Michael Jackson Dead at 50

[suicide]

?

what are your thoughts on it ...

 

[MA-Caver]

Go to the Study of this forum and you will find a thread where you can comment on the passing of this individual.

It is requested that any negative comments be kept to a minimum. Not everyone liked him in the end but either way we feel that it is still disrespectful to speak ill of the dead.

It was NEVER verified or proven if he had inappropriate relations with children. He was only accused. I would have no problem vilifying the man if there was uncontested proof of his alleged actions.

 

[shesulsa]

I'm not posting in the study right now. But I'll answer the question here and what happens to this thread, so be it.

I've learned that it's SOOOOO easy to look from the outside and make judgement calls. A coward could do it. There's doubtful a single soul on this board who knows what this man did with every minute of his day. Celebrity brings its joys, its evils. Many, many things have been said about Jackson, much good, much bad. We can't really know what's real and what's not, only what courts have ruled and what we could speculate from settlement agreements.

He's gone and has now reached his judgement and I hope he will be forgiven. Regardless of his personal troubles, the impact he had on music was enormous.

The word "genius" is overused often but when you really listen to what he was putting out *when* he was putting it out, the inspiration he instilled - not only in the field of music but dance as well - I can't think that word doesn't rest well on his head.

Lennon. Presley. Jackson. Three of the greatest.

 

[Bruno@MT]

nor do I, but OJ was never convicted either.So that doesnt move me much

To quote Chris rock: If OJ had been a busdriver, he wouldn't be OJ now, he would be Orinthal the bus driving murderer...

Anyway, despite not being a fan I think 'Thriller' is still one of the best albums ever. As they said on the radio: may he find the rest now that he never found in life.

 

[Andy Moynihan]

DearAndy,

I sorry if my heavy handed humour offended you. A child molestor is not high on my list of favorites even if they are exulted by the world of entertainment as the ultimate superstar.

The immense contribution that he made to the music world will be forever overshadowed by his what only can be described as deviant behavior with children. Ask the parents of any child who was enticed and molested by an adult how they fear about the excessive media cannonization of this troubled man.

I only hope that he repented for his evil deeds before he died.
May God have mercy on his soul.

Nelson Kari

I would agree, *if* he had been convicted. He never was.

I give him the benefit of the doubt, as I would anyone who was never convicted. Especially during this particular time.

 

[Archangel M]

Eh.."conviction" only holds weight in the legal world. I can believe what I want about a person "convicted" or not. The "innocent until proven guilty" thing is routinely brought into debate/conversation. It doesnt always apply there IMO...someone has already brought up OJ.

 

[sgtmac_46]

Like him or hate him, one thing is clear.........I've got little good to say about him, but I won't say anything bad............he that dies pays all debts. What it does remind us of is our own mortality.....that thing that links every man. We, too, shall one day die.

"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil"

-William Shakespeare 'Hamlet'

 

[seasoned]

Like him or hate him, one thing is clear.........I've got little good to say about him, but I won't say anything bad............he that dies pays all debts. What it does remind us of is our own mortality.....that thing that links every man. We, too, shall one day die.

And in turn, perhaps, spend eternity with people we never would dream of hanging with here. My mother is 91 years old, and she would always say,"if you can't say something good about someone, then say nothing at all. If wisdom comes with age, then my mom's words ring true, and like wise, your words above remind me of her.

 

[Twin Fist]

genius? without doubt

tortured genius? without doubt.

 

[nelsonkari]

Dear Forum posters,

Read OJ's book "If I did it" and then tell me how important it is that someone be found guilty in court by a biased jury than to face righteous judgment by society and ultimately God. Unfortunately in Jackson's case his immense wealth enabled him to buy off a family rather than face a jury in the first publically known instances of suspected molestation.

There is no crime more depicable than the molestation of a child.

My mother also believed in not saying anything bad about a person. I wonder what she would have felt years later after her death to find out that a former scoutmaster attempted to molest her grand daughter. The perv ended up dying in person after a trial where over 30 witnesses testified to the horrific impact he had on their lives. I'm sure after the over the top adulation dies down the truth will come out on MJ.

Nelson

 

[arnisador]

Read OJ's book "If I did it" and then tell me how important it is that someone be found guilty in court by a biased jury

People will do (and say) lots of things for money. I'd counter your reading suggestion with:
REASONABLE DOUBTS: The O.J. Simpson Case and the Criminal Justice System by Alan Dershowitz

That having been said, I'd certainly not invite O.J. Simpson into my house, but until the jury is shown to be biased or the like it's only right, in my opinion, to give the benefit of the doubt to someone who hasn't been found guilty.

than to face righteous judgment by society and ultimately God.

The civil trial gave society some measure of payback, I suppose, leaving things pretty muddled. As to your belief that Odin might deny him entry to Valhalla for this...I dunno. Sounds like a risk he may have been willing to take.

Unfortunately in Jackson's case his immense wealth enabled him to buy off a family rather than face a jury

Quite possibly, but people and companies settle for lots of reasons. I've known people who settled though they were in the right for exactly the reasons you suggest: Unpredictable outcomes from a legal system that doesn't always get it exactly right. He had a lot to lose, and so I can also see him making a decision not to risk it. So I don't know if he was guilty or not--there certainly was a lot of reason to suspect it, and again, I wouldn't have left my kids alone with him after all this came out--but I don't see how you could know he was guilty.

