Jack & Jill Politics

OH MY GOD!!! Is this the outfit that everyone has been talking about, WTF? She looks like a deranged Tinkerbell.

The next time a legend passes, the BET crew should have no involvement in any tribute.

I'm sorry - but that picture gets more disconcerting every time I see it.

I am so glad that you said that Word. Everytime I came to this link and saw Beyonce looking like "Glenda the Good Witch" from Wizard of Oz, the pic was soooo annoying. I said to myself, well the day was almost over. Glad you said it.

I showed the hubby this picture and he immediately said:

"So when is Beyonce giving back Madonna's dress?"

Fail.

JayZ is not Barry Gordy and Beyonce is no Diana Ross. Maybe she should have tried to marry Clive Davis.

And while I'm on JayZ, is he really that good? I like a few songs but I was confused with his retirement crap. Retire from what? Talking over some sampled music? And then he came out of retirement like a year later? I don't know they whole story but he seams like someone who takes himself way to seriously.

If Dr. Conrad Robert Murray is a concierge doctor; paid $150k per month, why is MJ dead? For those duckets, he should have had a baby monitor on his bed and been in that room every time he pooted.

all that money is precisely the reason MJ is dead. a doctor that's getting paid that much money isn't being employed to provide quality medical care, he's being paid to say yes to things he shouldn't be; that price tag buys the doctor's never ending prescription pad & that's it.

u know that's right--hush $$ !

Money is not indicative of quality health care. Which is the very reason we need health care reform....so what are you saying here. MJ being dead..ain't about money.

His death is so sad, so tragic and just awful..but it was not about money.

Money can't buy you health nor infallible healthcare in America.

You ain't NEVA lied!!! I Unless of course, the unspeakable really happened.

Whispering.... DId MIchael commit suicide?

i whispered that yesterday...

I see folks are starting to sound like haters in here!

This has crossed my mind in the last few days. If it wasn't intentional, he didn't seem to care either way.

Please no, let's not start another unfounded rumor ... let him find peace in death that many denied him in life.

It probably was a heart attack (brought on by?), and here's why, speaking from my own experience: I happen to know a woman in her early 50s who - out of the blue - suffered a mild heart attack. She'd been under alot of stress - overextending herself, etc. What saved her is that she was talking to a friend at the time that she started experiencing symptoms, and she immediately went to the hospital and recovered.

In MJs case, it's quite possible that he had a cardiac episode that went unnoticed until it was too late. If anything, something tells me that the Dr wasn't being attentive and missed it.

For all MJs issues, I think he loved his kids, his fans, and life. He had so much to live for. Honestly - I think he died trying to please his fans. He wanted to give us one last show, even if - medically speaking - it was hard to do.

well, of course none of us knows what happened... but if he "loved" life, he probably wouldn't have mutilated himself in the way that he did... people who are in debt to the sound of $500M are not lovin' life. suicide or not, he had to be verrry uncomfortable.

People who kill themselves don't see things that way. They don't see that they have people and things to live for. There are plenty of parents all over the world who loved their children dearly yet still take their own lives.

I don't know for sure what happened. But if after all this is resolved and it turns out MJ couldn't take living anymore, I won't be shocked.

I been trying to keep that very thought suppressed in my head...sho is looking like that though. Just the little indications that have been given is pointing that way. Empty stomach with pills found in it. MJ coming up on July 13 concerts and having to face what people in US would say about his comeback and the child molest allegations. He had not performed in years but especially not since the trial and the impact it had on him. Dr. Murray has said he didn't give him demerol and he knows he can't lie cause the AA community will jack him up bad for lying. It's pointing to the big "S". Money does not buy quality healthcare for you and me but for MJ there should have been NO excuses for not having quality. Murray should have been sleeping outside MJs door with a landline phone listening to hear if he sniffled ofr $150 per month. And now he's saying that MJ owes him $300k and MJ is dead. What, what what?

We have no clue what happened, but the MSM has lost their sick minds talking about "Wacko Jacko" as they like to call him; not leaving out all the crazy Blacks that ever crossed his path, gave him a glass of water, or an aspirin. I want to run this by you all and see what you come up with. Liza Minnelli made a statement the day of Michael's death, it when something like this; "We better celebrate now because when the autopsy is finished all hell is going to break loose."

I think MJ's death was due to stress, poor nutrition, poor hydration, and reliance on dangerous painkillers. I wonder if a lot of the physical pain he was experiencing was due to the fact that he was not eating enough.

It's hard for me to even think about the possibility of "S."

I understand what you're saying about quality health care, though.

Unfortunately your whisper...makes a whole lot of sense out of this. So sad.
I was thinking about it and couldn't imagine what it must be like to have been a performer from the time of a child with all the energy and vitality that goes with that and realizing you jsut don't have that NEmore...and Michael's childlike mind just was unable to handle the enormity of that...all he could see was failure in terms of coming up with the physical stamina he use to have for performances.

His body had aged and his mind hadn't he just was not able to do that anymore.

When you a kid, you can do anything if you put your mind to it. He had lived & brethed that under the stern tutelage of his father and he was just not measuring up in his mind.

He was overwhelmed with the very idea of not being able to perform up to his previous levels. All of us as we mature come to accept that, but MJ's mind never matured. And being a perfectionist...he just found that intolerable.

Terribly sad.

Part of the reason I see it as a possibility is because of his age. For a person who saw themselves as Peter Pan, 50 has got to be ancient. He hung around kids because they don't judge and they accepted him for who he was. But even children probably began to wonder why a father of three wanted to play video games and eat candy all day long.

And I think the mutilation of his face may have left him deeply depressed. His most recent visage was downright monstrous. He looked like an alien at the press conference for the new concert tour. Imagine what he would have looked like ten years from now. Imagine having to wake up everyday and see what you did to your face. That alone could make you want to go to sleep and not wake up.

Whatever happened, I think it's wrong to sweep his severe depression under the rug. This man did not love life in his later years. It breaks your heart because he had such a light in him.

We are both "feeling" MJ aren't we. This is so sad.

Mike never knew how much we wanted him to come home to sing again. Today's tribute to MJ:

Another day has gone
I'm still all alone
How could this be
You're not here with me
You never said goodbye
Someone tell me why
Did you have to go
And leave my world so cold


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8rYl6K2STc

You're making me so sad!

*Tears*

It hurts!

Yep...we knew it

BET Awards get record ratings thanks to Michael Jackson
6:27 pm June 30, 2009, by Rodney Ho

Sunday night’s BET Awards drew 10.7 million viewers, the most ever for a cable awards show and more than even the “Jon & Kate” divorce announcement episode earlier in the week.

With Michael Jackson on people’s minds and an array of tributes for the late singer, viewers flocked to BET for some catharsis. Locally, the show did even better, drawing a whopping 860,000 viewers, far more than even a typical “American Idol” episode this past season and one of the biggest ratings for any program in Atlanta this year.

This despite complaints online that the show dragged on way too long, save for Janet Jackson’s emotional appearance at the end.

The post-show drew another 5.4 million and the preview episode of “Tina & Toya,” featuring T.I.’s baby’s mama Tiny and Lil Wayne’s ex Toya, brought in 3.8 million.

The only broadcast programs last week that did better than the BET Awards show were a repeat of CBS’s “NCIS” and NBC’s debut of “America’s Got Talent.”
http://blogs.ajc.com/radio-tv-talk/2009/06/30/b...

