Sherman Hemsley Passes Away

                       
It was reported that Sherman Hemsley, the sarcastic comedian of the breakout television show The Jeffersons, died on Tuesday. He was 74 years old according to the Washington Post. He never married and had no children.

The Jeffersons a spin-off of All In The Family rose to top prominence with issues that tackled drugs, suicide, poverty, racism. gun violence and social themes. With a catchy theme song "We're Movin' On Up!", people got accustomed to George Jefferson, wife Louise (Weezy), son Lionel, housekeeper Florence and the neighbors of the East New York deluxe apartment.

Sherman Hemsley grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He dropped out of school and joined the United States Air Force, where he served for four years. On leaving the Air Force, he returned to Philadelphia where he worked for the Post Office during the day while attending acting school at night. He then moved to New York, continuing to work for the Post Office during the day while working as an actor at night.

Sherman Hemsley performed with local groups in Philadelphia before moving to New York to study with Lloyd Richards at the Negro Ensemble Company. Shortly after, he joined Vinnette Carroll's Urban Arts Company appearing in these productions: But Never Jam Today, The Lottery, Old Judge Mose is Dead, Moon On A Rainbow Shawl, Step Lively Boys, Croesus, and The Witch. He made his Broadway debut in Purlie and toured with the show for a year. In the summer of 1972 he joined the Vinnette Carroll musical Sorry, I Can't Cope ensemble in Toronto, followed a month later in the American Conservatory Theater production at the Geary Theater. This production had Hemsley in Act I performing the solo "Lookin' Over From Your Side" and in "Sermon" in Act II.

George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley) and Weezy (Isabel Sanford)

Though Hemsley was largely typecast as George Jefferson, he continued to work steadily after the show's cancellation. He teamed up with the show's original cast members when The Jeffersons moved to Broadway for a brief period.

Hemsley joined the cast of NBC's Amen in 1986 as Ernest Frye, an unscrupulous church deacon much like his George Jefferson character. The show enjoyed a run of five seasons, ending in 1991. Hemsley then was a voice actor in the ABC live-action puppet series Dinosaurs, where he played Bradley P. Richfield, main character Earl's sadistic boss. The show ran for five seasons, ending in 1994.

Hemsley largely retired from television acting, although he and Isabel Sanford appeared together in the late 1990s and in the early 2000s, reprising their roles in guest spots on television programs such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, commercials for The Gap, Old Navy and Denny's, and dry cleaning conventions. He and Sanford also made a cameo appearance in the film Sprung. They continued to work together on occasion until Sanford began having health problems leading to her death in 2004.

With Marla Gibbs who played wise cracking housekeeper Florence Johnston, Hemlsey and Sanford were a part of American television's iconic show The Jeffersons.

In recent years prior to his death, Hemsley has made a voice appearance as himself in the Seth McFarlane animated comedy Family Guy. He appeared in the film American Pie Presents: The Book of Love. In 2011, he reprised his role as George Jefferson once again, along with Marla Gibbs as Florence Johnston in Tyler Perry's House of Payne.

Small Smiles: A Little Girl's Story!

Veronica Moser-Sullivan was the youngest victim of the Aurora tragedy. 

The tragedy in Aurora, Colorado is an ongoing issue. This is one of the worst shootings in American history.

This equals up to the mass shooting at Fort Hood Army Base, in Texas. Nidal Hasan was the military officer who opened fired on his fellow soldiers killing 13 and injuring numerous others. This tragedy was in November 2009. Conservatives were blaming President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder for the tragedy. They claim that the president didn't even want to acknowledge Hasan's ties to al-Qaeda and the Yemeni-American cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki. The cleric inspired the Christmas airline bomber, the Time Square bomber, the cargo airline bombing plot and the call for the assassination of a woman who wanted to mock prophet Mohammad. Conservatives want to say that Hasan is a terrorist. Some claim that he was a lone wolf gunman. Hasan is facing the death penalty if the Leavenworth officers find him guilty on mass murder. 

Shooting suspect James Holmes is accused of killing 12 and injuring over 60 people.

