Michael Jackson IS DEAD!!!!

He suffered cardiac arrest and was not breathing when paramedics arrived.

LOS ANGELES -- Pop star Michael Jackson has been taken to UCLA Medical Center by ambulance suffering from cardiac arrest, fire officials confirm.

Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Steve Ruda said paramedics responded to a 911 call at Jackson's home around 12:26 p.m. He was not breathing when they arrived. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda says.

Jackson is renting a home in the Holmby Hills in the 100 block of Carolwood Drive off Sunset Boulevard. It is about two minutes from the UCLA Medical Center.

Family members have been called and are on their way to UCLA, sources say.

UCLA officials are not releasing any details about the pop star's condition.

wtf!

OMG! HE'S DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael Jackson Dies

Posted Jun 25th 2009 5:20PM by TMZ Staff

Michael JacksonWe've just learned Michael Jackson has died. He was 50.

Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.

A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived.

Once at the hospital, the staff tried to resuscitate him but he was completely unresponsive.

We're told one of the staff members at Jackson's home called 911.

La Toya ran in the hospital sobbing after Jackson was pronounced dead.

Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II.

Micheal Is dead

It is un-fuckin-believable

i dont believe TMZ...i am watching CNN and nothing about him dyeing...yahoo isnt reporting it either.

It's on E news right now as breaking news. He was never breathing from when the paramedics arrived.

I'm hearing that it's not confirmed, but info has been from several sources.

Man, this is unbeleiveable. Wow!!!

Now, as I type this, the L.A. Times is saying he's in a coma.

TIS

if he dies this is by far the worst day, and this just makes it the worst year. i know he has done bad stuff, but he did change the music industry...this is just fucking terrible.

Edit: yahoo is reporting he is dead, but CNN isnt...

I'm seeing that now, that's he's in a coma.

But in some cases, as with Natasha Richardson, they keep someone alive for the family to come and say good bye.

Doctor's have been reporting if someone goes into cardiac arrest you have a 3-5 minute window of opportunity.

You know as sickly as he always has been, I wasn't necessarily thinking it was that serious, but yea, the fact that he wasn't breathing, and now in a coma. It certaninly doesn't sound good.



TIS

New York Post has him as dead.

http://www.nypost.com/

am i going to believe something that has jackie onasis seducing brando?

Wowza.

Is this the most edited thread title in the history of the BB?

NY Times confirms he's dead.

RIP

i am just going to wait till it is reported on cnn...till then

MSNBC just reported he's dead.


Wow! I'm in shock. It's like this generation's Elvis dying.

I'm getting whiplash from it.

cnn still says he is in a coma...idk if they are slow to get there sources or what. also too mentiong of elvis is lisa maria there.

Edit: cnn just reported...not confirmed though

ABC Evening News says he's dead.

first ed mcmahon then farrah fawcett and now as it looks like michael jackson...what a terrible week

no please no......

How come the New York Post has a 24-pic 'Life in Pictures' special? Talk about quick.

You don't suppose it could be suicide do you? I mean something that brought on the heart attack? Just speculating.



TIS

Johnny Depp to play him in the inevitable biopic, by the way.

He's been marred by those molestation rumors (and those settlements and trial and fucking bizarre lifestyle reports didn't help), which unfortunately tars the fact that Jackson in the 80s with OFF THE WALL and THRILLER was....well, the King of Pop?

A giant in recording sales and universal appeal of which one could only compare to the Beatles, which MJ famously made a fortune from buying up the Northern Songs catalogue after his then-buddy Paul McCartney advised him to own other people's songs...:D

So yeah if this is true, its unfortunate for MJ the performer. I was kinda hoping he would go out with at least one last respectable song or album or something decent. Oh well.





And of course

You know Capo, he probably will and probably could.

Anyway, are you seeing the crowds by the UCLA Medical Center? Reporters are swarming the place.


TIS

cnn is showing clips of his famous music videos right now...god damn it...a true legend...a true fucking legend.

Adios kid toucher. JMO YMMV.

RR,

3 of my favorites!

I remember when Thriller was released, they showed it at the theater. Yes, for 15 mins they sold tickets. Never got to see it in the theater, but it certainly was big.



TIS

Hit by a smooth criminal...

RIP MJ.

This day is reminding me of a few years back when Johnny Cash and John Ritter died back to back. Cash had been in ailing health and after June died he was kind of expected. But Ritter was a complete shock.

I remember one vivid recollection of watching the Thriller video. I was slipped a hit of acid and was tripping, and that video was on tv. I was swatting these demon eyes that were jumping out of the screen and attacking me. For someone who only ever smoked pot, that was not an enjoyable evening.

beth that was the last time i remembered crying...two of my favorites dyeing...MTV is showing his videos right now

Damn, what a video to watch while trippin'. I wouldn't think it'd be very enjoyable.


TIS

His talent and mark on music can NOT be denied and for that he'll be remembered as a great talent. However, the big stain is not on his career but is personal life. (Don't know what JMO YMMV means). I have a hard time praising his talent without thinking of his personal behavior and it makes my grief (so to speak) uneven. No what I mean?


TIS

So's BET.

I forgot about "Off The Wall." Don't laugh, but my husband and I took disco dancing classes (ha ha ha) and this was a big album we'd dance to during that era. OMG, did I just say that I disco danced?


TIS

JMO YMMV = Just my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

You can't deny Jackson's talent. "Thriller" is arguably one of the top 3 albums of all time. Bottom line is though, he was a child molester. I won't be shedding any tears.

Just to update the thread title.

Nobody can deny his talent but he was so fucking weird that his memory will certainly be tarnished.

Odd that he had to upstage Farrah Fawcett - was he trying to look like her TOO much?

On the lighter side, the DJ/MC that I hired to do my wedding played Marlon Jackson in the TV movie "The Jacksons". I couldn't afford the guy that played Michael.

Hopefully his kids can lead a more "normal" life. I hope they are ok.



TIS

JL, if you had spent an extra $500 then you'd have a REALLY good story to tell now.

I'm gutted...

RIP Michael Jackson

Seriously, the "Jackson" I hired is very talented, and was well worth the money. He's also appeared on Broadway and the TV Series "OZ". I highly recommend him to anyone in the Jersey area that needs an MC/DJ.

http://www.ddmentertainment.com/marcusmovie.html

Saw it on the TV at a restaraunt and was (and am) shocked and saddened.

I didn't know he passed away till I just seen it on my MSN homepage. I didn't know he was back in the states. I thought he was still living in Bihrain(sp).

God speed to his family. I hope his children will be ok.

5Angels: "That was no heart attack."

lol

Michael Jackson's star on the Walk of Fame has been covered up by red carpet for a couple days due to the premier of the movie "Bruno". So since that star's not accessible people have been laying flowers on another Michael Jackson's star. I guess they know it's not the real one.

Elton John was hosting one of his annual benefit concerts today, and at the end of it he dedicated, "Don't let the sun go down on me" in honor of Michael.

Maybe in his case it should be, "Don't let your son go down on me".

That was very tasteless, I know. hee hee.

Speaking of tasteless, ET has posted a picture that is supposed to be of Michael as he lay dying.

http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/06/75724/index.html

Wow! Anything for a story. Nothing surprises me since someone got the picture of Elvis in the coffin. Just eerie to me. Too much of an invasion. But, it sells.


TIS

MSN is doing a phone interview with Brian Oxman, the Jackson family attorney. Oxman says he is waiting for the final autopsy to confirm death and then he says he's gonna name names of Doctors and excess of prescription drugs.

He claims that for about two years he's told the Jackson family that one day Michael would not wake up and that when that day happens he's gonna tell all. Nobody seemed to do anything about it. Nobody would say no to MJ. He suggested that MJ prescription drug problem is much worse than Anna Nicole Smith. We'll see.


TIS

well this is all we are going to hear about now...

I think someone mentioned the link between his death and Elvis'. We'll see if there really isn't that much of a stretch between the two.

Another tidbit, I don't know if it's true or not. Evidently MJ owns 50 percent of one of the Beatles Songbooks (not quite sure what that is). The record company owns the other 50 percent. According to the report after Ebony & Ivory MJ and Paul had a falling out. MJ, according to this report felt bad and left this songbook to Paul in his will. How he knows this, I don't know. Stories run rabid today.

Beth, one connection MJ & Elvis....Lisa Marie. Now what the hell was she thinking? She and Priscilla issued nice statements to the family though.


TIS

it is true tis, and now with his death paul can have the music that made a generation turn like what jackson did as well.

Has there been any reports who will be taking care of his 3 kids?

There's definitely a link. Perhaps not the death itself but their way of living an dying. We've been seing this for some years.
Michael wasn't able to handle his wealth and his health.
I've always thought that the way Michael treated his body was peculiar. Not only the continuous reshapings of his face but also the peculiar approach to health in general - sleeping in an oygen tent, etc.
Both, Michael and Elvis wanted to perfect their lives. To Elvis who came from a really poor family it meant: "Eat as much as you can."
Obviously both considered a doctor trustworthy only if he did what they demanded.
...

I found an article on the exact same thing so here it is... hope it helps Mig
http://www.3aw.com.au/blogs/3aw-generic-blog/what-now-michael-jacksons-children/20090626-czp0.html

It is a sad ending to what had become a sad life for Michael Jackson. He had a bad childhood and really never recovered. It just goes to show that all the money in the world cannot make one happy. While I never was a big fan of his music, I respected MJ's contribution to music history.

MJ's problem is that he got so big, so rich, and was so weird that none of those qualities could co-exist. I could not sympathize for him after the first set of child molestation charges in the early 1990s. But I did not wish him harm, either.

I think his sudden, shocking death is fitting in light of the last 25 years of his life. While I never envisioned his death to be the cause, I remember thinking that there would be no way that he would play all of those scheduled London concerts. When they were first announced, I assumed he would have some type of cancellations due to a) his weirdness or b) some minor physical problems.

I completely agree with the Elvis comparisons. Both were too secluded and too far out there toward the end of their lives.

Michael wrote this song for Ryan White. Now it's befitting for him.

Gone too soon.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=101iXwPTNE0

This is very eerily similar to Elvis and Anna Nicole Smith, as they all handlers around them to afraid to tell them their life was spiraling out of control.

Final Days: The Mystery of Michael Jackson's Death
By Mike Fleeman

Originally posted Friday June 26, 2009 08:40 AM EDT
Photo by: Matt Baron / BEImages

It should have been the opportunity of a lifetime for a Michael Jackson fan: a behind-the-scenes invitation to a rehearsal for the superstar's upcoming concert tour in the United Kingdom.

But when the fan got to the stage, she was horrified. "He is a skeleton," she wrote Monday in an email to other Jackson fans. Worse, she said, was seeing her idol surrounded by people she deemed too frightened to say anything. "I have to say: He may die."

Three days later, Jackson, 50, collapsed in his rented Holmby Hills mansion – with his personal physician on the premises. His heart stopped; he wasn't breathing. An ambulance raced him to a hospital just minutes away from his house, but despite another hour of frantic resuscitation efforts, the world had lost one of the most successful artists in music history. The Los Angeles County Coroner will conduct an autopsy, with some results expected as early as Friday, although the findings of other possible tests could take longer.

Some in the entertainment world are utterly shocked at the sudden demise of seasoned entertainer who was, by all accounts, focused on one thing alone: getting ready for a series of 10 comeback shows at London's 02 Arena set to launch next month. Jackson rehearsed at the Staples Center on June 24 in Los Angeles, the day before with "great energy," Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich tells PEOPLE. "He wasn't giving it full out. But vocally he had started to really project. I thought he was in great form," who was at the rehearsal.

Jackson had even signed on The Incredible Hulk's Lou Ferrigno as his personal trainer, although the two hadn't worked out together in two weeks.

Yet while many in the entertainment world expressed sadness and shock, a different, more unsettling reaction came from several people close to Jackson and his family, who describe Jackson as unavoidably thin and fragile.

Filmmaker Bryan Michael Stoller, who visited Jackson in April, was shocked by his weight loss. "I hugged him and it was like hugging bones," he tells PEOPLE. "After seeing him, I never thought he would complete the tour."

Says Dr. Firpo Carr, a friend and confidante of Jackson's, "I sensed something was wrong and, quite honestly, I wasn't terribly surprised when I got the news. I would get word from people in his camp that things weren't quite right."

A source close to the singer who didn't want to be identified adds: "Michael hasn't been feeling well. All last week he'd stopped coming out of his house to see his fans. He was doing that every day."

As part of his preparations for the high-stakes UK concert tour, Jackson had been training – hard. He has put in 10-hour rehearsals, a witness says, for the sort of stage spectacle fans had come to expect. Promoters insisted the 50-year-old entertainer was physically ready for the rigors of a full tour. But there was concern among some in his inner circle that Jackson might push too hard: "They didn't want him to overtax himself," family friend Kevin McLin tells PEOPLE. "You look back in history, he never completed all the dates of his shows because he gave so much in each performance – he would go non-stop for two hours."

And on Thursday, even before UCLA doctors declared Jackson dead, family attorney Brian Oxman, who huddled with the grieving family at the hospital, raised the specter of possible abuse of drugs prescribed for the singer's long history of physical ailments. "If you think that the case of Anna Nicole Smith was an abuse, it is nothing in comparison to what we have seen in Michael Jackson's life," Oxman told CNN.

