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The day the music died.... [February 11, 2012]
LeegOfChldrn
Member Posts: 364
They did not die in a luxury hotel room nursing a drug or alcohol addiction.
They died in a harsh country half a world away from their homes
and families.
February 11, 2012
(1) CPL Kevin J. Reinhard 25
(2) LCpl William D. "Billy" Spencer 20
(3) CPL Jon-Luke Bateman 22
(4) LCPL Scott D. Harper 21
(5) CPL Joseph J. Reinhard 25
(6) LCPL Eric J. Orlowski 26
(7) LCPL Joshua M. Davis 19
(8) CPL Michael J. Dutcher 22
Comments
This is my big "F*** YOU" to anyone and everyone who obsessess over celebrity death and glorifies them in death as if they had any more value than the other human beings who died that same day, but who were ignored because they were not "talented" in the hideous spotlight of drug abuse, greed and whoredom.
I despise others who make a big deal out of celebrity death without ever having even a wimper or whisper of the deaths which occur every other day of the year in the tens of thousands.
I see what you're saying, but you should really think about why people mourn celebrities. It's not (for the most part) because of their fame or status.. it's because we grow accustomed to them over the years. Think about that - we listen to them over the years and it's almost like we get to know them.. even if not personally. I can't speak for everyone, but I feel some of these artists played a large part in my life growing up. When my favorite artist kicks the bucket I'm going to be sad.
But we do mourn soldiers and vets who pass away. I don't know where you live, but we have many memorials and holidays to celebrate and honor what they have sacrificed for us.
Currently Playing:
Nothing.
Marine, we are talking about a society that a person who throws or bounces balls for a living, are called "Heroes" and paid millions and millions of dollars, to play games little kids play. Even a Police Officer or Firefighter that day in, and day out does their job and helps, saves people, don't get that recognition on the news. We are also talking about a society that pretty much will not help someone that's in trouble, and many will pretend not to notice and ignore it. They'll just look away and pretend they never saw anything and not lift a finger to help.
Think about that.
Do you want recognition from a society like that?
We're in the military, specifically the Marines for me and with those names you posted. We take care of our own. And that's that.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
^ This.
One of the things that irritates me the most about when celebrities kick it is that some holier-than-thou poster will make a thread like this, bitching that we don't worship the military enough.
So I started to walk into the water. I won't lie to you boys...I was terrified. But I pressed on, and as I made my way past the breakers, a strange calm came over me. I don't know if it was divine intervention or the kinship of all living things, but I tell you, Jerry, at that moment ... I was a marine biologist.
I blame the media. The media has the power to control through a medium that is so powerful, albiet Pat Tillman, or some celebrity that has recently died to a deadly cocktail of powerful drugs and alcohol. This is the way of our country and the world.
Music never died, it existed for a long time, and is always evovling.
My Grandfather was a marine, and his countless offpsring were not hard-core enough to belong to the Devil Dogs, including myself.
/carryon
Played: EQ, EQ2, Vanguard, WAR, WoW, LoTRO, CoX, CO, GW2, FFXIV: ARR, AoC, Rift, TSW, SWTOR, TERA, BnS, ESO
Well I wonder why the chap on the right was there in the first place....
We're all Geniuses. Most of us just don't know it.
Because he couldn't get the scholarship the guy on the left did. He didn't handle a ball properly enough. A ball.
What's really sad and grossly pathetic is the fact you think someone saying media-worship is disgusting and real deaths of heroic people are ignored is "holier-than-thou".
You know WHY it makes someone "holier" than thou? Because they ARE holier than thou. Because they don't worship the media like you do. Because it DOES make someone a better person to not belittle the lives of others, worship drug-addicted stars of whoredom, and add to the media's glorification of rotten lifestyles of negativity and self-destruction.
The list is military only because it was easier to find military deaths than normal deaths, and people can also more readily see their value as opposed to an assortment of "common" people who may range across various career fields before death.
I'm sorry, but if it makes me "holier-than-thou" to be above a society which worships sports, bows down to celebrities (sports, music, and even people who are famous for their shame or stupidity...), then please, make me as holy as freaking possible.
I never want to be like you, worshiping the media and being just another sheeple.
Ironically, it's quite justified in a lot of ways. Most of the sheeple here who worship celebrities and are brainwashed by the media so easily are the very people who are considered "nobodies" by the media which they pledge allegiance to: thus they will be ignored upon death.
Nothing better than the media god brainwashing its followers to a philosophy which makes themselves worthless.
Perhaps trying a real religion or organization would fit you much better. One which states in its philosophy you have value despite your inability to play sports, sing, or humiliate yourself on reality tv.
Pride in one's self, intelligence, respect for all life as equal-- these values make us holier-than-thou because the lack of them make you disgusting.
"Worship the media"? That doesn't make any sense. Seriously, I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.
You think you're better than other people because you're above paying attention when someone famous dies. Get the fuck over yourself.
So I started to walk into the water. I won't lie to you boys...I was terrified. But I pressed on, and as I made my way past the breakers, a strange calm came over me. I don't know if it was divine intervention or the kinship of all living things, but I tell you, Jerry, at that moment ... I was a marine biologist.
