Fog and smoke, smoke and fog.

April 25th, 2025

I don’t know what to make of this story. I don’t feel like it qualifies for flaming hyena status yet, but I do feel like it is noteworthy.

Up until yesterday, Matthew Bruderman was the chairman of Nassau University Medical Center. A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Bruderman announced he was cooperating with the FBI and Department of Justice in an investigation. Specifically, Mr. Bruderman claims that New York state and Long Island have stolen at least $1 billion from the organization.

Bruderman said he believes the officials’ ultimate goal was to financially strangle the public hospital, paving the way for state and local leaders to shut it down, take over the land currently owned by the public-benefit corporation that runs it and have it redeveloped for profit.

Wednesday night, Mr. Bruderman’s house was burglarized. However, the only thing allegedly taken was…documents tied to the investigation.

Bruderman wasn’t home at the time of the robbery and only found out after police called to inform him they had recovered a binder with his name on it in a car driven by an unidentified couple, he said.
“I was confused because that was the binder I had on my desk when I left,” he said.
Bruderman said he later found his backdoor pried wide open.
The binder, he said, contained “sensitive” materials related to the ongoing federal investigation, including documents and records tied to the financial misconduct he claims to have uncovered while reviewing hospital finances and state reimbursements.

Things that make you go “Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm”:

At the heart of the alleged scheme is a little-known federal program called the Disproportionate Share Hospital Fund — meant to help keep afloat struggling hospitals such as NUMC, which treat large numbers of low-income patients on Medicaid and Medicare.
Under the program, the federal government agrees to give hospitals tens of millions of dollars in funding as long as their state matches the investment.

According to [Bruderman’s] review of internal financial records, previous hospital leadership allegedly “borrowed” what was supposed to be the state’s matching share from an offshore account tied to a Cayman Islands trust, originally set up to cover the medical center’s legal bills.
That money would be temporarily transferred into the hospital’s general fund just long enough to fool the feds into thinking New York had paid its share — unlocking the federal portion of the funding, he claimed.
But once the federal funds cleared, the state’s contribution would allegedly be moved right back offshore.
That would mean those matching funds vanished into the shadows in a conspiracy that could’ve included top officials.

More things that make you go “Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm”: Mr. Bruderman was fired on Thursday.

Bruderman, who was unpaid in his position as chairman, told The Post he was shocked by his firing and is the victim of a political scandal.
“I was told if I didn’t resign today, like a coward, I would be removed. I was told [Gov.] Kathy Hochul wanted my head for exposing the corruption and previously supporting Lee Zeldin. I was told I don’t understand how powerful these people are and the lengths they would go to hurt me. I refused to resign and they had no choice but to remove me,” Bruderman told The Post.

Again, I don’t know what to make of this. A lot of the coverage seems to be from Mr. Bruderman’s point of view, and I won’t rule out the possibility that he’s trying to divert attention away from his own activities. On the other hand, I’m absolutely not going to rule out the idea that New York state and Nassau County officials are as crooked as a three-dollar bill, and have been doing exactly what Mr. Bruderman claims.

In other news, and I guess this qualifies as a flaming hyena: Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan has been arrested by the FBI.

Flores Ruiz, 30, had appeared before Dugan April 18 for a pre-trial conference on three misdemeanor battery charges.
ICE agents showed up outside the courtroom with a federal warrant for Flores Ruiz’s arrest but were asked by court officials to wait until the hearing had ended before cuffing him, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, citing law enforcement sources.
Before the agents could enter, Dugan allegedly directed Flores Ruiz and his lawyer out a side door and through a private hallway to avoid apprehension.

Judge Dugan is charged with “obstruction of justice and concealing a person from arrest”. The NYTimes has additional coverage, including a link to the charging document, but share links aren’t working for me right now. I’ll try to update later.

Obit watch: April 25, 2025.

April 25th, 2025

Lawrence sent over an obit for Steve McMichael, legendary Chicago Bear.

Though somewhat small for a defensive lineman at 6 feet 2 inches and 270 pounds, McMichael possessed immense strength and slippery quickness. He starred on a defense that included three other future Hall of Famers: the defensive ends Hampton and Dent and the linebacker Mike Singletary. He played in 191 consecutive games for the Bears and 12 more in the playoffs, a franchise record.