                                 
James Holmes could have been inspired by conservatives such as Michael Savage, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. Of course, conservatives rush to blame the president for politicizing the event and blames liberals for rushing to judgment in determining this person is a conservative. Now if he was determined to be a conservative, they would make the claim that he was a "Democrat." Joel Pollak of Breitbart News has already put forth the notion that since he's a gun-lover and hoarding ammunition, he's a liberal Occupy Wall Street activist. But you also get the NRA warning that the president wanted to take guns the moment he's gotten into the White House. Of course, President Barack Obama hasn't signed any legislation that takes firearms. 

But of course, that hasn't stop activists like the current president of the NRA, the perennial candidate for higher office Wayne LaPierre. This gentleman has been on the speaking circuit trying to scare up some fundraising. This political debate over gun control is a controversial issue. The president and the Democrats are tepid in this because they know the conservatives are riled up and this issue will become a defining issue.

                     

Veronica and her mother Ashley Moser were attending the Batman movie when James Holmes attacked. Ashley suffered severe injuries. She had a miscarriage of her unborn child. She is now likely paralyzed and her daughter was killed by the gunfire.

Today we talk about the young girl who didn't even get an opportunity to see her future. And of course, the hardest thing to hear is the death of a small child by a firearm.

Veronica Moser-Sullivan was the youngest victim of this horrible tragedy. The little girl with her mother Ashley wanted to get a glimpse of the Batman movie. Holmes opened fire injuring Veronica and her mother.

Ashley was severely wounded. Her family told Ashley the tragic news of Veronica being killed. The family fears that if Ashley see the news of the tragedy, it may send her into shock! Ashley is pregnant and the shock could injure her child. The injuries could leave the young mother paralyzed. It was reported that her injuries took a toll on her unborn. The young mother had a miscarriage.

According to The Daily Telegraph UK, the young mother shot in the neck and stomach during the Colorado massacre was said to be "absolutely devastated" on Sunday night after finally being told of her six-year-old's daughter's death at the hands of gunman James Holmes.

"I don't know how but she still has the baby," her brother Robert Sierra told the Daily Mail. "It's a miracle as she was shot in the stomach."

Her grandmother Jean Moser told The Daily Telegraph that family members had been told that Ashley's condition was too serious and doctors had warned against telling her news of Veronica's death too early.

The heartbreaking tale emerged as the town of Aurora, near Denver, reels from one of the worst mass shootings in US history, which left 59 injured in addition to those who were killed.

On Sunday night Barack Obama was due to visit the town to meet victims and their families. The president has suspended his election campaign in the wake of the massacre. Mr Obama and Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, have come under pressure to address the issue of gun control in America.

13 year old girl named Kaylan tried to save the little girl lost in this horrible tragedy.

The tragedy has a shade of heroism. A teenager managed to rush to the aid of the young girl. The media announced that the young girl named Kaylan who is aged 13 rushed to the aid of Veronica. But with all the panic, some were told to leave the victims.

Many felt that this tragedy could have been avoided if some of the moviegoers would have been armed as well. That's the irrational thinking of people who want "to be the hero!" No one knew what the outcome would of been if you had a person shooting in the crowd.

Movie theaters aren't well protected. Anyone could enter a movie theater and let off a weapon of mass destruction let alone use of a firearm.

The stories of heroism and tales of survival brings some closure. You can't bring back the many lives lost under gunfire. From Aurora to Chicago. From the United States to Afghanistan, people are dying at the hands of firearms.We here at Journal de la Reyna mourn the lost of Veronica Moser-Sullivan and every other victim of this tragedy.

Courtesy of CBS News

What A Boob! PA Shoplifter Lifts More Than Groceries!

Aishana Clayton 

Aishana Clayton makes herself the target of conservative and White supremacist ire! Another wacky event that features a Black person.

The usual stuff that drives bigots online to attack the Black community and President Barack Obama. They'll probably use the snide comment that this was one of [Obama's] children! The Pennsylvania police nab the young woman after she makes the decision to steal but when caught, "her girls" were present and accounted for.

The Upper Derby Police have to deal with shoplifting, but this one is getting a some attention.

According to the Huffington Post and NBC Philadelphia, Aishana Clayton was caught on camera stealing diapers from a Pathmark store in Upper Derby. Store security managed to apprehend her but she put up a fight and injured a 47 year old worker.

After Clayton managed to maneuver through the store security, she wiggled out of her shirt went showed her breast. While fleeing, she was apparently topless and got into a vehicle and left the store.

Many are surprised that she was bold enough to allow her breasts to be seen in the public.

