One Thing Leads to Another

[MostBoringManInTheWorld]

As The Fixx would say.

So the other day I was looking up why MSNBC is now MS NOW, and I ended up spending hours pondering the troubled lives and tragic deaths of Christine Chubbock and R. Budd Dwyer.

Christine Chubbock was a local TV reporter and host primarily in Florida who was apparently the first person to commit suicide live on the air in 1974.

R. Budd Dwyer was a Pennsylvania state treasurer who committed suicide on camera at a press conference in 1987 the day before he was expected to be sentenced to 55 years in prison for accepting a bribe from a contractor.

Dwyer's story is a little less tragic in that his kids went on to be married and have kids of their own, and although his wife struggled with alcoholism in her remaining 22 years, she opened a bookstore that helped alcoholics and she got to see her children thrive and beget her grandchildren.

Has anyone heard of these individuals and their stories?

I imagine more people would have heard of Dwyer, although I wasn't aware of him or his story until just the other day.

There is rare purported footage of Chubbock online. Photos and video of Dwyer are all over the Internet.

 

[SaxonJackson]

I vaguely remember these stories and I think I saw video clips of each incident. As I recall, the reporter shot herself and the dude took some poison. Correct me if I'm wrong. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. And it's a wholly self-centered solution. It is sad but these people are so self-absorbed that they're blind to the world around them and don't realize or care that their decision will negatively affect so many others.

 

[Deplorable Yankee]

As The Fixx would say.

So the other day I was looking up why MSNBC is now MS NOW, and I ended up spending hours pondering the troubled lives and tragic deaths of Christine Chubbock and R. Budd Dwyer.

Christine Chubbock was a local TV reporter and host primarily in Florida who was apparently the first person to commit suicide live on the air in 1974.

R. Budd Dwyer was a Pennsylvania state treasurer who committed suicide on camera at a press conference in 1987 the day before he was expected to be sentenced to 55 years in prison for accepting a bribe from a contractor.

Dwyer's story is a little less tragic in that his kids went on to be married and have kids of their own, and although his wife struggled with alcoholism in her remaining 22 years, she opened a bookstore that helped alcoholics and she got to see her children thrive and beget her grandchildren.

Has anyone heard of these individuals and their stories?

I imagine more people would have heard of Dwyer, although I wasn't aware of him or his story until just the other day.

There is rare purported footage of Chubbock online. Photos and video of Dwyer are all over the Internet.

I remember bud, I don't know the broad

 

[toobfreak]

I remember bud, I don't know the broad

Didn't Bud Dwyer build some big airport out in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania just to show what influence he has? The airport still sits there, largely unused. I think maybe 1-2 planes fly out of it a week.

 

[MostBoringManInTheWorld]

I vaguely remember these stories and I think I saw video clips of each incident. As I recall, the reporter shot herself and the dude took some poison. Correct me if I'm wrong. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. And it's a wholly self-centered solution. It is sad but these people are so self-absorbed that they're blind to the world around them and don't realize or care that their decision will negatively affect so many others.

Actually, R. Budd Dwyer also shot himself. There's footage on YouTube that I didn't bother to sign in to watch, but there are plenty of photos of the incident all over the Internet.

There are photos of him drawing the gun from a manila envelope, keeping others at bay who tried to approach him, putting the gun in his mouth, him the moment after he pulled the trigger, and him slumped on the floor afterward.

It is quite shocking and disturbing, although it it is not gory and full of blood and guts. There's some blood on his mouth when he's on the floor, but that's it.

It is interesting that you mention how the act of suicide is a self-centered and self-absorbed solution, especially in the case of Dwyer.

Although his family was obviously traumatized by the event, there is speculation that he did what he did and purposely did not resign from his position before doing so, thus enabling his family to receive more than $1.28 million in pension benefits.

I wonder if he even needed to commit suicide while still retaining his position of state treasurer in order for his family to receive those benefits, because his conviction was still upheld even after his suicide.

Maybe if he had survived and was serving his expected 55-year jail sentence, his family wouldn't have received those benefits because he still would have been alive and those benefits would have been for him but forfeited because he would have been a convict, regardless of whether he served time or not. Maybe he would have gotten those benefits if he had been released early on good behavior, but the conviction might still have gotten in the way.

