Recent Deaths

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caltrek
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Re: Recent Deaths

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Queen Elizabeth II and the Long 20th Century
by Bryan Walsh
September 10, 2022

Introduction:
(Vox) On Thursday afternoon, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, Queen Elizabeth II died at 96. She occupied the British throne for 70 years, making her the UK’s longest-reigning monarch.

“Occupied” is perhaps the key word here. While the queen’s official powers were greater than many might think in a constitutional monarchy — according to the letter of the English law, the monarch can choose to appoint or dismiss the prime minister, for instance — in practice they were never exercised to their fullest extent, nor would they have ever been.

The queen’s position, if not the continued existence of the British monarchy, was dependent on remaining outside the actual political sphere. The British government of the day ruled in her name from Westminster, but it is considered unconstitutional for the monarch to even vote.

As a result, Elizabeth spent seven decades in one of the world’s most high-profile positions… without taking direct political action. She met everyone worth meeting, traveled over a million miles and visited over 115 countries, welcomed 15 British prime ministers to office — all without doing anything other than being her often silent royal self. That made her, in a sense, history’s greatest spectator.

And the history she witnessed was more than just the cumulative weight of 70 years. During those decades the world changed as it never has before — sometimes for the worse, often for the better — and Queen Elizabeth II observed it all from a singular perch.
Read more here: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/202 ... d-kingdom
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caltrek
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Re: Recent Deaths

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I was a little late in realizing this.

Barbara Ehrenreich, Author Who Resisted Injustice, Dies at Aged 81
by Ed Pilkington
September 3, 2022

Introduction:
(The Guardian) Barbara Ehrenreich, the author of more than 20 books on social justice themes ranging from women’s rights to inequality and the inequities of the American healthcare system, has died at the age of 81.

The news that Ehrenreich had died on 1 September was released by her son, Ben Ehrenreich, on Friday. He accompanied the announcement with a comment redolent of his mother’s spirit: “She was never much for thoughts and prayers, but you can honor her memory by loving one another, and by fighting like hell.”

Ehrenreich battled over a half a century as a writer committed to resisting injustice and giving a voice to those who were typically unheard.
Her first book, published in 1969, Long March, Short Spring, was an account of the student uprising against the Vietnam war.

In Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, her 2001 bestseller, she wrote an immersive experience of living as a low-waged worker in Key West, Florida.
Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022 ... and-dimed

caltrek’s comment: She also wrote a book entitled Natural Causes that I enjoyed. I have two books with that title in my collection, the second having been written by James O’Connor. Both are excellent reads.
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caltrek
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Re: Recent Deaths

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Barbara Ehrenreich Helped Make Inequality Visible – Her Legacy Lives on in a Reinvigorated Labor Movement
by Adia Harvey Wingfield
September 12, 2022

Introduction:
(The Conversation ) Have you heard of Jaz Brisack, Liz Fong-Jones and Chris Smalls?

Those names might not be familiar to all Americans, but their recent accomplishments amount to a potential sea change in labor rights.

As union organizers or advocates for better work conditions at some of the biggest and most powerful companies in the world – Starbucks, Google and Amazon, respectively – these three young people have highlighted just how far out of whack the balance between workers and organizations has grown.

I believe that their work, part of a surge in labor organizing and other kinds of community-building efforts, has its roots in the scholarship and journalism of Barbara Ehrenreich, who died on Sept. 1, 2022.

Opening a window on inequality

Ehrenreich is best known for her 2001 book “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.”
Read more here: https://theconversation.com/barbara-eh ... nt-190218
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Re: Recent Deaths

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Louise Fletcher has died aged 88.

She played Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and Kai Winn Adami in Deep Space Nine (1993–99).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Fletcher


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Re: Recent Deaths

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Re: Recent Deaths

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Sacheen Littlefeather, Who Delivered Marlon Brando’s Oscar Rejection Speech, Dies at 75

October 2, 2022 7:17pm

Sacheen Littlefeather (Apache/Yaqui/Ariz.), the Native American actress and activist who took to the stage at the 1973 Academy Awards to reveal that Marlon Brando would not accept his Oscar for The Godfather, has died. She was 75.

