Ratings GoldNothing could sway the media from covering every minute of this ratings bonanza.
I wouldn’t be surprised if in the future the media arranges for celebrities to meet their doom on the eve of Sweeps Week.
Is that too cynical?

Of course they’ll stop coverage of the funeralif another celeb dies.  This mania is so over the top that it is disgusting.  I think that the MSM is ‘manufacturing’ our supposed adoration of MJ because it sells.  I loved Michael’s music a lot, but sheesh, the way people are acting, you’d think that they just lost a family member.  
And then there is the child abuse thingy.  I wonder if NAMBLA will be sending flowers to the funeral to mourn the loss of one of their own?  
Our culture is more twisted than I would have ever guessed.  

I fully expect a riot And deaths.  
But it sure will sell a lot of soap.

FauxNewswas running a Palin lovefest, but when aren’t they?
Honestly? If there is breaking news, it would probably be popped down below on a red strip, unless it is REALLY huge news.

alien abduction of the Staples Center led by ElvisThat should top the hysteria of the fans and the media feeding the lunacy!

For anyone else who liked his musicThis is a link to MJ’s YouTube channel, set up a few years ago.

The White House has declared……that Micheal Jackson is a shovel ready project and they are dumping “stimulus” money on the Staples Center right now…

American trashertainmentI was reading the NY Times online yesterday, and they had a photo of this lady who’d obtained a ticket to the “event” and had a huge smile on her face. It got me wondering, have you ever seen someone so excited about going to a funeral?
American trashertainment, on parade.

Last night at workwe had a long discussion regarding the manufactured “adoration” of Michael Jackson. This was mainly due to the tables of merchandise that corporate had us put out right after his death. (also that some magazines sent out “special” additions or replaced their original issues with new “lets worship Michael” issues).
Its left a lot of the average customers very confused. How should they react to this? Its odd, people are left shaking their heads.
In my case, I’m just annoyed because my regular news programs do nothing but cover this. There are other things happening in the world.

Ticket giveaway vs. the digital divideI thought this was an interesting article about how the ticket giveaway highlights the digital divide we still have in this country, with many of MJ’s fans probably not having internet access during the holiday weekend.
As for the coverage, it doesn’t bother me.  There are very few pop culture stars with appeal as universal as Jackson’s anymore (cutting across class, race, gender and sexuality as his audience does).  People want to be a part of something large and seemingly all-inclusive; the spectacle may be tacky, but it’s harmless, and people are having fun.  The screwed-up economy, failing wars, and disappointing leaders will still be there tomorrow, and the news will go back to talking about them.  Me, I’m listening to “Off The Wall” and a bunch of Jackson 5 songs today on shuffle, and will listen to the news again tomorrow.

cricus day, with elephantsHow appropriate that prior to the funeral there was a parade of elephants to the Staple Center. Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey will be performing there later, but the juxtaposition of this is surreal. The circus is in town in more ways than one.

Here in LA, more specifically the San Fernando ValleyI live close enough so at this very second I can hear the constant hum and buzz of the flotilla for helicopters both news and law enforcement from my house.  Think I’ll go a tad late to work since where I’m headed is literally right across the LA River from Forest Lawn….yep helicopters hummin’.
Oh, and of course, the local news is all MJ all channels.  

I, for one…am going to listen to Disk 2 of Lewis Black’s Carnegie Hall CD several times – and then go see Star Trek  at the discount theater.  (If The Stepford Wives was playing I’d go see it again, just like I did on the day of Ronald Reagan’s funeral.)

sadly, this seems to be what the family wantspersonally, I think it is downright grotesque.  This isn’t really honoring someone, it’s merchandising him even more.  The saddest part is now there’s talk that the oldest son may sing at the Staples center (and that he was to perform with MJ had he not died).  If MJ was really the good & protective father that’s been described lately, I would have thought he would not want his children turned into performing stage animals as he was and, if they were interested in becoming performers, to let them do so as adults.  I hope the family will have the sense not to cash in on & make a spectacle of the children knowing the damage it did to MJs psyche.