"Her breasts were swinging as she ran to the car", said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

Clayton is on parole until November 2012, but has four prior convictions for retail theft as well as arrests for aggravated assault and attempted murder.

She is facing charges of robbery, retail theft, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and harassment.

An Ohio Man Sacrificed His Life For His Girlfriend!

Matt McQuinn was a victim of the tragic Aurora shooting. He sacrificed his life to protect his girlfriend Samantha Yowler. The young couple were watching the Batman movie when the gunman James Holmes attacked the moviegoers. 

The Aurora tragedy has been in the news and stories of heroism keep our spirits up. The shooter, James Holmes is a 24 year old former medical student who opened fire on moviegoers at the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, the last installment of the Batman franchise.

James Holmes appears in court in a state of daze and confusion. The judge in this case ordered Holmes held in custody under protective watch and solitary confinement. The charges are state and federal. The federal charges are for the shooting of three military officers. The nine that were killed were either protecting their girlfriends or the random person that Holmes shot as they fled the movie theater.

We at Journal de la Reyna send our condolences to those lost in this horrible tragedy. Due to all the media coverage, it's unlikely Holmes will get a fair trial. The media is fully covering this tragedy and I am guessing most of the world is focused on this tragedy.

President Barack Obama went out to Colorado to comfort the families of the victims lost this weekend. The political warfare continues when conservatives online agitate the debate over how Americans are to mourn the lost of people. The political debate over guns will be front and center again. The National Rifle Association and gun shops are going to milk this for a profit. The NRA will send newsletters to emails saying that this tragedy is not the fault of the firearms, but a deranged individual. [Liberal] leaders like President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi are going to find ways to take away [our] guns. With the debate over firearms comes the debate over the way the president handles tragedies. Anything the president does will rile up conservatives. No matter what he does, they'll complain.

The irrational comments from those in the right wing are outrageous and callous at best. It's like the type of stuff that creates people like this James Holmes. Whether he done it or not, conservatives will continue their reactionary outrage over things that don't affect their lives.

Today we will talk about an Ohio man who sacrificed his own life to protect his girlfriend and her brother.

Matt McQuinn was a resident of Springfield, Ohio a city 20 miles east of Dayton. He and his girlfriend Samantha Yowler and brother Nick were attending the premiere of the blockbuster movie The Dark Knight Rises, unaware of the young man who came into the theater. The young man who was apparently wearing a tear gas mask and armed with multiple firearms including an AR 47 with heavy magazine shooting at the crowd.

Matt McQuinn was killed protecting his girlfriend.

As he was shooting into the moviegoers, Samantha was struck two times. Matt reacted like most people and took cover trying to protect her. He was shot three times. He was one of the many victims still in the movie theater after the injured and surviving escaped Holmes.

Matt was a 27 year old man who grew up in Dayton, Ohio lived in Springfield. He then moved out to the Denver area with his girlfriend Samantha. They were employed at Target Supercenter in Denver. According to family members, the two were in love and were planning on getting married in the future.


As reported by The Denver Post and Dayton Daily News, Matt McQuinn died protecting his girlfriend.

As a gunman calmly walked up the aisle of an Aurora movie theater Friday firing at moviegoers, the 27 year old Ohio native dived on top of Samantha Yowler. Her brother Nick, 32, also tried to shield her, said Robert L. Scott, attorney for the McQuinn and Yowler families.

Samantha Yowler, 27, was shot in the knee. Her brother escaped without injury. But McQuinn, from St. Paris, Ohio, was not as fortunate.

McQuinn's mother, Jeri Jackson, flew to Colorado on Friday as family members in Springfield tried to get information about what happened to McQuinn, according to the Dayton Daily News.

McQuinn's stepmother, Stacie McQuinn, said the hospital would not tell Yowler, who underwent surgery Friday, about her boyfriend's condition because the two were not related.
                                    

Matt McQuinn graduated from Vandalia-Butler High School in 2004. He met Yowler while the two were working at a Target store in Springfield, the Dayton Daily News reported. In November, the couple transferred to a Target store in Denver, joining Yowler's brother, who had lived in Colorado for the past few years.

Courtesy of NBC 2 Dayton.

1 from area killed in movie gunfire: wdtn.com

Insane In The Bachmann!

So f***king dumb,  Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. The controversial former presidential candidate once again put herself front in center over rhetoric that comes off as extremist.

