And with John Lennon, George Harrison, Yehudi Menuhin, and so many others.
Bless Me Now With Your Fierce Tears XI
Senator Daniel Inouye 88
[url=http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/12/18/the-contras-crack-and-senator-ino... less flattering obit.[/url]
Dan Inouye was a true “American Liberal”, and truly dangerous as such. Rather than remembering him for his supposedly liberal bent, the world must see him for what he really was, a particularly evil proponent of American Imperialism, willing and able to even cover up a drug epidemic that went on to become a global pandemic, Crack Cocaine, back at a time when a real investigation and subsequent prosecution may have been able to prevent millions of deaths and tens of millions destroyed lives.
So what? Another American imperialist bites the dust, no tears from me for murderous Senators.
He was relativelyt anti-imperialist, early in the game:
Inouye was also involved in theIran-Contra investigations of the 1980s, chairing a special committee from 1987 until 1989. During the hearings Inouye referred to the operations that had been revealed as a "secret government" saying:
"[There exists] a shadowy Government with its own Air Force, its own Navy, its own fundraising mechanism, and the ability to pursue its own ideas of the national interest, free from all checks and balances, and free from the law itself."[16]
Criticizing the logic of Marine Lt. Colonel Oliver North's justifications for his actions in the affair, Inouye made reference to the Nuremberg trials, provoking a heated interruption from North's attorney Brendan V. Sullivan, Jr., an exchange that was widely repeated in the media at the time.
It isnt that I think hes the bees knees, but I want to honour those that were way more anti-imperialist that their compatriots. We should respect those that tried to do better, instead of just ridiculing them all and turning away potential allies
I have no intent to "Bless Me Now With Your Fierce Tears" - just want to mention that US conservative judge Robert Bork has died. I think he was as bad as that jerk whatsisname who's been in the news a lot.
He did everything he could to militarize Hawaii and ensure the maximum benefit to the Island from the American imperial machine. I doubt if he ever voted against any President's war making schemes or any defense budgets. As for the Iran Contra affair I see him as the person who spent a decade making sure nothing happened. I mean he really stuck it to Ollie North didn't he. After that relentless attack Ollie never dared show his face on the national stage again.[sarcasm alert]
Dan Inouye was a true “American Liberal”, and truly dangerous as such. Rather than remembering him for his supposedly liberal bent, the world must see him for what he really was, a particularly evil proponent of American Imperialism, willing and able to even cover up a drug epidemic that went on to become a global pandemic, Crack Cocaine, back at a time when a real investigation and subsequent prosecution may have been able to prevent millions of deaths and tens of millions destroyed lives.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/12/18/the-contras-crack-and-senator-ino...
Then I guess we will have to agree to disagree
Bork.
http://www.businessinsider.com/john-cooks-gawker-bork-obituary-causing-f...
Make sure to go read the Gawker obit afterwards.
Bork.
http://www.businessinsider.com/john-cooks-gawker-bork-obituary-causing-f...
Make sure to go read the Gawker obit afterwards.
I like this at the end: Maybe a generation of politicians would be more concerned of their legacy if obituaries like this became the norm.
[url=http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/01/internet-pioneer-and-informat... Swartz: Internet pioneer and information activist takes his own life[/url]
Cory Doctorow: [url=http://boingboing.net/2013/01/12/rip-aaron-swartz.html]RIP, Aaron Swartz[/url]
[url=http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/40347463044/prosecutor-as-bully]Prosecutor as bully[/url]
The Baffler: [url=http://thebaffler.com/blog/2013/01/aaron_swartz]Aaron Swartz, 1986–2013[/url]
Oh my god, oh no.
That is ghastly. JSTOR has always made me furious too.
On a less shocking note (at least she lived out her life), pioneering Cape Dorset Inuit artist Kenojuak (Kenojuak Ashevak) has died at 85: http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_artist_kenoju...
CBC radio has announced Eugene Whelan has died at 88.
Kurt Cobain would have been (only) 46 years old today.
Bonnie Franklin, star of "One Day At A Time", the first U.S. tv sitcom to do a realistic look at the like of a divorced woman raising kids on her own, also star of a CBS tv-movie about the life of Margaret Sanger;
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/01/entertainment-us-bonniefrankli...
Nick Ternette, Winnipeg activist:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Winnipeg-activist-Nick-Ter...
Kevin Ayers
http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2013/02/kevin_ayers_1944_-_2013.html
And I missed that. Bummer, and thanks!
