Marcel Marceau, the master of mime who transformed silence into poetry with lithe gestures and pliant facial expressions that spoke to generations of young and old, has died. He was 84.

What an incredible life this man led:

The son of a butcher, the mime was born Marcel Mangel on March 22, 1923, in Strasbourg, France. His father Charles, a baritone with a love of song, introduced his son to the world of music and theater at an early age. The boy was captivated by the silent film stars of the era: Chaplin, Buster Keaton and the Marx brothers.

When the Nazis marched into eastern France, he fled with family members to the southwest and changed his last name to Marceau to hide his Jewish origins.

With his brother Alain, Marceau became active in the French Resistance, altering children’s identity cards by changing birth dates to trick the Nazis into thinking they were too young to be deported. Because he spoke English, he was recruited to be a liaison officer with Gen. George S. Patton’s army.

His father was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944.

“Yes, I cried for him,” Marceau said. But he said he also thought of the others killed.

“Among those kids was maybe an Einstein, a Mozart, somebody who (would have) found a cancer drug,” he told reporters in 2000. “That is why we have a great responsibility. Let us love one another.”

May he Rest in Peace.

HT: Jules Crittenden

Folks, I hope you will bear with me as this post will be lengthy. There was sad news at Blackfive late yesterday afternoon:

A respected member of the blogging community who also happened to be serving our nation was killed in Iraq Wednesday.

There was a piece published by this young man in February at the New Media Journal which I must admit, given the circumstances now somehow takes on a new meaning.

When you give your life in the service of this Nation, you at least should know that many have, will and do support you and your mission.

Unfortunately, there are many serving today as there have been in the past who must have felt or feel exactly what was penned in this post.

And I am ignorant to the rest of the world…or so I thought.

But even thousands of miles away, in Ramadi, Iraq, the cries and screams and complaints of the ungrateful reach me. In a year, I will be thrust back into society from a life and mentality that doesn’t fit your average man. And then, I will be alone. And then, I will walk down the streets of America, and see the yellow ribbon stickers on the cars of the same people who compare our President to Hitler.

I will watch the television and watch the Cindy Sheehans, and the Al Frankens, and the rest of the ignorant sheep of America spout off their mouths about a subject they know nothing about. It is their right, however, and it is a right that is defended by hundreds of thousands of boys and girls scattered across the world, far from home. I use the word boys and girls, because that’s what they are. In the Army, the average age of the infantryman is nineteen years old. The average rank of soldiers killed in action is Private First Class.

People like Cindy Sheehan are ignorant. Not just to this war, but to the results of their idiotic ramblings, or at least I hope they are. They don’t realize its effects on this war. In this war, there are no Geneva Conventions, no cease fires. Medics and Chaplains are not spared from the enemy’s brutality because it’s against the rules. I can only imagine the horrors a military Chaplain would experience at the hands of the enemy. The enemy slinks in the shadows and fights a coward’s war against us. It is effective though, as many men and women have died since the start of this war. And the memory of their service to America is tainted by the inconsiderate remarks on our nation’s news outlets. And every day, the enemy changes…only now, the enemy is becoming something new. The enemy is transitioning from the Muslim extremists to Americans. The enemy is becoming the very people whom we defend with our lives. And they do not realize it. But in denouncing our actions, denouncing our leaders, denouncing the war we live and fight, they are isolating the military from society…and they are becoming our enemy.

Democrats and peace activists like to toss the word “quagmire” around and compare this war to Vietnam. In a way they are right, this war is becoming like Vietnam. Not the actual war, but in the isolation of country and military. America is not a nation at war; they are a nation with its military at war. Like it or not, we are here, some of us for our second, or third times; some even for their fourth and so on. Americans are so concerned now with politics, that it is interfering with our war.

Terrorists cut the heads off of American citizens on the internet…and there is no outrage, but an American soldier kills an Iraqi in the midst of battle, and there are investigations, and sometimes soldiers are even jailed…for doing their job.

