Flag lowered for Whitney

chumlie

Just have to vent a little here. While i do agree that Whitney Housten is a good singer. I do not agree with Gov. Christie lowering N.J. flags to half-staff on saturday to honor her. I do believe there are alot more people that deserve this honor more than her. How about all that have fallen in two wars. This celebraty worship is going just a bit to far in my opinion.

gdb

Wait til Iran and Israel jump off, no more slow news day-Whitney coverage ! BTW....it's Jersey, whad'ya expect?

snow

Why would it matter to you, you don't even live there? BTW we all ready have a remembrance for vets it's called veterans day.



REGARDS SNOW

George Grand

snow wrote: »

Why would it matter to you, you don't even live there? BTW we all ready have a remembrance for vets it's called veterans day.



REGARDS SNOW

POSTS man, it's all about posts! Content doesn't matter.

drumminman

Agree with OP - I don't live there either, but flying flags at half mast is supposed to be for someone who has done something other than sell alot of records and do alot of drugs.

decal

She did drugs?

rromeo923

Wait till Snookie dies!

Joe08867

While I also think it is ridiculous, she was born and raised in NJ. I think it's nice that they honor her in some way. Heck they honored a pedophile (MJ) all over the media a few months back.

Would I do it? NO, there is a flag in front of my house that is not going to be lowered to half mast for WH.

halo71

rromeo923 wrote: »

Wait till Snookie dies!

hahaha....ticker tape parade?

Timothy Smith

She was blessed with an incredible voice, talent, and beauty.

Then she threw it all away on drugs, alcohol, and scumbag men like Bobby Brown.

She is no hero.

She wasn't even a positive role model for the last 20 years. Quite the opposite.

I generally like Chris Christie, but this is just pandering.

snow

drumminman wrote: »

Agree with OP - I don't live there either, but flying flags at half mast is supposed to be for someone who has done something other than sell alot of records and do alot of drugs.

According to who you? You all set hear and preach like you you are all so much better than she was and like she is the only music star that has ever did drugs, what a bunch of hypocrites you all are. If anything you should feel empathy towards a lost soul not anger disgust and hate. She accomplished more in her short 48 years than all of you combined will ever accomplish.

Before you judge someone else walk a mile in their shoes, none of us know that we would have done things differently if faced with the same set of circumstances that she faced, sure she made some bad choices but she is being honored for the positive things she done in her life not the negative.


20 years from her death people will still remember Whitney the same cant be said for any of you.


REGARDS SNOW

nooshinjohn

I have no troubles with it... this was her home state, and the action shows nothing more than the pride the state has in one of their own.

MacLeod

I don't really have a big problem with it but I do kinda think its a little off. I mean she was a singer, then turned into a crack head and ruined her voice and died in a bathtub. I don't see celebrating her as a great hero or role model. But that's Hollywood. Michael Jackson liked little boys who also died drugged up but you'd think he cured cancer with all the tributes to him.

I agree that the celebrity worship is getting ridiculous. They're celebrated as heroes even tho they're nothing more than entertainers yet actual heroes go unmentioned.

tonyb

Agreed.....or maybe the father of 5 who gets gunned down on the way to work. No half staff for him. What makes Houston anymore important that the father ?

I noticed one more thing in all of this, as with Jackson, they are starting to look into the doctors that prescribed the pills. I'll wait for the story that somehow it was the doctors that killed Whitney, not her herself. Typical.

snow

John Megadeth wrote: »

Jeebus Crisco; was she the godmother to your kid?

She was very talented, and her passing is unfortunate. Celebrity worship, in any form, is unnecessary.

The passing of a Medal of Honor recipient > celebrity.

To answer your first question, the answer would be no. I don't believe that having a day of remembrance in honor of someone's accomplishments is celebrity/hero worship. My hero's on a personal level other than war hero's are people who have made a positive difference in others lives, I don't have any rock star hero's sports hero's or movie star hero's etc.

For example there is an old guy he has to be in his 90's local to me who has spent the last 40 years or so donating his time to virtually every non profit help agency out there, when he isn't volunteering at the crisis line or food bank or some other agency he is out picking up trash along aside the roads trying to keep the community looking good. He is one of my hero's for selflessly giving back.

I just don't see the need for others to put down and belittle others because they made mistakes when in fact most of us have done the same things at one time or another, which is what I see happening here.

Marilyn Monroe is a perfect example of a life gone tragically wrong but most of the same people here trashing Whitney will only have positive things to say about her, a bit hypocritical if you ask me.

REGARDS SNOW

tonyb

I don't think anyone is "belittleing" Whitney, she, along with Marilyn, made their own life choices. The problem most have with this is we are putting those life choices up on a pedastal. Possibly laying blame at others feet too. Same arguement over and over. Was it the drugs that killed Whitney, or the abuse of those drugs ? Is it the gun that kills people, or the person who's hand that gun is in ?