According to the fan at Jackson's rehearsal who tried to raise the alarm among those who adored him, the combination of risk factors seemed dangerously close to claiming its victim.

"We all love Michael really much. We all want to see his shows. We all think about how we will be [in the] first row," the fan wrote earlier in the week. "How will you do all of these things if during the third concert he faints on stage, and if his heart stops during his way to the hospital? How will you feel when you will talk with other fans and will say: We knew he was too skinny to perform?"

He was a truly great talent, and like Elvis he couldn't handle his fame, his money, or his health. Sadly they both surrounded themmselves with syncophants who did nothing but tell them what geniuses they were, doctors who gave them whatever they wanted, and who both wound up as parodies of themselves.

What is pathetic is that MJ was in financial trouble. We are talking about a person who sold 750 million albums worldwide and once owned the Beatles songs. While I am sure there were some legitimate artistic reasons for the upcoming London concerts, I am sure that the projected $150 million in revenue was a big motivator. From that perspective, the fact that he blew all of his money on an outrageous lifestyle, I feel no pity.

This is an excellent article in today's NY Times about MJ's life, death, and his financial struggles.

Jackson Family Feared Morphine OD
Posted Jun 26th 2009 9:09AM by TMZ Staff

Members of Michael Jackson's family told us the singer was given a "heavy dose of morphine" prior to his death, and family members were alarmed.

We're told Joe Jackson recently wanted to put Michael in a rehab facility in Palmdale, California for what he considered an "addiction" to morphine and prescription drugs.
Family members say they felt he was unable to perform for his upcoming concerts because of his drug use.

Members of the upcoming tour tell TMZ Jackson was generally lethargic and very late for rehearsals.

There are reports Jackson OD'd yesterday on Demerol, a drug similar to morphine.

Interestingly, Jackson wrote a song called "Morphine" in 1997. One of the lyrics -- "Demerol. Demerol. Oh God he's taking Demerol."

I'll follow the old addage of. "If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all"

Though by saying that you didn't follow it.

I didn't say what I really think, I don't think it would make too many people happy with me.

How long before the nut jobs come out with Michael Jackson sightings and rumors that he faked his death.

I don't think his planned tour in the UK would have gone well. If the British want to hear a 50 year old white woman sing, they have Susan Boyle.

My boss just said he saw Michael Jackson walking the halls in our hospital.

That's the first sighting.

I think he actually is in France with Elvis and Frank Sinatra.

Balut induced fever.

The family is more and more thinking he OD's on demerol. And his personal physician who started CPR at his house is MIA.

http://www.tmz.com/

http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20287787_20287851,00.html

LaToya Jackson scene to be cut from "Bruno".

'Bruno' Cuts Scene Mocking Jacksons Hours Before Premiere
Friday, June 26, 2009
Baron Cohen's latest comedy "Bruno" into a tailspin Thursday as they scrambled to cut scenes in which the comedian takes more than a few shots at Jackson's sister, LaToya Jackson, hours before the film's Los Angeles premiere, AFP reported.

In "Bruno," Cohen convinces LaToya that he is an Austrian fashion journalist while poking fun at her, but producers felt the joke was in bad taste after hearing of her brother Michael's death.

In the scene, watched by viewers at previous showings, LaToya Jackson eats sushi off the body of a naked Mexican worker acting as a table. It was missing during Thursday night's premiere and will not likely be restored before the film opens in the U.S. on July 10.

"Bruno" is a follow-up to Cohen's smash-hit mockumentary "Borat", and sees the comic playing a flamboyant, celebrity-obsessed Austrian fashion journalist seeking to become famous in the United States.

Also on Thursday, fans mourning Michael Jackson poured on to Hollywood Boulevard to lay flowers on his walk-of-fame star. However, they were on the wrong Michael Jackson.

Because the singer's star is currently covered by the red carpet put down for the "Bruno" premiere, passersby accidentally went to the star belonging to radio talk show host Michael Jackson, the Wall Street Journal reported.

According to this artice (per TMC), Jackson was given a daily shot of something similar to morphine. Also, fwiw, they say his doctor is now missing.



http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/06/26/report-narcotic-injection-killed-jackson/

TIS

To update, MSN is reporting that the police ARE looking for the Doctor that Jermaine Jackson said was with Michael when he died. The report said that the police didn't say the were accusing the doctor of anything, but the doctor's car was impounded, so it is getting a little more suspicious.


TIS

i still cant get my head around this MICHAEL JACKSON is dead..

RIP

And there's no need for the jokes posted on here..

SHAME ON YOU ALL..

I just saw him in a 7-11 with Elvis buying lottery tickets. Now where are those Vulcan ears????

Just to piss more people off.....

Due to the fact that Michael Jackson is 99% plastic, he will be melted down into lego blocks so little kids can play with him.
_________________
Michael Jackson apparently died of food poisoning…it is reported he ate 12 year old nuts.
__________________


So farrah Fawcett after a good life appears at the pearly gates

st peter greets her and says "farrah, you have led such an exemplary life i am going to get God to grant you one wish"

Farrah thanks St pete and asks for all the children of the world to be safe.

St pete relays this to God who says your wish will be granted.

God then kills Michael Jackson.

More from TMZ: MJ was flatlined when emergency unit arrived.


TIS


http://www.tmz.com/2009/06/26/emergency-workers-felt-jackson-dead-at-scene/

Here is a streaming audio of the 911 call.

http://www.tmz.com/

Yeah. Everyone stop making fun of an emotionally disturbed dead pedophile.

I could give two shits that the kid toucher is dead.

Theres no need to post that..

JL,

I loved his music. He's a legend and made a huge historical mark in musical history and I doubt that will ever be denied him. BUT Personally....


I think many of us feel the way you do. It's almost impossible to feel the full grief one might feel, losing an Icon, had he been a "normal" person (lack of a better word)but knowing about his personal behavior stops me from feeling too badly. I am not used to feeling that way when somebody dies, believe me. How many of his victims are relieved??

TIS

Re: The 911 call. Isn't it odd that when the paramedics asked "does the doctor know what happened" the caller relays to the doctor the question, and then comes back to the phone and says "can you just get here" avoiding answering the question?


TIS

Why do I get the feeling that the MJ death story will take on a life of its own, particularly if there are doctors fleeing and if others come out in the weeks to come talking about addictions, etc? It has the potential to make the circus-like atmosphere surrounding O.J. Simpson in 1994-95 seem like a quick news blurb.

I think there were two separate aspects of Jackson's life: his music and his public persona. His musical legend, whether or not one liked his style of music, is indisputable. He changed music with his sales figures (highest selling LP of all-time), the face of music video with his elaborate productions of Billie Jean, Beat It & Thriller), and his larger-than-life presence on a music stage.

His main problem was that he stopped putting out music (for the most part) since the early 1990s. Musically, he became irrelevant. Look at Prince, Madonna, and Bruce Springsteen. All three were very big at the same time as Michael Jackson (1983-1985), but none were bigger. Yet all three still tour and continue to release new music today. Jackson would never have been able to outdo Thriller in terms of sales, but then again who else could either? He simply should have made music that he wanted to make instead of further withdrawing into his role of recluse.

Goombah, how nice to see you back. How are you?

You know you're right, this probably will take on a life of it's own. I can only imagine how much more we will learn about MJ.

According to Diane Dimond (reporter), none of the kids are biologically MJ's, so the Jacksons have no biological claim. The mother of the two (Rowe) gave them up but still could get them. However, Diamon claims that she knows who the father is and said she would not be surprised that the father comes forward to take the kids. Weren't we led to believe the children were his biological kids?

Man, these stories are a dime a dozen now aren't they?

TIS

Contrary to public belief, Deborah Rowe did not give up her kids. She told the judge she wanted to, but he never granted it. She could get the kids if she wanted.

With Michael Jackson's death, what will become of his three children?

Debbie Rowe, the mother of Prince Michael, 12, and Paris, 11, is their legal parent and can gain custody of them if she chooses, according to Rowe's former attorney, Iris Finsilver.

Prince Michael, Paris and Jackson's third child, Blanket, 7, whose mother has not been identified, have been in the care of Jackson's mother Katherine since the entertainer died Thursday after a cardiac arrest. "The kids are very upset, but they are fine," Jackson's manager, Frank DiLeo, tells PEOPLE.

During the custody fight between Rowe and Jackson in 2005, Rowe sought to give up her parental rights, and lauded Michael as a good father. Retired Judge Stephen Lachs, who presided over the hearing, at first agreed to terminate them, but then Lachs changed his mind and returned the rights to her.

"She lost them, and then she got them back," Finsilver says. Finsilver said she spoke to Rowe on Thursday but she cannot say what Rowe plans to do. "She was inconsolable."

Jackson family attorney Brian Oxman says Jackson's mother, the family matriarch, would be a natural guardian for the kids, though it won't be her decision.

"Katherine is the logical choice – she has all the grandkids and nieces around her but it will be up to the courts," Oxman tells PEOPLE. "I wouldn't be surprised if there are more proceedings regarding the children."

The coroner has completed the autopsy. He's currently meeting with the family, and will hold a press conference 1:30, California time.

My own 2¢ -

It's really hard for any of us to know what demons MJ was battling, but apparently they were doozies. It's sad that he will be remembered for his crazy behavior more than he will be for his musical talent BUT that is the way of the world.

I think he was TREMENDOUSLY talented and back in the mid '80s I thought he was nearing Elvis status (as far as his star-power and his public following). What a shame that he blew it (OK... that's leaving the door open for a few more jokes).

Well Jackson's mom, I hear, is quite elderly and not in the best of health, but I'm sure they can afford help.

But my point was, IF MJ isn't the biological father, and if the BIO father surfaces, I would think he'd get them over the Jackson and perhhaps even over Rowe.


TIS

Here is a blog from Lisa Marie Presley:

"Years ago Michael and I were having a deep conversation about life in general. I can't recall the exact subject matter but he may have been questioning me about the circumstances of my Fathers Death," she writes.

"At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, 'I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did.' I promptly tried to deter him from the idea, at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that."

"14 years later, I am sitting here watching on the news an ambulance leaves the driveway of his home, the big gates, the crowds outside the gates, the coverage, the crowds outside the hospital, the cause of death and what may have led up to it and the memory of this conversation hit me, as did the unstoppable tears."

"A predicted ending by him, by loved ones and by me, but what I didn't predict was how much it was going to hurt when it finally happened. The person I failed to help is being transferred right now to the LA County Coroners office for his autopsy.

All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years has just gone into the bowels of hell and right now I am gutted. I am going to say now what I have never said before because I want the truth out there for once.

Our relationship was not 'a sham' as is being reported in the press. It was an unusual relationship yes, where two unusual people who did not live or know a 'normal life' found a connection, perhaps with some suspect timing on his part. Nonetheless, I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much.

I wanted to 'save him' I wanted to save him from the inevitable which is what has just happened. His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn't know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome then. At that time, In trying to save him, I almost lost myself.

He was an incredibly dynamic force and power that was not to be underestimated.

When he used it for something good, It was the best and when he used it for something bad, It was really, REALLY bad. Mediocrity was not a concept that would even for a second enter Michael Jackson's being or actions.

I became very ill and emotionally/ spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him.

I was in over my head while trying. I had my children to care for, I had to make a decision.

The hardest decision I have ever had to make, which was to walk away and let his fate have him, even though I desperately loved him and tried to stop or reverse it somehow.

After the divorce, I spent a few years obsessing about him and what I could have done different, in regret. Then I spent some angry years at the whole situation.

At some point, I truly became Indifferent, until now.

As I sit here overwhelmed with sadness, reflection and confusion at what was my biggest failure to date, watching on the news almost play by play The exact Scenario I saw happen on August 16th, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (A sight I never wanted to see again) just as he predicted, I am truly, truly gutted.

Any ill experience or words I have felt towards him in the past has just died inside of me along with him. He was an amazing person and I am lucky to have gotten as close to him as I did and to have had the many experiences and years that we had together.

I desperately hope that he can be relieved from his pain, pressure and turmoil now.

He deserves to be free from all of that and I hope he is in a better place or will be.

I also hope that anyone else who feels they have failed to help him can be set free because he hopefully finally is. The World is in shock but somehow he knew exactly how his fate would be played out some day more than anyone else knew, and he was right.

I really needed to say this right now, thanks for listening."

~LMP

can you guys at least show some respect...yes had a terrible past since his childhood, and made bad decisions. lou just dont say anything okay....follow what ice is doing. you have an opinion, but this isnt the time or the place to say it. along with the jokes...yes its hard not making them, but still. not trying to start anything i just hate it when people disrespect the dead.

Interesting statement. I can imagine LisaMarie's feelings as she sees how MJ's death played out.

It sounds like she has her issues as well(understandably) and if I'm understanding her correctly, they did have a "different" but real relationship, whatever exactly that was. It sounds like by marrying him, she was trying to help him, perhaps seeing the similarities (no way implying molestation similarities on Elvis's part, but rather the seclusion, prescribed drug addiction maybe) with how her father lived and died. She shouldn't however blame herself.

TIS

It's amazing that they can't find the doctor. How can you not find a doctor? Who does he think he is? The Governor of South Carolina?

