"You've lost a cornersrtone of good," said James Brown, "And that always hurts real bad." Actually, we lost a couple of people whose good works live on all around the world.
LaughingWolf leads with some thoughts on legacies as his "Food for Thought Saturday" post... and then we have a whole bunch of positive legacies for you in the worlds of politics, music, science, and beyond! What really gratifies me is how many of them we've run as features during the week, and not just on Good News Saturdays:
- Ray Charles: The Genuis Hits the Road. It's no small feat to be nicknamed "The Genius" by Frank effing Sinatra, and Ray's 1960 album "The Genius Hits the Road" is highly recommended.
- Staff Sgt. Karnes is still alive. His legacy is keeping 2 Port Authority employees alive to enjoy their recent retirement parties, by pulling them out of the rubble on 9/11. Gary Farber's "U.S. Marines! If You Can Hear Us, Yell Or Tap" was an utterly gripping - and uplifting - read (link to Amygdala version).
President Ronald Reagan's life was also celebrated this week, even by many of his past opponents who had either reconsidered his record or stepped beyond small-mindedness at a time like this.
- Pejman has an outstanding roundup with many links. As a bonus, Pejman's piece also includes some very valuable insights into the way intelligence agencies (indeed, all human organizations) work, and the role assumptions play.
- Though Pejman missed Michele Catalano's rememberances from her flower-power days. Bet ya didn't know she had those, didja?
- Gary Farber chimed in with an article about the destruction of an evil regime, and the truth at last about its activities. In a related piece, "Dosvedanya, Ronald Reagan," explores how the Russians feel about Reagan's death.
- And on that subject, a picture is worth 1,000 words. Classy. Via Emperor Misha I, who remembers his own days in the shadow of the Soviet bear.
On the bright side, we also began to forge some new legacies:
- Winds of Change.NET's Cairo columnist and former oil executive Tarek Heggy is working on a new, positive legacy in Egypt: a new daily paper that will be independent and promote peace instead of hate, and a think-tank to transmit modern, liberal values. With a little help from his friends.
- The first network protected by quantum cryptography is up. Which is an early step toward the huge possibilities of quantum computing generally (link to Amygdala version).
- Spaceship One is on track to become the first privately-funded vehicle to reach space. Official flight #1 is on June 21, 2004. Mark your calendars.
- And hey, where would we be without clothes that tell you how badly your butt is being kicked?
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