Saturday, January 28, 2017

Comrade Obama Explains It All For You

On October 26, 2008 a Youtube video called "2001 Chicago Public Radio Interview with Barack Obama" was posted to a message board.  On October 27th I responded with this:
I thought this part from the Youtube video was very clarifying:
Yes he just said it's a tragedy the Constitution wasn't radically reinterpreted to force redistribution of wealth for African Americans. And it's still an issue today.
As narby points out, this isn't just about his communist economic policies, but that he hates the Constitution.

This is what Wikipedia has on the Warren Court (which wasn't so radical after all):
[M]arked by one of the starkest and most dramatic changes in judicial power and philosophy. Led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Court expanded civil rights, liberties, the judicial power, and the federal governmental power in ways previously unseen...the period is recognized as a high point in judicial power that has receded ever since, but with a substantial continuing impact.
I'm glad to read that McCain is talking about this and I hope he mentions the economic impact as well as saying that we need to preserve the Constitution.
Someone else wrote:
Did anyone else see Megyn Kelly trying to rip the Obamabot campaign director (Bill somethingorother) another one because he didn't answer any of her questions? She asked about this video and about the Barbara West interview with Biden. She was a real pit bull (complete with lipstick) and Bill Somethingorother kept refusing to answer the questions. He also kept accusing Fox of spreading rumor and innuendo. Megyn went ballistic and said that it was typical of the Obama campaign to shoot the messenger, and that they were only reporting about something that had been on YouTube all day.
I responded with:
Bill Burton. Here is video of it:  
http://minx.cc/?post=276687

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Exercise equipment suggestions

I posted this to a message board on October 7, 13, and 27, 2008:
I want some suggestions on exercise equipment. I mainly want something to strengthen my arms, legs and back so that I am better able to lift things. I also just want something that is good for my overall health. I am a skinny guy, but I don't get very much exercise and I'm not very strong so I want something that would help me. Is the elliptical machine a good idea? Or perhaps something from Bowflex? I would prefer to stay under $500.

I'm not really the type to create an exercise plan with various tools, so I think a machine would be a better fit for me and will probably give a consistent workout. It snowed here yesterday so I don't want to be outside too much. There is an outside pool at these apartments. I have tried treadmills before and liked them. Inspector, thanks for the website on used equipment and it looks like they also offer advice.

Today I bought a Merit Fitness 710E Elliptical Machine from Play it Again Sports. They said they only had new machines, but this one was a store display. It cost $300, but I found a website selling them for $400. I ran on it today for 30 minutes, half of the time pedaling backwards. It was quite a workout for me and especially on my legs. The last five minutes were really tough. It said I burned 420 calories! I'm going to have to start eating more.  :wink: My speed was about 6 (is that mph?).

Saturday, January 14, 2017

The Obama Temptation

I posted this to a message board on October 26, 2008:
Mark Levin wrote an article which I thought was interesting on why people are fascinated by Obama:
I honestly never thought we'd see such a thing in our country - not yet anyway - but I sense what's occurring in this election is a recklessness and abandonment of rationality that has preceded the voluntary surrender of liberty and security in other places.
I just went to Levin's website and it said: No affiliates were found within 100 miles!
Someone wrote:
The first time I was polled, one of the questions was "do you think the country is going in the wrong direction?" I said "yes" because, any country that would elect the Obamessiah is, by definition, going in the wrong direction.
I responded with:
I agree with you that we are on the wrong track and we don't need more of the same from the left. I am very hopeful that McCain/Palin can bring positive change.
Another person said:
It's curious that during the McCarthy years, there were stories of kids reporting their parents as communists, the acting community was fleeing to Europe, Americans were so paranoid that any whisper of 'red' was suspect. How did the perception of communism/socialism change so quickly?
 I responded with:
I agree with you, those people would be appalled at what America has become. Consider that Wilson and FDR both had close allies who were anti-American and marxist. My only hope is that we have managed to stay mostly intact even after those, so if Obama pursues the same course, it is possible there will be a light at the end. Also weren't there radical teachers in the 1920s? I've heard that the ideas of the founding fathers disappeared for a while, but then suddently there was a resurgence in learning more about them.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

List of states by partisanship

Using the results of the previous 5 presidential elections (2000-2016), I have ranked the states according to the percentage difference between Democrats and Republicans.