Littlefeather died at noon Sunday at her home in the Northern California city of Novato surrounded by her loved ones, according to a statement sent out by her caretaker. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which reconciled with Littlefeather in June and hosted a celebration in her honor just two weeks ago, revealed the news on social media Sunday night.

Littlefeather disclosed in March 2018 that she had been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, and it had metastasized in recent years.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 235231657/


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Re: Recent Deaths

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Loretta Lynn, coal miner's daughter and country queen, dies
Source: AP

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Loretta Lynn, the Kentucky coal miner's daughter whose frank songs about life and love as a woman in Appalachia pulled her out of poverty and made her a pillar of country music, has died. She was 90. In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Lynn's family said she died Tuesday at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

"Our precious mom, Loretta Lynn, passed away peacefully this morning, October 4th, in her sleep at home in her beloved ranch in Hurricane Mills," the family said in a statement. They asked for privacy as they grieve and said a memorial will be announced later. Lynn already had four children before launching her career in the early 1960s, and her songs reflected her pride in her rural Kentucky background.

As a songwriter, she crafted a persona of a defiantly tough woman, a contrast to the stereotypical image of most female country singers. The Country Music Hall of Famer wrote fearlessly about sex and love, cheating husbands, divorce and birth control and sometimes got in trouble with radio programmers for material from which even rock performers once shied away.

Her biggest hits came in the 1960s and '70s, including "Coal Miner's Daughter," "You Ain't Woman Enough," "The Pill," "Don't Come Home a Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)," "Rated X" and "You're Looking at Country." She was known for appearing in floor-length, wide gowns with elaborate embroidery or rhinestones, many created by her longtime personal assistant and designer Tim Cobb.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/loretta-lynn ... bb25ae61e8
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Re: Recent Deaths

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R.I.P. Robbie Coltrane (1950-2022).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63261204


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Re: Recent Deaths

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wjfox wrote: Fri Oct 14, 2022 8:07 pm R.I.P. Robbie Coltrane (1950-2022).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63261204


RIP Robbie Coltrane aka Hagrid.
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weatheriscool
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Re: Recent Deaths

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Ash Carter, former defense secretary under Obama, dies at 68

Source: CNN Politics
Washington CNN -- Ashton Carter, who served as President Barack Obama's final defense secretary, has died, his family said. He was 68. Carter, who led the Defense Department from February 2015 to January 2017, suffered a "sudden cardiac event" on Monday night in Boston, his family said in a statement. He is survived by his wife, Stephanie, and his children, Ava and Will. In leading the Pentagon, Carter oversaw the final years of US involvement in Afghanistan under Obama's presidency and US efforts to combat the rise of ISIS in the Middle East, which included the deployment of US troops.

His tenure also saw efforts to expand the available roles of women in combat as well as lifting a ban on transgender people being able to serve openly. Taking over from Chuck Hagel, who was forced out as defense secretary in November 2014, Carter was immediately tasked with addressing the rise of ISIS, which by then had taken significant territory in Iraq. Although Obama had made withdrawing US military forces from Iraq a key priority of his foreign policy, he ultimately recommitted US troops to the country to deal with the terrorist group.

"It's necessary but not sufficient to destroy ISIL in Iraq and Syria because this is where it began and is what I have called the parent tumor of the cancer," Carter, using another term for the group, told reporters during a visit to Baghdad in 2016. "Like cancer, ISIL has spread to ... other places and it also threatens our homelands," he said then. Under Carter's leadership, all US military combat positions were opened up to women, and in 2016, the Pentagon lifted a ban on out transgender people being able to serve.

Having studied the issue for almost a year, he said at the time that the decision was "a matter of principle." "We don't want barriers unrelated to a person's qualification to serve preventing us from recruiting or retaining the soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who can best accomplish the mission. We have to have access to 100% of America's population," he said. "Although relatively few in number, we're talking about talented and trained Americans who are serving their country with honor and distinction," he said. "We want to take the opportunity to retain people whose talent we've invested in and who've proven themselves."
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/25/politics ... index.html
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