And the reason for the high ratings was because the public was lied to. They said they had changed their format to do a tribute to Michael Jackson and I saw very little that was done about Michael Jackson. I certainly thought they the show would include Usher, Chris Brown and Chris Tucker since the three of them always did such great takes on Michael. That this was a disaster and they had the nerve to do a repeat.

“Tina & Toya,” featuring T.I.’s baby’s mama Tiny and Lil Wayne’s ex Toya

I can't think of a more awful concept for a show. I'm surprised it's not airing on VH1.

I feel like you have to be really looking for something to watch and have no way to rent a movie if you watch this. Allowing their daughters on stage the other night with LiL Wayne showed me all I needed to know about these two.

Okay ya'll,

So I watched a couple fo the Michael Jackson retrospectives, and the best and most fair so far has been the special produced by CBS 48 hours. Did anybody else watch it? Like I said, it eas really "fair and balanced". It wasn't just all innu4endo, and salacious, it was good.

Link please ..to the best...I wanna watch it!!

I don't like this whole line of reporting about MJ not being the biological father of the Michael Jr, and Paris. MJ was/is the only father those children has ever known. HE IS THEIR FATHER...Period. Hell Debbie Rowe had no real contact or connection to those damn kids.

It bothers me. because I know from personal history, that biology does not make a father. My mother had me when she was 17, at 19. my bio-dad and my mother's relationship ended, and my mom began dating (and later, married)my step-dad. I had no real relationship with my bio-dad, I had more of a relationship to my paternal aunt and grandmother than, my bio-dad. from the age of 2 until, it is my stepfather who raised me as his daughter, not his step-child, when someone asks me about my dad, I tell them about him. When he tells people about his 4 daughters, he mentions me and my sisters (his actual biological children). When ever I am around his extended family, which I have been for 30 years now, they don't treat me like a step-child. I am as much a part of their family as my sisters. I may not be his by blood, but I am the daughter of his heart, and he is my DADDY.

So who the hell cares if MJ isn't those kids bio-dad. The MSM should LET IT GO (I'm looking at you CNN, CBS, NBC, Olbermann) and leave this type of s(*t to the tabloids journos.

I think that the only reason this has been a topic is because when Michael did that interview, that terrible one with Bearshire; he stated that he was the biological father of the those children. That they were concieved the normal way. Don't you remember the man questioning him about the children not appearing to be the product of a mixed race couple. That's the only reason that they have kept airing this. That is is the father, you are certainly right; but biologically had been in question since he lied about that issue. Not that I care, just explaining why the are making such a big deal of it. that's also why they show that his dermatologist is the possible spearm donor.

And especially since Michael never legally adopted the children. It could have caused a real problem; but hopefully it doesn't matter.

Co-Signing!

I see Olbermann! Who cares whether Michael is related by blood? And Diane Diamond deserves to be smacked across the face for her haterade!

Let her go straight to hell!

I feel ya. But when it comes to megamillions and inheritance, biology does matter.

I think this is definitely a cultural thing. Or at least, it was, back in the day.

I remember in grade school when I was talking with some friends about our families. I had to ask what a "step-sister" was. One friend was a young white boy whose mother had remarried and he was complaining about his "step-sister" So, we talked some more and described each other's families.

When I mentioned my sister and that fact that her dad was my mother's first husband, my friend said "You lied, you DO know what a step-sister is, you have one!"

I think I looked at him like he just flew in from Jupiter. I remember saying something like "G is my sister, what are you talking about?"

I had no concept of her not being my sister. Yeah, she had a different father, but I really had no idea what he was talking about in MY family.

G was my sister. PERIOD.

I'm with you! I have sisters that are not by my mother but they are MY sisters. I could never think otherwise! Never!

Same here!! Only mine is two older brothers from mom's first marriage..They were my rocks!The world can shatter childhood beliefs, can't it? . Don't change the love though.

you are speaking to the choir

Chávez Derangement Syndrome
Posted by Al Giordano - June 30, 2009 at 10:48 am
Hat tip to Gawker, which narrates:

Surely you're wondering what Glenn Beck was up to tonight, no? Oh, the usual, you know, insinuating that Barack Obama is a communist dictator because he condemned the military coup in Honduras, just like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez did.
No, seriously, that's Glenn Beck logic in action for you. It really is as simple as this—A) FIdel Castro condemned the coup in Honduras. B) Hugo Chavez condemned the coup in Honduras. C) Barack Obama condemned the coup in Honduras. Therefore, Barack Obama is a communist dictator just like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro.
And now you know.
Everyone knows that Fox News’ Glenn Beck is a TV clown. Probably Beck even knows it. In pursuit of ratings, anything goes; crying, screaming, pouting, whatever works to gain and keep the attention of the slow class. But what’s interesting is that pundits who consider themselves “serious” people suffer from the same twisted logic as appears in that video.
Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer launched into this tirade on Fox
News yesterday:

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield

Is Glenn Beck now the go to crazy guy on Fox?? I've noticed that he seems to be a guest on whatever show is on when I'm flipping through. Sometimes I flip over to Fox & Friends in the morning and he's always there and being as illogical and ignorant and loud as ever. He's really hustling...because that's SO what he is..a hustler. I've not seen any one of the shrillers be as obvious as Beck is. He is all about getting paid.

How can you even bear to watch that idiot. Wasn't he the one that Whoopi called "a lying pack of dog dodo" on The View?

I swear I'm only flipping around when I see him....not there for long lengths of time. LOL

The Yawnce's rendition of Ave Maria in her swimsuit/wedding dress was seriously upsetting. during that pathetic rendition, my soul died and is currently buried next to the body of Luciano Pavarotti….

Isn't this sacrilegious, what is her point?

Yawnce! LOLOLOL consider that one copped.

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

I'm dying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BWA HA HA HA HA !

OMG.....*dead*

Beyonce is so tacky. This was far from a fitting tribute.

It's Official, according to Maddow's show, the Obama's are going to the Vineyard.... OAKS BLUFF

I know they're going to enjoy being with ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE... LOL!

Both Desiree Rogers and Valerie Jarrett own property on the Vineyard. I'm sure the Obamas will be fine.

Both Michelle and Barack seem pretty well practiced at spotting the phoney people. They both attended college and worked (and still work...) with their share of phoney azzz folks.

I'm figuring Sasha and Malia would probably rather be in Hawaii. But PBO must feel some kinda way about Hawaii since his Tut isn't there anymore. It can't possibly be the same for him...

Oh Lawdy, the prez can't go to Hawaii! That's for elitist. Let him go to the Vineyard and be miserable, it will serve him right.

As close and they all are, I feel certain that this won't be their first visit. Just their first visit as "royalty".

Hawaii was Xmas for the Obamas...let's see where they are in December. Those girls will miss Hawaii and so will Barack...I bet he is there with his sister and family in cold December..they will 'leave the country'...as Cokie roberts told us.

you're right, Christmas in Hawaii...

I would love for the Obamas to spend one summer in Carolina with Michelle's folks. Didn't she spend some time in the summer there?

And I DO remember when Cokie Roberts, trying-to-sly, said PBO was "leaving the country". She knew full well that Hawaii is a US state.

Hi, hater. We STILL see you...

cool...will Michelle be considered the "ghetto girl" lol????

