utopia7 said:

Nope don't care, i seen Prince more times live than Mike. Don't care now how good he is.

I pray he does respond, but damn, i just see disrespect from his silence, and he could do with not losing anymore fans. That lack of Prince comment fills me with sadness. Even Madonna has a heart...


[Edited 7/10/09 18:21pm]

Okay it is being said that Mr. Jackson has a slighty abnormally large

The King of Pop's body and other parts were examined to the fullest.

utopia7 said:

! that never gets old for a good laugh. I like the song too actually.

PurpleCharm said:

go somewhere you were a troll on here when mj was alive and you're still one

Chic35 said:

matthewgrant said:

I just realized Eddie was serious about singing then ... it's a cute song

SefraNSue said:

Marrk said:

And THAT's saying a lot!! Come on, Prince, speak up!!

THIS IS THE BEST !! he talks about touring... you gotta get the humor !

utopia7 said:

yeah the touring bit is great

"why you all start laughin' I was ready to get into it"

this one is kind of eerie (Martin Bashirs question) but it's Cool to hear MJ talking about THE SALVATION ARMY

Congresswoman Pushes Ahead on Michael Jackson Resolution
July 10, 2009


Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee won't beat it. Not when it comes to honoring the late Michael Jackson.

The Texas Democrat issued a statement early this morning saying she will offer House Resolution 600 -- which honors Jackson for his humanitarian service -- despite her speaker's wishes that she drop it.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that such a resolution would be divisive and counterproductive. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., has said he would fight to block the resolution because of the eccentric singer's lifestyle.

In her statement this morning, Jackson Lee said she talked to the King of Pop's family and she will give them time to mourn and then push for the resolution.

"This resolution is based on fact," the emailed statement read. "Speaker Pelosi is my dear friend and she recognizes the great artist that Michael was. I appreciate her concern that we handle the resolution with the right timing. I do not view her words as disallowing the legislative process to work its will. We will work with this legislation as long as necessary. We welcome positive growing attention to this measure from many of my fellow colleagues."

Jackson Lee spoke at the King of Pop's memorial service on Tuesday and hoisted a framed copy of the legislation to the applause of those at the Staples Center. The congresswoman also said in her statement that she was pleased that the family accepted "this introduction of the resolution with such joy."

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that MJ was honored by the Washington political establishment. He was once honored by none other than the Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan.

Jackson received the Presidential Public Safety Communication Award from President Reagan 25 years ago in surprise ceremony at the White House. Jackson's hit single Beat It was used in a TV and radio campaign against drunk driving, and Reagan thanked him for it. That same year, the president also sent Jackson a sympathy letter after the singer was burned while shooting a Pepsi commercial. In the letter, Reagan says: "You've gained quite a number of fans along the road since I Want You Back and Nancy and I are among them."

Link

Marrk said:

I don't understand why people think this way. Prince not commenting publicly doesn't mean he hasn't thought of MJ and prayed or whatever, which is what matters...not putting out a press release. Mourning and paying respects should be private, not a media event. I avoid funerals, unless it's someone super close, but that doesn't mean I didn't care for the person.

Jackson death may have been 'homicide', says police chief


Michael Jackson is reported to have been taking a cocktail of drugs

The Los Angeles police chief has raised the prospect of a homicide charge over the death of Michael Jackson.

Homicide does not necessarily mean murder — it could mean a manslaughter charge against a doctor.

Jackson, 50, died last month in mysterious circumstances but is reported to have been taking a cocktail of drugs including the potent anaesthetic Diprivan, also known as propofol. Los Angeles police are investigating Jackson’s prescription drug history and have subpoenaed medical records from doctors who treated him, including psychiatric records.

“We are still awaiting corroboration from the coroner’s office as to cause of death. That is going to be very dependent on the toxicology reports that are due to come back,” William Bratton, the city’s police commissioner, told the broadcaster CNN. “And based on those, we will have an idea of what it is we are dealing with. Are we dealing with a homicide? Or are we dealing with accidental overdose?

“We’ve got very good investigators. They will be prepared to deal with whatever the coroner’s findings may be.”

