Category: rest in peace

The Thursday night music express presents: Johnny Winter

It just hit me, I have heard some blues player had passed away and the name for some reason did not click.

Folks, we lost Johnny Winter.

There will probably be a lot of words written about this man and I don’t think that anything that I could say would be any better than what they’ve written.

Rest in peace Johnny say hello to Jimi for me.

This video below is as far as I’m concerned Johnny Winter’s best performance.

Condolences to Greg Gutfeld

I admit it, I sometimes like to watch Red Eye on Fox News. It’s a light-hearted break from the seriousness of rest of the news day. So, hearing that Greg lost his Mother is rather heartbreaking to hear. It is something that I will have to deal with myself one day. 🙁

My Thoughts and Prayers are with Greg and the rest of the Gutfeld Family.

(H/T to Reason’s Hit Run)

Controversial Baptist Pastor Fred Phelps has died

Now unlike these people here, I will not make this a hate post.

The Story:

TOPEKA, Kan (WIBW) Fred Phelps Sr., the former head of the Westboro Baptist Church, died late Wednesday night, according to a family member.

Phelps’ son, Timothy told 13 News that his father died just before midnight. Timothy Pheps works at the Shawnee Co. Jail.

Ironically, another son who is a member of the church, attorney Jonathan Phelps told us Thursday morning, “Pastor Phelps is doing just fine.” That, of course, could have been a spiritual reference.

Over the weekend, we learned that Phelps was reportedly “on the edge of death.”

In a statement on his Facebook page, Nathan Phelps, who has been estranged from his father for 30 years, said the senior Phelps was dying in hospice care in Topeka, Kan., and that he had been ex-communicated from his own church in August of 2013.

Fred Phelps was a man bent on delivering a message. He did it by becoming a lawyer and by becoming a minister.

Despite being disbarred in 1979, Fred Phelps pushed his name into the public eye, through the political arena in campaigns to vie for Senator and Governor. Phelps scored 30-percent of the vote in his 1992 senate bid.

In the early 90s, wearing sunglasses and a windbreaker, Fred Phelps was making a name for the family church by holding one of a barrage of picket signs, with the stark messages decrying homosexuality.

via Fred Phelps, former head of Westboro Baptist Church, died, family member says.

I previously wrote about this man and his status within his Church. It also appears that Phelps daughter has confirmed it as well.

Now, a few words on Fred Phelps:

Fred Phelps — No matter what you think about him and his religious beliefs; one thing cannot be denied and that is that Fred Phelps stood for what he believed in — to the point of being an annoying person. Yes, he created a monster. Yes, his beliefs were wrong according to mainstream Christian beliefs and yes, even among mainstream Baptist beliefs, even among Fundamentalists like myself. Yes, He did write and say, and even did things that would be construed as hateful to the rest of America.  However, at least he actually stood for something. Which is rare in these days of “go along to get along.”

These days you cannot even get a Christian or even a Baptist for that matter; especially a high-profile one to even admit that they actually believe that homosexuality is even a sin! Not to mention that, if someone sticks a microphone in front of a Christian and asks them if they think homosexuals are going to hell, you usually get mindless stammering and double-talk.

One can say what they will about Fred Phelps, but one thing that cannot be said about him and that is that he was some sort of a coward. I cannot begin to unwind or even begin to understand what made Fred Phelps tick. However, what I can tell you is this; Fred Phelps had a conviction that drove him to do what he did; even to the point of putting himself and his followers in harm’s way.

To Christians and Baptists alike, Fred Phelps should be remembered as someone who was actually bold enough to take a Biblical stand against homosexuality. Fred Phelps should be remembered as someone who did stand for and believe in the Authority and superiority of the King James Bible. Sure, he was a hardcore Calvinist. Sure, his theology was a bit off by most and even his actions were not considered in good taste. But, at least the man had the audacity to actually stand up and protest against the homosexual lifestyle as a vile, awful, sexual lifestyle that is roundly condemned in the Word of God; Old Testament and New Testament —- Something that of which this writer concurs

May Fred Phelps Rest in Peace and may God be with the Phelps Family this day in their time of loss.

