It was moving indeed.
People are entirely entitled to their own opinions; I was raised to believe "innocent until proven guilty."
The man was bizarre, no doubt, but so are others and they've suffered less media microscopy. I grew up in a small (equally bizarre) community where the constant debate in the late 60's was whether the Osmonds or the Jackson 5 were the best group of the time.
50 years old, and during 40 of them he had a song on the charts at virtually every moment. Great songwriter, producer, entertainer, and his philanthropy was not small either.
I was privileged enough to have had his producers license some of the "Voices Of Native America" library pieces that were never released, and although I never met Michael Jackson, it meant a great deal to me to receive a personal note (probably signed by an assistant) thanking me for my contribution to the album.
If nothing else, allow the man to rest in peace, as he was obviously tormented during his life be they his own or external demons.
He was a human being; faults, follies, failures, and phenomena aside.
The memorial service was impressive, touching, and deep, and the emotion showed through even through the shallow eyes of the media.

"If nothing else, allow the man to rest in peace, as he was obviously tormented during his life be they his own or external demons. "

Amen to that, Spot.

I personally have never been a fan of Michael, but this ceremony reminded me of the simple truth - those of us that differ, are usually better. Or at the very least, suffer more.

God bless you too, Douglas. You're still in my prayers.

Piotr

Amen to that, Spot.

I say Amen to that too, Piotr! It was very touching to see, and I think it gave a more detailed picture of the man. They said that he was in Guiness book of Records for being the popstar that had given the most to charity f.ex. I did not know that before...

/Ulf

Quite simply, Michael Jackson left this world having done more good than harm.

As such, he serves as an example for us all.

Try telling that to the kids he molested and see how they feel.

Though he was not found guilty in court, he is about as innocent as O.J. Simpson.

We have no way of knowing for sure, so "innocent until proven guilty" will protect us from 'foot-in-mouth" disease.

My guess would be that he thought, "it's never too late to have a happy childhood," and in adulthood surrounded himself with children to experience the play time that he never had as a child.

Then parents saw that he had a lot of money and sought to get a bunch of it by suing him.

It seems we may never know, so based on that Iet's go with "innocent until proven guilty."

The next time it could be you.

Spot, Coursedesign ----- nice summary and I agree. In the early 90's, I "provided" some resources to some authors trying and one in resulting in a book on M.J., the author-- she was a big M.J.fan. I don't know how accurate some of the published books and stories are, but the author/fan did a lot of real research before they approach me, so I have a very positive attitude about M.J. but do feel sorry for him. Usually, wealth brings promoters, con artists, "investment" lawyers, "Hollywood" money people with the next big project, etc..... all seeking M.J.'s money with no return in mind.

yes sad story all around...but mj never had any impact on me...not my type of music/sound...not into singing and dancing...never have seen the thriller video...snippets yes but anytime i see song and dance/choreography i'm gone...did not see the service but i saw the clip of john mayer doing the human nature instrumental...that seemed classy and well done...

"Try telling that to the kids he molested and see how they feel. Though he was not found guilty in court, he is about as innocent as O.J. Simpson."

Where's your proof?

7 days of 24 hour coverage of nothing but Michael Jackson on five major networks and their satellite stations. It's called a news filibuster. It enabled them not to have to report the following on any network that I am aware of:

Iraq's oil no longer .

belongs to them

After the media's endless trashing of the Obama health care proposal by dishonestly and falsely claiming a preliminary CBO report on it's cost was a current analysis, the CBO came out with the actual final analysis of the cost on July 2. The CBO calculated that the updated bill would cover more of the uninsured for a lower cost than it had estimated the earlier version of the bill would.

The networks completely and intentionally ignored it by reporting only on the Michael Jackson story. They still haven't reported on the current CBO analysis of the Obama Health Care proposal.. The preliminary CBO report then stands as the "truth" so the corporate networks can help Republicans shoot down health care reform to help preserve insurance corporation profits at the public expense with the news media covering their tracks.
But we know all about Michael Jackson, don't we?

The news filibuster also allowed them to take a pass on the developing story regarding the scandal involving South Carolina's Republican governor Mark Sanford (the same governor the media had declared a "rising star" before the scandal).
And also ignored the possible fraudulent use of taxpayer money in the scandal involving Nevada Republican senator John Ensign.


The violence in China - largely ignored by the networks.

Take a look at the chart over at Journalism.org

Even in death, M.J. is a money maker for the media and fast buck artists. ;-( I imagine the fight over his assets will be "impressive" and a lot of IP lawyers and "fast" lawyers will rake in 7+ figures fighting over "claims". It is amazing how many great artists, engineers,etc die poor because of managers or have their assets end up benefiting legal teams battling over the money. People argue about the fed "death taxes", they should include the Lawyer death tax that's collected too! ;-)

I hope M.J. kids can endure the next year or two of crazy claims and charges.