February 9, 1936 – March 6, 2013
RIP Tom
He was part of my youth although it wasn't til later in life that I began to really like him. Here is his song about the town I grew up in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw7rzpvDvS0
A proud Canadian not afraid to stand up for this country.
"Gentlemen:I am returning herewith the six Juno awards that I once felt honoured to have received and which, I am no longer proud to have in my possession. As far as I am concerned you can give them to the border jumpers who didn't receive an award this year and maybe you can have them presented by Charley Pride. I feel that the Junos should be for people who are living in Canada, whose main base of business operations is in Canada, who are working toward the recognition of Canadian talent in this country and who are trying to further the export of such talent from this country to the world with a view to proudly showing off what this country can contribute to the world market. Until the academy appears to comply more closely with aspirations of this kind, I will no longer stand for any nominations, nor will I accept any award given. Yours very truly, Stompin' Tom Connors
Scary note at the bottom of the Charley Pride link(btw, was he mad that Pride had won a Juno? Or was the reference to that performer just meant to be random and Yank?)
There's going to be a Charlie Pride bio-picture...produced by(and with the lead role played by) Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. That casting should make everyone throw up a little in the back of their mouths.
Max Ferguson. One of my favourites.
Not that I am shedding tears but Doug Christie has died.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/03/12/doug-christie.html
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (1954-2013)
Miigwech, epaulo13, for posting the passing of Hugo Chavez on this remembrance page.
I don't believe he is resting in peace. He is looking around, and seeing what more he could do to help his people. They are missing him with fierce tears and a fierce resolve.
Paul Rose, age 69.
ETA: [url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/FLQer+Paul+Rose+convicted+Pierre+Lap... Gazette.[/url]
Splitting The Sky: A Great Loss
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.ca/2013/03/mohawk-nation-news-splitting-sky-gr...
Dies March 13, 2013
"Arrest George Bush!"
[url=http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/the-russian-banksy-is-dead]Street artist, Pasha 183.[/url]
Somehow appropriate.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xx68j_madonna-don-t-cry-for-me-argentina_music
"former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dies following a strike"
The only thing good thing I can say is that I smiled when she refused to meed Sarah Palin.
To paraphrase her thus:
There is no such thing as Margaret Thatcher.
Anti-worker, pro-apartheid, militarist warmonger, bootlicker of the rich and powerful - good riddance, may her name be forgotten along with her legacy.
ETA: Oh, forgot to link to this great piece today by Judy Rebick:
[url=http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/judes/2013/04/my-favourite-story-abo... favourite story about Margaret Thatcher[/url]
I rather thought her name should live on in the anals of history.
Back at the homes of former miners, the death of Thatcher was a “great day,” David Hopper, general secretary of the Durham Miners’ Association, told the Press Association news agency. “She destroyed our community, our villages and our people,” he said from northeast England.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-08/thatcher-dies-unforgiven-as-min...
Reveen and Annette Funicello have died.
Oh God, Annette was way too young. And Reveen... two figures who helped shape my childhood.
If I believed in the concept of heaven and hell I know where Thatcher deserves to be. Here is a good article about her "legacy" written from an American perspective. Thanks Josh for the article. I agree with the miners.
When Mrs. Thatcher took power, 1 in 7 of the England’s children lived in poverty. By the end of her reforms that number had risen to 1 in 3. She polarized the country in a ‘divide & conquer’ strategy that foreshadowed that of Ronald Reagan and more recent American politicians such as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. The effect of her policy was to foreclose on the economic mobility into the middle class that ironically she believed her policies were promoting.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/04/08/the-queen-mother-of-global-auster...
Reveen dies!! RIP
Here are two other Canadian icons talking about him.
Only Reveen could manage this:
While struggling to make ends meet, she found comfort in the fledgling women’s movement. She began attending meetings in Toronto in the early ’70s that she found out — years later — were being monitored by the RCMP.“If you wanted to see a bunch of women sitting around talking about issues and going on demonstrations that are peaceful and non-violent, then so be it, but I don’t think there was a reason to do that,” MacNeil said in 2008.
“What’s radical about equal pay for equal work? And trying to empower women to reach the potential that they have?”
MacNeil has said these meetings gave her strength and pushed forth her songwriting — in fact, after one get-together, she was inspired to write her first song.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf1B9ktRCkg]Richie Havens, 72[/url]
[url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/richie-havens-folk-icon-dead-at-7... Havens, Folk Icon, Dead at 72 -- Rolling Stone Magazaine[/url]
His performance of Handsome Johnny, his powerful anti-war song, which opens the director's cut of the Woodstock movie, is one of my favourite songs from the concert. Saddened to learn that Richie has passed on. RIP