Tag archive: Osiris

T follies cover

The Trump Follies: July 2025 Edition

Keeping up with the latest Trump-related mishigas is a fulltime job these days, as the Distractor-in-Chief writhes and squirms in the white-hot spotlight of the Epstein files debacle.  Like vermin desperately crawling from beneath an overturned rock, stunned by their exposure to sunlight, Trump is throwing everything he has at the wall, hoping something – anything – will stick long enough to shift focus from the dumpster fire that is the MAGA rebellion to his Attorney General’s assertion that the Epstein case is closed, with no further revelations of elite pedophile wrongdoing to come.

Continue reading

Connie Francis1

Aster-Obit:  Connie Francis

Who’s Sorry Now?”  Legions of Connie Francis fans, that’s who, mourning the death of the singer whose signature tune that became.  Francis herself hated the song, but it was her breakout hit from 1958, and she paid homage to its importance in her life and career by using the phrase to title her 1984 autobiography.  Francis was translated to the celestial choir on 16 July 2025, aged 87.

Continue reading

TX flood cover

Deadly Texas Flash Floods Kill Dozens

Rain-sodden remnants of Tropical Storm Barry dumped more than 6” of precipitation on Kerr County, Texas, USA in the early hours of 4 July 2025.  Rainfall rates of 2-3” per hour prompted the Guadalupe River to overflow its banks in a surge of more than 29 feet, causing devastating flash flooding across hundreds of acres of Texas hill country.  At least 84 were killed, including 21 children, with search and rescue efforts for more possible victims ongoing, including 10 girls missing from a summer camp in Hunt.

Continue reading

swit cover

Aster-Obit:  Loretta Swit

On 30 May 2025, American actress Loretta Swift passed away at her home in New York City, at the age of 87.  Best remembered for her performance as Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in the smash 1970s TV hit series M*A*S*H, Swit effortlessly grew that character from one-dimensional, strait-laced, traditionalist army nurse having an extramarital affair with an inept doctor, to a married, then divorced, fully emancipated modern woman.  The metamorphosis was stunning to behold, and Swit’s character became an icon of feminism for the time.  Swit won two Emmy Awards for her portrayal, appearing in all but 11 of the series’ 256 episodes, only one of two actors to appear through the run of the show, from pilot to finale (the other being Alan Alda, Captain Hawkeye Pierce).

Continue reading

PF RIP cover

Aster-Obit:  Pope Francis

At 7:35 AM CEST on Monday, 21 April 2025, Pope Francis passed away, apparently from a stroke, in his apartment at the St Martha House in Vatican City.  The notoriously down-to-earth pontiff eschewed the luxurious papal penthouse in the Apostolic Palace, preferring the humbler surroundings of the Vatican’s adjacent guest house.  Francis had recently battled bilateral pneumonia and other respiratory complaints during a weeks-long hospital stay, but returned to the Vatican a month ago, where he resumed some of his papal duties.  On the day before his death, Francis went out to greet the Easter Sunday crowds in St Peter’s Square, also meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, so, although he was still in ill health, his passing just hours later was unexpected. 

Continue reading

chamberlain cover

Aster-Obit:  Richard Chamberlain

Veteran actor and ‘60s teen idol heartthrob Richard Chamberlain passed away on 29 March 2025, just two days shy of his 91st birthday.  Dubbed “King of the Mini-Series” in the 1980s, Chamberlain made a big splash on TV and film as a dashing leading man, but experienced internal conflict in having to conceal his homosexuality to preserve his swashbuckling image.  Chamberlain first made his mark in the 1961 TV series “Dr. Kildare,” garnering legions of female fans, and went on to a successful movie career, starring in the 1970s “The Three Musketeers” franchise, among other action films.

Continue reading