Sundown: Famous Last Words

• What Richard Holbrooke’s last words really were, with context. [Ben Smith]

• Around the country, there is a renewed emphasis on strictly observing Jewish burial practices. [NYT]

• Kissinger’s response to the “gas chambers” remark is something less even than a non-apology apology. The quotations “must be viewed in the context of the time,” he said. [JTA]

• Jack Abramoff’s pizza-making days are over. Which is a shame, because he was apparently good at it! [AP]

• You’re not going to believe this, but, according to statistics, pseudo-Jew Amar’e Stoudemire plays better than average during Hanukkah. [Alone in the Green Room]

• Should Jews own Christmas trees? (#slatepitches.) Contributing editor Mark Oppenheimer debates. [Slate]

Leon Wieseltier remembers] Holbrooke, as does Hendrik Hertzberg. Below: Warren Zevon’s “The Envoy.”