OMG! This sucks! I love Billy Mays' commercials... really, I do. They were always just so energetic!!!

Anyway, Billy Mays was found dead by his wife early this morning in his Florida home. His wife made the following statement to the media:

"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."

SUPER SADNESS! He will be missed. 

According to multiple reports, Michael Jackson has died after suffering cardiac arrest.

SO SAD... thoughts and prayers out to his children.

Sad, sad, Farrah Fawcett has passed after her long battle with cancer.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends.

Ed McMahon passed away shorty after midnight today. He died at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center with his wife and other family members by his side.

Among other illnesses, McMahon was battling bone cancer. Super sadness.

The Tonight Show sidekick was 86 years old.

Thoughts go out to his family.

Porn star Marilyn Chambers has died at age . That seems rather young to me... an autopsy is being performed, though no foul play is expected. Sad, sad, sad. She brought so much joy to so many.

Then WOW! What a mess PETA has created for themselves.

Here's a bit from the current front article on www.petakillsanimals.com - very interesting and very sad:

PETA claims to be dedicated to protecting animals and treating them "ethically"—it’s right there in the group’s name. But killing animals that could otherwise be placed in adoptive homes isn’t terribly ethical, especially for a group whose $30 million annual income is more than enough to do the right thing instead.

In comparison, the Virginia Beach SPCA, right down the road from PETA’s Norfolk headquarters, managed to adopt out almost 70% of the animals in its care last year. And it did it on a relative shoestring budget.

Adding PETA's 2007 numbers to the mix, we can now document that the group has put down over 19,200 dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens. While it's possible that some of these animals were too broken or sick to be rehabilitated, humane societies in Virginia managed to save an average of nearly 65 percent of their animals in 2007. PETA found adoptive homes for less than 1 percent.

You can click to see figures and documents in the lower right hand corner of the site.

Any thoughts? I'm just astounded right now and am not entirely sure how to react.

Actor Ron Silver, Emmy-nominated for his role on The West Wing died yesterday (Sunday) at age 62.

Silver had been fighting esophageal cancer for 2 years. Robin Bronk, executive director of the Creative Coalition (an art-oriented political group Silver helped found) said "Ron Silver died peacefully in his sleep with his family around him early Sunday morning."

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ron Silver's family. Rest In Peace.

A family in NYC is suing the police department over the use of a Taser.

An emotionally disturbed man plunged head first to his death (10 foot fall) after being shocked by a police Taser gun.  The man, Morales, was naked on the ledge of a building jabbing at cops with a long flourescent light when one of the officers fired a stun gun, hitting him with a 50,000-volt shock. The shock immobilized the man for a few seconds, causing him to fall off the edge of the building to his death. 

The family is suing for $10 million. 

The stuntman for Harry Potter was injured during pre-production. A spokesman for East of England Ambulance Service said "Paramedics were called to Leavesden Studios yesterday at 11:35 am after a man in his twenties sustained a significant back injury." The spokesman went on to say the man was stabilized at the scene.

Apparently a planned blast went wrong while the stuntman was suspended by a harness and he fell to the ground.  The stuntman told others at the scene that he couldn't feel his legs followinghis fall to the ground.

Not good. Let's all hope for a fast recovery for the Harry Potter stuntman.

David "Fathead" Newman died on Tuesday from pancreatic cancer in NY.

Newman was a jazz musician who played with the Ray Charles Band. His fame comes from his amazing talent as a tenor sax soloist.

Rest in Peace.