Mitt Romney is going to be the Republican nominee for president. He will take on President Barack Obama in the general election. The former Massachusetts governor has taken some lumps in the primaries. But he managed to outwit Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum in the race for the nomination. Now on the whims of the struggling economy, the Republicans feel like that got President Obama on the ropes and they could deliver a knock out blow to the incumbent.

But how could they get their act together if you got people who are key figures in the party screwing it up?

Ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner was shamed out after a sex scandal. His wife Huma Abedin gotten death threats after Bachmann and conservative agitators accused her of being affiliated with terrorists.

This has been a rough week for the Republicans. President Barack Obama launched an aggressive campaign to paint Mitt Romney as an out-of-touch millionaire who would ship American jobs overseas. Some of the president's most aggressive campaign ads are in Ohio, Virginia, Florida and Colorado.

They seem to be working. The public is now interested in the former governor's tax returns from years ago. A theme that Mitt Romney wants to avoid. He wants to continue hammering the president on his "failed" record as job creator and economic wizard. Romney is also running aggressive ads in these swing states.

Less we haven't forgotten about those lovely supporters of Mitt Romney.

Former political rival, Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is likely going to have a talk radio program in the near future. Her rhetoric comes straight out of Glenn Beck, Mark Levin and Michael Savage's playbook.

Her comments recently about former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner's wife and Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minneosta) are borderline Islamophobic.

Now I know it's likely the Republicans are going to distance themselves from her. Her rhetoric has outraged many and it's going to hurt Romney in the long term. Senator John McCain, a former presidential candidate from Arizona dismissed her rhetoric as out of bounds. Speaker of the House John Boehner the Ohio congressman in charge said that her comments are not endorsed by the Republican Party.

Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota)

According to The Daily Mail from the United Kingdom, Anthony Weiner's wife Huma Abedin has been placed on close watch after being threatened by a New Jersey man.


The typically press shy Abedin made headlines last week after Bachmann claimed that her family had connections to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

Now police have been forced to place extra security around the wife of the disgraced former Congressman after a man, who is thought to be Muslim, threatened her.

Not only she gotten out hand with comments about Abedin, she goes after Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) because she thinks that he's got ties to the Muslim Brotherhood as well.

Ellison and Congressman Andre Carson (D-Indiana) are Sunni Muslims. Both are African American.

Ellison smacks down Bachmann's claims of him being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Eygptian elections this year gave the first democratically elected president. The right wing are upset over the Muslim Brotherhood winning the presidency. They believe that the politically conservative group will sever ties with Israel.

Bachmann comments come under fire back in 2008 when she declared on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews that Barack Obama and his allies are anti-American.

Joe McCarthy would be proud! Right?

Courtesy of CBS News

A Young Man's Life Ended On His Birthday!

Alex Sullivan was celebrating his 27th birthday when James Holmes took his life. At the prime of his life, this young man was going to celebrate his first year anniversary with his wife Cassandra. The Aurora shootings cost 12 lives and injured over 60 people. This is one of the most deadliest mass shootings in history.

This tragedy in Aurora, Colorado has cost 12 people their lives. We at Journal de la Reyna will continue to talk about this tragedy and share a few stories of heroism and paid homage to the lives of those lost on that day.

James Holmes, the 24 year old former medical student opened fired on moviegoers at the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. He took the lives of men, women and one young girl. Some of the people were inspiring to pursue higher achievements. Some were thinking of marriage and children. Some celebrate events like anniversaries and birthdays. Others wanted to have an opportunity to see a movie that was slated to be a blockbuster.

President Barack Obama will make a trip out to Colorado to talk to the governor and the victims of Friday's mass shooting. Republican candidate Mitt Romney and the president suspended their campaigns in Colorado for now! They want to focus on the heeling process. President Barack Obama ordered all federal buildings to lower their American flags at half stance. Democratic governor John Hickenlooper has expressed outrage at the shooter. As a father of child, he took this incident very personal. He vows to put Holmes in a place where the sun doesn't shine.

Today, we talk about the young man who was going to celebrate his birthday and first year anniversary.

Alex Sullivan, was 27 at the time of death. His birthday.

Alex and a few of his co-workers (friends) were going to watch the blockbuster movie when the unthinkable happened.

He was employed at Red Robin, a national restaurant chain. Among his death, some of his co-workers were injured in the mass shooting.