*** This breaking news just in ***

  Michael Jackson is still dead!  

My Two CentsLatest FaBlog: Fait Diver — It Don’t Matter If You’re Armond White

It’s totally luridI think all the attention to MJ’s death is less because he was beloved and more because he was controversial and his life WAS a circus.  If I hadn’t given up on the “news” channels already, I would certainly do so now.
The whole situation is sad.  I wasn’t particularly a fan of Michael and I’m honestly more upset about Steve McNair, since I was a fan of his.  But probably the MJ circus has saved the McNair family from facing the same degree of over-the-top, invasive coverage.

Wow
I miss the understated dignity of Elvis.

Why not a quiet cremation ?Ashes put in the ocean.  Safe, ecologically sound.  Who needs the monuments ?  The caskets that look like your grandmothers victorian furniture trimmed out in brass fittings,  It’s the family, they have to keep the legend alive because it means MONEY.  Think Marilyn, Elvis, worth more dead than alive.

They closed I-5 South??Good lord; I’ve never been to CA but even I know that’s the main highway!
This is gonna cost how many millions in taxpayer dollars?

News override“Newflash! Nuclear device detonated over Islamabad. City in ruins. Millions believed dead or dying. Film at 11:00. We now resume our regular live broadcast of the Michael Jackson memorial service in Los Angeles.” (Just kidding, folks, no cause for alarm.)

it may have been in his willwe don’t have enough information to know either way.

I lived in Houston in 1994so I had more than a passing interest in the Rockets-Knicks NBA Finals series – and I’m still pissed that NBC actually thought that I (or anyone else for that matter) cared more about OJ being chased in the white Bronco than the game that was taking place during the chase.

It’s not happiness at going to a funeralIt’s happiness at finally getting a little piece of Fame, America’s true god.  She’s about to be a part of something that’s going to be on Teevee!

What?!? Michael Jackson died?And here I thought all this maudlin mourning was over the late Karl Malden.

Classic modern day version of Nero’s “Bread and Circuses”This is just an electronic verion of the Colloseum games.

Flipping through channelsNBC running usual “Millionaire” with Meredith. Ann Curry with her perfected “fake sincerity” should be weighing in later on… Brian Williams will be covering the memorial, though.
ABC has “Access Hollywood”- about MJ, natch.
CBS has knocked off “The Young and the Restless”, the top soap on ALL of the stations, for today and instead bumped up “The Bold and the Beautiful” from 1:30 to 12:30. B&B runs for a half-hour, so presumably at 1pm CBS will start covering the circus.
FauxNews, CNN, MSNBC, and HLN have all been covering the circus for hours.
—————————————————
The Weather Channel has decided to continue its normal coverage rather than focus simply on the sunny skies over LA.
QVC? Oh please; they will have commemorative MJ gear in nanoseconds!!
I don’t dare look to see if any of the food channels are running MJ’s favorite dishes or see what the Comedy Channel is doing!

It’s always a shamewhen they go so young like that, Russ…

funeral sequence from “Evita”I knew we were in for a frenzy the day he died. I turn on BBC World news, not knowing what’s up, and there’s live aerial telephoto shots of a hospital in LA, and I’m wondering if something had happened to some head of state or something. (They didn’t get to Afghanistan till almost the end of the news program). Even the BBC, for hevvin’s sake!
Oh what an exit, that’s how to go
When they’re ringing your curtain down
Demand to be buried like Eva Peron
It’s quite a sunset
And good for the country in a roundabout way
We’ve made the front page of all the world’s papers today!

And Hwy 101/134 east and ALL on ramps! for the procession from Encino to Forest Lawn, of course not for very long…I-5 and Hwy 110 is the way to get to Staples Center from the Valley.
At work now, I see the the studio Forest Lawn entrance is closed for both incoming an outgoing.  No trouble getting to work on my regular surface streets tho.

