Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has quadruple bypass surgery

[freshwest]

7. My opinion of him was always good.. It skyrocketed after he said this:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Colleges Need to Stop Protecting Sexual Predators

We need to reexamine the culture on campus—especially among student athletes

Imagine a neighborhood where dozens of women were violently assaulted on a continuing basis. And that the local police chose not to bother investigating 40 percent of assault victims’ complaints. Would you continue to live in that neighborhood? Probably not. Especially if you had children.

That dangerous neighborhood actually exists in the United States. It’s called college.

This year American parents will be sending about 12 million of their 18- to 24-year-old daughters to attend colleges and universities. Instead of the ivy-covered walls, Homecoming bonfires, administrative support, and lifelong friendships we’d hoped for them, we’ll be sending many of them toward groping hands, drug-laced drinks, administrative indifference, and lifelong trauma. Witness the conviction this week of two former football players at Vanderbilt University for perpetrating and videotaping the rape of a fellow student.

http://time.com/3689368/campus-sexual-assault-athletes-yes-means-yes/

to stevenleser:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026167512

Jabbar recounts this at the link:

A few years ago, I saw a 60 Minutes interview with singer Mary J. Blige in which she described her own sexual molestation at age five as well as the brutal violence men in her neighborhood committed against women.

“Men just seemed like they didn’t have any mercy,” she said. Of course, she didn’t mean all men; she was commenting on a child’s view of the world through observing ceaseless assaults. That phrase has resonated with me. I don’t want one more child to see the world that way. Legislation won’t solve the problem, but it’s (a) step. A step toward mercy.

He's spoken out about gay rights, police shootings, many things. May he make a full and speedy recovery.