Update: Blogger reactions via Memeorandum

David Yeagley RIP

A Warrior has died.

The sad news:

Dear Friends of Bad Eagle,

On behalf of the Yeagley family, I am sorry to inform you that David passed away early yesterday morning, March 11, 2014.

We await the glorious resurrection when we shall see him again.

A memorial service is planned for Friday, March 14 at 3:00 pm at Oklahoma City Central Seventh-day Adventist Church located at 4747 NW 63rd St.

The family plans to hold a second memorial service in Oklahoma City in the future, details to be posted at a later date.

via Friends of Bad Eagle.

(Via Conservative Heritage Times)

Bartcop RIP

I’m not supposed to do this; but, screw it. This is MY blog and I will do what I damned well please. 😡 If you got a problem with it, that is just too damned bad.

A pioneer in the liberal blogging and political snark world has died. BartCop is who he was. Crooks and Liars has the story.

He leaves behind a wife and a mortgage. Click here to go help out.

This chorus is swirling in my head at the moment:

And when I’m gone, just carry on, don’t mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I’m looking down on you smiling
And I didn’t feel a thing, So baby don’t feel no pain
Just smile back

The Video:

As most who read here know; I was not always a Buchananite Conservative. I was, for what it is truly worth; a very skeptical left-of-center type. A Populist, of the historic sort. In 2007, I basically decided that voting Democratic Party was not for me any longer. Because of this, I do mourn, when a blogger dies. A voice in this great conversation is silenced. Maybe this video here, will explain what I mean:

I just wish politics was a bit more, like it is depicted in the video above, towards the end. 🙁

May he rest in peace. 🙁

Others: Liberaland, The BRAD BLOG and Balloon Juice

Pete Seeger RIP

Some of you might be shocked that I would remember this man. However, as you know, I was not always a Conservative. Furthermore, Pete Seeger stood up to, and won out against the McCarthyism of the 1950’s. Something that I, as someone who believes in freedom of thought; believe was wrong-headed.

Peter Seeger — May he rest in peace.

My Favorite of his:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b24Ewk934g

Repose en paix. Bon homme, vous avez plus de gagné.

Update: Ann Althouse remembers Seeger:

“I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this,” said Pete Seeger, in 1955, subpoenaed to testify before a thing we used to have called the House Un-American Activities Committee. They thought he was a Communist, and he was a communist. “With a small ‘c,'” he liked to say. He’d been a Communist with a capital C too, but he’d quit, and he said he should have quit earlier. 

[…]
Much more in the long NYT article at the link, including his education at Harvard; his encounter with the folklorist Alan Lomax, and, through Lomax, Lead Belly; his alliance with Woody Guthrie, traveling around playing for migrant workers in 1940; his WWII-era group the Almanac Singers, who played anti-war and then antifascist songs; campaigning for presidential candidate Henry Wallace in 1948; his central place in the great folk music revival circa 1960; playing “We Shall Overcome” at Civil Rights Movement rallies; and getting betrayed by Bob Dylan.

Imagine experiencing nearly a century of American history from such a central place. What a lucky man. Pete Seeger lived to be 94.

Amen.

Related:

Others Remembering: americanthinker.com, NPR, Althouse, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Associated Press,American Power, Liberaland, Ultimate Classic Rock, The Week, Sky Dancing, The Agonist, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Maggie’s Farm, Daily Dot, The Political Carnival, The Agonist and The Moderate Voice, alicublog and The Jawa Report

The Tuesday Music Express – Special Memorial Edition – Presents: Woody Guthrie

No Christmas tree was ever again allowed in Mary Krainatz’s Upper Peninsula home.

The sight of a decorated fir tree, resplendent with colorful ornaments, yuletide cheers and the gaiety of children, reminded her of a Christmas Eve she longed to forget.

