Category: rip

Update: Another Blogger has died

Since nobody on my side of the god damned fence will do it….. I will. 😡

I personally do not give a damn what your politics is; but when one of us free wheeling writing types decides to check out this existence we call life, it is never a good thing.

Yeah, we lost another voice in this political debate.

Yeah, his politics was much different than mine. Yeah, he most likely derided Conservatives… So what?

There is a thing called real life and real damned people live in it, and when a family loses someone they love dearly. Quite bluntly, it sucks donkey balls.

To my fellow Bloggers on the left. You have my deepest condolences. I mean that. To his family, You are in my thoughts, Prayers and good wishes.

May the Late Al Weisel AKA as Jon Swift; rest in peace.

This might not be the biggest step in bringing back some damned civility in politics; but it’s a damn start.

Others Remembering: Vanity Fair, Shakesville, The Impolitic, Diary of a Heretic, TRICKSTER!, The Democratic Daily, Crooks and Liars, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Reaction, Bark Bark Woof Woof, skippy the bush kangaroo, Mad Kane’s Political Madness, Blue Gal and Simply Left BehindThe …

Update: Whoops! I guess I barked too quick.. Because Ed over HotAir.com, Instapundit and Ann Althouse are all remembering

UPDATED – Rep. John Murtha – RIP

One of the old school Democrats has died:

WASHINGTON (AP) – A spokesman says Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a retired Marine Corps officer who became an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, has died. He was 77.

He had been suffering complications from gallbladder surgery.

In 1974, Murtha became the first combat veteran of the Vietnam War elected to Congress. He wielded considerable clout for two decades as a leader of the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending.

via Rep. John Murtha of Pa. dies at 77.

I intentionally left out the negative stuff about the man. Because I happen to believe that one must not speak ill of the dead. John Murtha was, of course, a Democrat. But he was also a Father, Husband, Brother and more importantly; a Marine.

Politics is one thing, real life is another; and today a family is grieving. May the hand of the Almighty God be on his family and may he comfort them in their time of loss.

Rest in Peace and Semper Fi Sir. God Knows, you have earned it.

As much as it annoys me to have to say it. If you come here and leave some sort of idiotic comment, I will not even approve it. There is a time and a place for political commentary; and believe me, I already see it starting in the comments section on other blogs; this is just simply not the time for that sort of a thing. At least not today.

Update: Looks like his death was due to some Medical Malpractice: (H/T AllahPundit)

The 77-year-old Democrat underwent scheduled laparoscopic surgery to remove his gallbladder at Bethesda Naval Hospital last Thursday but then, after his release, sought care at the Virginia Hospital Center over the weekend.

The congressman’s spokesman declined to say Tuesday what led him to be hospitalized again. But responding to questions Wednesday, he said that Murtha was in stable condition. Two persons said it appeared Murtha’s intestine had been cut inadvertently during the gall bladder removal.

Update #2: More on Murtha’s Military Record: (Thanks to AllahPundit)

He entered the Marine Corps in 1952, during the Korean War period, and served until 1955. He returned to Johnstown to run the family car wash and finish his undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1962, and he joined the Marine Corps Reserve. During the Vietnam conflict, he volunteered for combat and served near Da Nang in 1966 and 1967.

In 1955, he married Joyce Bell. She survives, along with their daughter, Donna Murtha ; twin sons, Pat Murtha and John M. Murtha ; and three grandchildren…

Rep. Murtha, whose military decorations included the Bronze Star and two awards of the Purple Heart, was one of the first Vietnam veterans to sit in the House. His district returned him regularly to office, and after 10 years, Rep. Murtha had quietly established himself as a key Capitol Hill player who could woo lawmakers of divergent views to join forces.

and:

Military service was in Murtha’s blood. He said his great-grandfather served in the Civil War, his father and three uncles in World War II, and his brothers in the Marine Corps.

He left Washington and Jefferson College in 1952 to join the Marines, where he rose through the ranks to become a drill instructor at Parris Island, S.C., and later served in the 2nd Marine Division.