They keep saying thaf the doctor is not wanted or suspected of any wrong doing, and yet where the hell is he? His car has been towed I hear but again NOT because he's a suspect, but they want to check for drugs and such.

So, why doesn't doc just say here I am and go talk to the authorities. Is it that complicated?

TIS

Too bad. I'm sick of people with money that can get away with anything. The only people worse than him are the kids' parents that decided $20+ million dollars was more important than justice for their molested children.

Who's joking? I'll say whatever I want. The more I see the media turning this clown into some kind of hero, the more I'm glad he's dead. He could probably get away with it again.

It's true. If not for those enormous payouts, there's little doubt he would have been convicted of those horrible acts. Why else would he pay?

I always enjoyed his music, but I can understand where Lou is coming from. Crimes against children are the most heinous crimes there are; worthy of the death penalty in my opinion (and I'm against capital punishment in most cases).

You can see where his death won't move the masses the way that Lennon's or Presley's did. Both having died young and unexpectedly, just like MJ.

they are just going with what he did for the music industry...what he did...will be remembered as well, but for now lets just remember him for his music...not his personal life and demons.

Sorry. I'll always remember him for being a freak of human being, who enjoyed giving little kids "Jesus Juice", then molesting them, than his music that hasn't been relevant in 20 years.

I can understand I guess why some want for a "respect" thread for MJ, BUT I can't help but agree with JL and PB. I am perfectly willing to post on another thread if the mods think it need be. But because of their nature, it is extremely difficult not to bring up MJ's crimes because afterall, that IS a big part of who he was. It's unfortunate, but true and I am guessing many people feel that way.


TIS

BAM, I understand where you're coming from, but with all due respect this topic is open to all aspects of MJ's life (and death). I find it interesting to see some of the responses from members I know to be level-headed, compassionate and adult (perhaps I may even be included in that group... well, MAYBE).

The difference of opinions expressed here proves one thing - that MJ had a big effect on all of us (negative or positive).

i know they have there right...its just a peeve with me about people dissrespecting others who has died. look what ever lou...sorry.

anyway though did anything come out with the autopsy?

Maybe SC can say,but I can't recall a death thread here on the BB where there was such love/hate/let's be respectful type emotions. I mean every (or many) celebs have good, bad & ugly in their lives (maybe drugs/alcohol, scandal, etc)and we have gone into their lives. However, like I said, the nature of MJ's crimes raises the emotional level several notches because they are so unthinkable.


TIS

i hate to think when o.j dies...then again would anybody even care?

I can't remember one, TIS. I think that's why I'm finding this one so interesting. We've had some death threads that weren't complimentary at all - Sadam Hussein's comes to mind, but there was no love shown there.

USUALLY there is some semblance of morbidity in these threads (I think that is what BAM is expecting), but it's obvious that this thread is different.

Nobody has said that MJ wasn't talented, and that's revealing, too. The few jokes and seemingly hard comments revolve around MJ's very weird behavior. A star of his stature is open game for all of us - even after death.

Sure some will. I'm sure Nicole Simpson's family will be happy.

i think they would love to get a dime from him first...anyway though to get back on topic has there been any word about the autopsy?

Latest news is the autopsy has been done and a spokesman from the Coroner's Office will be holding a press conference in about 30 minutes or so.

AP Source: Jackson suffered a heart attack
June 26, 2009 - 5:48pm
By LYNN ELBER
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Michael Jackson was with a cardiologist when he collapsed at his rented home in Los Angles and a person with knowledge of the situation says he appeared to have had a heart attack.

The person was not authorized to speak on the matter and requested anonymity.

Police earlier today seized the car of Dr. Conrad Murray, a cardiologist who practices in California, Nevada and Texas, who was with Jackson at his home. Police said they believed the car may contain drugs or other evidence.

Only a coroner can declare a cause of death. The Los Angeles County coroner's office, which had scheduled an autopsy for Friday, was planning a news conference later Friday afternoon.

The cause of death is being "deferred" until the final toxicology and other tests are concluded. That should take 4-6 weeks. There were no signs of foul play on the body.

I did not realize that Michael Jackson once dated Tatum O'Neall. In an old interview he says his first girlfriend was Tatum.

That makes the irony of him dying on the same day as Farrah even more. Farrah, who was the 30 year girl friend of Tatum's dad.

Yeah, and MJ married Elvis' daughter and Farrah once had a poster of Elvis on her wall when she was young.

well the media circus is going to start up soon...i wonder if they will get a picture of jackson in the coffin like they did of elvis.

For a change.




"Relevance"? Culturally, artistically, musically, this requires another thread.

I agree with SC: very difficult to judge someone whose life has been so largely covered.

I don't think any death is more tragic than any other. It doesn't matter about talent, age, etc. But I totally understand Jackson's influence, popularity, and those who wish to grieve.

so is that doctor still missing in action?

I love it when you try to act above the fray.

try.

Interesting Fact: On the iTunes Download charts, if you count all together Jackson's singles and his work with The Jacksons and Jackson 5, including that "We are the World"...

He's right now got 42 songs on the Top 100, with six on the Top 10. The highest at #2 with "The Man in the Mirror." Yet not even a dead King could dethrone the Black Eyed Peas.

wow that must be a first

watching larry king live, and lisa maria presily said on her myspace that michael feared of dyeing like elvis. freaky just freaky.

I just seen a MJ video on the BET channel that has Marlon Brando in it. I've never seen it before. It also has Chris Tucker and Michael Madsen in it.

R.I.P MJ.

No denying the dude was a fucking freak, But man was his music good. Did he touch up little kids? Who knows. You can speculate all ya want. No one will ever know. I actually don't think he did. He was just a naive idiot and let kids sleep in his bed etc. Then the parents saw the opportunity for easy money and I think Jacko just paid em off to get rid of em and move on. Not cause he was guilty. I ain't saddened nor happy, But I really respected his talents as an Entertainer.

I guess his heart just couldn't beat it anymore and stopped when it got enough...... corny I know..

Doesn't that make it more easy to judge him? The fact that his life has been so largely covered?

I'm not sad that Michael Jackson is dead. I understand and respect his talent and influence on the music industry, but I can't help but think that he was so great that most people are able to look past him molesting children.

Is it really possible for someone to become so famous that their despicable actions are accepted because we all are in awe of the fame? It's a sad example of current society.

Take a look at this:



What comes to mind when you look at this? That Pablo Picasso was a complete asshole (nicest way put possible) to all the women in his life, or that's one fucking great painting?

George Orwell once wrote this nuanced piece about painter/Franco Spain collaborator Salvador Dali, and strangely it applies of sorts to right now:

"One ought to be able to hold in one's head simultaneously the two facts that Dalí is a good draughtsman and a disgusting human being. The one does not invalidate or, in a sense, affect the other."

Now as for The Gloved One...The evidence pointed to him being a pedophile, even though he was acquinted in Court (as much because he was a celebrity, like O.J. Simpson) and that's that. Still at his peak did some good music.

Rather fascinating: Jackson now has 7 in the Top 10 at iTunes, and his "Man in the Mirror" is now #1, knocking off the Black Eyed Peas. And the Current Album charts in America and other nations:

The top five albums in the US.

1.The Essential Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
2.Thriller
Michael Jackson
3.Off the Wall
Michael Jackson
4.Number Ones
Michael Jackson
5.Thriller (25th Anniversary, Zombie Cover)
Michael Jackson

Top 5 albums in the UK

1.Number Ones
Michael Jackson
2.King of Pop (Deluxe Version)
Michael Jackson
3.Thriller
Michael Jackson
4.Bad
Michael Jackson
5.Off the Wall (Special Edition)
Michael Jackson

Top 5 albums in France

1.The Essential Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
2.Thriller
Michael Jackson
3.Music for Men (Bonus Track Version)
Gossip
4.Thriller (25th Anniversary)
Michael Jackson
5.Bad
Michael Jackson

Top 5 albums in Germany

1.King of Pop
Michael Jackson
2.Music for Men (Bonus Track Version)
Gossip
3.Thriller
Michael Jackson
4.The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies)
Black Eyed Peas
5.Thriller (25th Anniversary) [Deluxe Edition]
Michael Jackson

Top 5 albums in Netherlands

1.Thriller
Michael Jackson
2.Off the Wall (Special Edition)
Michael Jackson
3.The Very Best Dance Ever
Various Artists
4.The Essential Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
5.Bad
Michael Jackson

It does seem that way sometimes doesn't it? Both OJ and MJ were acquitted, BUT most KNOW or at least have little doubt that both "got away with it" due to their celebrity. Look at the fans cheering OJ on during the Bronco chase and those cheering MJ on during his molestation trial. It is a sad commentary if anyone, for instance, sits on a jury and truly feels one is guilty, but due to celebrity finds him/her innocent.

On a lesser scale (crime-wise), look at all the sports figures involved with steriods. Everyone knows I don't have an interest in sports, but that's F-ing cheating IMHO. They should be thrown out on their asses if you ask me. How can you think they are so great if they play illegally? Well, that's another topic I guess.

Back to MJ..Like most, I truly do acknowledge and appreciate his genius in the music world and have/do enjoy his music. However, although I'll listen to them should they play on the radio or tv, I've not even been tempted to dust off my Thriller album or "Bad" cassette (although I can't say I've thought of throwing them away) since MJ was involved in these pedophile incidents and I can't really see myself doing so.

TIS

It might be time to dig up my "Thriller" album. People are getting $50+ for it on eBay.

A sad end to a very talented man who lived a very tragic life!

True, they do appreciate in value. However, much depends on the condition and if it's an original release copy and such. Mine isn't torn up, but a little worn.


TIS

I went to HMV to day to get a particular MJ dvd and everything on him has sold out..

There will be a frenzy for his stuff for months to come mate!

I have all his CD's already.. Had a gift voucher to use..

FWIW, the entertainment reporter on MSN (Courtney something) said today that there is "talk" of still doing a MJ concert, using songs MJ was going to perform, only having other performers sing them. She mentioned that she thought Madonna would be on board with it and thought others would as well.
Her guess was however, that it would be in L.A. because everyone involved in the concert is in that area.

Since it appears, MJ has tons of debt, (hard to believe isn't it ,they think this will help pay it off.

TIS

Talk of a tribute concert going ahead with many stars performing..

So all those people in London who bought tickets won't get their money back?

see link following link for refund info..
Jacko

Now questions are being raised whether the cardiologist at Michael's home botched the CPR attempt. Not saying that would have saved him. I think he was already dead then. But listening to the 911 tapes the caller said Michael was on the bed, and the 911 operator told them to put him on the floor. Doctors know you don't try CPR on someone on a bed.

Yes and of course now Jesse Jackson is involved. The family now wants answers from the doctor.

Don't get me wrong, if doctors are to blame, I say nail them, BUT this isn't going away anytime soon.


TIS

Link

Jesse Jackson gets on my last nerve.

al sharpton is far more annoying...vh1 classic and fuse tv is showing michael jackson music videos right now.

You got that right.

Long live the king of pop!

Ds

Why in the world would anyone want to return that ticket for a refund?




Of course. People like Jackson and Sharpton are nothing more than blood sucking opportunists. When he was on trial, they popped out of the woodwork claiming to stand by his side! That's not when you need the friends or the support. It's when the cameras have gone away, the media attention has dissapeared and you've gone back home all alone. That's when your true friends and supporters are there for you.

That's why, regardless if anyone thought that Jackson was innocent or guilty, I respect the Diana Rosses and the Elazabeth Taylors. Those two were there for him before the controversy, during the controversy and after the the controversy went away. Those are true supporters and friends. Thick and thin.




Well said Yogi. Exactly right. A very multi talented young man who himself, as well as circumstances that he grew up under, turned what could have been a fantastic life into one of continued tragedy and sadness.

An extremely talented individual who revolutioned the music industry and then destroyed his life and his image. But what's more of a shame is that he permanently destroyed the minds of those children.

What a waste of such God given talent. Sad.

I'll always enjoy his music and applaud his talent, but I could never and will never respect him as a person.

Just an obervation from what have been hearing today regarding the doctor who was at the scene and the one they want to talk to. Somebody brought up the fact(and I admit I didn't know this) that per the 911 call the 911 operator told the caller to move Jackson to the floor to administer CPR. Wouldn't a doctor know to do this? Even if not a medical doctor, you'd think they'd know no??




TIS

I am still in shock at the passing of the world's greatest entertainer, The King of Pop, MICHAEL JACKSON.

His genius was a gift and a curse.

It is a FACT that Michael had vitiligo, which creates discoloration and light, splotchy, unsightly areas on the skin. This discoloration eventually spreads across the entire body in severe cases. With the consultation of a specialist, he underwent a process to even out his complexion, which meant they had to bleach his entire body.

His entire life, his father Joe constantly ridiculed him and told him he was ugly and had a wide, flat nose and nappy hair. This happens often in African American communities and causes people who don't like themselves to want to change. Because of their upbringing and the pain they felt for the way they looked, they wanted to change into someone else, usually white people. So he changed himself because he never had support from people who raised him.

Michael Jackson was ACQUITTED of ALL alleged molestation charges. Anybody, anywhere and in any circumstance can accuse anyone of anything. It doesn't make it TRUE! There was absolutely no evidence and the jury agreed.

People who hated him picked and picked and picked at this man and, in addition to the daily drug cocktails that he took to dull the pain, the hatred ate him alive.