McMichael reveled in an exaggerated, untamed persona. His nicknames included Ming the Merciless, after the tyrant in “Flash Gordon,” and Mongo, after the dimwitted ruffian who punches out a horse in the Mel Brooks comedy “Blazing Saddles.”

Lulu Roman, perhaps most famous for “Hee Haw”.

Roman appeared on the first episode of CBS’ Hee Haw in June 1969 and on the last one, with the show in syndication, in June 1993. During its impressive run, she reinvented herself as a gospel singer, and she would release more than a dozen albums, perform in concert and record with the likes of Dolly Parton. (Watch and hear her sing “Crazy” here).

IMDB.

Bagatelle (#133)

April 22nd, 2025

My Personal Top Ten List of Wikipedia Lists

10. “List of stoffs”. How can you not like a list with a name like that? Also, as you know, Bob, I’m both a bit of a plane geek and a military history geek. And as you also know, Bob, the famous ME-163 ran on T-Stoff and Z-Stoff (in the A variant) or C-Stoff (in the B and C variants.) (At least, I think that’s the case. The Wikipedia article is a little confusing.)

(I’ve been thinking about doing a Kickstarter for another million-dollar idea: a small rocket engine that attaches to a snowboard and runs on T-Stoff and Z-Stoff, maybe about the size of an old Apollo RCS motor. Why take the lift when you can rocket up the slope and board back down? And why just board back down when you can rocketboard back down? Think of the extreme fun!)

(No, I haven’t done the math on this. Yet.)

9. “List of lists of lists”. “This is a list of articles that are lists of list articles on the English Wikipedia. In other words, each of the articles linked here is an index to multiple lists on a topic. Some of the linked articles are themselves lists of lists of lists.” So do we need a “Lists of lists of lists of lists” entry?

8. “List of animals awarded human credentials”. This one would be higher on the list if it wasn’t just cats and dogs (well, except for one chicken and one goldfish). Really, is there nobody out there who has obtained a diploma for their sloth or slow loris? (And if the answer is “No, there isn’t” I sense a great need. Senator Shoshana, I’ve never met you and this is crazy, but here’s my number, so call me, maybe, about diplomas for sloths?) Honorable mention: “Non-human electoral candidates”.

7. “List of helicopter prison escapes“. I guess this is mostly personal nostalgia. When I was (mumble mumble) years old, “Breakout” was released. I thought a movie about a prison break by helicopter was incredibly cool. I never actually it in theaters because my parents wouldn’t let me watch PG-rated movies. I still haven’t seen it, and in retrospect it was probably a mediocre Bronson action film, But: Robert Duvall! John Huston! Randy Quaid! And it’s available on blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

Setting aside my personal nostalgia, this is still a good list. I’ve written before about the crazy Garrett Brock Trapnell story, but that’s not the only good one. “I told him it was our Minister of Defence leaving.” “The 3-passenger helicopter was so overloaded with 5 occupants that it barely cleared the fence, while flying away in a hail of gunfire that injured one guard.” “One of the skids caught on the razor wire, causing the helicopter to catapult over the fence and crash into the prison grounds.” Is it just me, or do there seem to be a disproportionate number of helicopter escapes in France and Canada?

The record for most helicopter escapes goes to convicted murderer Pascal Payet, who has used helicopters to escape from prisons in 2001, 2003, and most recently 2007.

6. “List of classical music concerts with an unruly audience response“. Everyone knows about “The Rite of Spring” (or thinks they know: I would really love to find a good reliable history of what actually happened the night of the premiere). But there are other great moments in this entry. Some of them even involve artists I like. “One woman walked down the aisle and repeatedly banged her head on the front of the stage, wailing ‘Stop, stop, I confess.'”Artist Man Ray reportedly punched a man in the nose, Marcel Duchamp began hurling obscenities at a fellow audience member, and Erik Satie was heard shouting, ‘What precision! What precision!'”. “…Futurists led by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti fighting members of the audience in the stalls.” (Futurism! There’s a rabbit hole for you.)

