F*$KING awful week...

[phazedout]

Seems the appropriate thread for this.
Anton Yelchin, who played chekov in the trek reboot has apaprently been killed in a freak accident at home.
He was only born in 89, feels way too young to this old man

http://www.startrek.com/article/remembering-anton-yelchin-1989-2016

[Jan]

My sympathies for the death of Jo Cox. It's shocking and horrible.

Here in the Orlando area I've started calling this the week the joy died. In the last seven days we've had:

- a rising young singer, Christina Grimmie, was shot and killed after a concert while she was signing autographs for fans.

- 49 people were massacred at the Pulse, a gay nightclub, on Latin Night. 53 others were injured.

- a two-year-old little boy was snatched and drowned by an alligator in the Disney area.

It's been hard. I share an office with a man who lost four friends at the Pulse. I can't even begin to understand what he's going through, just give him what support I can and pretend I don't notice when he quietly cries at his desk.

Right now I'd love to take comfort in something like the Declaration of Principles but what keeps going through my mind is Nomi Sense8 in her blog noting that hate and shame aren't among the seven deadly sins.

Be gentle with yourselves, folks.

Jan

ETA: For anybody who noticed my new avatar, this is what I posted on FB:
A number of folks here know that the Star Trek IDIC is one of my all-time favorite symbols. Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. Sounds like the recipe for real progress to me, whether it's social or technological or scientific or anything else. The wonderful artist Tim Kuzniar was kind enough to create this for me. I love the starburst in the middle. To me it means hope - something we all need more of right now.

[Ubik]

Like Jan I should avoid facebook and google plus after an incident like this. As before if we pander to or change our lives becuase of what lunatics like this hate monger did, then they have already won.

A friend pointed out to me last ngiht this si the first British politician assaninated in 31 years. One should take , not pleasure I suppose but some relief in the fact that such things are rare this side of the atlantic. All the more shocking for it but still something that happens with anything other than (appropiately) shocking rarity.

Do we have absolute confirmation that he said those words?

An eyewitness on the scene described him shouting 'Britain First' as he attacked and there are hints he was in with right wing groups. The media seem to be taking the 'mental health' angle to deflect from this. Hard to know who to believe. Some right wingers even had the gall to call it a 'false flag' and claimed that a muslim witness 'could not be trusted'. Awful, sickening stuff.

I hate to politicise it too, but I hope this is a wake up call for some people who are siding with the OUT campaign, which is primarily rooted in thinly veiled self interest, xenophobia and racism.

[phazedout]

Like Jan I should avoid facebook and google plus after an incident like this.
As before if we pander to or change our lives becuase of what lunatics like this hate monger did, then they have already won.

A friend pointed out to me last ngiht this si the first British politician assaninated in 31 years. One should take , not pleasure I suppose but some relief in the fact that such things are rare this side of the atlantic. All the more shocking for it but still something that happens with anything other than (appropiately) shocking rarity.

do we ahve absolute confirmaiton taht he said those words? I'm disinclined to speculate on this tragedy and the impact on Jos young children.
I'm not going to politicise beyond paraphrasing from season 5
"no security measure, o matter how well planned can stop a determined assasain who doesn't care if they live or die".
Stay safe out there people
Alan

[Ubik]

Not all of you are in the UK, but what happened today is just horrendous. A liberal MP, who advocated immigration and diversity, was killed by a Nationalist nut job. This is at the height of spurious rhetoric from right wing parties about immigration and the EU exit vote. It has just left me feeling absolutely sick to my stomach.

I am re-watching Sense8 because it's the only show that seems to encapsulate what I am feeling, that we are being marginalised and segregated and taught to hate. After Orlando, and now this, I just have no words... I am at a loss. Feels like the world is slowly crumbling and the politics of fear are winning out.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/16/the-guardian-view-on-jo-cox-an-attack-on-humanity-idealism-and-democracy?CMP=share_btn_fb