CNN Internationalis covering it, one channel has nonstop MJ videos…
Yup- CBS is doing a special report with Katie Couric, calling it “Michael Jackson: The Farewell”. And one of the first shots includes the elephants being brought in…
NBC has Brian Williams and Lester Holt; Lee Cowan is inside the Staples Center already with live reports of the blue lighted stage still being set up.
ABC has Charlie Gibson and earlier shots from a helicopter of the highways being closed and the family going in for the funeral, with focus on the 3 children. Now shots of the casket being brought out and comments that Katherine came out holding Paris’ hand.

According to ABCKatherine is a Jehovah’s Witness.

Those memorial bookswill be on Ebay in hours…

Smokey Robinsonfirst at the Staple Center, reading statements of Diana Ross.

You knowI don’t have any better way to express myself, other than, Michael Jackson dying, really isn’t news.   Yes, he was a musician, yes, he was a pretty good one, according to some folks (myself, I didn’t particularly care for his stuff).  But honestly, the day after he died, and you got up out of bed, and made your coffee, or tea, or just grabbed the bottle of whiskey, or whatever.   Does his death affect your life one single iota?  If it does, there’s something seriously wrong with you.  Unless you personally knew the fellow at some length, any reaction other than a simple “oh, that’s sad” or “wow” or in the case of some folks “good riddance”, is a complete waste of time.
This is pretty much the entire reason I quit watching television and listening to any sort of local radio years ago, it’s all fluff, lowest-common denominator crap, to keep you distracted from what’s really going on in the world.
We’ve got two highly unpopular, and I believe unwinnable police actions going on in Afghanistan and Iraq, the economy is doing a good job of circling the drain, Chrysler and GM are de facto branches of the US Government now, there are chuckleheads in africa that seem to think that raping a virgin will cure them of HIV http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING…
And Michael Jackson dying is the biggest news story of the day.
And people wonder why I get so annoyed with most of humanity on any given day….

For myselfI’m trying to find out more about what’s happening in Honduras, as we have good friends there. Emails are sporadic…

See.That’s something important, a military coup, resulting in the removal of a democratically elected leader, and yet, I’ve barely seen blips of it in most print or internet media….

in other newsa game show to convert atheists.

I knowOur friends live on a boat and we thought the recent earthquake down there was bad or the hurricanes last year… this sh*t is the sort of thing that scares me for them…

Our death rituals usually mirror our life rituals.So there is perfect congruence here.

Brooke Sheilds  is making me cry.  The most real so far.  

Media BlitzLook, I’m not going to criticize the dead this soon after his death, particularly one that will be missed by so many.
The media coverage of his death and funerary arrangements is getting a little out of control. Seriously. Its a little sick in a way to use MJ’s death to make a ton of ca$h like this. It doesn’t do anything to serve his memory, it kind of removes whatever dignity he had left. It also exposes for the whole world to see just how cold and exploitative his family was-look at his father preening for the pres, announcing the formation of a new record company just hours after his son’s death, and showing no remorse for the loss of his son-just the loss of a superstar, and now everyone who has shown no prior concern for MJ or his kids scrambles to get custody, just so they can get at his wealth. Its so crass.
It would have been better had the family simply asked for the cameras to go away so they could mourn the loss in peace.  

Motown has already released a new compilation albumI wrote about it over at my blog.
The thing that I noticed is the cover image is from the same photo shoot as Got To Be There.
I noticed right away that they didn’t touch up the photo of the new album like they did back in 1971.
For the older cover, they added a missing tooth and removed a birthmark. It also looks like they made his skintone a little bit lighter.
Check it out.
http://blog.albumartexchange.c…
No wonder Michael had a messed up body image.

Christ on a crutchWhen I was watching the talking heads on PBS discussing this, and one of the experts teed it up as “well, it’s not exactly a military coup,” I found myself shouting at the TV.
I don’t care what the guy might have done, when the military drags a democratically-elected president out of his bed in the middle of the night, puts him on an airplane while he’s still in his pajamas, and deports him to another country – what exactly is that other than a coup?