Alex's birthday was on July 20. His anniversary on July 22. His wife Cassandra was out of town when the tragedy happened.

According to the Denver Post, he wrote on his Facebook page: "Just took the wife to DIA (Denver International Airport) going to be gone for 3 and a half weeks going to miss her a lot. I love you cassie."


While attending the movie, Alex posted: Alex Sullivan posted on his Facebook page: "#TheDarkKnightRises OMG COUNTING down till it start cant wait going to be the best birthday ever."

The famous picture of Alex Sullivan's father Tom showing the media who his son was and how they can inform him.

The morning of the shooting, Alex Sullivan's father, Tom, showed his picture around and asked if anybody had seen his son, an image that reminded some of 9/11 and grieving people amid that tragedy.

Friends on Saturday talked about the big-hearted, good-humored guy they knew.

Tom Sullivan has become the icon of the mass shooting. The grieving parent who was urging the public to find his son!

This tragedy has shifted the political debate to gun control. Many Americans are now calling for tougher regulations on purchasing ammunition. The National Rifle Association and the Republican Party are opposing any restrictions on firearms.


                 

In the wake of this tragedy, Alex's death as well as many others were innocent victims. For a callous person who had no life ahead of himself. Why on earth should James Holmes ever be allow to own that many firearms and ammunition?

We'll never know this answer.

Courtesy of The Denver Post

"The Blacks" Did It!

The only wheels, Rene Betancourt using is the wheelchair. He hurt himself while skateboarding. He claimed that a group of "scary Black men" mugged him and knocked him unconscious.  The police aren't charging him for filing a false report. This gentleman and many others want to blame Black people for their own disruptive behavior.

A common theme among those conservative agitators and those white supremacists. An urban area is common for minorities. Most minorities live in the inner cities and suburbs while the White people migrate to the outer suburbs and rural areas. A Florida skateboarder literally hits the wall and he accuses the unknown Black male for his turmoils. 

Another racial based hoaxed concocted by an irrational White person. A White person who rather instead of admit guilt for his own crimes blames the Black guy for his turmoils.

The Republicans and their conservative allies are willing to make political hay over the so-called "Black thugs attacking innocent White person" theme.


An avid skateboarder who said "four to five unknown black males" mugged him in a parking lot actually smacked his head against a concrete wall, the Miami Herald reports. Rene Betancourt, 22, was found with a broken skull and hospitalized for two weeks in Miami while detectives searched for his assailants. In the end they found a parking lot surveillance video—of Betancourt knocking himself out cold while attempting a skateboarding move.

He lay there unconscious for a good five minutes. Eventually his parents found him and drove him to a hospital—where doctors removed a swelling, potentially fatal blood clot from his brain. “For the way that my son looked, it seemed like an assault,” his mother said. Betancourt was released this week but remains "cloudy" about the incident, she added. Miami police say they won't file charges against him "because of the severity of his head injuries."


Newser and The Miami Herald picked up on this story.

I remind myself about these extremists and their involuntary outrage online. Just think if this was sent to The Drudge Report, Breitbart, Michelle Malkin's Twitchy, or the White supremacists websites?

They would make this a political issue and inspire another an individual to commit a mass killing in the name of a controversial issue.

White males are more pessimistic than any other race or gender combined. They are the ones having trouble adapting to a changing society.

White people and this imaginary Black thug excuse is getting really old! I am tired of these people always committing disruptive behavior and always pinning it on the "scary Black guy!" 


In the mind of White conservatives and White supremacists, the Black male is naturally born a "criminal" without due process.

When you see a Black or a non-White person commit a crime, the conservatives make the case that the "liberal media" is so busy making the White man the "racist" while every other race is committing hate crimes.

Conservative White men hate Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. They hate them with a passion. Every time an issue comes forth (say a tragic shooting of an unarmed teenager in Florida), conservatives hate when they get involved. The conservative White person thinks that Jackson and Sharpton agitate the issue to a higher level if there's a White person who committed an act on a Black person.

See there's reasons to keep Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton around! The person or the family of the victim usually contacts representatives of Jackson and Sharpton. They ask for their help when a criminal case gets looked over by law enforcement or the media! That's probably how they get involved. They're here to make sure the conservative media doesn't paint the victim as the bad guy!

Courtesy of CBS Miami