Obituaries

[Bill Ryan]

Actor Robert Duvall has died — he brought a compassionate center to edgy hard roles

• https://www.npr.org/2026/02/16/11338...-dead-obituary

Over his long career, Robert Duvall brought a wide range of characters to life, from tough Marines to wistful, tender-hearted cowboys.

Duvall died on Sunday. His wife Luciana posted on Facebook on Monday, "Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort."
He was 95 years old.

In his first major movie role, in 1962, Robert Duvall appeared in only a handful of scenes. He didn't have a single word of dialogue. Yet the actor managed to make an indelible, star-making impression. The film was To Kill a Mockingbird. The role was Boo Radley.

Boo is the small town's recluse; he spends the movie as little more than a mysterious shape, cloaked in shadows. But in the film's final moments, he steps out nervously, into the light.

Duvall's features soften, he smiles slightly — and the menacing presence of Boo Radley transforms before our eyes into a figure radiating kindness and concern. The pure, elegantly nuanced physicality of that moment launched his career.

Robert Duvall came from a military family. He told NPR's All Things Considered in 2010 that he didn't so much discover acting as have it thrust upon him by his parents.

"I was at a small college in the Midwest," he said. "It was the end of the Korean war. I did go in the army eventually but [only] to get through college, to find something that would give me a sense of worth, where I got my first 'A'. It was my parents I had to thank for that."

As a young actor, he ended up in New York City, where he palled around with Gene Hackman, James Caan and his roommate Dustin Hoffman. It was over many coffees and conversations with them at Cromwell's Drug Store on 50th and 6th Avenue that he struck upon his personal philosophy of acting. His approach was direct and unpretentious, as he explained to the TV series Oprah's Masterclass in 2015: "Basically just talk and listen, and keep it simple. And however it goes, it goes."

After Mockingbird, his parts grew bigger: Films like Bullitt, True Grit, and M*A*S*H, in which he originated the role of the uptight Major Frank Burns.

But it was his role in 1972's The Godfather, as Tom Hagen, the Corleone family lawyer, that changed everything. Amid the film's operatic swirl of emotion, Tom Hagen was an island of calmness and restraint, so it might seem odd that Duvall often said it was one of his favorite roles of his career.

But his strength as an actor was always how unforced he seemed, how true. Others around him emoted, showily and outwardly — he always directed his energy inward, to find a character's heart. This was true even when he played roles with a harder edge.

In two films that came out in 1979 — The Great Santini and Apocalypse Now, both of which earned him Oscar nominations — Duvall played military men. In Santini, he was a bluff, belligerent Marine who bullied his sensitive son in an attempt to harden him into a man.

In Francis Ford Coppola's epically trippy Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now, Duvall was all charismatic swagger as Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore, who calls down an airstrike and delivers one of the most quotable lines in film history: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. ... It smells like ... victory."

As he told Terry Gross on Fresh Air in 1996, the words followed him for the rest of his life.

"Yeah, that was a wonderful line," he said. "People come up to me and quote it to me like it's this in thing between me and them. Like they're the only ones who ever thought of it, but it happens with everyone in the same way."

He finally won the Oscar for 1983's Tender Mercies. He played a recovering alcoholic country singer trying to start his life over. Duvall did his own singing in that film.
He directed 1997's The Apostle, which he also wrote, produced and starred in, as an evangelical preacher on the outs with God. It earned him his fifth Oscar nomination for acting.

Over the course of an acting career that spanned decades, Duvall appeared in over 90 films. He took traditional, old Hollywood archetypes of masculinity — soldiers, cops and cowboys — and imbued them with notes of melancholy, a vulnerability that made them come alive onscreen.

[wondering]

I loved Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies.

[Bill Ryan]

Civil Rights Leader Rev. Jesse Jackson Dead At 84

• https://www.zerohedge.com/political/...ackson-dead-84

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the longtime civil rights activist and two-time presidential candidate, died on Tuesday at the age of 84, according to NBC News.

Jackson's family released this statement:

"Our father was a servant leader, not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world. We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family. His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by."

Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton wrote in a statement that "our nation lost one of its greatest moral voices" and paid tribute to a man who "carried history in his footsteps and hope in his voice."

"Reverend Jackson stood wherever dignity was under attack, from apartheid abroad to injustice at home. His voice echoed in boardrooms and in jail cells. His presence shifted rooms. His faith never wavered," Sharpton said.

The cause of death was not immediately given by the family; however, they said he died peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones.

One important note: Jackson had been living with progressive supranuclear palsy for more than a decade. He was also hospitalized twice with Covid in recent years.

Jackson was born in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1941 and quickly became a civil rights leader, emerging as one of several disciples of Martin Luther King Jr. His activism spanned half a century, including two runs for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988.



"America is not like a blanket, one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt: many patches, many pieces, many colours, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread," Jackson told the audience at the 1984 Democratic convention. "Even in our fractured state, all of us count and fit somewhere."



During the Monica Lewinsky scandal at the White House, Jackson offered the Clinton family much-needed spiritual advice:

"You need faith when storms come suddenly, so I really talked to Hillary and Chelsea about matters of faith and unconditional love."

In the Obama years, Jackson stated, "We are a better America today."



But as soon as the Trump era began, he warned, "The idea of making America great again reopens the wounds in America's immoral foundation, born in sin, and shaped in inequity."

[Ravenlocke]

Wyatt Reed reposted

Max Blumenthal

On May 15, 2019, Rev. Jesse Jackson broke the siege of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington to deliver food and supplies to antiwar activists defending it from the Trump admin and its violent proxies among the fake Juan Guaido mafia it had recognized as Venezuela's government.

Jesse took this physical risk and stood for international law while afflicted with Parkinson's, which had forced him to dial back his famously frenetic schedule.

Best known as a civil rights activist and understudy of MLK Jr., Jesse Jackson was also a diplomat who leveraged his status and personal gravitas to secure the release of Navy Lt. Robert Goodman, whose plane was shot down while attacking Lebanon, through in-person negotiations with Syrian Pres. Hafez Al-Assad.

Jesse was the first major Democratic presidential candidate to recognize the PLO and force the issue of Palestinian statehood. He campaigned against the criminal US embargo of Cuba, led grassroots opposition to apartheid South Africa, and spoke at the funeral of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

His geopolitical chops were on display during the 1984 and '88 primary debates, demonstrating a command of international issues that would have put any of today's leading Democrats to shame. Jackson's two presidential campaigns paved the way for those of Bernie Sanders, who proved more malleable and milquetoast on foreign policy.

Barack Obama considered Jesse a threat to his bid to win over the Zionist lobby and suburban white swing voters. And Jesse privately (and once on a hot mic) recognized Obama as a hollow fraud who would spend more time lecturing Black America than delivering material results for it.

With the backing of Wall Street and the war state, Obama supplanted Jackson, ensuring that there would no longer be a place for his brand of politics within the Democratic Party. Indeed, there is no contemporary successor to Jesse Jackson within the party, only the corporate misleaders and progressive pretenders now memorializing a whitewashed version of his legacy.

https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/2023825088307454291

[Ravenlocke]

World News Tonight

Legendary singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka has died at age 86. Sedaka penned a number of hits in the ’60s and ’70s, including “Breaking Up is Hard to Do,” “Oh! Carol" and “Love Will Keep Us Together.”
@DavidMuir
reports. https://abcnews.link/wYqmyoT

https://x.com/ABCWorldNews/status/2027564414371868785

Variety


Neil Sedaka, the legendary singer-songwriter behind hits like “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” “Bad Blood,” “Laughter in the Rain” and “Calendar Girl,” has died at 86 years old.

“Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka,” a statement from the family reads. “A true rock and roll legend, an inspiration to millions, but most importantly, at least to those of us who were lucky enough to know him, an incredible human being who will be deeply missed.”

https://variety.com/2026/music/news/...do-1236675098/


https://x.com/Variety/status/2027503296961818803

[Bluegreen]

Neil

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=W-m7kiKMmvk

[rgray222]

Iran's Ali Khamenei

Iranian state media, including the semi-official Mehr News Agency, initially denied the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei following U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28, 2026, stating he was "steadfast and firm in commanding the field." However, early on March 1, 2026, multiple Iranian state and semi-official outlets, including Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) and Press TV, confirmed his death.

