Luke Russert Remembers His Dad Tim On The Today Show:



I have to tell you, as decent and talented a guy as Tim Russert was, MSNBS is beginning to over do their coverage of his death. Candlelight vigils and unending coverage for a news man, however tragic his death, is just too much. However, I did find this appearance by his son Luke on the Today show this morning quite moving. I hope you enjoy it as well.

I Was Waiting For More Details Before I Posted This Story:

Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the 52-year-old woman known as the "D.C. Madam," committed suicide Thursday morning at her mother's home in a trailer park in the Tampa area, Tarpon Springs Police told FOXNews.com.

"It was her, and she's deceased," said Frank Ruggiero, a public information officer with the Tarpon Springs Police Department. "There's no question that it was a suicide."

Palfrey apparently hanged herself with a nylon rope that she wrapped around a metal beam in a shed on the property, according to police.

Authorities said her 76-year-old mother, Blanche Palfrey, positively identified the dead woman as her daughter.

She left behind a suicide note as well. No word yet on what is in the note but you can imagine it will eventually find it's way to the media. I don't think she would have been sentenced to much more than five years in prison but Palfrey made it clear that she wouldn't be going back. Palfrey made her way into the shed as her mother was sleeping this afternoon. She may have used a three-wheeled bicycle to stand on as she placed a nylon rope around her neck and called it quits.

And that, my friends, is how this story ends...

Update: Not so fast. Hours after her death, conspiracy theories...

Hustler magazine publisher and free-speech advocate Larry Flynt -- one of Palfrey's staunchest advocates -- was the strongest voice forwarding the notion that Palfrey's death was not by her own hands.

"I think the media should be very cautious in treating this as a suicide," Flynt told FOXNews.com in a telephone interview from his Beverly Hills office.

Asked if he believed Palfrey was murdered, Flynt responded: "I personally believe that's what happened, but I have no proof."

A Deadly New Fad Among Teens Is Taking Japan By Storm:

DEATH by rotten-egg gas, Japan's latest suicide fad, appears to have claimed 10 lives this week including a 14-year-old girl.

The schoolgirl's mother and two other people were treated in hospital on Wednesday after their apartment filled with noxious hydrogen sulphide fumes produced by combining two common chemical products, a toilet cleaner and a brand of bath salts.

About 60 other people in the apartment building, in Konan City on Shikoku island, reported milder illness from inhaling the fumes, called rotten-egg gas for its pungent odour.

Jesus. Word is, these kids are getting the idea from Internet message boards who advertise the bizarre form of suicide as 'quick and painless.' Except for the smell, I guess. In this case, the girl posted a note on her door saying 'poisonous gas being produced' inside. Between this and all of the English teens hanging themselves in one neighborhood, I don't know which is most disturbing.

PetSmart Sued for Hamster Blamed in Deaths of Three People:

A woman whose husband died after receiving a liver transplant infected with a rodent virus is suing PetSmart Inc., claiming the chain should have warned customers that hamsters can carry the virus.

The federal lawsuit alleges Thomas Magee, 54, and two other organ recipients died after transplants from a woman who had contracted a virus from a hamster she bought at a PetSmart store in Warwick, R.I.

Bruce Richardson, a spokesman for the Phoenix-based chain, would not comment on the lawsuit Wednesday but said the virus is rare.

"It's not a common disease in pets. It's not something that's tested routinely by us or others," Richardson said.

The virus usually only causes 'flu-like symptoms' but it can be much more serious when people with weakened immune systems come into contact with it. Moral of the story: Avoid cheap pets at all costs.

Reuters Cameraman Last Moments Alive Caught On Tape:

GAZA (Reuters) - A Reuters cameraman was killed in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday in what appeared to be an Israeli military strike.

Fadel Shana, 23, was covering events in the enclave for the international news agency on a day of intense violence when 16 other Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers were also killed.

Two youths passing by died in the same explosion that killed Shana, witnesses said. The cameraman had stepped from his car to film an Israeli tank dug in several hundred meters (yards) away.

Video from Shana's camera showed the tank opening fire. Two seconds after the shot raises dust around its gun, the tape goes blank -- seemingly at the moment Shana was hit.

It seems like Shana was quite close to the tank and it's very possible the Israeli's mistook his shoulder-mounted camera for an RPG. Still, the mistake seems inexcusable as it resulted in the death of a 23-year-old man. Palestinian journalists have declared a one-day strike for Thursday to protest the incident.

Heston Died Saturday Night In Beverly Hills, California:



The voice of the NRA is dead and some Liberals are celebrating.