Seventy-three people, the majority of them children younger than 10, died in a stampede after someone supposedly yelled “fire” during a holiday get-together for striking miners in Calumet on Dec. 24, 1913. Krainatz’s 11-year-old daughter, also named, Mary, was among those killed when people rushed for the staircase down to the first floor.

Today is the 100th anniversary of the tragedy, a time of remembrance in a small Copper Country community where no survivors remain to share their firsthand accounts.

A ceremony, including a reading of the names of the deceased, will be held at 3:30 p.m. at the site of where the Italian Hall once stood at Seventh and Elm. Now, a park is punctuated by the sandstone block archway that once served as the building’s entrance. A white, silk lily for each victim pays silent testament in Calumet’s Village Hall.

The pre-holiday horror was immortalized in the Woody Guthrie song “1913 Massacre,” a 2001 opera, a book by Birmingham lawyer Steve Lehto and the documentary “Red Metal: The Copper Country Strike of 1913” that debuted on PBS earlier this month. — Source

This posting is dedicated to the 73 people who lost their lives on December 24, 1913 in Calumet, Michigan. May they rest in peace.

May this be a reminder to all my Conservative and Tea Party friends that dishonest, crony capitalism hurts people; this being a perfect example.

Nelson Mandela RIP

A civil rights leader has passed.

Via NYT:

Nelson Mandela, who led the emancipation of South Africa from white minority rule and served as his country’s first black president, becoming an international emblem of dignity and forbearance, died Thursday. He was 95.

The South African president, Jacob Zuma, announced Mr. Mandela’s death.

Mr. Mandela had long declared he wanted a quiet exit, but the time he spent in a Pretoria hospital in recent months was a clamor of quarreling family, hungry news media, spotlight-seeking politicians and a national outpouring of affection and loss. The vigil even eclipsed a recent visit by President Obama, who paid homage to Mr. Mandela but decided not to intrude on the privacy of a dying man he considered his hero.

Mr. Mandela will be buried, according to his wishes, in the village of Qunu, where he grew up. The exhumed remains of three of his children were reinterred there in early July under a court order, resolving a family squabble that had played out in the news media.

Mr. Mandela’s quest for freedom took him from the court of tribal royalty to the liberation underground to a prison rock quarry to the presidential suite of Africa’s richest country. And then, when his first term of office was up, unlike so many of the successful revolutionaries he regarded as kindred spirits, he declined a second term and cheerfully handed over power to an elected successor, the country still gnawed by crime, poverty, corruption and disease but a democracy, respected in the world and remarkably at peace.

The question most often asked about Mr. Mandela was how, after whites had systematically humiliated his people, tortured and murdered many of his friends, and cast him into prison for 27 years, he could be so evidently free of spite.

The government he formed when he finally won the chance was an improbable fusion of races and beliefs, including many of his former oppressors. When he became president, he invited one of his white wardens to the inauguration. Mr. Mandela overcame a personal mistrust bordering on loathing to share both power and a Nobel Peace Prize with the white president who preceded him, F. W. de Klerk.

Reactions via CNN:

President Barack Obama:

“Nelson Mandela lived for that ideal, and he made it real. He achieved more than could be expected of any man. Today, he has gone home. And we have lost one of the most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth. He no longer belongs to us – he belongs to the ages.”

Secretary of State John Kerry:

“Nelson Mandela was a stranger to hate. He rejected recrimination in favor of reconciliation and knew the future demands we move beyond the past. He gave everything he had to heal his country and lead it back into the community of nations, including insisting on relinquishing his office and ensuring there would be a peaceful transfer of power. Today, people all around the world who yearn for democracy look to Mandela’s nation and its democratic Constitution as a hopeful example of what is possible.”

Former President George W. Bush:

“Laura and I join the people of South Africa and the world in celebrating the life of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. President Mandela was one of the great forces for freedom and equality of our time. He bore his burdens with dignity and grace, and our world is better off because of his example. This good man will be missed, but his contributions will live on forever. Laura and I send our heartfelt sympathy to President Mandela’s family and to the citizens of the nation he loved.”

