See, this is something I don’t get. What the hell is there to investigate? I truly don’t understand this: drunk driver + no seatbelt = dead. I recall reading that the autopsy did confirm that the driver had been drinking. A year from now they’ll say, what - “Yep, he was drunk and no one was wearing a seatbelt, they crashed and died”? Can’t they say that now?
Trust me, if Elvis was still alive he’d have turned up to stop the marriage of his only off spring to Jacko the Whacko!
“The last time I saw Elvis,
He was shootin’ at a colour tv…” Neil Young, from his latest album, Prairie Wind.
I would like to complain about this princess, what I purchased not half-an-hour ago from this very boutique.
Here in Colorado, five workers died in an underground tunnel on Sunday night. For those of you outside the U.S., underground deaths are right up there with missing blondes as the favoritest lead stories in the National news. Yesterday on the Today show, the lead was: “In Colorado, five workers died overnight…we’ll get right to that, but first, new photos of Princess Diana…”
It’s not (just) the Brits.
Never underestimate the power of a mutli-millionaire conspiracy theorist. I also suspect that there’s a bit of anti-French arrogance: did Johnnie Frenchie do the investigation right? Did they contaminate the forensics? Etc. etc.
This is a good comparison because those two events have so much in common.
I agree with Miller. This is just stupid. If you said Brittany or whomever - Lindsay Lohan? - I’d agree with you. And even though I think we need to put 9-11 behind us these two events are not remotely comparable.
Right, the one that happened in America is automatically more important.
But seriously, the princess was a big deal to the Brits, as she was a great individual- there were many people she helped personally, she did great work with AIDS and other charities, and even those who didn’t know her probably felt they did.
Now, compare that to a bunch of people known only to their family and friends…
You don’t hear of the Brits or Spainards with ominous little nicknames for the dates of their respective terrorist bombings, I wonder why? Quick, what dates did either of those two happen?
He’s not with us, okay?
What on earth is wrong with you? One was a national tragedy where many people died. 3000+. The other was one woman. One woman!!!
Anyway how do you know that none of the 3000+ didn’t do charity work? You can’t compare the tragedy of 3000 people to one hyped-up celebrity. No one ever said the American thing was more important but you, only that you’re trying to compare apples and oranges.
FTR, I could not possibly care less about Diana or all her so-called charitable works. I only have a negative viewpoint of her and don’t care to correct it. But I still think - she’s dead, let her die in peace, leave her alone!
Wow. On what fucked up planet are you living on where the accidental death of 1 person carries the same weight as the intentional killing of thousands of innocent civilians?
Not as many as you’d think. (When it happened, I was living in the US. My coworkers were all pussyfooting around me, and I had to say “how would you feel if Ivana Trump died? Well it’s the same for me.”) David Baddiel wrote an excellent novel about the phenomenon.
I’d go so far as to say that 9-11 is at least 1,000 times more significant than the death of some rich woman, her boyfriend, and her driver. In fact, a hell of a lot more given the impact on Afghanistan and later the leverage for Iraq. What nonsense.
I can’t speak for the Spanish, but the London Tube bombings are referred to as “7/7”, so you’re at least 50% wrong there.
We had a Princess Di thread not all that long ago. Just saying, if anyone wants additional Di hate.
7/7 and 3/11. And no, I did not have to look them up. In fact in the weeks after the London bombings I remember quite clearly being nauseated by the Times’ attempts to “brand” them by attaching a cutesy little Tube station logo with “7/7” worked into it to every single story they wrote. Gave me a sense of amused revulsion that there’s someone out there whose reaction to a tragedy is to instantly think about how it’s going to be marketed.
No, neither appellation has really caught on long term, but I don’t see what this has to say about any national sense of decorum. Face it; 7/7 isn’t as catchy (doesn’t flow, syllabically speaking), and 3/11 sounds too much like 9/11.
Anyway, all this is a roundabout way of saying: you’re a wally, get with the program. I mean, honestly, just listen to yourself.
She was damn near a saint with all she did for the poor and sick- she would hold AIDS babies in her arms back when it was thought you could catch it from doing that. Of course people would be upset about her death and maybe not want to let it go- John Kenndey’s death had a similar effect I believe- when a great person in your country dies, its a big deal. Brits who didn’t like her are mainly of the type that wouldn’t like anybody in her position- what’s not to like?
And perhaps in those countries you know the date, but no one in the US does, but everyone in the friggin world knows friggin 9-1-1.
Wee Bairn, I think you’re in danger of perpetrating a “no true Scotsman” fallacy on all of us Brits. In the weeks before the death she was being excoriated by the British press. Famously the first edition of one tabloid was slagging her off, and the second edition was a hagiography. I don’t deny she did many good works. I don’t deny her death affected a vast number of [del]delusional tabloid-reading chavs suffering from mass hysteria[/del] normal British people in unexpected ways. Perhaps my Ivana Trump comparison is unwarranted.
But to compare her death to 9-11? Have a word with yourself.
July 7 and March 11. And I think the British do talk about “7/7” sometimes. I wouldn’t know how often, not living there, but I’ve heard it. 9/11 does annoy the shit out of me, but get a clue.
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If I thought all of the people still talking about her here in America truly cared one whit about her “good deeds”* then it might be a different story. I don’t think so though; they listen because it’s salacious and fulfills their prurient fantasies. (Not that I don’t think some care. But not all.)
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We have plenty of people in America who do good deeds, why don’t we pay attention to them?
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Celebrities are unimportant. I’d like to know out of the people who chase Diana know their child’s teacher’s name. Or the person who came up with the polio vaccine. Or why it’s important to eat folic acid when pregnant. Celebrities are attention-whores by default. And from what little I know of Diana, wasn’t it people just like this - paying way too much attention to her - that kind of caused her death?
*Not that I don’t think she did good deeds but there are millions of unsung people who did similar good deeds in the world every day and she just gets more attention because of the family she is born into. I don’t think it’s being a saint to do that kind of stuff when you’re in the limelight and have a silver spoon in your mouth. I think it’s good, but only proper.
I am an American and 9-11 annoys the shit out of me, too. But they’re not the same.
The death of a public figure who many knew or felt they knew, who has helped many many many sick, homeless and poor is not more tragic than the death of many many people you don’t know and who never did anything for you? Really? I respectfully disagree.
(Obviously, if you knew someone who died, different story).
So…do you think Diana’s death is more important than the people who died in the British and Spanish bombings, too? I am honestly asking. Or is this just anti-American sentiment?