I am so sad that he had to go through all this pain but I am relieved that he left us the legacy of his gift and that now he can finally be and rest IN PEACE and away from all the scorn and ridicule and pain!

Here's a quote from the film director Martin Sorcsie, who directed the music video Bad, in response to his death:

"When we worked together on `Bad,' I was in awe of his absolute mastery of movement on the one hand, and of the music on the other. Every step he took was absolutely precise and fluid at the same time. It was like watching quicksilver in motion." — Film director Martin Scorcese.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090626/ap_en_mu/na_us_michael_jackson_quotes

All of this is quite touching. I had heard Michael mention the vitiligo in an interview he did years ago. Also...someone who knew him said that as Michael began to mature, he saw that he was looking more and more like his father and with their terrible relationship, did all he could to look as far from that as possible.

For whatever reason, he ended up taking all of this way too far. As an adult, Michael Jackson looked his absolute BEST at the time of 'Thriller'. Even a few years later with 'Bad', it was getting a little odd, but still 'lookable', considering the enormous talent. By the last few years, he needed red lipstick, eyeliner and finally, dark sunglasses because God only knows what his eyes looked like.

He went to far with children as well. Never a convicted pedophile, he showed disrespect for the court while on trial and was admonished by the judge for showing up late and improperly dressed. After getting into trouble the first time and having to pay somebody off to drop a case, you would think he would know to be careful with kids, no matter how loving and nurturing he felt he could be. But just a few years ago came the famous, 'warm milk and cookies, not sexual but charming' statement.

The 'King of Pop', the star behind the greatest selling album of all time, was $400 million in debt at the time of his death and full of god knows how many prescription medications and on a very poor diet. I read a story that many years ago, when dining at dinner Katharine Hephurn's house he plopped a glob of butter into his soup, and ate nothing and barely spoke the the entire evening. Shy? Maybe...except before leaving he requested a photo taken of himself and Ms. Hephurn, probably so he could have it in his collection. She refused.

Look, yes the talent was a blessing and a curse. Yes, his childhood was tough, his father a bastard. Yes, he was a really nice guy and I'll never forget the sight of his embracing Ryan White's mother after the boy's death. Yes, he loved children and wanted all of them to enjoy the innocence he had ripped from his life far too soon. But he became Michael Jackson. He made millions for charities. But...I saw the interviews he did over the years, he made bad choices and he felt sorry for himself.

Like so many geniuses, he didn't seem to really like himself; didn't seem comfortable in his own skin and had a strange pattern of trying to establish some kind of link or even compete with other recording legends who came before him, as if he felt he couldn't justify his own status.

He married the daughter of Elvis.

He used John Lennon's son Sean on one of his mini-movies.

He established a friendship and made recordings with Paul McCartney...and then snatched up the rights to Beatles songs, then felt bad that McCartney was so mad about it.

God knows how much he spent on bad plastic surgery that he didn't know when to stop. God knows how much he spent on the medications. He should've been spending money on a really good therapist. Even if he was...he may have just been a hopeless case from the word go, one of so many stars who just cannot handle success and finally takes a long spiral down that ends with the grave.

It's a shame. While we celebrate his genius and his music and his artistry that can never, ever be denied, Don Cardi is right ... it's almost impossible to respect the man as a person.

How can we...when he apparently never respected himself?

Apple

well on monday june 29 american idol is having a tribute of michael jackson. the top 13 are performing his songs. 7/8 central

Ok, the circumstance of the doctor administering CPR to him on the bed is now taking a more peculiar twist. According to this article, he collapsed on the living room floor, and they MOVED him to the bed. Huh? As a doctor why would he think that was better?

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06282009/news/nationalnews/jacko_sons_tragic_trance_176550.htm

Just because this guy is a doctor doesn't mean he's always making the best decisions. SOMETHING is wrong there - this doctor "ran away" afterwards....

This doctor reminds me of Anna Nicole Smith's doctors. It's like they forget the oath they took, and get caught up in being around a celebrity. All logic escapes them.

I just shudder to think that his son was there and watched it. That boy is gonna be haunted with those memories the rest of his life.

Bad wording on my part. What I meant was that it's very, very difficult to judge someone on the basis of so much media coverage and not much analytical scrutiny. The sad part of current society is the mass media's doomed general political stance; there's not much room for genuine truth.

I mean what do we really know about Michael Jackson, beyond the phrases we may (and do) apply to anybody else? "Troubled genius", "freak", "musical talent marred by (accusations of) child molestation"; none of that digs beneath any of the bourgeois veils constructed to defer our attentions away from the gross injustices of the actual system.

A sadder part of society (than the general hysteria of mourning the death of a culturally influential artist) is how the molestation charges could even be settled with money. That reveals more about the accusers than the defendant, I think; or at least it says more about the general value of money in capitalist culture as a whole.

It's interesting that death has proved once again to be the best thing that could have happened to a "waning career".

This does get weirder, according to "People" the former nanny would pump MJ's stomach many times because he took combinations of dangerous drugs. Like with Elvis, he had too many "yes men" that were afraid to say no.

And then, if this is true, it doesn't set right as far as I'm concerned? According to this article MJ's mom wanted to know where MJ kept the cash.

TIS



According to Rwaramba, on Friday, the day after Michael died, his mother Katherine called her from Michael's Holmby Hill house and asked where he kept his cash. "She said,

Story

I also found it strange that on TMZ they show a picture of is mom coming out of a Target store yesterday. With all the "people" they have around, it's odd for her to run to Target during her immense grief.

I don't have a link or remember exactly where I heard it, but yesterday they were saying that MJ had a will, but nobody knows what's in it. I really got the impression that he kept a lot from his parents/family and am wondering if he even saw them very often. Although they did report he was close with his mother.


TIS

Indeed.

Let's face it, folks...this is a HUGELY dysfunctional family, has been for many years, and not entirely because of Michael Jackson. That kind of dynamic doesn't change with fame & fortune; in fact it can get even worse. And it did. This may have led in part to Michael's behavior over the years.

LaToya Jackson spoke out for a long time against the family, expressing concern for Michael, during her estrangement with them, while at the same time having problems of her own with her Svangali-type marriage. She came under ALOT of scrutiny for speaking out and not displaying the so-called 'family loyalty' that some (including Katie Couric) apparently expected of her. While she seemed such a turncoat at the time, some LaToya's worst fears for her brother and family may have come to fruition.

This was certainly not one big, rich, happy family all under the same roof. There are many, many 40+ year old men and women who have little touch w/ their families, famous or not. Why would it come as a surprise to any one if he 'kept a lot from his parents/family' or didn't see them very often but remained close with one particlar parent? Janet Jackson has always appeared to be one of the few 'together' members of the family and therefore it came as no surprise to me to learn this morning that SHE is in charge of handling Michael's estate.

Additionally, why on earth would we expect anybody in his family know what is in his will????? With all the debt he was in, there is probably one big mess ahead and whatever is in the will may do little good for anyone over the years ahead. (Family lawyers might be real happy, though...)

We can sit here and scrutinize on the bb and suspect 'immense grief' from a mother who wants to know where the cash is, but in the end this is a very complicated family in for a very complicated future because of the life and death of this VERY complicated man who pretty much single-handedly put them (and kept them) on the map.

Apple

i just wonder how the father (joe i think) feels about his sons passing...i mean its no secret that he beaten michael and made fun of him.

He used to make fun of you, Bam? What a prick.

...damn it! lol

An interesting article:

"‘He has as many as 200 unpublished songs that he is planning to leave behind for his children when he dies. They can’t be touched by the creditors, but they could be worth as much as £60million that will ensure his kids a comfortable existence no matter what happens,’ one of his collaborators revealed.

Yet I can reveal that his will, not as yet made public, demands that the three of them remain with Jackson’s 79-year-old mother Katherine in California. It promises an ugly row. Ex-wife Deborah Rowe, the mother of the eldest two, has already made it clear to her legal team that she wants her children in her custody, immediately.
The mother of the third child has never been identified. I fully expect that it will emerge that the children had a ‘test tube’ conception, a claim already made by Deborah Rowe"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...months-ago.html

Its DailyMail, so take a grain of salt.

New York Post:

An autopsy on Michael Jackson revealed that the King of Pop's emaciated body was riddled with needle marks and scars, and his head was virtually bald, it was reported today.

Jackson's body had wasted away to a mere 112 pounds, and his stomach was completely empty except for partially dissolved pills, according to the London Sun.

His hips, thighs and shoulders were covered with needle wounds, believed to have come from shots of painkillers, and he was wearing a wig when he was found because his hair had been reduced to a "peach fuzz" on his scalp, the report said.

"He was skin and bone, his hair had fallen out, and he had been eating nothing but pills when he died," a source close to the singer's entourage told the paper.

"Injection marks all over his body and the disfigurement caused by years of plastic surgery show he'd been in terminal decline for some years."

There were four fresh injections around his heart, presumably from attempts to pump adrenaline into it to jumpstart it, the paper said.

Three of them had penetrated and damaged his heart wall, while a fourth struck his ribs, the paper reported.

He also sustained several broken ribs while authorities administered CPR during his final moments Thursday.

Jackson had one spot above his left ear that was scarred and completely bald -- the apparent result of burns sustained when his hair caught fire while he was filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984.

He also had numerous other scars, apparently from plastic surgery.

In addition, he had mysterious bruises on his knees and shins and cuts on his back, possibly indicating a recent fall, the paper said.

Jackson has had two autopsies performed on him: one by the Los Angeles coroner and a private one requested by the family.

The details leaked came from the official autopsy. The Sun didn't say how it got the information.

Meanwhile, the cardiologist who was Jacko's private doctor and performed CPR on him did it the wrong way, a Jackson family confidant claimed yesterday.

Dr. Conrad Murray found Jacko on the floor in his rented Los Angeles mansion and put him in a bed, the source said.

Medical experts say that compressions for cardiopulmonary resuscitation must be performed on a hard surface.

"Michael was on the floor first, and they put him on the bed, and then started compressions on the bed," said the source, who had spoken to a Jackson relative. "What kind of doctor is that?"

In a transcript of the 911 call, the person seeking help says Jackson is "on the bed." The dispatcher says, "OK, let's get him down to the floor."

Edward Chernoff, a lawyer for Murray, yesterday said the doctor found Jackson in his bed with a faint pulse.

Chernoff told The Associated Press that Murray was at the pop icon's mansion Thursday afternoon when he discovered Jackson and immediately began administering CPR.

"He just happened to find him in his bed, and he wasn't breathing," the lawyer said. "Mr. Jackson was still warm and had a pulse."

Murray, who spoke to cops for three hours on Saturday, is a licensed MD and specializes in cardiology, although he is not board-certified.

Jackson hired Murray last month as he prepared for a grueling 50-date concert series in London that had been set to start in July.

Chernoff also said Murray never prescribed or gave Jackson the powerful painkillers Demerol or OxyContin. He denied reports suggesting Murray gave Jackson an injection of Demerol shortly before his death.

"Dr. Murray has never prescribed nor administered Demerol to Michael Jackson," Chernoff said. "Not ever. Not that day. Not OxyContin for that matter."

TWO OLDEST KIDS NOT HIS: FORMER WIFE
"I offered him my womb."

Posted: 2:06 am
June 29, 2009

Michael Jackson is not the father of his two oldest kids, says their mom, Debbie Rowe.

In an interview at her California ranch, Rowe, mother of "Prince" Michael Joseph, 12, and Paris Michael Katherine, 11, said she was artificially inseminated by an anonymous donor.

And she said she does not want custody of the kids.

"I know I will never see them again," she said. "I don't want these children in my life."

Rowe, who was speaking to Britain's News of the World, repeated comments she made during a custody battle in 2004.

Jackson and Rowe, 50, were married in November 1996. Three months later, he announced he was expecting his first child with Rowe, a receptionist at a Beverly Hills clinic where he got skin treatments.

"Michael was divorced, lonely and wanted children. I was the one who said to him, 'I will have your babies,' " Rowe told The News of the World.

"I offered him my womb -- it was a gift."

But Rowe said Jackson ditched her after Paris was born because the painful second birth left her "all torn up inside" and unable to have more kids.

The couple divorced after three years.

Janet's appearance at the end of the BET awards.

http://www.tmz.com/

I heard that none of the three are "his" kids. I doubt anyone is surprised by that though.

Like I mentioned in another post, per Diane Dimond (reporter who followed the MJ trials)says that it's possible that the natural father (she claims she knows who it is at least for the first two kids) could claim the children.

Kly would probably be the one to ask. But, if Rowe doesn't want them, and if the biological father did show up and proved he was indeed their father, I'm guessing he'd get priority over even Mrs. Jackson. "Blood is thicker" always seems to rule. Wherever they end up, I sure hope they can live as normal/happy life as possible.

TIS

A Jackson family tribute tour is possible....

http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/06/75873/index.html

If Jackson had legal custody and they were not his biologically, I'm certain that he had adopted them. The sperm donor most likely formally relinquished parental rights. Think of the kids as adopted. My guess is that Jackson made provisions for the guardianship of the kids in the event of his death.

His death doesn't restore parental rights to a sperm donor though. In the absence of a designation of guardianship, the child is usually placed within the family of the deceased upon court appeal. If Jackson's mom is willing to raise them, she'll likely get them.

