on loss (people and dignity)

It's been a sad few days in many ways.  I know these are the topics-du-jour of the interwebs right now but I felt obliged to comment (when do I not?). 

• Maurice Sendak's death.  His work terrified me for years in the best way possible.
• MCA.  I don't have anything more to add, I'm just sad.  An era has ended (for me, personally and selfishly, his death kind of frames the end of my youth).
• North Carolina and the constitutional amendment: effectively a ban on same sex marriage.  Gosh this makes me terribly, terribly sad.  I can only hope that those who voted in favour of the ban are swimming against a strong tide. 
• This man's offensive, unsubstantiated and ill-advised comments.  I'm going to be all smug here - a few months ago, I commented that NZ politics often picks up the live issues in foreign politics like a kind of 'political hangover' - and what do you know?  Mind you, the same post commented that there wasn't yet an overt war on women in New Zealand - apparently I was wrong about that too.  Colin Craig can likely be dismissed as an attention gathering sideshow, but the free contraception debate in NZ is taking a really, really weird shape which makes me sad.  For some commentary, I recommend reading this.

Two cents, consider it contributed.