My mother also believed in not saying anything bad about a person.

A bit of an extreme but not bad advice overall--in particular, saying bad things you can't back up is poor form.

 

[Sigung86]

Love or hate him...

Great performer. Suggested Crap as a human being in the general sense of the word and world. He's paid for it now, and is well beyond anything any of us can feel, do, or say.

 

[Brian King]

“Put your dot down, shut the ---- up, and go on.”

“Go to the Study of this forum and you will find a thread where you can comment on the passing of this individual.

It is requested that any negative comments be kept to a minimum. Not everyone liked him in the end but either way we feel that it is still disrespectful to speak ill of the dead. “

“I'm not posting in the study right now. But I'll answer the question here and what happens to this thread, so be it.”

　
　
Ummm this IS the study :idunno:
There is a thread in the hall for those who do wish to lionize the fellow as well as those who do not wish to speak ill of the now dead fellow to leave their dots and respects, but this thread is in the study and this is a discussion forum. I think here in the study people should be allowed to say what they think of the man, his talents and failings not withstanding.

Myself, I do feel bad that his childhood was less than perfect but the man was 50 years old, long since time to quit blaming mom and dad for his own failures in my opinion. Was he guilty of molestation and child rape, not according to the courts, would I let any young member of my family be alone with him…no. The man was a talented entertainer and many enjoyed his work yet he ruined his life and perhaps many others but his death should have meaning. Just writing over and ignoring the bad cheapens the lessons his life and death holds the same that just stating the bad does. Personally I think he was weird and that weirdness was forgiven by many because of his talents. It highlights to me one of the dangers of talents when they are taken and valued alone and for me his life and death shows how little talents are really worth. He lived and died a selfish unhappy man despite having millions of dollars, millions of fans and the world in the palm of his hand. He could have lived happy if he had made the effort, he could have helped and been a service to so many people but instead he wasted the opportunities that were given to him. His life story gives lesson on what is important regardless of talents, money or fans in my opinion and his death an exclamation point on those lessons. Some will ignore those lessons by lionizing him others will ignore those lessons by continuing to hate him even in death, hopefully others will look at their own lives and see what is important to them and to their children families and nation and value those things a little more than money and celebrity.

Regards
Brian King

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

If we look at Jackson's case starting with the first case we know the father gave his child Sodium Amytal which is a mind altering substance when he questioned him about Jackson.

We know the father in the first case did not like Jackson. We know other kids were interviewed who denied anything went on. We know the father was in debt and after searches at Jackson's home found no proof of anything really.

The second case is even more baffling. We know the mother commited Welfare fraud,Sued J.C. Penny's,Tried to sue George Lopez,The childrens stories were inconsistent with each other.

As for did he buy the family. The father was requesting money. Jackson's health was declining due to drug use and stress I am sure at that point he just wanted to get on with his life.
But you are more than welcome to research it on your own the cases.

 

[MA-Caver]

This is an interesting read... Lived like a king but died a pauper.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090626/ap_on_bi_ge/us_michael_jackson_inc

 

[Gordon Nore]

AFAIK, Jackson was never found guilty of wrong doing. Settling isn't the same as admitting guilt. Did I like him? Not really. Did I like his music? No. But, he always struck me more as someone to pity than condemn. His childhood was really messed up, hell, the whole family is pretty strange. I take no pleasure in his death.

That's pretty much where I'm at. I liked a couple of the songs, but I never owned any of his recordings. I respected his talent, and he was a dynamically talented individual.

Bob, you're right. Jackson was never convicted of abuse of children. Notwithstanding, I always found it disturbing that he had sleepovers with other people's kids. Even if these episodes were not sexual, sharing a bed is intimate -- something that close family members do. What I find more disturbing is that parents would allow their children to have (apparently) unsupervised overnight stays at Jackson's home.

Reading between the lines, that tells me how outrageous Jackson's celebrity was and how badly people wanted a piece of him. As inappropriate as many of us might believe his behaviour was, there were obviously people lining up to validate and enable it. I don't believe there was anyone with the power or the backbone to tell him, "No."

 

[Gordon Nore]

This is an interesting read... Lived like a king but died a pauper.

I wonder what will become of the Beatles catalogue. I heard some years ago that Jackson had borrowed heavily against it when his empire was collapsing. Jackson, people may remember, was roundly criticized for licensing the song Revolution to Nike for a commercial. I would hate to think of the Beatles songs being dumped on the market like a fire sale to clean up his debts.

 

[Tez3]

I have honestly no opinion about him one way or another, I liked some of his music but it's not really my thing. However I'm rather tired of all the media attention it's attracting. We have specials about him on most channels, it's making top of the news even on our regional news! I realise it's news but do we have to have it as most of the news?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Hey, his death almost crashed the Internet.

 

[arnisador]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31571885/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

News of Michael Jackson’s death broke on the Internet late Thursday afternoon. Not long after that, the Internet broke too. Twitter crashed, as did Michael Jackson’s Wikipedia entry. Facebook lumbered under countless Michael Jackson video uploads retrieved from an over-accessed YouTube, and both ground to a halt.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10274137-2.html

Google has confirmed that the surge of Michael Jackson-related searches on Google News Thursday was first interpreted as an attack on its service.