His mom filed guardanship papers today.

http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20287787_20288314,00.html

As much as the thought of those three kids being reared by Michael's father, the man mostly responsible for him turning into a freak, they do not know their mother. It's in the best interest of the children to keep them with family they know, and not with a stranger, even if she is their mother.

Plus, they shouldn't split up the kids.
A custody battle is apparently brewing over the future of Michael Jackson's three children. Just four days after the singer's sudden death on June 25, Jackson's mother, Katherine, has filed a petition in Los Angeles Probate Court seeking legal guardianship of Jackson's three children.

Jackson had two children – Prince, 12 and Paris, 11 – with ex-wife Debbie Rowe. His youngest son, Prince Michael II, 7, was born to an unnamed surrogate. Although Rowe is still the legal parent of the two older children, her next step is unclear. The children have been staying with Katherine Jackson since the entertainer's died.

A hearing on the petition has been scheduled for August 3.

I don't know. The thought of those kids under the same roof as Joe Jackson is pretty damn scary. I don't know if there is any "official" record that Joe Jackson abused his kids (even though Michael himself has said so). I'd hate too, the thought of separating them, BUT isn't that better than putting them in the same family that f-ed up Michael?

On the CNN web page they have comments on this story and one commenter said, "well that was 40 years ago, give Joe Jackson a break!" I'm sorry, if it were my kid, no way in hell.

And, is it possible that Michael put in his will NOT to leave them with his parents? God, I would hope so. In the end, however, money and/or fame will win over, and I do think the Jacksons will keep the kids. We can just hope the best for them.

Oh, and one more thing. The third child, Blanket (????) has a different mother. Do we know if that mother "signed-off" and even if she did, if she wants to change her mind, I'll bet she could. Bottom line, I don't have much faith that these kids will go anywhere else but with the Jacksons.

TIS

Joe Jackson was on the red carpet last night at the beginning of the BET awards. After the end of the interview he introduces his "partner, who bought a record label, or some other kind of business" and the man was actually plugging his business.

Then during the telecast he was sitting next to Al Sharpton. I guess he's grateful now that no black person has been beaten up, and the country elected a black president, the man has had no reason to be in the public eye to protest something. They're the worst two media whores around.

Blanket's mom was an unknown surrogate. I don't think she even knew at the time who she was giving the kid too. I think someone said under California law a surrogate relinguishes all parental rights. So Blanket has no mother, per say.

Well, Joe Jackson & Al Sharpton were both on tv about an hour ago. Although I was blow drying my hair and muted the tv so I had subtitles to read, Joe seemed to be promoting this business as well. I wasn't sure until reading your post Beth, and now I can confirm it was the same business. I get the feeling Joe feels he's now in charge and loving every minute of it.

TIS

The man never cared about his son in life, and he doesn't seem to care about him in death either. He even had the nerve to say last night he wished the world loved Michael this much when he was alive. He should rehearse that in his mirror.

They replayed the documentary Michael gave years ago, when he talks about his father. His father was always putting him down and making fun of his big nose and acne, saying he didn't get that from HIS side of the family. I have no idea what the mother sees in him.

FWIW, breaking on the "ED Show"....MJ has NO will. Can you freekin' imagine the circus? The parents, the siblings, managers, doctors, lawyers will all want their cut. And, don't count Debbie Rowe or the unnamed surrogate of Blanket out. I'm telling you, it's gonna get crazy. When money is involved people will be coming out of the woodwork.


TIS

Edit..I'm confused because one lawyer they say, is saying he DOES have a will but it's old.

well paul mccartney will get screwed again...and so will everybody else...may the circus begin!

Did anyone see the video of the inmates in the Phillipines dancing to thriller?

http://www.popcrunch.com/filipino-thriller-dance-inmates-perform-michael-jackson-tribute/

They did that about a year ago. I did hear they were gonna pay tribute again. They have lots of time to practice it I assume. That "girl" is a guy right?

They also have a youtube video of a wedding party doing Thriller. I'd love to learn it, but too bad I can't dance. Still, it'd be fun to get a group of people and learn it.


TIS

But if he's in debt (as bad as alleged), is there even going to be money to spread around to all the various vultures? Granted, his music is #1 in the stores right now posthumously, but from what I understand, he is deep in the hole debt-wise. And they'll be first in line for his (financial) remains.

well the london concert is still planned, and with other celebrities taking the place of michael...if that is still planned that is.

It took 1/2 hour for the doctor to call 911. Oh boy! Big law suit now I can only imagine.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06292009/new..._cal_176741.htm

yup he totally did something, and worried about it being found out. along with the doctor i can see the people who hired him being sued as well.

Looks like we've got a real genuine detective agency right here on the Gangster.bb !!

People with tickets to Michael's London concert will have the choice of a refund or a souvenir ticket. Duh! That's a no brainer. I'm keeping that ticket.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/30/jackson.refunds/index.html

No money for dad. He'll find a way to get his hands on some of it I'm sure. He'll beat up Katherine and steal it from her.

Michael Jackson signed a will in 2002 providing for his children and his mom, but leaving nothing to daddy Joe -- this according to the Wall Street Journal.

As we reported yesterday, attorney John Branca has the will and plans to file it with the court within 30 days of the singer's death. According to the will, Jackson reportedly left his estate -- estimated at $1 billion -- to his mother, 3 children and one or more charities.

As for why Joe was left out -- Jackson has said during his childhood his father beat him.

Anothe question for Kly regarding a will or lack of.

If MJ had no will at all, what is likely to happen. I am certain the kids would get nearly all right?

I hear today that the family says there is a recent will but can't find it. If there is no recent will, will the older one, reportedly made in 2002 be legal?


Although I haven't seen it in its entirety, they've shown the Jackson movie on tv, and if accurate, even back then, it seems Daddy was trying for the brass ring thru his sons, wheeling, dealing and appointing himself boss of everything. I see the more things change, the more they stay the same. The more Joe opens his mouth the more I dislike him.

TIS

Ok, this whole "Who's your daddy" scenerio with these 3 kids is getting out of control now. Now they're sayind Debbie Rowe wasn't the biological mother, just the surrogate, and that Jackson never adopted any of the kids.

Bottom line, he's the presumptive father. I don't think anyone else besides the Jackson family would have a fighting chance in court.

http://www.tmz.com/

The dermatogist did it. Debbie Rowe did work for this guy...so who knows. These poor kids. How many screwed up people do they have in their life?

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06302009/new...al_f_176868.htm

Michael Jackson's body will be taken to Neverland Ranch for a public viewing on Friday.

In a way, for the sake of his children, I hope they can somehow manage to buy back the Ranch and bury him there, and turn it into a Graceland. The money from that will ensure the childrens' futures.

you saw the jackson movie on tv land? but, yea joe is a jackass who just wants money. because of that he screwed michael up, and the other members of the jackson 5 just didnt want to stay due to there father.

Listen, Michael Jackson is one of those people who was just destined for stardom and although driven to it in part by his father's cruelty, he seemed to take full advantage of it.

The man was 50 years old and even according to friends had been in a downward spiral for the past several years. Physically, financially and psychologically. There came a time when he had to stop blaming daddy, let go of the Neverland, man/child, poor me personna, and take a good long look at himself. Especially after becoming the father and SOLE parent of 3 children. I don't think he ever did. When friends tried to talk to him he curled up in a fetal position and didn't want to hear about it.

He was about to do the only thing he knew, perform again...and even THEN, didn't have the brains to prepare his body, which he knew he had done damage to. If he hadn't dropped dead last week, it probably would've happened at some point during the upcoming tour. Quite possibly on stage in front of thousands of screaming fans.

We can all get on Joe Jackson's case and call him a jackass, but he saw talent in his kids and got them out of that shack in Indiana, and he gave The Jackson Five and then Michael Jackson to the world. Without Joe, we would never have heard of the rest of them. He cannot be held responsible for how Michael Jackson messed up his own life over the past 10+ years.

CNN website has breaking: MJ's body will be moved to Neverland Ranch for public viewing on Friday.

Btw, someone mentioned the possibility of making Neverland into a Graceland tourist site.




TIS

Holy cow...what a circus THAT will prove to be!!

well that will be big

FWIW They are saying that it cost about 10 million per month to keep up Neverland. However, of late it's been "let-go" to an extent and needs much work.

And I thought my monthly upkeep/utilities were high.

And yes, it will be a circus. People are already starting to try to milk this. I guess the Mayor of Gary Ind. is trying to convince the family to bury him there. Normally that wouldn't be so surprising, but I sense there will be much much more of this kind of thing to come.


TIS

Speaking of circus, maybe MJ's chimp will be there. What was his name?????

Bubbles. I read a piece on him the other day. He's in some wild life conservatory. I laughed when the person wrote, "No one has told him of Michael's passing yet". Like that chimp would know the difference.

Maybe a dumb question, but I hear the Apollo theater is having a tribute letting 600 people at a time in to see this show; Neverland will be showing Michael and I am sure there are other tributes. I assume people are charged admission????



TIS

if joe jackson is running things then yea

Actually, I am thinking it's Joe that wants the showing and thus Joe that wants a profit. Maybe I am reading him totally wrong, but he is coming across that way. As if it isn't a circus enough, I don't know that I'd have the public viewing. Yet, I'm sure the fans won't mind. But, to pay for it?


TIS

well its either joe or al sharpton...if joe is running things then i hope his wife is making sure he isnt charging those who wants to pay there last respects. also too apple yes he did give us the jackson 5 and michael, but it did screw michael up and that was the risk of being famous that age.

Is anyone surprised that Joe's name is no where to be found in the will? I'm glad that Katherine was granted temp custody of the children but I'm concerned about her age and health to provide for them through their formative years.

AppleOnYa, you made good points about Michael's need to be accepted. He has been traveling this road as a child prodigy alone and felt that other artists would be the only people who understood him.

I'm going to try to make it to the memorial service at the Apollo tonight, too. TIS, I'll check but I don't think they're charging for admission.

the apollo they shouldnt be charging...the service at neverland ranch might be charged if joe is making the plans. also too i am not surprised that joe is not in the will. i bet he is pissed off, and because of that will charge. but hey the media is all over this, so we will know.

Although I'm sure there are some dolts out there who would actually be willing to pay, there will almost certainly be no 'admission' charge for Jackson's public viewing.

"...Yes he did give us the jackson 5 and michael, but it did screw michael up and that was the risk of being famous that age..."

No, I don't think Joe's ambition for his sons screwed up Michael to the extent of what he became.

AP Exclusive: Insomniac Jackson begged for drug
By LYNN ELBER, AP
39 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson was so distraught over persistent insomnia in recent months that he pleaded for a powerful sedative despite warnings it could be harmful, says a nutritionist who was working with the singer as he prepared his comeback bid.

Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse whose specialty includes nutritional counseling, said Tuesday that she repeatedly rejected his demands for the drug, Diprivan, which is given intravenously.

But a frantic phone call she received from Jackson four days before his death made her fear that he somehow obtained Diprivan or another drug to induce sleep, Lee said.

While in Florida on June 21, Lee was contacted by a member of Jackson's staff.

"He called and was very frantic and said, `Michael needs to see you right away.' I said, 'What's wrong?' And I could hear Michael in the background ..., 'One side of my body is hot, it's hot, and one side of my body is cold. It's very cold,'" Lee said.

"I said, `Tell him he needs to go the hospital. I don't know what's going on, but he needs to go to the hospital ... right away."

"At that point, I knew that somebody had given him something that hit the central nervous system," she said, adding, "He was in trouble Sunday and he was crying out."

Jackson did not go to the hospital. He died June 25 after suffering cardiac arrest, his family said. Autopsies have been conducted, but an official cause of death is not expected for several weeks.

"I don't know what happened there. The only thing I can say is he was adamant about this drug," Lee said.

Following Jackson's death, allegations emerged that the 50-year-old King of Pop had been consuming painkillers, sedatives and antidepressants. But Lee said she encountered a man tortured by sleep deprivation and one who expressed opposition to recreational drug use.

"He wasn't looking to get high or feel good and sedated from drugs," she said. "This was a person who was not on drugs. This was a person who was seeking help, desperately, to get some sleep, to get some rest."

Jackson was rehearsing hard for what would have been his big comeback — his "This Is It" tour, a series of performances that would have strained his aging dancer's body. Also, pain had been a part of his life since 1984, when his scalp was severely burned during a Pepsi commercial shoot.

Several months ago, Jackson had begun badgering Lee about Diprivan, also known as Propofol, Lee said. It is an intravenous anesthetic drug widely used in operating rooms to induce unconsciousness. It is generally given through an IV needle in the hand.

Patients given Propofol take less time to regain consciousness than those administered certain other drugs, and they report waking up more clear-headed and refreshed, said University of Chicago psychopharmacologist James Zacny.

It has also been implicated in drug abuse, with people using it to "chill out" or to commit suicide, Zacny said. Accidental deaths linked to abuse have been reported. The powerful drug has a very narrow therapeutic window, meaning it doesn't take doses much larger than the medically recommended amount to stop a person's breathing.

An overdose that stops breathing can result in a buildup of carbon dioxide, causing the heart to beat erratically and leading to cardiac arrest, said Dr. John Dombrowski, a member of the board of directors of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Because it is given intravenously and is not the kind of prescription drug typically available from pharmacists, abuse cases have involved anesthesiologists, nurses and other hospital staffers with easy access to the drug, Zacny said.

