022 at 2:28 pm

    @Betty Cracker: he was not a nice man. Very controlling, it is said, to all in his orbit. But he was definitely NOT in the Musk league of corporate titanic asses.

  9. 9.

    Alison Rose

    July 7, 2022 at 2:37 pm

    @Immanentize:

    But he was definitely NOT in the Musk league of corporate titanic asses.

    A low bar, but one many still manage not to clear.

  10. 10.

    Immanentize

    July 7, 2022 at 2:39 pm

    @Alison Rose : or maybe a very high bar of assholery?

  11. 11.

    debbie

    July 7, 2022 at 2:39 pm

    Can you name an uncontrolling successful entrepreneur? Seems it comes with the territory (Acknowledgement that I remain a 100% fan of Steve Jobs, and I always will, no matter what dirt gets thrown at him).

  12. 12.

    debbie

    July 7, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    When he knew better, he did better. Most don’t.

  13. 13.

    Immanentize

    July 7, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    @debbie: Ben and Jerry?

    Annie (from the healthy food/Mac n cheese franchise — she is a colleague’s sister)

    Dave Thomas (he was supposed to be quite nice)

  14. 14.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    July 7, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    RIP James Caan

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by5YzWJ9W4U

    No more Sollozzo tricks

  15. 15.

    Baud

    July 7, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Yeah Musk will have to wait for a GOP president for his Meda of Freedom.

  16. 16.

    Immanentize

    July 7, 2022 at 2:47 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca: I’ve been sad about this. And people are not giving enough love to Rollerball

  17. 17.

    Nicole

    July 7, 2022 at 2:50 pm

    Apologies if this was posted before, but apparently Hugh Grant tweeted to activists outside Westminster to play the Benny Hill theme on their loudspeakers.  So this interview with a Tory politician by Sky News has the most appropriate soundtrack ever:

    https://twitter.com/Fritschner/status/1545077380527673344

  18. 18.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 7, 2022 at 2:51 pm

    @Immanentize: Some may have been sickened by the remake.

  19. 19.

    different-church-lady

    July 7, 2022 at 2:51 pm

    @Betty Cracker: ​

    @Betty Cracker: ​
      Jobs had horrible interpersonal issues. I don’t think he wanted to be an asshole, he was just several places on the spectrum. He was a frustrated artist that compensated by giving creative people tools that helped them create. He did the world some good at the expense of the people around him. Everyone should make their own judgement about how that balances out.

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    July 7, 2022 at 2:54 pm

    ‘@debbie

    Off the top of the noggin the closest I can come would be George Westinghouse. Control tempered with empathy with an appreciation of the merits of others, a balance of an engineer’s discipline and curiosity and a clear-eyed view of the realities of the workplace.

    In some ways I might also include Milton Hershey.

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    July 7, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    I swear this place lately can only make lemons out of lemonade.

  22. 22.

    different-church-lady

    July 7, 2022 at 2:59 pm

    @WaterGirl: ​  Hey, you think it’s easy getting all the sugar out of the liquid?​

  23. 23.

    Betty Cracker

    July 7, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    @different-church-lady: Agreed. The comment to which I was replying made me wonder if there is something terrible about Jobs that I don’t know about.

  24. 24.

    Betty Cracker

    July 7, 2022 at 3:01 pm

    Speaking of James Caan, have any of y’all watched “The Offer,” a limited series streaming on Paramount? Highly recommended for fans of “The Godfather”!

  25. 25.

    debbie

    July 7, 2022 at 3:08 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Hippies all. A breed apart.

  26. 26.

    Citizen Alan

    July 7, 2022 at 3:08 pm

    @debbie:  I generally don’t believe it’s possible to become a billionaire without also being an awful person if not an actual sociopath. Decent people who obtain exceptional wealth usually give away too much of it to reach the status of billionaire.

