The Steel Guitar Forum

As I said in my last post,Seems we live in a sick society where an entertainer is literally WORSHIPED by millions,like he was a God,Yes he had talent,I have no problem with him getting recognition for that,But other than making himself and record ex's millions of dollars,what did he contribute to society,Did he ever discovery a cure for a deadly disease,ever shed one drop of blood for his country,Ever any hands on missionary work in dark places where thousands of children die from malnutrition,NO,BUT he is showered with adulation as if he did ALL of the above. Some of you will come back with [he gave a lot to charity] So do millions of ordinary people[some that can't afford to] do also,but you don't hear one word about that. In his court case being found not guilty,does not mean you are innocent,O.J. was found not guilty in his first trial also, DYK?BC.

Does anyone here think that a grown man inviting stranger's children to "sleep over" in his bed is morally justifiable? He admitted this on national media! Thats NOT speculation.

Well, it was pretty stupid, that's for sure! MJ admitted that boys sometimes slept in his bed, and that fact was brought out in court, however the jury concluded that nothing happened. In order to believe that nothing happened... you must believe that Michael Jackson was asexual (not sexual), a childlike freak, unlike most men, and interested in the children as "friends"... not in a sexual way. I'm not saying that is true, I'm just pointing out that it's a possibility. So in the absence of hard evidence (no pun) and considering MJ's obsession with being a child, it's Impossible to say for sure that he molested any children. As far as his actions being "morally justifiable"... No, it's all wrong by any measure of normal behavior. But "normal" has nothing to do with this situation.

To me M JAckson is a human, with his own talents and mistakes. He also was born naked and has to go to the toilet as every other human. What he did in his life is his concern and if anyone knows anything about crimes, he or she has to inform the government and witness for that. If you don't do that, you can go to jail. So is that in the Netherlands, but maybe in the States there are other laws?
regards, Johan

if anyone knows anything about crimes, he or she has to inform the government and witness for that. If you don't do that, you can go to jail. So is that in the Netherlands, but maybe in the States there are other laws?

I'll say one more thing about that. The Santa Barbara district attorneys knew everything that was going on and had been trying to nail Jackson for years. There was nothing we knew that they didn't know. It's just that those podunk D.A.s were just no match for Jackson's legal "dream team" & endless supply of money - not to mention the difficulty of finding a jury with any kind of racial diversity (which the dream team would demand) who would convict this particular icon no matter what the evidence. I spend all day every day with rooms full of these kinds of lawyers. That's my job - I'm in the litigation business and these people are about money and winning no matter what side they're on. There's not much ethics in our justice system I'm here to assure you.

Looks like my predictions of MJs soaring popularity and sales are already happening. Three of his albums all sold 100,000+ copies last week. His albums hold the top nine positions of Billboard's "Top Pop Catalog Albums" chart, according to Nielsen SoundScan sales data released Tuesday. Several singles were #1 in iTunes downloads in several countries. CLICK

Looks like we're "Drifting and Dreaming" again. Some of these posts are not about music.
It looks like every time someone opens a topic,it opens the door,or a Pandora box. Joe

Drifting? We're talking about "Michael Jackson - Dead at 50". That's the topic. And it's a complex topic with a lot of different angles. If we started talking about the justice system in general, that would be drifting. This topic is about MJ, his music and his amazing life, all sides of it.

i'll say Michael's passing will be the greatest publicity stunt that was ever pulled off so far
Elvis, the Beatles, Sinatra, Jimi, Bob Marley combined,won't even come close

read 'em & weep....

Michael's passing will be the greatest publicity stunt that was ever pulled off so far

Absolutely right! The best career move he ever made! The Beatles "catalog" which Michael bought for $47 million... and sold half of it to Sony a few years ago, has an estimated value of $1 Billion today! The value of Michael Jackson's estate, merchandising, rights to his image, videos, songs, etc. will probably exceed that in a few years. He'll be more popular than ever.

