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Dec 7, 2010 20:17:49 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Dec 7, 2010 20:17:49 GMT -5
I was looking for an "RIP" thread, and noticed they are all fairly specific for an individual, person (Ted Kennedy, Odetta) or entity (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer). I'm thinking a more generic space for condolences, expressing our grief over losses, the like, would be appropriate.
The loss of Elizabeth Edwards - we all saw it coming, but somehow it is still very sad when it happens. A gallant lady to the very end, passing away with John Edwards, her "estranged husband" at her side - it looks like she knew she wouldn't be there for her kids as they grow up, so she wanted to do everything possible to see her life didn't end with bitterness, with her children being estranged from their father. He is now their only remaining parent. I hope he is man enough to be a responsible father to them.
It happened so quickly after the announcement she was stopping therapy. So very sad.
May she rest in peace, and my condolences to her family members, especially her young children Jack and Emma Claire. They are so young to lose their mom.
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Dec 7, 2010 20:22:28 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Dec 7, 2010 20:22:28 GMT -5
Another remembrance, and also a "rest in peace."
To the Pearl Harbor survivors. There were originally over 60,000 and now the number has dwindled to only 3,000, and only about 100 are able to travel to Honolulu for today's ceremony of the 69th anniversary of that day that shall live in infamy. There is even discussion of disbanding the Pearl Harbor Survivors' Association.
We lived in Honolulu from 1962 to 1965. I remember back then that December 7, 1941 seemed like ancient history, but it was really only 21 years earlier, almost like yesterday.
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Dec 7, 2010 20:54:16 GMT -5
Post by Jane on Dec 7, 2010 20:54:16 GMT -5
I wonder if her husband will raise those kids; isn't he still with his unsavory lover and their child?
It's sad when someone like that, who has so much to offer, dies young. And, at my age, 61 sounds young.
Speaking of Pearl Harbor Day; I saw a man in a wheelchair in a restaurant the other day with a WW II cap on; he was talking to someone about being on a "tin can" during the War. He reminded me of my dad. I wanted to go up and give him a hug, but I didn't. There are so few of those great guys left; it always makes me sad.
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Dec 8, 2010 7:51:19 GMT -5
Post by brutus on Dec 8, 2010 7:51:19 GMT -5
As for the Pearl Harbor survivors, they would be anywhere from their later 80's to early 90's in age, which is no small feat for human existence. WWII vets are passing on at the rate of 1000/day, I think?? Not sure of the number.
Yes, they were our greatest generation. In my view, WWII was the last "real" war we fought. The others that followed were mere forays into conflicts in which we had no business. We never really "won" any wars since WWII.
Of course, I am not knocking our military folks. They have always fought with valor and have shown the world that we are still the greatest nation on Earth. It's our politicians who pulled the punches and screwed things up.
Jane, that old gent would probably have really loved that hug from you, or at least, a kind word of appreciation for his service and the nightmares he's lived with since.
The Japanese admiral who oversaw the attack KNEW that his country was making a big mistake in bombing Pearl. It was his politicians who put him in position to awaken a sleeping giant.
We proved to the world that we could raise sunken and burned ships out of the water, much like the proverbial Phoenix, and put them back to sea and with the very ships they sank, the Japanese watched their own fleet get pounded into the water. Their ships never came back to life.
In spite of the Republicans or Democrats about whom we gripe about, we are still a great nation and we know how to take care of business. ~B~
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Dec 8, 2010 22:11:07 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Dec 8, 2010 22:11:07 GMT -5
The news channels are filled with John Lennon, remembering him on this, the 30th anniversary of his assassination.
I watched Celine Dion sing "Imagine" a capella tonight on Larry King. It was very moving.
Imagine Lyrics Artist(Band):John Lennon
//Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one//
This reminds me of the JFK assassination, the Challenger disaster, all the other events "Where were you when?"
