Obituaries 01 (Sep 08 - Jul 11)

[winston]

The Ted Kennedy obituary you didn't read... but should By David Galland in Casey's Daily Dispatch

It is said that one should not speak poorly of the dead. But it is also said that one should not discuss politics or religion in polite company, and we regularly violate that dictum. Thus, committing another faux pas gives us no real pause.

I am, of course, warming up to say a few unkind words about the just deceased Sen. Kennedy.

In reviewing his life, his fans will hold him up as a flawed but still shining beacon for the common man. Quoting one mostly favorable article today…

“Kennedy entered Harvard College in 1950, but was suspended the following year for allowing another student to take a Spanish test for him.”

And people claim there is such a thing as media bias! Pshaw!

I’m sure that the student Kennedy so kindly “allowed” to take his Spanish test – no doubt because the poor fellow needed to hone his test-taking skills – virtually begged Ted to let him stand in.

But his cheating ways, which extended to drunkenly chasing the girlfriends of younger clan members around family compounds, are not the source of my gripe about the all-too-human Kennedy.

My issue emanates from a stop some years ago by the side of the road in Martha’s Vineyard. On the island for a vacation, I took the short detour to see the site of Kennedy’s infamous accident at the bridge to Chappaquiddick. Getting out of the car, I vividly remember my first impression.

“This is it? That’s where Kennedy’s car went in?”

The thing is that the canal is narrow and shallow. I’ll give Kennedy the benefit of the doubt that he was disoriented – massive quantities of alcohol will do that to a guy – but I won’t give him anything toward his contention that he couldn’t have taken more active measures to save Mary Jo Kopechne’s life.

Any reasonably strong swimmer – which I assume he was, having grown up on the water – could have made the shallow dive necessary to get her out. But even if he was too drunk or scared to pull that off, he could have quickly found the help needed to get her out before the air bubble in the car was exhausted and she drowned.

Instead, walking by a fire station and a private house, stopping at neither to request help, he trod a circuitous path to his hotel, where, after changing into dry clothes and lamely trying to establish an alibi by visiting the front desk to complain of a loud party, he turned in.

It was only nine hours after driving off the bridge, and after a local fisherman had discovered the car, that Kennedy finally reported the accident.

This is, of course, all part of the historical record – an interesting part of which you can read by following the link below to the FBI files on the accident, made available thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request.
http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/chappaquiddick.htm

But I will never forget my visceral reaction to the sight of that small and shallow channel, the certain knowledge that Ted Kennedy was a sociopath, a coward, and a cretin, who made every possible move to rescue his political career and almost none to save the life of a young woman.

That he wasn’t properly prosecuted but received a slap on the wrist with a two-month suspended sentence speaks volumes about the nature of political power and our justice system.

And that he subsequently went on to become a political icon, idolized as a champion of the downtrodden, says everything there is to say about human gullibility.

[kennynah]

i dont know how factual the above article about ted kennedy is... but it should be very obvious that any public media, such as the newspapers and radio stations, should operate independently of the ruling government of the day... this is to prevent suppression of truth and becoming propaganda mouthpieces...

[iam802]

成奎安 (aka 大傻) just passed away yesterday.


==
On 27 August 2009, he died of nasopharyngeal carcinoma at Hong Kong Baptist Hospital in Kowloon, Hong Kong
==

[kennynah]

oh damn....... i'll miss him

[winston]

Chappaquiddick 'haunts me,' Kennedy said

AFP - Friday, September 4NEW YORK (AFP) - - Edward Kennedy went to his death haunted by his role in the tragic drowning of a young woman after he crashed their car 40 years ago, the late senator writes in an autobiography due to be published.

The 1969 car crash at a bridge on Chappaquiddick island, an upscale summer resort off Cape Cod, indelibly stained Kennedy's reputation and destroyed his chances of entering the White House.

In the memoir, seen in advance by several US newspapers, Kennedy sticks to his assertion that Mary Jo Kopechne's death was an accident.

But the late senator, who died last week, aged 77, admits he was "responsible."

He also says it was "inexcusable" that he waited 10 hours before notifying police -- a delay skeptics believe the ambitious, young politician used to try and cover his tracks.

The memoir "True Compass" -- due to be published later this month by Twelve and reported on Thursday by The New York Times and the Daily News -- offers an intimate portrait of the man lauded at his funeral as the "lion" of the Democratic Party.

The book, according to the Times, describes his despair and heavy drinking after the assassination of both John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, and his guilt in pushing his first wife, Joan Kennedy, "deeper into despair.

"I tried to stay ahead of the darkness," he said.

Kennedy ultimately won fame for his legislative skills and sympathy for the extraordinary litany of tragedies in his family, the so-called curse of the Kennedys.

But the memoir's passages about that "darkness" are likely to be the most carefully examined.

Revisiting the Chappaquiddick incident, Kennedy admits he made "terrible decisions" when he left the scene of the accident, the Times said.

Kennedy, who did not report the accident to police until Kopechne's body was recovered the following day, said the events may have also shortened the life of his ailing father, Joseph Kennedy.

However, Kennedy denies accusations that he and Kopechne were having an affair and he writes that drink was not to blame, although he'd had cocktails, the Daily News reported.

Critics have long speculated that Kennedy was drunk-driving and left the dead -- or dying -- Kopechne behind to save his fledgling career.

Instead, Kennedy writes, according to the News, he crashed after becoming lost, and afterwards was simply too addled by shock, exhaustion and panic to react properly.

Kennedy also examines other scandals that threatened to derail his position as Democratic elder statesmen, including drinking bouts and alleged extramarital affairs.

But he firmly defends his character and says that his pecadillos had been blown out of proportion, according to the Times.

"I have enjoyed the company of women. I have enjoyed a stiff drink or two or three, and I've relished the smooth taste of a good wine. At times, I've enjoyed these pleasures too much. I've heard the tales about my exploits as a hell-raiser -- some accurate, some with a wisp of truth to them and some so outrageous that I can't imagine how anyone could really believe them."

The 532-page book also delves into his decision to not run for the presidency in 1984 after his children said they feared for his life, the Times said.

As for the 1963 assassination of then president John F. Kennedy, the memoir resolutely fails to feed conspiracy theories.

The killing, Kennedy writes, was the responsibility of lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald, as ruled by the official Warren Commission.

Twelve said that "True Compass" will be published September 14. The publishers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the excerpts in the media.

[winston]

It just feels like yesterday that I watched Dirty Dancing ..




=============================================

U.S. actor Patrick Swayze has died after a battle with cancer, according to his publicist.

[winston]

And how can I forget "Ghost" ...

[winston]

Point Break was another of Swaze's movie ..




======================================

Not sure whether the 12 hour work-days on "The Beast" contributed to his illness ..


http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Mov ... index.html

[kennynah]

My mother-in-law

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

In Loving Memory of



Mdm Tan Siew Lan

Deceased in Singapore on September 12, 2009
Age 80 Years

Called to the Lord's home

[winston]

Hi K,

We are so sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. Please do accept our condolences.

Take care,
Winston