Infomercial Celebrity Billy Mays Dies After Flight

Television infomercial celebrity Billy Mays died in his sleep less than a day after he was involved in a landing incident where he was struck in the head by one or more falling objects. US Airways Flight 1241, a 737-400, departed from Philadelphia, PA just after noon on June 27, 2009 on a nonstop flight to Tampa, FL. The aircraft experienced a hard landing, which ruptured the two nose wheel tires. The aircraft remained on the runway and the 138 passengers and five crew members, none of whom at the time appeared to be seriously injured, were taken to the terminal. Billy Mays was interviewed by a reporter from WTVT television in Tampa shortly after the incident and stated that he had been hit on the head by something falling from the ceiling.Billy Mays had returned to Tampa on Saturday in order to undergo hip surgery the following Monday. According to his family, he had no other significant medical conditions at the time of his death. Tampa police reported that Mays wasn't feeling well the evening of the landing incident, and he went to bed at about 10 pm. He was found dead by his wife at about 7:45 the following morning.

Listen to the 911 Call from the Home of Billy Mays (2:25)

Source: Tampa Fire Rescue

So far, a direct connection between the head strike on Billy Mays during the hard landing and his subsequent death has been neither ruled in or ruled out by local authorities. Although Mays reported that he was struck in the head, neither he or the Tampa police could confirm that he was struck by luggage. Local authorities will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death, and the results may be available before the end of June. If the authorities determine that Mays's death was not connected to the landing incident, then the incident will be considered minor and would likely not end up in the online incident and accident databases of the FAA or NTSB. If the death is determined to be associated with the hard landing, then this would be considered a fatal accident by the NTSB, but would not likely result in a major investigation.

The most recent significant safety event for US Airways was the ditching of an A320 in the Hudson River last January. The last fatal crash for US Airways involved a regional aircraft in Charlotte, NC in January 2003. That crash killed both pilots and all 19 passengers. The most recent fatal event involving a 737-400 was a Garuda Indonesia Airways crash in 2007.

Dangers from falling luggage have long been recognized by the airline industry. In 1998, the Flight Safety Foundation published the results of a study that estimated that worldwide, there were about 10,000 injuries every year involving falling baggage. The same study looked at 397 cases at a major US airline where a person was struck by falling luggage, and 30 percent of those strikes resulted in bruises or lacerations. For more information on how to protect yourself from threats from falling luggage due to hard landings and in-flight turbulence, please visit turbulence.airsafe.org.

Resources
Listen to the Podcast About This Event (3:00)

Plane Crashes and Significant Events for US AirwaysPlane Crashes and Significant Events for the 737

Update 29 June 2009

Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Vernard Adams stated that preliminary results from the autopsy of Billy Mays indicates that he had hypertensive heart disease. He also said that Mays was taking the prescription painkillers Tramadol and hydrocodone for hip pain, and that pill counts indicate that Mays had been taking the correct amount of the drugs. Initial tests showed no evidence of head trauma. Hillsborough County includes the city of Tampa.

Posted by AirSafe at 12:58 AM

Obama excuses 4th grader from class!

President Obama writes impromptu note for a 10-year-old's teacher.

Hello All,


You see this is why people are going to love Obama! Here he goes again doing something that other Presidents may not have done and it makes him look very good in the world of PR and it made a little girl have a new person to idolize! President Obama lands and then quickly left the airport in limo for his town hall meeting at Southwest High School in Green Bay.


The president gets a 4th grader out of class with a note and I don't think anyone at her school is going to question the validity especially since it was on TV around the world and all the major news agencies are talking about it! This is where President Obama will be very successful in the eyes of the public. He does things impromptu, out of the blue and because he feels like it! My kind of President and if he keeps this up he will at least appear as he is trying to do for the people!!! That is a start compared to the last administration!

President Obama, do what you do and don't listen to the media, the people like this side of you and God forbid anyone actually like the President!!!

Mr. Lovettelli Has Spoken And You Will Listen!!!!


GREEN BAY -(CNN)
Some of the people who saw President Barack Obama at a town hall meeting in Green Bay had a long day, hitting the road by 6 or 7 o'clock in the morning, to be ready and waiting for him at noon. But many say it was worth it.
John Corpus was the second person to ask President Obama a question and he got more than just an answer. Corpus explained to the president he was there with his 10-year-old daughter Kennedy, who was missing school.

The president offered to write a note excusing Kennedy from class.
While he answered her father's question about health care, he gave Kennedy a note, excusing her absence from her last day of fourth grade at Aldo Leopold Community School in Green Bay.
"It says 'To Kennedy's teacher: Please excuse Kennedy's absence. She's with me. Barack Obama,' " said Kennedy.

