February 12, 2018


News and Views


SOMETHING IN THIS STORY DOESN'T MAKE COMPLETE SENSE TO ME. COULD THIS BE AN AMBUSH SITUATION?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/westerville-ohio-police-shooting-officers-killed-columbus-live-updates/
By JUSTIN CARISSIMO CBS NEWS February 10, 2018, 5:46 PM
2 police officers shot and killed in Westerville, Ohio -- live updates

WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- Two police officers were fatally shot responding to a potential domestic situation in Ohio on Saturday afternoon, authorities said. The shooting suspect was wounded in the incident and taken to a nearby hospital.

The shooting took place around 11:30 a.m. Saturday on Crosswind Drive. Officers were responding to a 911 call at the address, and were fired upon when they arrived at the scene.

The victims were later identified as 54-year-old officer Anthony Morelli and 39-year-old officer Eric Joering, Westerville Police Chief Joe Morbitzer announced during a press briefing Saturday.

Joering, a 16-year veteran, was killed at the scene. Morelli, a 29-year veteran, died in surgery at Ohio State University Medical Center, Morbitzer said.

anthony-morelli-eric-joering-killed-2018-2-10.jpg
Two police officers were fatally shot responding to a potential domestic situation in Ohio on Feb. 10, 2018.

CBS Columbus affiliate WBNS posted images that showed multiple police cruisers at the scene. Westerville is located 15 miles north of Columbus.

"We are deeply saddened to report that one of our officers has been killed in the line of duty," the City of Westerville tweeted Saturday. In a separate tweet, the city confirmed the second officer's death.

Sen. Kevin Bacon, R-Minerva Park, issued a statement offering condolences to the officers' families.

"Our hearts and prayers are with the Westerville officers, their friends, families and the Westerville Police Department at this difficult time," Bacon said. "Now is one of those times and we -- as a community -- must rally behind the families and fellow officers."

westerville-shooting-scene-1.jpg
WBNS images show the scene where two officers were shot in Westerville, Ohio. CHRIS BLAKE/WBNS

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



IT SEEMS TO ME THAT GRASSLEY AND GRAHAM ARE PLAYING THE OLD GAME OF LOOKING FIXEDLY UP INTO THE SKY AS THOUGH THEY SEE SOMETHING THERE, IN AN EFFORT TO GET THE PUBLIC EXERCISED ABOUT THE MATTER. THEY’RE GASLIGHTING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, AS USUAL. THEY WANT TO DEFLECT ATTENTION FROM THE ACTUAL CONTENT OF THE EMAIL – THAT THEN PRESIDENT OBAMA DID NOT TRUST THE TRUMP TEAM WITH INFORMATION ABOUT RUSSIA. THAT SEEMS PERFECTLY LOGICAL TO ME, GIVEN WHAT HE ALREADY KNEW – AND WE NOW KNOW -- ABOUT THE ELECTION INTERFERENCE AND RELATED MATTERS. SO, WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL HERE? THE POLITICO ARTICLE MAKES CLEAR THAT SHE SENT A COPY OF THE JANUARY 5 EMAIL TO HERSELF WHILE SHE STILL HAD ACCESS TO IT. SHE KNEW THAT THE LIKELIHOOD IT WOULD BE THERE LATER WASN’T HIGH.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gop-senators-question-unusual-message-susan-rice-sent-herself-on-inauguration-day/ar-BBJ3h9u?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp
GOP senators question 'unusual' message Susan Rice sent herself on Inauguration Day
THE HILL Olivia Beavers
February 12, 2018

Two top Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are questioning former national security adviser Susan Rice about an "unusual" message she sent to herself on Jan 20, 2017 - President Trump's Inauguration Day.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) questioned Rice why she sent a note detailing a conversation she observed on Jan. 5 between then-FBI Director James Comey and then-President Barack Obama.

"It strikes us as odd that, among your activities in the final moments on the final day of the Obama administration, you would feel the need to send yourself such an unusual email purporting to document a conversation involving President Obama and his interactions with the FBI regarding the Trump/Russia investigation," they wrote in a letter to Rice.

They said that in the message, Rice noted how Obama repeatedly emphasized during the meeting on Russian election hacking with Comey that he wants every aspect of the issue handled "by the book."