1) Wyoming   39.74%
2) Utah           36.06%
3) Idaho   33.35%
4) Oklahoma       30.85%
5) Hawaii   29.32%
6) Vermont   25.73%
7) Massachusetts  25.63%
8) Nebraska       24.79%
9) Rhode Island   24.12%
10) New York      24.11%
11) North Dakota  23.79%
12) Alabama   22.40%
13) Maryland      21.46%
14) Alaska   21.35%
15) Kentucky      20.75%
16) Kansas   20.69%
17) West Virginia 20.24%
18) South Dakota  20.09%
19) California    19.81%
20) Arkansas      17.14%
21) Montana   16.38%
22) Illinois      16.29%
23) Connecticut   16.23%
24) Texas   16.15%
25) Tennessee     15.92%
26) Mississippi   15.82%
27) Louisiana     15.53%
28) Delaware      15.14%
29) New Jersey    14.00%
30) South Carolina 13.35%
31) Indiana   12.93%
32) Washington    12.21%
33) Maine    9.92%
34) Georgia    9.30%
35) Oregon    8.80%
36) Missouri       7.74%
37) Arizona    7.58%
38) Michigan       6.86%
39) New Mexico     6.55%
40) North Carolina 6.13%
41) Minnesota      5.07%
42) Pennsylvania   4.33%
43) Wisconsin      4.14%
44) New Hampshire  3.13%
45) Nevada    3.09%
46) Colorado       1.24%
47) Ohio    1.23%
48) Iowa    1.12%
49) Florida    0.51%
50) Virginia       0.15%

2016 Election Results

I think the election results have been finalized now. Clinton received 48.19% of the popular vote compared to 46.09% for Trump.  Clinton received 70,876 fewer votes than Obama did in 2012.  She lost Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin by a combined total of 77,744 votes.  Trump had 939,273 more votes than Bush in 2004.  In total there were 136,645,382 votes, which is the highest amount ever.  Clinton’s percentage is the lowest for a Democrat since 1992 when her husband Bill only got 43.01%.  Clinton’s popular vote total is the third highest for a Democrat.  Trump’s popular vote total is the highest ever for a Republican.  His percentage is the lowest for a Republican since 2008 when McCain only got 45.65% of the popular vote.  Candidates on the right received a majority of the votes.  Trump, Johnson, McMullin, and Castle accounted for 50.05% of the popular vote; while Clinton, Stein, Sanders, and La Riva accounted for 49.36% of the total.

The electoral vote should have been 306-232, but due to several faithless electors the final result was 304-227, with seven votes going to other candidates.  There were more faithless electors in 2016 than the previous 12 elections combined!  Although faithless electors have never changed the outcome of an election, I think we need an amendment to guarantee that it never happens.  We can either require electors to support the states, or ban electors and make the vote automatic.  Trump won 30 states which is the highest amount since Bush won 31 states in the 2004 election.  Trump received 304 elector votes which is the best result by a Republican since the 1988 election when George H.W. Bush had 426 votes.  The 115th United States Congress officially certified the results on January 6, 2017.

Trump will be the fifth person to become president despite losing the nationwide popular vote.  He will be the first president without any prior military or political experience in public service, while Clinton was the first woman to be the presidential nominee of a major American party and the first woman to win the popular vote.

Collectively, third-party and independent candidates earned 5.72% of the popular vote, the highest since 1996 when they accounted for 10.05% of the total vote.  Gary Johnson received 4,488,925 votes or 3.29% of the total, which is a new record for the Libertarian Party.  Jill Stein received 1,448,908 votes or 1.06%.  This is the best result for the Green Party since the 2000 election when Ralph Nader received 2,882,955 votes or 2.74%.  Evan McMullin had 709,456 votes or 0.52%.  This is the best result for an Independent candidate since 2008 when Ralph Nader had 739,034 votes or 0.56%.  Darrell Castle received 201,745 votes which is the most ever for the Constitution Party.  This amounts to 0.15% of the total vote which ties Chuck Baldwin in the 2008 election, but trails the 1996 result when it was known as U.S. Taxpayers' Party and Howard Phillips received 0.19%.
Utah was the best state for third party and independent candidates where they accounted for 27% of the vote.  The worst state for alternative candidates was Mississippi where they only accounted for 1.95% of the vote.  In eight states they accounted for over 10% of the vote.  In 12 states a third party or independent candidate received a higher percentage of the vote than the gap between Clinton and Trump.

Donald Trump’s best state was West Virginia with 68.63% and his worst state was Hawaii with 29.44%.  Hillary Clinton’s best state was California with 61.73% and her worst state was Wyoming with 21.63%.  Gary Johnson’s best state was New Mexico with 9.34% and his worst state was Mississippi with 1.19%.  Evan McMullin’s best state was Utah with 21.54% and his worst state was North Carolina with 0%.  Jill Stein’s best state was Hawaii with 2.91% and her worst state was North Carolina with 0.25%.  Darrell Castle’s best state was Alaska with 1.21% and his worst state was North Carolina with 0%.