  27. 27.

    debbie

    July 7, 2022 at 3:10 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    @Citizen Alan:

    I agree with both your assessments. I’d also state I’m a bigger asshole than all of them combined. We’re only human.

  28. 28.

    zhena gogolia

    July 7, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    @Nicole: I love it!

  29. 29.

    Benw

    July 7, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    Props to my NYC peep Sandra Lindsay!

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    July 7, 2022 at 3:17 pm

    ‘@WaterGirl

    The circle of strife.

    :)

  31. 31.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 7, 2022 at 3:18 pm

    That was nice.

  32. 32.

    TheronWare

    July 7, 2022 at 3:21 pm

    @Immanentize: Johnathan! Johnathan! Johnathan!

  33. 33.

    Tony Jay

    July 7, 2022 at 3:22 pm

    @Nicole:

    Hugh Grant may be partially responsible (along with Stephen Fry and Joanna Lumley) for the rehabilitation of ‘poshness’ that made Flobalob’s career possible, but he’s still okay in my book.

  34. 34.

    Gvg

    July 7, 2022 at 3:22 pm

    @Betty Cracker: didn’t he choose some quackery to try to beat cancer instead of science, thus dying when he might not?  I don’t recall anything else….but I never paid much mind to personal lives of famous people. A lifelong friend of my dad did the same type of thing about the same time and made my dad sad, so I sort of recall this, but I could be misremembering.

  35. 35.

    Mike in NC

    July 7, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    @Betty Cracker:  He was basically a nihilist. Would park his car in handicapped spots because he didn’t believe the government had the authority to regulate anything. Had no driver’s license, no car insurance, etc. The ultimate glibertarian.

  36. 36.

    eclare

    July 7, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    @Gvg:   Yes.  I think it was a special diet.

  37. 37.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 7, 2022 at 3:30 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Looking at the list of honourees: of the 17, I was familiar with nine of them prior to the ceremony, and had never heard of the other eight.

    That strikes me as a very good balance for awards such as the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Roughly half of them are well-known, almost household names, being honoured for accomplishments most of us know about. The other half are names unfamiliar to us, and call to our attention the important achievements that happen behind the scenes every day, or that happened long ago. Good mix. Congratulations to them all.

  38. 38.

    Steve in the ATL

    July 7, 2022 at 3:33 pm

    @Immanentize: Rollerball, Death Race 2000, and Assault on Precinct 13–that was the golden age of cinema!

  39. 39.

    Betty Cracker

    July 7, 2022 at 3:34 pm

    In which the Brits and Americans debate whose country is sillier. pic.twitter.com/jLKRHZFfAz

    — Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) July 6, 2022

  40. 40.

    UncleEbeneezer

    July 7, 2022 at 3:37 pm

    If Dem messaging works for the MAJORITY of Blk Voters & Asian voters & Latin voters & indigenous voters

    Perhaps we don’t have a MESSAGING PROBLEM

    We have a White voters vote for White Supremacy problem

    We have a White voters blame EVERYONE ELSE for their voting habits problem – Michelle_BYoung

  41. 41.

    Doug R

    July 7, 2022 at 3:39 pm

    @Mike in NC: 
    The real “Steve” genius at Apple was Woz. When’s he getting his medal?

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 7, 2022 at 3:41 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: If we are talking James Caan, we have to mention Thief.

  43. 43.

    Steve in the ATL

    July 7, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: back when Jim Belushi was almost watchable!

  44. 44.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 7, 2022 at 3:46 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Almost.

  45. 45.

    raven

    July 7, 2022 at 3:53 pm

    @Immanentize: GED grad. He was supposed to be the “virtual” speaker (long before it became a thing) at the state literacy conference and the technology failed and the state director had a fit! She later was fired for hiring her family members to bullshit Jobs in the department!

  46. 46.

    raven

    July 7, 2022 at 3:58 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca: Cinderella Liberty is really good. So is Gardens of Stone even though it didn’t do much at the box office. Look it up.

  47. 47.

