Tag: Media

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.

The Republican Party's Resident Shrieking Harpy gets a Fox Contract

Oh Wonderful, wonder what she’ll do, show Russia from her house?

Former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska has signed on as a contributor to the Fox News Channel.

The network confirmed that Ms. Palin would appear on the network’s programming on a regular basis as part of a multiyear deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Ms. Palin will not have her own regular program, one person with knowledge of the deal said, though she will host a series that will run on the network from time to time. This person would not elaborate, but the network does have a precedent for such a series. Oliver L. North is the host of an occasionally running documentary series on the military called “War Stories.

via Sarah Palin to Contribute to Fox News – Media Decoder Blog

Hmmmm, what’s it going to be called; “How to keep the media from finding out if your daughter is knocked up”? God knows that’s what she’s good at. The good thing about this is, that she most likely will not be running for President, which is a good thing for the Republican Party as a whole. We need someone that can articulate fiscal Conservative ideas, not stupid muddled populism. Besides all that, we need someone who was actually raised here in the continental 48 and not some psycho shrieking harpy; who was raised on some obscure piece of land, that was not even a state in the union until 1959. We need restrained, disciplined leadership. Not some idiot moose hunting soccer mom, who thinks she on some sort of mission from God and would push the nuke button at a drop of a hat.

Bottom Line: Sarah Palin is the perfect embodiment of female entitlement and the highly hypocritical Evangelical Christian right. That is the LAST thing we need in the White House. I love Jesus and believe the Bible to be literally true; However, I do not want my Country being run as the Christian equivalent of Sharia law. Keep Christianity where it belongs, in the home and in the Church; and out of the Federal Government.

Breaking News: London Police Board Plane due to passanger making threats

Man, decide to take the weekend off and all hell breaks loose… Oy!

The Video, Via Sky News:

The Story, via Sky News:

Armed police have boarded a plane at Heathrow airport and are believed to have arrested two men after a “verbal threat”.

Passenger Cameron McLean said: “Police just swarmed the guy and rushed him out.

“I think he was a white male. There was another one but I didn’t see him.”

He said the man was taken out in handcuffs then sniffer dogs were brought on board.

An airport spokesman said: “I can confirm there has been an incident on the EK004 flight to Dubai.

“Police are attending. It’s not affecting the rest of the airport which remains opens.”

Sky’s crime correspondent Martin Brunt said: “A verbal threat of some description was made. It was overheard. It was reported to members of the crew.

“They were understandably very concerned.

“They stopped the plane. The plane was taken back to some part of Heathrow, at which point anti-terror police boarded the plane.

“I think, at the moment, this was just a verbal threat but, of course, an investigation ensues until police are satisfied.

“It’s an indication of how jumpy airlines and anti-terror police are.”

Fox News is now reporting that it was group of drunken passengers. But it does show how jittery the authorities are here in America and in England.

Folks, if you’re flying, do not, I repeat, DO NOT make a stupid remark while flying. You will go to jail.  It is being reported that these guys were trying to be funny. How stupid. They should be jailed for making false terror threats.

It is being reported that the Heathrow Airport is back to normal.

Update: Fox News is now reporting that three men have been arrested in London.

Memo to C-Span, your video embeds do not work

I do not know who runs this part of C-Span, but their video embeds are not working. I tried, I embedded and it did not display.

If anyone that reads here, happens to know someone who works there, might want to pass this on.

When MSNBC, Fox News, and CNN’s video clips actually work, and the Government funded ones don’t; that’s pretty flippin’ sad, if you ask me. 🙄

BREAKING NEWS: Michael Yon arrested at Seattle airport

(H/T Ed @HotAir)

That’s right, Michael Yon, famed independent war corespondent was detained at the airport, handcuffs and all.

For not disclosing how much money he makes…. 🙄

From his facebook fan page:

Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eve…ntually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies.

and…:

Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eventually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies.

and….:

When they handcuffed me, I said that no country has ever treated me so badly. Not China. Not Vietnam. Not Afghanistan. Definitely not Singapore or India or Nepal or Germany, not Brunei, not Indonesia, or Malaysia, or Kuwait or Qatar or United Arab Emirates. No county has treated me with the disrespect can that can be expected from our border bullies.

Jazz Shaw asks, “WTF??!?!”:

Very strange. Even if you’re into profiling, Yon would hardly fit one you’d be interested in. Of course, his passport, by now, doubtless has a list of countries stamped into it which could give an inspector pause, but that’s no excuse. Very, very strange. I expect this one will be high profile enough that you’ll see an apology coming from the government.

Ed Morrissey weighs in:

Unless there is more to this story, an apology would be the least owed to Yon.  When an American citizen with a valid passport presents himself for travel, there should be some reasonable screening to verify identity and to determine whether there is a physical risk, ie, weapons and the like.  Why should border security be interested in Yon’s annual income?  How does that relate to national security and border protection?  Unless this is an arm of the Internal Revenue Service, it doesn’t, and Yon was right to refuse to answer the question.

Instead of hassling American citizens about their income or watching the ice melt, how about paying attention to actual security and intelligence issues?  Please?

I must say that I agree with both of these assessments, and I personally believe those responsible for detaining Mr. Yon, ought to be fired. I honestly have to ask this question, that neither Jazz nor Ed would even ask. If Michael Yon had been, say, Arabic or even black; would he have been detained? I somehow doubt it. But, because he’s a White American, he gets asked a stupid question and because he refuses to answer it, which was well within his rights; he gets detained. Welcome to Obama’s America people. Where white men are oppressed, interrogated and harassed; by the black power establishment. You say this isn’t about race? I disagree. This is all about race and as long as Barack Hussein Obama is President, you will continue to see this sort of nonsense happening in America. Bank on it.

