Two pieces on Michael Jackson, one on canning/pickling, some columns and a comic. Seriously, that's the best you can do today?

Isn't there a G8 summit happening somewhere? Ethnic violence in China? Coup in Honduras? Global recession? New junior senator from Minnesota? Healthcare reform? Sotomayor nomination?

Please, Salon, get back to the stuff your audience cares about. Hell, I'd settle for something on the Tour de France -- but only if it's a substantive piece about the race instead of another round of Lance Armstrong fellatio.

You're normally pretty good at substance. How 'bout some?

Amanda

thank you for a good and helpful article...Like Bob Dylan once wrote (in 'Idiot Wind'), people just don't know how to act....

I hope (and think) Michael is with Jesus...

Jesus can handle it all

blessings to all

Andy Pratt

(I'm another wannabe - http://www.itaboutmusic.com/andypratt.html)

Oh, the possibilities are endless!

What did his penis look like?

Can't we try to hold on to some complexity of thought about Michael Jackson and his memorial?

Some of us can manage to think, simultaneously, that Michael Jackson had enormous talent, that he might have been a pedophile, that his family was deeply flawed, that he was a good friend to many, that he was far too materialistic for his or anybody else's good, that he had naive but good intentions about the world, that he had a wounded psyche, and that he was addicted to drugs.

And surprise, surprise. . . his memorial had cringe-worthy moments, alongside tremendous examples of dignity, heart and talent.

We can also think that Americans are too celebrity-addled, but not want to miss one moment of Michael Jackson's singing and dancing, and to send up prayers for his children.

Maybe we can look at the world like grown-ups, and know that it is possible to hold contradictory ideas and feelings together.

I'm so ashamed — can't believe I missed that opportunity. Thanks for picking me up.

Amanda, really, "Shlocky"? I was also inside the staples center, and the mood was somber and respectful because people understood the gravity of the situation. Especially when they brought Michael's casket out. For the black people who were there, we had lost our royalty, unlike Princess Di, who quite frankly was not a big deal in the U.S. because that "Princess" and "Prince" b.s. is not a part of our American culture. The reason why the service was so somber is because the family made sure it was like a black church "homegoing". It was obvious they were in too much pain, and no one was going to act like a fool in there. Perhaps your intent going into the service was to find some crazy antics that you could report and make a name for yourself. The only strange antics that I saw were the reporters outside, the rabid media whores (take note), and the occasional odd ducks that didn't get into Michael until the "Thriller" album and his later work that was geared toward white people, hence the reason why his later music wasn't that great. As a true fan from the beginning of Michael's career, I wish more true fans had been there, instead of the muckrakers like yourself, who were not there to celebrate a life, but to ridicule it and get some copy for a career.

The heart of the matter was, this was about a little girl and her brothers who lost a father. And a family who lost a loved one. And people who felt close enough to the deceased to call him "Mike" lost a friend.

Am I the only one who had a "John-John-Salute" flashback while watching Paris Jackson?

...and nothing in this article even begins to justify this title. All this article reports on is the costumes of people who stood outside the arena. It's a waste of bandwidth by another hangeron who earned a day's pay looking down her nose at something and adopting the pack mentality that, if it was associated with Michael Jackson, it must be weird.

I thought the funeral was, as one commentator put it excellently, humanizing. It made someone whose image was larger than life, well, lifelike and real and human. It was dignified, it was enjoyable to watch, it was not at all strange, and it wasn't any more somber than befits the funeral of a man who died at an early age.

What planet is this writer from?

Putting Paris Jackson up to speak was exploitative and gross. She's a little girl who just lost her father. If she did actually want to speak (which I wouldn't bet on, myself, but that's just my impression), they should've let her do so at the family's private funeral. Instead she was paraded around in front of strangers for ratings.

You are wrong. They clearly said "janet has something to say" at which time Paris asked Janet if she could speak. She knows better than anyone who her dad was and how the continuous onslaught of negative press hurt her father. She was a brave little girl that wanted to express her love for her father. She was surrounded by family that clearly love her and wish to continue the tradition of protection for these young children.

You apparently don't have or know too much about anything. Or black people or Michael Jackson for that matter.

Typical know-nothing getting paid to write nothing. A pool so shallow, I'll break my neck if I dive in.

You are wrong if you look at the tape you can see Latoya whisper something to Janet and then Janet look at Paris and ask her if she was sure and Paris shook her head yes. Paris wanted to say something about her daddy.

Traceydike,

With all due respect, how can you possibly know enough to say this?

I'm NOT saying you are wrong. You could be right. I just don't know how in the world we could know for sure. Years ago, in college, I went with friends to a mutual friend's funeral. My friends griped like crazy about it later. All I could think is that this was a different family and a different cultural context than my own. I couldn't know what it meant to mourn in that family, in that culture, and in that faith tradition.

And generally speaking, when we can't know for sure, it is best to give people the benefit of the doubt.