Leonard Cohen, average singer, beautiful poet - a real artist who will be missed.
Robert Vaughn - a great man from UNCLE.
Craig Gill of the Inspiral Carpets - they had a great sound.
They were Mad for it.
agreed. great band.
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I’ll put this here for the copious references to death of all types and scales.
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Fidel Castro has gone to the socialist republic in the sky
oh man, that’s not good news to wake to. He was one of my heroes and I got a little obsessed by Castro and Cuba. I even convinced the wife to honeymoon there before it was too touristy. I told her I wanted to go to Cuba before Castro died and I’m glad I did.
I can understand Che Guevara Fatso, but Fidel?
2016 is definately THE year to croak in. Anyone who is anyone needs to die and before 31st December to make sure they are in the elite for eternity.
Gosh we have something in common! Ask Pap, I was banging on about Cuba (still do but maybe a bit less) lots.
I’ve been 6 times. First time I visited was in 1997 and have seen the changes over the years. “Lived” in Havana for 3 months in 2007 and went to the uni. I saw Fidel in person speak at the 2006 May Day celebration. I think that was the last year he spoke there. Last trip was 2010 and still would like another visit. watching the rolling stones gig out there and seeing all the smart phones aloft shows how much more things have changed.
Adios commandante.
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Hehe.
Cuba was one of our huge piss-takes* with intiniki back in the day. She was annoying as fuck, in the manner of a born-again that had just discovered God and wants everyone to know about it. Cuba this, Cuba that. Our mate might have said “Fa fa fa fa Cuba” a few times. That problem got better over time. intiniki doesn’t go on about Cuba as much. She still goes, like.
As well as being a nice place, it’s also quite handy. Not that I could imagine her boyf giving her any jip, but if he did, she could turn around and say “shurrup, bitch. I’ve got 37 pending marriage proposals from hungry yet attractive Cuban boys. Watch your step miladdo”.
* the other was a cast-iron insistence that intiniki was the only person able to make tea.
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that is very cool and makes me a little jealous. I remember being on our honeymoon, on the wife’s birthday and she was very unwell but I insisted on dragging her to the museum of the revolution. She put up with my selfish obsession because for some reason she likes me.
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This is sad. I’ve got no communist sympathies myself but always admired Fidel. He was a big charachter who stuck to his guns for the country he loved.
Went to Cuba once and absolutely loved the place and the people. Anyone who’s been such a thorn in the side of America for so many years has got to be a big loss.
Watch Cuba go downhill now, as Ronald McDonald and the rest of corporate America moves in
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Originally posted by @Fatso
that is very cool and makes me a little jealous. I remember being on our honeymoon, on the wife’s birthday and she was very unwell but I insisted on dragging her to the museum of the revolution. She put up with my selfish obsession because for some reason she likes me.
Romance is doing things you don’t like for people you do.
That said, if girl drags me around another fucking vintage market without buying a single thing I’m off*.
*lol, I’m obvioulsy not.
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So, are you saying I should be more insistent with my wife about the dogging? It would be a nice romantic gesture on her part.
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They’ve not got that much, but what they do have is one of the best health systems in the world. Whatever else the US might say about Castro, he wasn’t prepared to refuse emergency health treatment to people on Cuba on the basis of insurance status. Their health system is not only admired, but also actively promoted on the diplomatic stage. They’ve done deals where they’ve lent their extensive expertise to other nations. They’re probably peerless on that front in the Spanish-speaking world.
With the benefit of hindsight, Castro’s Cuba was never the demon rising off the coast of America that it was billed as, and while events on the island brought us closer to global nuclear destruction than any other, American double standards drove that crisis as much as the relocation of nuclear munitions. Alright to have permanent installations in Europe. Not alright when parity was attempted. _Really _not alright.
With the US turning out to be as twitchy as interventionist in the period that followed, it’s probably a very good thing that the attempt at parity failed. “How dare you threaten us by levelling the playing field? We’re American!”. It would _never _have calmed down long term, even if some way had been contrived for the Soviets to keep their nukes on that island. The US just wouldn’t, no, just couldn’t, have had it.
I’ve got some sympathy with anyone being a bit NIMBY about nearby nukes, whether it’s the US fretting about silos in the old Spanish Main, the Soviets being skittish about the potential problems of nuclear submarines and US controlled, or Putin being a bit paranoid about the brave and frighteningly close new world. You don’t have to an apologist for any state violence or terror, Soviet included, to realise that existential threats on your doorstep aren’t going to welcome in any corner of the world.
Two last things. Castro didn’t turn out to be the monster the west claimed was rising from the Caribbean depths. He just had different priorities, largely driven by a succession of Western-friendly and corrupt Cuban puppet governments. History will judge him much better than the US administrations that consistenly told us how much of a menace he was. Took the right side on apartheid in South Africa, putting boots on the continent in a time when Thatcher batted for them and the English cricket team wasn’t even allowed to play.
Finally, should have got “best supporting actor” for Godfather II. Not sure it would have been quite as interesting if Michael Corleone had smoothy sailed over calm seas.
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The career of Alan Pardew must be quite unwell tonight.
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tom jamieson @ jamiesont 11 hours ago
CIA: Fidel Castro has survived 638 assassination attempts. What makes you think you can do any better?
2016: I got this
RIP Fidel you gave it to the Man. Good on ya.Had a chsnce to go in the Noughties, missed it, now gonna become like Vietnam. Condo land
Yep, a lot of good points in there. One other would be the quality of education in Cuba compared to so many other poor countries; like health, it was something that was seen as massively important and scarce resources were ploughed in. Cuba’s literacy rate put many far richer countries to shame.
No which subject (kind of): given all we’ve heard and are now hearing again about what a brutal dictator Castro was, it’s worth asking just how many brutal dictators go to such lengths to ensure that the people they govern have a good education.
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I nearly got to Cuba.
I was on a vessel in Balboa Northern Spain when the captain said would I sail with it to Rotterdam 3 days voyage I was due to get married in 10 days.
Yes not a problem and I go to my bunk. The next day I get out of bed and noticed we have sailed but are heading West.
I go to speak to the captain and ask why are we heading west Rotterdam is East?
Oh a change of orders we are diverting to Cuba.
Get me off then I agreed to go to Rotterdam not Cuba. How long is the voyage 23 days sailing.
We cannot get you off says the old man.
I look at the charts on the bridge and notice we are coming up to the Azores. Get me off here
A few stroppy phone calls and then a Helicopter comes out from the Azores and picks me up off the tanker.
Managed to get home for the satg do’s and the marriage.
Would have probably been better if I had stayed onboard and not married the first wife 
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I watched the ITV News reports tonight. What an odd little piece that was. Still not quite sure what to make of it. On the one hand, they got “brutal dictator that imprisoned his political opponents”, but they also mentioned that he’d survived hundreds of assassination attempts.
I’m sure it was just his political co-travellers trying to off him.