Former President Bill Clinton:

“Today the world has lost one of its most important leaders and one of its finest human beings. And Hillary, Chelsea and I have lost a true friend.”

“His story will remember Nelson Mandela as a champion for human dignity and freedom, for peace and reconciliation. We will remember him as a man of uncommon grace and compassion, for whom abandoning bitterness and embracing adversaries was not just a political strategy but a way of life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Graça and his family and to the people of South Africa. All of us are living in a better world because of the life that Madiba lived. He proved that there is freedom in forgiving, that a big heart is better than a closed mind, and that life’s real victories must be shared.”

Former President George H. W. Bush:

“Barbara and I mourn the passing of one of the greatest believers in freedom we have had the privilege to know. As President, I watched in wonder as Nelson Mandela had the remarkable capacity to forgive his jailers following 26 years of wrongful imprisonment – setting a powerful example of redemption and grace for us all. He was a man of tremendous moral courage, who changed the course of history in his country. Barbara and I had great respect for President Mandela, and send our condolences to his family and countrymen.”

Former Vice President Al Gore:

“We should take a moment today to bow our heads and pay our respects to an extraordinarily courageous man who truly changed the world for the better and, in the process, inspired us all.”

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice:

“Throughout history, a few special people have been able to transcend differences and change the world for the better. Nelson Mandela was one of those people who had a vision for human rights and equality. Those beliefs made him the father of multi ethnic democracy in South Africa. All freedom loving people will miss him but we will never forget his sacrifice and his achievements. My prayers and my thoughts are with him and with the people of South Africa.”

Former Secretary of State and retired Gen. Colin Powell:

“After 27 years in prison he was asked upon release if he was bitter, if he wanted to get even with his jailers or oppressors. His simple, but profound answer, was, “If I felt that way I would still be in jail.” His jailers sat in the front row at his inauguration. I will never forget him, nor will the world. My wife and I offer out deepest condolences to his family and the people of South Africa. His spirit lives on.”

National Security Advisor Susan Rice:

“Even as we mourn, we remember how privileged the world was to witness the transformation he wrought by changing minds and hearts. He was apartheid’s captive but never its prisoner, and he rid the world of one of history’s foulest evils by hewing to universal principles for which he hoped to live but was prepared to die. Let us celebrate Madiba’s life by rededicating ourselves to the values and hopes he embodied: reconciliation and justice, freedom and equality, democracy and human rights, an honest reckoning with the past and an unflinching insistence on embracing our common humanity.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron:

“Mandela was not just a hero of our time but of all times… a man that through his dignity has inspired millions.”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell:

“Elaine and I are deeply saddened by the passing of Nelson Mandela, a man whose skillful guidance of South Africa following the end of the Apartheid regime made him one of the great statesmen of our time and a global symbol of reconciliation. ‘Madiba’s’ patience through imprisonment and insistence on unity over vengeance in the delicate period in which he served stand as a permanent reminder to the world of the value of perseverance and the positive influence one good man or woman can have over the course of human affairs. The world mourns this great leader. May his passing lead to a deeper commitment to reconciliation around the world.”

House Speaker John Boehner:

“Nelson Mandela was an unrelenting voice for democracy and his ‘long walk to freedom’ showed an enduring faith in God and respect for human dignity. His perseverance in fighting the apartheid system will continue to inspire future generations. Mandela led his countrymen through times of epic change with a quiet moral authority that directed his own path from prisoner to president. He passes this world as a champion of peace and racial harmony. I send condolences to the Mandela family and to the people of South Africa.”

