Darkness at 3AM: More Jacko money-making

Outrage over at the Mirror this morning, as Clemmie Moodie reports on an auction:

The syringe that administered the fatal drugs to Michael Jackson is set to be auctioned.

To be honest, you'd have thought the guy who tried to buy John Merrick's bones would have put a bid in himself for something like that. But it is, naturally, sick and wrong:

The needle is being touted around auction houses in Vegas with a price of up to $5million (£3.3million).

Psst, Clemmie: although eBay auctions have 'buy it now' prices, actual auctions don't have 'prices' - that's what the auction decides.

It was obtained secretly and could go under the hammer on June 25 - the first anniversary of the 50-year old singer's death in Los Angeles.

Well, it's either that, or a Janet and Mariah duet to mark the day. The syringe sounds a lot more attractive in that light.

Naturally, this isn't just idle speculation. There's an unnamed insider, too:

A source said: "This is one of the sickest lots ever put up. The syringe is no longer needed in the inquest or in murray's forthcoming trial but the moral implications don't bear thinking about.

What exactly does that mean - "the moral implications don't bear thinking about"? What, exactly, are the moral implications? I can see how it might be a bit grisly, and even immoral. But implications? Will you have to murder 200 heroin users in order to auction one Jackson syringe? Is there a suggestion that the selling of the item might lead to an act of good? Because without that, I don't think we're going to need to disinter Bertrand Russell to sort out the moral questions here.

Still, it's a good, solid story you've got there, Clemmie.

"The guy who has possession of the needle has been in meetings with his legal team, making sure it is legitimate and his to sell. The plan is to flog it for up to $5million in a big Vegas casino but he's been told he may have to sell it somewhere that doesn't have 'reciprocal legal agreements with the United States', such as Brazil or even Libya."

Oh. So 'sold for five million on the day of his death in LA' might be 'desperatly hawked around Libya's auction houses, even assuming it turns out that someone has got the right to sell it. Oh. And who wouldn't happily fork out five million bucks through an auction house chosen because precisely it's beyond the reach of American law, eh?