Murtha moved back to Johnstown and remained with the Marine Reserves until he volunteered to go to Vietnam. He served as an intelligence officer there from 1966 to 1967 and received a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.

Indeed, he was one hell of a man. He was a Democrat; but he was a Marine. That ends all criticism in my book. Especially now that he is no longer with us. He fought for what he felt was right. I did not always agree with it. But I respect anyone who will put themselves and their careers on the line to stand up for what they believe in. Which is more than I can see for some of the idiots in the Republican Party. (Bush being a FINE example of this….)

Update #3: For once, some class in politics: (H/T Malkin)

RUSSELL ASKS FOR PRAYERS FOR MURTHA FAMILY

Announces a Moratorium on Campaign Media Efforts

(JOHNSTOWN, PA) – Responding to the sudden and unfortunate announcement of the death of Rep. John Murtha (D-PA-12th), GOP challenger William Russell has asked all citizens, Republicans, Democrats and Independents to come together and pray for Joyce and the Murtha family as they deal with the tragic loss of husband, father and grandfather. “While Mr. Murtha and I were political combatants in every sense, our family and campaign team asks you to keep the Murtha family in your thoughts and prayers,” said Russell. “Regardless of your political position, you always knew Jack had an immense love and loyalty to his family and the residents of the12th Congressional District.

The Russell campaign is immediately initiating a moratorium on all political media activity for the next five days in respect of the passing of John Murtha. The campaign will also remove all political references to Mr. Murtha on the Russellbrigade.com website immediately.

It is the wish of the William Russell for Congress Committee, that the passing of Mr. Murtha be treated with the utmost respect and decency by all…

Others on ALL sides remembering Murtha: Gateway Pundit, Michelle Malkin, The Eye, Political Insider, Hot Air, Mediaite, skippy the bush kangaroo, Mudville Gazette, Indecision Forever, The Moderate Voice, Shot in the Dark, Sister Toldjah, theblogprof, POWIP, Raw Story, The Reality-Based Community, culturekitchen, Runnin’ Scared, TalkLeft , Outside The Beltway, Washington Monthly, Real Clear Politics, RedState, National Review Online and The Corner on National …, The Note, Alan Colmes’ Liberaland, Left Coast Rebel

Police release more information on the Kentucky Census Worker Suicide

(H/T Sister Toldjah)

From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

FRANKFORT — Days before a U.S. Census worker was found dead near a secluded Clay County cemetery, he told another man he planned to kill himself but make it look as if he’d been murdered, according to the state police case file released Friday.

William E. Sparkman Jr. of London told Lowell Adams he had practiced asphyxiating himself by placing a bag over his head and had blacked out at times, Adams told police.

Sparkman said that when he was going “to do it for real,” he planned to put a rope around his neck, tie it to a tree, put blocks on his feet for weight and throw himself down a hill, Adams told police.

“Bill said he wanted to kill himself rather than die from cancer,” Adams said in a written statement to police.

Sparkman, 51, asked Adams to help him because he wasn’t sure he could complete the suicide alone, but Adams refused, according to the file.

Visitors to the cemetery saw Sparkman’s body Sept. 12 and called police.

He was wearing only socks, and his hands were bound with duct tape, though he could have moved them several inches apart. There was a rope around his neck tied to a tree, but his feet were in contact with the ground.

[…]

The police file included some new details, though authorities had released most of the information in November when they closed the case.

Police say Sparkman was trying to preserve payments under two $300,000 life-insurance policies that would have paid off if he died accidentally or was murdered, but not if he killed himself.

Sparkman said in a letter he left that his son, Josh, of London, was the beneficiary of one policy and Adams was the beneficiary of the other.

Sparkman had been successfully treated for cancer in 2008 but apparently was worried the cancer had returned.

[…]

Adams at first told police he had no details on Sparkman’s death but provided information after being asked to take a lie-detector test at the FBI office in London.

The polygraph examiner concluded Adams told the truth when he said he did not help Sparkman die.

The information from Adams was one key factor in the conclusion by police that Sparkman killed himself, but there were several others.

For instance, Sparkman had no wounds to show he had fought with someone or been assaulted.