I was home on bed rest with a high risk pregnancy when I heard the news. I remembering thinking it was really sad to lose John Lennon like that, but on the other hand, I was a lot more concerned with losing my baby, so it was hard to absorb the death of John Lennon.
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Dec 10, 2010 14:54:16 GMT -5
Post by Jane on Dec 10, 2010 14:54:16 GMT -5
Did you hear that those hideous "religious" people are planning to picket Elizabeth Edward's funeral? It's times like this that I'm sorry I don't believe in eternal life--I'd love to see these folks in the fires of hell, crackling and sizzling.
They recently picketed at East Lansing High School and were met by a hundreds-strong throng of festive sign-holders, singers, t-shirt wearers and musicians all counter protesting in the name of Love. The church I used to go to unveiled a huge banner saying, "Standing on the Side of Love."
Apparently these freaks make their money by inciting people to such a rage that they (the freaks) get punched....and then they sue for assault.
Jesus would be so proud! (That's scathing sarcasm, in case you take me seriously.)
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Dec 10, 2010 20:11:31 GMT -5
Post by joew on Dec 10, 2010 20:11:31 GMT -5
I'm not sure exactly what is wrong with them mentally, but something obviously is.
It's one thing to believe that homosexual activity is sinful, and even to believe the God punishes nations that permit it. But to travel around the country using this bizarre form of delivering their message is nuts.
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Dec 11, 2010 12:35:41 GMT -5
Post by gailkate on Dec 11, 2010 12:35:41 GMT -5
Such beliefs are inconceivable to me. Who the sinners are here is very clear.
It looks as if Raleigh is going to turn out in force, using pink ribbon tape to identify with her and to close out the impious "Christians." Maybe there will be a batallion of motorcyles as there was at the last time these sub-humans tried to demonstrate at a military funeral.
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Dec 13, 2010 20:10:15 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Dec 13, 2010 20:10:15 GMT -5
I walked into my hotel room and caught the breaking news - Richard Holbrooke has died. That is a tragic loss to the US efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
I had read that over the weekend he was admitted with a ruptured AAA (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm) but I had thought that because he got to the hospital and OR promptly, he would survive what is ordinarily a very grim diagnosis.
Very sad.
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Dec 13, 2010 21:18:34 GMT -5
Post by joew on Dec 13, 2010 21:18:34 GMT -5
Just saw it myself via Newsmax. Hopefully there is someone who can pick up the pieces and get the parties to a resolution.
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Feb 5, 2011 12:54:33 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Feb 5, 2011 12:54:33 GMT -5
I meant to write about this Thursday, but better late than never.
Does everyone, or even any one, remember The Day The Music Died?
February 3, 1959, in a plane crash near Clear lake, Iowa, we lost Buddy Holly, JP Richardson (The Big Bopper), and Richie Valens (everyone knows he was Hispanic so that the name was shortened/Anglicized from Valenzuela, right?).
Buddy was 22, Richie was only 17, and even the "old man" Big Bopper, was 29.
Don McLean's "American Pie." The film "American Graffitti."
Gee, seems so long ago, and then not really so long after all.
When I was a kid in Hawaii, I would occasionally attend some of those teen-age rock'n'roll shows that were so popular. Several acts would travel around and perform together. I saw Gene Pitney, The Shirelles, Dick & DeeDee, Paul & Paula, and quite a few more in such a fashion, and I loved them all. Those were often at one of the various military bases.
IIRC, only the Righteous Brothers and The Beach Boys got their very own shows - the first at a big open air park in Waikiki (maybe Mike recalls the venue), and the latter at the HIC (Honolulu International Center). That was back in the day when the Beach Boys wore those red and white striped shirts!
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Feb 5, 2011 13:18:04 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Feb 5, 2011 13:18:04 GMT -5
Yes, Doc, we were there.