Clinton won the popular vote by 2.1%.  The most accurate aggregate poll was the TPM Polltracker which predicted that she would win by 1.9%.  The following polls released in November came close to the actual result: UPI/CVoter November 1–7 at 2.5%, McClatchy/Marist November 1–3 at 2%, Google Consumer Surveys November 1–7 at 2%, Rasmussen Reports November 2–6 at 2%, Fox News November 1–3 at 2%, and Gravis Marketing/Breitbart News November 1–2 at 2%.

Clinton won the popular vote by 2.86 million.  California was the only state where her margin was even higher at 4.27 million.  Her lead in Los Angeles County was 1.69 million.

Clinton received 34.36% of the vote in Alabama, which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1972 election when George McGovern only received 25.54% of the vote.

Trump received 51.28% of the vote in Alaska, which is the lowest amount for a Republican since the 1996 election when Bob Dole received 50.80% of the vote.

Clinton received 45.13% of the vote in Arizona, which is the highest amount for a Democrat since the 1996 election when her husband Bill received 46.52% of the vote.

In Arkansas, Trump received 60.57% of the vote which ties Romney’s total in 2012 and is the highest amount for a Republican since the 1972 election when Richard Nixon received 68.82% of the vote.  Clinton received 33.65% of the vote which is the lowest for a Democrat since the 1972 election when George McGovern only received 30.71% of the vote.

In California, Clinton received 61.73% of the vote which is the highest for a Democrat since the 1936 election when Franklin D. Roosevelt received 66.95% of the vote.  Trump received 31.62% of the vote which is the lowest for a Republican since the 1912 election when William H. Taft only received 0.58% of the vote.

Trump received 43.25% of the vote in Colorado, which is the lowest for a Republican since the 1992 election when George H.W. Bush only received 35.87% of the vote.

Clinton received 53.35% of the vote in Delaware which ties John Kerry in 2004 as the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1996 election when her husband Bill received 51.80% of the vote.

Trump received 4.07% of the vote in the District of Columbia, which is the lowest amount ever for a Republican.  It held its first vote in the 1964 election with passage of the Twenty-third Amendment.

Trump received 51.05% of the vote in Georgia, which is the lowest amount for a Republican since the 1996 election when Bob Dole received 47.01% of the vote.

In Idaho, Clinton received 27.49% of the vote which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1984 election when Walter Mondale received 26.39%.  Trump received 59.26% of the vote which is the lowest for a Republican since the 1996 election when Bob Dole received 52.18% of the vote.

Clinton received 37.77% of the vote in Indiana, which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1992 election when her husband Bill received 36.79% of the vote.

In Iowa, Clinton received 41.74% of the vote which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1980 election when Jimmy Carter received 38.60% of the vote.  Trump received 51.15% of the vote which is the highest amount for a Republican since the 1984 election when Ronald Reagan received 53.27% of the vote.

Clinton received 36.05% of the vote in Kansas, which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1992 election when her husband Bill received 33.74% of the vote.

In Kentucky, Clinton received 32.68% of the vote which is the lowest amount ever for a Democrat.  Kentucky became a state in 1792, but I don’t think it had a popular vote until 1824.  Trump received 62.52% of the vote which is the highest amount for a Republican since the 1972 election when Richard Nixon received 63.37% of the vote.

Clinton received 38.45% of the vote in Louisiana, which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1984 election when Walter Mondale received 38.18% of the vote.

Clinton received 46.35% of the vote in Maine, which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1992 election when her husband Bill received 38.77% of the vote.

Trump received 33.91% of the vote in Maryland, which is the lowest amount for a Republican since the 1912 election when William H. Taft received 23.69% of the vote.

In Massachusetts, Clinton received 59.05% of the vote which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1992 election when her husband Bill received 47.54% of the vote.  Trump received 32.29% of the vote which is the lowest amount for a Republican since the 1996 election when Bob Dole received 28.09% of the vote.

Clinton received 47.27% of the vote in Michigan, which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1992 election when her husband Bill received 43.77% of the vote.

Clinton received 46.44% of the vote in Minnesota, which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1992 election when her husband Bill received 43.48% of the vote.

In Missouri, Clinton received 38.14% of the vote which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1972 election when George McGovern received 37.71%.  Trump received 56.77% of the vote which is the highest amount for a Republican since the 1984 election when Ronald Reagan received 60.02% of the vote.

Trump received 40.04% of the vote in New Mexico, which is the lowest amount for a Republican since the 1992 election when George H.W. Bush received 37.34% of the vote.

In North Dakota, Clinton received 27.23% of the vote which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1980 election when Jimmy Carter received 26.26% of the vote.  Trump received 62.96% of the vote which is the highest amount for a Republican since the 1984 election when Ronald Reagan received 64.84% of the vote.

In Ohio, Clinton received 43.56% of the vote which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1992 election when her husband Bill received 40.18% of the vote.  Trump received 51.69% of the vote which is the highest amount for a Republican since the 1988 election when George H.W. Bush received 55% of the vote.