"The President stressed that he is not asking about, initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book," Rice wrote, according to an excerpt included in the senators' letter.

Grassley and Graham said despite her repeated mention of Obama stressing the need for a proper investigation, "substantial questions have arisen about whether officials at the FBI, as well as at the Justice Department and the State Department, actually did proceed 'by the book.'"

They asked Rice to address roughly a dozen questions related to her note and what she knew at the time about the Russia investigation, like whether she has "any reason to dispute the timestamp of the email" as well as other surrounding circumstances of her note.

They said they found record of her note through the National Archives, which preserves files from a presidential administration.

The GOP senators' own unusual letter comes at a time when Republicans are intensely scrutinizing whether Obama-era officials sought to damage Trump's presidential campaign during last year's election.

Earlier this month, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released a classified memo detailing claims that the FBI and Justice Department misled a clandestine spy court in an surveillance warrant application on Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

The memo, drafted by the staff of Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), argues in part that federal authorities failed to disclose the key fact that Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee partially funded the controversial dossier alleging ties between Trump and Russia, which was used in part to obtain the surveillance warrant against Page. The judge overseeing this particular case, however, was notified that the information came from a politically motivated source.

Trump said the Nunes memo vindicates him in the Russia probe, while other GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), said it does not impact special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference.

Graham and Grassley also asked Rice what she knew about the surveillance application to obtain a warrant on Page at the time she sent her note.

Two senior Democrats on the Judiciary committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), were carbon copied on the letter to Rice, but neither signed off on it.

Spokespeople for Feinstein and Whitehouse did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Republican letter.



https://www.thedailybeast.com/susan-rice-email-obama-was-cautious-about-sharing-russia-info-with-trump-aides
1. PRECAUTIONS? Susan Rice Email: Obama Was Cautious About Sharing Russia Info With Trump Aides
February 12, 2018 8:09 PM

Photograph – President Obama, BENOIT TESSIER/REUTERS

Former President Barack Obama was concerned about sharing information on Russia with the incoming Trump administration, according to an email released by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. The email was sent on Jan. 5, 2017, by Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice, who forwarded the email to herself on inauguration day, Jan. 20. In it, she wrote that “President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming [Trump] team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia.” Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who released the email, called it “unusual.”

READ IT ALL AT POLITICO – I DON'T SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH RICE'S EMAIL, AND AS FOR WHAT OBAMA WAS INSTRUCTING HIS STAFF ON JANUARY 5, TO ME HE IS SIMPLY SAYING THAT THERE ARE RAPIDS UP AHEAD, SO BE ALERT, BUT "STEADY AS SHE GOES." (I'M QUOTING CAPTAIN JAMES TIBERIUS KIRK HERE, OF COURSE.)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/12/obama-russia-trump-transition-405823
Obama worried about sharing Russia info with incoming Trump officials
Two GOP senators want answers from Susan Rice about an 'unusual' email describing a Jan. 5 Oval Office meeting in which the president raised the concern, while instructing that a Russia investigation should proceed 'by the book'
By ELANA SCHOR 02/12/2018 04:45 PM EST

Photograph -- The New York Times has reported that former President Barack Obama's administration had sought to document concerns that the Donald Trump campaign may have coordinated efforts with Russia. | Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Former President Barack Obama suggested in January 2017 that information related to a federal probe of Russian election interference might have to be withheld from aides to then-President-elect Donald Trump, according to an internal White House email released Monday by two senior GOP senators.

The warning Obama delivered on Jan. 5, 2017, came during an Oval Office conversation shortly after senior intelligence officials briefed him on Russian cyber-meddling in the 2016 election. It was documented in an email then-national security adviser Susan Rice sent to herself on Jan. 20, the day of Trump's inauguration.

Portions of the email were released Monday by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who called the missive "odd" and "unusual."

Grassley and Graham seized on Rice's decision to email herself a summary of the Jan. 5 meeting at 12:15 p.m. on Inauguration Day, "presumably a very short time before you departed the White House for the last time." The move appears to have been intended to create a permanent official record of the conversation.

Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Graham asked Rice a series of questions about the conversation, including what she might have known about a private intelligence dossier alleging Kremlin influence over Trump's campaign. The letter notes that multiple news reports have said Obama was briefed on the dossier — which includes unverified and salacious allegations about Trump — at the Jan. 5 meeting with intelligence officials.

