Evidently,  Jermaine Jackson planned a tribute to Michael Jackson in Vienna, Austria on September 26, without consulting the rest of the family or including them in any of the planning.   He said that both Mary J. Blige and Chris Brown would be two of the headliners to perform in the show but reps for both Blige and Brown have said neither will be taking part.  Others supposedly on the list are Natalie Cole, Akron and Sister Sledge.  Who knows who will and won’t be there.  In fact, if the rest of the family have their way there won’t be an event in Austria in September. 
The family, with matriarch Katherine in the lead, are against it because, in part, it doesn’t make sense for the first tribute to be held in a country that Michael Jackson had no real connection to.  However, Katherine eventually caved because of pressure from Jermaine and announced, in a written statement on August 21, that she is solidly behind the idea.  The rest of the family is still adamantly against it.  One Jackson family member says that it is a case of Jermaine disregarding what the rest of the family wants and doing what is best for himself.  The same person belittled the Vienna tribute calling it “The Jermaine Jackson show”.

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The funeral of Michael Jackson has, at last, taken place.  It was supposed to start at sunset (approximately 7:00 pm) but Jackson’s coffin didn’t arrive until 7:39 and the Jackson family arrived more than an hour late, leaving the guests waiting for an hour and a half in the hot, humid night.
The Jackson family hired their own company to video tape, and televise, some of the pre-show happenings such as glimpses of the famous guests, the 20 car Jackson family procession arriving and, just as the hearse bearing Jackson’s coffin arrived, the video came to an abrupt end.  What do you want to bet that the taping continued through the entire service and will be available for purchase on DVD or Blu-ray.
Randy Jackson was angry because there were news helicopters that continued to film the burial service.  He said he was dismayed when he saw television coverage of the ceremony and asked that the media pull all footage from the helicopter filming and “refrain from airing it in the future”.
I hate to be a cynic (although I readily acknowledge that I am) but could Randy Jackson’s anger come from the fact that the media scooped the Jackson video?  And, if they wanted this to be so private why not just invite those who were truly close friends and quietly gather, unannounced,  to carry out the final burial instead of making a huge, boisterous, hullabaloo out of it.  They announced, loud and clear, the date, the time, the place, had a police escort for the family funeral procession from the family “compound” in Encino to Forest Lawn.  Did they think no one would notice?
And speaking of the police a spokesman for the Glendale Police department said it appeared that the cost to the family would be around $120 to $125 thousand dollars but because the event started late it ran longer so the cost could be approximately $150,000.
Michael Jackson is in his final resting place in Forest Lawn, the actual location of which is being kept “secret”, (wink, wink) but I am absolutely positive this will not be the final chapter in this on-going saga.

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The hat that stunned the world

No who watched the January 20th inauguration of President Obama will ever be able to erase from their minds the image of Aretha Franklin’s hat.  She is the undisputed Queen of Soul so we should be remembering the song she sang and her “soulful” presentation of it.  I don’t.  Do you?
The hat may make a return appearance (although she should have learned after she wore it the first time) when she sings at Michael Jackson’s (finally) (maybe?) funeral on Thursday, September 3rd.  However, unless the Jackson’s have the funeral service taped, which I wouldn’t for a minute doubt, (think millions) we wouldn’t be able to see it if Franklin does wear it. 
That’s because the funeral is to be a “private sunset service for family and friends at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California”.   That’s a lot of information to be giving out for something that is supposed to be “private”.  Can you imagine the crowds of die-hard Jackson fans who will attempt to get as close to Forest Lawn as possible?  Not to mention the news media with all their vans, lights, cameras, satellite dishes, cameramen/women, and reporters?  I think if they wanted a private, quiet affair the Jackson family would have notified the friends they wanted in attendance and held the interment of Michael Jackson’s body with no advanced announcement, whatsoever.  It would also save them a bundle of money, at least the $150,000 they are going to have to pay to use the Glendale Police for crowd control and enforcement.
After all, Jackson’s body is already somewhere within the confines of Forest Lawn so the ceremony could be held with no hullabaloo.  Good news, though.  Katherine Jackson has persuaded the court to allow Jackson’s estate to pay for his funeral.  Guess they couldn’t really expect any city government in the state of California to pay for it after the City of Los Angeles shelled out $1.4 million bucks in costs for the Stapely Center show.  That, at a time when the city was $530 million in debt.  I remember reading  that the city of Los Angeles was asking Jackson fans for donations to help defray some of the cost and had set up a special website for for that purpose.    I couldn’t locate the website but Idid find one (mayor.lacity.org) that said “We are no longer accepting donations. Thank you to those who donated”.  Didn’t say how much, or if, money was received.
And, just to stir up your envy at not being invited to the “private” ceremony in the Grand Mausoleum, TMZ has obtained information that the Jackson family, who seems to have an obsession with a particular kind of doughnut from the Market Restaurant in Stamford, CT, is having boxes of them shipped in for the service.  The doughnuts are called “Ricotta Doughnuts” and they are described as “Cinnamon-sugared doughnuts made with fresh ricotta, crushed amaretti cookies and a creme angalaise. 
Me?  I’m happy going to my neighborhood grocery store bakery department and grabbing a custard filled, chocolate frosted doughnut for about .50.