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Feb 5, 2011 21:56:15 GMT -5
Post by rogesgallery on Feb 5, 2011 21:56:15 GMT -5
The crash was just outside of Clear Lake Iowa. Clear lake is (or was) the vacation destination for wealthy Minneapolites. It is the home of the Sun Ballroom where they played their last concert. Since then every up and coming band has endeavored to play there. I was surprised when I went there because it is no more than a large bar (BB Is that the Palace Ballroom in Seattle that is the Bar like venue where a lot of big names play? The Sun is much like that.) I have pics somewhere. I also have pics of the little brass plaque in the farmers field where they crashed.
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Feb 6, 2011 16:55:10 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Feb 6, 2011 16:55:10 GMT -5
The crash was just outside of Clear Lake Iowa. Clear lake is (or was) the vacation destination for wealthy Minneapolites. It is the home of the Sun Ballroom where they played their last concert. Since then every up and coming band has endeavored to play there. I was surprised when I went there because it is no more than a large bar (BB Is that the Palace Ballroom in Seattle that is the Bar like venue where a lot of big names play? The Sun is much like that.) I have pics somewhere. I also have pics of the little brass plaque in the farmers field where they crashed. I am not aware of one ballroom left in Seattle. Even Parker's is gone. There is still the Paramount Theater, the Fifth Avenue Theater, (smaller) the Moore Theater and . . . what? The Tacoma Dome. Oh, yeah. McCaw Hall at Seattle Center. None of those are bar venues. That means no food and drink, no dancing, rigid seats elbow-to-elbow . . .
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Feb 6, 2011 19:02:03 GMT -5
Post by TheDude on Feb 6, 2011 19:02:03 GMT -5
I gotta tell ya' . . . I've been by Clear Lake (and Mason City) Iowa MANY times and to tell you the truth, I never saw ANYTHING in that area that looked to me to be a draw for wealthy tourists from Minneapolis. Nothing. Windswept flatness (and a few windgenerators--that weren't even there back in the day in case wealthy Twin Citians get off on giant windmill looking things).
If I was a wealthy Minneapolisian, I would have been much happier stopping no further south than Albert Lea. For real.
I mean, the famous Bridges of Madison County (Beau, Jeff and Lloyd) aren't even close by not to mention the world famous North, Middle and South rivers. (You gotta hand it to those Iowans in terms of using a lot of imagination in river naming.)
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Feb 7, 2011 3:42:17 GMT -5
Post by rogesgallery on Feb 7, 2011 3:42:17 GMT -5
I am really sorry but it is the Surf Ballroom and that is not the first time Ive made that mistake— some kind of mental block against Surf... IN IOWA!
Dude you need to take a drive around the lake. There are big Old houses tucked into little groves all around the lake . Granted the lake isn't much( it can't be more than 30 feet deep at the most) but that is it's history.
For 5 years I worked shutdowns at the Lehigh Cement facility in Mason City— twice a year. I usually stayed at a little dive motel on the main drag in Clear Lake. I do Agree though that when you drive through there seems to be nothing but blue dirt and orange horizon. I used to love the way the sun would rise and seem to pause in the morning mist like the gods fluorescent golf ball teed off a Carolina beach.
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Feb 7, 2011 22:12:45 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Feb 7, 2011 22:12:45 GMT -5
I am really sorry but it is the Surf Ballroom and that is not the first time Ive made that mistake— some kind of mental block against Surf... IN IOWA! Dude you need to take a drive around the lake. There are big Old houses tucked into little groves all around the lake . Granted the lake isn't much( it can't be more than 30 feet deep at the most) but that is it's history. For 5 years I worked shutdowns at the Lehigh Cement facility in Mason City— twice a year. I usually stayed at a little dive motel on the main drag in Clear Lake. I do Agree though that when you drive through there seems to be nothing but blue dirt and orange horizon. I used to love the way the sun would rise and seem to pause in the morning mist like the gods fluorescent golf ball teed off a Carolina beach. I love the way you paint pictures, roges.