    WereBear

    July 7, 2022 at 4:02 pm

    @debbie: The Other Steve, Woz, is the warm and fuzzy one.

  48. 48.

    James E Powell

    July 7, 2022 at 4:02 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Absolutely. Michael Mann’s first film. Very good episode of Rewatchables.

  49. 49.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    July 7, 2022 at 4:04 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    I don’t care how rich he was, how the hell was he allowed to drive without a license or car insurance?!

  50. 50.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 7, 2022 at 4:10 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): ​
      He got in a car and drove.

  51. 51.

    Alison Rose

    July 7, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    Watching the replay and wow, this is quite a group of people. I’ll even accept McCain since everyone else is awesome. Especially Diane Nash, my absolute hero!!!

  52. 52.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 7, 2022 at 4:15 pm

    @raven: Gardens of Stone came out just before I went into the army.  One of my classmates from OCS though the Artillery OBC and Airborne School had served with the Old Guard.  One of my grandfather’s brothers had that as his duty during WWII.

  53. 53.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    July 7, 2022 at 4:16 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Yeah, but don’t you need a driver’s license to register a car?

  54. 54.

    raven

    July 7, 2022 at 4:18 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: So he was a Mustang! That had to be stressful duty. A rare film appearance of Bill Graham getting cold-cocked by Cann!

  55. 55.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 7, 2022 at 4:18 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): ​
      No.

  56. 56.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 7, 2022 at 4:20 pm

    @raven: A little more than half our class was prior service.  The other bunch were, like me, just out of college with only BCT as military experience.

  57. 57.

    misterpuff

    July 7, 2022 at 4:25 pm

    @Immanentize: Jonathon E! Jonathon E!

    One of my favorites.

    Jimmy will be missed.

  58. 58.

    Jackie

    July 7, 2022 at 4:26 pm

    Just finished watching it. What a beautiful ceremony.

  59. 59.

    JML

    July 7, 2022 at 4:37 pm

    Caan was great. Loved him in the weird and funny Honeymoon in Vegas, among all the classics.

  60. 60.

    raven

    July 7, 2022 at 4:40 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Wow, I had no idea. But, then again, I was telling my buddy the other day how educational attainment was crucial in the military today unlike Project 100,000.

  61. 61.

    debbie

    July 7, 2022 at 4:44 pm

    @WereBear:

    Yes, and he knew when to let his partner step forward.

  62. 62.

    debbie

    July 7, 2022 at 4:46 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    In Ohio I think you only need the title. That’s how I acquired my mom’s car after she died.

  63. 63.

    WaterGirl

    July 7, 2022 at 4:49 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I thought so, too.

  64. 64.

    trollhattan

    July 7, 2022 at 4:55 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Speaking of people who revered Jobs and shouldn’t have.

    Silicon Valley executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani has been found guilty of deceiving investors as part of a plot with ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Holmes.

    He falsely and repeatedly claimed that their company, Theranos, had a device that could detect hundreds of diseases with a few drops of blood.

    Holmes was found guilty at a separate trial in January where she accused Balwani of abuse – which he denies.

    Both Holmes, 38, and Balwani, 57, will be sentenced by a judge in the autumn.

    Holmes is facing around 20 years in prison and is currently free on bail. Balwani also faces up to 20 years in prison as well as millions of dollars in restitution payments to his victims.

    Theranos was once worth $9bn (£7.5bn), but was based on blood testing technology that did not work.

    The verdict was read on the fifth day of jury deliberations at a courthouse in San Jose, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Balwani was found guilty of all 12 charges against him.

    During closing arguments on 21 June, prosecutors showed text messages sent by Balwani to Holmes.

    “I am responsible for everything at Theranos,” he wrote in 2015. “All have been my decisions too.”

    Assistant US Attorney Jeffrey Schenk called the message an admission of guilt. “He’s acknowledging his role in the fraud,” he said.

    TBF it was Holmes who think’s Steve J is “neato.” Balwani seems enamored of money and power.

