Long Time Movie Critic Roger Ebert Dead at 70 after Battle with Cancer … RIP

Roger Ebert, the long time movie critic has died at the age of 70 after his battle with cancer. Ebert had previously battled cancer in his thyroid and salivary glands, losing the ability to speak and eat on his own. Ebert co-hosted the weekly TV series ‘At the Movies’ with Gene Siskel, his fellow Chicago based movie critic, who himself had passed away in 1999. The man was brilliant in the critique of movies and I can remember watching ‘At the Movies’ all of the time to hear both Siskel and Ebert’s opinions and critiques. However, as much as he was knowledgeable about movies, his liberal politics was quite something different. But that is another story for another day. As stated at Ann Althouse,  on Tuesday, Mr. Ebert blogged that he had suffered a recurrence of cancer following a hip fracture suffered in December, and would be taking ‘a leave of presence.’ Who would have known that is all would have ended so quickly?

To both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, thank you both for your fine movie critiques over the years and we will see you both, ‘At the Movies’.

Roger Ebert: June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013, RIP

For a film with a daring director, a talented cast, a captivating plot or, ideally, all three, there could be no better advocate than Roger Ebert, who passionately celebrated and promoted excellence in film while deflating the awful, the derivative or the merely mediocre with an observant eye, a sharp wit and a depth of knowledge that delighted his millions of readers and viewers.

“No good film is too long,” he once wrote, a sentiment he felt strongly enough about to have engraved on pens. “No bad movie is short enough.”

Ebert, 70, who reviewed movies for the Chicago Sun-Times for 46 years and on TV for 31 years, and who was without question the nation’s most prominent and influential film critic, died Thursday in Chicago.

“We were getting ready to go home today for hospice care, when he looked at us, smiled, and passed away,” said his wife, Chaz Ebert. “No struggle, no pain, just a quiet, dignified transition.”

Siskel & Ebert on Film Criticism and Political Correctness

GENE SISKEL: You have to summon up the courage to say what you honestly feel. And it’s not easy. There’s a whole new world called political correctness that’s going on, and that is death to a critic to participate in that.

EBERT: Political correctness is the fascism of the ‘90s. It’s kind of this rigid feeling that you have to keep your ideas and your ways of looking at things within very narrow boundaries, or you’ll offend someone. Certainly one of the purposes of journalism is to challenge just that kind of thinking. And certainly one of the purposes of criticism is to break boundaries; it’s also one of the purposes of art. So that if a young journalist, 18, 19, 20, 21, an undergraduate tries to write politically correctly, what they’re really doing is ventriloquism.

NY Times Obit

Actress Valerie Harper, Who Played Rhoda Morgenstern on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” & “Rhoda” Diagnosed with Terminal Brain Cancer

Sad news from the TV world … Valerie Harper, the actress who played Rhoda Morgenstern on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and on the spinoff series “Rhoda,” has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The 73 year old actress had been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009 that she appeared to have beaten. Reports state that, “Harper’s doctors reportedly have told her she may have just three months to live.” On a personal note, not only did I enjoy very character on both TV series, it saddens me that brain cancer as taken another. My sister passed away from complications of terminal brain cancer. Our hearts and prayers go out to her  and her family during this difficult time.

Valerie Harper, 73, who portrayed the lively TV character Rhoda Morgenstern first on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and later on the spinoff series “Rhoda,” has terminal brain cancer, a diagnosis that she revealed Wednesday morning on NBC’s “Today Show” as well as on “People Magazine’s” website.

Harper, in rehearsal earlier this year with the touring company of the Broadway show “Looped,” had abruptly withdrawn from the cast due to a then undisclosed illness, now believed to be a rare condition known as leptomeningeal carcinomatosis. The term describes a cancer that has spread to the brain’s fluid-filled membranes.

Harper had starred as legendary actress Tallulah Bankhead in the original Broadway production of the show, and was set to reprise the role on the tour.

Harper had been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009 which she appeared to have beaten. Her current condition is “most likely related to her previous battle with lung cancer,” stated one source, also noting that “Harper’s doctors reportedly have told her she may have just three months to live.”