Clinton received 28.93% of the vote in Oklahoma, which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1972 election when George McGovern received 24% of the vote.

Trump received 39.09% of the vote in Oregon, which is the lowest amount for a Republican since the 1996 election when Bob Dole received 39.06% of the vote.

In Pennsylvania, Clinton received 47.85% of the vote which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1992 election when her husband Bill received 45.15% of the vote.  Trump received 48.58% of the vote which is the highest amount for a Republican since the 1988 election when George H.W. Bush received 50.7% of the vote.

In Rhode Island, Clinton received 54.41% of the vote which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1992 election when her husband Bill received 47.04% of the vote.  Trump received 38.9% of the vote which is the highest amount for a Republican since the 1988 election when George H.W. Bush received 43.93% of the vote.

Clinton received 40.67% of the vote in South Carolina, which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1992 election when her husband Bill received 39.88% of the vote.

In South Dakota, Clinton received 31.74% of the vote which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1980 election when Jimmy Carter received 31.69% of the vote.  Trump received 61.53% of the vote which is the highest amount for a Republican since the 1984 election when Ronald Reagan received 63% of the vote.

In Tennessee, Clinton received 34.72% of the vote which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1972 election when George McGovern received 29.75% of the vote.  Trump received 60.72% of the vote which is the highest amount for a Republican since the 1972 election when Richard Nixon received 67.7% of the vote.

Trump received 52.23% of the vote in Texas, which is the lowest amount for a Republican since the 1996 election when Bob Dole received 48.76% of the vote.

Trump received 45.54% of the vote in Utah, which is the lowest amount for a Republican since the 1992 election when George H.W. Bush received 43.36% of the vote.

Trump received 29.76% of the vote in Vermont, which is the lowest amount ever for a Republican.  The Republican Party ran its first candidate in 1856 and in 1864 Abraham Lincoln ran under the National Union party.

Trump received 44.43% of the vote in Virginia, which is the lowest amount for a Republican since the 1968 election when Richard Nixon received 43.36% of the vote.

Trump received 38.07% of the vote in Washington, which is the lowest for a Republican since the 1996 election when Bob Dole received 37.3% of the vote.

In West Virginia, Clinton received 26.48% of the vote which is the lowest amount ever for a Democrat.  West Virginia became a state in 1861.  Trump received 68.63% of the vote which is the highest amount ever for a Republican.

Clinton received 46.45% of the vote in Wisconsin, which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1992 election when her husband Bill received 41.13% of the vote.

Clinton received 21.63% of the vote in Wyoming, which is the lowest amount for a Democrat since the 1924 election when John W. Davis received 16.11% of the vote.

A shooting at a polling place in Azusa, California left two people dead, including the perpetrator, and two others critically injured. The shooting resulted in the closure of polls. 

At 70 years of age, Trump became the oldest person ever to be elected to a first term as president, surpassing Ronald Reagan, who was 69 years old upon winning the 1980 election.  Along with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Trump was born in 1946; this is the first time a single birth year has produced three presidents. (1946 was a year of unusually numerous births, marking the first year of the post–World War II baby boom.) Trump will become the fifth president to be born in the state of New York, the second president born in New York City, and the third president to win an election despite losing his home state.

FiveThirtyEight's model pointed out the possibility of an Electoral College-popular vote split widening in final weeks, based on Trump's improvement in swing states like Florida or Pennsylvania due to demographics targeted by Trump's campaign living in big numbers there, in addition to Clinton's poor performance in several of those swing states in comparison with Obama's performance in 2012, as well as having a big number of her potential voters in very populated states traditionally 'blue' but also in some very populated states traditionally 'red' like Texas which were projected safe for Trump.

Early exit polls favored Clinton. However, as polls closed and the results came in throughout the night, those exit polls and forecasts proved inaccurate as the Republican candidate performed surprisingly well in all battleground states.

Statistician Nate Silver performed a regression analysis which demonstrated that the alleged discrepancy between paper ballots and electronic voting machines "completely disappears once you control for race and education level".  On November 25, 2016, the Obama administration said the results from November 8, “accurately reflect the will of the American people.”  The following day, the White House released another statement saying, “the federal government did not observe any increased level of malicious cyber activity aimed at disrupting our electoral process on Election Day.”

The recounts in Wisconsin and Nevada were completed on schedule, resulting in only minor changes to vote tallies.  While the incomplete Michigan recount did identify some instances of improper ballot handling and possible voter fraud in some Detroit precincts, no evidence of widespread hacking was found, and the overall outcome of the election remained unchanged by the recount efforts.

