This man was terribly mad (in both senses)

and it's a shame his mental illness drove him to violence and eventually led to his death during a standoff.

Suspect had long protested Discovery programming: Website talked of his wanting networks to expose civilization 'for the filth it is'

James J. Lee, the suspected gunman who held three hostages for hours at the Discovery Communications building in Maryland on Wednesday, apparently had a long history of contempt for the company, which includes the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel and Planet Green networks.

His website, SaveThePlanetProtest.com, was essentially a screed against Discovery, urging the company to expose civilization "for the filth it is" and to puts its focus on "how people can live WITHOUT giving birth to more filthy human children since those new additions continue pollution and are pollution."

Then, almost as a business-like afterthought, it said: "A game show format contest would be in order."

It's an interesting but very sad look into the actions of someone who was obviously insane. Fortunately the hostages are safe, the situation is resolved, and everyone except the gunman could go home at the end of the day. But I wish he could have gotten help before it went this far.

I glanced at one of the televisions in the hospital lobby this afternoon, which was how I found out about the story. But it demonstrates the usefulness of Twitter, as the tweets spread the news and pictures long before the media got involved. We truly live in a world where information spreads like wildfire. Of course, the quality of the information is anybody's guess.