There were no signs of a struggle at the scene, either, and police found only Sparkman’s DNA on items there.

Medical examiners concluded that Sparkman wrote the letters “fed” on himself because they were applied from the bottom up — not the way someone facing Sparkman would have done it.

Sparkman’s socks were dirty on the bottom, indicating he walked to the spot where he died on his own.

And Sparkman had a bone fracture in his neck that was healing, which was consistent with Adams’ statement that Sparkman said he had practiced asphyxiating himself.

Investigators found a note Sparkman had left at his home for his son.

“In a best-case scenario (at least for you), the accident policy will provide enough for you to live off the interest. Do not blow the money on anything,” Sparkman wrote to his son. “This was meant to provide for you in case something happened to me.

“Whatever the case, I love you and will always do so.”

Sister Toldjah chimes in:

This is a sad story all around. A mother lost her son, and a son lost his father. The family doesn’t believe that Sparkman killed himself, and has hired a private investigator of their own to dig through all the details surrounding his death. Whatever the family’s investigator concludes, I hope one day they will find closure to all of this. It sounds like the police and investigators were pretty thorough in this case, though.

In light of this new news – and the initial police news release in which they informed the public of their belief that Sparkman killed himself, I’m still waiting on the massive round of apologies from the left for using this man’s death for shameless political purposes via jumping to conclusions and making snide and denigrating insinuations about “murderous” conservatives as soon as this story broke. I won’t hold my breath. The ends justify the means in their eyes, and all that.

Amen. Been that way in the liberal media for a long time; since the days of Edward R. Marrow… and it is not going to change anytime soon. This is why we Conservative Bloggers are here. To bring out the facts and make sure the people know the truth.

Late Night at the PB Pub – Special Memorial Edition Presents: Teddy Pendergrass

This one’s for Teddy:

Such a young age…. a great loss for R & B…:

Teddy Pendergrass, who became R&B’s reigning sex symbol in the 1970s and '80s with his forceful, masculine voice and passionate love ballads and later became an inspirational figure after suffering a devastating car accident that left him paralyzed, died Wednesday at age 59.

The singer’s son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father died at a hospital in suburban Philadelphia. The singer underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had “a difficult recovery,” his son said.

“To all his fans who loved his music, thank you,” his son said. “He will live on through his music.”

Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down in the 1982 car accident. He spent six months in a hospital but returned to recording the next year with the album “Love Language.”

He returned to the stage at the Live Aid concert in 1985, performing from his wheelchair.

Pendergrass later founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, an organization whose mission is to encourage and help people with spinal cord injuries achieve their maximum potential in education, employment, housing, productivity and independence, according to its Web site

via Soul Singer Teddy Pendergrass Dies in Pa. at 59 – ABC News.

Thoughts and Prayer for the Pendergrass family.

The Vice President's Mom, Jean Biden Dead at 92

Some awfully sad news to report today….

Video via ABC:

The Story via The New York Times:

Jean Biden with her Son, Joe

Her death was announced by Mr. Biden. She had become seriously ill in the last few days, and the vice president had left Washington on Thursday to be with her.

[…]

Mrs. Biden was in the audience when he accepted the vice-presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Aug. 27, 2008.

In his speech, Mr. Biden said she had helped and encouraged him in overcoming his stuttering as a youth, telling him that he stuttered “because I was so bright, I couldn’t get the thoughts out quickly enough.”

After his wife and daughter were killed in an auto accident in December 1972, Mr. Biden said, “She told me, ‘Joey, God sends no cross you cannot bear.’ And when I triumphed, she was quick to remind me it was because of others.”

He added: “My mother’s creed is the American creed: No one is better than you. You are everyone’s equal, and everyone is equal to you.”

There are some Bloggers who would use a time like this to snipe at the Vice President and his Politics. I am not one of those kind of bloggers. Further more, if anyone leaves a stupid comment, I will not approve it and I will add the IP address to the idiot filter.