Kennedy and her dad both thought the president was kidding when he asked to write a note, but now she has a priceless souvenir.
"Really cool, awesome. It's like the best thing ever," said Kennedy.

The president also recognized another youngster during his speech. He waved at two-year-old Grant Perry, and said Grant was waving at him.
"I thought it was very cool, but a little embarrassing because he was making some noise," said Grant's mother, Jessica Perry. "It's hard to keep a two year old quiet."
But not everyone with a ticket got in.

"I am actually really bummed," said Roni Santiago. "I was super excited because I found out last night, even though I applied for them on Tuesday, I think. I was really super excited to go and then it was really disappointing when I got to the corner."
Santiago had a ticket and said it was easier for her to walk to the event rather than take a shuttle bus But she says about an hour and half before the event she couldn't get close to the school.
But those who did get in were glad to see Obama, even if they didn't get a special note or greeting from him.

"It was amazing," said Jane Rufe of Appleton. "The president did a wonderful job of talking to us about health care and his vision and it was a wonderful event."
Kennedy Corpus, who got a note from the president says she will give her teacher a copy of the note. She plans to frame the original with her ticket.
Reporter: Becky DeVries

The date when television goes all digital has changed.

By law, full-power television stations nationwide must begin broadcasting exclusively in a digital format by June 12, 2009. The U.S. Congress approved an extension of the deadline, which was originally set for February 17. *

Digital television, known as DTV, is an innovative type of broadcasting technology that provides crystal-clear pictures and sound, and more programming choices than ever before.

And just because the date has changed doesn't mean you have to wait to start enjoying all the benefits of DTV - it's available now.

While the benefits of digital television are remarkable, millions of households risk losing television reception unless they take the easy steps to receive a digital signal. We're here to help you make a smooth transition.

http://www.dtvanswers.com/

*Some stations will make the switch prior to June 12 due to unique technical issues. Please visit your local television station's Web site or contact them for details specific to your area.

T-Pain's $400,000 Necklace And It Weighs 10 Lbs!!!

Mofo's wonder why people throw this word "Ni**a around so much! This right here is why, supposedly this is T-Pain and a 10 pound chain that he paid over $400,000 for.....Why???

So is this what we have come to??? The funny thing is no one is talking about the trust funds for the kids college money he stashed or the money he gave to charity before he bought that chain. The only thing you are going to hear about is that chain. What about the millions he put away for each child and baby mothers? He made sure he took care of his responsibilities before all the wasteful spending.

Trust funds for the kids and college money, that sounds great!!! Since he has so many kids and "baby mommas" did he move them all out of their respective neighborhoods and into homes he bought so they all saw another side to living a better life so that they will have a better education before college??? Nope! They're probably all still living in the same houses in Tallahassee with moms and grand moms and aunties!!! Now they are probably doing better in the eyes of their neighbors but are the kids doing any better?

He sounds like he did try to do the right thing in one area but he is not trail blazing in others...is it not popular? You know how black folk do!!! It doesn't do any good if you have a lot of money and you live in surroundings that make trying to get the basics almost impossible.

Kudos to the person that designed it and charged $400k to any sucka that would buy it!! American Capitalizim at its finest! I would do it too!

P. Diddy made a statement that deserves mention. He told the press that "he would not wear bling as a tribute to the many people effected by the recession." Gee, thanks Puff!

P.S. T-Pain, rocking chains was played out 10-11 yrs ago! You need to be original with your stuff!!! Here are some suggestions you might be able to work with!!!

1. Platinum XBox 360 hanging around your neck

2. Diamond encrusted Wii or PS3

3. 24ct Gold 7Up Big Gulp Cup

Alysa Stanton: First Black Female Rabbi

CINCINNATI — Alysa Stanton began quenching her spiritual thirst early, discovering Judaism after a search that began at age 9 and worried her mother only when a man called the house one night asking for her youngest child.
Turns out he was a priest Stanton had contacted to ask questions about Catholicism, part of a road that took her through charismatic Christian and Eastern faiths and finally to a position that experts say makes her mainstream Judaism's first ordained black female rabbi.

"I was considered an 'old soul' even when I was young, because my family believed I had a maturity beyond my years," said Stanton, a Cleveland native who remembers being a bit indignant that her surprised mother was questioning the unknown man.
American Judaism will mark the milestone June 6, when Stanton is ordained in preparation for leading a predominantly white congregation of about 60 families in Greenville, N.C.
"It has been a journey with many twists and turns along the way, but Judaism is the language of my soul, and it's what resonates with me," the 45-year-old Stanton said.