The Oval Office conversation Rice described in her email included then-FBI Director James Comey and then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden. In the portion of the email the Republicans released, Rice recounted Obama making explicitly clear that he was not attempting to influence an ongoing federal probe into Russian election disruption.

"The President stressed that he is not asking about, initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book," Rice wrote.

"From a national security perspective, however, President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming [Trump] team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia."

It is unclear what the officials might have said in response. Grassley and Graham said the subsequent part of Rice's email is classified. The passage after that states that Obama asked Comey to let him know "if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team."

Robert Mueller is pictured. | Getty Images
Trump budget anticipates Mueller investigation will stretch into fiscal year 2019
By JOSH GERSTEIN and DARREN SAMUELSOHN

But Obama's concern about the potential need to shield Russia material from Trump aides — including Michael Flynn, then Trump's incoming national security adviser, who is now cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller — was not previously known before the Republicans released Rice's email. Obama warned Trump not to hire Flynn as his national security adviser, current and former officials have said.

The New York Times reported in March that Obama administration officials have sought to leave a trail of information in government records documenting their concern that the Trump campaign may have coordinated efforts with Russia.



THIS IS SO VERY SAD. IT INTERESTS ME THAT DOWN THROUGH THE YEARS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CHURCHES HAVE DONE IS TO SHELTER FUGITIVES FROM THOSE WHO ARE SEEKING TO DO THEM HARM. IT’S A BEAUTIFUL THING. I HOPE THE FATHER CAN STAY AS LONG AS HIS SON LIVES.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/undocumented-immigrant-father-of-leukemia-patient-takes-refuge-in-phoenix-church/
CBS NEWS February 12, 2018, 7:20 AM
Undocumented immigrant, father of leukemia patient, takes refuge in Phoenix church

A father facing deportation is taking refuge this morning inside a Phoenix church, which has opened its doors to provide sanctuary. Jesus Berrones is now living inside.

With a five-year-old son battling leukemia, and a wife who is five months pregnant, Berrones is pleading with ICE not to deport him a third time.

He has been ordered to surrender to immigration officers today.

"I will fight to stay here," Berrones said.

His son Jayden is so scared his father will get deported, he refuses to leave his side at the Shadow Rock United Church of Christ.

The five-year-old's leukemia treatments are too toxic for his mother to handle. "My wife cannot give him the pills because she's pregnant," Berrones said.

jesus-berrones-and-childen-at-shadow-rock-united-church-of-christ-620.jpg
Jesus Berrones is now living inside the Shadow Rock United Church of Christ in Phoenix while fighting deportation. His five-year-old son, Jayden, is battling leukemia. CBS NEWS
Berrones is his family's sole breadwinner, and the U.S. is the only country he's ever known; his parents brought him here as a toddler in 1989.

Now 30, Berrones doesn't meet the requirements of a so-called "Dreamer." To even apply for a green card, he would first have to leave the U.S. for 10 years.

Berrones said, "I don't have DUI. I haven't killed nobody."

deportation-father-jesus-berrones-promo.jpg
Jesus Berrones, who was brought to the U.S. as a toddler, has received sanctuary at a Phoenix church while fighting deportation. CBS NEWS

"There has to be a price to pay, right?" asked CBS News correspondent Manuel Bojorquez.

"Yes."

"What would you say to someone who doesn't agree with you staying?" Bojorquez asked.

"They don't like our people, Mexicans."

According to Berrones, he was once caught driving without a license. He's been deported twice, in 2006 and 2010. Each time, he came back illegally, even making the dangerous crossing through the Arizona desert, to be with his wife and five children, who are all U.S. citizens.

Sonia Berrones, five months pregnant, now worries about finding a job to make ends meet.

"His kids need him; I need him," she said.

Bojorquez asked, "Have you thought about what it would be like to have to say goodbye to him?"

She sobbed: "It's going to be hard."

On Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied Berrones' latest attempt to stay. His case is still under review.

