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This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passing of politician Cecil Underwood, playwright William Gibson and Broadway impresario Gerald Schoenfeld. In addition, the Pentagon has released the names of 4 servicemembers who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan this week.

The total number of allied troops killed in Iraq now totals 4,521, per iCasualties.org. For the same week, Iraq Body Count lists 134 Iraqi civilian deaths.

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This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passings of Olympic basketball coach Pete Newell, Slinky Company co-founder Betty James, theatre critic Clive Barnes, and former Texas Congressman Jim Mattox. In addition, the Pentagon released the names of five servicemembers killed in Iraq.

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This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passings of South African singer Miriam "Mama Afrika" Makeba, Cleveland Indians broadcaster Herb Score and civil rights leader Rev. Abraham Woods, Jr. In addition, the Pentagon has confirmed the deaths of 7 soldiers this week in Iraq.

Per iCasualties, the total allied forces killed in Iraq is now 4,515. During this week Iraq Body Count confirmed the deaths of 128 Iraq civilians.

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This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passings of novelist Michael Crichton, photographer Cecil Stoughton, and Barack Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham as well as 3 soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to iCasualties, the total servicepeople killed in Iraq now total 4,507. During this same time, per Iraq Body Count, there were 128 confirmed Iraqi civilian deaths, 19 of whom were children.

Guardian UK:

Madelyn Dunham, the grandmother who was the anchor in the life of the child that was Barack Obama, died today just hours before polling stations opened in America's historic election.

"It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer," Obama said in a joint statement with his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng.

"She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength and humility."

Dunham, 86, had been in poor health for the duration of Obama's campaign - though he has often said that she followed politics avidly.

Just two weeks ago, her grandson took a break from campaigning to visit her at her modest apartment block in central Honolulu after she fell and broke her hip.

Some had seen the hiatus at such a critical time as a political risk to Obama, but the Democrat said that one of his greatest regrets was his failure to be with his mother when she was dying of ovarian cancer.

He also admitted then he was not sure that his grandmother would live to see election day.

I'd like to think that she died with the peace and assurance in her heart that her grandson will win the election on Tuesday. The Obama family has asked that in lieu of flowers, people wishing to pay their respects donate in Dunham's name "to any worthy organization in search for a cure for cancer."

UPDATED: Obama spoke about his grandmother in North Carolina this evening:

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This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passings of the great journalist and champion of the common man Studs Terkel, jazz singer/actress Estelle Reiner and novelist Tony Hillerman. In addition, the Pentagon released the names of five servicemembers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According the iCasualties, the total number of servicemembers killed in Iraq now totals 4,503. During this same week, Iraq Body Count lists 95 Iraqi civilians killed. For the month of October, 553 Iraqi civilians lost their lives, 26 by US Forces; 33 were children.

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This Week with George Stephanopoulos notes the passings of fashion critic Mr. Blackwell, Mr Olympia contest founder Ben Weider and newsman William Headline as well as 9 servicemembers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to icasualties, the total number of allied servicepeople killed in Iraq now total 4,501. According to Iraq Body Count, there were 150 confirmed Iraqi civilian deaths this week.

We just learned of the passing last week of Edie Adams. In addition to her great acting/comedy work on her husband Ernie Kovac's television show, she was a terrific singer. She won a Tony Award in 1956 for her portayal of Daisy Mae in Broadway's Lil' Abner. RIP.

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This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passings of folk singer Nick Reynolds, Newsweek's Osborn Elliott, civil rights attorney J.L. Chestnut as well as nine soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to iCasualties.org, the total number of service people killed in Iraq now totals 4,491. And IBC records 110 Iraqi civilian deaths this week and a total of 572 for the month of September.

If you Google the lyrics for "One of These Days" the internet will laugh at you. Because "One of These Days" has exactly one lyric: "One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces." The rest of the song is built like an A-frame around it: everything before rises out of an brooding, windswept instrumental, featuring dueling bass guitars that climb toward something menacing; everything after is a beautiful beat-down of falling and fading.

One lyric. And the reason I've listened to it (along with "Careful with That Axe, Eugene", "Echoes", "Atom Heart Mother", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", "The Great Gig in the Sky" and all the rest) nine million times has everything to do with the unique alchemy of musicianship and unabashed monumentalism that Richard Wright brought to Pink Floyd.

RIP Richard Wright.

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This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passing of basketball coach Don Haskins, actress Anita Page and novelist David Foster Wallace as well as 7 soldiers and Marines who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, I also have to note the passing of Green Party founder (and former Nader running mate) Peter Camajo.

According to icasualties, the number of allied deaths attributed to Operation Iraqi Freedom is now 4,471. During this same week, Iraq Body Count lists 129 Iraqi civilian deaths.

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This Week with George Stephanopoulos acknowledges the passings of Ford Agency head Jerry Ford, LGBT activist and same sex marriage pioneer Del Martin and Nobel Laureate Thomas Weller as well as 5 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

According the icasualties.org, the total allied deaths for Operation Iraqi Freedom now stands at 4,150.  Per Iraq Body Count, there were 141 Iraqi civilian deaths this week. 

LeRoi Moore 1961-2008.

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This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passings of Issac Hayes, Bill Gwatney, Jerry Wexler, Leroy Sievers, and the pentagon released the names of 9 service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to icasualties, the total fatalities for the Iraq coalition is now 4,460, and per Iraq Body Count, there were 138 Iraqi civilians killed this week.

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This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passings of former Ambassador Anne Armstrong, former Surgeon General and HeadStart founder Dr. Julius Richmond, journalist Edie Huggins, Congressman John Seiberling, as well as 3 soldiers and Marines killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.  According to icasualties, the total fatalities for the Iraq coalition is now 4,442. And per Iraq Body Count, there were 130 Iraqi civilians killed this week. 

In July, there were 589 confirmed killings of Iraqi civilians, 25 of which were children and 14 by U.S. forces.