Sunday Reads

 Obituary:  Celebrated anti-apartheid activist Archibishop Desmond Tutu, 90, has died.

I don't have anything to add to this because this man was beyond criticism, so I will just post a snip:

Tutu had been in ill health for years. In 2013, he underwent tests for a persistent infection, and he was admitted to hospital several times in following years.

For six decades, Tutu -- known affectionately as "the Arch" -- was one of the primary voices in exhorting the South African government to end apartheid, the country's official policy of racial segregation. After apartheid ended in the early '90s and the long-imprisoned Nelson Mandela became president of the country, Tutu was named chair of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The Nelson Mandela foundation called Tutu's loss "immeasurable."

"He was larger than life, and for so many in South Africa and around the world his life has been a blessing," the foundation said in a statement. "His contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies."

This sums him up pretty well. 

__________

What a dumb shit dude.  Remember, he lives just a few short miles away from where I live.  This part of Oregon is VERY right wing though not as bad as eastern Oregon.

Now this idiot is getting  threats:

Speaking to The Oregonian on Saturday, the man — Jared Schmeck, from Central Point, OR — said that although he believes Biden “[could] be doing a better job,” he did not intend any “disrepect.”

“I understand there is a vulgar meaning to ‘Let’s go Brandon,’ but I’m not that simple minded, no matter how I feel about him,” Schmeck said. “He seems likes he’s a cordial guy. There’s no animosity or anything like that. It was merely just an innocent jest to also express my God-given right to express my frustrations in a joking manner…I love him just like I love any other brother or sister.”

“Let’s go Brandon” has become a popular substitute among conservatives for “Fuck Joe Biden.” Its origin traces back to a chant from a crowd at a NASCAR race won by a driver named Brandon Brown. Though the crowd was chanting “Fuck Joe Biden,” a reporter for NBC Sports said on air that the chant was “Let’s go Brandon.” Since then, “Let’s go Brandon” has become a popular refrain on the right.

__________

Another obituary:  Sarah Weddington, who with fellow attorney Linda Coffee argued on behalf of "Roe" (Norma McCorvey) in the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case, has died.   She was 76 years old and  had suffered from a variety of health issues in recent years.

Her death comes as the USSC is looking at whether to overturn the case she brought before the high court nearly fifty years ago.  

Snip:

Before the court in Washington, Weddington said: “It was impossible to read the justices’ faces. The attorney on the other side started by saying something inappropriate about arguing a case against a beautiful woman. He thought the judges would snicker. But their faces didn’t change a bit.

“I had to argue it twice in the supreme court: in 1971 and again in 1972. On 22 January 1973 I was at the Texas legislature when the phone rang. It was a reporter from the New York Times. ‘Does Miss Weddington have a comment today about Roe v Wade?’ my assistant was asked. ‘Why?’ she said. ‘Should she?’

“It was beginning to be very exciting. Then we got a telegram from the supreme court saying that I had won 7-2 and that they were going to air-mail a copy of the ruling. Nowadays, of course, you’d just go online.

_____