  65. 65.

    rikyrah

    July 7, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    WHERE did he get 500k from?

     

    poisecounts (@poisecounts1) tweeted at 2:11 PM on Tue, Jul 05, 2022:
    Lindsey Graham personally donates $500,000 to Trump campaign’s legal fund https://t.co/neB13s6rLK NICE
    (https://twitter.com/poisecounts1/status/1544398669310578689?t=0NSZYn2wVLnOJrHJXQWC9w&s=03)

  66. 66.

    James E Powell

    July 7, 2022 at 5:04 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Balwani seems enamored of money and power.

    And a woman 20 years younger, no doubt.

    Just yesterday I was wondering what was taking so long with that trial. Half assed internet search revealed jury questions.

    I have no experience with federal sentencing guidelines, but some jackals do. What do you all think these two will get?

  67. 67.

    Martin

    July 7, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    There you go. Feinstein will support a filibuster carveout for abortion.

    I’m telling you, her top priority right now is not embarrassing herself in front of a zillion cameras defending a position that the rest of the party opposes. She might be slow getting there, but she’s just a party line vote now. The calls still help the process along, so keep them up.

  68. 68.

    Martin

    July 7, 2022 at 5:07 pm

    @trollhattan: Lot of people who didn’t in any way understand Jobs.

  69. 69.

    debbie

    July 7, 2022 at 5:07 pm

    Uh oh. Look out, Alaska!

    https://twitter.com/mhmck/status/1545049601278742530?s=21&t=19wYRrYjyTxlpRFb-8KAXQ

  70. 70.

    Alison Rose

    July 7, 2022 at 5:10 pm

    @Martin: Just saw the statement. Glad to hear it!

  71. 71.

    rikyrah

    July 7, 2022 at 5:12 pm

    Who is Sandra Douglass Morgan? Meet the NFL’s first Black female president hired by Raiders
     

    Sandra Douglass Morgan made history on Thursday as the first Black woman to assume the role of president of an NFL team.

    The Raiders announced Morgan as the team’s new president via an internal letter (acquired by the Las Vegas Journal-Review’s Mick Akers) sent from Morgan to the rest of the organization. She replaces interim president Dan Ventrelle, who after resigning claimed he was fired in retaliation for reporting a hostile workplace environment to the NFL.

     

    ………………..

     

    Morgan’s name may be unfamiliar in NFL and football circles, but she is well-known in Nevada and Las Vegas, where she formerly served as the chairwoman Nevada Gaming Control Board from 2019 through 2021 — a role in which she also broke the gender and color barriers.

    Here’s everything you need to know about Morgan as she takes over as president of the Raiders:
    Who is Sandra Douglass Morgan?
    Morgan is a Las Vegas native with a wealth of experience traversing the gaming industry in Nevada and the Raiders’ new home city, making her an obvious candidate for the Raiders’ open president position.

    Per the Journal-Review, Morgan earned a bachelor of arts in political science from University of Nevada, Reno, before earning a juris doctor from UNLV’s Boyd Law School. She served in the following capacities prior to taking over as the Raiders’ team president:

    • Litigation attorney, MGM Resorts International
    • City attorney, North Las Vegas (2013-16)
    • Director of external affairs, AT&T Services Inc. (2016-19)
    • Chairwoman, Nevada Gaming Control Board (2019-21)

    https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/sandra-douglass-morgan-raiders-president/vcq94dwekcemwkks33bdtsbq

  72. 72.

    debbie

    July 7, 2022 at 5:17 pm

    Never too much Patron!

    https://twitter.com/patrondsns/status/1544985288098848768?s=21&t=19wYRrYjyTxlpRFb-8KAXQ

  73. 73.

    Baud

    July 7, 2022 at 5:19 pm

    @Martin: I’m not surprised at this outcome, but I’m glad it’s official.

  74. 74.