In recent months, Lee said, Jackson waved away her warnings about it.

"I had an IV and when it hit my vein, I was sleeping. That's what I want," Lee said Jackson told her.

"I said, 'Michael, the only problem with you taking this medication' — and I had a chill in my body and tears in my eyes three months ago — 'the only problem is you're going to take it and you're not going to wake up," she recalled.

According to Lee, Jackson said it had been given to him before but he didn't want to discuss the circumstances or identify the doctor involved.

The singer also drew his own distinctions when it came to drugs versus prescription medicine.

"He said, `I don't like drugs. I don't want any drugs. My doctor told me this is a safe medicine,'" Lee said. The next day, she said she brought a copy of the Physician's Desk Reference to show him the section on Diprivan.

"He said, 'No, my doctor said it's safe. It works quick and it's safe as long as somebody's here to monitor me and wake me up. It's going be OK,'" Lee said. She said he did not give the doctor's name.

Lee said at one point, she spent the night with Jackson to monitor him while he slept. She said she gave him herbal remedies and stayed in a corner chair in his vast bedroom.

After he settled in bed, Lee told Jackson to turn down the lights and music — he had classical music playing in the house. "He also had a computer on the bed because he loved Walt Disney," she said. "He was watching Donald Duck and it was ongoing. I said, `Maybe if we put on softer music,' and he said, `No, this is how I go to sleep.'"

Three and a half hours later, Jackson jumped up and looked at Lee, eyes wide open, according to Lee. "This is what happens to me," she quoted him as saying. "All I want is to be able to sleep. I want to be able to sleep eight hours. I know I'll feel better the next day."

Lee, 56, is licensed as a registered nurse and nurse practitioner in California, according to the state Board of Registered Nursing's Web site. She attended Los Angeles Southwest College and the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Sciences in Los Angeles.

Comedian Dick Gregory, who knows Lee and her work, said he believes Jackson's insomnia had its roots in the pop star's 2005 trial on child molestation charges. Jackson's health had deteriorated so much that his parents called Gregory, a natural foods proponent, for help.

Gregory said Jackson wasn't eating or drinking at the time and, after he was persuaded by Gregory to undergo testing, ended up hospitalized for severe dehydration.

But Jackson obviously was healthy enough to withstand the level of medical scrutiny needed to insure him for the upcoming high-stakes London concerts, Gregory said. "That you don't trick," he said of the exams.

Lee, who has also worked with Stevie Wonder, Marla Gibbs, Reynaldo Rey and other celebrities, said she was introduced to Jackson by the mother of one of his staff members. Jackson's three children had minor cold symptoms and their pediatrician was out of town.

Lee said she went to the house in January, the first of about 10 visits there through April, and treated the children with vitamins. Michael, intrigued, asked what else she did and took her up on her claim she could boost his energy.

After running blood tests, she devised protein shakes for him and gave him an intravenous vitamin and mineral mixture — known as a "Myers cocktail," after Dr. John Myers — which Lee said she uses routinely in her practice.

"It wasn't that he felt sick," she said. "He just wanted more energy."

Lee said she decided to speak out to protect Jackson's reputation from what she considers unfounded allegations of drug abuse or shortcomings as a parent.

"I think it's so wrong for people to say these things about him," she said. "He was a wonderful, loving father who wanted the best for his children."

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner in Chicago and AP Television Writer David Bauder in New York contributed to this report.

Jackson's will.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07012009/news/jackson_will.pdf

Interesting, although I'm sure I don't understand it totally.

Diana Ross is designated to get the kids if for some reason Kathryn Jackson can't take them. I knew they were friends, but didn't realize they were that close. At least he has in writing his wishes, and I guess that should at least "control" any protests. Ya think?



TIS

Can our lawyer friends here decipher all the legal jargon of the will? He has no money, all his assets are tied up in just the catalog and royalties? Are his trustees responsible for making sure his kids are taken care of, even if Katherine has custody?

Pictures inside of Neverland Ranch.

http://www.tmz.com/2009/07/01/inside-neverland-ranch/

Looks pretty simple to me. He put everything into a trust, and whatever assets he has outside of the trust go into it per the will. The trick for the creditors will be to penetrate the trust which was formed in 2002 when Jackson was already having financial problems. If they can show the trust was a device to protect the assets from creditor, they can get to it.

Apparently from what I understand, Michael Jackson's estate could make enough money to pay everyone off and then some. For starters there is already a huge spike in sales of all things Michael Jackson. That flows into the estate. Second, now that he is dead, Michael Jackson can't go on those elaborate spending sprees for which he was famous. Third there is talk of regaining Neverland Ranch, and burying him there and making it a West Coast Graceland. That is a bonanza. The executors' job will be to work with these creditors and get them paid off with what the estate makes in the coming years.

Also as a part of the trust I have read that there are 200 or so songs he wrote that go to his kids. That is huge. They have zero value right now, but could earn them a ton.

P.S. I liked the part about Diana Ross being the alternate guardian.

Thanks DT,

Who is the executor of the will and doesn't that mean that person will be in charge of seeing that the intents of the will are met??

I do think they should (and probably will) make a West Coast Graceland type thing. It'll make a bundle I'm sure.


TIS

I think Joe Jackson is so against turning Neverland into a museum. I guess cause he would get nothing out of it. They should just tell him to shut up and stay out of it.

Now I'm hearing there's NOT going to a public viewing at Neverland. All this in-fighting. Let the man rest in peace for goodness sakes.

Source: Powerful Sedative Propofol Found at Michael Jackson's Mansion

Friday , July 03, 2009


The powerful sedative Propofol — also known as Diprivan — was among several narcotics found in Michael Jackson's rented suburban Los Angeles mansion, a law enforcement source tells FOXNews.com.

Given intravenously, Propofol is used as part of inducing general anesthesia in the operating room, and for heavy sedation of patients who are intubated in the intensive care unit.

Cherilyn Lee, a nurse who worked for Jackson, claims the pop star begged her for the drug, and that just four days before his death, a member of Jackson's staff called and said "'Michael needs to see you right away." She says she heard Michael in the background saying, "One side of my body is hot, it’s hot, and one side of my body is cold. It’s very cold."

Lee's description of Jackson's condition mirrors a 2007 FDA alert to healthcare professionals detailing "several clusters of patients who have experienced chills, fever, and body aches shortly after receiving propofol for sedation or general anesthesia."


Lee insisted she did not provide Jackson with the drug. "He wasn't looking to get high or feel good and sedated from drugs," she said. "This was a person who was not on drugs. This was a person who was seeking help, desperately, to get some sleep, to get some rest."

Authorities are investigating allegations that the 50-year-old Jackson had been consuming painkillers, sedatives and antidepressants. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration and California Attorney General Jerry Brown both are helping Los Angeles police investigate the possible involvement of prescription drugs in Jackson's death.

Some of the prescriptions also were dispensed under various patient names and doctors, leading investigators to believe aliases were used to obtain the drugs.


FOXNews.com spoke to Dr. Howard Nearman, department chairman of anesthesia at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Ohio, about Propofol.

"Using this drug for insomnia is sort of like using a shotgun to kill an ant," Nearman said. "How someone could get a hold of this medication — and use it for the purpose that he allegedly used it for — is just incredible.”


If Jackson had this drug in his home, it would be against FDA guidelines. And if it was used in conjunction with any other painkiller or sedative, the combination could have ultimately led to his cardiac arrest and death.

“It should not be used out of an ICU or an operating room setting,” Nearman said. “Here at University Hospitals Case Medical Center… Diprivan can only be used by anesthesiologists or intensivists… and these people, who by virtues of training and experience, can handle this drug and manage any adverse side effect should they arise.”

It doesn't take a large dose of Diprivan to cause respiratory depression, which basically means a person will stop breathing, Nearman said, calling it a "slippery slope."


“Once the breathing is slowed down or the blood pressure drops, eventually the heart won’t be able to sustain itself.”

Two autopsies — one of them a private exam requested by his family — have been performed in Jackson. An official cause of death is not expected to be announced for several weeks.

They had a discussion today about the many doctors MJ has had thru the years, suggesting that the doctor that was with MJ when he died, had not been with MJ therefore isn't necessarily responsible or played a part in his death.

These doctors who are proven to have enabled these celebrities should be held responsible. I think Elvis' doctor lost his license to practice, but that hardly seems enough for the crime. Then there's Anna Nicole and now MJ. IF the doctors contributed they should pay a price. Oh, and don't forget Heath Ledger who was supposedly on prescription drug medication.

TIS

these doctors cant say no...that is there flaw. i think they should get more besides there licence taken away.

Ok, I've always been one who believes in spirits and the after life. Click on this video of a tour of The Neverland Ranch. Tell me you don't see a shadow walk past the wall. I just go goose bumps.

http://blogs.nypost.com/popwrap/archives/2009/07/michael_jackson_ghost.html

I'll give it this much. It's as good as anything they find on the ghost hunting reality shows.

Oh man, those shows scare the beejeebies out of me.

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but my sister is a real life Ghost Hunter, and belongs to a ghost hunting group.

thats cool...too bad that alot of the ghost hunting tv shows are fake

I'm with you Beth. That is very creepy. I hadn't seen this story anywhere tough.

Btw, they just announced that MJ's funeral will be tomorrow around 8:00 a.m., two hours before the public tribute.


TIS

It's about time the family let's him RIP.

News here (and probably everywhere) is who's gonna pay for the cost of this event tomorrow? It's going to be in the millions. With CA broke, and with rumors of paycuts for school and state workers, increase in taxes, closure of some state parks, it doesn't sit well a lot of people.

On the other hand, I heard someone (sorry don't remember who) say the the city "has" funds for this type of thing.

The are asking people without tickets to stay home and don't go to the Staple Center. Yea, that's gonna happen.

Btw, talk about trying to make a buck. These tickets were free, but some people have them on Ebay (I hear) and are trying to sell them for thousands.


TIS

From what I read, when the people picked up their tickets, they were given a tamper proof wrist band to prevent reselling. When they enter the arena tomorrow, they'll need to be wearing the wrist band.

I cried! I was shocked when I found out from listening to the radio, I was listening to 100.3(Love FM)...he obviously died from too much stress causing heart failure. it's not unusual.

WAY TO GO, PETER KING!!

It's about time somebody had the guts to speak out and publicly say what needed to be said about Michael Jackson and the absurd media circus of the past 10 days. I'll take this 'rant' over any of Al Sharpton's.

http://wcbstv.com/politics/peter.king.youtube.2.1074112.html

Congressman Expands On YouTube Video, Says Media Coverage Of King Of Pop's Death "An Orgy Of Glorification"

Pablo Guzman - MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y.

Over the weekend, Long Island Congressman Peter King posted what is often called "a rant" on YouTube -- sounding off. In this case, about what he called the media glorification of Michael Jackson....

"For the last, I don't know how long now, this low-life Michael Jackson, his name, his face, his picture, is all over the newspapers, television, radio. That's all we hear about is Michael Jackson. Let's knock out this psycho-babble. This guy was a pervert, a child molestor, he was a pedophile, and to be giving this much coverage to him day in and day out, what's it say about us a country?" ..."I just thought, this has gone over the top. It was an orgy of glorification"...

On the video King also says: "I just think we're too politically correct. No one wants to stand up and say, 'We don't need Michael Jackson!' He died, he had some talent, but fine, there are people dying every day. There are men and women dying everyday in Afghanistan, let's give them the credit they deserve.

"The bottom line is, would you let your child or grandchild be alone in a room with Michael Jackson?

King also says "there was nothing good about this guy" even though Jackson "may have been a good singer" and "did some dancing."...

"Yes, he did violate young boys. He did put them in terribly inappropriate positions. And that's a terrible signal to be sending out to society -- that we're somehow condoning that behavior. And you are condoning it when you give him the type of --- when we give him the type of regal coverage! And millions of people fighting to get to this mega-memorial! I mean, this is --- this is wrong!"

...King said Monday: "Listen, I feel a lot of sympathy for Michael Jackson. I mean this guy was a tortured person..."So I said it yesterday. I'm speaking today. I will not be speaking tomorrow, on the day of his memorial. I mean, here's a guy who had so much; in the end, he really had very little."

king is right about the media, and i dont totally agree with him on his other statements, but hey free contry...at least he respected jackson and the family enough and not doing this tomorrow.

King has a point...if only he had delivered it better.

What does it say when he has to backtrack like he did? He should have given the facts: That Jackson was accused publicly in two rather-publicized clouds of molestation, one which was paid off with a settlement that may or may not have been part of a shakedown*...and the other, a combination that Whacko Jackso escaped because of his celebrity, and quite frankly the prosecution's case was piss poor.

Or the adult videos and alleged "photos" of himself...

Jackson is in a way alot like Clinton and Palin. They're supposedly "clean," and yet shit seems to follow them like rats to the Pied Piper.

*=which a 1994 CQ Article argued.

King is my Congressman. I didn't vote for him and I find him way too conservative for my liking BUT I have to agree with him on this.

That sums up how I feel. Except, of course, that I live in a different congressional district.