In any event, his family benefited financially as a result and they were able to relocate to Arizona and continue their lives and thrive.

So you could say he was actually looking out for his family by committing suicide, although some people say his suicide was proof that he was guilty.

Regardless of whether or not he did this in order to directly financially benefit his family, his stated claim before he committed suicide was that he was doing this to show the injustice of the so-called American justice system, which he preferred to simply call the U.S. legal system because he perceived it to be lacking in justice.

 

[MostBoringManInTheWorld]

Didn't Bud Dwyer build some big airport out in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania just to show what influence he has? The airport still sits there, largely unused. I think maybe 1-2 planes fly out of it a week.

That's interesting. I was not aware of that.

Certainly he could have been remembered for that, but his scandal and trial and conviction and suicide pretty much negated that accomplishment out of existence.

The situation he was involved in could have potentially made him a hero because he was working on restoring millions of dollars in overpaid FICA taxes to Pennsylvania state employees.

The problem is that he was accused and convicted of accepting an offer of $300,000 by a California computer company in order to award them an overpriced $4.6 million contract to determine the amount of the refunds for the Pennsylvania state employees.

 

[SaxonJackson]

Actually, R. Budd Dwyer also shot himself. There's footage on YouTube that I didn't bother to sign in to watch, but there are plenty of photos of the incident all over the Internet.

There are photos of him drawing the gun from a manila envelope, keeping others at bay who tried to approach him, putting the gun in his mouth, him the moment after he pulled the trigger, and him slumped on the floor afterward.

It is quite shocking and disturbing, although it it is not gory and full of blood and guts. There's some blood on his mouth when he's on the floor, but that's it.

It is interesting that you mention how the act of suicide is a self-centered and self-absorbed solution, especially in the case of Dwyer.

Although his family was obviously traumatized by the event, there is speculation that he did what he did and purposely did not resign from his position before doing so, thus enabling his family to receive more than $1.28 million in pension benefits.

I wonder if he even needed to commit suicide while still retaining his position of state treasurer in order for his family to receive those benefits, because his conviction was still upheld even after his suicide.

Maybe if he had survived and was serving his expected 55-year jail sentence, his family wouldn't have received those benefits because he still would have been alive and those benefits would have been for him but forfeited because he would have been a convict, regardless of whether he served time or not. Maybe he would have gotten those benefits if he had been released early on good behavior, but the conviction might still have gotten in the way.

In any event, his family benefited financially as a result and they were able to relocate to Arizona and continue their lives and thrive.

So you could say he was actually looking out for his family by committing suicide, although some people say his suicide was proof that he was guilty.

Regardless of whether or not he did this in order to directly financially benefit his family, his stated claim before he committed suicide was that he was doing this to show the injustice of the so-called American justice system, which he preferred to simply call the U.S. legal system because he perceived it to be lacking in justice.

I must be thinking about this man who took cyanide in the courtroom after being found guilty of arson (Michael Marin):

Courtroom suicide: Man took cyanide after verdict

Toxicology tests show that Michael Marin, a convicted arsonist, collapsed in court had poison in his system

www.police1.com

 

[toobfreak]

That's interesting. I was not aware of that.

My faux pas--- I was thinking of John Murtha, not Bud Dwyer.

Welcome to the Airport for Nobody

The John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport has an $18 million reinforced concrete runway big enough to land any plane in North America. But last year, an average of 20 people a day flew out of it.

abcnews.go.com

 

[Delldude]

Didn't Bud Dwyer build some big airport out in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania just to show what influence he has? The airport still sits there, largely unused. I think maybe 1-2 planes fly out of it a week.

He was the treasurer. Used to sign my paychecks.

You're thinking of John Murtha, senator, who just missed the Abscam bus by being tipped off.

 

[kc48]

I don't know why facebook is now trying to call itself Meta. They arguably have the most recognized name right now and they are trying to make it forgettable. Then I heard this commercial the other day on radio. The spot said to check out the merchant on Insta. Hard to believe they would change a name like Instagram because the GRAM part is integral to the name.