YesOMG, “The Little Prince”…  

One arrested outside Who wants to take bets it’s one of the WBC loons?

Not what that family is all aboutThat’s why they are so famous in the first place.
The same thing would happen if either Donny or Marie Osmond died suddenly. Their family would turn it into a media event, because that’s what they do.
Imagine…
Marie Osmond Dead at 50!
Her brother Donny speaks about his sister and TV partner live on CNN. Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, and Jimmy appear on MSNBC.
Osmondmania returns. Sales skyrocket on iTunes.
The new generation of Osmonds to perform at funeral at Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City. Sign recording contract.

Do you think this might be an elaborate hoax?
People have done more to get out of much less debt.
Maybe he’s just pullin’ a Palin.

Can you imagine?He could have been inspired by Elvis. Perhaps we’ll have Michael Jackson sightings for years.

UmmmmmA forced vacation?   They were just worried he’d been working too hard….

“Does his death affect your life one single iota?”Well, yeah it does. If you work in any business related to music, entertainment or pop culture, this is a big deal.
TV networks and radio stations give the people what they want. They are interested in ratings and must compete to keep advertisers.
The only way to stop this kind of thing is to eliminate advertising and free enterprise from our news media.
If our news media were financed by our taxes, they wouldn’t have to serve up this kind of popular crap. They could report on important issues like the ones you noted.

I shit you not – last 10 seconds at the bottom of the frameCopyright 2009
AEG Entertainment Limited
All Right Reserved

OkYeah, you brought that up.  And you’re right.  I don’t work in any sort of Media Production or Presentation industry, most people don’t, so I hadn’t really considered that angle, so yeah, his death certainly could affect you financially.  But honestly, does his death really affect you Emotionally?  I mean the golden goose might be dead, but there’s 50 others waiting in the wings…..

UPDATEOK – so I get out of Star Trek (BTW – it was far better than I’d been led to believe), hop in my car and turn on the radio.  Even NPR had turned into the Jacko Fackto(ry).
Perhaps Bruce Springsteen should update a certain early 90s song…
50,000 channels and nothing but Jacko on….

Funeral gleeNo I haven’t.  But then Darth Vader Cheney is still with us.

I should have clarifiedThe folks who work in the news media are in the entertainment business. It wasn’t always that way. We used to have federal regulations that kept news and entertainment more separate. TV and radio stations had to provide news as a public service.
You’re right that Jackson’s doesn’t impact me on an emotional level. But, the news media helps shape our emotional reaction to the world.
I think a lot of people are going to look back on this coverage and decide that we need to separate our news and entertainment services the way we used to back when we had “public airwaves” and FCC regulations that looked out for the public rather than big corporations.

harmless … people are having fun …I am sad only for the boy Michael was, for his family’s loss, for whatever circumstances warped him.  But not for the man he became.  Some potential harms:
Perpetrators of child sexual abuse get the message that what they are doing is hunky dory, since the media, respected celebrities and politicians, and millions of fans are glossing over some unambiguous and damning trial facts.
Children being victimized by perpetrators right now may believe that they are indeed worthless, it is alright that an adult is using them this way, they are crazy to feel violated and hurt, and adults will neither believe them, nor protect them, nor speak for them.
No talent, no intelligence, no special gift is worth this price.  We are damned and doomed until we stop this.  

I only watched the memorial service itself……and I thought it was moving.
I don’t really get the impetus for commenters to come and demonstrate how hip and cynical they are by just ruthlessly bashing everything about it.
Al Sharpton and Brooke Shields were terrific.

As much as a spectacle as this was…I somehow thought this whole episode would be worse.  I remember the Lady Diana coverage and it seems to me it was much more drawn out.  Like it took months and months–maybe because of the wreck and the strange circumstances.  This looks like it could all end now after this memorial except for the final determiniation on why he died, which no one will be surprised about.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong.  My memory is not so good .
I’m just glad it is not worse.  