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Dr. Conrad Murray

Well, the facts are in.  Michael Jackson’s death has been declared a homicide.
By his own admission, Dr. Conrad Murray gave Jackson enough drugs, over a nine hour period on the morning Jackson died, to put a good sized elephant to sleep.  The fact that they didn’t would indicate Jackson had built a high tolerance for these and other drugs.  So, Murray is most likely not the only doctor to over-prescribe controlled medications to Jackson.
Maybe, at the time, Jackson couldn’t foresee the consequences of his demands for more and stronger drugs  but that doesn’t relieve him of all responsibility.  You ultimately make your own decisions and his was to take more and more narcotic drugs and an anesthetic, propofol, which others had told him was very dangerous.
Conrad Murray gave Jackson the drugs that, in accumulation, killed him.  So he will inevitably be charged with the crime.  What the exact charge will be hasn’t been reported yet.
The responsibility for Jackson’s death certainly falls on Murray and all the other doctors who over prescribed addicting medications.  The responsibility for Jackson’s death also falls on Jackson, himself.  And, it is hard to believe that in a family the size of the Jackson family no one, not one of them, could see the road Jackson was on and where, without stopping him, that road would lead.

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First Michael Jackson was to be buried on August 29th which would have been his 51st birthday.  The burial was to be at Forest Lawn Cemetery, or it wasn’t.  The casket is being held at Forest Lawn in a crypt owned (but not presently being used) by Barry Gordy, or not.  The burial is scheduled for Saturday, September 3rd at a cost of approximately $50,000 which will be needed to pay cops to keep traffic moving and uninvited guest away. Far away!  No, that’s not right.  It has been changed to Thursday, September 10th and if they stick to that date it will cost the Jackson family “at least triple the price”  to hire cops for a weekday burial.
Because the burial service is being limited to the Jackson family and “close friends” it seems it will take a ton of cops to keep the order. There will be cops patrolling from the ground and at least one police helicopter patrolling from the air.  Sergeant Tom Lorenz, of the Glendale Police Department, said in a statement directed towards Jackson fans, “Don’t even try and come, because you won’t even be able to see the green of the Forest Lawn”.  Sounds like he’s really serious, and I think I detect a note of final exasperation.
So, the Jackson’s will be asked to fork over at least $150,000 to bury Michael Jackson on a Thursday rather than $50,000 to bury him on a Saturday.  They could still change their minds, in the interest of saving $100,000, and bury him on Saturday September 12th.   At this point, I would be willing to chip in just to have this over and done with.  How about you?

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Michael Jackson

Are Michael Jackson’s many doctor’s and plastic surgeons guilty of his destruction?  Did his family members turn a blind eye to what was happening to him? Or, is Jackson to blame for his own undoing and inevitable death?  Ultimately, of course, Jackson was responsible for his own life. But, when it became obvious that he was a very disturbed man addicted to plastic surgery and prescription drugs who were the doctors who kept prescribing the drugs and doing the surgery?  Where was the family that might have intervened?
Unfortunately for Dr. Conrad Murray he became Jackson’s final doctor.  The LA County Coroner has reportedly determined that Jackson’s death was a homicide, and, of course, Murray was the physician who administered the final “cocktail” of drugs that caused his death.
On the morning Jackson died Murray states that he gave Jackson valium, then lorazepam, then midazolam and, finally, when Jackson demanded it, Murray administered propofol.  And, there’s the key.  Jackson demanded Murray give him propofol and Murray , undoubtedly knowing the extreme danger, gave it to him.
So the question remains.  Who is to blame? Doctors, members of Jackson’s family, some of whom must have known of his drug addiction and certainly were aware of his bizarre facial reconstruction, or Jackson himself.  No doubt all of the above.  A perfect storm.