The method of which we take our own lives, or others, means little. It is the quality of the character that matters. Something society as a whole has gotten away from laying any sort of importance to.

MacLeod

tonyb wrote: »

I don't think anyone is "belittleing" Whitney, she, along with Marilyn, made their own life choices. The problem most have with this is we are putting those life choices up on a pedastal. Possibly laying blame at others feet too. Same arguement over and over. Was it the drugs that killed Whitney, or the abuse of those drugs ? Is it the gun that kills people, or the person who's hand that gun is in ?

The method of which we take our own lives, or others, means little. It is the quality of the character that matters. Something society as a whole has gotten away from laying any sort of importance to.

Exactly! It just seems wrong that somebody that risked their life running into a burning house to save a baby or a Marine that charges a bunker armed only with a pocket knife in order to save a fallen comrade and get virtually no press even though these things happen often. A singer has some hit, turns into a crack head and then OD's in a bathtub and oh the humanity! What a loss. What a hero. What a role model. Nope, just an entertainer that killed herself with drugs.

Jstas

Well, NJ does get frequent orders to honor fallen military personnel with flags at half mast. Also, firefighters and cops that have fallen in the line of duty.

But also, Whitney was born August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey. She's also in the NJ Hall of Fame and there's really nothing wrong with honoring someone who achieved the level of success and stardom that she did. Yeah, she screwed up later in life with the drugs and stuff but she was human. We all make mistakes. Some of us just don't get around to fixing them soon enough. That doesn't mean that her life was not worth remembering or celebrating.

snow

MacLeod wrote: »

Exactly! It just seems wrong that somebody that risked their life running into a burning house to save a baby or a Marine that charges a bunker armed only with a pocket knife in order to save a fallen comrade and get virtually no press even though these things happen often. A singer has some hit, turns into a crack head and then OD's in a bathtub and oh the humanity! What a loss. What a hero. What a role model. Nope, just an entertainer that killed herself with drugs.

Your looking at this from a different point of view than I am. Whitney nor any other entertainer movie star sports celebrity or political figure is or will ever be my hero. Certainly the choices they make concerning drug use are not something to be applauded, but in my mind should not take away the recognition they deserve for the positive things they may have accomplished.

Jstas wrote: »

Well, NJ does get frequent orders to honor fallen military personnel with flags at half mast. Also, firefighters and cops that have fallen in the line of duty.

But also, Whitney was born August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey. She's also in the NJ Hall of Fame and there's really nothing wrong with honoring someone who achieved the level of success and stardom that she did. Yeah, she screwed up later in life with the drugs and stuff but she was human. We all make mistakes. Some of us just don't get around to fixing them soon enough. That doesn't mean that her life was not worth remembering or celebrating.

Well said John.


REGARDS SNOW

chumlie

Let me put this on one post so i don't upset George. George; If my post count bothers you so much, hit the ignore button and i'll be gone. Snow; I was NOT belittleing anyone. Also, i was't aware i needed to be a resident of New Jersey to have an opinion. While i'm not gonna loose any sleep over it. I still think its wrong. You have a different opinion, which is fine.

Systems

Nothing wrong with respectfully honoring the passing of a human being.
Regardless of past.

*The fight against Apartheid by refusing to model for agencies that did business with South Africa
*Performance at Nelson Mandela?s 70th Birthday Concert in London, which put pressure on the South African Government and led to Nelson Mandela?s release from prison
*The Whitney Houston Foundation for Children, an organization that cared for the homeless and children with cancer and AIDS
*When her version of The Star Spangled Banner topped of the charts in 1991, she donated her royalties to the Red Cross
*Her HBO Concert ?Classic Whitney live from Washington DC? raised over $300,000 for the Children?s Defense Fund

Other Charities Contributions Include ? Caudwell Children, Celebrity Fight Night Foundation, Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center. United Negro College Fund and United Service Organization

And grateful for all of Earth's blessings, the Bodyguard star even donated lion cubs to the Bronx Zoo in same year
Driven to fight homelessness and health issues plaguing young children, she created the Whitney Houston foundation for Children in 1989

Houston's family asked Tuesday that any donations in her memory be sent to the arts-focused public school that she attended as a child and that was named after her in the late 1990s.
whitney-houston-funeral-home.jpgView full sizeRich Schultz, The Associated PressThe body of Whitney Houston arrives at Whigham Funeral Home, in Newark, N.J., on Monday. The 48-year-old pop star was found dead in the bathtub in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, hours before she was supposed to appear at a pre-Grammy gala.