"Virginia's Republican governor Mark Stanford"

It's "Sanford" and he's the Republican governor of South Carolina.

Yes, there has been a LOT of coverage of Michael Jackson, but the rest of the news is still being reported as well.

I think I was where Tech Driver was the day MJ died. But the more I listened to those who were close to him as they were interviewed on TV or chatted on Twitter, the more I began to wonder if I had been wrongly convinced, I think Brooke Shield's eulogy was the final straw that convinced me I was probably wrong and that it was a child in an adult's body who surrounded himself with children and tried to live the childhood he missed. I also read an interview with the now grown boy who made the original accusations that he now claims were untrue. He said they were made at the insistence of his father who was looking for money.

So, I am with Spot. He was different, eccentric and really misguided, but was immensely talented without equal.

It is time to let it rest. He is gone, and the world has lost an incredible artist who did have many faults. Who among us doesn't have more than we want?

Appreciate the good that we know he did do.

David

I put my self in MJ shoes and imagine if you are innocent and have that tag hung around your neck must have been very hard to bear

He got a lot of admiration but deserved less mockery

Many adults who are obsessed with money ,looks, race, power may only be trying to recover from an unkind or harsh word when they were a child

Rory

"Virginia's Republican governor Mark Stanford"

It's "Sanford" and he's the Republican governor of South Carolina.

Yes, there has been a LOT of coverage of Michael Jackson, but the rest of the news is still being reported as well.
==============
You are right. I stand corrected on the governor's name and state. I just corrected the post.
But you are completely wrong on the overall point because rest of the news was not being reported as well on the television "news" networks". The rest of my post details that. A Nexis Database Search will easily prove that.

And I would bet that less than 10% of the American public even realizes that on the same day the Bush negotiated Status of Forces Agreement required US troops deploy from the Iraqi cities to outlying areas the open bids stared for Iraq's oil. The rest of the world knows it. Only American's don't. They know about Michael Jackson. Same with the positive final CBO report on the healthcare bill that includes the Public Option. Not reported on the networks. In sharp contrast to that, on the cable news programs from June 15 and June 16, Fox News featured seven segments, CNN six segments, and MSNBC two segments that mentioned or discussed the June 15 CBO preliminary analysis. Much of that coverage was marked by suggestions that the score indicated that the bill cost too much and did not insure enough people, without noting that the CBO analysis was of an incomplete version of the HELP committee bill. Now that the final report is out and it is positive, they are largely covering it up by ignoring it. It's what they do best at the public expense.

Michael Jackson coverage was a News filibuster. Same thing happened with the Anna Nicole Smith hearings, or the Michael Vic Case, Britney Spear's shaved head, The Reverend Jeremiah Wright, The Democratic Chicago governor Rod Blagojevich scandal, and the like. Intentional avoidance of other news. The relatively few fast disappearing independent newspapers are a little better in this regard, but most people here in the US get their misinformation and lack of information from the TV.

Unless you can show me, for example where the open bid for irreversible 20 year contracts on Iraq's oil was actually covered by producing a transcript from a "news network" that covered it?

Asian media covered it, European media covered it, Middle Eastern media covered it. Only American media covered it up. In fact in other parts of the world the oil contract auction was actually TELEVISED

Oh, and I never mentioned important things going on in Iran that they intentionally ignored as well.

John

It is simply amazing how the world is enthralled with entertainers. When the brilliant astrophysicist Steven Hawking dies, will he get such fanfare and news coverage?? Clearly no. Will those who discover cures or vaccines to deadly diseases (potentially saving millions of lives) get the recognition they deserve...No.

Yes, MJ was a talented entertainer but I find it absolutely deplorable that the true humanitarians who have advanced the knowledge of mankind get nothing. It is time for the public to recognize the REAL HEROES of society not the false celluloid ones.

Yes, MJ was a talented entertainer but I find it absolutely deplorable that the true humanitarians who have advanced the knowledge of mankind get nothing. It is time for the public to recognize the REAL HEROES of society not the false celluloid ones.
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Actually in the United States we smear our own Nobel Peace Prize laureates (and of course the Nobel Committee for awarding it) in the US media if they go against what large corporations want.
Corporations like Time Warner that own CNN, or Disney that owns ABC, or News Corp that owns Fox News, or GE (one of the largest defense contractors in the world) that owns NBC, or Viacom that owns CBS.

John

John,

I'm not really buying into your corporation conspiracy theory. The fact of the matter is that most people simply don't care about what's going on in the world. Those of us that do get our news from a variety of sources, television being just one of them. Every news outlet has some sort of "slant" most aren't as blatantly obvious as Fox News, but the bias is there. But more importantly, media exists to sell products, the more eyeballs you deliver to your advertisers, the more advertising revenue you generate. Should it be this way? Maybe not, but as Walter Cronkite used to say, "That's the way it is." Who is going to get the bigger audience? Televised oil auctions or Michael Jackson? You can't seriously blame the television news networks.