Obama was aware of Russian hackers previously targeting the State Department, White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the New York Times reported, but he chose not to publicly call out Russians or issue sanctions out of "fear of escalating a cyberwar, and concern that the United States needed Russia’s cooperation in negotiations over Syria."

On December 9, the Central Intelligence Agency issued an assessment to lawmakers in the US Senate, stating that a Russian entity hacked the DNC and John Podesta's emails to assist Donald Trump. The Federal Bureau of Investigation agreed.  President Barack Obama ordered a "full enquiry" into such possible intervention.  On December 13, the New York Times revealed that in November 2015 the D.N.C. technology director Andrew Brown noticed that the campaign data of Hillary Clinton had been hacked by the campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

President-elect Trump originally mocked the report of Russian hacking as fabricated, and Wikileaks denied any involvement of Russian authorities.  But a few days later, Trump said he could be convinced of the Russian hacking "if there is a unified presentation of evidence from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies."

Trump's crucial victories in the Midwest were aided in large part by his strong margins among Northern whites without college degrees; while Obama (in 2012) and Kerry (in 2004) lost those voters by a margin of 10 points, Clinton lost them by a margin of 20 points.  The election also represented the first time that Republicans performed better among lower-income whites than among affluent white voters.  Additionally, Trump nearly doubled his support from Muslims compared to 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

Trump performed better than Romney and McCain with blacks, protestants, Catholics, other religions, people who attend religious service only a few times per year, white evangelical or born-again Christians, 25–29 year olds, 50–64 year olds, High school or less, Some college education, Under $30,000, and Rural areas.

Maine split its electoral votes for the first time since 1828.  The 1872 presidential election also saw multiple electors vote for a different candidate than that pledged, due to the death of Liberal Republican candidate Horace Greeley, after the popular vote, yet before the meeting of the Electoral College. Greeley still garnered three posthumous electoral votes which were subsequently dismissed by Congress.