Two different articles
IRNA (Islamic Repbulic New Agency) via BELTA
The Jerusalem Post

IRNA: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead



MINSK, 1 March (BelTA) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed. The Iranian authorities declared 40 days of public mourning, the IRNA news agency informs.

According to media reports, seven days of public holidays were announced in addition to the 40 days of mourning to commemorate Khamenei’s death.

The IRNA news agency reported that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the head of the judiciary, and one of the members of the Guardian Council will temporarily lead the republic. What powers they will be vested with and how long the transitional period will last has not been specified.
Source - IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) via BELTA

****************************************************************

Israel kills Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran strike



Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in Israeli and US strikes, Iranian state media said on Sunday.

Khamenei's daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law, and son-in-law were also killed in US-Israeli strikes, Iranian state media also reported on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump confirmed in a social media post that he also believed Khamenei was killed on Saturday.

Documentation of Khamenei's body was reportedly shown to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.



In a televised address on Saturday evening, Netanyahu said there were "growing indications" that Khamenei was killed, but did not provide additional details.

In a post on X/Twitter, exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi celebrated Khamenei's death.

"Ali Khamenei, the bloodthirsty Zahhak of our time, the killer of tens of thousands of Iran’s bravest sons, has been erased from the page of history. With his death, the Islamic Republic has in effect reached its end and will very soon be cast into the dustbin of history," the statement read.

"Honorable and courageous people of Iran, while this may mark the beginning of our great national celebration, it is not the end of the road. Remain vigilant and prepared. The time for a widespread and decisive presence in the streets is very near.

"Together, united and steadfast, we will secure final victory and celebrate Iran’s freedom throughout our Ahuric homeland."

Khamenei had ruled the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1989, previously serving as president under Ruhollah Khomeini’s regime from 1981 until his ascension to the supreme leader. He was 86 years old.

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian officials promised to release a recording from Khamenei soon after Israeli strikes targeted his Tehran compound. The preliminary assessment among Israeli officials was that Khamenei was hurt in the strike.

The target of several assassination attempts

Khamenei has been the target of several assassination attempts since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Most notably, on June 27, 1981, a bomb exploded during a speech at a mosque in Tehran, severely injuring him and permanently paralysing his right arm.

He was born in Mashhad, northeast Iran, in April 1939, settling in Qom in 1958, where he began attending lessons by Ruhollah Khomeini, later the leader of the Islamic Revolution and first supreme leader.
Source - The Jerusalem Post

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by rgray222 (here)
Ali Khamenei, the bloodthirsty Zahhak of our time, the killer of tens of thousands of Iran’s bravest sons, has been erased from the page of history.

Dear Richard, I know you were accurately quoting The Jerusalem Post, but somehow the above doesn't seem all that worthy to be part of an obituary of a holy man who was unafraid of death and did not even try to hide or shelter from the US attack that he knew was coming.

He knew with certainty that he would die, and he was brave enough (as a human being) to simply wait quietly for that to happen. I'm not sure there are many others in the world who could or would have done that, whatever their color or creed. And certainly not a single person in power in the US, the EU, or Israel.

My guess is that he was probably praying when the missile struck. That would have been the way he chose to end his life.