I was aware of all of the recent news stories you brought up, so somebody is delivering the news (in between the commercials.)

I'm saddened to read some of these posts.
Bottom line for me, Michael Jackson left this world a better place than he found it. Period. For me, that deserves admiration and appreciation.
I feel the same way about Stephen Hawking or Randy Pausch, too. My hope is that within my small world, people will feel the same about me, too. Leaving behind a legacy of making the world better for a small group or a large group is a big deal. Many people live their lives in a cubicle and while they're very loved and important to their family, what do they often leave behind for the general benefit of mankind? Michael Jackson donated more time and money to the general welfare of mankind than any other entertainer on the planet. Further, he had hit songs on the charts for 40 of his 50 years. No one before, and no one after him, will likely match that achievement. In my book, that's pretty stunning. 4/5 of his life, he had a hit song. 3/5ths of his life, he donated hugely to various charity programs.

John,

I'm not really buying into your corporation conspiracy theory.
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Easily demonstrated every day of the week by detailing it. That's what I do in between editing. If it can be easily demonstrated every day with complete quotes, official documents, and actual transcripts consistently, it's not a theory is it? They lie on the networks to protect corporations like themselves and the party that puts them first - The Republicans. The few Democrats that support the Republicans are labeled "Moderate" Democrats. Listen for it yourself. Listen to what they call the few Senate Democrats that are in the pockets of the health insurance companies along with all of the Republicans when it comes to a public option in the current bilI - "Moderate" Democrats to suggest that those Democrats who want what 70% of the public wants are Radicals.
Massive brainwashing and consistent.

I was aware of all of the recent news stories you brought up, so somebody is delivering the news (in between the commercials.)

So then tell me, which network (in between the commercials) reported on the open auction to oil companies of Iraq's oil? Which ones even mentioned it in passing? They didn't have to televise it, but not to even mention it or even discuss it?

The Nexis database shows that NONE did. So which one did you hear it on?

To claim that people don't care sells Americans short. The notion that with all the death, destruction, and money wasted in Iraq that people really don't want to know that most of it was to make corporations rich and that the people who were labeled "conspiracy theorists" by the media because they said it was about oil were RIGHT all along sells Americans short. Of course people want to know that. But they aren't going to know that. The rest of the world will know that. Not Americans.

They listen to what is presented to them on which ever network has packaged the lies to best appeal to them. The busier people are in troubled times the less likely they are to do what should be unnecessary research just to know what is going on that directly affects their lives. The they go out and vote for those that are screwing them thinking they are informed when in fact they have been brainwashed by these networks. Keep their minds occupied with mindless rhetoric and discussion and they will go out and repeat it as if they are informed just because they tune in to which ever network they trust and can remember stuff repeated five times.

And this is by no means a repudiation of Michael Jackson and his contributions. On the contrary, the very networks they delighted in declaring him guilty despite the court ruling to the contrary don't care one bit about his contribution now. In sharp contrast they mostly pander to Republican Sarah Palin's nonsense about why she quit as Alaska governor letting her claim that she had to quit because of all the baseless ethics complaints being filed against her by her political opponents. They were crippling her ability to govern--paralyzing her--and costing the state millions of dollars in fees. That in sharp contrast to local coverage in that state.There have been 18 known ethics complaints filed against her. The state personnel board put its cost of dealing with the complaints at about $300,000 -- around two-thirds of which was in addressing the "Troopergate" issue last fall. Palin herself initiated the personnel board investigation on "Troopergate," saying that the state Legislature's investigation of the matter was politicized and she was seeking the appropriate venue to deal with it.

That Michael Jackson's death in June continues to constitute "breaking news" in the eyes of the likes of Wolf Blizer on CNN or Brian Williams on NBC is best exemplified by their spending a full hour discussing "What are Michael Jackson's children REALLY like? How disgusting is it that "serious journalists" poke and prod around lives of elementary school-aged kids of a dead celebrity in hopes of finding out what they are "really like"?

It's hard to listen to fake praise from the very people who were instrumental in trashing his career.



John

John ,, tv is entertainment not news,, always has been probably always will,maybe CNN used to be serious ,but I find it as fluffy as any other tv "news"

John ,, tv is entertainment not news,, always has been probably always will,maybe CNN used to be serious ,but I find it as fluffy as any other tv "news"
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How is not reporting the news entertaining? How is lying about policy as if it were the truth entertainment. How is swaying votes entertainment? How is repeating a lie over and over again until it becomes the truth entertainment? I have heard this story about how TV news is entertainment. It comes from repetition of that notion on the very networks engaged in just what I am talking about by the TV pundits engaged in intentional brainwashing.

John