Well, I canHonestly only hope that’s the reaction people have.  I personally have no need to be entertained when somebody is giving me information….

This is why…smart people limit their TV news to the BBC.

Remember when…I was quite amazed with the coverage of Nixon’s funeral.  So many people were all upset, and just from that you would have thought that he was the best loved President ever.  Zheesh.  Yeah, we do need to bring some of that regulation back too.  

Star TrekI’ve seen it 4 times, and it’s held up amazingly.

I agree, but–I’ve seen a lot of coverage in the NYt and the WaPo.

the memorial was sometimes too showbizzy, but overall was very good.I don’t know why Kobe Bryant was there, and I particularly thought they were going to go overboard at the end, but I think it was very respectful.
All the concerns/fearmongering about riots and people acting a fool were completely unjustified.
Marlon and MJ’s daughter brought me to tears.
I believe among progressives it has become almost a measure of your “hipness” to be hating on Michael Jackson.  The man was a major world influence and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with acknowleding there will probably not be another performer to have his cultural impact.

No, you remember correctly. It went on and on too.But the State Funeral in England was for someone who was actually a member of the Constitutional Monarchy and in line to be the queen at one time.  
(Besides, the Brits do pageantry better than anybody…I watched the ceremony whereby their new Speaker of the House of Commons was appointed last week.  It made me realize that Gilbert and Sullivan actually wrote Documentaries, not Operettas!)

Congratualtions!You’ve got something in common with GOP tool Peter King!
From Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

…number one, best stepping off an unnecessary cliff…rabid right wing congressman Peter King of New York. He complained about the excessive and excessively positive media coverage of the late Michael Jackson and for once there’s nothing really wrong about one of his complaints.
But, then he went on to call Jackson a quote “pedophile” and a quote “lowlife pervert” who quote “did some dancing.”
The problem is, Jackson was never convicted of any of that — except the dancing part, and Jackson’s fans don’t care. Well, they care about congressman King now. One has already set up a fundraising site asking fans of Michael Jackson to contribute to the campaign for somebody, anybody, who will run against King next year on some sort of “let Michael Jackson rest in peace” platform.

The media love a freak showAnd if a death is involved, so much the better.
It’s cheap, it fills air time, and most importantly, nobody speaking about it has to know a damned thing.  So much less complicated than wars, coups, recessions, our national security state, the decline of civil liberties.
All you need is a mic and an opinion.
Oh, and good hair.

not just an american thing…For a fact, people of other countries do the same when someone famous dies.  Finally, something that’s not only our mental perversion!

I pretty much limit my viewing to CSPANThe only channel that aims a camera at an event 5 minutes before the start, has NO comments during the event, then leaves the camera running for 10 minutes after it is over.
There is absolutely no “spin”.
And where else can you see the conference committee discussions where legislation is actually written?

ok I’ll say it…where’s the WBC?  I actually looked forward to the outcome of their plans.  Kinda like a sick science experiment.  I feel a little bad for wondering, but well it’s all a big voyeuristic glitterparade anyway.
Maybe they wisened up?

Or is he?

Is MSNBC going to be done with this anytime soon?Like in time for Ed, Keith, and Rachel?

I’m not hating on Michael JacksonI’m hating on the gaudy spectacular (and the omnipresence of it) which does not honor or memorialize a human being, it seals his fate as a commodity.

When we get up, make coffee, tea or juice,then we do not sit down to write songs about saving the world, nor spend hours working out in order to perform under hot lights even on days when we don’t feel up to it, nor do we donate money in unimaginable portions, nor invite busloads of strangers from the poor neighborhood down the road to our backyard to ride our ferris wheels, making sure there’s always good snacks for them to eat. We don’t call up our friends to come together and do what they do best in order to raise money for starving strangers half a world away.
Why don’t the starving just move to where the food is?
Yeah, he was a great entertainer. Yes, he was totally messed up and damaged before he reached puberty. But at least when he wasn’t feeling sorry for himself, or trying to live a missed childhood, he donated time and tons of money to those perceived less fortunate than himself.
Perhaps he was trying to save himself through saving others.
It’s more than the music. And you have a right to your tastes and jadedness.
He was probably the sorriest person I’ve ever seen. I mourn for his lost childhood.

