R.I.P. Nelson Mandela

[Pearl]

The world has lost a hero:

Nelson Mandela dies - CNN.com

Rest in peace.

 

[MrPryck2U]

RIP Mandela

 

[prbiker15]

Wow. I can't believe this. Sure, his health was extremely delicate over the past few years, but I wasn't expecting his passing, for at least a little while more. What an amazing, inspiring figure, whose spirit will live on forever. Rest in peace Madiba.

 

[Irvine511]

46664

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Rest in peace.

At the very least his passing was peaceful.

 

[chork]

Gutted. One of my heroes.

 

[2861U2]

Amazing. Few people alive on this planet will ever receive the outpouring in death that Mandela is about to.

 

[AEON]

Thank you, Nelson.

 

[bono_212]

He will certainly be missed, but hearing he's gone brings a sad smile to my face, just thinking of all he did in the long life that he had. Rest in peace.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Our unfortunate PM already expressing sympathies, yet wouldn't have hesitated to call him a terrorist in the past. Same goes for David fucking Cameron.

 

[Rhiannon64]

Rest in peace.

 

[dazzledbylight]

RIP Nelson Mandela

what an extroidinary, powerful life he ended up living

i literally had walked into my sib's house to pick stuff up a bit past 5PM here, flipped on the tv to watch a political show....her tv is set to a local news station and there was "breaking news"


i switched and i figured the political show was going to it too

the songs >Sun City, Freedom (peter Gabriel), Silver & Gold and the (ANC?) African freedom anthem all wafting through my head as the tv shows photos, videos of his life and

sure he was very ill but i thought he'd rallied one more time for a while longer

had the amazing experience of seeing him when he visited NYC going to the UN wow!

omg!! the person on TV just reminded me.....

i went down to the UN on one of the days when all So Africans here in the NYC tri-state area were then able to vote ... their were tents, long lines, it was a beautiful warming Spring day

And I couldn't stop smiling ....my cheeks hurt!

i made drawings of it (b/c didn't have film)!

there is much left to do.... but oh how he helped usher in such great change!

 

[dazzledbylight]

i...i... i ain't gonna play Sun City


Artists United Against Apartheid - Sun City (Official Video) - YouTube

 

[dazzledbylight]

a correspondent from a us news org outside NM house saying they're back & white peole here singing the SA anthem in all 12 SA languages


and then him saying some of these the younger ones 25 yrs old and younger
had never known the most terrible days of their country (wow I'm teary eyed)

 

[domo-kun]

Gutted. A true inspiration.

 

[LadySpinHead]

Thank you and R.I.P.

 

[Jive Turkey]

My friend's 5 year old son suspects Mandela died of mustache cancer... because people get that in the winter time

 

[anitram]

Great man, great life lived.

I'm blessed enough to have been able to spend quite a bit of time in his homeland, including going to Robben Island and seeing his jail cell. Really important trip for me, the most formative of my life.

 

[bono_212]

My friend's 5 year old son suspects Mandela died of mustache cancer... because people get that in the winter time

Is he competing for cutest kid right now?

 

[Jive Turkey]

Is he competing for cutest kid right now?

He's also got a 3 year old daughter and they're the cutest kids out.

Friend: "what do you guys want to be when you get older?"

5 year old: "an astronaut"

3 year old: "My farts smell like bugs"

 

[cobl04]

Damn. RIP.

 

[bono_212]

He's also got a 3 year old daughter and they're the cutest kids out.

Friend: "what do you guys want to be when you get older?"

5 year old: "an astronaut"

3 year old: "My farts smell like bugs"

Someone needs to sell your friend's kids to AT&T.

 

[intedomine]

Our unfortunate PM already expressing sympathies, yet wouldn't have hesitated to call him a terrorist in the past. Same goes for David fucking Cameron.

Mandela was anti-colonist, Abbott would always have been pro. I actually find it inappropriate that Abbott should even say anything, regardless of his current position. They would had disagreed on so many things politically.

 

[Dfit00]

Ubuntu lives on.

 

[asr]

I was just in South Africa this past May/June. I rode past his and ex-wife Winnie's former houses and visited the Apartheid museum in Johannesburg. As soon I landed back in the U.S. I saw, on the baggage claim over-head TV, that he was in very critical condition. The one silver lining in his passing is that he does not have to physically suffer anymore.

 

[BonosSaint]

Rest in peace.

 

[U2girl]

A true legend. RIP.

 

[cobl04]

From one of our most conservative columnists - The dark side of Nelson Mandela | Andrew Bolt | Herald Sun

Anyone care to comment on this? International politics and ideologies is something I remain very, very ignorant of... He gave an award to Qaddafi? I hope Vlad or Ax sees this, and can weigh in, knowing what Bolt's like.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Bolt doesn't understand the circumstances that lead to Mandela's use of violence, after attempting peaceful means beforehand, from his comfortable armchair it's something he finds difficult. I was vaguely aware of his connections with Qaddafi and Suharto, but I assume that they put in some support for him and that what he gave them was a thanks.

It's not an outrageous thing, Mandela has mingled with very many unsavoury characters with opposing ideological views and of course tried to make peace with the then ruling South African National Party, but naturally Bolt was not going to focus on that.

I'd put it down to Mandela's personality and willingness to even reach out to his enemies following his release.

(I'm not sure if I explained this well enough or correctly so forgive me)

 

[anitram]

cobl,

Mandela did elaborate on his support of individuals like Gaddafi:

Mandela incited shock and anger in many American communities for refusing to denounce Cuban dictator Fidel Castro or Libyan Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who had lent their support to Mandela against South African apartheid. “One of the mistakes the Western world makes is to think that their enemies should be our enemies,” he explained to an American TV audience. “We have our own struggle.” He added that those leaders “are placing resources at our disposal to win the struggle.”

It's up to you to decide whether that is adequate, but it at least sheds some light on the thought process, which is more than I can say for a lot of these articles that have popped up (inevitably from right-wingers).