This weeks RIP's........

[Il Pirate]

I can only echo Bruce's sentiments. RIP Marty. This weekend I'll sail on the mighty ocean of alcohol.

[Worthy4England]

Farewell Leonard Cohen. Not everyone's cuppa but a hugely talented bloke.

[Montreal Wanderer]

Farewell Leonard Cohen. Not everyone's cuppa but a hugely talented bloke.

He certainly had a special place in the hearts of Montrealers. I knew him in the early 1970s when he was teaching a course at my University and I was a reference librarian. He seemed a quiet unassuming bloke back then but it was only a year or so after his first record (Suzanne). RIP.

[TANGODANCER]

Another reminder that time waits for no man. R.I.P.

[LeverEnd]

Robert Vaughan now from leukaemia. Had a long and prolific career. RIP.

[Montreal Wanderer]

Fidel Castro. However you feel about him, he was a figure of great importance in the geopolitics of my lifetime. Not, I believe, as bad as his detractors made him out to be. RIP.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Fidel Castro. However you feel about him, he was a figure of great importance in the geopolitics of my lifetime. Not, I believe, as bad as his detractors made him out to be. RIP.

Funny thing, a friend of mine just returned from Cuba. Suspicious?

[Bruce Rioja]

Does that mean that we can fly through Cuban airspace now?

[Bruce Rioja]

Just read this;

During Castro's reign of terror he created Labour camps called 'Military Units in Aid of Production'. The following would have got you sent to these camps.
Refusing to engage in “volunteer” work on behalf of the Revolution.
Being homosexual.
Being a Jehovah’s Witness.
Being a Seventh Day Adventist.
Being black.
Refusing collectivization.
Catholic and Protestant Clergy.
People were forced to undergo ideological “re-education.” Beatings, malnourishment and deaths were common in the camps.
Documented deaths from firing squads under Castro and Guevara stand at 3.615. In addition to the firing squads 1.253 extrajudicial killings were carried out.
On July 13, 1994 Castro sank a tug boat carrying women and children who were fleeing from persecution, Killing 41.
There are many more atrocities to count.

[Hoboh]

Just read this;

During Castro's reign of terror he created Labour camps called 'Military Units in Aid of Production'. The following would have got you sent to these camps.
Refusing to engage in “volunteer” work on behalf of the Revolution.
Being homosexual.
Being a Jehovah’s Witness.
Being a Seventh Day Adventist.
Being black.
Refusing collectivization.
Catholic and Protestant Clergy.
People were forced to undergo ideological “re-education.” Beatings, malnourishment and deaths were common in the camps.
Documented deaths from firing squads under Castro and Guevara stand at 3.615. In addition to the firing squads 1.253 extrajudicial killings were carried out.
On July 13, 1994 Castro sank a tug boat carrying women and children who were fleeing from persecution, Killing 41.
There are many more atrocities to count.

Castro was idolised in the main by lefties, who in reality are closet Commies.
Not only so called right wing fascists commit murder and atrocities, funny Stalin gets overlooked by the left.

[Worthy4England]

Just read this;

During Castro's reign of terror he created Labour camps called 'Military Units in Aid of Production'. The following would have got you sent to these camps.
Refusing to engage in “volunteer” work on behalf of the Revolution.
Being homosexual.
Being a Jehovah’s Witness.
Being a Seventh Day Adventist.
Being black.
Refusing collectivization.
Catholic and Protestant Clergy.
People were forced to undergo ideological “re-education.” Beatings, malnourishment and deaths were common in the camps.
Documented deaths from firing squads under Castro and Guevara stand at 3.615. In addition to the firing squads 1.253 extrajudicial killings were carried out.
On July 13, 1994 Castro sank a tug boat carrying women and children who were fleeing from persecution, Killing 41.
There are many more atrocities to count.

Castro was idolised in the main by lefties, who in reality are closet Commies.
Not only so called right wing fascists commit murder and atrocities, funny Stalin gets overlooked by the left.

No, he doesn't. You'd just like to think that. Murderous bastards of any political persuasion are murderous bastards.

I see your mate Putin described him as a reliable friend.

[Montreal Wanderer]

Just read this;

During Castro's reign of terror he created Labour camps called 'Military Units in Aid of Production'. The following would have got you sent to these camps.
Refusing to engage in “volunteer” work on behalf of the Revolution.
Being homosexual.
Being a Jehovah’s Witness.
Being a Seventh Day Adventist.
Being black.
Refusing collectivization.
Catholic and Protestant Clergy.
People were forced to undergo ideological “re-education.” Beatings, malnourishment and deaths were common in the camps.
Documented deaths from firing squads under Castro and Guevara stand at 3.615. In addition to the firing squads 1.253 extrajudicial killings were carried out.
On July 13, 1994 Castro sank a tug boat carrying women and children who were fleeing from persecution, Killing 41.
There are many more atrocities to count.

I must confess I find some difficulty accepting the fact that Castro's regime jailed people for "being black". I have been to Cuba (under both Fidel and Raoul) and can assure you a non-trivial proportion of the population is black. I have some doubts about some of the other claims too.

[Dr Hotdog]

"If we exposed the United States to the same lens we'd have a stack of crimes that would over shadow what Fidel Castro had done."

Come on lads, do your worst.

You all alright with the United Kingdom of Great Britain flying Union Jacks on government buildings at half-mast after the 2015 passing of the King of Saudi Arabia...?

[Hoboh]

"If we exposed the United States to the same lens we'd have a stack of crimes that would over shadow what Fidel Castro had done."

Come on lads, do your worst.

You all alright with the United Kingdom of Great Britain flying Union Jacks on government buildings at half-mast after the 2015 passing of the King of Saudi Arabia...?

Not on your Nellie!

[TANGODANCER]

The 71 folk, including many footballers killed in the air disaster that happened in Colombia....R.I.P....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11 ... es-latest/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Worthy4England]

Jim Delligati inventor of the Big Mac. 97 years old. He can't have scoffed too many of 'em.

[Bruce Rioja]

No Christmas royalties for Greg Lake this year, I see.

[Jakerbeef]

AA Gill is away, unfortunately for good this time.

One of our best writers, here's a good article by him, about Towton.

https://books.google.ie/books?id=lUp2ra ... on&f=false" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dujon]

Thanks, Jakerbeef, I probably learned more from that piece than I ever did in history lessons. I'll be looking around for more of his writings. I like Bill Bryson (sort of) but Gill reads even better if that's a good representation of his work.

[Hoboh]

Zsa Zsa Gabor