Amen, Anthony!The sneering condescension is the ugly underbelly of progressivism. It helped drive lots of working class voters away from the left. Some of the commenters here sound just like the caricature of Goth kids on South Park–the faux ennui is really tiresome.
Yes, MJ’s daughter is the big story. Rep. Peter King should be made to watch that clip of her.
Maya Angelou’s poem was touching too.

I liked it.But the daughter… it was the first time I’d ever heard him called “daddy”.
It sort of made the big world of mourners and fans grow real tiny in comparison to this little girl, who had lost her father.
Nothing more to it than that.
Snide comments not appropriate in response.

I hear yaand I thought Brooke Shields’ tribute was very touching too.

AgreedThat moment was really profoundly striking.

Don’t think they won’t cover it, tooEven if it’s only to bitch about how excessive the coverage was.

ALLEGED perpetrator of child sexual abuseWe have this little thing called “innocent until PROVEN guilty”
The inescapable fact is that he was NOT convicted and the other issue was settled out of court — making the family in question just as suspect as Jackson.  After all, what kind of person prostitutes their kid to a celebrity for 20 million dollars? By accepting money instead of justice, that’s what those parents did, and that ruins any credibility they might’ve had. Money doesn’t return innocence, and it certainly doesn’t prevent other children from being victimized.  It does, however, make life easier for a con-artist.

Thank youNot to mention the fact that Jackson has children who should be spared having their father called perpetrators of child sexual abuse.
Would anyone say that to this child’s face?

what a sad wayto dehumanize a living legend.
look, you’re not a fan, but the man changed the way we do music, videos, dance, the way we do celebrity.  He was a trailblazer for pop, for R&B, and he was completely unique.  We literally watched a child grow into a man and then die, all right before our very eyes.  He did a lot of charity work, he really did try to make a difference.
After all that, you can seriously say there’s something wrong with someone for having an emotional connection, the only person with a problem is you.
Whether you like him or not, he did more in 50 years than most people do. He changed the world, he touched people with his music and his difficult life.  He made people laugh, he made people smile, he made people dance. And he did it for almost half a century.
I know with our half baked celebrities like Hilton, John & Kate, and The Hills — everyone is a celebrity.  You can become a celebrity for no reason whatsoever.  We have people who are famous these days not because they did something, or accomplished something, but because they had a camera in front of them.  They’re famous for the sake of being famous.
Jackson was famous because he earned it.  Because he DID things.  He made music, he made videos, he made a difference.
You lack empathy.

actuallyI don’t think Diana was in line to be the queen.  She wasn’t technically a princess, even.  The English rules for the monarchy are quite elaborate, but I forget what the deal is, just suffice to say you can’t just marry your way into being a princess or Queen.  

Many good pointsThere is no way to deny Jackson’s incredible talent.
He was one of those prodigies that only come around once a generation.
I like your point about Paris Hilton and other faux celebrities. They give us nothing.

…speaking of child abuse.

I would say — “Did you know he had you manufactured?”And then explain what that means.
HE’S NOT HER BIOLOGICAL FATHER!!!!!

Yes there isHe didn’t have “incredible talent.”
He wasn’t Billy Strayhorn. He wasn’t Leonard Bernstein. He wasn’t Stephen Sondheim.
Peddle you “no way to deny” elsewhere FOOL!

I don’t like that argument.For the record, I find MJ absurd in pretty much everything he did and his music has been fairly disposable for the last decade and a half so I’m not an apologist for him but this is really a dangerous argument.  Think of a same sex couple, is a child’s second mother or father unworthy of parenthood if the biological parent dies?  I do think that it’s the same line of thinking that homophobes have.  