CrowBear Schmitt wrote:i'll say Michael's passing will be the greatest publicity stunt that was ever pulled off so far

Maybe he didn't really die. Maybe he's on that island with Elvis and JFK. Either way, he's gone. I was hoping to see him make it to the Grand Ole Opry. Oh well, I guess every career has it's limitations.

chas, I'm still baffled. You saw that photo where? Was it published or posted somewhere somehow in connection with Michael Jackson's death? As some sort of satirical comment, or...or what??? Or not in connection? Is it funny in some way? Even outside of the Jackson topic? A comment on the media? On celebrity? On society? Or did you just throw it in as an off-the-wall non sequitur? A la Arch's "I like kittens"? I truly don't get it!

Brint, I think that photo covers a lot of "territory", in that it's dumb and smart, at the same time. We live in a culture where everything is reduced to simple answers and easy explanations. Any time something can pose a lot of questions as to what it is, I think it makes a strong statement.-- chas

The post mortem album sales are predictable, but I have to say, I just don't get that.
Why does that happen ? If someone thinks he's that great, wouldn't they already own them ?
It reminds me of the Johnny Cash thing. Couldn't buy a gig for the last ten years of his life, and now he's mega-icon amongst the crushed cowboy hat and embroidered shirt crowd...
- John

Rick Campbell wrote:Maybe he's on that island with Elvis and JFK.

That's about the creepiest thing said yet on this thread.
So let's keep it going with maybe Jim Morrison is there too...

Not meant to be creepy. Anytime someone as famous as MJ, Elvis, etc... dies at a young age, there's usually some rumor that they're actually alive and living in secret on some island, etc... In any case, regardless on his weird lifestlye and ability to make millions, he was still a father, a son, a brother, and a friend to many people. We should put the rest aside and extend our sympathy to those that will certainly miss him. Enough said.

John Steele wrote:The post mortem album sales are predictable, but I have to say, I just don't get that.
Why does that happen ? If someone thinks he's that great, wouldn't they already own them ?
It reminds me of the Johnny Cash thing. Couldn't buy a gig for the last ten years of his life, and now he's mega-icon amongst the crushed cowboy hat and embroidered shirt crowd...
- John

Been going on for a long time. Mozart died in debt, virtually alone, and was buried in a pauper's grave.

Joni Mitchell wrote:Don't it always seem to go.
You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

Didn't know I was thirsty,
'til the well run dry.

Didn't know I missed her,
'til she gone and died.

- some bluesman somewhere

Rick Campbell wrote: Anytime someone as famous as MJ, Elvis, etc... dies at a young age, there's usually some rumor that they're actually alive and living in secret on some island, etc...

And MJ is no exception, the conspiracy theories are already plentyful. Here's a few:

"Michael Jackson faked his own death?"

"Michael Jackson died two years ago and was replaced by an impersonator"

Or how about this one:

"Did Ahmadinejad kill Michael Jackson?"

Charles Davidson, my point exactly.

It's up in the air whether the Iranian ayatollahs or the Governor of South Carolina got him first.... never mind affordable health care, credit card rates going up right after the taxpayers fork over 37 billion $$$ to save the credit card companies... we got us a crisis on hand folks, why did Michael choose the red jacket?!?

and why were his kids conceived from 'donor sperm' rather than his own?

Hope so. DYK?BC.

...never mind affordable health care, credit card rates going up right after the taxpayers fork over 37 billion $$$ to save the credit card companies... we got us a crisis on hand folks, why did Michael choose the red jacket?!?

...it's gonna be wall-to-wall Michael Jackson media coverage for the next six months or more... the drugs, the Will, the funeral, the ex-wife, the kids, the money, the father, the mother, Diana Ross... it's gonna be l-o-n-g year...

Looks like we are all in the MICHAEL JACKSON'S COLLECTOR CATALOG of say more,add more and it'll make you feel better than what you do. One thing for sure now,he(MJ) don't have to see and feel all this pain we are putting on each others own opinions here.It's still CRAZY. The real CRAZIES are all in the front of his Mother & Father house on Hayvenhurst looking for that big one with the help of the LAPD.RIP MJ,thanks for the memories you gave me at the Hilton in Studio City.Leo J.Eiffert,Jr.

i would imagine this is a very welcome occurrence for the govt. run media to practice their wag the dog attention diversion techniques.

Hunh? It's not the government that runs the media. It's the corporate advitisers that pay for it all.