I served four years in the Navy in the early to mid 90's. When I got out, just about everyone I was close to "back home" came out and celebrated my discharge after 4 years of honorable service. I have Memorial Day and Veterans Day. I have people who, after I tell them a little anecdote about some of the shenanigans I was involved with in the USN, laugh and offer a "Thanks for your service". Most of my fellow veterans are good with that.
I'm good with that.
Let the media cover the passing of a celebrity - doesn't matter to me. I appreciate the emotion and drive of the OP, just don't let it get you too pissed off. It's how things are, man.
-former OS2 Lamson, USN
See this...
that is the Earth. It is literally like a piece of dust in the vastness of this...
...and you, I, or anyone to think, that their life means something...I think you should re-examine your beliefs and maybe you'll come to the realization that in the big scheme of things...you are as important as the period at the end of this sentence.
Same could be said about crackheads.
Could have just posted this
On topic (in an offtopic thread, wat):
More people can say they have heard of Whitney - it's usually only the family that knows the lance. Sorry bro, especially if one of them was close to you. But I've never heard of any of them. Blame the media. Not the people that rely on the media for news and don't know where else to turn. If they don't know any better, we should be showing them, not giving them hate.
...unless you deprive meaning relative to that which is living.
Then anything outside of the Earth's atmosphere (excluding astronauts) is meaningless and human life has 100% value, with my life being of high value due to being alive and being human.
...unless I'm alien.
You're right, Whitney Houston knew what she was getting into when she started becoming famous.
Drugs are a requirement, after all.
It sucks when anyone dies undeservedly and untimely; celebrity, military or otherwise. You're doing it wrong if you're weighing lives in either fame or military duty.
Teala is correct.
Imagine the universe has a personal perspective: everyone should realize that they are about as significant as grass when viewed through this perspective (I simply call it the perspecitve of the universe). Everyone is just a piece of the whole. Every minute part is trivial when compared to the whole of the universe. Morally, I often compare grass to humans. Why is human life more important than the life of grass? Is it because humans have cognition and emotions? Then why are cognition and emotions so important to use as justification when assigning superiority in lifeforms?
I don't know the answer(s) to these questions even though I oft think about them. There should be an answer. Either that or humanity has committed some pretty bad atrocities, within their capabilities, when viewed from the universe's perspective (or maybe even God's perspective [if that sort of thinking is relevant to your belief stystem: may you consider everything else under God]).
The short answer is that humanity does that in which it is capable. Humanity strives to survive, within its capabilities, with a slight compromise favoring short-term vs long-term sustenance. Humanity may be delusional of its capabilties. These delusions may be holding humanity back.
(The obvious problem with the perspective of the universe is that is more conserned about the whole rather than the minute parts tha may have more significance than other parts.)
The OP, LeegOfChrlrn, personally seems to have lost someone important to her. Many fine men and women have lost their lives for no real great reason. It seems the lives are always more important than the reasons...
To get by the absence of the resst of this conversation, which I deem lacking, I will give some advise that is universal:
Suffering is caused by wanting. If you don't want, you won't suffer. There is no path to happiness, happiness is the path (Gautama Buddha).
I ignored this thread because I assumed it was about Whitney Houston and there was so much coverage of her death, my brain was on overload. But now that there's nothing left to cover, I decided to have a look.
First of all, I don't want to take anything away from Whitney. She was a tremendous talent and a beautiful woman. My mom was a big fan of hers and her death was very sad. That being said, yes, the world's values are skewed. In addition to the names the OP listed, my friend's father died on the same day as Whitney. He was not famous and did not get anywhere near the coverage that Houston did (although he was pretty well known in his community and his death was fairly big locally). But he was a guy who had a very positive impact on those he knew. He was a businessman who provided jobs for several people and made enough money to give to several different charities. But that's not special enough to become famous nationally. Despite all that Houston had, she screwed her life up with drugs and alcohol and an entire nation mourned her death. I'm not saying that it's wrong, it just seems out of whack.
But you can find examples of screwed up values all over the place. I just read where Amanda Knox was paid $4 million by Harper Collins to write a book about the murder of her roommate and her trial that followed. Now, her family went about $1 million in debt to defend her, but that still leaves her with a $3 million profit. We're talking about a person who just got rich over the death of another human being. Holy freakin' cow, what kind of sense does that make?
Whitney Houston had a unique talent that pleased millions of people. She was rewarded for her unique ability to sing by people that she entertained with her voice with fame and fortune. She will be missed solely by those people whose lives she's directly touched.
The soldiers on your list didn't seem to have any saleable talents that I could see. They were rewarded for their common abilities by people that they defended with their lives by their wages. They will be missed solely by the people who's lives they've directly touched.
There is no difference between the death of Whitney Houston or the death of those soldiers - both were rewarded to the level that their unique talents called for and both with be missed by those they touched in life it just happens that Whitney touched more people with her talent, which doesn't diminish the deaths of any other person one bit.
This is as it should be. A unique talent that pleases people will draw fame and the person will be rewarded for it and their passing will be observed with sadness by those that enjoyed their talent. A unique talent should be rewarde and when they pass those that enjoyed their talent will mark their passing with
I doubt the mothers of those soldiers observed the death of Whitney Houston over their own children - this is as it should be.