    Scout211

    July 7, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    @Alison Rose :

    Wow. We did it.

  75. 75.

    Ohio Mom

    July 7, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    Steve Jobs had a rare type of pancreatic cancer that western medicine actually has a treatment for — most pancreatic cancers are quickly terminal. They are symptomless until they are very advanced and have spread, and no effective chemo has yet been identified/developed.

    But Jobs was too arrogant to do what the doctors recommended. He threw his life away.

  76. 76.

    James E Powell

    July 7, 2022 at 5:22 pm

    I’m almost 2-1/2 hours late, but Peace & Love, Ringo Starr.

    Happy Birthday to my favorite Beatle!

  77. 77.

    Alison Rose

    July 7, 2022 at 5:29 pm

    @Scout211: Apparently she still has some sense left in her…

  78. 78.

    misterpuff

    July 7, 2022 at 5:29 pm

    @JML: since we are commenting on early 70s movies in this thread, what does everybody think of Serpico?

    Much like Rollerball, that flick had a big impact on me in high school when I saw it.

    But then I also saw Death Wish multiple times (hated the politics but that movie is a banger).

  79. 79.

    Jeffro

    July 7, 2022 at 5:30 pm

    I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to see Khizr Khan receive the Medal of Freedom.  He and his wife’s bravery in speaking up at the 2016 DNC brought tears to my eyes (as it did, for vastly different reasons, the way the GQP quickly capitulated to trumpov when he attacked the Khans, then doubled down some more on the attacks).  I loved his book and told him so when I ran into him here in Cville a couple years ago.

    Amazing person and a TRUE American, unlike that scum Rush Limbaugh who the former guy gave the MOF to.  Run THAT ad, Dems: “compare and contrast, America, compare and contrast!”

  80. 80.

    Jeffro

    July 7, 2022 at 5:31 pm

    @NotMax: saving that turn of phrase for future use  =)

  81. 81.

    Baud

    July 7, 2022 at 5:32 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Make it a rotating tag.

  82. 82.

    sab

    July 7, 2022 at 5:34 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: My son law drove illegally for years. The advantage of no license is they can’t put points against your license for speeding etc. if you have no license. And if you drive well they might never stop you.

  83. 83.

    Suzanne

    July 7, 2022 at 5:50 pm

    I just read the piece in The Atlantic about Kevin McCarthy and Lindsey Graham, and it gave me that sweet, sweet rush of contempt. Talk about bad hires.

  84. 84.

    Anyway

    July 7, 2022 at 5:56 pm

    @sab:

    Re Jobs: Easy to take a chance driving without a license if there’s low likelihood of being stopped for DWB  :-/

  85. 85.

    Emma from Miami

    July 7, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    @Ohio Mom: ​*shrug* It was his to throw away. I might not agree with his choice but I don’t see it as arrogant. It was simply personal. There are a number of terminal illnesses I wouldn’t care to treat intensively.

  86. 86.

    Steve in the ATL

    July 7, 2022 at 6:04 pm

    @James E Powell: really?  Marrying Barbara Bach was the only thing that ranks him above Pete Best and Stu Sutcliffe!

  87. 87.

    zhena gogolia

    July 7, 2022 at 6:12 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: he’s great in Get Back

  88. 88.

    J R in WV

    July 7, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    …how the hell was he allowed to drive without a license or car insurance?!

    He had a dealer’s plate on his car, and when it expired he bought another new vehicle — it’s just $134,000 after all. And insurance is a foolish expense if you have more money than most insurance companies. He just did what he wanted.

    We saw his yacht when we went whale watching to the southern end of Baja California Sud. Larger than the tiny National Geographic ocean liner we traveled on. I posted pics in On the Road of the many giant yachts down there.

  89. 89.

    The Thin Black Duke

    July 7, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Ringo is a better drummer than some people give him credit for.

  90. 90.

    Steeplejack

    July 7, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    @rikyrah:

    C’mon, that story is from November 2020!

