Tag: News

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

Obama's unknown supporter who died revealed

As you all know, Obama spoke of a supporter, who succumbed to Cancer. Well, he could not remember her name and predictably, my fellow Conservatives mocked Obama and insinuated that he was lying about it.

Well, here she is:

Dear MoveOn member,

Earlier this week, we received incredibly sad news. Melanie Shouse, a devoted MoveOn Council leader in St. Louis and tireless health care advocate, passed away after a battle with breast cancer.

Melanie was a true fighter. While she was involved in many issues with MoveOn, she always said health care was her heart—and even after treatments began, she came to every single health care rally, speaking out about the injustices she was suffering under our broken health care system.

Melanie’s story is a painful reminder of why we need to fight as hard as we can to get real health care reform passed, now.

Our friends at TrueMajority are gathering messages of condolence to deliver to Melanie’s family this weekend. The email they sent is below. To add your message, just click this link.

http://www.truemajority.org/MelanieShouse/moveon

Thanks for all that you do.

–Kat, Keauna, Ilya, Lenore, and the rest of the team

Melanie Shouse has died.

Melanie was a small business owner from Missouri battling stage four breast cancer, who also had to fight with insurance companies who didn’t want to pay for her treatment. She didn’t take that lying down—she spoke out, she protested, she became a leader in the movement for a more just health care system. Maybe you remember the video thank-you she sent to you and other TrueMajority members last October for being part of that movement.1

The cancer took Melanie’s life last week. To her family, we can only express our deepest regret and sympathy. If you’d like to send your sympathy as well, you can sign our guest book, and we’ll deliver your messages to the family this weekend.

http://www.truemajority.org/MelanieShouse/moveon

We’re sorry we didn’t get health care reform done sooner. Sorry that insurance coverage isn’t more affordable and accessible for millions of Americans who need it. Mostly, we’re sorry to lose our friend.

But Melanie would not have wanted us to stop fighting for reform. In fact, she asked that those attending her memorial service wear their activist t-shirts. So tomorrow, in lieu of flowers, let’s deliver our condolences, put on a campaign t-shirt and remember why we fight and who we are fighting for.

-Matt

Matt Holland
TrueMajority / USAction

1—http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86397&id=18852-8669653-2Jelyyx&t=1

Shame on my fellow Conservatives for not getting the full story, before going to press.

Others, who screwed up: Sister Toldjah, Gateway Pundit, The Greenroom, sara in italy, Flopping Aces, Hot Air, Another Black Conservative, The Jawa Report, The Lonely Conservative and Pundit & Pundette

UPDATED – Tom Tancredo calls for the bringing back of Jim Crow Era Laws, insults Jews

This is just totally unbelievable:

(I apologize in advance for the video source… But it was the only place I could find it)

Video:

Here are some of highlights of the this racist, antisemitic speech:

Tancredo: Every year, the liberal Dems and the RINO Republicans turned up the temperature ever so slightly. It seemed after awhile that we’d all be boiled to death in a cauldron of the nanny state.

And then something really odd happened — mostly because we do not have a civics literacy test before people can vote in this country.

[Applause]

People who cannot even spell the word “vote,” or say it in English — [applause] — put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House. Name is Barack Hussein Obama.

You mean like my WHITE Father, who is 63 years old and has only an 8th Grade education and does not spell very well at all? Who did vote for Obama and his voted Democrat all of his life? No wonder this idiot was eliminated from the Republican primaries early on. I love my father, but I disagree with his politics. I voted for Bob Barr, and my dad respects that. But this racist antisemitic jack ass did not stop there. He went after something else, or group I should say. Jewish people!

If McCain had been elected, the neocons would be writing flattering editorials in the Weekly Standard and the Wall Street Journal. Congressman Gutierrez and President McCain would have been posing in the Rose Garden with big smiles as they received accolades from La Raza for having finally passed an amnesty.

For those who do not get it; Neo-Con is code word for JEWS. Has been with the Paleo-Conservative right and with the Far Left since Bush was elected. Those NEO-CONS! Why didn’t he just come out and say JEWS? Because he is a coward; like Ron Paul, Like Pat Buchanan and the rest of those Jew-Hating bastards, who want to blame the Jews for everything that is wrong with this Country. David Duke would be proud! In fact, here is Duke’s video, essentially saying the same damned thing:

Do you see much difference? Neither do I. 🙄

Shame on that Tea Party Nation for hosting this racist, Antisemitic bastard. If the Republican Party thinks that embracing idiots like this guy is going to help their cause; they are going to be in for a wake up call come election 2010. Because I can tell you right now, I will NOT vote for someone that supports a person like Tom Tancredo. Not at all. Racism and Antisemitism is morally wrong and should not be in the mainstream in politics at all.