Yes…I was moved by that young lady too.In fact, I feel horrible for her, and even for the rest of the Jackson family, who were denied the opportunity to grieve in a more dignified service, and not broadcast as part of a media- driven funerary concert.
There was a museum in Detroit that had a gathering for the televised “service”  and they had a Michael Jackson impersonator!  My goddess, that is so wrong!

so…what about kids who are adopted?
What about the child of a lesbian couple? We know both of them didn’t have the same child.
In any case, he took care of her financially, was there for the huge moments in her life when he was alive, etc.

Heck, not a “dangerous” argument, I thought;but a laughable argument to be making at a site like this.

When I dieI do hope I will have attained the degree of fame or infamy it takes for others to wonder if I faked it or not.
That, my dear friends, is how you know you have made it.

Still here, almost biz as usualStrange thread to discuss this but what the heck.  Quite a circus here in Honduras lately.  This Sunday the ex-pres’s jet flew right over my house on the way to a dramatic scene at the capital where they blocked the runway and the plane diverted to El Salvador then to Nicaragua.  
Latest word after the meeting with Hillary today is the Pres. of Costa Rica (a Nobel Peace Prize winner) will be mediating a session on Thursday between the former Pres. Zelaya and the interim Pres. Micheletti.  
Last tidbit of info coming to light:  According to the Honduran Constitution, the act of persuing a second term as Zelaya was doing automatically removed him from his presidency, no help needed from Congress or the Sup. Court.  Then afterwards, he was exiled to Costa Rica, the military was ordered by the Supreme Court to avoid unnecessary violence.  A new pres. was sworn in, same political party, no military rule, so, not really a coup like the press is bleating.
Probably 90% of the population is in agreement with ousting Zelaya as he was getting too friendly with Chavez.  Many of the aggitators you see on TV are paid plants from Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
Check the WSJ for the best coverage IMO.  Many other media outlets have really botched this story up and the world has turned it’s back on Honduras over bad info particularly the US.  In reality it was democracy that prevailed and we averted a Chavez like regime from taking hold.
Lately it has been raining narco trafficing planes, a dozen or more loaded with cocaine from Venezuela have been captured here.  One crashed a few weeks ago less than a mile from my house having 1600 kilos on board.  It ran out of fuel being chased all night by a US C-130.  Talk about suspicious connection between Hond. and Venezuela. Between that and all the quakes, sheesh, never a dull moment.  
Louise, your friends are probably fine, just the normal power outages and bad internet connections.  Or maybe they’re too busy scuba diving or at happy hour?      

Abuse?Apparently, Paris asked that she be allowed to speak at her father’s funeral.
I don’t see how allowing that is abuse. The family gathered around to help her do it.
I think she’s a very brave little girl.
Telling her she could not speak would have been wrong.

Had to make my hubby to the dentist this morningjust saw the last half hour of the ceremony. I get the distinct impression the tooth extractions were less painful.
I knew this morning when they had about 3 hours to fill before it even began, and several more shows tonight, and commentary all afternoon and highlights of what the entire planet just watched…it was going to be WHACKY beyond belief.

make = take

BBC also has good coverageHere is a link for the latest on the situation:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ame…

for realshe’s 11 years old.  Plenty old enough to make a decision like this, and plenty old enough for the family to honor that request.
Not everything is a giant conspiracy.

you’re righthe was better than all of them combined.  Since I’ve never even heard of Billy Strayhorn, yet people in grass huts know who Michael Jackson was.
Having looked over Strayhorn’s biography on wikipedia, I have no idea how you can even compare the two. Not to diminish his work, but it pales on comparison to all that Jackson accomplished in his lifetime.

One thing we can expect now, I guessis that she and her siblings won’t have to wear bags over their heads when they go out in public.