Well that quote by the writer of that trash bin article - cuz that's where it belongs was not simply a slam against Michelle but black women like her. Cuz Jennifer Hudson was thrown in there too. It was a slam against browner skinned black women. Any idiot would know the South Side of Chicago is huge - the size of many other cities in fact. The University of Chicago is there and includes many neighborhoods, some w/lower economic neighborhoods but mostly wealthier areas. But black people live there undoubtedly. If that was supposed to be a quote by an actual Vineyard resident and not the writer himself it was particularly ignorant as a so-called elite would be expected to know the makeup of one of the biggest cities in the country where some other of their "kind" reside. Which is why we can ascertain it was more than likely a comment by the writer and his skin shade racism and black woman disdain.

Folks need to quit misinterpreting the use of the word ghetto in that article...it did not apply to behavior in the context of the article..it was about geography.

Folks need to stop trying to make something out of nothing.

I know it is hard sometimes to realize that a word you primarily use for a slang connotation has another meaning.

Ghetto, did not have the meaning of behavior until black folks started using it in that manner. The word ghetto was around a long time before it became part of the black lexicon for ignorant and uncouth behavior.

More importantly the slang meaning is not universally known, to the vast majority of Americans.

language changes over time. we all know that the word 'faggot' no longer means 'stick' and didn't 'fag' used to mean a cigarette? for that matter, 'gay' no longer means 'fun' to most people. language is not static.

i take your point about the original meaning of the word 'ghetto' but it has taken on a different one in this century, for better or worse.

Ghetto has not taken on a different meaning in this centrury. It simply is used as a derogatory slang for uncouth behavior. Slang doesn't change meanings of words. Individuals simply have to be literate enough to know the true meaning as well as when the word is being used as slang.

Some black folks will try to make you believe that NIGGER has taken on a new meaning too!

Do you buy that 'new millenium' meaning? Or do you recognize that no matter how common it may be in your social circle, the universal meaning is still the same?

Language may change but as you are well aware...no one even in the last century used faggot to mean stick.

While kids and young adults who are black use ghetto as slang for derogatory behavior, If white babyboomerss do not use the term in that manner, the universal meaning has not changed.. Americans independent of color or age..use faggot as a derogatory slur same goes for nigger.

So if "ghetto" only refers to geography, is Linda Johnson Rice also ghetto? Isn't she also from the SS of Chicago?

I thought the SS of Chicago is where the black folks were.

Those people weren't referring to actual physical area Michelle Obama is from, they were referring to her specifically being a hoodrat. I don't think people are making something out of nothing, the anonymous quote pretty much was saying that Michelle Obama =Toya & Tiny and she wouldn't be able to "fit in" with classy black folks.

Basically.

No one said Michelle was ghetto, as in the use of a verb, for behavior. The context was she was FROM the ghetto.. a ghetto girl. Maybe, you think saying you are from the SS has some meaning OTHER than what Michelle means when she tells audiences across the nation she is from the SS.

SS does not just imply black folks it implies poor. And if you have ever heard Michelle use the phrase SS in reference to herself you would understand what she means, just like the audience does.

No one ever said Michelle was a hoodrat either. You can try and twist it into what you choose Miranda. But the truth is Michelle means ghetto...in the sense of poor and predominately black area.

Individuals ARE making something out of nothing. They are attempting to assert that it was about behavior, which is how they use the term ghetto.

The quote also included Jennifer hudson...it was about class.

Illiteracy is not an excuse for this faux umbrage.

Point of fact, you cannot make a case for the slang meaning of ghetto in the context of the article.

END of STORY.

"More importantly the slang meaning is not universally known, to the vast majority of Americans."

I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of Americans only know the slang meaning of ghetto.

And you keep referring to the Robinsons as poor, when by the standards of the time, they were not poor. If they were raising kids today and could make it on one salary, they wouldn't be poor. Poor would have meant that Fraser Robinson held a second job, or that Marian Robinson worked outside the home.

"I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of Americans only know the slang meaning of ghetto."

Why? The use of term 'ghetto' for behavior is not universal, it is in fact a black lexicon deal. Just like we use the word 'nigga'

"you keep referring to the Robinsons as poor, when by the standards of the time, they were not poor.:

Um, yes they were poor, even by the standards of the time. Working poor. But poor nevertheless. Have you seen where they lived or heard Michelle describe it? Have you seen the pictures of the home they lived in. If you thought they lived in that house, you are mistaken. They were in those windows on top of the roof not the house. They lived upstairs in what was basically a 2 bedroom attic. Go check out the pictures. Go look up her description of how her and Craig shared a room with a sheet for the divider. Folks, living on factory wages in Detroit did not even live like that. Having a second job, did not mean poor, it meant 'getting ahead',

Marion not working was a choice. Not one that meant they were not poor, but that they chose for her to be home. It was about values and sacrifices.

In those times, as Michelle often says, a family could make it one income, even being poor.

Please, they knew how it would be taken when they said it. They could have called her a "Chicago" girl or a "South Side" girl, they shouldn't have even used the word ghetto. I think that was their little way of trying to get a dig in at her.

I know it shouldn't matter where he goes for vacation, but after reading that statement I wanted him to just go to Hawaii or Chicago.

Maybe what they knew is that America has long described working class poor areas as the ghetto. There were jewish, irish and italian ghettos as well, in American history. Being from the ghetto is not a put down.

Many people of great achievement in America have been from the ghetto, it is a class distinction.

THAT today's black generation uses the term as slang to mean ignorant behavior does not change that.

"Those Kind of People" weren't referring to Michelle Obama's "humble background" when they made that quote, they were saying on the sly that Michelle Obama is a hoodrat and wouldn't be able to fit in with their class of people. If it wasn't a putdown, why aren't they asking if Barack Obama would be able to "fit in" with their class of people, when he's the product of a white teenage welfare mom who was dropped off at his grandparents' tiny apartment and didn't mix with "no" kinds of black people until he became an adult?

Who's background is more ghetto?

The girl who was raised in humble surroundings in an intact nuclear family where the mom stayed at home?

Or the boy who moved from place to place with his teenaged welfare mom?

Your questions ignore the meaning of the term ghetto as used in the context of the article,.

The reason they were asking is because it was about class. They did make reference to Obama being 'among the people' President.

The put down was about CLASS not behavior.

The article did not make distinctions about what was more ghetto. The article made a distinction about fittin in among the educated MONIED generations of blacks on MV...CLASS!

Ghetto has nothing to do with values, hardwork and sacrifice and everything to do with Socioeconomic status.

CLASS

I am giving you the benefit of the doubt in that you understand what class meant as used in the article, and believe you are just trying to talk senseless trash.

If you want to talk CLASS...Obama being from 2 parents with PhD's would be of higher social status despite a lack of economic means. Add to that his multicontinent exposure and his CLASS status rises again.

Michelle, would be an individual of humble beginnings who worked hard and earned an exceptionable education which would move her social status, in terms of CLASS up from her parents. A individual who was not limited by their economic means. Which is what America is about, the ability to achieve whatever you choose independent of what economics you are born into.

CLASS in America is about money and education.

All y'all can feign ignorance if you want.

A mother with a Ph.D. on welfare with a mother who is a VP in a bank is not the same socially as one who never finished HS and is basically illiterate.

Geez

why do YOU think they aren't asking that...?

Gunmen Fire on Group of Detroit Teens, Wounding 7
Gunmen in minivan open fire on group of Detroit teens near bus stop, wounding seven
By JEFF KAROUB Associated Press Writer
DETROIT June 30, 2009 (AP)

Gunmen in a green minivan opened fire on a group of teenagers waiting at a bus stop near a Detroit school on Tuesday, wounding seven including two who were in critical condition, authorities said.