In lieu of flowers, they said mourners should donate to the Whitney Houston Academy of Creative and Performing Arts in East Orange, a school serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

MacLeod

snow wrote: »

Your looking at this from a different point of view than I am. Whitney nor any other entertainer movie star sports celebrity or political figure is or will ever be my hero. Certainly the choices they make concerning drug use are not something to be applauded, but in my mind should not take away the recognition they deserve for the positive things they may have accomplished.

Well said John.


REGARDS SNOW

Meh, fair enough. Like I said, I don't have a big problem with lowering the flag. I was speaking more to the fact that one of these celebrities that turn into a dumpster fire being celebrated and heralded as a great loss to humanity when actual true heroes barely if ever get mentioned. Just seems like today people are worshiped for nothing more than being famous.

Maybe I'm just getting old. GET OFF MY LAWN!

Timothy Smith

snow wrote: »

To answer your first question, the answer would be no. I don't believe that having a day of remembrance in honor of someone's accomplishments is celebrity/hero worship. My hero's on a personal level other than war hero's are people who have made a positive difference in others lives, I don't have any rock star hero's sports hero's or movie star hero's etc.

For example there is an old guy he has to be in his 90's local to me who has spent the last 40 years or so donating his time to virtually every non profit help agency out there, when he isn't volunteering at the crisis line or food bank or some other agency he is out picking up trash along aside the roads trying to keep the community looking good. He is one of my hero's for selflessly giving back.

I just don't see the need for others to put down and belittle others because they made mistakes when in fact most of us have done the same things at one time or another, which is what I see happening here.

Marilyn Monroe is a perfect example of a life gone tragically wrong but most of the same people here trashing Whitney will only have positive things to say about her, a bit hypocritical if you ask me.

REGARDS SNOW

Think about it. The person you admire in this post was nothing like Whitney Houston. They went about their business trying to make the world a better place and never asked for recognition or sought fame.

I have 2 kids. I would never want them to think Whitney Houston was any kind of a role model. More of a cautionary tale about how not to throw away your life and potential, however modest or great.

It does point to how twisted our society can be when we admire someone for how pretty or handsome they are, how rich they are, how famous they are etc.

And does my opinion not count because I am not famous like Whitney Houston (was), and will likely be forgotten in 48 years?

If you had a flagpole in your front yard, would you really be flying it at half mast this week for Whitney Houston?

BeefJerky

MacLeod wrote: »

Meh, fair enough. Like I said, I don't have a big problem with lowering the flag. I was speaking more to the fact that one of these celebrities that turn into a dumpster fire being celebrated and heralded as a great loss to humanity when actual true heroes barely if ever get mentioned. Just seems like today people are worshiped for nothing more than being famous.

Maybe I'm just getting old. GET OFF MY LAWN!

We may not agree on some things MacLeod, but we definitely agree on this.

As for getting old, I can't wait until I'm old enough to sit on my porch and yell at kids who dare to tread on my lawn and throw my cane or walker at them. I'd be able to get away with it because I'm old, too. :razz:

steveinaz

She was a source of pride for NJ, I don't see anything wrong with honoring her in that way.

tonyb

steveinaz wrote: »

She was a source of pride for NJ, I don't see anything wrong with honoring her in that way.

I don't think anyone has a problem with that Steve, every state has famous people home grown that they would honor should they pass. It's the lack of honor to others more deserving that grabs people's gonads. Whitney, Michael Jackson, congressmen and women, CEO of Apple, what makes their life worth anymore than mine, yours, or someone else ?

Recognizing people for their accomplishments, yeah cool, run with it. But holding them up like they are above everyone else is silly in my book. You have to keep things in perspective is all I'm saying. A life should matter regardless if your famous, a CEO, a housewife, or a janitor. It's about respect for all life, not just some deemed relevant.

nooshinjohn

tonyb wrote: »

I don't think anyone has a problem with that Steve, every state has famous people home grown that they would honor should they pass. It's the lack of honor to others more deserving that grabs people's gonads. Whitney, Michael Jackson, congressmen and women, CEO of Apple, what makes their life worth anymore than mine, yours, or someone else ?

Does the honor guard still fly a flag at half mast over the US Capitol if a family member requests their member of Congress to do so for any U.S. citizen? I seem to remember a program that did that.

jephdood

I'm rather amazed at the kind of stuff that gets people up in arms these days.

gudnoyez

I guess since I'am not a NJ resident it dont bother me, I wonder if Jon Bon Jovi is going to get one lowered at half mast when he goes? Better yet the cast of Jersey Shores then I guess I would start to wonder.

leroyjr1

While everyone looks at the bad in her and Michael Jackson's life you might also want to look at the millions of dollars and time put in helping the needy. Look at the Charities these musicians and actors have.

potee

If they lower the flag for her the govenor will never get a vote from me if he runs for national office, As I'll have no respect for him.