Whitney Houston - Dead at 48

[nik-]

First song I heard when I got in the car this morning was a Bobby Brown song.

Nicely done radio programmers.

[troutman]

I think Maya Rudolph is hosting SNL soon. Will she go there?

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by Superfraggle

Was choice a factor? Sure. There are always choices involved. But when the means by which you make choices are broken, flawed, underdeveloped, etc., it isn't fair to just dismiss it as "she made a choice". It's not that simple.

I wouldn't even go that far.

Let's say you're at a party and are a little bit drunk. Some guy tells you how wonderful this sh*t makes you feel... you stupidly agree to give it a try. Was it stupid? Sure. Is it deserving of the scorn being placed on it here? That you have no empathy for her addiction because it was her choice? Someone is a wee little bit cold-hearted.

Even if someone starts with a completely clear rational mind with full knowledge of the consequences, but latter regrets that decision and struggles to rid themselves of that addiction..... I have compassion for their situation.

[Methanolic]

Whitney Houston's 18-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, was just rushed to Cedears-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles ... TMZ has learned.

According to our sources ... Bobbi was taken out of the Beverly Hilton, where Whitney died yesterday, on a stretcher.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ police and fire responded to a call for a medical emergency, but would not confirm who was transported.

As TMZ first reported, Bobbi Kristina got into an angry shouting match last night with police officers outside the hotel room where her mother was found dead

Bobbi Christina is Whitney's only child from husband Bobby Brown. Houston and Brown were married in 1992 and divorced in 2007.

Story developing ...

[puckluck]

Murder? quite possible.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by puckluck

Murder? quite possible.

The decay of western life continues...

[Hack&Lube]

@BretEastonEllis
Whitney Houston: Yes, somewhere tonight Patrick Bateman is weeping, shocked but not surprised, and ordering three hookers instead of two...

[grizz29]

Bless the no-name Jackson brothers capatalizing on her death. Gotta pay them bills.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Although a lot of celebrities manage to avoid it quite well.

You don't have to be doing anything wrong to attract the papparazi and such. Google Kate Gosselin and you'll see what i'm talking about. A single mom trying to raise and support her kids in anyway she can, still she gets hounded by the papparazi and such in her day to day life. I highly doubt she asked for that. The public in general seems to have this morbid fascination about what goes on the daily lives of our celebrities and wants all the juicy details.

In the case of Whitney Houston, did the paparazzi drive her to drug abuse or did her drug abuse cause the paparazzi to go to her? Personally, I would argue it was the latter. If she made different choices, she probably would have fallen into obscurity like most 80s and 90s stars.

As I said above I don't think it matters what you do in regards to the papparazi. Of course WH's drug and marraige problems only feuled the desire for people to want to all the details. We also have trash magazines like the National Enquirer that often print false stories about celebreties which often result in the NE being sued by the affected person.

[Montana Moe]

I don't think Kate Gosselin is the best example of someone trying to avoid the spotlight.

[metallicat]

Might be one of the worst examples.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

You actually listen to Whitney Houston? You own a Whitney Houston CD? More than one?

The woman sold over 180 Million albums...someone bought them.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by transplant99

The woman sold over 180 Million albums...someone bought them.

Whoosh

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Montana Moe

I don't think Kate Gosselin is the best example of someone trying to avoid the spotlight.

I wasn't saying she was trying to avoid the spotlight. Just pointing out the dark side that comes with that type of a career. You have no privacy when you leave your home and you're hounded everywhere you go.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by Dion

I wasn't saying she was trying to avoid the spotlight. Just pointing out the dark side that comes with that type of a career. You have no privacy when you leave your home and you're hounded everywhere you go.

I dunno, to me wanting to be famous without the paparazzi is kind of like saying you want to be a professional athlete but without having to practice or do physical training.

They go hand in hand, and you know the drawbacks when you sign up

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by valo403

You quite clearly do not understand the concept of addiction. Pathetic really.

Double thanks and reposted for truth.