Five of the teens had just left Cody Ninth Grade Academy, where they were taking summer classes, when they were shot at the nearby bus stop.

The gunmen exited a vehicle and "asked for a person by name" before they "opened fire at the crowd," said Detroit Public Schools Police Chief Roderick Grimes.

Detroit Police were looking for two suspects in a green minivan, said spokesman Rod Liggons. Officers were interviewing some of the victims in the hospital Tuesday evening, he said.

Four boys and three girls ranging in age from 14 to 17 years old were hospitalized, two of them — a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old female — in critical condition, said Deputy Chief James Tolbert.




http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=7969384

there is something very wrong here...this is a situation where I believe President Obama may very well need to show a physical presence...

the only physical presence they need(ed) was the police.

I don't really see what sending Obama there would accomplish.

Bull!
This type of crime is NOT a presidential matter!! Did you call for Bush for gangland shootups? Did you call for Clinton or Reagan?

Please.

Call Jesse, call Al, or call Farrakhan...this is their role.

true. where were the campus police?!?!

The NAACP needs to be in Detroit demanding these hoodlums be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law instead of worrying bout whether or not President Obama will speak in 2 weeks at their darn convention. They really need to get in the battle on the streets because that's where it is.

I agree about local involvement...what is going on in the local area...are there any local Detroit contributors participating here?????

Considering all of the insanity that is Detroit's leadership as far as local politics is concerned....I'm not sure there IS anyone.

Dave Bing is the new mayor, he's black, former NBA star turned succesful businessman...call him for leadership...it is his city now.

This Nurse, Cherilynn Lynn is talking to Larry King. Can somebody tell her to STFU! My people, my people, crab mentality, scratching my head!

I pray this is not true...

"Distressed fans commit suicide over Michael Jackson's death
June 30, 9:27 AM

APNew reports are surfacing that around a dozen distressed fans in Australia have committed suicide over Michael Jackson's death last week.

More than a dozen devoted Michael Jackson fans in Australia have reportedly committed suicide following the King Of Pop’s sudden passing last Thursday.

The calls come as Jackson Family Friend, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, urged fans not to “self-destruct.”

“This is a time when hearts are heavy,” Jackson said. “There is great pain but great cause to celebrate Michael’s life. It made Michael happy saying ”We Are The World”. Don’t self destruct.”

According Sky News, Gary Taylor from London, who owns Michael’s online fan club, is aware of at least twelve suicides following the performer’s death.

“It is a serious situation that these people are going through but Michael Jackson would never want this,” News.com.au quoted Taylor as saying.

“He would want them to live.”

As many as fifty callers seeking help from suicide prevention hotline Lifeline Australia have told counselors that the singer’s death has left them deathly depressed.

“We have had some calls related to this,” said Lifeline CEO Dawn O’Neil. “In some cases, (a celebrity’s death) can be very distressing.”

It is only natural that fans be upset over this event, but suicide is NOT the answer."

Mark Sanford is SPRUNG....SPRUNG folks....get the lawyer on the phone Jenny....he is WIDE OPEN...that nose is ALL WIDE OPEN.

I am reminded of that scene in Harlem Nights with Sunshine (Lela) & the cop.

You betta stop! LMAO!

he is a white man of privilege and has been fed entitlement all of his life...and sadly his wife was and is one of his enablers.

in my opinion he is a cheap trickster. I have no sympathy for this jerk and if his wife thinks she has to take this pathetic ass hole back, she is just as pathetic as he is.

Sanford is stone cold P-WHIPPED!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRx-BY1Z9sk

He is playing this over and over and over.....

You KNOW he is SPRUNG! .

He is done. And Jenny knows it. In fact, I'm figuring she's known it for a while. But maybe she feels like she's just in too deep. She bankrolled his gubernatorial campaign. She's had 4, FOUR!! kids by him. She says she's a Christian woman, and apparently, to her, that means, married to one man for life.

I think she's crazy to even want to reconcile and stay with him, but she didn't ask me...

Has she made a comment since he public professed his faith in "trying" to love her again? Nothing worse than a woman PUBLICly scorned.

nOT that I'm aware of. What the hell would THAT statement be? I can't even imagine.

I mean, as much as I've seen (which isn't 24/7 coverage...) I think she's done a fine job so far.

She's been to the point, but graceful, she's didn't lie when they asked her if she knew where he was, she's protected her kids

What the hell do you say when your husband says IN PUBLIC that is trying to love her again.

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU SAY TO THAT???

Nothing. To dignify that comment would BE the ultimate disgrace.

Silence says it ALL...she is letting him hoist himself on his own petard.

Girl, saying it in private is painful enough but publicly stating something that hurtful. Nah Nah Nah....


Divorce his ass!

You say, "here's the address where you send the check every month". "You need to be with you soul mate because you cant "try" here never, never, never no more."

This man took off to Argentina leaving his four boys during the Father's Day weekend....that is sprung fo yo AZZ!

Ah, Sookie sookie! HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Girl, you crazy RIGHT! LMBAO!!!!

lolol Sunnnssshhhiiinnneeeeee

Warning: Foul Language

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axfzRfKZWmQ&feat...

Straight to the "bad chair"!

NO.YOU.DID.NOT.


In the corner to the bad chair, young lady!!

LOLOLOLOL

Fine.....(as I giggle walkin to the corner)

Step away from the corner!!

http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/exhibitio...

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You are the sunshine of my life.... Girl, you crazy, I love it.

CTFU!!!...he definitely has diarrhea of the mouth

ITA:

"Hemingway said that the problem with Henry Miller was that he got laid in the afternoon once and thought he invented it. Governor Mark Sanford got laid in Argentina two weeks ago and the way he continues to go on about it, you'd think he cracked cold fusion. The man won't shut up. If Henry Miller talked about his sex life as much as Governor Mark Sanford talks about his sex life, people would have started thinking he was some kind of perv"

It's like now that it's out there, he's happy to have people to talk to about it other than his wife.

The first act of for redemption is confession. Got to admit it all. Got to give it up to God. Got to seek redemption. Then he wil have to REPENT.

I am confident that Jenny got some sho nuff repentance for his ass. He was already seeking permission to see Maria....

Jenny gone give him what he deserves...and God will do the rest...she knows this man and the way Sanford talks...he is going to Jenny first for redemption..with all his biblical metaphors and quotes. Talking about David, knowing he slept with Bathsheba and sent her husband to die..o yeah...he gone pay big time.

She is going to bring old testament ...the God of WRATH down on his ass and he is going to WISH she was Jesus...in the new testament...ahahahahahahahahahaha...he gone be looking for Jesus his salvation where his sins are already forgiven if he so believes...cause Jenny is going to show him that old testament where GOD proclaims with righteous fury though shall have no other God before me and vengeance is mine said the LORD..he gone learn that God is

truly a WOman...hell hath no fury like a woman ...he will be begging for the fires of hell before she is done

crying for his only savior JC.

BWAAahahhahahahah


Her sons WILL have character!!

Sanford found out what he's been missing...poor thing. I agree Argentina has turned him out. He is probably being honest when he says he fell out of love with his wife...why couldn't he just separate from her and get on with his life. His wife is a cool customer...she is not one to be toyed with...she is cutting his heck one little nic at a time...I only feel sadness for the children...no child wants their parents to divorce.