Rev. Ken Heintzelman opened his church doors to Berrones on Friday.

manuel-bojorquez-rev-ken-heintzelman-shadow-rock-united-church-of-christ-620.jpg
Correspondent Manuel Bojorquez with the Rev. Ken Heintzelman of Shadow Rock United Church of Christ in Phoenix. CBS NEWS
Bojorquez said, "Some would say you were harboring a criminal."

"He shouldn't be prosecuted," replied Rev. Heintzelman. "He should be lifted up, used as an example of what it means to be a father."

ICE declined to comment to "CBS This Morning" for this story.

This is not the first time this church has housed an undocumented immigrant; six other people have reportedly sought shelter here since 2014. ICE agents could legally enter the church with a warrant to seize Berrones, but the agency typically stays away from houses of worship, because it considers them "sensitive" places.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


MOST OF THESE ARTICLES ABOUT FOOTBALL PLAYERS HAVING MENTAL ISSUES ARE ABOUT BRAIN DAMAGE FROM (JOYOUSLY, I HOPE) BUTTING HEADS OVER AND OVER. THIS IS ABOUT A VERY COMMON FORM OF BASIC MENTAL ILLNESS, BIPOLAR DISORDER. IT USED TO BE CALLED “MANIC DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS” AND NOW, TO MAKE IT EASIER TO SAY PERHAPS, THEY CALL IT BIPOLAR.

I AM CLASSIFIED WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER, AS ARE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE I KNOW. I HAVE EXPERIENCED BOTH THE EXHILARATION AND THE DEATHLIKE DEPRESSION. OTHER PEOPLE, IF THEY ARE TRADITIONAL AND CONSERVATIVE, PROBABLY DISLIKE OR EVEN FEAR THE TALKATIVE, HIGHLY ASSOCIATIVE “MANIC” PHASE MORE, BUT ANYONE WHO HAS BOTH DREADS THE DEPRESSION MORE.

MEDICATIONS FOR BOTH ARE AVAILABLE NOW, AND WE CAN GET DOWN TO BEING CREATIVE AND ENERGETIC ECCENTRICS, AS ARE SO MANY ARTISTIC TYPES. I’M GLAD THAT THESE DEVELOPMENTS HAVE HAPPENED WITHIN MY LIFETIME. I’M NOTICING MANY THINGS IN DOING THESE NEWS REVIEWS THAT ARE MILESTONES IN OUR KNOWLEDGE AND QUALITY OF LIFE.

I HAVE CLIPPED THIS ARTICLE BECAUSE MANZIEL’S DESCRIPTIONS OF THE CONDITION ARE VERY GOOD, IN MY VIEW, AND HIS UPBEAT APPROACH SHOWS THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO BE COMFORTABLE MOST OF THE TIME THESE DAYS. HE IS NOW TRYING TO MAKE A COMEBACK IN FOOTBALL, ALSO. ONWARD AND UPWARD!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/browns-qb-johnny-manziel-bipolar-disorder/
By WILL BRINSON CBS NEWS February 12, 2018, 12:05 PM
Ex-Browns QB Johnny Manziel says he has bipolar disorder

Photograph -- Quarterback Johnny Manziel, No. 2 of the Cleveland Browns, is seen on the sidelines during the fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at FirstEnergy Stadium on Dec 13, 2015, in Cleveland, Ohio. ANDREW WEBER/GETTY IMAGES

It's comeback season (technically "Comeback SZN") for Johnny Manziel right now, and the free agent quarterback, who spent the last two years getting his life together after multiple off-field issues, is making a number of public appearances as he does his best to convince an NFL team to give him a second chance.

Complete NFL coverage on CBSSports.com
Notably on Monday morning, Manziel appeared on a "Good Morning America" segment in which he told the world he is bipolar and trying to make a comeback after his "huge downfall." Manziel also said he is currently sober; he talked about his sobriety previously during the 2016 offseason.

"I am taking medication for bipolar, and I am working to try to make sure I don't fall back into any type of depression because I know where that leads me, and I know how slippery a slope that is for me," Manziel said.

The quarterback said he was diagnosed as bipolar about a year ago.

"At the end of the day, I can't help that my wires are a little bit differently crossed than yours," Manziel said. "I can't help my mental makeup or the way that I was created."

And he said, when confronted directly about it, that he is not currently drinking. Manziel then proceeded to get open and honest about the issues he had with drinking.