Friday, January 6, 2017

2016: Year in Review

January 3 – Following the fallout caused by the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, Iran ends its diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.
January 7 - Princess Ashraf of Iran, twin sister of the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, dies at age 96 from Alzheimer's disease
January 8 – Joaquín Guzmán, widely regarded as the world's most powerful drug trafficker, is recaptured following his escape from a maximum security prison.
January 8 – Maria Teresa de Filippis, Italian racing driver and the first woman to race in Formula One, dies at age 89.
January 10 - David Bowie, English singer, songwriter and actor, dies at age 69 from liver cancer.
January 14 - René Angélil, Canadian singer and manager and husband of singer Celine Dion, dies at age 73 from throat cancer.
January 14 - Alan Rickman, English actor and director, dies at age 69 from pancreatic cancer.
January 16 – The International Atomic Energy Agency announces that Iran has adequately dismantled its nuclear weapons program, allowing the United Nations to lift sanctions immediately.
January 18 - Glenn Frey, American musician best known as a founding member of the rock band Eagles dies at age 67 from complications of rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis, and pneumonia, while recovering from gastrointestinal tract surgery.
January 24 - Marvin Minsky, American computer scientist concerned largely with research of artificial intelligence and co-founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, dies at age 88 of a cerebral hemorrhage.
January 26 - Abe Vigoda, American actor who starred in The Godfather, Barney Miller, and Fish, dies at age 94 of natural causes.
January 28 – The World Health Organization announces an outbreak of the Zika virus.
January 28 - Paul Kantner, American singer and musician known for co-founding Jefferson Airplane, dies at age 74 from multiple organ failure and septic shock after he suffered a heart attack days earlier.
January 28 - Signe Toly Anderson, American singer who was one of the founding members of the rock band Jefferson Airplane, dies at age 74 from the effects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
February 3 - Joe Alaskey, American voice actor who alternated with Jeff Bergman and Greg Burson in voicing Warner Bros. cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepé Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzales, and Taz, among many others, dies at age 63 from cancer.
February 3 - Maurice White, American singer-songwriter and founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire dies at age 74 from the effects of Parkinson's disease.
February 4 – Edgar Mitchell, American astronaut and the sixth person to walk on the Moon, dies at age 85.
February 7 – North Korea launches a long-range rocket into space, violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around the world.
February 12 – Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their split in 1054.
February 13 - Antonin Scalia, American Supreme Court Justice described as the intellectual anchor for the originalist and textualist position in the Court's conservative wing, dies at age 79 of apparent natural causes.
February 16 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996, dies at age 93 after having been admitted to a hospital for a broken pelvis or leg.
February 19 - Umberto Eco, Italian writer and philosopher dies at age 84 of pancreatic cancer.
February 19 - Harper Lee, American writer, dies at age 89.
February 22 – Douglas Slocombe, British cinematographer who worked on three Indiana Jones films, dies at age 103 from complications following a fall.
February 23 – Donald E. Williams, American astronaut dies at age 74.
February 25 – Tony Burton, American actor known for his role as Tony "Duke" Evers in the Rocky franchise.  He is the only actor, other than Sylvester Stallone to appear in every film of that franchise.  He died at age 78 due to complications from pneumonia.
March 5 - Hassan Al-Turabi, Sudanese religious and Islamist political leader, dies at age 84 of a heart attack.
March 5 - Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer who implemented the first email program on the ARPANET system, the precursor to the Internet, in 1971, dies at age 74 from a heart attack.
March 6 – Nancy Reagan, American actress, First Lady of the United States, dies at age 94 of congestive heart failure.
March 8 - George Martin, English record producer, composer, arranger and engineer referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" dies at age 90.
March 11 - Iolanda Balaș, Romanian athlete, Olympic champion, and former world record holder in the high jump. She was the first Romanian woman to win an Olympic gold medal and is considered to have been one of the greatest high jumpers of the twentieth century.  She died at age 79 following gastric complications.
March 14 – The ESA and Roscosmos launch the joint ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter on a mission to Mars.
March 21 – The International Criminal Court finds former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the first time the ICC convicted someone of sexual violence.
March 22 – Three coordinated bombings in Brussels, Belgium kill at least 32 and injure at least 250. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility for the attacks.
March 22 – Rob Ford, Canadian politician who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014, dies at age 46 from an abdominal tumor.
March 24 – Ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić is sentenced to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the Bosnian War.
March 24 - Garry Shandling, American actor and comedian, dies at age 66 from a blood clot in his lungs following deep vein thrombosis in his legs.
March 27 – A suicide blast in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, Lahore kills 75 people and injures around 340 others with a militant Sunni Islamic organization claiming responsibility for targeting Christians celebrating Easter.
March 29 – Patty Duke, American actress, dies at age 69 of sepsis from a ruptured intestine.
April 2 – Clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani military in Nagorno-Karabakh kill at least 193 people, which become the heaviest breach of the 1994 ceasefire.
April 2 - Amber Rayne, American pornographic actress, dies at age 31 from of an accidental drug overdose.
April 3 – The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung publish a set of 11.5 million confidential documents from the Panamanian corporate Mossack Fonseca that provides detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders and directors including noted personalities and heads of state.
April 6 – Merle Haggard, American country singer, dies at age 79 of complications from pneumonia.
April 8 – Erich Rudorffer, German Luftwaffe fighter ace who was one of a handful who served with the Luftwaffe through the whole of World War II, dies at age 98.