The singer’s father said yesterday that he suspected foul play in his son’s death. Joe Jackson, 79, said that he was dumbfounded when he learnt that his son was being taken to hospital on June 25. “I just couldn’t believe what was happening to Michael,” he told ABC News. “I do believe it was foul play. I do believe that.”

He said that a second post-mortem examination requested by the family had yet to yield answers about what killed his son. “I did not know anything about the drugs. I didn’t even know the names of them. I do know that whatever he was taking was to make him rest because he has been working so hard.

“That drug was supposed to make him relax and sleep. But anyway, he did not wake up. He never woke up. Michael died in his sleep.”

The actress Roseanne Barr said in her blog that she had been asked to call Jackson to discuss relaxation techniques.

She also described him as a long-term drug addict. “I was given his cellphone number the night before he died and asked to call him and I didn’t, I was too afraid — I thought I would wait until shabbat [the sabbath] to call him and then he was dead. He wanted to know about meditation,” she wrote. Sending her best wishes to Jackson’s three children, she added: “Their dad was a drug addict for many, many years. What makes a drug addict is someone who has too much pain in the memory banks.”

A 2004 police document, obtained by CNN, alleges that at one point Jackson was taking up to 40 pills a night of the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.

The document cites interviews with two Jackson employees in preparation for his child abuse trial, in which he was acquitted.

One of the employees, a security guard, later left his job after Jackson “fell on his face” in a hotel room. The guard said that he was not comfortable getting prescriptions for the singer, the document says.

Jackson’s body is understood to be in storage in a crypt at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood, which is owned by Berry Gordy, the Motown Records founder, who helped to launch the Jackson 5.

The family is said to be split on the Jackson’s final resting place. His brother Jermaine wants to bury him at the Neverland Ranch, which could become a tourist magnet like Elvis Presley’s Graceland. Katherine Jackson, the family matriarch, opposes the idea because her son vowed during his child abuse investigation not to go back to Neverland.

matthewgrant said:

it was hilarious ! "I love touring"

Synopsis
From this book's first chapter: "To be able to float free, with gravity exerting no impact. To live in Neverland. To be idolized-to be loved-by millions around the world.

"These seem completely unreasonable dreams. But from a boy from Gary, Indiana, who was special from the first, they became more than dreams. They became fundamental needs. And they were achieved during a lifetime that was stunning in its highs and lows, and that was, ultimately, far, far too short.

"Far too short and, more sadly still, perhaps poised for a triumphant next chapter. We will never know."

While that is true-we will never know-we can revisit and celebrate that extraordinary life, and we do so in words and pictures in this special commemorative book. Although Michael Jackson lived just 50 years, he spent the great majority of that time in the public eye. We loved him as a boy, radiating joy and dancing up a storm in the Jackson 5, his falsetto tenor pouring forth from car radios coast to coast. We were subsequently thrilled by his reinvention as the biggest pop star on the planet, with "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" blasting from boom boxes around the world.

The best pictures from each era are here. As you would expect, LIFE magazine, then the country's preeminent photo journal, was onto the Jackson 5 story early-in fact, we put the family on our cover when Michael was still a lad. He made the cover several more times, and he allowed LIFE exclusive access to his private California sanctum called Neverland. We have combed through our archives and found all the famous shots as well as several surprises, including never-before-seen pictures that show the boy and then the man in anunguarded, personal way. Also, we have taken the best from the portfolios of the world's top rock 'n' roll photographers and created, we think, a complete picture of this endlessly compelling entertainer.

Michael Jackson was, like Sinatra, Elvis, the Beatles and few others, a celebrity who not only made us smile but changed the culture-who altered the way that we looked and behaved. In this book, we relive his thrilling life and times, which were our time too.

cdcgold said:

Can't convince me to think Blanket is not his son.
[Edited 7/10/09 19:28pm]

Obama distances himself from Jackson saga
By Jonathan Mann
CNN

(CNN) -- They were the two most famous African-Americans in the world: President Barack Obama and Michael Jackson.
The White House appeared to be putting deliberate distance between the Obama administration and the memorial events following Michael Jackson's death.

