**Written by Doug Powers Former congresswoman and the first female VP candidate, Geraldine Ferraro, has passed away: Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman nominated for U.S. vice president by a major political party, died today at age 75 after a long battle with blood cancer. Ferraro ran with Democratic nominee Walter Mondale in the 1984 election; […]

**Written by Doug Powers From the time I saw Airplane in a movie theater at the age of about 15, I was hooked on Leslie Nielsen’s style. His comedic timing and delivery was impeccable. He’d had a lengthy career before that which covered many genres and characters, but Airplane directors and writers Jim Abrahams and […]

**Written by guest-blogger Doug Powers This past week, Art Linkletter and Gary Coleman died, and this morning came news that actor Dennis Hopper has passed after a long battle with cancer: LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hollywood actor Dennis Hopper, best known for directing and starring in the 1969 cult classic “Easy Rider,” died Saturday at […]

Not a….good day.

Class act.

Class act.

A quiet GOP senator from Wyoming who avoided the spotlight has passed away. Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas, a three-term Republican who stayed clear of the Washington limelight and political catfights, died Monday. He was 74. The senator’s family issued a statement saying he died Monday evening at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He […]

The body found in the Euphrates River has been identified as Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr. “I was honored to have him serve this country,” Joseph Anzack Sr. told the [Torrance] Breeze. “I know he went over there and made a difference… It was an honor to be his father.” Keep his family and the families […]

Local paper reporting…. Update: First obituaries coming in…McClatchy…. Admire him or revile him, the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s role in American history will reverberate long past his death Tuesday at the age of 73. *** His legacy and shadow are sure to come up in the GOP debate tonight. Here’s a flashback on McCain and Falwell. […]

Wert drowned this weekend while saving two children in distress at Atlantic Beach, N.C. “He was always there to help,” said Lt. Col. William Conley, commander of Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 2. Read the whole story. Sounds like he was a great man and Marine. Keep him and his family in your prayers.

A giant passes: Mstislav Rostropovich, the ebullient master cellist who courageously fought for the rights of Soviet-era dissidents and later triumphantly played Bach suites below the crumbling Berlin Wall, has died. He was 80. Rostropovich died Friday in a Moscow cancer hospital, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. Rostropovich’s spokeswoman, Natalia Dollezhal, confirmed to The Associated […]

One of my favorite cartoonists, the brilliant Johnny Hart, died yesterday–Holy Saturday. He was funny, fierce, and faithful: Cartoonist Johnny Hart, whose award-winning “B.C.” comic strip appeared in more than 1,300 newspapers worldwide, died Saturday while working at his home in Endicott. He was 76. “He had a stroke,” Hart’s wife, Bobby, said Sunday. “He […]

A Florida reader sent along a news item about the memorial service for U.S. Army PFC Branden Cummings: About 1,000 people crammed into the Brevard Memorial Funeral Home and spilled into the parking lot for the funeral of U.S. Army PFC Branden Cummings of Titusville. Cummings, who died, Feb. 14 in Iraq, was remembered by […]

Take time to read this. *** Don’t forget: Appeal for Courage.

The immortal words of 2LT Mark Daily live on. The Los Angeles Times has picked up the story: “Mark Daily wrote on MySpace that he joined the Army to help the suffering people of Iraq. In death, his words have become a call to service.” A small sample: In a 2005 videotape of his officers’ […]

Deborah Orin-Eilbeck, the NYPost’s longtime D.C. bureau chief, died last night of cancer. The NYPost has the story here. I had always been a fan of her political reporting, and linked to several of her stories here over the years. We met at a Washington event a few years ago, and she was as warm […]

Army 2nd Lt. Mark J. Daily, 23 A reader e-mails that 2LT Mark Daily was killed in an IED attack in Mosul along with three other soldiers. He was named the ROTC’s outstanding cadet for 2005 and also a Distinguished Military Graduate, the highest ROTC award. The OC Register profiles him here. This was his […]

Eric Fettman pays tribute to New York Post Middle East correspondent and reporting legend, Uri Dan, who died on Sunday.

Jeane Kirkpatrick, the former U.N. ambassador, has passed away (hat tip – The Corner). Her death was announced Friday at the senior staff meeting of the U.S. mission to the United Nations. Spokesman Richard Grenell said that Ambassador John Bolton asked for a moment of silence. A death announcement is also posted on the Web […]

Very sad news: The body of C-NET editor James Kim has been found in the Oregon woods. C-NET coverage here. San Francisco Chronicle reports: James Kim, missing in the southern Oregon mountains since he left his stranded family Saturday to look for help, was found dead today, authorities said. A helicopter crew spotted his body […]

One of America’s greatest intellectual heroes of freedom passed away last night. Here’s the Friedman Foundation’s statement: Today, upon news of the death of Nobel Laureate economist Dr. Milton Friedman, Gordon St. Angelo, president and CEO of the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, offered the following statement: America has lost a true visionary and […]

Terrible news: A leading Afghan official working on women’s rights has been shot dead in the southern province of Kandahar. Safia Amajan, head of the province’s women’s department, was leaving her home for work when a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire, police said. She may have been targeted by Taleban militants because of their […]

Deeply saddening news at the end of this 9/11 anniversary week. The outspoken lioness Oriana Fallaci has died of cancer: Oriana Fallaci, one of Italy’s best-known writers and war correspondents who goaded the world’s great and issued a vitriolic assault on Islam after the September 11 attacks on the United States, died on Friday aged […]

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer profiles Pamela Waechter, who died at the hands of accused anti-Israel shooter Naveed Haq on Friday. At Temple B’nai Torah in Bellevue, where the 58-year-old Waechter was a member for about 30 years, services went on. But unlike most Saturdays, there was a police officer sitting in a parked squad car outside […]

The DoD announced today the death of Staff Sgt. Raymond J. Plouhar, 30, of Lake Orion, Mich.: Plouhar died June 26 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. Plouhar was exploited […]