"No, I'm not. Here's the way I look at it -- going back the last couple years of my life, I was self-medicating with alcohol," Manziel said. "That's what I thought was making me happy and getting out of that depression to a point where I had some sense of happiness. But at the end of the day, when you're left, staring at the ceiling by yourself, and you're back in that depression and back in that hole, that dark hole of sitting in a room by yourself and being super depressed and thinking about all the mistakes you've made in your life.

"What did that get me? Where did that get me except out of the NFL? Where did that get me? Disgrace? I went a solid five months until I really fell back into a little depression where I didn't drink, but still I was going to therapy. The difference that I know this year is I started looking at my mental health."

He believes now his friends and family see "a drastic change" in his lifestyle, and he is hoping to make that change "sustainable."

"Now the question you asked is, 'Is that sustainable?' and 'Would that be the case moving forward?'" Manziel said. "I would like to sit here and say, yes, and I have a lot of confidence that would be the case."

The former Heisman Trophy winner, once upon a time selected in the first round by the Cleveland Browns, spent virtually his entire NFL tenure struggling with off-field issues that leaked onto the field at times. He started eight games over a two-year period with the Browns, at times flashing his immense potential, but largely displaying a lack of maturity both on and off the field.

Football brings him "joy," Manziel said, and that's why he's trying to get back to the game.

"I am coming back from a huge downfall," Manziel admitted. "I don't know what kind of comeback it will be, but I know I want to get back on a football field, to what brought me so much joy in my life."

He's not wrong: Manziel's rise was meteoric at Texas A&M, and his downfall in Cleveland was even quicker. He was drafted with a first-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, along with Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater. He was released by Cleveland in March of 2016, well before anyone in his draft class was even eligible to sign a second contract.

At one point during his struggles, his own father said he was worried Manziel wouldn't make it to see 24 years old if he continued partying the way he was. Reports surfaced that Manziel was sent home from Browns practice because he was intoxicated at said practice although the Browns later disputed those reports.

Manziel was also indicted on an assault charge involving his then-girlfriend Colleen Crowley although the charges would later be dismissed by a Texas judge.

Considering how often he was a headline during his partying days, Manziel has done an impressive job staying out of the media spotlight. That changed this week, but for positive reasons, as Manziel continues his push toward trying to make a comeback in the NFL.

This article originally appeared on CBSSports.com.



THIS BIO OF THE LATE JONATHAN WINTERS, WHO DIED IN 2013, BRINGS BACK MEMORIES FOR ME. THREE OF THE FUNNIEST MOVIES I’VE EVER SEEN ARE HIS; HE WAS A PAINTER; HIS TWO TV SHOWS AIRED DURING THE 1950S AND THE LATE 1960S; AND HE DID MANY VOICEOVERS OF CARTOON CHARACTERS. IT WON’T SURPRISE SOME THAT HE WAS ALSO BIPOLAR. I MISS REALLY FUNNY HUMOR. I DON’T WANT TO GIGGLE AFTER BEDTIME BECAUSE IT KEEPS ME AWAKE; BUT I DO SEE COLBERT SOMETIMES, AND HE’S IN THAT TRADITION OF COMMENTARY/HUMOR THAT I REALLY LOVE ALSO. IF YOU DON’T REMEMBER JONATHAN WINTERS, WATCH THIS YOUTUBE CLIP CALLED “FISHING,” AND ANOTHER WITH JACK PAAR CALLED “THE STICK.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95n617gdtdu -- “FISHING”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlLxVlX9AzY -- “THE STICK”


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jonathan-winters-improv-genius-who-created-memorable-characters-for-late-night-tv/2013/04/12/2f19a034-b474-11e0-98cc-1310098c2cc9_story.html
Obituaries
Jonathan Winters, comedian behind memorable characters on late-night TV, dies at 87
Comedian Jonathan Winters dies at 87
By Megan Buerger April 12, 2013

Comedian Jonathan Winters, whose breakneck improvisations inspired Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and many others, died Thursday, he was 87.

Jonathan Winters, the rotund, rubber-faced, squinty-eyed master of impressions and improvisational comedy who became a staple of late-night television for decades and was a mentor to Robin Williams and an inspiration for performers as varied as Steve Martin, Jim Carrey and Jimmy Kimmel, died April 11 at his home in Montecito, Calif. He was 87.