The White House appeared to be putting deliberate distance between the Obama administration and the memorial events following Michael Jackson's death.

But when millions of people paused this week to watch Jackson's memorial service in Los Angeles, the president was about as far away as he could get.

That President Obama was in Moscow at a summit -- negotiating weapons limits and other agreements -- was obviously no sleight to the late entertainer.

But even before Obama left the country, the White House seemed to be keeping its distance.

There was no public gesture from the president's office when Jackson died, no official tribute to one of the most remarkable Americans of our time.

The White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said Obama had "written to the family and has shared his feelings with the family privately."

When the president was pressed by reporters for a public statement, there was careful nuance in his words.

"He became a core part of our culture," the president said in a July 7 interview with CNN ahead of the Jackson memorial service. "His extraordinary talent and music mixed with big dose of tragedy and difficulty in his private life."

The "big dose of tragedy and difficulty" was a gentle phrase to address unproven allegations of child abuse, the odd changes Jackson made to his appearance and the still unexplained circumstances of his death.

Republican Congressman Peter King wasn't as delicate about the deceased.

"This guy was a pervert, he was a child molester," King said.

"I just think that we're too politically correct, no one wants to stand up and say we don't need Michael Jackson."

But Jackson had his defenders. Democrat Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee praised him at his funeral and alluded to the problems in his past.

"As members of the United States Congress, we understand the Constitution, we understand laws, and we know that people are innocent until proven otherwise."

Obama apparently didn't want to be part of the debate.

He said a few words, offered his sympathies and left Michael Jackson to the people who wanted to mourn him.

lazycrockett said:

Before becoming Counsel to the President of the United States in July 1970 at age thirty-one, John Dean was Chief Minority Counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives, the Associate Director of a law reform commission, and Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He served as Richard Nixon's White House lawyer for a thousand days. So if anyone knows the typical mind of an extremist Republican right-wing mentality it's Dean. This was his response to that hideous accusation by NY congressman Peter King (R) calling MJ names.

Defaming The Dead: Congressman Peter King's Michael Jackson Media Rant
By JOHN W. DEAN

Friday, July 10, 2009

New York Republican Congressman Peter King, acting very much like a prototypical contemporary Republican congressman, recently appeared in front of a Wantagh, New York American Legion Post, to rant about the news coverage of Michael Jackson's death. In doing so, Congressman King absolutely trashed and unashamedly defamed Jackson, even while the Jackson family was still coping with Michael's death and had yet to bury him.

King's "I'll tell you what's news and what's not" outburst truly crossed the line, however, when he charged Jackson with crimes for which the entertainer had been found "Not guilty." King said: "…I don't know how long now, this lowlife Michael Jackson, his name, his face, his picture is all over the newspapers, television, radio. All we hear about is Michael Jackson. And let's knock out the psychobabble. This guy was a pervert, a child molester, he was a pedophile, and to be giving this much coverage to him day in and day out, what does it say about us and this country? …There's nothing good about this guy...."

To defame Michael Jackson as "a child molester" and "a pedophile" – while claiming there was "nothing good about this guy" who devoted his considerable talents to carrying a message of peace and harmony throughout the world – was clearly way over the top.

A Profound Misunderstanding of Contemporary American Culture

Without a doubt, Michael Jackson's appearance and lifestyle had become conspicuously weird, but Congressman King's pronouncing Jackson guilty of child molestation and pedophilia, when a jury had listened to evidence for months on end and could not reach that conclusion, is not simply thoughtless on King's part, it is dishonest. What empowers King to nullify the jury's "Not guilty" finding? What does King know about the purported $20 million settlement with a boy whose mother allegedly accused Jackson of molesting him, if anything at all? On what basis can King elevate wild rumors to statements of fact? What exactly qualifies this Long Island right-wing Congressman to judge the appropriate news value of Michael Jackson's passing?

