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Bummer Knucks.

Sharon Jones

Yes, that Miss Sharon Jones

I am particularly bummed about this one.  Probably more than Prince.  And I was particularly bummed by Prince's passing.

Indeed.

Holly shit, what a damn year! RIP Ms Jones and thanks for the great tunes.

So full of life and fun. Here with Prince by the end.

 

RIP Sharon....great clip Antonio!

I am really going to miss WCD.  It was a vibrant community dedicated to archiving, tagging, sorting, and reviewing music.  There has never been a more complete and well-maintained catalogue of digital music in history, and there may well never be another.  Even those of us who cared about copyright and IP can recognize the loss of pure metadata this represents.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/us/chattanooga-school-bus-fatal-crash.html

There was a horrible bus crash about 15 minutes away from me earlier today that made national, and perhaps international news. 35 K-5th graders were on board, and they've confirmed 6 are dead.

Thanks to those of you who have reached out, and my children are OK, but this has been tough on the city today. It's heartbreaking. The oldest of these kids was Xavier's age.

This is just sickening.

Hug your loved ones tonight; you just never know.

**BRENT**

Very sad news Brent.

I thought of you when the spotty reports started making it to my neck of the woods.

I'm relieved to hear that none of yours were involved but it's still very, very sad.

So sad, Brent. Glad that your kids are fine, but I'm sure that one will really hit home for a long, long time. For my part, I'll be giving hugs to nearly 10,000 kids this next month and a bit, and will keep in mind just how precious life is for all of us.

Saw that on the news and thought of you and your kids. It is a sad, unfortunate situation.


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Glad that your kids are okay Brent.  Being a dad myself I can't stand to read the news.  It appears that the bus driver was speeding.  I hope for a successful and speedy recovery to those young ones who had sustained injuries.

Good night, Mrs. Brady. You always seemed like such a sweet lady. RIP, Florence Henderson: http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-ln-florence-henderson-brady-bunch-obituary-20161124-story.html

RIP Mrs Brady.

RIP Ralph Branca, the man who served up the shot heard round the world and gave the Giants the 1951 pennant over the Dodgers.

RIP Florence Henderson

Ouch! Another piece of my childhood. R.I.P. Florence. 

He certainly wore the shit out of that ball-cap.

Edited November 26, 20169 yr by TMoney

Wow. Back in the day he and Khrushchev were responsible for the world coming within a hair's breadth of nuclear Armageddon. Love him or hate him, he certainly left his mark on history writ large. RIP.

I'm not sure how much people know about Castro and the revolution, but for all his promises of free elections and a better life for Cubans, he ended up being worse than Batista. He was a terrorist and a dictator. I put him on par with Idi Amin.

Yeah, the radio report of his death included sounds of cheering and partying, I don't think there's too many that love him.  The closest I heard was from a Cuban refugee -- "I miss my country, but..." ... you get the idea, homesick for the culture, but not for the leader.

But -- in light of recent discoveries on my part that journalism is no longer neutral on subjects -- maybe it was just how the media wanted to present it.

I'm not a Cuba expert, and Fidel was obviously not a saint, but I've been to Cuba twice, and both times was struck by how most people seemed to adore him. The trade embargo by the USA has been far worse for most Cubans than even a dictator who viciously clung to power over so many decades. I guess it could be a lesson, something about needing an enemy (real or perceived) to remain popular.

Among a roughly equal mix of great and dreadful things, one of his least glorious policies was his awful treatment of gays. That was something I did not know until a few days ago, when the ex-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone was interviewed on BBC Radio 4. Then I did a bit more reading about Castro, and it was quite correct.

But put into the context of the time, when in the UK practicing gay guys were imprisoned for "gross indecency", or offered "chemical castration" as an alternative, it could be argued that gay persecution was a thing of its time globally.

6 hours ago, acidbasement said:

I'm not a Cuba expert, and Fidel was obviously not a saint, but I've been to Cuba twice, and both times was struck by how most people seemed to adore him. The trade embargo by the USA has been far worse for most Cubans than even a dictator who viciously clung to power over so many decades. I guess it could be a lesson, something about needing an enemy (real or perceived) to remain popular.

 

Yes, I agree the embargo hurt innocent Cubans, but what's the alternative? Castro didn't leave us a lot of choice. Yes, America wants it's enemies, real or perceived. That's how the military machine stays in motion. It is very sad. War is business.

3 hours ago, Craig Sawyers said:

Among a roughly equal mix of great and dreadful things, one of his least glorious policies was his awful treatment of gays. That was something I did not know until a few days ago, when the ex-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone was interviewed on BBC Radio 4. Then I did a bit more reading about Castro, and it was quite correct.

But put into the context of the time, when in the UK practicing gay guys were imprisoned for "gross indecency", or offered "chemical castration" as an alternative, it could be argued that gay persecution was a thing of its time globally.

He went far beyond that. Look up the firing squads. He made it clear immediately that he had no intentions of giving up power, or holding elections. Not only did he kill his opposition, but he had many revolution supporters shot as well, because he thought they held too much power. He ripped children from the arms of their parents at will. He stole property and wealth on a whim. He was your average megalomaniac dictator, nothing better. 

My point is that the mere passing of time should not lesson the actions of a tyrant. Let's just hope that Cubans can have a better future starting now.