There is politics and there is real life. This is a real life and a very real family. I, on the behalf of my family; would like to send our most heartfelt condolences to the Biden family on this very sad day. I could not even begin to imagine what it is like, or what it will be like to lose my Mother. I know that Joe’s faith will carry him and I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will be with him during his time of loss. Joe Biden has been through much, and I am sure that he will make it. However, I know loss like this, can hurt like bloody hell. God be with the Vice President and with his family.

Others covering: MyDD, HillBuzz, ABCNEWS, Politics Daily, The Huffington Post

Tragic News: Brittany Murphy has died

This is such a tragic story and one that I wish handle with as much respect and sensitivity as I can….

The Sad Story from TMZ:

Brittany Murphy died early this morning after she went into full cardiac arrest and could not be revived, multiple sources tell TMZ.

She was 32.

A 911 call was made at 8:00 AM from a home in Los Angeles that is listed as belonging to her husband, Simon Monjack, the Los Angeles City Fire Department tells TMZ.

This hits home. I am 37; that is much too young to die.

From her Wikipedia Entry:

She was raised a Baptist and later became a non-denominational Christian.

I also happened to notice this:

Murphy performs for the crew during a United Services Organization (USO) show aboard USS Nimitz on June 19, 2003.

She was, I would assume, at least someone who thought much of our Military.

May God be with her husband and with her family.

May Brittany rest in peace in the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Update: Understandably, This is a huge story in the celebrity Blogosphere. Click here to read the round up at WeSmirch, which is Memeorandum‘s sister site.

Sad News: Oral Roberts dead at age 91

It brings me great sadness to have to write this news story. Nevertheless, it has happened and it is news. It appears the one of founding fathers of television evangelism has died. Oral Roberts has passed away at age 91.

The News comes via Christian Post:

Charismatic Christian leader Dr. Oral Roberts died Tuesday at the age of 91 after slipping and falling in his house over the weekend.

After the fall on Saturday, Roberts was transported to a local hospital in Newport Beach, Calif., where he was treated for broken bones and a “slight case of pneumonia,” according to a report by the ministry on Monday.

Roberts’ PR agency, A. Larry Ross Communications, confirmed the next day that Roberts died Tuesday due to complications from pneumonia and that arrangements for a public memorial service in Tulsa, Okla., are pending and will be announced soon.

“There will be a private family internment,” the agency added.

In a public announcement by the president of Oral Roberts University, which Roberts founded in 1963, Dr. Mark Rutland informed the ORU family that Roberts passed away Tuesday afternoon and asked everyone to join him in prayer for the Roberts family.

“Chancellor Roberts was one of the brilliant spiritual lights of the 20th century and a giant of the Christian faith,” commented Rutland, who was installed earlier this year as ORU’s third president. “At the core of his legacy is a great university that bears his name. Like millions worldwide, I am mourning his passing and am grateful for his visionary life and contributions.”

As many of you know, who this blog regularly; I was for 21 years of my Christian walk, a Pentecostal Christian. I left the Pentecostal movement for good in 2004, due to some of my issue with where they movement was headed as a whole. I can honestly tell you, that I know in my heart that Oral Roberts believed what he preached. Unlike some of my fellow bloggers on the left… and the right; I will not sit here and harp on Pastor Roberts’ failures — after all, he was a moral man and they do fail once and a while. You ask me how I know that Pastor Roberts was sincere. I will tell you, better yet, I will just show you:

11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore , brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die : but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live . 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry , Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God , and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together . 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. – Romans 8:11-21 KJV

Now does this mean that I agree with his belief system? No, it does not. I concluded that the Pentecostal doctrine of the sign gifts being for today as being highly flawed. This was no easy task; it took many hours of study, soul searching and prayer to arrive there. Nevertheless, I would highly remiss if I did not point out the fact that Oral Roberts was, in fact, a minister who is commonly referred to as the ‘Old Line’ Pentecostals. Unlike the modern contemporaries of Roberts, Roberts shunned the title of “Faith Healer”, saying, “God heals — I don’t.” That to me says a library full about his personal character.

I wish to extend my personal heartfelt sympathies to the Roberts family during this most sad time of loss.

Oral and Evelyn - Together at last
Oral and Evelyn - Together at last