Actually, Peter King is completely out of tune with America's celebrity culture, and apparently is uninterested in understanding it. In fact, King's moralistic scolding of the news media is only one step removed from Iran's ayatollahs' broadcasting women discussing sewing on state-run television when outraged Iranian voters were rioting in the streets. King's moralistic view of pop culture is about as 1960s as that of Daniel Boorstin, who famously described a celebrity as "a person who is well-known for their well-knownness," and found both celebrities and "pseudo celebrity events" vacuous and inane. The moralizers have, of course, began declaring the end of civilization as we know it for decades, but civilization has survived them.

More enlightened views, set forth nicely in Graeme Turner's Understanding Celebrity (2004) explain that the decline of the traditional family, changing social relationships and new technology have created "para-social interactions" – meaning interactions occurring across significant social distances with people we do not know, and accounting for our enjoyment of celebrities. As Turner states it: "Among our compensations for the loss of community is an avid attention to the figure of the celebrity and a greater investment in our relations with specific versions of this figure. In effect, we are using celebrity as a means of constructing a new dimension of community through the media."

King's elitist distaste for the admiration felt by untold millions of Americans for Michael Jackson is based in the same authoritarian conservatism that the ayatollahs impose on society. It is an open rejection of the populism inherent in today's culture, a populism that tolerates, and often celebrates, being different. No doubt King finds this all very threatening, for he self-righteously but more cautiously repeated his charges the next day, remaining totally oblivious to the vicious, mean-spirited, small-minded nature of his statements. While King's congressional district is ninety percent white, fortunately it does not appear that King's astonishing insensitivity toward the Jackson family and admirers is representatives of feelings of his constituents, for according to press accounts they are not fully supportive of their outspoken Congressman. In fact, King may have created some serious political opposition for himself in his district with his remarks. (And as Pat Buchanan advised, King is not likely to be welcomed any time soon in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of New York City.)

More Evidence that the Dead, Too, May Need Protection From Defamatory Speech

King's excessive remarks caused me to recall how seriously the New York Assembly considered adopting a law providing a cause of action to the family of a deceased person, who has been gratuitously defamed as King defamed Michael Jackson. Not surprisingly, King's remarks have provoked a flood of similar thinking, albeit by largely anonymous people on the Internet who joined the attack on Jackson's reputation. Ignoring the actual facts of Jackson's life, like King, these anonymous commenters are also speaking out with no true knowledge of the evidence.

A few years ago, I addressed the issue of the defamation of those who can no longer defend themselves. Upon hearing Peter King's ugly charges, I felt badly for the Jackson family, for they have no remedy – that is, no way to force King to produce evidence that is admissible in a court of law in order to back up his conversion of rumor to fact; and no way to show that King's lead-footed dancing on Michael's grave was for his own political reasons, and at the emotional expense of the Jackson family. It appears that King, who has attracted public attention to himself by being nasty, plans to continue. This is modern conservatism in action.

Not withstanding the emotional hurt to the family, and even the future financial damage to Michael's estate that remarks like Peter King's may have wreaked, defamation is a personal injury and, as the law now stands, only living persons can protect their reputations. Family members and business associates of dead people who have been brutally defamed, people who have suffered conspicuous harm and clear financial injury, have failed to change the law on this point, notwithstanding endless years of trying to do so in court proceedings. Judges are typically sympathetic in these cases, but they cannot get around the longstanding common law rule prohibiting such lawsuits, so they often recommend that legislative remedies be developed to address situations where real harm has occurred – which is certainly the case with respect to what is now being said about Michael Jackson.

In the late 1980s, the New York Assembly seriously and repeatedly considered a legislative remedy that would alter the common law rule precluding a lawsuit for posthumous defamation, notwithstanding the ongoing hissy fits of news organizations. New York Governor Mario Cuomo even supported one of the proposals. In the end, however, the powerful New York-based communications industry, using its money and clout, killed the proposal.

During the days following Michael Jackson's death, many of his admirers have worked diligently to focus attention upon the contributions this talented entertainer made, the joy he provided his audiences, his far-beyond-the-call-of-any-duty contributions to charitable causes, and his crossover appeal to Americans of all colors and ethnicities -- a reality acknowledged by President Obama, who noted Jackson's role in paving the way for the election of the first African-American president.