5. “List of sausages“. As you know, Bob, I am somewhat food obsessed. There are a bunch of Wikipedia food lists I could probably pick, but I happen to be fond of sausages. I wonder how hard it would be to organize a sausage tour of Germany? (I’d include Volkswagen currywurst in that tour, but I’m not if VW would let a tourist group eat in their canteen.) Also, I’m wondering if there’s any way to get Noumboulo in the US…

4. “List of Latin phrases”. Because sometimes in business it is useful to be able to toss out a reference like “alea iacta est” or “fiat justitia ruat caelum” and see who picks up on it. Honorable mention: “Glossary of French expressions in English“. I don’t have as many opportunities to use any of these, except “pour encourager les autres“.

3. “List of winless seasons”. Yes, this does include the NFL, and yes, the 2008 Lions and the 2017 Cleveland Browns are on the list. But there’s more to it than just the NFL. Have you ever wondered if a cricket team has lost all of their matches in a season? What about rugby? Or “association football”? (“In the 2010–11 Ukrainian Second League (3rd tier on the Ukrainian pyramid), FC Veres Rivne lost all 14 out of 22 scheduled games before being expelled from the league due to failure of payment of league dues; in addition, they also did not score a single goal at home.” Now that’s a mark to strive for.)

2. “List of canceled Las Vegas casinos”. I’ve linked to this before, but it is still a favorite of mine. Honorable mention: “List of Atlantic City casinos that never opened”.

And at number one on the hit parade…

1. “List of television series canceled after one episode”. Not only is this a subject near and dear to my heart (epic failure) but I love the way this list is organized: “Canceled before the first episode finished airing”, “Canceled after two episodes, seen back-to-back on premiere night”, “Special cases”, and etc.

Obit watch: April 21, 2025.

April 21st, 2025

For the historical record: Pope Francis. Vatican News. L’Osservatore Romano (English).

The NYPost handicaps the leading candidates.

The Diocese of Austin is currently without a Bishop, as of March 25. Its former Bishop, Joe Vasquez, is now the Archbishop of Galveston-Houston. Since the Pope appoints new Bishops to a diocese, Vasquez’s replacement in Austin will be prolonged until the new Pope is appointed.

Firings watch.

April 20th, 2025

So I guess yesterday was the NHL equivalent of the NFL’s “Bloody Monday”.

Peter Laviolette out as head coach of the New York Rangers.

The Rangers are now searching for their fourth coach since 2021, with Laviolette joining a list of fired bench bosses that includes David Quinn and Gerard Gallant.

Also out: “associate coach” Phil Housley.

Greg Cronin out as coach of the Anaheim Ducks.

The Ducks were 35-37-10 (80 points) with a .488 points percentage. While that was an improvement over last season (27-50-5, 59 points), it wasn’t enough to bring Cronin back after two seasons behind the bench. Anaheim missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season.

Flaming hyena update.

April 18th, 2025

Looks like Tania Fernandes Anderson is going to take a plea. (Previously.)

And one of the local TV stations has video of her and some other folks removing items from her office prior to her plea deal.

One day after the furniture was removed from City Hall, a $67.12 U-Haul charge was posted on the councilor’s campaign finance report.

Is that legal? Can you use campaign funds for a U-Haul to move stuff out of your office before you go to the big house?

Obit watch: April 18, 2025.

April 18th, 2025

Joe Nickell, paranormal investigator, passed away on March 4th. I wasn’t aware of this until the NYT ran a very respectful and lengthy obit today.

Working for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, a program run by the nonprofit group Center for Inquiry, and as a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer, the organization’s magazine, Mr. Nickell investigated ghosts, poltergeist activity, apparitions, the Loch Ness monster, crop circles and multiple reappearances of Jesus, including one on a tortilla.
“Some of it is like satire,” Mr. Nickell told The New York Times in 1997, “almost like it’s reached a comic level.”

Back in the day when I read SI, Mr. Nickell’s articles were always a high point. He was one of the greats, right up there with Martin Gardner and James Randi, and his passing leaves a hole in the world.