Michael Jackson was a pop artistNo, he wasn’t Bernstein, nor Sondheim.
Is is better to compare him to other pop artists. And, no one even comes close.
PunkZany wrote below:

people in grass huts know who Michael Jackson was.

And that will be the case 100 years from now.
Only a fool can deny the impact that Michael Jackson has had on the world. But, since we’re all trying to be civil here, I won’t call anyone a fool.
As far as Jackson not having incredible talent.
How many people could do this at the age of 12? Check out this performance with the music track removed.

Amazing! Brilliant! Compare that to the lipsyncing idiots on TV today.

I’ll admit, Fritz, that I hadn’t watched a second of the MJ Shownor clicked on the clip of the poor child before making my comment.  Now that I have watched her (“speak up, sweetheart, speak up!) I’ll just say I thought it a grotesque thing, whoever scripted it.

Apparently, Paris asked that she be allowed to speak at her father’s funeral.

Hmm. I’m visualizing a scenario more like, “Honey, everybody else in the family is going to say something about your daddy. You want to say something, too, don’t you?”
I don’t mean that children shouldn’t be encouraged to participate in normal funeral rituals, but this was far from normal and just struck me as awful, a child as a prop in a show, with a record of her grief to follow her forever.

Her older brother didn’t speakI heard that she asked her grandmother if she could speak about her dad. Her older brother Michael Jr. didn’t speak (he’s 12) and it doesn’t appear that anyone forced him to go on stage either.
I image that the family didn’t really want her to do it. But, what else could they do? As PunkZany wrote, she is 11 and plenty old enough to make a decision like that.
I’m sure witnessing her father die in front of her is going to follow her forever. Don’t ya think?

MSNBC replayI’m a day sleeper, so I missed the live coverage of Michael’s memorial service.  I’m thankful MSNBC decided to replay it a couple of times while I was awake.  I am especially grateful that they knew the broadcast would be so upsetting to his fans that they broke away from the sorrow every 3-4 minutes for a commercial message.  But most of all, I’m thankful they even sneaked in a brief tribute to Billy Mays during the coverage, airing a commercial of him hawking some useless product.  

I’ve been willfully uninterested in the details of this cultural eventand have no idea if anything you say is factual (I’m not saying you’re lying, okay?). Conversations with her family?  Did she witness her father die? I have no knowledge of any of that. I’m skeptical by nature about anything in the media, especially the pop culture media.
Over five years, by the time I was fourteen, I had attended four funerals – of a grandfather, my sister, my brother and my mother. So that colors my reactions.

omg it’s him!or a cloud or bird passing by the bright sunlight outside the window.  

i saw him this morningin a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Shaken, not sliced.

WBC wised up?I think we’ll be reading that the Phelps inbreds have become fierce advocates for gay rights before that ever happens.
But, like you, I was wanting to see them join hands in front of the Staple Center and entertain everyone with a chorus of “God Hates the World” in tribute to Michael Jackson.

I was thinking that maybe they did a theat assessmentand realized that spatulas, forceps and zip loc bags would be required to bring all the remnants of their merry band back to Kansas if this particular crowd caught sight of them.

Compare to Judy GarlandShe had much more talent, especially relevant was her body of work relating to the struggle in our gay community.  ”The man that got away” is a classic.  Michael didn’t do much for gays.

Sounds like the failure to agree here is dueat least partially to a generational divide.

Consider your Homo Card revoked for a week while you listen up.Never heard of Billy Strayhorn?  Get out!  And forget about reading about him on Wikipedia; you need to listen to some of the great artists singing and playing the music he wrote.
If the Duke Ellington-era sound is too old-timey for you, try out a CD like Passion Flower: Fred Hersch Plays Billy Strayhorn (with the added bonus of keeping the gay vibe going via pianist Hersch and, for one tune, singer Andy Bey).

Good pointGay bar jukebox’s in the time of Stonewall and for 20 years after featured Judy’s music 24/7.   I keep forgetting most people alive today were not even born back then.