As I was watching and listening to the Jackson coverage, it struck me that if Reverend Al Sharpton turned his focus on protecting Michael Jackson's legacy upon the New York Assembly, and revived the proposed legislation providing a posthumous cause of action for defamation that hurts the family members and financial interests of deceased persons, then Ayatollah Congressman King and his like would think twice before defaming a world-famously, and tremendously popular deceased figure for cheap political gain.


-----

John W. Dean, a FindLaw columnist, is a former counsel to the president.

http://writ.news.findlaw....90710.html

Just saw Leonard Rowe speak on CNN. He was supposed to managing finances for the This is It Concert series.

He said MJ wasn't physically in shape to do 50 concerts, and weighed to less for a man who was 5'10''

He Says MJ wanted 10 concerts, but Randy Phillips went ahead with 50 shows to fufill public demand.

Rowe was also saying he and Randy Phillips had an argument over the amount of shows, so MJ wouldn't mentally stressed out.

Rowe also said lets make MJ do 2 shows per week instead, but Phillips was being an a**hole and said No.


Also Rowe and the Jackson family (Randy, Janet) were planning to send him in Rehab a week before he died.
[Edited 7/10/09 19:22pm]

Timmy84 said:

i'm not sure i believe roseanne. she was one of his most vocal critics, and deepak chopra has stated that mj was familiar with meditation. i just can't believe that she was the one he called. (maybe he did, who knows.)

i don't think anyone can take 40 pills a night and live, let alone someone of mj's build. moreover, on an mj fan board, they've pegged this informant as the guy who was supposed to help the prosecution at the trial but couldn't because he had just been caught robbing a fast food restaurant and las vegas police refused to allow him to be extradited to testify.

Timmy84 said:

oh roseanna! I haven't been to her blog in weeks

suga10 said:

isn't he the guy who was supposed to be suing mj because he wouldn't commit to his texas arena concert? or do i have him confused with someone else? 'cause if he is who i think, there's no way in hell he was 'managing' finances for aeg.

kibbles said:

No that was another guy.
[Edited 7/10/09 19:23pm]

kibbles said:

Yeah I don't know if I buy the bolded words but it's interesting so to speak but Chris Carter? That guy was a leech. Roseanne definitely was one of his most vocal critics too.

kibbles said:

No that was Patrick Alloco, the head of All Good Entertainment. Leonard Rowe was the guy that supposedly made a statement earlier this year that he was MJ's manager (or one of them) but he would never "confirm" it.
[Edited 7/10/09 19:24pm]

at all the tabloid or other unsubstantiated junk in this thread!

Lets not forget about how the Sun reported about how Michael was complaining about how the promoters were making him do 50 shows.

Jackson Effigy Returns to Tussauds
Compiled by Dave Itzkoff
Published: July 9, 2009

Fans of Michael Jackson who have sought a place in New York to worship the fallen King of Pop have recently been short one shrine: for several days the wax figure of Mr. Jackson that stood at Madame Tussauds New York — a rendering arguably as haunting as the person it depicts — has been absent from that Times Square attraction. A spokeswoman for Madame Tussauds said the figure of Mr. Jackson, who died on June 25, was loaned on July 2 to the museum’s branch in Washington branch because fans there had requested it. She said that the wax figure would return to New York on Friday, adding, “Sometimes with shipping, sometimes there’s delays.”

I know its the Sun, but since they actually admit that Michael said this himself.

http://www.aceshowbiz.com...24669.html

Apparently thinking that having 50 live concerts in one place is too much, Michael Jackson is angry toward his people who have booked him London's O2 Arena for the live concerts. After doing a rehearsal at Los Angeles' Burbank Studios, he says he only agrees to have 10 gigs in one residence because he plans to embark on a world tour.

"Thank you for your love and support, I want you guys to know I love you very much. I don't know how I'm going to do 50 shows. I'm not a big eater - I need to put some weight on," Michael shares his resentment. "I'm really angry with them booking me up to do 50 shows. I only wanted to do 10, and take the tour around the world to other cities, not 50 in one place."