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s Cancer is Most Likely Terminal

Some doctors saying that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s cancer is most likely terminal. What will a Venezuela without Chavez look like in the future?

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s cancer is most likely terminal given the disease’s recurrences, and while the president may bounce back for periods, his health is increasingly at risk, say several leading cancer specialists not involved in the treatment.

Mr. Chávez is recovering from surgery in Cuba this week after the president said malignant cells reappeared for a third time in his abdomen. Venezuela’s government hasn’t disclosed what type of cancer he has or what the surgery was for. But it has described the more than six-hour operation as “complex and delicate” and said Mr. Chávez might not be back in Caracas in time for his Jan. 10 inauguration for a new term after 14 years in power.

11 Year Old Leukemia Patient Emily Missing from Cancer Ward … Taken From Hospital by Mother in Arizona … Could be Headed to Mexico

Emily, an 11 year old Hispanic leukemia patient is missing from a cancer ward at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Phoenix, AZ. Emily was brought to the hospital about a month ago by her parents to receive treatment for leukemia.  She was scheduled to be released from the hospital the following day; however, her mother for unknown reasons removed her from the hospital early before Emily’s treatment was finished. Hospital surveillance video captured the mother taking of her daughter with an IV still attached. Emily’s mother is 35 years old, Hispanic, and goes by the name Norma. Her father is 46 years old, Hispanic, and goes by the name Luis.

Credit: Phoenix Police Department

Video shows the mother walking Emily from her room with an IV still attached. They’re then seen heading to the elevators and eventually a restroom, where her mother changed her clothes and removed the IV from a chest catheter placed into her heart, before walking her out of the hospital.

“If she does not have this catheter sealed correctly by medical staff, we understand it’s highly likely she could obtain an infection and ultimately die within a couple of days,” said Sgt. Steve Martos of Phoenix police.

Police say detectives have been working feverishly for the past two days, but are now turning to the public for help. An earlier infection caused Emily to lose an arm; police say now they’re worried about another infection with potentially grave consequences.

Authorities fear that Emily’s life could be in jeopardy due to her medical condition and the family could be headed to  Mexico. Emily, had her arm previously amputated because of an infection and a chest catheter inserted into her heart.

Police believe the family left the hospital in a 1998 Ford mini-van, last seen with AZ license plate AVY3157. However, detectives say that license plate number is not registered to the van, so it’s possible it’s been removed.

Detectives believe the family has ties to California and Mexico. They put out alerts to agencies in California, as well as other hospitals in the area.

AZ Police Search for Missing 11-Year-Old Leukemia Patient Who Was Taken From Cancer Ward.

“Our concern right now is for that catheter to be medically removed. We understand that there is the possibility that the catheter could get an infection and thereby result in the death of this child really in the matter of days,” Sgt. Steve Martos told KNXV TV station Thursday night.

Authorities said that the mother had removed an IV drip from the catheter, changed Emily’s clothes and then walked the 11-year-old patient out of her ward at the hospital.

VIDEO of missing 11 year old Emily including 911 call

Former Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter Hospitalized With a Serious Illness

82 year old Arlen Specter, the former Pennsylvania US Senator as been hospitalized with a serious illness. Specter announced in 2005 that he had Hodgkin’s disease and his cancer returned in 2008. According to CNN, Specter was battling for his life early Tuesday after he was recently diagnosed with a “serious form of cancer.”

Arlen Specter has been hospitalized with a serious illness, confirm friends of the longtime U.S. Senator. One asked that people keep him in thoughts and prayers.

Specter, 82, announced in 2005 that he had Hodgkin’s disease for which he underwent chemotherapy. His cancer returned and he was treated again in 2008.

Friends declined to comment Monday afternoon on the nature of his illness.

I have disagreed on many issues with Arlen Specter and certainly did so when he decided to switch parties because it was politically expedient for him. However, I send the Senator my prayers and hope he battles through this. Get well Arlen.