If course, I was unable to balance the Israeli hatred by citing anything at all that was posted in western media. But I found this simple montage published by The Times of India, which seems more like a fair, decent and a accurate description of his life and what he stood for.



~~~

We might always remember that he too, like every single person reading this, is an immortal soul who is on a chosen journey, wherever that may lead.

[rgray222]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by rgray222 (here)
Ali Khamenei, the bloodthirsty Zahhak of our time, the killer of tens of thousands of Iran’s bravest sons, has been erased from the page of history.

Dear Richard, I know you were accurately quoting The Jerusalem Post, but somehow the above doesn't seem all that worthy to be part of an obituary of a holy man who was unafraid of death and did not even try to hide or shelter from the US attack that he knew was coming.

He knew with certainty that he would die, and he was brave enough (as a human being) to simply wait quietly for that to happen. I'm not sure there are many others in the world who could or would have done that, whatever their color or creed. And certainly not a single person in power in the US, the EU, or Israel.

My guess is that he was probably praying when the missile struck. That would have been the way he chose to end his life.

If course, I was unable to balance the Israeli hatred by citing anything at all that was posted in western media. But I found this simple montage published by The Times of India, which seems more like a fair, decent and a accurate description of his life and what he stood for.



~~~

We might always remember that he too, like every single person reading this, is an immortal soul who is on a chosen journey, wherever that may lead.

Thanks, I hunted for stories/articles that treated his death differently from any Israeli publication. My aim was to give both sides. I could not really find anything worthwhile to post, so the story out of Belarus from BEALTA, that quoted IRNA was all I was left with.
Thank you
R

[Sue (Ayt)]

Thirty-one

Good weapons are instruments of fear; all creatures hate them.
Therefore followers of Tao never use them.
The wise man prefers the left.
The man of war prefers the right.

Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man's tools.
He uses them only when he has no choice.
Peace and quiet are dear to his heart,
And victory no cause for rejoicing.
If you rejoice in victory, then you delight in killing;
If you delight in killing, you cannot fulfill yourself.

On happy occasions precedence is given to the left,
On sad occasions to the right.
In the army the general stands on the left,
The commander-in-chief on the right.
This means that war is conducted like a funeral.
When many people are being killed,
They should be mourned in heartfelt sorrow.
That is why a victory must be observed like a funeral.


Tao Te Ching verse 31

[Ravenlocke]

@DD_Geopolitics

🇮🇷🇧🇫 A young Ayatollah Khamenei sitting with Thomas Sankara.

Two men from opposite ends of the world. One a Shia cleric from Iran. The other a Marxist soldier from Burkina Faso. Both shared one conviction: their people would never be free under Western domination.

Sankara was assassinated in 1987, overthrown in a French-backed coup at the age of 37. He wanted to free Africa from debt, dependency, and foreign control.

Khamenei was killed yesterday by American and Israeli bombs. He spent 35 years trying to keep Iran free from the same forces.

Both men were called dictators by the West. Both were loved by millions who saw them as defenders of sovereignty.

History separated them by decades. Empire united their fate.

https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/2028244344566890698

(And about Thomas Sankara,

AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY

Feb 15
Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso was one of the few African Presidents to support women empowerment.

“Comrades, there is no true social revolution without the liberation of women.May my eyes never see & my feet never take me to a society where half the people are held in silence.”

https://x.com/AfricanArchives/status...90390031241360

)

[Ravenlocke]

HOT SPOT

Jan 14
🇮🇷 FLASHBACK: Young Ayatollah Khamenei schools reporter in a 1982 interview with 60 Minutes Australia’s George Negus

“When the West only asks about ‘the executions and the torture’, they never ask about the other side of the picture, which is what these people were actually doing to our people,” pointing to the burning of buses and killing of innocents by the government’s enemies

Sound familiar?

https://x.com/HotSpotHotSpot/status/2011470468520243384

Christopher Helali

“My life has little value. I have a disabled body. I have a little bit of dignity which you yourself have given to me. I put all this on the line. I am ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of this revolution and Islam.”
https://x.com/ChrisHelali/status/2028057821728669777

[Ravenlocke]

Neha Naqvi

Feb 24
What does resistance mean?

https://x.com/NehanaqviPK/status/2026553246819692937

https://x.com/NehanaqviPK/status/2023774940705509650

Al Mayadeen English

Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani, the 14-month-old granddaughter of Sayyed Ali #Khamenei,
who was martyred in the #US-Israeli aggression against the Leader’s residence.

https://x.com/MayadeenEnglish/status...27725412929911

[Kryztian]

“Country” Joe McDonald, Woodstock legend known for his ‘60s anti-war hit dies at 84

Country singer Joe McDonald plays during the Heros of Woodstock concert at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
in Bethel, N.Y., Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009, marking the 40th anniversary of the original 1969 Woodstock concert.
(AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)AP

His song, "Feel Like i'm Fixing to Die Rag" is as timely today as on the day he first sang it, except you would need to replace the word "Vietnam" with "Iran".