In a career spanning more than six decades, Mr. Winters received some of the highest honors of his profession and appeared in dozens of movies and television programs in addition to his work on the comedy circuit. He was known to start his stage shows by commanding an applauding audience that had risen to its feet, “Please remain standing throughout the evening.”

Yet it was less the punch line he savored than immersing himself in a far-ranging series of characters: hillbillies, arrogant city slickers, nerve-shattered airline pilots trying to hide their fear, a hungry cat eyeing a mouse, the oldest living airline stewardess.

“I was fighting for the fact that you could be funny without telling jokes,” he told the New York Times, adding that he thought of himself foremost as a writer and less as a stand-up comedian. He said he idolized writers with a gift for humor and singled out the sophisticated absurdity of James Thurber as an influence.

Two of his most memorable characters — cranky granny Maude Frickert and bumpkin farmer Elwood P. Suggins (“I think eggs 24 hours a day”) — were born from his early television routines.

“Nobody was safe,” said Gerald Nachman, an entertainment journalist and author. “He dug ruthlessly into American archetypes: disgruntled westerners, judgmental Martians, little old ladies, nosy gas station attendants. It was risky, but he did it so well. It became a commentary on Americans, and no other comedian could pull it off.”

Williams once told Playboy why Mr. Winters inspired him. “It was like seeing a guy behind a mask, and you could see that his characters were a great way for him to talk about painful stuff,” he said. “I found out later that they are people he knows — his mother, his aunt. He’s an artist who also paints with words. He paints these people that he sees.”

The death was announced on Mr. Winters’s Web site, www.jonathanwinters.com. The cause was not disclosed.

Onstage and off, Mr. Winters was wildly unpredictable. He struggled with bipolar disorder and nervous breakdowns. One of the most damaging episodes came in 1959, when he was reported to have climbed the mast of a moored historic ship in San Francisco while drunk and naked; he was subsequently transported to a sanatorium.

Mr. Winters was often viewed by producers as a liability, and this led to a scattershot, though memorable film career.

In Stanley Kramer’s all-star romp “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (1963), Mr. Winters played a moving-van driver. In the Cold War comedy “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming” (1966), he portrayed a less-than-able assistant to a Nantucket police chief.

In “The Loved One” (1965), based on Evelyn Waugh’s dark satire on Southern California, Mr. Winters played two brothers, one of whom schemes to make room in his cemetery by launching corpses into outer space under the slogan “Resurrection Now!”

Notable deaths of 2013
View Photos A look at those who have died this year.

On television, Mr. Winters’s self-titled variety show aired on NBC from 1956 to 1957 and displayed him in dazzling form as a sketch comic. In one episode, he lampooned newsman Edward R. Murrow, conducting an earnest interview with Napoleon (he played both roles). In other spots, he portrayed Robin Hood and Gen. George Armstrong Custer.

His second show aired on CBS from 1967 to 1969, with Mr. Winters, in his signature characters, bantering with celebrity guests. Among them was Jack Paar, who had helped jump-start Mr. Winters’s career by hosting him on his own show years earlier.

In 1964, Mr. Winters asked the audience of “The Jack Paar Show” whether they ever undressed in front of a dog. Once the laughter died down, he added: “You think about that for a minute. A bird somehow doesn’t count. Or a cat. But a dog.” Pause. “They really stare.”

In another appearance with Paar, Mr. Winters was handed a long stick and asked to improvise. As he held it, he started making the clicking noise of a fishing reel.

“Well, that was a pretty good cast, wasn’t it Bob?” he said to an imaginary friend. “I think we’re on to something.”

Then, he looked into the distance and tugged at the pretend fishing rod. “I’m sorry, Margaret,” he said, “try to swim in.”

Perhaps his best-known work in television was playing Mearth, the half-earthling, half-alien son of the title characters in the ABC sci-fi sitcom “Mork & Mindy,” which starred Robin Williams as Mork, an alien from the planet Ork, and Pam Dawber as his earthling girlfriend, Mindy, who became Mork’s wife.