I think that addiction and depression are two things that are going to haunt our society for a long time. And they'll be made worse by people who don't understand either, but who pretend that they're both just a manifestation of easy but poor choices people make.

"Gosh, why not just tell yourself you shouldn't have another drink / hit?"

"Still depressed huh? Geez, why not just concentrate on being happy?"

Whenever I read of people struggling with addiction / depression (I think they have common roots), I think of this passage from Infinite Jest:

The so-called 'psychotically depressed' person who tries to kill herself doesn't do so out of quote 'hopelessness' or any abstract conviction that life's assets and debits do not square. And surely not because death seems suddenly appealing. The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant. The variable here is the other terror, the fire's flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the slightly less terrible of two terrors. It's not desiring the fall; it's terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk, looking up and yelling 'Don't!' and 'Hang on', can understand the jump. Not really. You'd have to personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by valo403

You quite clearly do not understand the concept of addiction. Pathetic really.

<removed>

Quite clearly I don't have sympathy for those that make poor choices from the start. If you don't want to be addicted to crack, don't do it from the start!

<removed>

[Dion]

Originally Posted by To Be Quite Honest

<removed>

Quite clearly I don't have sympathy for those that make poor choices from the start. If you don't want to be addicted to crack, don't do it from the start!

<removed>

Nearly all addicted individuals believe in the beginning that they can stop using drugs on their own, and most try to stop without drug addiction treatment. However, most of these attempts result in failure to achieve long-term abstinence. Research has shown that long-term drug use results in significant changes in brain function that persist long after the individual stops using drugs. These drug-induced changes in brain function may have many behavioral consequences, including the compulsion to use drugs despite adverse consequences. This may be the defining characteristic of addiction.

http://www.healthyplace.com/addictio...rug-addiction/

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by Dion

I have a problem with people who think thier view is the only right one. I somehow doubt she knew in advance that her marriage to Bobby Brown would be a rocky one or that her attempts at drug rehab or fixing her bad marraige would fail. She took a break from her career to deal with those issues. Addiction to drugs is not always that easy to overcome. If it was, drug rehab would have a 100% sucess rate.

You must have a problem with the internet.

In all seriousness of course we all can have different point of views and that's what makes places like this so great.

I know, because of my personality traits. I have addiction issues and impulse control issues and I know that if I choose to have something even more addictive I'd be in trouble. It's life choices and she sucked at them.

My addiction point of view is very firm because it has to be. It's how I live my life and I don't have sympathy for those who make poor choices like Whitney, Michael Jackson, or any other "star" that has addiction issues. Call it simplistic but when you have it, it has to be simple.

I don't smoke pot because of it. I won't partake in any drug really. The only drug I have is alcohol and when I do give in it's usually ending up as a bad bad choice.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by To Be Quite Honest

You must have a problem with the internet.

In all seriousness of course we all can have different point of views and that's what makes places like this so great.

I know, because of my personality traits. I have addiction issues and impulse control issues and I know that if I choose to have something even more addictive I'd be in trouble. It's life choices and she sucked at them.

My addiction point of view is very firm because it has to be. It's how I live my life and I don't have sympathy for those who make poor choices like Whitney, Michael Jackson, or any other "star" that has addiction issues. Call it simplistic but when you have it, it has to be simple.

I don't smoke pot because of it. I won't partake in any drug really. The only drug I have is alcohol and when I do give in it's usually ending up as a bad bad choice.

I don't think it's as simple as you make it. Not everyone knows their personailty traits and that they may have addiction issues. Think of all the youth that took up smoking or drugs because of peer pressure or basic curiosity. They later realise they have an addiction and need to quit. The initial choice may have been a poor one but you can't dismiss the efforts of those who try to quit. Often they fail and fail again and they keep on trying.

My sympathy doesn't lie with the poor choices people make but with the efforts people make to undo it. Cripes, i've made my fair share of poor choices in my life. WH got in deep with drugs and I suspect the autopsy will show she died of a heart attack from all the damage done to her heart and body from her drug use.