Update: For the first time in my Blogging career, I can honestly say that Keith Olbermann is 100% correct here:

Because this is not about illegal immigrants with Tom Tancredo, this is about protecting the white race. Against the Jews, against Blacks and against those who would dare pierce the white establishment in this Country. This is why I side with those who are of sane mind, and call this hatemonger for what he is. I am shocked that my follow bloggers on my side of asle are not more enraged about this, as I am. It speaks of the Conservative Movement and its unwillingness to take a stand against hate speech.

I will take a crate of this please

Lord knows I need it! 😆

Individuals at extremely high risk of developing psychosis appear less likely to develop psychotic disorders following a 12-week course of fish oil capsules containing long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

“Early treatment in schizophrenia and other psychoses has been linked to better outcomes,” the authors write as background information in the article. “Given that subclinical psychotic symptoms may predict psychotic disorder and psychosis proneness in a population may be related to the rate of psychotic disorder, intervention in at-risk individuals holds the promise of even better outcomes, with the potential to prevent full-blown psychotic disorders.”

Long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are a promising intervention in individuals with schizophrenia, who may have an underlying dysfunction in fatty acid metabolism, the authors note. G. Paul Amminger, M.D., of Medical University of Vienna, Austria, and Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia, conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of their effect on the risk of progression to psychosis in 81 individuals at ultra–high risk. These individuals either had mild psychotic symptoms, transient psychosis or a family history of psychotic disorders plus a decrease in functioning. These criteria identify individuals whose risk of becoming psychotic may be as high as 40 percent in a 12-month period.

For 12 weeks, 41 individuals were assigned to take daily fish oil capsules containing 1.2 grams of omega-three polyunsaturated fatty acids and 40 were assigned to take placebo; a total of 76 (93.8 percent) completed the intervention. By the end of the study, two (4.9 percent) in the omega-3 group and 11 (27.5 percent) in the placebo group had transitioned to psychotic disorder. The difference between progression to psychosis was 22.6 percent.

via Fish oil may reduce the risk of psychotic disorders in high-risk individuals.

(H/T Insty Via FuturePundit)

Snort Worthy News Article of the day

Coookieeeeessssss… NOM NOM NOM!

PITTSBURGH (AP) – A San Francisco man claims he was high on a double dose of medical marijuana cookies when he screamed, dropped his pants and attacked crew members on a cross-country flight, forcing its diversion to Pittsburgh, the FBI said Wednesday.

Kinman Chan, 30, was charged in a criminal complaint with interfering with the duties of a flight attendant on allegations that he fought with crew members of US Airways Flight 1447 from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on Sunday. His federal public defender, Jay Finkelstein, declined to comment.

Crew members said Chan made odd gestures before he entered the plane's rear restroom shortly after takeoff and began to scream, according to the complaint.

Chan told the FBI that he “came back to reality” and exited the restroom, at which point the crew noticed his “pants were down, his shirt was untucked and all the compartments in the restroom were opened.”

When crew members tried to get Chan to sit, he fought them and had to be subdued in a choke hold, the complaint said.

Chan told agents who interviewed him in Pittsburgh that he ate marijuana cookies while waiting for his flight to depart in Philadelphia.

“Chan advised he has a medical marijuana card and he took double his normal dose,” the complaint said.

Margaret Philbin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Pittsburgh, said Chan has a legally issued medical marijuana card for a “legitimate” health issue, which she declined to identify.

via FBI: Unruly passenger blames medical pot cookies.

Good grief, what was in that stuff? Chronic? Neon Green? Must have been some good stuff to make a guy act that crazy. 😀 😯

GUEST VOICE – Update from Mike Bouchard

A special message from Mike Bouchard, Republican candidate for the Governor of Michigan.

——-

Dear Friends,

Today, I filed my 2009 annual campaign finance statement with the Michigan Department of State.  I could not be more pleased to announce that in less than 6 months my campaign has raised over $900,000.

When I first announced my intention to run, I was told that any candidate would need $500,000 to be a real contender.  We have almost doubled that amount with the tremendous support continuing to roll-in in 2010. We surpassed that goal by a huge margin – thanks to your strong support.

The race will come down to who shows up on Election Day.  In just 6 short months, over 1750 people have contributed to my campaign. This is exciting as it shows that my support base is rock solid and continuing to grow every day. I am working hard every day to share my ideas on how to fix Lansing and get Michigan back to work and clearly the people of our great state like what they are hearing!