  91. 91.

    Baud

    July 7, 2022 at 6:18 pm

    @J R in WV:

    We saw his yacht when we went whale watching to the southern end of Baja California Sud. Larger than the tiny National Geographic ocean liner we traveled on

     
    It was a houseboat.

  92. 92.

    H.E.Wolf

    July 7, 2022 at 6:20 pm

    @Martin: 

    There you go. Feinstein will support a filibuster carveout for abortion.

    I’m telling you, her top priority right now is not embarrassing herself in front of a zillion cameras defending a position that the rest of the party opposes. She might be slow getting there, but she’s just a party line vote now. The calls still help the process along, so keep them up.
    ​

     Awesome! I left voicemail this morning – many thanks to the jackal(s) who suggested it – and said that I’d proudly contributed to her first Senate campaign because of her strong pro-choice leadership, and I hoped she would be a strong pro-choice leader again for the filibuster carve-out.

    Whether it’s Feinstein or her staff who are pondering the feedback, it never hurts to tell a Senator that you admire their leadership… especially if they could be doing a bit more on that front. :)

  93. 93.

    Mike E

    July 7, 2022 at 6:27 pm

    @zhena gogolia: that time when he and Heather McCartney wore the same outfit, precious!

  94. 94.

    Ivan X

    July 7, 2022 at 6:28 pm

    @Mike in NC: this is bullshit. Not as in bullshit untrue, but bullshit conclusion drawing and pigeonholing.

  95. 95.

    misterpuff

    July 7, 2022 at 6:32 pm

    @Baud:

    We saw his yacht when we went whale watching to the southern end of Baja California Sud. Larger than the tiny National Geographic ocean liner we traveled on

    It was a houseboat.

    A Mansionboat

    or a Manchinboat.

    Your Pick.

  96. 96.

    Steeplejack

    July 7, 2022 at 6:34 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Ringo is a great drummer! I laid it out in a post long ago (as related to me by a professional drummer), but the short version is: he had a flawless sense of timekeeping; his drumming adapted as the Beatles’ music developed; and he was a steadying influence in a pressure-cooker environment with at least two, arguably three, fractious geniuses.

    Someone—maybe at Stereogum?—made the point that you can identify almost any Beatles song just by the drumming. Hats off on his birthday to Ringo, “the biggest fool that ever hit the big time.”

    A classic Ringo outing: “Ticket to Ride.”

  97. 97.

    Mike E

    July 7, 2022 at 6:38 pm

    @Steeplejack: yep, no Rings no Fabs, plain and simple.

  98. 98.

    raven

    July 7, 2022 at 6:39 pm

    @Mike in NC: He’s lucky he didn’t run into my buddy (RIP). he didn’t fuck around when he saw non-permitted people parking in handicapped spots!

  99. 99.

    Mai Naem mobile

    July 7, 2022 at 6:39 pm

    This is not on any priority list for me. Giving Steve Jobs a medal of freedom posthumously just a waste of a medal. I understand giving a posthumous medal to some discriminated minority who would never have gotten one during their lifetime or somebody who died doing something heroic, but Steve Jobs?  Another rich white guy whose widow is doing the charity stuff. Hell, give it to Mrs Jobs. If you’re going to do posthumous entrepeneurs do the HP guys.

  100. 100.

    Ivan X

    July 7, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    I actually met Jobs, and interacted with him from a distance one at a company meeting, when I worked at Apple, and he had freshly come back from exile as a technology has-been. I also met him after I no longer worked there when they launched the 5th Ave 24-hour Apple Store next to Central Park.

    I think he was a genuinely complicated person, a raging narcissist who was also a legit visionary who could be cruel and also care. At the company meeting not long after his return, I asked him (from the auditorium) what the most challenging part of his work was, and he stopped, thought, and answered (paraphrasing) “laying off people who really care about this company.” And it felt like he meant it, too. I mean, sure, he’s responsible for the Reality Distortion Field, but if you know anything about Apple in the 90’s, this answer makes perfect sense. I personally don’t think he was a two-dimensional terrible person. That’s not to say he didn’t do terrible things, but as others have suggested, what captains of industry haven’t?