It is absolutely sickening to me to think our country has come to this. Why are we so obsessed with the bad news? Why will people stop at nothing to be against this war, no matter how much evidence of the good we’ve done is thrown in their face? When is the last time CNN or MSNBC or CBS reported the opening of schools and hospitals in Iraq? Or the leaders of terror cells being detained or killed? It’s all happening, but people will not let up their hatred of President Bush. They will ignore the good news, because it just might show people that Bush was right.

America has lost its will to fight. It has lost its will to defend what is right and just in the world. The crazy thing of it all is that the American people have not even been asked to sacrifice a single thing. It’s not like World War II, where people rationed food and turned in cars to be made into metal for tanks. The American people have not been asked to sacrifice anything. Unless you are in the military or the family member of a servicemember, its life as usual…the war doesn’t affect you.

But it affects us. And when it is over and the troops come home and they try to piece together what’s left of them after their service…where will the detractors be then? Where will the Cindy Sheehans be to comfort and talk to soldiers and help them sort out the last couple years of their lives, most of which have been spent dodging death and wading through the deaths of their friends? They will be where they always are, somewhere far away, where the horrors of the world can’t touch them. Somewhere where they can complain about things they will never experience in their lifetime; things that the young men and women of America have willingly taken upon their shoulders.

May this brave warrior rest in peace, and may he know how many appreciate the ultimate sacrifice both he and his family made so we may continue to enjoy the freedoms we cherish so dearly.

(There is a bit more at the link if you care to read the balance of Sgt. Jeffers post)

~J~ says: I would like to add this hymn to this post as I think it fits perfectly as a comfort to Sgt. Jeffers’ family:

There is a place of quiet rest near to the heart of God, A
place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God.

0 Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God Hold
us who wait before Thee near to the heart of God.

There is a place of full release near to the heart of God, A
place where all is joy and peace, near to the heart of God.

0 Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God Hold
us who wait before Thee near to the heart of God.

Cleland Boyd McAfee

This hymn was written by a Presbyterian minister when he found out his two nieces had died of diphtheria one day apart. He had no other way to comfort himself or the family than by penning the song that God promises we are near to His heart.

May Sgt. Jeffers rest in eternal peace with his Eternal Father.

Luciano Pavarotti received many standing ovations during his long, incredible career. His popularity spanned the globe as is well evidenced in this slide show which provides many tasteful pictures from his funeral.

It’s not the dignitaries which interested me but the throngs of ordinary people who came to pay their last repects to this icon of Opera.

Oh, to be so loved by so many.

HT: Roger L. Simon

Luciano Pavarotti has passed away.

Luciano Pavarotti, whose vibrant high C’s and ebullient showmanship made him one the most beloved tenors, has died, his manager told The Associated Press. He was 71.

Pavarotti had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year and underwent further treatment in August 2007. His manager, Terri Robson, told the AP in an e-mail statement that Pavarotti died at his home in Modena, Italy, at 5 a.m. local time.

“The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life. In fitting with the approach that characterised his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness,” the statement said.

May he rest in peace.

Time sure does fly. It seems only yesterday we heard of the untimely death of the “Crocodile Hunter”, Steve Irwin. Now on the anniversary of his death comes news that another adventurer of a different sort has gone missing.

Teams searched rugged terrain Tuesday for a plane carrying aviation adventurer Steve Fossett, the first person to circle the world solo in a balloon, but crews had little idea where the plane might be, federal officials said.

Fossett took off in the single engine Bellanca at 8:45 a.m. Monday at a private airstrip in western Nevada and didn’t return as scheduled. A friend reported him missing, said Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Maryland.

In the case of Steve Irwin, he died doing what he loved best, making contact with creatures of the earth.

While Mr. Fosset’s fate is yet determined, he also has followed all of his dreams and lived his life to the fullest. They are both an inspiration to others to do the same.