(The only reason I stopped reading SI was that I just didn’t have time to read it. Nothing else, I just couldn’t keep up with that and everything else, too.)

The paper of record also ran a long, respectful, and very well illustrated obit for Robert E. McGinnis. (Previously.)

Obit watch: April 16, 2025.

April 16th, 2025

Wink Martindale. NYT (archived).

Martindale said he became interested in hosting a TV game show in 1965 when he learned that Password‘s Allen Ludden would “go in two days a week and tape five shows one day and five shows the next and the other five days play golf. I went to my agent and said, ‘How about sending me on a game-show hosting interview?’”
He eventually landed at NBC’s What’s That Song? (billed as Win Martindale) and worked for a year on that, the first of the 20 game shows that he hosted (only Bill Cullen did more). He was on Tic-Tac-Dough for a decade, did two shows for producer Chuck Barris (How’s Your Mother-in-Law? and Dream Girl of ’67) and produced game shows as well.

Another one that would have got past me if it wasn’t for “The Rap Sheet” (and I haven’t seen an obit anywhere else): Peter Lovesey, one of the great British crime writers.

Wikipedia:

He was also one of the world’s leading track and field statisticians.

Interesting, as his first novel (which was re-issued in a 50th anniversary edition late last year), Wobble To Death, is a Victorian era murder mystery…set against a speed walking marathon.

In addition to the scope of his unparalleled crime fiction career, Peter Lovesey will be remembered by his many grieving friends as the paragon of decency, compassion, loyalty, self-discipline, and pride in good work—in short, a human example of what it means to live a good life.

I know you’re probably expecting a flaming hyena…

April 16th, 2025

…but I just can’t. I’m laughing too hard right now.

(You may remember Ms. James for her prolonged legal battle against the NRA.)

Also, she’s only been “referred” for possible prosecution, not actually indicted yet. When the indictment comes up, I’ll get out the marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate, so I can make S’Mores over the bonfire of Letitia James and her political ambitions.

Happy BAG Day!

April 15th, 2025

You’ve still got time to go out and buy a gun for Buy a Gun Day.

Online orders count.

Just sayin’.

Obit watch: April 14, 2025.

April 14th, 2025

Mario Vargas Llosa.

Mr. Vargas Llosa was never fully enamored, however, by his contemporaries’ magical realism. And he was disillusioned with Fidel Castro’s persecution of dissidents in Cuba, breaking from the leftist ideology that held sway for decades over many writers in Latin America.
He charted his own path as a conservative, often divisive political thinker and as a novelist who transformed episodes from his personal life into books that reverberated far beyond the borders of his native country.
His dabbling in politics ultimately led to a run for the presidency in 1990. That race allowed him to champion the free-market causes he espoused, including the privatization of state enterprises and reducing inflation through government spending cuts and layoffs of the bloated civil service.
He led polls for much of the race, but was roundly defeated by Alberto Fujimori, then a little-known agronomist of Japanese descent who later adopted many of Mr. Vargas Llosa’s policies.

Jean Marsh, actress. NYT. Other credits include the good “Hawaii Five-O”, “The Eagle Has Landed”, and “See China and Die”.

Sun Sweat.

April 14th, 2025

The Suns are sweating.

As much as I prefer to quote local news sources, I can’t pass up the way the Post put it:

The Suns have fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after they finished with a 36-46 record, didn’t sniff a playoff-clinching top-six seed and missed the play-in tournament by three games.

AZCentral:

The Suns closed a disappointing 36-46 season on April 13 at Sacramento that began with championship expectations for the NBA’s first $400 million team with three max players in Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. It ended with Phoenix missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20.
Booker, Durant and Beal are due a combined $150 million this season.

Budenholzer coached for one season. He took over after Frank Vogel was fired.

Phoenix has been paying Vogel, who signed a five-year, $31-million deal.

Post:

It’s the third consecutive season that Phoenix has fired its head coach, as Monty Williams was canned after a 45-37 season the year before Vogel took over.

And ESPN, for the record.

Also fired: David Griffin, executive VP of the Pelicans.