Two Icons Passed Away Today

Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away today, just hours apart, and both in Los Angeles area.

Farrah is probably remembered most for her hairstyle from her posters when she was on the show Charlie's Angels. Personally, I thought her best role was playing the battered wife in The Burning Bed. I hope she is at peace after a long bout with cancer.

Michael Jackson, a pop star I remember from childhood on, died suddenly about a half hour ago. I loved the Jackson Five on TV and I really liked his Off the Wall and Thriller albums. He also set the tone for MTV.

According to the LAT, Jackson was working in rehearsals for a 50 sold out shows in London.

And he was only 50 when he died. Stunned about his death.

I wish their families well in a time of shadows.

Update: a really good YT of MJJ at the Motown 25th anniversary. And I saw it live:



Some think JRE may or may not identify with the song, Billie Jean. Regardless, it smacked of Marcel Marceau, the best mime performer ever. I saw MM when I was a teen. Loved Red Skelton who was his contemp as well and loved mime.

Why I'm one of those "Buy Nothing Friday" types

I despise crowds for shopping on Black Friday is the main reason. But today I despise them more after reading this:

Wal-Mart Worker Trampled To Death This Morning Wal-Mart Worker Trampled To Death This Morning

A Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island store Friday morning, police and witnesses said.

The 34-year-old worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too...I literally had to fight people off my back."

The unidentified victim was rushed to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m., police said.

Folks, no human life is worth the cheap, crappy goods in any store, let alone a Wal-Mart that pays only minimum wage.

Personally, I'll be buying fewer gifts this year, and the ones I buy are likely to be via e-commerce.

Update: A Great Soldier, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Passed Away

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio — a Democratic superdelegate and one of Hillary Clinton's most ardent supporters — is in critical condition at a Cleveland Hospital. She has been taken off life support and not expected to make it.

Update: Congresswoman Tubbs-Jones passed away a hour ago. So sad.

Clinic spokeswoman Eileen Sheil says Tubbs Jones died at 6:12 p.m. Wednesday after suffering a brain hemorrhage caused by an aneurysm that burst and left her with limited brain function.

She suffered the hemorrhage while driving her car in her east side district Tuesday evening. Source: AP via Yahoo!

A bit about her: The 58-year-old Tubbs-Jones was the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress and a strong critic of the Iraq war. Her first term was in 1999.

Before becoming a member of Congress, Tubbs Jones was elected a judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court in 1981, and subsequently served on the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County from 1983 to 1991.

In 1990, she ran for Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio replacing Mary Cacioppo, the winner of the Democratic Primary, who withdrew for health reasons. She narrowly lost that race to Republican incumbent J. Craig Wright.

She then served as the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor from 1991 until resigning in early 1999 to take her seat in Congress.

On December 19, 2006, Tubbs Jones was named Chairwoman of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for the 110th Congress. She was also a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Tubbs-Jones didn't go gently into that good night last night. She fought as she could, just as she did in her life. I enjoyed her on C-SPAN each time she was on the show, and she was a beacon of hope who possessed a bit of pragmatism.

More l8tr about this great lady and member of Congress.