Williams, who had grown up idolizing Mr. Winters, smoothed the way for him to join the cast in 1981, the fourth and final season. Mr. Winters gladly took on the character of Mearth, who hatched from an egg middle aged and weighing 225 pounds — explained by the fact that Orkans age in reverse. Clad in bright red overalls holding a frog in the pocket, and with his plump frame and curiously furrowing brow, Mr. Winters made a seamless transition into the role of a big, cuddly baby.

Jonathan Harshman Winters III was born Nov. 11, 1925, in Dayton, Ohio. His father, an investment banker, was an alcoholic. He said his father once locked him in the car for hours while getting drunk at a bar.

He was 7 when his parents divorced. His upbringing with his mother was equally unpleasant. She became a talk-show radio host, and he described her as increasingly jealous of his success.

He once brought his mother on “The Jack Paar Show” in the hope she would enjoy it. “Jack said, ‘You’ve got a hell of a talent here, you must be very proud,’” Mr. Winters recalled. “And my mother said, ‘He’s the biggest joke I ever wrote.’”

At 17, he dropped out of boarding school and joined the Marine Corps. After World War II service in the Pacific, he entered Kenyon College in Ohio, where he said he stayed for about “an hour and a half,” before enrolling in the Dayton Art Institute. (He later received critical praise for his paintings.)

In 1948, he married a fellow art student, Eileen Schauder. About that time, he won a talent contest that led to a job at a Dayton radio station. He was fired after a year for conducting interviews with himself in strange voices.

In 1953, Mr. Winters moved to New York and began appearing in commercials and television programs. He polished his array of wacky-sounding noises (the cackling laughter of drunk grandparents, the mumbling of farm workers).

His wife died in 2009. Survivors include two children, Lucinda Winters and Jay Winters; and five grandchildren.

His book of short stories, “Winters’ Tales” (1988), made the bestseller lists, and he received the 1991 Emmy Award for a supporting role as a retired officer and grandfather in the ABC comedy “Davis Rules.”

His recording “Crank(y)cq Calls” won the 1995 Grammy Award for best spoken comedy album. Mr. Winters was the second-ever recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, in 1999; Richard Pryor was the first.

Late in his career, Mr. Winters recorded voice-overs for animated films, including “The Smurfs” movies.

In a 1991 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Winters likened the entertainment industry to the Olympics, with actors standing on boxes to receive gold, silver and bronze medals.

“I think my place is inside the box, underneath the guy receiving the gold medal,” he said. “They’re playing the national anthem and I’m fondling a platinum medallion.”


WINTERS’ PAINTINGS, VIEW THESE FOR THE FUN OF IT, OR BUY THEM IF YOU WANT TO. IF YOU HAVE EXTRA MONEY, THEY AREN’T TOO VERY EXPENSIVE $200 TO $7,000.

https://www.google.com/search?q=jonathan+winters+paintings&oq=JON&aqs=chrome.2.69i59l3j69i57j0l2.6217j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0976025/videoplayer/vi1419575833?ref_=tt_ov_vi
CERTIFIABLY JONATHAN
JONATHAN WINTERS, ROBIN WILLIAMS, HOWIE MANDEL
A famous comedian and artist wants to display his work at an art museum. Just when he thinks he's lost his touch, a series of famous comedians drop by to help him rekindle his artistic and comedic spark.
Director: James David Pasternak (as Jim Pasternak)
Stars: Jonathan Winters, Robin Williams, Howie Mandel | See full cast & crew »



YOUTUBE DISCOVERIES --

THIS IS NOT A DOCUMENTARY OF THE ORDINARY SORT, BUT A LECTURE BY A BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGIST, AND NOT TOLD IN JARGON THAT IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND. IT IS THE FIRST OF A SERIES. GO TO THIS WEBSITE AND THE OTHERS ARE THERE ALSO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U5HrYI0XLs
Celtic History - The Origins
History's Empire
Published on May 28, 2017


THIS UNUSUAL VIDEO SHOWCASES A LARGE NUMBER OF BRITISH ACCENTS AND MORE IN HISTORICAL RECORDINGS, SUCH AS WWI BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR. I REALLY RECOMMEND THIS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywg03b574oQ
How the Edwardians Spoke [signed]
snadhghus
Published on Oct 26, 2016
BBC Documentary. (Signed.)