gcreptile

Hmm, something something Ronald Reagan/Alzheimer's/memory returns/gets same present each year.

Well, I have Tsipras in my team as a possible unique hit, for exactly that reason. Either someone from the outside might do "an Allende" or maybe an angry Greek does it. I successfully guessed that Syriza would win the elections so the first step has already been made. But I'm a little annoyed that Varoufakis has drawn a lot of the attention away from Tsipras onto himself. Now that Syriza is more than a one-man show, you cannot collapse the movement by simply killing one of them. Edit: I should add that I wouldn't pick him again. When I picked him, I was a victim of the "plausability fallacy", i.e. I thought it was more likely to happen than it actually is, simply because I could make up a fitting story. (I have this theory from Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast and Slow".) But actually, political assassinations are very, very unlikely. Edit: Looks like step two is happening right now, the Grexit. Varoufakis is going to resign and since the new finance minister is very likely going to be less flamboyant than him, the attention will now focus on Tsipras again. The whole Syriza project is now back on his lone shoulders. Just thinking.... if... someone wanted to end this whole unruly behaviour of the greek people, now would be a good time to strike....

The first half of the year (or actually the first four months only) had a terrific pace in DDP terms. But it seems that almost all candidates of the top teams still alive are unlikely to die. It looks like this group's chance of getting 100 points heavily depends on the health of Martin Crowe. If the current top teams have exhausted their potential after half the year already, maybe the winner will come out of left field.

Also, some weekend deaths get reported a little later. I noticed it's a little quieter on Saturdays and Sundays.

It's still too hot for me to post anything substantial, but today I was forced to watch Uri Geller on the TV. I wished there was something that would make him a good candidate for a deadpool team.

Hot... The last time it was this hot was years ago... Tomorrow it's going to be hotter, and very humid before the thunderstorm.

He also liked to drive his care barefoot: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/2718722/Portrait-of-a-driver-Brian-Sewell.html That article from 2002 mentions his heart attack in 1994 and how Sewell thought his heart would "explode" before his car. It obviously hasn't happened yet. I get the impression that he loves to complain about himself. I have him marked as dead before 2017 with 50% likelihood, and my reasons for that are his cancer and his self-loathing. I picture him on his deathbed muttering his final words: "I was... too.....gay...." His end may come quickly if he starts to feel too much pain.

Her -alleged- drug dealer Stephen Stepho has been found dead, overdose: http://hollywoodlife.com/2015/07/02/bobbi-kristina-brown-drug-dealer-dead-steven-stepho-dies/

Israel's first ambassador to Iran (before the Islamic Revolution), Dr. Meir Ezri, is dead at 92: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/197603#.VZUXzPntlBc

Theodore Weesner, whose most popular book was "The Car Thief" is dead at 79 after congestive heart failure: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/07/flint_native_acclaimed_novelis.html

Antarctic explorer (how many explorers are left in this world?) Malcolm Laird dead at 80: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/69860602/antarctic-explorer-malcolm-laird-dies-at-machu-picchu-in-peru He suffered a heart attack at his wedding anniversary holidays. It was probably the ascension to the ruins of Macchu Picchu that were too much for him.

Actually, my 87 year old neighbour (a woman) might be the oldest person I know well. In fact, I think I've never known any nonagenerian well. There was the former owner of the house we now live in, who died at 90 and our neighbour upstairs who is 93, but never leaves the flat. In fact, I've never seen her in the 4 years I live in this area, and only received some demented phone calls of her (no joke). I've never consciously seen a centenarian.

Turkish author Osman Necmi Gürmen dead at 88: http://www.todayszaman.com/arts-culture_renowned-turkish-author-osman-necmi-gurmen-passes-away-at-88_392505.html

Popular instagram blogger Jarrett Scott Page dies of unspecified health complications (HIV?) at 25/26: http://madamenoire.com/543877/jarrett-scott-page-passes-away/

I wonder if he's a prominent first victim of the heat wave... I wondered whether that might cause a couple of low hanging fruits to drop, so to say...

Prince Philip, but not by much. Benedikt will reach the age of 90, I think, which gives him at least two years. While Prince Philip will survive this year, I think his decline will be fast.

The always lovely Telegraph obit mentions that he basically invented the pastime known as trainspotting: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11708536/Ian-Allan-trainspotter-obituary.html

Sir Nicholas Winton dead at 106 http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/News/Areas/Maidenhead/Sir-Nicholas-Winton-dies-aged-106-01072015.htm Another hit for the Italian Deathlist! And for my Deathrace team...

The son of author Julie Burchill commits suicide: http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/julie-burchill-mourning-after-son-5980881

Well-known oboist Laura Ahlbeck dies of a degenerative brain disease at 57: http://slippedisc.com/2015/06/fantastic-boston-oboist-has-died-at-57/

Very clever post! This name should be bigger. Several obituaries call him the "father of the SMS".

Ben Wattenberg, a political pundit who was a Democrat and a Neoconservative (Neoconservatism was indeed born in the Democratic Party) and urged his party to move to the elusive political center, is dead at 81: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/30/us/ben-wattenberg-author-and-commentator-dies-at-81.html?_r=0

Long-time world class windsurfer Peter Volwater, 40, apparently dead of suicide: http://www.surfertoday.com/windsurfing/11924-peter-volwater-passes-away-at-40

Oh wow, he has Alzheimer's. He might be running around confused.

James Whitey Bulger, who would also be a good addition to the Deathlist, in my opinion, writes about his "wasted" life in a letter: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/06/27/whitey-bulger-letter-life-was-wasted/irYL38W7IxI5ycoEpDohkI/story.html