Debbie Howe maintains biological mom status!
Dr. Arnold Klein, Hollywood Dermatologist reportedly baby-daddy

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b132092_debbie_...



MJs nurse being interviewed on CNN NOW
Cherilynn Lee STFU!
Is anybody paying her to spill her guts? She is offering up info without even being asked!

Cherilynn Lee is trying to HELP MJ by dispelling myths and rumors regarding drug usuage, no?

"Lee said she decided to speak out to protect Jackson's reputation from what she considers unfounded allegations of drug abuse or shortcomings as a parent.

"I think it's so wrong for people to say these things about him," she said. "He was a wonderful, loving father who wanted the best for his children."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/30/michae...

She is being played like a fiddle by the MSM is what she it. Naive as she can be. Gonna call 'em up an OFFER some info, WTF? Did you hear Anderson ask her is she administered the meds to Mike? She best be quiet before she gets herself caught up? Peeps cominig out of the woodworks to to VALIDATE that MJ was a druggie. AND?

Cherilynn Lee needs to STFU. The ELVISication continues......

bottom line is the lawsuits will go on forever...anyone who wants to make a buck off Michael Jackson will.....this is a soap opera that won't end any time soon.

The only people I feel bad for are Jackson's children...regardless of their ethnicity which seems to be in question...they know Michael as their father and that is the only thing that counts. Those kids are innocents no matter what and I hope and pray there are enough people in their lives who will see they live in a physical and mental healthy atmosphere.

probably too late for their mental health.

You are so right Angelar. Okay, I am going to sit back and wait this out. It's getting ready to get wild and crazy. The ELVISication of Michael continues!

Well if Klein is the daddy..then Prince and Lil PrinceKatherine are true biological brother and sister.

that was genuinely thoughtful of Michael.

FYI! The Royal Jacksons-2nd Generation Screw-Ups
Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (aka "Prince")
Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson
Prince Michael Jackson II (aka "Blanket")

oops, that is what I meant to say PARIS..haha couldn't recall the first name. Thanks.

Yep...another family act...Royal Jacksons!!

umm, what's FY?

FYI. Wonder how much thought MJ gave to making sure that his name was included in all of his children's names?

Now let me get this straight, MJ,Jr. is known as Prince and Prince is known as Blanket. You know DapDaddy really screwed his boy up.

Yep, you know you right. He even gave them his parents names for middle names, just like Katherine did him! Daddy just crushed that young Michael's spirit sooo bad.

It just makes you cry thinking about that young child boys fears and how he gave his all to his father and got nothing but emotional abuse.

you lost me on that???

His two oldest kids have the same biological dad..that makes them brother and sister.

frankly, the kids are not bio kids of Michael...just lo0k at the pics...

my focus is the children....

HUH? ...that was my initial point,Klein is the biodad..you lost me.

I guess my vacation put me wayyyyy behind....what is all this crap about Michelle being a "Ghetto Girl" because of elite blacks on Cape Cod!!! Will someone please explain this nonsense!!!

http://www.essence.com/news_entertainment/news/...

The term ghetto, in the article, was used in reference to geography not as the slang for ignorance. i.e. they said JenniferHudson was from the ghetto too. Neither woman is known for rude, crude and socially unacceptable behavior, ergo the use of the term was the traditional meaning...a poor area of predominately one ethnic group.

Hmmmmm....still not feeling good about your explanation.

Don't feel. Accept the facts. Ain't got nothing to with an
" explanation."

Facts aren't about feeling good. They are just hard cold facts.

What is there you NEED to feel good about? The fact is the true definition not slang. Facts are not explanations they are fact. Look it up.

Could it possibly just may be it is a basic literacy issue.?

The entire article was about CLASS discrimination. The true definition fits the context of the article, not the slang meaning.

If you couldn't inject your slang meaning there would be no need for a factual assertion, your knowledge of the true meaning would preclude that.

Do you feel good using the slang definition for ignorance, is that it? It makes you feel better believing they were describing ignorant behavior?

In other words, you just wanna hate? Rather, than acknowledge that being from the ghetto is how Michelle describes herself..is that it.

Note. From the ghetto. Is not 'ghetto' behavior. It is a geographically POOR area.

O but I get it.

Believing they were indulging in negative stereotypes just makes you feel so much better.

Got it ...faux outrage feels ...soooo much better!



Whereas, recognizing that ghetto, has loooooong been used to denote geographical POOR areas...which just means she was raised poor.(which Michelle proudly CLAIMS, knowing poor don't have shyt to do with values, character or achievement ) well that just won't do cause. THAT just does not fuel the faux anger...so it just won't do...doesn;t have the same jolt.

Cause it means you have to comprehend that the entire article is about CLASS ...ghetto is poor...and that is an economic CLASS ...or as they say...SES... so they used the term ghetto to denote CLASS not behavior.

Playing offended illiterate victim feels soooo much better. Got it..but then

There is an old saying...reading is fundamental...but even reading has two parts..one is knowing the words then what they mean in context..aka as comprehension.

Here's another one:

Sunday, June 28, 2009
Toure: Trying to Pull A Perez Hilton & Failing

I read the Black & White On Martha's Vineyard article several days ago. It was the subject of a very lively discussion at a popular black political blog.

http://actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com/20...

Oh-oh.... didn't we discuss this or maybe yu'll discussed it and I just listened. Hmmm - can't quite recall clearly.

I think this was posted in the Sunday Open Thread, and had a nice little discussion in there.

That was tongue-in-cheek, Rikyrah.

I remember the discussion....no, I remember the BRAWL. Some folks are just a tad testy 'bout some things, apparently.

Here are the posts:

Ok..Let’s try it again…Blacks and Class

http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2009/06/okle...



Um…folks….’Our Kind of People’ are speaking again…

http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2009/06/ok-l...

Check our page 2 or page 3.

Then, go over to the Black Snob, which I linked to in my post about this.

IT GOT HEATED.

and, I do mean HEA-TED in that post.

whew..

I get tired just thinking about the barroom brawl that happened inside that post...LOL

Thanks for the links rikyrah..missed those threads...

guess I have to catch UP!!

lol See Angelar - that is what happens when you go on vacation. The world flips on it's axis and everybody loses their minds. lol

I hear ya....am totally amazed!!

The BET awards are on again now and they have actually completely cut some of the scenes. I guess complaints actually do matter!

Who did they cut out? There was a WHOLE LIST of folks that I woulda cut. Just curious to know who got the axe.

I only saw it intermittently but when Ving Rhames walked onto the stage, his
segment was cut out. They also cut out the young girls dancing to Lil Wayne
and Drake. Likewise the monologue from Don Cornelius of Soul Train. I
didn't see any of the earlier parts of the show
so this is all I can attest to.

They couldn't have cut out enough because if they did the show would have been over at 8:15

LOLOLOL

*dead*

ROTFLMBAO - y'all are hilarious.

Oops, now the press is complaining about not getting enough access to Malia and Sasha...ho hum!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/america...

So much was the British media being better than the US media. I read the article it it was very snide. There isn't much that is news worthy about Malia and Sasha anyway, they are little girls. The media should be happy with the access they get. President has given them more access to Malia and Sasha than they deserve the people at the Independent are assholes.

Umm, they are (almost) 11 and 8, they don't NEED access to them. Leave the kids the hell alone you vultures!

Why the hell would they want to get access to them?

Folks in hell want ice water.

the GOP wants respect.

They need to STFU.

HELL NO, you're not getting access to Malia and Sasha.

I am with you 100%

” I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille.”


BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA

So wrong!

That caption is HILARIOUS!

...and Justice, you were the one who wanted a do-over. You got it.

The more I think about it, the more I realize Yonce's performance was completely pointless.

While I think she looks beautiful, I still have NO IDEA what that outfit had to do with EITHER song she sang.

thanks...I'm not getting it either

Welll, AvaMarie..is supposedly a 'maiden's' prayer...an undefiled maiden..as in Mary the VirginMother...whatEVeRrrr!!

Lyrics:
Ave Maria! Ave Maria! maiden mild!
Listen to a maiden's prayer!
Thou canst hear though from the wild,
Thou canst save amid despair.
Safe may we sleep beneath thy care,
Though banish'd, outcast and reviled -
Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer;
Mother, hear a suppliant child!
Ave Maria!

Ave Maria! undefiled!
The flinty couch we now must share
Shall seem this down of eider piled,
If thy protection hover there.
The murky cavern's heavy air
Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled;
Then, Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer;
Mother, list a suppliant child!
Ave Maria!

She sang her version of Ava Maria, not that version.

That's what she does-she adds a word or two, changes a line here and there and presto!-she's the co-writer of the song. She did the same thing with the BeeGees song 'Emotion'-she actually added a word or two and made herself the writer. Another way to clock those dollars.

OK...and would you agree she portrayed these lyrics..with her 'costume'

This is way too much if Sanford's wife decides she is willing to be second best to Sanford's "soul mate." I can't believe the crap this guy spews.

I asked my husband from a male point of view what his reaction would be if I had an affair and then afterwards said and paraphrase "my soul mate is my lover but I will try to fall in love with my husband again."

Suffice to say you do not want to hear my husband's response!!!!!!
Angelar

"In an interview with the Associated Press, Sanford said he met Maria Belen Chapur at what was to be a farewell meeting in New York chaperoned by a spiritual adviser soon after his wife found out about the affair in January.

He also said he "crossed lines" with a handful of other women, though he never had sex with them.

During what the AP called an emotional interview, Sanford said Chapur is his soul mate but he's trying to fall back in love with his wife. "This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story," Sanford said. "A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day."

I would divorce his ass first thing tomorrow morning. I would call the press to watch me file papers on his ass. He actually said that he would try to "fall back in love" with his wife. If I was his wife I would say "thanks, but no thanks you punk mfer and if I see you on the street you will get cut!". Hell I'd buy his ass a ticket back to Argentina myself and tell him to never worry about Father's Day again. He isn't worth two dead flies or the pile of shit they fly around.

Thank You!

I feel you TXcowgirl...but do you have children? Would you take the same actions knowing you had FOUR sons to raise? Would it be just about YOU if you were a mother or would you weigh those actions based on the long term impact on your children. Mothers think first about their children, not themselves. They sacrifice based on their developmental needs, knowing that they are already adults and can bear the brunt of his actions as a spouse..vs. what it means to raise their children without a father in the home.

Her choice may be easy as a woman but as a mother she is really in turmoil.
Cause no matter what he is still their father.

And I feel you too, knowing he was gone on Father's Day would carry so much more significant..cause it sure says,,,he don;t give a shyt about them!

I feel you on the children question and no I don't have any. I'm well aware that not being a mother colors my view of things and I am thinking from the perspective of what I, a woman with no children, would have relative ease doing. But here's the thing, I don't think Jenny Sanford's sons would want her to stay with a man who doesn't love her. He has said so on national television. He has told the world and his sons that he doesn't love his wife and he loves another woman. It is one thing for a woman to forgive an affair if she trully believes that her husband has made a mistake, but still loves her. But it is quite another to not even have the illusion of any love left. Even if she could fool herself, she can't fool her children. Kids know when things aren't right between their parents. So the question is: two happy sperate parents or two miserable together parents? It seems to me like a lot of women stay with men they shouldn't "because of the kids" only to further damage themselves and their children as well. My parents have been happily married for 31 years. I love them both very much. Too much to have wanted them to spend 31 years miserable and un in love, when they could have had otherwise happy lives. Jenny Sanford seems like a kick ass chick to me. Kick ass enough to find a new happiness and be a good mother with or without the Governor in the same house. Hell, the kids might enjoy spending the summers in Argentina. I'm just saying at this point divorce is not the worse outcome for Mrs. Sanford or her kids and that's a possiblity she should consider. Rash decisions should not be made when there are children involved and someone has to be a responsible adult. It's obvious Mrs. Sanford is the only real adult. But she does have the right to think about herself. A woman who takes care of herself and looks out for her own best interests can be a good mother. Maybe even a better one.

I hear you, WRB, but I'm thinking if the message Jenny Sanford wants to send her sons is that you can take wives and disrepect the marriage vows by cheating on them without repercussions.

Cause if she takes Sanford back, for THEIR sake, that's precisely the message she sends them; not to mention disrepecting herself.

Her initial comment to the press was that she put his ass out because she had way too much respect for herself to allow him to stay while he cheats on her with his mistress.

Additionally, dude said he fell out of love with her. Why should she want to go back to a man that she KNOWS she is now SECOND-BEST in terms of where his heart is. And the affair is more than about sex - check out those emails Sanford and his woman sent to each other. Unlike Kwame Kilpatrick's texting, these letters indicate a doomed couple who actually LOVE one another. Almost Shakespearian.

Jenny just better call her lawyers and call it a day on the marriage. The message she sends her sons is "never settle for being second best" and "respect yourselves".

She needs to play "irreplaceable" for his ass and then throw all of his stuff out on the front lawn like in Waiting to Exhale. has she seen that movie? If not we should send it to her as a gift. LOL.

Body Heat might be a better flick for this shyt!

yeah...like I said, when I asked my husband his answer from a male point of view...can't print the words!!!

My personal opinion...if she takes this loser back, she is a loser too!!!

Major co-sign! Don't even worry yourself about "trying"

what texascowgirl said!

Ed Schultz is off the chain!

He called the Oxycontin Ox..

The Drugster

LMAO

I think it's funny he calls Dick the Shooter.

Ed calls the Oycontin Ox the DRUGSTER everytime he mentions the OX. LOL!

Lovin IT!!...2 snaps and a twist!

This picture is a symbol of everything that is wrong with BET in particular and the music industry in general.

If you can bring it, it doesn't matter what you wear - you can wear a burlap sack. It is about the work, the art, the music, making each performance the best it can possibly be at that moment in time.

But, if you can't bring it, you compensate by drawing and focusing attention on other things. Hence, as the picture indicates, our subject walks on stage looking like somebody who had the starring role in one of Timothy Leary's LSD trips, calling herself performing a 'tribute' to somebody.

Yeah, I said it.

Actually, I thought her vocals were nice. I just didn't really get the overall performance. I heard she wanted to open the show with an MJ song, I think she should have sung that song instead of Ava Maria because whatever she was trying to do went over everyone's head.

See, I'm there with you. You can't MAKE your moment like that...you can't plan out something that you think is oh so artsy, creative, ewww the crowd will go wild! naw...you just gotta shine on your own. Now instead of people talking about what a awesome performance, they're just scratching their heads going "WTF??" or worse yet....few days and its forgotten. More people will remember Fantasia sitting on the floor singing "Summertime" on American Idol than will ever remember whatever Beyonce was doing Sunday night.

Guuuuurl, don't even get me started on Miss Tasia's rendition of Summertime. She brought chills to my body and tears to my eyes. Had me testifying!