While I agree that the amount of media coverage is ridiculous, I disagree with King's statements that Michael Jackson is a pervert and pedophile. He was cleared of all charges, and it's quite possible that extortion was involved. Mr. King should know better than to accuse someone of such things when they were found to be not guilty of all charges.

I believe that Michael was indeed a tortured soul. I also believe that to make him a hero borders on the absurd. Talent at the genius level? Absolutely, but that doesn't turn someone who was disturbed (at the very least) into a prince.

I think King is speaking for many of us who feel those pedophile trials were a sham (much like OJ Simpson's first trial). King may be skirting on the border of libeling Jackson but I give Peter some credit for speaking his mind.

Usually I'd let the dead rest in peace but this case is open for a free-for-all.

Yo Babe! King is just grandstanding and should be ignored. I agree that the media coverage is out of control, but have to diagree with your belief hat he was not a pedophile. He paid a huge settlement to one family, and he was found "not guilty" by a California jury (so was O.J.) which simply means the prosecutor did not establish the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

When you say extortion was involved, what do you mean? In order to commit extortion one needs some information to use to be paid hush money. What would that be if not pedophilia?

I believe he was found "not guilty" which would indicate there wasn't enough evidence to prove otherwise . Yes, technically he has NO charges proven, but right or wrong, put me in the group that doesn't believe he is innocent. All I can say is, I love MJ's music, and can't deny his talent. Yet, I'd probably be more into this event if I didn't feel deep in my gut that the guy was guilty of the horrible crimes he's accused of. Affairs, drugs, and other things seem easier to overlook but when it comes to this, I have a problem overlooking, let alone forgiving.

Whether or not they should wait until after the funeral before they even talk about thisthough, I don't know.
Speaking of which, CNN is reporting that now the family is moving MJ's body to the Staple Center for the tribute. I don't know, it seems it'll get even more chaotic.

TIS

I don't disagree with the SENTIMENT of his statement. It is absurd, the media attention that MJ has received. However, I honestly am not sure if he truly was a pedophile or not. I think that there is a very great possibility that he was that "Peter Pan" about younger boys. And if the parents of these boys were honestly that concerned, why did they allow it at all?? I wouldn't let my kids sleep over someone's house like that?? It was OK because they got the privileges of a millionaire friendship?? If he did molest those boys (a definite IF for me), then their parents were just as guilty for putting their kids in harm's way.

Pleae tell me this is not going to be an "open casket" event.

If it is, I hope they got someone from the clown college down in Sarasota to do the make-up.

They are reporting that the private service is over and that it was a closed casket. They also said they will be moving the casket to the Staple Center. Yet, they said, they didn't know if the body was in the casket?" Hu???




TIS

Empty caskets are used for memorial services quite a bit, TIS. Especially when the body is starting to decay. And after two weeks, the 25 years I spent in the funeral business tell me that Michael is pretty ripe right about now.

That's because I just saw Michael buying a Slurpee at 7-11. He was with Elvis.

And Elvis was kicking the shit out of him... "YOU FUCKING PERVERT, YOU MESSED WITH MY DAUGHTER"

The pallbearers just brought the casket in to that Staple Center. It looks like it is made of gold.

The memorial is starting...

Fox News has it continuously on TV, and CNN is webcasting it at http://www.cnn.com/live/ (which may require a Facebook account?)

It's on MTV also.

i was waiting for somebody to make that joke.

anybody watching the memorial right now?

I am.

Is there a network that isn't showing this? Former Presidents don't get this type of media coverage when they pass away.

I was thinking the same thing. But no past president was loved world-wide like this...

Part of me is angry cause they are giving this so much coverage; part of me realizes that an icon in the music world has passed and has made an undeniable mark in music history; and part of me is pissed at myself for watching. But yea, that's ALL that is on. Celebrities have come and gone, and tributes never made me feel as conflicted as this one.

As far as the tribute, who was singing with Mariah Carey?



TIS

Didn't Princess Di get this kind of media attention?

Sure she did, and so did JFK Jr. when he died and of course Elvis did (in which I admit I was glued to the tv). Why even Anna Nicole Smith got 24/7 from cable channels.



TIS

yea i remember pricence diana and jrk jr getting alot of media coverage (and i also remember the media messing with the jfk jr accident as well). anna nicole smith shouldnt have been given that much attention though.

I am

If this was the 1990's, perhaps I could understand this coverage. But reality is, he hasn't done anything musically in almost 15 years. Since the mid-90's, the only time he's been in the media was due to bizarre behavior, sexual abuse allegations, and heavy debt issues.

Not

If Al Sharpton comes out I am changing the channel.

what about jessie jackson mig? lol

hope this lasts less than three minutes

You know that S.O.B. will be.

Speak of the Devil (himself)

Guess who?

And I changed the channel. I'm watching a infomercial about Jack LaLane power juicer.

al sharpton is a poor mans martin luther king jr

Ha ha! I knew he'd be showing up. Both he and Jesse Jackson always insert themselves in these things. One commentator said it was sort of a "sign of the times" that Sharpton was doing a eulogy and not JJ????


TIS

ill take it...he is in his 90's and some how survived the past three weeks.

Is that windbag done?

yea he's gone john mayer is on now

God will get me for this, but damn can I pick them. The one 90 something person I have on my "Dead Pool" list is as healthy as a horse. (God bless him).

Oh no, here comes that bolt of lightning!!!

TIS

Like him (Sharpton) or not, you have to admit that his strength is making these kinds of speeches.

Pretty rousing.

if he dies tomorrow i am so not taking the rap lol

Brooke Shields was really heartfelt.

Oh, and Smile...I always loved that song. Didn't know it was attributed to Charlie Chaplin.




TIS

jermaine is signing now...does anybody know how long this is going to last?

yea i know since when did charlie can sing?

He seems to be the spokesman for the familhy.

They said approximately 90 minutes. I'm thinking it should be over soon.


TIS

Did ya notice that the Brothers are wearing one sequin glove?

I think JJ is over the hill.... one kid out of wedlock and one financial scandal too many.

Where does Sharpton get all his money?

Chaplin composed the music for that wonderful song.

martin luther king III...he looked familiar. sure hope that joe wont speak because all he is going to talk about is his record company.

thought so...did they say he composed it or did you found that out.

I give Jeramine credit for being able to keep his composure during the song. I would never be able to speak, let alone sing without breaking down.


TIS

I knew that.

Chaplin was one of the greatest geniuses ever in show biz.

he truely was...and yea i noticed that his brothers are wearing the suites and white glove

Usher was fantastic singing "Gone too soon". I was wondering if someone would sing it. It was very emotional.

I teared up when his daughter was crying.

Rumor has it that the remaining "Jackson 4" will be doing a tribute show in Las Vegas. Not just a one night show, but a running show at the The Wynn Hotel.

Yes, so did I Mig. Poor thing. I am really surprised she wanted to speak. I feel badly for all the kids.


TIS

Seriously????? Wow, that didn't take long.



TIS

I heard the story when I was in Vegas last week. Wynn supposedly was friends with Michael, and the "Danny Gans Theater" has been dark since his death in May. I can't really find anything about it online. I'll keep trying though.

Well, without Michael, I can't see it. I know the family is talented, but it's like the Stones without Mick or U2 without Bono. Of course, Donny & Marie are at the Flamingo now and doing well I hear.

Btw, did they ever find out what Danny Gans died of? I never heard anythinmore.

So were in Vegas???? I am hoping to go very soon. I'll bet it was scorching hot no? R/T flights and rooms are very inexpensive this time of year.

TIS

They're saying Gans died from "acute hydromorphone toxicity". They aren't saying it was an overdose, but a "reaction". Hmmm.

I stayed at "Paris". I had the room comped all week, and RT nonstop airfare was only $279. It was HOT. In fact, it was the hottest days so far this year. 110+ on a few of the days.

I had to leave work before the ending, but when I got home I saw the ending on CNN. Wow! Very fitting to end with, "We are the world" and "Heal the world". It would have been nice if they could have gotten some more of the original singers from "We are the world" to join in.

How great was it to see his kids up on the stage. Paris is a beautiful girl. I hate to say it, but Prince still always looks like he's somewhere in outer space. And will someone please cut Blanket's hair.

It actually was a very nice tribute. I expected way more of a circus, but it seemed low-key considering how high profile this story has been. Even the numbers they sang were MJ's slower songs. And I agree that Paris is very cute (his other two seem cute too). I'm so use to seeing them (not seeming them) with there faces covered. It's like they've been unveiled.

Anyway, I am ready for all of the frenzy to end and get back to regular important stories. With, of course, follow-up on MJ as necessary (i.e. like if the doctors'illegally prescribed drugs they should not have been). MSN is reporting however, that many of the medicine bottles have no labels or are hard to track who prescribed. I mean, come on....money can buy you out of any kind of criminal charges. If this was the case, I'm sure the docs covered their tracks.

TIS

I liked how last night O'Reilly was whining about the liberal media's coverage of MJ, they do it for the money and ratings (which is true), and what did Fox News do today?

Cover this too.

Have cake too?

And really, when is the last time doctors went to jail in such a celebrity death? OK maybe Benoit's steroid provider, but that's it.

As for news, TIS you mean the same MSM who were asleep over the weekend when the Iran shit happened? Hell I remember Anderson Cooper whining back in 2005 or 06 when the MJ molestation trial happened that it was taking away from coverage of Iraq, and Josh Gibson at FNC bitching back that they're reporting what "the people" want to see and hear.

And I'm sure the ratings were delicious for everyone regarding Whacko Jacko.

Of course you're correct RR. I'm watching the "Ed" show now and they are still on MJ. I thought it was a very nice tribute, but I miss the regular political news.

They could have devoted a couple hours a day on each channel, to MJ and show the entire tribute show, giving updates and that would have been fine. You should have seen even our local L.A. stations. They started, I hear, at 4:00 from the Staple Center showing the cars coming and going and now the crowd gathering at the Jacksons' Encino home. This, not knowing if the family is even going back there or not. For anyone who absolutely didn't want to see any MJ coverage (I'm sure there are some), there was no escape.


TIS

Remember the summer of the O.J. trial? My God that was...rather annoying.

I didn't see the memorial. I took my daughter and a couple of her friends to Hersheypark. During dinner the news show was airing clips from the event, one of which was Al Sharpton telling the kids that there was nothing strange about their daddy. My daughter then asked me seriously if I thought Sharpton had ever seen a picture of Jackson.

I told her that if a eulogist feels the need ever to tell the kids in the middle of his address that their deceased dad was not strange, bet your bottom dollar that the deceased was stranger than strange.

I found myself glued to "Court TV".

Anyone seen the previews for "Bruno?"

He's on a daytime talk show host with an adopted black baby, who he gave a traditional African name, to appease the village elders. The traditional name being O.J. .

pizzaboy dont forget about o.j mayo

I was watching Nancy Grace on CNN tonight and someone on her panel said they don't think that his Mom might not get custody of his kids cuz of her age. She's almost 80 years old. Time will tell I guess.

okay so if the mom losses the custody will Diana take them or will there biological mother (if she wants them that is)?

I still say that if Debbie Rowe wants them back, she'll have a good chance of getting them. I know she supposedly signed an agreement, but I've never seen (that I can remember), a biological parent not get their child back if they want.
Granted though, we are talking about a celebrity, and money does talk. We'll see. Then again, Mrs. Jackson's age must play a part in the decision, even though I'm sure she'll have a lot of help.


TIS

well hopefully they dont go to joe...dont know why or how that would happen, but yea

From what I heard today, Joe & Katherine live apart but are sill married. I think they live in different states, but I could be wrong.



TIS

yea joe lives in las vegas, nevada and kathleen i think lives los angleas

That's right. Some how that just fits him doesn't it? Following the money, or trying to hit the bigtime or whatever. That guy rubs me the wrong way.


TIS

that guy rubs everybody the wrong way...no wonder why he is friends with jesse jackson and al sharpton

The Ed Show? Man that guy has a great face for radio. He could wipe out all the gains MSNBC has made.

We had the Memorial on over here as well. I thought the young lad from Britains got Talent sang well. A great stage for him to perform!

I didn't know that MJ's parents lived apart. Can't say I blame her.

I heard that Rowe gave up rights to the kids but got the rights back. It will be interesting to see how this soap opera plays out in the coming weeks.

Mariah Carey sounded awful. And "We Are The World," while a nice idea, just made me wish it was 1985 again and the original vocalists were singing it.

Brooke Shields was very moving. She was obviously very close to MJ, because she's not a good enough actress to fake the performance she gave yesterday.

I'll bet it just killed Sharpton that a white woman made such a moving speech. Hey, I'm pretty liberal, I'm just sayin' . . . Sharpton's an asshole.

Mariah did sound horrible. It's a shame because when she covered that song in the 90's it was a very good remake.

Ever since she abondoned the "pop" sound that made her famous and trying to be a soul singer, she can't reach a high not to save her soul. She just whispers and breathes now. She is nowhere near the singer she used to be.

I thought I was the only one who that her performance sucked. I didn't like her hand movements either.

I enjoyed the send off.

OK...OK... I'm a sappy guy who is a pushover for a crying kid.

I got pretty emotional watching MJ's daughter as she said goodbye to her dad. To her dad. It was a glass of cold water in my face - I still think he was a sicko but I realize now that he leaves behind three kids (who obviously loved him).