2008 Republican presidential nominee and Sen. John McCain of Arizona:

“It is hard not to be in awe of Nelson Mandela. His character is awe-inspiring – his courage, resilience, generosity, selflessness, wisdom. History offers few examples of people who were as devoted or sacrificed more for a cause greater than their self-interest than Nelson Mandela…To forgive when you have been wronged, when you have suffered unjustly at the hands of others, is a hard thing to do. But it is, as Nelson Mandela knew, the most liberating action a person can take. For nations, too, if they are to build a future greater than their history.”

Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina:

“Nelson Mandela was a transformational figure, a man who truly changed the world. He walked a long road to freedom and embraced the fundamental human belief in equality. After his release from prison, his tireless work to reconcile a nation torn apart by centuries of tension and hostility made him one of history’s greatest statesmen. All freedom-loving people mourn his passing.”

Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California:

“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Nelson Mandela, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his friends, family, and the people of South Africa. His legacy will live on forever in how we live our lives and fight for freedom and justice in a multi-racial society. We must pause and remember Madiba in his greatness; he used his life not for himself, but for the good of his country and the good of the world, and his spirit will live on.”

Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York:

“The world lost a selfless leader who spent his life fighting for justice. Madiba’s powerful legacy and shining example of courage and love will continue to inspire countless generations.”

Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas:

“May the life of Nelson Mandela long stand as the ultimate tribute to the triumph of hope. May it be a comfort to his family, to his friends and loved ones, to the people of South Africa that so many mourn the loss of this extraordinary man and incredible leader at this sad time.”

2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, via Facebook:

“In the modern age, Nelson Mandela will be remembered as an unsurpassed healer of human hearts. By dint of his character, sacrifice, vision and abounding love, he won a revolution without shedding blood, founded a peaceful nation in a land of turmoil, and personified principle in a world searching for integrity.”

Former United States Ambassador to United Nations Andrew Young to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer

“His spiritual presence was far more important than his physical suffering. It seemed as though the more he suffered, the stronger he became spiritually…The one thing that impressed me always about South Africa was that he was not the only one had this spirit. There was a spirit of reconciliation that was a part of the body politic of southern Africa and I think we can build on that in the world.”

Democratic San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, via Facebook:

“Rest in peace, Nelson Mandela. You were a once-in-a-century leader whose teachings about tolerance and acceptance inspired our common humanity.”

New York City Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio:

“We live in a far better world today because of the life and work of Nelson Mandela. He met hatred with reason, intolerance with resolve… Just months after being released from 27 years of political imprisonment, Nelson Mandela came here to New York City. I will never forget hearing his words at Yankee Stadium, where he told New Yorkers, ‘You the people, never abandoned us.’ We came to believe in his fight for justice and democracy as if it were our own. Our values and activism helped us work toward justice in South Africa, and thereafter in many other parts of the world.”

Chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio:

“With incomparable courage, President Mandela overcame violent persecution for his belief that every individual deserved to live in a society where injustice would not be tolerated…His vision for justice in South Africa reflected the vision Members of CBC had for America, and his story empowered African Americans and people of all races to stand up for justice on behalf our brothers and sisters worldwide.”

And now, my thoughts:

Nelson Mandela stood for the institutionalised discrimination in South Africa. My feelings can be summed up in this music video:

Rest in peace, sir. You have more than earned it.

 

When news gets personal….

This is sad. 🙁

TODAY lost a member of its family this weekend. One of the victims of the tragic train derailment in the Bronx was Jim Lovell, 58, an audio technician who frequently worked on TODAY and other NBC programs. Lovell was on his way to work to do a setup for the Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting special when the train derailed.

via TODAY audio technician — father of four —among victims in NYC train derailment – TODAY.com.

I say this because, no one, not even the nastiest of liberals — deserves to die like this sort of manner. My prayers to the Lovell family. 🙁

Lou Reed RIP

This is stunning. Also too, consider this an exception to the new rule.

What I know him for…:

Lou Reed, a massively influential songwriter and guitarist who helped shape nearly fifty years of rock music, died today. The cause of his death has not yet been released, but Reed underwent a liver transplant in May.

via Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71 | Music News | Rolling Stone.

May he rest in peace.