Didn;t get to see it. Is there a link. That was my dad's, bless his deceased soul, favorite song. Would love to hear it.


Found it!

She bought the group I was viewing it with to tears...had grown men tawkin bout "its my allergies!!"

LOL!

I also loved her version of "What Are You Doing For The Rest Of Your Life?". That girl can sang! Beyonce can carry a tune.

This was the one where she had me UP OUT MY CHAIR! Hopping and jumping round the room yelling "SANG GIRL!!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXoyOkh70Sc

Beyonce didn't look comfortable in that getup...... to me, it looked cheap and tawdry. singing Ava Maria in a leotard.

And you can bet Jayz, or whatever his name is, was the mastermind behind that image..... busting out of that one piece.....SMH

She looks like an adolescent ready to perform in a dance recital. It's sad, really, it's as if Beyonce's not supposed to grow up.

Actually, I'd go with Bey's daddy before I'd go with JayZ. J had his hands full blockin' Chris Brown, from what I've heard.

Hey! Look what I found. He'll be on Indian Affairs; labor (pensions, education, health); judicial, and something else. listen to the crowd when he mentions each committee.

He also respects and loves his wife greatly; it's obvious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAo8Ufq0B2I

I don't know what Bey was doing
i don't think she knew what she was doing

I think Beyonce wants to be an icon SO bad and she doesn't understand that you cant make yourself be one. She wants that defining performance, that one true moment that puts her on the next level but you can't MAKE it happen. She wants her "Motown 25th" performance and no amount of planning it out and doing
some wierd shit like singing Ave Maria in a space bridal dominatrix outfit in the middle of the BET Awards is gonna be that performance. It doesn't work that way. Most of the iconic moments were not that planned..they just happened.

Madonna rolling around on the floor at the first MTV Awards singing "Like A Virgin" - nobody told her to do that, she just did it...and anybody who watched can still see it like it was yesterday without looking at nam video clip.
Marvin Gaye singing the National Anthem at the 83 NBA All-star game...DAMN - if ya saw it, you'll never forget it.
Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues - she was the shit...that is all.

Bless she heart....she is really not understanding that she can't make an iconic performance - it happens all by itself, no props or planning makes it happen.

But they don't hear you though!

You are so on the money...she TRIES TOO HARD.

And its so obvious.

Right now I could personally beat the person that wrote that "Halo" song to a pulp I detest that song so much. Its obvious that payola is rampant, they play it 100 times a day on the ONE damn station I can pick up while at work because the darn IT dept has blocked listening online - Bey wants her big ballad moment and its SO PAINFULLY OBVIOUS.
But if I say Whitney Houston - You Give Good Love...guarantee you know the words, can sit and picture the video which is nothing but her standing on stage fully dressed while some man films her. That's it. Whitney didn't even have to have growing pains, it was her first hit and put her into orbit. But she has vocal timing and control that Beyonce can only dream about. She was an icon the day that song was released because she just WAS. It cant be planned.

This comment may not be liked, but MJ is an icon and he definitely
planned it. He did not get to be who he was without marketing himself. Dianna Ross is an icon and she was successfully marketed as well. Granted, Beyonce does not have the voice that either of them possess but marketing plays a tremendous part in the making
of an icon.

Aint mad atcha. In fact, I agree with your premise. Of course, marketing plays a huge role. But to quote Malcolm X, just because you put kittens in the oven, it don't make 'em biscuits.

You can market a person without talent ALL DAY LONG, they will be popular, make a lot of $$, look good, live well. But ICON? Nope, not gonna happen...

I think the point that Miranda, et al, are making is that the talent has GOT TO BE THERE.

(...be there in the morning, when she says hello to the world... Sorry, I couldn't help it...LOLOL)

Back to the point... Talent won't need auto-tuning, it won't need a new outfit or a different set. It won't care who performed before or after it.

Whitney may have drugged herself silly, but in her prime, she could stand flatfoot on a bare stage without a microphone and sing her ass off.

Yeah, MJ planned his crazy success, but he also had the talent and the professionalism to pull it off. That's the BUSINESS side of "show business."

That was exactly my point. Marketing makes you popular but it won't make you an icon. In 20 years, people will remember Aretha Franklin singing at the Inauguration....they will remember that the President and First Lady danced their first dance to "that Etta James song" - maybe they'll remember that Beyonce was the one singing. That's a helluva difference.

or better yet, we'll remember that a popular minister Rick Warren said a prayer - because it was controversial that he was selected....but people will REMEMBER what the icon Rev Lowery SAID at the end of his prayer that drew a call and response "Amen". BIG DIFFERENCE.

Say that again.

'Yeah, MJ planned his crazy success, but he also had the talent and the professionalism to pull it off. That's the BUSINESS side of "show business." '

MJ also had vision and creativity. Like most greats, Michael Jackson made it all look so easy and effortless.

Keep it coming, isonprize.

LOL@"just because you put kittens in the oven, it don't make 'em biscuits."

i was just about to post the same thing. michael worked tirelessly at making everything he did into the biggest and best spectacle anyone had ever seen. you don't go and make videos like thriller, or get patents for specials shoes and floors to do the "smooth criminal" lean, without grand designs. the difference with beyonce and other artists today is that while she's clearly a talented vocalist, she doesn't have the innate creativity to be what any of the above mentioned icons were. creative geniuses/icons don't just work incredibly hard, they are also special in the way they think and approach that work; they bring something special to their craft that makes all the hard work and showmanship seem natural to them. it's that special innate something, that allows someone like michael to even dream up "the lean" or any of his other oh wow moments. without it you just look like you're "trying too hard;" that's why beyonce will never be an icon, even if she's a great singer.

There's a difference:

Michael worked hard because he loved music and he wanted to entertain his fans.

Beyonce's motive is self-serving. Like Miranda said, her focus is on becoming an icon and it shows when she copies the icons like Tina Turner and Josephine Baker. Her desperation shows.

I think you've nailed it, Sepia.

Authenticity. That's what the greats possess. They feel it and can bring folks along and make them feel it, too.

It is not artificial, nor contrived. It is as real as goosebumps and tears. It is unique, original; not copied, but others copy it.

The glove

The moonwalk

The key on the earring (by the way, Michael first put Janet's house key on her earring, because she kept forgetting/losing her key)

The purple anything

The bra outside of clothing (although I despise Madonna, I will give props)

The gray church hat


Billie
Aretha
Dinah
Mahalia
Luther
Patti
Chaka
Marvin
Ella
Stevie
Sarah
Carmen
and Michael.

Authentic. The real deal.

Beyonce is doing the only thing that she knows how to do unfortunately. I blame the parents. As driven as she is they could have at least provided for her education. Then maybe she would do a better job at the performance crap.

that's my point, she doesn't have the innate creative mind and spirit that would make her see her craft as a labor of love. michael put his heart, mind and soul into entertaining; that's what allowed him to even conceive of all of the amazing things that he did, to be truly visionary. beyonce and others like her have some level of talent, and a lot of them try really hard, but the key ingredient that makes it "magic" just isn't there and it can't be forced.

Marketing didn't create that Motown 25th Performance by Michael Jackson. Marketing did not make Diana Ross of all people, morph into Billie Holiday. Its not popularity I'm talking about...its that ONE performance or signature song or acting role that sets the person completely over everybody else. Marketing will make you really really popular at the moment, but it won't make people remember a performance you did 25 years later, that's what I'm talking about.