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=eRl6-bHlz-4

Here are the lyrics, except for the first part, which would not stand a chance against the Avalon Profanity filter

Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.

Chorus: And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Well, come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds —
The only good commie is the one who's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come. %Chorus%

Well, come on Wall Street, don't move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.%Chorus%

Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send 'em off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.%Chorus%

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

https://www.masslive.com/entertainme...ies-at-84.html
NEW YORK (AP) — “Country” Joe McDonald, a hippie rock star of the 1960s whose “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” was a four-lettered rebuke to the Vietnam War that became an anthem for protesters and a highlight of the Woodstock music festival, died Sunday. He was 84.

McDonald, who performed with his band, Country Joe and the Fish, died in Berkeley, California. His death from complications of Parkinson’s disease was reported by Kathy McDonald, his wife of 43 years, in a statement issued by his publicist.

McDonald’s band, Country Joe and the Fish, also shared the news of the musician’s death on social media, writing in a Facebook post, “He was surrounded by his family, and the news has been confirmed by Best Classic Bands, as well as the McDonald Family.”

It continued, “At this time, the McDonald Family requests privacy during this very difficult period. Please feel free to leave your condolences & memories here on this post. Thank you.”

McDonald was a longtime presence in the Bay Area music scene, where peers included the Grateful Dead, the Jefferson Airplane and his onetime girlfriend, Janis Joplin. He wrote or co-wrote hundreds of songs, from psychedelic jams to soul-influenced rockers, and released dozens of albums. But he was known best for a talking blues he completed in less than an hour in 1965 — the year President Lyndon Johnson began sending ground forces to Vietnam — and recorded in the Berkeley home of Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz.

In the deadpan style of McDonald’s hero, Woody Guthrie, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” was a mock celebration of war and early, senseless death, with a chorus concertgoers and others would learn by heart:

And its 1, 2, 3 what are we fighting for? Don’t ask me I don’t give a damn, Next stop is Vietnam, And its 5, 6, 7 open up the pearly gates, Well there ain’t no time to wonder why, WHOOPEE we’re all gonna die

At the time he wrote “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag,” McDonald was co-leader of the newly formed Country Joe and the Fish and he added a special “F-I-S-H” chant before the song: “Give me an F, give me an I, give me an S, give me an H.” By the time his group appeared at Woodstock in 1969, the Fish were on the verge of breaking up, the chant was a different four-letter word beginning in “F” and McDonald was performing before hundreds of thousands. Many would stand and sing along, a moment captured in the Woodstock documentary released the following year. (For the film, the song’s lyrics appeared as subtitles, a bouncing ball on top).

“Some people alluded to peace and stuff (at Woodstock), but I was talking about Vietnam,” McDonald told The Associated Press in 2019. He called the opening chant “an expression of our anger and frustration over the Vietnam War, which was killing us, literally killing us.”

Article continues at: https://www.masslive.com/entertainme...ies-at-84.html

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Kryztian (here)
“Country” Joe McDonald, Woodstock legend known for his ‘60s anti-war hit dies at 84

Country singer Joe McDonald plays during the Heros of Woodstock concert at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
in Bethel, N.Y., Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009, marking the 40th anniversary of the original 1969 Woodstock concert.
(AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)AP

His song, "Feel Like i'm Fixing to Die Rag" is as timely today as on the day he first sang it, except you would need to replace the word "Vietnam" with "Iran".

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=eRl6-bHlz-4

Here are the lyrics, except for the first part, which would not stand a chance against the Avalon Profanity filter

Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.

Chorus: And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Well, come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds —
The only good commie is the one who's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come. %Chorus%

Well, come on Wall Street, don't move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.%Chorus%

Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send 'em off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.%Chorus%

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

An all-time classic, one of the best (and most catchy) war protest songs in music history. His Woodstock performance made him famous for the rest of his life.