Yet Stanton didn't always feel accepted by Jewish congregations or some friends when she converted during her 20s.
"A lot of my African-American friends thought I'd sold out, the Jewish community wasn't as accepting then and some Christian friends thought I had grown horns," said Stanton, who had been a Christian.
"I felt ostracized at times, but I had to learn who I was, what my values were and move forward."

Her mother, Anne Harrison, instilled in her four children the importance of having faith and a spiritual path.
"She didn't care what that was, as long as it was God-based and that we knew there was something greater than ourselves out there," Stanton said.
Her mother wasn't surprised when she decided to become a rabbi.
"Alysa has always reached for the top," said Harrison, 78, of Lakewood, Colo., where the family moved when Stanton was 11.
Stanton, who is divorced and has a 14-year-old daughter she adopted as a 1-year-old, is fairly soft-spoken with a warm, engaging smile and a steady, confident gaze. Congregation Bayt Shalom in North Carolina eagerly awaits her arrival.
"We needed someone who is a magnet, who radiates warmth," said member Carol Ogus Woodruff, 54. "She brings a scholarly awareness but also has great relationships with kids and can talk to different kinds of people."
Questions about race or gender never arose at Congregation Bayt Shalom, congregation President Michael Barondes said. Stanton's ability to listen and to communicate with others immediately impressed members.

The 9-year-old Stanton started her religious search while living in a Jewish neighborhood in Cleveland Heights. The following year, an uncle gave her a Hebrew grammar book that she still has and picks up from time to time.
"I think some things are just destined," she said.

As a student at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Stanton drove more than 140 miles a week to study with a rabbi in Denver for her conversion. She later moved to Denver, becoming very involved in the Jewish community.
She also learned to chant the Torah, the five books of Moses.

"That opened something in the recesses of my being, and I had a hunger and a thirst to learn more," Stanton said.
Stanton, who worked as a licensed psychotherapist specializing in grief, loss and trauma, thought she was too old and too poor to start rabbinical studies at age 38. But she believed it was meant to be.
She enrolled in 2002 at the Cincinnati campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the nation's oldest institution for training rabbis, cantors and educators of Reform Judaism.

She believes her future is in God's hands but isn't satisfied with the world as it is, said Rabbi Kenneth Ehrlich, campus dean.
"She deeply believes that God calls upon her _ and upon all of us _ to make this a better world, a place that God wants it to be," Ehrlich said, referring to Stanton's work with a hospice and other community activities.
Her ordination is a politically significant and healthy step in the next stage of Judaism's development in America, said Lewis Gordon, founder of the Institute of Afro-Jewish Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. Many believe it could draw more women and blacks to the rabbinate and other leadership roles.

A check of major seminaries in mainstream Judaism show 994 women rabbis will have been ordained as of the end of 2009. And several experts said they know of only one ordained black male rabbi in mainstream Judaism.
Stanton said she is happy to be a face that reflects diversity.

"I want our synagogue to be a place of hope, healing and inclusion," she said. "I want it to be an oasis for anyone seeking spiritual refreshment."

D.C. Sets Up Checkpoints To Stem Violence

This was some interesting info coming out of the Washington D.C. area! The local police department is cracking down on illegal activities in a particular neighborhood in the D.C. area, "The Trinidad Neighborhood" or "Baghdad D.C." and it includes a I.D. checkpoint and law enforcement officials investigating all persons that come to this neighborhood and for what reason. Is this a good thing or an invasion of privacy in today's society by local government?

The other reason is that a friend of mines from School is the reporter in the story and I posted this video of the story to give him props in all his journalism successes!

Great story Kevin Corke!

Mr. Lovettelli Has Spoken And You Will Listen!!!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Kickin' It With The Prez!!!

Brian Williams gets to ride in the presidential limo with President Obama and give the web world a candid interview of the President while he takes an unplanned ride in Washington D.C. to go have lunch.

So where does the President go for lunch? Some swanky restaurant that has been prepared for the President and any other time only the Washington elite go to dine there.

Wrong!!! President Obama goes to a local hamburger joint called "Five Guys" where when he just walks in. Then in a very authoritative manner and voice he tells the Secret Service agent that he "doesn't feel like waiting for the press corp" and he just jumps out and heads in to get some lunch! You have to like this man and he still has a true "Rock Star" like effect everywhere he goes and you can see it by the reactions of the people who are just there and in the area for lunch. He really has put this place on the map and I'm sure it's going to be a Washington/Presidential notable if it isn't already!