April 17 – Doris Roberts, American actress, dies at age 90 from a stroke.
April 19 - Patricio Aylwin, 32nd President of Chile, and the first president of Chile after Pinochet; his election marked the Chilean transition to democracy in 1990.  He died at age 97.
April 20 - Guy Hamilton, British film director who directed 22 films from the 1950s to the 1980s, including four James Bond films, dies at age 93.
April 20 – Chyna, an American professional wrestler, glamour model, pornographic film actress, and bodybuilder, dies at age 46 from a drug overdose.
April 21 – Prince, American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, dies at age 57 from an accidental fentanyl opioid overdose.
April 25 – Martin Gray, Polish writer and Holocaust survivor, dies at age 93 in his swimming pool.
April 27 – Viktor Gavrikov, Lithuanian-Swiss chess Grandmaster, dies at age 58.
May 2 – Afeni Shakur, American music businesswoman, Black Panther, and mother of American rapper and actor Tupac Shakur, dies at age 69 from a heart attack.
May 4 - Bob Bennett, United States Senator from Utah, dies at age 82 from pancreatic cancer.
May 8 – William Schallert, an American character actor who appeared in many films and television series, dies at age 93
May 19 – EgyptAir Flight 804 crashes with 66 people on board over the Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo.
May 19 - Alan Young, English-Canadian actor, dies at age 96 of natural causes.
May 21 - Nick Menza, German-born American drummer for Megadeth, dies at age 51 after succumbing to heart failure while performing with his band.
May 26 - Arturo Pomar, Spanish chess grandmaster, dies at age 84 after a long illness.
May 30 – Former Chadian President Hissène Habré is sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity committed during his tenure from 1982 to 1990, the first time an African Union-backed court convicted a former ruler of a country within its jurisdiction.
June 1 – The Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland, the world's longest and deepest railway tunnel, is opened following two decades of construction work.
June 3 - Muhammad Ali, American boxer, dies at age 74 from septic shock.
June 6 - Viktor Korchnoi, Russian-born Swiss chess grandmaster, dies at age 85.
June 10 - Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player, dies at age 88.
June 10 - Christina Grimmie, American singer known for her participation in the NBC singing competition The Voice, dies at age 22 from gunshot wounds.
June 12 – George Voinovich, American politician who served as a United States Senator for Ohio, Governor of Ohio, and as Mayor of Cleveland, dies at age 79.
June 19 - Victor Stănculescu, Romanian general and politician who played a central role in the overthrow of the dictatorship by refusing to carry out the orders of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu, dies at age 88.
June 19 - Anton Yelchin, Russian-born American actor, dies at age 27 in a car accident.
June 23 – Brexit: the United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union.
June 27 - Alvin Toffler, American writer and futurist, dies at age 87.
June 28 – ISIL claims responsibility for attacking Atatürk Airport in Istanbul, killing 45 and injuring around 230.
June 28 - Scotty Moore, American guitarist best known for his backing of Elvis Presley in the first part of his career, between 1954 and the beginning of Elvis's Hollywood years, dies at age 84.
June 28 - Pat Summitt, American basketball coach who accrued the most wins in NCAA basketball history, dies at age 64.
July 1 – Latvia becomes the 35th member of the OECD.
July 1 – Yves Bonnefoy, French poet who published a number of translations, most notably the plays of William Shakespeare which are considered among the best in French, dies at age 93.
July 2 - Elie Wiesel, Romanian-born American Nobel writer and political activist and Holocaust survivor, dies at age 87.
July 4 – NASA's Juno spacecraft enters orbit around Jupiter and begins a 20-month survey of the planet.
July 12 – The Philippines wins the arbitration case they filed at the Permanent Court of Arbitration regarding the legality of China's "Nine-Dash Line" claim over the South China Sea under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
July 13 - Bernardo Provenzano, Italian criminal who was a member of the Sicilian Mafia (Cosa Nostra) and was suspected of having been the head of the Corleonesi, a Mafia faction that originated in the town of Corleone, and de facto capo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses) of the entire Sicilian Mafia until his arrest in 2006, dies at age 83 of complications from bladder cancer.
July 16 – Nate Thurmond, American basketball player who spent the majority of his 14-year career with the Golden State Warriors, dies at age 74 after a short battle with leukemia.
July 19 - Garry Marshall, American film director, television producer and actor, dies at age 81 from pneumonia.
July 22 – The final videocassette recorder is manufactured by the Japanese company Funai.
July 24 – Marni Nixon, an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals, dies at age 86 from breast cancer.
July 25 - Dwight Jones, American basketball player who was the leading scorer and rebounder on the 1972 Olympic team that lost the controversial gold medal game to the Soviet Union, dies at age 64.
July 25 - Tim LaHaye, American evangelist and author best known for the Left Behind series of apocalyptic fiction and The Act of Marriage, dies at age 90 after suffering from a stroke.
July 26 – Solar Impulse 2 becomes the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the Earth.
July 27 - Jerry Doyle, American talk show host and actor, dies at age 60 from complications from chronic alcoholism.
July 31 - Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler who only weighed 260 pounds, dies at age 61 from pancreatic cancer.
August 2 - David Huddleston, American actor, dies at age 85 from heart and kidney disease.
August 5–21 – The 2016 Summer Olympics are held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
August 13 - Kenny Baker, British actor best known for portraying the character R2-D2 in the Star Wars science fiction movie franchise, dies at age 81 following a brief illness.
August 19 - Lou Pearlman, American music manager and record producer who was the manager of successful 1990s boy bands such as Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, dies at age 62 from cardiac arrest.
August 23 - Steven Hill, American film and television actor, dies at age 94.
August 29 – Gene Wilder, American actor, dies at age 83 from complications of Alzheimer's disease.
August 31 – The Brazilian Senate votes (61–20) to impeach the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff. The Vice President of Brazil, Michel Temer, who had assumed the presidential powers and duties as Acting President of Brazil during Rousseff's suspension, takes office for the remainder of her term.
