[Plugin: WP-OpenID] Now I Am Become 2.1.6, Bringer of Death

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '=', expecting ')' in myDir/wp-content/plugins/openid/Auth/Yadis/Yadis.php on line 278

The entire ‘blog is rendered inaccessible, until I remove the directory for WP-OpenID.

And, indeed, this

function discover($uri, &$fetcher = null, $extra_ns_map = null, $timeout = 20)

isn’t kosher. If you want a reference, then it’s just “&fetcher“; if you want an ordinary variable, the of course it’s just “$fetcher“.