The momentum and energy of this race has increased dramatically with the announcement of my finance numbers.  However, money alone will not win this race.

The voters are looking for a leader that knows how to make Michigan a top tier business state once again. I have the experience, knowledge and backbone needed to make the tough choices that will face our next governor.

The finance report I filed today only shows the vast momentum I have received in such a short time.  Remember, this race will be very competitive.  To make the change we need to turn our state around, I need your help. Please do what over a thousand of your fellow Michiganders have done and join me in my race for governor. Any contribution you can make whether it is $10, 25, or anything you can afford would be appreciated. Together, we can fix Lansing and get Michigan back to work.

Obama Administration to Iran, 'Saber rattle this douche nozzle'

I have to give President Obama credit, he does have his head on straight with Iran. It seems that President Obama’s overtures to that regime in Iran fell on deaf ears; and the President knows it. So, when Iran came out with some saber rattling the President decided enough is enough and is taking the battle to Iran.

The Story Via The U.K. Guardian:

Audio Report:

[podcast]http://download.guardian.co.uk/audio/kip/standalone/world/1265010933312/1925/gdn.new.100201.tm.Chris-McGreal.mp3[/podcast]

Story:

Tension between the US and Iran heightened dramatically today with the disclosure that Barack Obama is deploying a missile shield to protect American allies in the Gulf from attack by Tehran.

The US is dispatching Patriot defensive missiles to four countries – Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait – and keeping two ships in the Gulf capable of shooting down Iranian missiles. Washington is also helping Saudi Arabia develop a force to protect its oil installations.

American officials said the move is aimed at deterring an attack by Iran and reassuring Gulf states fearful that Tehran might react to sanctions by striking at US allies in the region. Washington is also seeking to discourage Israel from a strike against Iran by demonstrating that the US is prepared to contain any threat.

The deployment comes after Obama’s attempts to emphasise diplomacy over confrontation in dealing with Iran – a contrast to the Bush administration’s approach – have failed to persuade Tehran to open its nuclear installations to international controls. The White House is now trying to engineer agreement for sanctions focused on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, believed to be in charge of the atomic programme.

Washington has not formally announced the deployment of the Patriots and other anti-missile systems, but by leaking it to American newspapers the administration is evidently seeking to alert Tehran to a hardening of its position.

The administration is deploying two Patriot batteries, capable of shooting down incoming missiles, in each of the four Gulf countries. Kuwait already has an older version of the missile, deployed after Iraq’s invasion. Saudi Arabia has long had the missiles, as has Israel.

An unnamed senior administration official told the New York Times: “Our first goal is to deter the Iranians. A second is to reassure the Arab states, so they don’t feel they have to go nuclear themselves. But there is certainly an element of calming the Israelis as well.”

President Obama’s domestic policy might be that of Jimmy Carter’s class; but it when it comes to foreign policy, The President is no idiot, that is for sure. President Obama knows that if Iran strikes against Israel that The United States would be drawn into the conflict. This is simply a measure of protection for Israel, The United States AND other Arab Nations as well. As the L.A. Times points out:

The presence of additional forces should not be a major issue within the four countries accepting the stepped-up defenses. Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait all host major U.S. bases, and the government of the United Arab Emirates has a long-standing relationship with the American military.

U.S. officials also are working with allies in the Gulf to ensure freedom of navigation in the region. Arab countries worry that during a crisis, Iran could try to prevent their ships from traversing the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off their oil export business.

Obama administration officials also hope to head off an expanded nuclear arms race in the region. If Tehran acquires a nuclear weapon, or is seen as making progress toward acquiring one, wealthy Arab Gulf governments could seek their own weapons, a scenario Washington views as potentially volatile.

Karl (who’s subbing for AP and Ed, who are at meetings) adds:

Allahpundit/McLaughlin-esque exit question: Do these moves signal that Pres. Obama is taking the Iranian threat seriously, or are they another sign that he is planning for the day that the “international community” failed to stop Iran from getting the bomb?

I hate to say it, but I believe Ed has a point. The Obama Administration does see that this guy crazy man is not playing. President Obama knows that if he does nothing, it will show a sign of weakness. That is something that this President just cannot afford to let happen, for the United States sake and for the sake of the international community as well. While the Paleo-Conservative part of me laments the fact, that this could actually turn into another damned war. I also realize that the Country of Iran, is being ruled by a nut job, who is hell bent on confrontation with the rest of the World. I realize that this is a gamble that the United States and the rest of the World cannot afford to make. It encourages me to see that Obama realizes this and is upping the ante. I just pray that Iran sees this and blinks. Because the last thing we need right now, with our economy and involvement in other theaters; is another damned war.