September 1 – Jon Polito, American actor, dies at age 65 from multiple myeloma.
September 3 – The US and China, together responsible for 40% of the world's carbon emissions, both ratify the Paris global climate agreement.
September 5 - Hugh O'Brian, American actor, dies at age 91.
September 5 - Phyllis Schlafly, American writer and political activist, dies at age 92 from cancer.
September 8 – NASA launches OSIRIS-REx, its first asteroid sample return mission. The probe will visit Bennu and is expected to return with samples in 2023.
September 9 – The government of North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemn the act, with the South calling it "maniacal recklessness".
September 11 – Alexis Arquette, transgender American actor, dies at age 47 from aortic dissection caused by HIV.
September 17 - Charmian Carr, American actress and singer best known for her role as Liesl, the eldest Von Trapp daughter in the 1965 film version of The Sound of Music, dies at age 73 from dementia.
September 20 – Curtis Hanson, American film director and screenwriter, dies at age 71 from frontotemporal dementia.
September 24 - Bill Nunn, American actor, dies at age 62 from leukemia.
September 25 - Arnold Palmer, American golfer, dies at age 87 while awaiting heart surgery.
September 28 International investigators conclude that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by a Buk missile that came from an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels.
September 28 - Global CO2 levels exceed 400 ppm at the time of year normally associated with minimum levels.  A 400 ppm level is believed to be higher than anything experienced in human history.
September 28 – Shimon Peres, 9th President and 8th Prime Minister of Israel, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, dies at age 93 after he suffered a massive stroke.
September 30 – Two paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, Seascape at Scheveningen and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen, which had been stolen on December 7, 2002 from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, are recovered with a combined value of $100 million.
October 13 – The Maldives announces its decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth of Nations.
October 15 – 150 nations meeting at the UNEP summit in Rwanda agree to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, as an amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
October 20 - Michael Massee, American actor, dies at age 64 of stomach cancer.
October 20 - Junko Tabei, Japanese mountaineer.  She was the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, and the first woman to ascend all Seven Summits by climbing the highest peak on every continent.  She died at age 77 from cancer.
November 7 - Leonard Cohen, Canadian singer, songwriter and poet, dies at age 82 from cancer.
November 7 - Janet Reno, American lawyer, was the first woman to serve as Attorney General and the second-longest serving Attorney General in U.S. history.  She died at age 78 from Parkinson's disease.
November 11 - Ilse Aichinger, Austrian writer known for her accounts of her persecution by the Nazis because of her Jewish ancestry, dies at age 95.
November 11 - Robert Vaughn, American actor, dies at age 83 from acute leukemia.
November 12 – Lupita Tovar, Mexican-American actress best known for her starring role in the 1931 Spanish language version of Dracula, dies at age 106 from heart disease.
November 16 - Melvin Laird, American politician and writer, who was a congressman from Wisconsin before serving as Secretary of Defense under President Richard Nixon, dies at age 94 of congestive heart failure.
November 18 – Denton Cooley, American heart surgeon famous for performing the first implantation of a total artificial heart, dies at age 96.
November 23 – Andrew Sachs, German-born British actor whose family immigrated to London in 1938 to escape persecution under the Nazis, dies at age 86 from vascular dementia.
November 24 – The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army sign a revised peace deal, bringing an end to the Colombian conflict.
November 24 - Florence Henderson, American actress, dies at age 82 from heart failure.
November 25 – Fidel Castro, brutal Communist dictator of Cuba for over 50 years, dies at age 90.
November 25 - David Hamilton, British photographer best known for his nude images of young women and girls, dies at age 83 from suicide by asphyxiation.
November 28 - Mark Taimanov, Russian chess Grandmaster and concert pianist, dies at age 90.
December 2 – Sammy Lee, American Olympic diver who was the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States, dies at age 96 from dementia and heart disease.
December 6 – Peter Vaughan, British actor, dies at age 93.
December 8 - John Glenn, American aviator, astronaut and politician, and the first American to orbit the Earth, dies at age 95.
December 8 - Joseph Mascolo, American actor best known for playing supervillain Stefano DiMera, on NBC's Days of Our Lives, dies at age 87 of complications from Alzheimer's disease.
December 13 - Alan Thicke, Canadian actor and songwriter, dies at age 69 from an aortic dissection.
December 14 - Bernard Fox, Welsh actor, dies at age 89 from heart failure.
December 17 - Benjamin A. Gilman, American politician and Member of Congress from New York, dies at age 94 from surgical complications.
December 17 - Henry Heimlich, American physician and inventor of the Heimlich maneuver, dies at age 96 from a heart attack.
December 18 – Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and socialite, dies at age 99 from cardiac arrest.
December 19 – Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, is assassinated in Ankara.
December 22 – A study finds the VSV-EBOV vaccine against the Ebola virus between 70-100% effective, and thus making it the first proven vaccine against the disease.
December 23 – United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2334 condemning "Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967".
December 23 - Piers Sellers, British-American astronaut and meteorologist, dies at age 61 from pancreatic cancer.
December 23 - Vesna Vulović, Serbian air disaster survivor who holds the Guinness world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 33,333 ft., dies at age 66.
December 24 - Richard Adams, British author of Watership Down, dies at age 96 from complications of a blood disorder.
December 25 – A Tupolev Tu-154 crashes near Sochi, Russia, killing all 92 people on board, including 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble.
December 25 - George Michael, British singer, dies at age 53.
December 25 - Vera Rubin, American astronomer, dies at age 88.
December 26 – Ashot Anastasian, Armenian chess grandmaster, dies at age 52.
December 27 - Carrie Fisher, American actress and writer, dies at age 60.
December 28 - Debbie Reynolds, American actress, dancer, and singer, dies at age 84 from a stroke.

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