If she had it, it would have come through by now. Between Dreamgirls, Cadillac Records, the "thriller" she starred in with the hero's chick, and all 1000 events she has performed at, she had every chance to take it to that level. By this stage in their career Whitney had the national anthem, Madonna crawled on the stage, Prince had everyone wearing purple, Michael moonwalked. I can't remember one Beyonce standout performance. They were mostly good, but nothing where you can bring it up to a random person from any background and they be like "yeah".

She is just a really pretty girl who can carry a tune. It won't be long before the next one comes along. She's got maybe another round of award seasons before she starts fading out of the spotlight.

i agree with you on that
and she's not the only one
alot of these new singers are the same way
these artists today aren't doing anything new


your right about Motown 25 that performance wen't down in history
i was 10 years old and i can remember every move Michael did
those iconic performances are burned into our memories

Bless she heart....she is really not understanding that she can't make an iconic performance - it happens all by itself, no props or planning makes it happen.

if you don't sound like my mom
she tried baby she tried bless her little heart LOL

thanks for that Miranda.....!

Well, ALRIGHTY THEN!

I saw an interview with Beyonce saying she wanted to be an icon, and I knew then that she didn't understand that you can't WANT to be that. It just happens! I know darn well Janet Jackson did not plan for all us at the time to start dressing like we were extras in the Rhythm Nation video! LMAO! I swear to you...who DIDN'T try and emulate that look? How many females tried that valley girl/new age Madonna look after Like A Virgin came out? When normally sane people start emulating a specific LOOK of a specific celebrity...its over, that celeb is an icon...LMAO

Rihanna is more of an icon than Beyonce ever will be.

It's quite sad Miranda.... how hard she's trying. It's obvious no one in her circle knows any better; if they do, they're not giving her a CLUE.

I think her family and Jay-Z told her she could be an icon. How you gonna just tell somebody they are an icon. That's why she's trying so hard and is a big FAT FAil

Who in the hell would ever want to run out and buy that get up?

I can see the meeting where they came up with that foolishness - thinking it would blow people's minds and put her in another category by going off the grid to sing a friggin Aria at the BET Awards. Then to "sex it up" with that get up?? It was profoundly stupid.

Yep, cooking up the Iconoclastic moment. SMH

What's really funny is, if you have to try to define what an icon is, the person isn't an ICON!

I remember back at that VH1 Divas Live concert when apparently Celine Dion and Shania Twain did not get the memo - I watched Aretha Franklin make every other diva her backup singers on that stage when they tried to go up against her. Gloria Estefan had the good sense to know her place...and Mariah Carey was incredibly respectful - found out later she was like a 9 year old when she met Aretha...she KNEW she was in the presence of greatness and was just happy to share the stage with her. Now...anybody heard much from Celine or Shania SINCE THEN? Celine still doing Vegas? All I know is THE QUEEN was standing up on the steps of the Capitol singing at the President's inauguration...ICON.

Remember it well.

On Mariah:
...."she KNEW she was in the presence of greatness and was just happy to share the stage with her."

A moment of clarity for learning what it takes to become an ICON.

Yup. And as I've been telling folks--if Aretha Franklin could prepare "Nessun Dorma" in less than 30 minutes, surely BET could have put something together that was both pared down and classy in 3 days.

That would, however, require talent and professionalism.

All those folks need to watch and learn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUvJZ26shqc

That brings me to TEARS!!!! I'm wiping away tears just like Faith Hill was! Damn...she is THE QUEEN.

Don't go there with Janet


i begged my mom to get my hair like Janets in the pleasure principal video LOL

ROFLMAO!!!! Its ok! Everybody I knew was a part of the Rhythm Nation! LOL

Yes!!!

Who can forget the key on the earring?

I tried that with my house key and damn near split my earlobe.

*dead*

That was my video
the part where she did the little step dance with the chair i couldn't do it but i damn sure tried
this song brings back memories LOL
1986 7th grade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrZoa3MPINU

You too? LOL! Everytime that video came on, I dropped whatever I was doing and tried ( and failed ) to dance along. I couldn't do the backflip off the chair though. Moms was not hearing that! LOL

And see...that video is an example of being iconic. It was Janet and the music. No hundreds of pounds of weave. No bedazzled outfits. No Kmart fans. Just Janet and her NATURAL talent.

Chile...how many females was Janet personally speaking to when she sang "Control"??? Who AMONG US, didnt make that our ANTHEM??

You don't know how many times i tried that chair stunt LOL

and them tight azz jeans she had on
i bet she needed help taking them off LOL

those were days couldn't wait until the Grammys or the American music awards came on

you knew when MJ AND JJ was going to be on there the whole family gathered around sadly those days are gone
and from the BET awards last night im glad of that

Just had to post this, didn't ya?

You know what it looks like to me, a stamen. She's a stamen - upside down, but a stamen jus' the same.

LOL! I was going to say a member of the Lullaby League from the Wizard of Oz. Or a wedding cake. Or a jellyfish.

Drudge has pic of Al dancing...with the caption
JACKSON CELEBRATION: Rev. Sharpton Grinding Woman At Apollo...

and I'm over 50 but I need to ask wth does Drudge know about that??

I think grinding cuts across cultural lines.

I think Al is just dancing...not grinding.

Sigh...I didn't get this. Why is she in a wedding dress headpiece? Or is she supposed to be an angel?

ahh here it is. she is supposed to be an angel. hence the scenes with what looks to be clouds behind her. But as you noted. . . angels do not wear wedding veils.

video clip available http://www.rnbmusicblog.com/beyonce-bet-awards-...

hehe..

Now..she should have worn wings! But then I would have wondered why she was dressed like a Victoria's Secret model....lol!

Darn that pop culture!

raotflmao. lolol and your assessment would once again be correct. lol

When they first came out, I thought they were gonna attach wings to her

So did I !!

- deleted comment. I don't know what she was doing.

ah...Tinkerbell!...but I don't think she wore a headpiece...

I'm confused.

lol I was reaching Truth and deleted the comment. lolol I have no idea what the crap she was doing. no logic behind the headpiece or the costume. hahahahaha

Well, I'm no prude, but is that much cleavage and thigh appropriate for a memorial tribute?

The singing wasn't terrible though...I'm not a Beyonce fan. Sarah's version of Arms of the Angels should not be touched!

Aint that the truth.
"Sarah's version of Arms of the Angels should not be touched!'

Beyonce, NO WAY, NO HOW, NO Sarah McLachlan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1GmxMTwUgs

If she was gonna go there "I Will Remember You" would be a more fitting song.

I've heard some strong voices try to sing Arms of the Angel and they all fail because that song is written for Sarah's voice.

liked it myself. loved the piece sung in latin and you are right about clothing choice based on the type of tribute.

I thought she sounded fine...but an entertainer must know their audience...

Yeah, like the time Destiny's Child performed at a Lakers v. Sixers game in Philadelphia and they had on a sexed out version of a Laker's Jersey.

Her publicist couldn't figure out why they got boooed... FAIL

Angel...should have not included the veil...I think and it would not have been confused with a wedding dress.

..mebbe...bride of Christ?....lol

I think you've hit the nail on the head. Ave Maria is supposedly about the Virgin Mary. The dress was inappropriate but her choice of songs made much better sense than the display Lil Wayne put on.

I was wondering how kids could be dancing to a song that was bleeped every other word...and the my daughter explained to me what he was singing...why??? Why sing that and why have kids on stage??