Same, except it was layne staley's death which I found so tragic I wept a whole day. Mostly for the lonley state in which he died and no fan fare, media coverage.

Superficially I wonder what makes M.J. so much more worthy.
( only for a split second and then it's back to apathy )

I don't think the media coverage is about worthiness or non-worthiness, I think it's just that people had heard of MJ.

Good question. Not unlike other institutional cases of suspected or documented child abuse, the parents either aren't aware or unable to acknowledge the potential for abuse. Some of the parents might themselves be abusers or past victims who, never having come to terms with their own victimization, just don't see what's plain as day to the rest of us. Some of the parents were so in awe of MJ that I don't think they could even conceive what might happen not to mention that he was very generous with many of the parents some of whom were of modest means.

Its as unfortunate as it is inevitable that those who seek to prey on the defenseless will always be able to find an innocent victim.

I've never been a big fan of his, or of pop music in general, but there's no denying what a big star he was, and what a big impact he had on music and dance. In particular, every hip hop, R&B, and So You Think You Can Dance type people owe a major debt to him--it was all from him.

As to his personal life--I think there was something in him that never really grew up. It was internal, as well as deliberate. I don't know if he suffered abuse, or was an abuser himself, but I think there was something off about him sexually--I never really bought his presence in the videos where he was supposed to be "bad" or "sexy."

All of this is true. However, I still see another angle. Not all parents are good ones. I believe the potential existed for the down the road accusations, whether anything untoward occurred or not. I believe it's easy to say one didn't know or were jaded by their past experiences. There are people who play victim, and who use their children to get attention and perhaps payoff in retribution for their past victimization.

This is, of course, as much speculation as is those who are sure it happened. I don't know that it did or didn't, but I think we need to look seriously at all sides of possibility.

End result is same: if abuse did indeed happen, the children were victims...this is the sad bottom line. Adults, regardless of their past or their financial situation or aspirations or even stupidity, are charged with making their children safe. It is their choice to not do so, and in my opinion, allowing sleepovers in this situation is a choice to throw the safety of their children to the wind in exchange for whatever they thought might be afforded them.

Oh now I get it: the initial autopsy report doesn't include toxicology lab work that takes a few weeks to happen.

They keep calling him the king of pop. If he ever was the king of pop, he hasn't been since thriller.

They can deny you a job if they find anything in your piss in a quickie lab test, but it takes weeks to see if there were toxins in MJ's system?

That's because it's so hard to get 'em to piss once they're dead. :D

Don't I know it!

Oh, um...ooops. :bolt:

Much different test. Pee tests are limited in scope and specificity. Hair, blood, and bone will tell the tale.

Next time a potential employer wants a piss test, I'm going to ask them to do an autopsy, for accuracy. ;)

I would just like to ask where can I go to get a daily shot of Demerol?

Coz I'm liking the Demerol. Makes the world go all fuzzy and stuff.

Doesn't seem to have worked out too well in the long run, though.

I'd travel south to be a part of the adoring grieving throng, but by the time I got there, he'd already be dead.