    I also met Woz and that guy is a total sweetheart.

  101. 101.

    Jay

    July 7, 2022 at 6:45 pm

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Payments

    “In 2013, Dan Price increased pay for all employees earning less than $100,000 by 20%,[1] as a response to the lapse of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012.[5] The company also provides unlimited paid time off to employees.[6] Repeated pay increases resulted in “surprising” productivity jump from 30% to 40%, as did overall company profits”

  102. 102.

    geg6

    July 7, 2022 at 6:46 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Is it worth watching if you absolutely hate The Godfather and think it’s a genuinely shitty movie?  In other words, is it a good hate watch?

  103. 103.

    Ivan X

    July 7, 2022 at 6:50 pm

    @Doug R: to be fair, as an Apple II enthusiast, the most important computing paradigm changer was Mac, which was not Woz. And much later on it was iPhone, and, well, that was very much Jobs.

    Not that Woz wasn’t a genius who should be celebrated much more than he is.

  104. 104.

    geg6

    July 7, 2022 at 6:56 pm

    Fuck Steve Jobs (as she types this on her iPhone).  Rich Trumka got one posthumously, deservedly so.  A truly great American and I’m proud that he was a fellow Pennsylvanian.

  105. 105.

    Ken

    July 7, 2022 at 7:01 pm

    @J R in WV: The version I heard was that he leased a new vehicle every six months, so didn’t need to get plates.

  106. 106.

    Ivan X

    July 7, 2022 at 7:02 pm

    @misterpuff: I believe in pulp art! In High Exploitation!

    Death Wish II, on the other hand, is the Citizen Kane of sadistic gang rape movies.

  107. 107.

    James E Powell

    July 7, 2022 at 7:08 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    The genius of Ringo.

    Ask a drummer. 

    Even German teenagers know this.

  108. 108.

    There go two miscreants

    July 7, 2022 at 7:13 pm

    @Betty Cracker: ​The current court would do a better job if they actually did try to guess what the ghost of Jefferson intended, instead of being guided by their prejudices.

  109. 109.

    Steeplejack

    July 7, 2022 at 7:39 pm

    @James E Powell:

    The Drumeo video is an excellent, succinct piece.

  110. 110.

    Steeplejack

    July 7, 2022 at 8:31 pm

    @James E Powell:

    Got around to the other two videos—also excellent. But George Hrab—great insights, but, man, he cannot sing!

  111. 111.

    Miss Bianca

    July 7, 2022 at 8:38 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Ringo Starr is a great and very underrated drummer. His beats sound simple but man do they SWING. To compare him to Pete Best is kind of an insult, really.

  112. 112.

    Miss Bianca

    July 7, 2022 at 8:40 pm

     

    @Steeplejack: Or, you know, what you and the Thin Black Duke said.

  113. 113.

    Steeplejack

    July 7, 2022 at 9:08 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    Check out the videos at #107—very good. I’d go drummer, German girl, then the long “genius of Ringo” one.

  114. 114.

    DMcK

    July 8, 2022 at 4:01 am

    I’ll take the occasion of Ringo’s b-day to proclaim my unabashed love for “Caveman”. An objectively mediocre movie that nonetheless incorporates a pretty darn good cast, quite a few funny gags, some terrific stop-motion dinosaurs, and above all, a genuinely sweet-natured disposition in favor of misfits, geeks and outcasts a-la “Revenge of the Nerds”.

    And “Death Wish III” (my favorite of the series) is a highly entertaining insight into certain elements of the cartoonishly hardcore Republican mindset. Like…they think it’s a fucking documentary or something.

  115. 115.

    Ivan X

    July 8, 2022 at 11:29 am

    @DMcK: I love Caveman too.

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