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Mar 23, 2011 10:06:55 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Mar 23, 2011 10:06:55 GMT -5
Elizabeth Taylor passed away early this morning, at age 79, reportedly from heart failure.
For decades there had been headlines about her serious illnesses and many a "brush with death," but somehow I never thought she would actually die. And from "heart failure"! What can they mean by that? She had 8 husbands for goodness sakes.
And she was all heart - and a very big one too - when she came out early to speak about AIDS, insisting that it was something we could talk about, not shun. And then lent her name (and her money) to efforts for fund-raising towards a cure.
I had just re-read a detailed script from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" a couple days ago. What a great film that was. And what a fine job of acting she and her husband (Richard Burton) did in it.
She'll be missed but her films (and I am sure everyone had their favorites) are still there for us to enjoy and remember.
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Mar 23, 2011 10:32:32 GMT -5
Post by gailkate on Mar 23, 2011 10:32:32 GMT -5
The NYT has a long obit, touching on most of her films (a surprising number I hadn't heard of). What a career. She really was a pretty good actress, despite being burdened with beauty that was almost unreal. The obit reported that in one movie a cameraman thought her eyelashes must be false and asked her to remove them. The obit also described her lavish excesses, which ought to be offensive but I loved this one: when she couldn't bring her dogs to England without a long quarantine she rented a yacht for them and moored it on the Thames. Eminently reasonable.
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Mar 23, 2011 13:37:01 GMT -5
Post by booklady on Mar 23, 2011 13:37:01 GMT -5
She was one-of-a-kind, and like Paul Newman, there won't be any replacing her.
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Mar 26, 2011 19:30:45 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Mar 26, 2011 19:30:45 GMT -5
Former VP candidate Geraldine Ferraro passed away today at age 75, from multiple myeloma. She was the first woman to run for veep on a major party slate, even though she and Walter Mondale lost in a landslide to Ronald Reagan.
She was famous for saying "Every time a woman runs, women win." I believe it. The US lags far behind most other western industrialized nations (and also many non-western, non-industrialized nations) in percentage of women in political positions, and as CEO's of major corporations, and in board positions. Even Afghanistan has a higher percentage of women in its Parliament that the US has in its Congress.
So hats off to Ms Ferraro. May she rest in peace.
Side note: I always thought it ironic that thalidomide became a standard treatment for multiple myeloma. It is the drug that caused a huge number of horrendous birth defects in European babies, though because of the (perhaps overly) stringent US FDA, we did not have that drug in the US, so very few American babies were affected.
[FDA has been riding on those laurels ever since, which is why we are so slow to get other good treatments available elsewhere.]
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Mar 26, 2011 23:33:46 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Mar 26, 2011 23:33:46 GMT -5
I was surprised to see this post about Geraldine Ferraro from Sarah Palin. Usually I find her remarks are misinformed at best, and usually silly. But this is classy: My family and I would like to express our sincere condolences to the family of Geraldine Ferraro. When I had the honor of working alongside Geraldine on election night last year, we both discussed the role of women in politics and our excited expectation that someday that final glass ceiling would be shattered by the election of a woman president. She was an amazing woman who dedicated her life to public service as a teacher, prosecutor, Congresswoman, and Vice Presidential candidate. She broke one huge barrier and then went on to break many more. The world will miss her. May she rest in peace and may her example of hard work and dedication to America continue to inspire all women.
- Sarah Palin www.facebook.com/note.php?not...50120959438435
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Mar 26, 2011 23:43:30 GMT -5
Post by booklady on Mar 26, 2011 23:43:30 GMT -5
Haley Barbour also had something nice to say: "Although our politics were very different, I always considered Geraldine Ferraro a friend. She always worked for the public interest as she saw it and understood that you could disagree about politics and still be friends."
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Mar 27, 2011 9:48:34 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Mar 27, 2011 9:48:34 GMT -5
So very interesting - two politicians with different political stances making classy and sincere remarks about Ms. Ferraro.