Others: Michelle Malkin, Outside The Beltway, Gateway Pundit, Mudville Gazette, The Jawa Report, Atlas Shrugs, JammieWearingFool, Moonbattery

Why do Conservatives say and do stupid stuff like this?

I saw this over on a leftist Blog and I really did not want to use their video. Fortunately, my favorite EeyorePundit came to the rescue.

Um, Mr. Hume? You’re not helping at all. Man, how would you like to have been in that little situation? Oy. 🙄 did you notice that little uncomfortable moment, after Brit spoke? Holy Toledo. 😮

I mean, why didn’t Brit Hume just say, “Hey Darky, your stupid religion ain’t good enough; you need to get with the white man’s theology in order to get your career back.” I know, that’s an extreme interpretation, but Oy Vey… talk about a foot in mouth moment there. 😯

As expected, this little silly remark has become a big time Blog story. Memeorandum has the roundup.

Charles Johnson does BloggingHeads.tv

I am presenting this video, because quite frankly, I feel that in some, not all, instances Charles Johnson has gotten a bad rap on the right, especially by those who are to the right of me.

Here are the things that I did NOT agree with at all or did not like in the video:

  1. The accusation that Robert Stacy McCain is a Racist Bigot; that is, I am afraid, utter nonsense. If I thought that Mr. McCain was even slightly like that, I would never, ever link to his Blog.
  2. Conn Carroll’s idiotic eye rolling and childish facial gestures in the video, if you do not agree with someone, just say so and move the hell on, do not act like a child. Further, his badgering of Charles on his position on Abortion, which is a classical libertarian position, that it should be a state issue was idiotic, classless, and lame; shame on Conn for this.

Here are the things that I do agree with:

  1. Global Warming: I agree that it is not a hoax, however, like Charles; I believe that it has been terribly politicized to the point that even the scientific data has possibly even been altered.
  2. On the racist imagery at the Tea party protests. Yes, I saw the watch doctor signs and yes, I thought they were highly offensive to me too. Yes, I know what the left did to Bush; does that justify that sort of nonsense? No. It does not. Charles does make a point to say that he does not think everyone at the Protests were racists. I give him that.
  3. I give Charles mad damned props for saying on that video, what I have said on this blog for a while now. The damned Birther controversy is steeped in outright racism. I was one of the first blogs on the right that reported that much of the misinformation that was being passed around about Obama’s citizenship was taken straight from the Anti-Semitic and racist website Stormfront dot org.
  4. Charles Johnson did admit that he was a socially a liberal. Glad he came out and admitted it.
  5. I give props to Charles for admitting that he did not have the information on items thrown at him, this showed that he is not a blowhard, as he is portrayed on the right by some. I believe that stems from his banning of people on his site; which I personal believe he has a right to do.

The thing or things that I agree half, and half disagree with Johnson:

  1. His Paranoia of the Religious Right is obvious. I believe his fears are a bit unfounded. I do not believe that the Religious Right is as big of a threat as Johnson might believe. However, I do agree with his assessment that Religion and politics, just do not mix. I have believed that for years. This is what brought us Ronald Reagan and brought us the disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush.
  2. Another point that I, in a way, agree with Johnson on is the John Birch Society. First, his accusation of the John Birch Society being a racist origination in a monolithic sense is just very ridiculous. However, it is fair to point out, that there were those in the early days of the John Birch Society that were involved in those sorts of affairs. What Johnson does not know, or is not telling; is that the John Birch Society purged itself of those sorts of people back at some point in its history. Further more, Johnson points to William F. Buckley’s basic sidelining of the JBS. The criticism of the John Birch Society, regardless of what you might read or may have heard, boils down to this — The John Birch Society was an non- interventionist group and was, and still is an anti-United Nations Council group. William F. Buckley worked at the United Nations at one point in his career, and he rejected the notion of total non- interventionism; thus the rub between the two parties. As for Johnson’s accusation of conspiracy theories, Johnson either is misinformed or is being purposefully deceitful; but more than likely, he gets his information from leftist sources. The JBS has done more to dismiss these sorts of nonsensical theories, than anyone else has. I know this from reading their site. For what it is worth; I am not, nor have I ever been a member of the JBS. I just actually read their site, instead of making silly assumptions.

There you have it, my take on the video… here’s the video and if you want to give me any crap for posting, feel free, but let me warn you. You start acting like a troll. I do not care who you are. I will kick your sorry butt to the curb, just as I do the rest of the trolls around here.

Here is the video:

Rush Limbaugh is A-Okay

Here’s the Video of his Presser:

Here’s a note from his Website:

To my listeners,

Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts over the past several days. Today, I am leaving Queens Hospital in Honolulu, feeling strong and rested. I offer my deepest thanks to the staff and administration there, who provided excellent care and supervision.

I’m going to take several days of rest over this weekend and the early part of next week, and will be back on the radio with you sometime next week, taking the advice of so many of you to rest and fully recover.

I wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year in 2010!

With great thanks for your support and love,

Rush Limbaugh

Here’s Memeornadum’s Round up on Rush’s Story.

I am just glad the ol’ fella is going to be okay.