There was news late yesterday of another accident at the Utah mine where workers have been trapped for over a week.

A seismic “bump” in a coal mine injured nine people working to find trapped miners, sending at least four rescue workers to hospitals, authorities said.

One rescue worker was in very serious condition at Castleview Hospital, and two were in serious condition there, said Jeff Manley, hospital chief executive.

At least one rescue worker was flown from the Crandall Canyon mine to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, said Jess Gomez, a spokesman for Salt Lake City’s LDS Hospital, which dispatches medical helicopters in Utah.

“It is believed that the accident was caused by a bump. … We are in the process of doing a head count to ensure that everyone is accounted for,” said Dirk Fillpot, spokesman for the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

A bump commonly refers to pressure inside the mine that shoots coal from the walls with great force, which seismologists believe caused the Aug. 6 cave-in that trapped six men inside the central Utah mine.

A “final count” determined that nine workers were injured, he said. The agency had earlier said at least 10 were injured. The bump occurred about 8:30 p.m. EDT.

This has been such a tragedy for the workers, the rescuers, and their families. How disheartening it must be to believe you are making progress toward a rescue or recovery only to be disappointed many times over. This accident during the recovery process once again proves the dangers associated with the mining industry.

Prayers go out today for those still trapped, those injured in this latest accident, the rescue crews and their families.

Story

Update: It appears three of the rescue workers have lost their lives attempting to save their friends and co-workers. More on this tragic occurrence.

A conservative talk show host that has completely gone off the edge. There will never be civility in this country as long as people like this are around. I’ll bet that there is a lot of people out there who are more than happy to associate themselves with the likes of Michael Savage or the Turks on air american.

On the July 30 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage reacted to news that Chief Justice John Roberts had suffered a seizure that day by raising the possibility that “his health was in some way tampered with by the Democrats.” Savage said, “Something’s wrong with this picture,” after noting that Roberts’ seizure occurred just three days after Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said he would seek in general to reject any future Supreme Court nomination made by President Bush. Schumer told the American Constitution Society (ACS) in a July 27 speech: “I will recommend to my colleagues that we should not confirm any Bush nominee to the Supreme Court except in extraordinary circumstances.” Schumer said that, since the confirmation of Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, the court had come to represent “what a diminishing clique of conservative ideologues wish for.”

Savage asked, “Am I to believe there’s no connection between Charles Schumer on Friday saying he would never appoint, or never, excuse me, approve another Bush appointment to the court, to any court? And then the chief justice suffers a so-called seizure two days later? You’re telling me there’s no possibility of a conspiracy by the Democrats to have caused this seizure in some manner?” He added: “Tell me it’s not possible, and I’ll tell you you’re a liar.”

Story

We all know the overuse of medications at any time can lead to dire consequences. Anything taken orally would come to mind as the culprits which send most individuals to emercency rooms or worse. In this
case however, the reason for a young girls death comes as an absolute shock.

Teen Dies From Muscle Cream Overdose

The medical examiner announced on Thursday that the 17-year-old track star, Arielle Newman of Castleton Corners, N.Y., died from a toxic dose of sports cream, the Staten Island Advance reported.

Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s officer told the Advance that the Notre Dame Academy track star’s blood contained lethal amounts of methyl salicylate, the active ingredient found in muscle rubs such as BenGay and Icy Hot.

Borakove said the petite girl used the topical medication excessively, allowing the poisons to accumulate in her body over an undetermined amount of time.

How frightening is this? As one who has a few old joints which from time to time need a bit of assistance, a story like this makes one take a step back and question exactly what we are doing to our bodies.

I cannot imagine being the parents of this seventeen year old left with the knowledge that something purchased over the counter to alleviate pain could take her life at such a tender age. It is my understanding that the ingredients in these analgesic rubs is similiar to those in aspirin (which would make sense) but how many of us would think when we use a topical rub it could eventually kill us?

Prayers go out to this family and may Ms. Newman rest in peace.