Both acknowledge that it is possible to disagree on politics and still be friends, maybe even speak civilly on issues. And quite possibly even act in the interests of the American people instead of partisan politics. Wouldn't that be remarkable? And much appreciated!
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Mar 27, 2011 14:05:11 GMT -5
Post by booklady on Mar 27, 2011 14:05:11 GMT -5
The other night I watched a DVD of the movie, "Bobby." During the sequence that included the shooting, the movie ran a voiceover of RFK's speech in Cleveland the night after Martin Luther King was assassinated. I was blown away by it, especially the last section where he talked about the need for people to differ politically without demonizing each other.
Worth reading.
On the Mindless Menace of Violence by Robert F. Kennedy
This speech was given the day after the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination. Delivered at the City Club of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio, April 5, 1968.
This is a time of shame and sorrow. It is not a day for politics. I have saved this one opportunity, my only event of today, to speak briefly to you about the mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives.
It is not the concern of any one race. The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one - no matter where he lives or what he does - can be certain who will suffer from some senseless act of bloodshed. And yet it goes on and on and on in this country of ours.
Why? What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr's cause has ever been stilled by an assassin's bullet.
No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of reason.
Whenever any American's life is taken by another American unnecessarily - whether it is done in the name of the law or in the defiance of the law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence - whenever we tear at the fabric of the life which another man has painfully and clumsily woven for himself and his children, the whole nation is degraded.
"Among free men," said Abraham Lincoln, "there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and those who take such appeal are sure to lose their cause and pay the costs."
Yet we seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike. We calmly accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far-off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire whatever weapons and ammunition they desire.
Too often we honor swagger and bluster and wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Some Americans who preach non-violence abroad fail to practice it here at home. Some who accuse others of inciting riots have by their own conduct invited them.
Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.
For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter.
This is the breaking of a man's spirit by denying him the chance to stand as a father and as a man among other men. And this too afflicts us all.
I have not come here to propose a set of specific remedies nor is there a single set. For a broad and adequate outline we know what must be done. When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies, to be met not with cooperation but with conquest; to be subjugated and mastered.
We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. For all this, there are no final answers.
Yet we know what we must do. It is to achieve true justice among our fellow citizens. The question is not what programs we should seek to enact. The question is whether we can find in our own midst and in our own hearts that leadership of humane purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence.
We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of others. We must admit in ourselves that our own children's future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled or enriched by hatred or revenge.
Our lives on this planet are too short and the work to be done too great to let this spirit flourish any longer in our land. Of course we cannot vanquish it with a program, nor with a resolution.
But we can perhaps remember, if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek, as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.
Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men, and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again.
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Mar 27, 2011 14:26:32 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Mar 27, 2011 14:26:32 GMT -5
Wow. It's just as good today.
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Mar 27, 2011 14:53:45 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Mar 27, 2011 14:53:45 GMT -5
The speech is just as good today, and sadly, the problematic situations he describes haven't changed all that much.
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Jun 16, 2011 20:27:09 GMT -5
Post by jspnrvr on Jun 16, 2011 20:27:09 GMT -5
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Jun 16, 2011 20:30:52 GMT -5
Post by jspnrvr on Jun 16, 2011 20:30:52 GMT -5
Her last appearance at The National Storytelling Festival last October.
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Jun 16, 2011 20:36:21 GMT -5
Post by jspnrvr on Jun 16, 2011 20:36:21 GMT -5
Ms Windham was scheduled to appear at the Azalea Storytelling Festival I attended last March in LaGrange, GA, but had been hospitalized and was unable to appear. Several Festival posters were placed on tables around the auditorium and everyone attending put on a message and signed, sending "Get Well" wishes. Her sweet, simple humanity will be sorely missed. www.storytellingcenter.net/news/isc-remembers-kathryn-windham/
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