I feel badly for them.

yeah, that bit was pretty sad...even I was like "geezuz...poor kid"

She can't help that her dad was a sick tortured soul. I'm sure she loved her Daddy and will miss him.

Ok, just because someone had nothing better to do. Here are links between MJ and the #7. I guess it wasn't his lucky number.

-- Michael Jackson signed his will on 7/7/02.
-- Michael Jackson's memorial was on 7/7/09 ... exactly 7 years after
the will was signed.
-- Michael Jackson's two biggest hits -- "Black & White" and "Billie
Jean" -- were each #1 for 7 weeks.
-- Michael Jackson's three biggest albums -- "Thriller," "Bad" and
"Dangerous" -- each produced 7 top 40 hits.
-- Michael Jackson was the 7th of 9 children. (Although techniccally there were 10 kids counting brandon who was stillborn).
-- Michael Jackson was born in 1958 ... 19 + 58 = 77
-- Michael Jackson died on the 25th ... 2 + 5 = 7
-- Michael Jackson has 7 letters in his first and last name

People with an IQ of 7 believe in this shit.

An e-mail I received from my sister:



If you hear a "loud rumble" tonight in the sky, don't worry.

It's not thunder.

It's Elvis beating the shit out of Michael Jackson...

...for marrying his daughter.

TIS

Now that's a good one....

Somehow I don't think that rumble would be coming from the sky ... maybe from deep down in the earth.

I hear you.

Like I said in the "grave-digging" thread, there certainly should be a special place in hell for grave/body desecration and child molestation, both totally vile, horrifying and unforgiveable. I know I know, we shouldn't judge BUT it sure is easy to do in these cases.


TIS

Joe Jackson suspects foul play

This paragraph is at the end of the article:

"He said Michael's daughter, Paris, who spoke at the Tuesday memorial service, was taking the death hard and was crying whenever Michael's name is mentioned. He said that she might have a future in the entertainment business along with the youngest son, nicknamed Blanket, who "can really dance."

Not only did he fuck with his kids lives now he wants to fuck with his Grandkids lives as well. The dirtbag.

he will be dead in a year anyway...

OMG!! The guy is a media hound. He cares only about advancing himself? I think he suspects foul play (and I don't necessarily disagree that it "could" be), ONLY because he loves the limelight. The guy is despicable.

I can see him trying to butt into those kids lives. I never saw the entire movie, but they've showed a film calle, The Jacksons - an American.....something, and if that is accurate, Joe was, at every turn trying to make a buck. And while I'm venting at this POS, it's my opinion that he is one of those itching for a second memorial (they are talking about it) with Joe's intention to make money.

TIS

Oh, and while I'm at it. I hope the best for the kids and don't claim to have the answer, BUT I do have reservations about them going to any of the Jackson family. They may not all be like Joe, but, they all were raised in an abusive home, without the mother trying to take them from it. My guess is they all have emotional issues themselves. I don't know.

P.S. If we suddenly hear Paris is cutting an album, we'll know who's behind it won't we?

TIS

The Jacksons: An American Dream is the nname of the movie. He was a mean SOB in the movie. If they didn't dance right or sing right they got the shit beat out of them.

A second memorial?? When are they gonna bury him and let him rest?

i think they got alot of the info for the tv mini series from michaels autobiography, and other stuff as well.

o yea about that mini series at the beginning they showed a teen joe jackson...well if i remember right jermone (or tito) jackson played as the teen joe jackson.

I feel sorry for the kids whoever gets custody of them.

Good article, good perspective, on his memorial:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jul2009/jack-j08.shtml

The Michael Jackson memorial: A mostly tawdry affair
By David Walsh
8 July 2009

Given the circumstances surrounding Michael Jackson’s memorial held in Los Angeles Tuesday morning—the singer’s immense celebrity and notoriety, the self-serving aims and motives of some of the participants, the generally circus-like atmosphere created by the media—how could the service not have been a bizarre, and, sadly, often tawdry, affair?

A collection of performers, preachers and politicians entertained or addressed a crowd of some 20,000 people in the Staples Center for slightly more than two hours. The overall tone of the event, streamed live over the Internet by numerous outlets and watched by a large global audience, was sentimental, religious and oriented to a version of identity politics.

The singers, who performed renditions of Jackson’s songs or his favorites by others, included Mariah Carey, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, Jermaine Jackson (one of Michael’s brothers) and Usher. Tributes were offered by actresses Queen Latifah and Brooke Shields, Motown records founder Berry Gordy, basketball stars Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson, and Motown singing legend Smokey Robinson. Robinson also read out messages from singer Diana Ross and South African leader Nelson Mandela.

The central political themes were heavy-handedly delivered by an official delegation of African-American politicians and personalities: Texas Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Martin Luther King III and his sister, Bernice King, and, offering the main eulogy, the Rev. Al Sharpton. Their collective remarks constituted a transparent effort to shore up the Democratic Party, its minority wing in particular, and transform the funeral service into something of a rally for Barack Obama.

Jackson’s death, at the age of 50, on June 25 had an undoubted impact on a great many people around the world. He was, for a combination of reasons, one of the best known personalities on earth. The entertainment and tabloid media, which hounded and derided Jackson in life, has bestowed on him—in death—nearly divine status.

This speaks to their manipulative and corrupt character, and has little to do with the singer. An immensely gifted performer, with a deeply troubled and reclusive personality, Jackson, because he was so genuinely unknown to the public, now invitingly offers something of a blank slate on which various social elements are attempting to inscribe their agendas.

The artistic and social claims being made on his behalf—they reached something of a crescendo in the emotional, hothouse atmosphere of the Staples Center (“the greatest entertainer on earth,” “the healer of the world”)—are simply false. And this falsity largely extended over and dominated the affair. Genuine and spontaneous moments were few and far between. In regard to his family members and friends, this is perhaps understandable. In some cases, however, the tributes were dishonest and politically motivated.

Any quasi-objective assessment of Jackson’s life, his strengths and weaknesses as an artist and a human being, was out of the question.

Queen Latifah sounded a note that would be repeated often during the event, observing that Jackson had opened doors for other African-American performers like herself. “Michael was the biggest star on earth,” she told the crowd. “He let me know that as an African-American, you could travel the world—there was a world outside of America, other people.”

Motown’s Berry Gordy, whose concerns, one imagines, are always bound up with ongoing commercial interests, concluded his remarks with the following: “The more I think about Michael Jackson, the more I think ‘The King of Pop’ is not big enough for him. I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived.” Such exaggerated claims simply do Jackson a disservice.

Al Sharpton asserted that Jackson’s “dream... had changed culture all over the world.” The singer, Sharpton declared proudly, had prepared the way for television personality Oprah Winfrey and golfer Tiger Woods. Moreover, the comfort level Jackson created among a multi-cultural audience of young people led them “to being 40-year-olds [who were] comfortable to vote for a person of color as president of the United States.”

Martin Luther King’s daughter, Bernice, a conservative fundamentalist minister, who has been active in anti-gay work, told the audience that “it is only God’s love that will sustain you and move you to a higher ground, far above the noise of life.”

Rep. Lee from Texas held up a framed document, which, she explained, was “a resolution, to be debated on the floor of the House, that claims Michael Jackson as an American legend, a musical icon, and a world humanitarian.”

All of this had a political purpose—to paint America as a land of opportunity, even for the most oppressed, to promote the Obama administration, and, bound up with that, to divert attention from the devastating social crisis. The state of California is essentially bankrupt, and the city of Los Angeles was obliged to create a special web site to solicit funds to pay for the costs associated with the Jackson memorial service.

Whether the event had the desired effect on popular consciousness is questionable. The effort to recreate the real or exaggerated hysteria that surrounded the death of Princess Diana in Britain in 1997 seems destined to fall flat. There is no doubt a certain amorphous and not entirely healthy fascination about Jackson’s life and fate, but it hardly goes farther than that for the vast majority.

Predictions of a crowd of 250,000 people or more showing up around the arena where the memorial was held failed to materialize. The New York Times reported that aside from journalists “and those with tickets to the memorial service, the crowd around the perimeter of the Staples Center numbered only about 1,000,” according to Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Sergio Diaz.

“We asked people not to come out and just be on the street and spectate from a distance, and it seems to have worked,” Diaz said. That large numbers of people did not risk the inconvenience of terrible Los Angeles traffic to be near the event speaks to their somewhat diminished level of commitment and obsession.

Other, more practical and mundane questions—jobs, health care, education, recession—are likely to be uppermost in a great many minds.

Brilliant!!

"The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones"

Shakespeare called it some 400 years ago in his play "Julius Caesar" (Act 3, Scene II)

While MJ is not really Caesar, Al Sharpton is not really Mark Antony, and The Roman Forum is certainly not Staples Center, yet I couldnt help but thinking about this scene throughout the memorial service.

And now that his sister claims he was murdered, even using the word "Stabbed" - again, just like Caesar, it feels like the play is not about to end anytime soon.

I wonder who's playing Brutus.

He is STILL dead?

Michael Jackson ‘had two gay lovers’, new book claims

The star was allegedly “madly in love” with a half-Asian construction worker and had another fling with a Hollywood waiter.

Writer Ian Halperin claims in his unauthorised biography that “virtually everybody” around Jackson knew that the singer was gay.

Jackson’s affair with the builder, who was in his early 20s, began in Las Vegas in 2007, according to Halperin. “He rarely left his residence, but when he did, according to one of Jackson’s closest confidants, it was to meet a boyfriend at a run-down motel.

“Michael would leave the house in disguise, often dressed as a woman, and would go to meet his boyfriend at a motel that was one of Vegas’ grungiest dives. Michael was broke. He struggled to put food on the table for his children. It was all he could afford then.”

Halperin added: “A close aide of Jackson who confirmed the affair to me said that he had no knowledge of what went on behind closed doors at the motel. But the aide said Jackson would dress as a woman after midnight to meet a worker employed by the city of Las Vegas.”

The second man was an aspiring actor, working as a waiter, who visited Jackson’s Hollywood Hills home almost every night for three weeks during a short but passionate affair, Halperin said.

The author’s claims, in the book Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson, were reported by The Sun.

I thought one of them was Bruno.

Seriously, would anything "weird" or "odd" that comes out about MJ surprise anyone? The thing is, at least for me, I knew he was a little strange even up to the Thriller days, but it wasn't til after that(not certain exactly when) that I realized he was super strange if you know what I mean...at least as far as I'm concerned.


TIS

if i remember right michael has to come back as a ghost, the wife of who ever plays 'brutus' dies, then everybody around 'brutus'dies, and finally it can end with 'brutus' death.

a snip it of a un-released song came out, and it has a familiar tune to it.

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/hiphopm...nreleased-song/

My sympathy goes out to the jackson family.
www.Bizelli.ws

(Check out the "411" page)

I recieved this email yesterday from a friend.

FW: SOLDIER RESPONDS TO MJ'S
DEATH.....

This is written by a young man serving his third tour of duty
in Iraq .

Thought you might find his take on the Michael Jackson news
interesting.
____________________________

Okay, I need to rant.

I was just watching the news, and I caught part of a report on Michael Jackson . As we all know, Jackson died the other day. He was an entertainer who performed for decades. He made millions, he spent millions, and he did alot of things that make him a villian to many people. I understand that his death would affect a lot of people, and I respect those people who mourn his death, but that isn't the point of my rant.

Why is it that when ONE man dies, the whole of America loses their minds with grief. When a man dies whose only contribution to the country was to ENTERTAIN people, the Amercian people find the need to flock to a memorial in Hollywood , and even Congress sees the need to hold a "momentof silence" for his passing?

Am I missing something here? ONE man dies, and all of a sudden he's a freaking martyr because he entertained us for a few decades?

What about all those SOLDIERS who have died to give us
freedom? All those Soldiers who, knowing that they would be asked to fight in a war, still raised their hands and swore to
defend the Constitution and the United States of America .

Where is their moment of silence? Where are the people flocking to their graves or memorials and mourning over them
because they made the ultimate sacrifice?

Why is it when a Soldier dies, there are more people saying "good riddence," and "thank God for IEDs?" When did this country become so calloused to the sacrifice of GOOD MEN and WOMEN, that they can arbitrarily blow off
their deaths, and instead, throw themselves into mourning for a "Pop Icon?"

I think that if they are going to hold a moment of silence IN CONGRESS for Michael Jackson, they need to hold a moment of silence for every service member killed in Iraq and Afghanistan . They need to PUBLICLY recognize every life that has been lost so that the American people can live their callous little lives in the luxury and freedom that WE, those that are living and those that have gone on, have provided for
them. But, wait, that would take too much time, because there have been so many willing to make that sacrifice. After all, we will never make millions of dollars. We will never star in movies, or write hit songs that the world will listen too.

We only shed our blood, sweat and tears so that people can enjoy what they have.

Sorry if I have offended, but I needed to say it.

Remember these five words the next time you think of
someone who is serving in the military;

"So that others maylive...."

Either your friend doesn't have much to say, OR you forgot to include the e-mail.



TIS

Well, Mig, its like The Joker said in "The Dark Knight"

"If I say I'm going to kill a gang banger tomorrow, or blow up a truckload of soldiered gets excited because that's part of the plan. But threaten to kill one mayor and everybody goes crazy!"

Celebrity obsessed culture. Sad but true.

R.I.P Jackson

so sad, that he is dead.