The President is getting ready to get his grease on and he likes to do this alone in the backseat of the limousine.

Watch the video and just check out how smooth, calm and in control the President is when he is just going through his day!

Maybe one day when he comes back to Phoenix he will come see me and have a cigar at Churchill's Fine Cigars In Tempe, AZ.

Mr. President, If you come to Phoenix and you want to have a cigar and enjoy it at the best cigar shop of 2008, come see me....I got you covered on that one!!!

Mr Lovettelli Speaks And You Will Listen!!!

Riding With President Obama To "Five Guys"

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

50 Things You Don't Know About Barack Obama

It's never too late to ask. Here are 50 things you might not know about the Prez. yet. Sure, they're pretty trivial, but fun to know anyway. You never know, he could end up as an answer on Jeopardy! For example, did you know he could bench press 200 lbs.? Not bad for a skinny dude, not bad.

• He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics
• He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball
• His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili
• His favorite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini
• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father
• He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed
• He has read every Harry Potter book
• He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali
• He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream
• His favorite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars
• He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia
• He can speak Spanish
• While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead
• His favorite drink is black forest berry iced tea
• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn't
• He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia
• He can bench press an impressive 200lbs
• He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name
• His favorite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
• He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his half-sister's fiancé, but left when a stripper arrived
• His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy
• He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with much coming from sales of his books
• His favorite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging to a soldier in Iraq for good luck
• He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee. (I'll bet they're regretting that decision now!)
• His favorite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees
• He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on their first date
• He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker
• He doesn't drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol
• He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician
• As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine
• His daughters' ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7)
• He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside
• He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal
• His house in Chicago has four fire places
• Daughter Malia's godmother is Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita
• He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry
• He uses an Apple Mac laptop
• He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300
• He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits
• He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes
• He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21 (£13)
• His favorite fictional television programmers are Mash and The Wire
• He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service handlers
• He was nicknamed "Bar" by his late grandmother
• He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds
• His favorite artist is Pablo Picasso
• His specialty as a cook is chili
• He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were "street urchins"
• He keeps on his desk a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life
• His late father was a senior economist for the Kenyan government

The President Still Dates His Wife!!! Everybody Take Notes!!!

President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama landed in New York Saturday afternoon, and after taking a helicopter from JFK into Manhattan, drove up the West Side Highway, where the northbound lanes were shut down by police for their visit, past Ground Zero, into the Village for dinner at the Village's Blue Hill restaurant. From there, they went north to Times Square, where they went to to see a production of "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" at the Belasco Theater on West 44 Street.

Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest read a statement from Obama: "I am taking my wife to New York City because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished."
Asked about the cost of the trip, which Republicans have criticized as indulgent, coming just ahead of the expected announcement of GM's bankruptcy filing on Monday, Josh Earnest told pool reporter Dave Michaels of the Dallas Morning News, that he "didn't anticipate being able to provide a cost estimate tonight."

After the play let out at about 11:30 p.m., the presidential motorcade went down Sixth Avenue, shut down by the NYPD, and onlookers packed onto the East side of the street cheered as the presidential motorcade passed as the Obamas headed back to JFK for a return flight to Washington.

The Republican National Committee slammed the outing in an "RNC Research Piece": "As President Obama prepares to wing into Manhattan’s theater district on Air Force One to take in a Broadway show, GM is preparing to file bankruptcy and families across America continue to struggle to pay their bills. ... Have a great Saturday evening – even if you’re not jetting off somewhere at taxpayer expense. ...

PUTTING ON A SHOW: Obamas Wing Into The City For An Evening Out While Another Iconic American Company Prepares For Bankruptcy."
The RNC's Gail Gitcho added: "If President Obama wants to go to the theater, isn’t the Presidential box at the Kennedy Center good enough?”

The president traveled in a smaller, Gulfstream-type plane rather than the larger planes typically used as Air Force One. Two other planes carried staff and reporters.
Here are Dave Michaels' pool reports to the White House press corps:
"We touched down at JFK International Airport about 4:35 p.m. in the first plane of three. We held in helicopter for POTUS AND FLOTUS arrival at 4:43 p.m., which we witnessed through windows. We took off before Marine One and passed over the rooftops of Queens before turning south over the East River. Just after passing over the Brooklyn Bridge we landed at the downtown Manhattan Heliport, which I'm told is also called the Wall Street landing zone.