If you've never heard this, you gotta play it right now.

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by Kryztian (here)
Woodstock in 1969

I was in high school attending a summer school when "Woodstock" happened, just a 100 miles down the road.

Everyone in my class went to Woodstock that weekend ... except me. I stayed home to study for a test coming up that Monday ... good chance I was the only one in the class to ace that test <grin>. Also a good chance everyone in that class can remember that weekend better than I can ... I don't even recall now what subject the test might have been in.

[Kryztian]

Posted by ThePythonicCow (here)

Posted by Kryztian (here)
Woodstock in 1969

I was in high school attending a summer school when "Woodstock" happened, just a 100 miles down the road.

Everyone in my class went to Woodstock that weekend ... except me. I stayed home to study for a test coming up that Monday ... good chance I was the only one in the class to ace that test <grin>. Also a good chance everyone in that class can remember that weekend better than I can ... I don't even recall now what subject the test might have been in.

I was eight years old when Woodstock happened and was about 120 miles away. On Sunday, my father came home with the New York Daily News (a lot more conservative than the NY Times) which had a front page story about Woodstock. My father told me that something absolutely horrible had happened, a massive gathering of filthy long haired hippies, disgusting hygienic conditions, barbaric music, drugs and lawless and depraved behavior. I took me many years to see the other side of the coin.

I also remember a few years later, hearing Joe McDonald's song, "Feel Like i'm Fixing to Die Rag". I was with my friend Edward in the back of his house and he has a record play outside and the "Woodstock" album. Edward was kind of rebellious sort that just loved to shock people, but I was a kind of "goodie-two-shoes" that didn't was to upset my father. Both our father's came outside to talk to us and Edward put on the McDonald song, which begins "Give me an F!", "F!", "Give me an U!" "U!", "Give me a C!", "C!", "Give me a K!", "K!", "What does it spell?" ..... I was mortified and embarrassed! Year later, I still don't use this word much, but I must say it has no more appropriate use than to describe war and the disgusting killing of people.

Good thing I wasn't 10 years older when Woodstock happened. I would have probably gone there and then found myself disowned when I returned home.

[Sue (Ayt)]

I was only 16, but lived close enough that I could have gone. Some of my friends did, but my parents would not have heard of it back then. Very few girls my age were allowed to go - heck, we still had early dating curfews back then and had to roll up our skirts when out of their sight to make them "mini"! I regret missing it to this day, and told my mom that in her older years. I think she even felt bad about their strictness, as my parents really lightened up on my younger sisters. She just laughed and admitted that "yes, we were pretty strict back then."

[Johnnycomelately]

RIP Doc Jürgen Habermas (1929-2024), a man whose thinking and ideas shaped post WWII Germany.

"The task of universal pragmatics is to identify and reconstruct universal conditions of possible mutual understanding."

How many times have we-all said stuff like this to ourselves, just to try to get past our personal wars?


Peace, all.


Edit: L = 1:25:54. Mr. Habermas takes the stage at 9:00.


Jürgen Habermas Lecture: Myth and Ritual

Berkley Center
23.3K subscribers

Aug 14, 2012

October 19, 2011 | In this Berkley Center lecture, the philosopher Jürgen Habermas explored the evolution of myth and ritual, and their enduring significance for human societies, from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.

Previous Berkley Center lecturers have included Tariq Ramadan, Charles Taylor, and Hans Joas. You can find descriptions and video from those events here: http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/p...

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=qA4iw3V0o1c

[Bill Ryan]

Paul Ehrlich passed away on 13 March, aged 93.



He may be best known as the author of the widely discussed 1968 book, The Population Bomb, which is in the Avalon Library here.

His Wiki page states:

Paul Ralph Ehrlich (May 29, 1932 – March 13, 2026) was an American biologist, author, and environmentalist known for his predictions and warnings about the consequences of population growth, including famine and resource depletion. Ehrlich was the Bing Professor of Population Studies of the Department of Biology of Stanford University.