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The line forms at the rear.  And it’s probably going to be a very long line.
In 1990, a Japanese newspaper, The Segye Times, sued the Jackson family for $5.5 million claiming the paper had paid the Jacksons that amount for a concert series that never took place.  A trial was held in 1992 but the only Jacksons to show up were Katherine, Joe and Jermaine and a judgment was placed against them for $4 million.  The paper is now asking for approximately $7.9 million from the Michael Jackson’s estate.  This amount has nearly doubled from the original $4 million because of accrued interest.
In March of 1999 Katherine and Joe Jackson filed for bankruptcy claiming assets between $100,000 and $500,000 and debt between $10-$50 million.  Debts listed included approximately $35,00 on a Mercedes, $60,000 on a Land Rover, $36,000 on a Land Rover Discovery, $33,000 to the State of California for personal income tax, $118,000 to the IRS, $18 million on one lawsuit judgment and $4 million on another, plus legal fees to several attorneys.
Katherine Jackson has been petitioning the court to allow her to have more control over Michael Jackson’s estate. Sounds like that might not be a wise decision for the court to make.  Of course, by the time the end of the creditor line appears there may not be a lot of money left to control

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The manager of the storage facility where Conrad Murray rented a unit said two women came to his unit at about 9:22 a.m., Pacific Time, on the morning of Jackson’s death, and picked up three to five boxes and additional items they carried by hand.  The manager further states that the women are sisters, LaQuisha Middleton and LaQuanda Price, both women who worked for Murray.  Price was recently laid off and Middleton is the office manager.
When asked about being at the facility that morning Price claims she was in the office all day (even though she had been laid off?) and that her sister, Middleton, went to the unit to pick up a bio-hazard box of used needles.  Price further stated that Murray did not call and tell either of them to go to the storage facility.
Sharps (used needle) containers wouldn’t be driven from a doctor’s office to some storage facility and then picked up at another time by an employee.  All bio-hazard containers are picked up and disposed of by companies that must be in compliance with State and Federal laws which govern the disposal of medical waste.  You can’t choose to hire one of these companies.  It is the law that you must hire them.
If Murray’s employee(s) were actually picking up used needles that were in a storage facility and doing who knows what with them, then Murray has more to worry about than his role in Michael Jackson’s death.  Although, if he is found to have caused or contributed to the death, in any way, not disposing of used needles properly will be the least of his problems.

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Who thinks Joan Rivers should should get f***in’ smart and retire while she has a shred of dignity left.  Her raving attack on Celebrity Apprentice, when her daughter, Melissa Rivers, was dumped from the show, should have been her final act.  Curtain down!!  No matter whether you believe Michael Jackson is a pedophile, or not, her venomous comment about being able to let her grandson walk alone now that Jackson is dead was past the point of good taste even for someone as loud mouthed and crude as Rivers is.
Her obnoxious mouth is still spewing forth though.  On a live morning news show a reporter made a really uncalled comment about River’s daughter, Melissa, to which she rightfully took exception. Of course, she handled it in her own cheap way by saying the interview was over and, before the station could “bleep” her, told the reporter, “Don’t get so f***in’ smart.
If she’s so worried about her grandson then maybe it would be good to set a better example for him by cleaning up her mouth.

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The Michael Jackson saga is like a big jigsaw puzzle with more pieces turning up all the time.  It  has been reported that a hidden stash of drugs was found in a closet in the guest room where Dr. Conrad Murray stayed at Jackson’s house.   “Various drugs” including Propofol were found.  On July 23rd, a warrant was approved to search Murray’s Houston office and a rented storage unit.  The warrant allowed Los Angeles Police and DEA officers to search for “property or evidence of the offense of manslaughter that tend to show that Dr. Conrad Murray committed the said criminal offense”.  It seems Murray is facing a big dose of trouble.
Another puzzle piece was found when Dr. Tohme Tohme (his full name being Tohme R. Tohme which may be Tohme Repeat Tohme) came forward with the news that he was in possession of $5.5 million in cash which he says came from recording “residuals” and was a secret between Jackson and him.  Jackson supposedly begged Tohme not to tell anyone about the money.  Hmmm.  I would say that was kind of strange but remember who we’re talking about here.  Tohme said the money was supposed to be used for a “Las Vegas dream home”.  That would sure be a home sweeet home.
And one more piece which has been uncovered concerns a young man by the name of Omer Bhatti.  Some are suggesting that he may be the Jackson’s secret son. Wait. Is that the theme music from the Twilight Zone I hear?  Allegedly, Jackson told close friends that Bhatti was conceived after the singer and a Norwegian woman named Pia had a one-night stand in 1984.  Jackson met Omer in 1996 during the HIStory tour.  Yes, that is a twelve year span between conception and connection.  Anyway, there are different stories (as there always are in this neverending Neverland nonsense) surrounding the relationship. The clincher, it seems, is the fact that Bhatti sat between Jackson’s oldest sister, Rebbie, and Prince II at the memorial.  Oh, and he looks like Blanket and he reportedly went home with the Jackson clan after the memorial and he’s going to get a DNA test and he was allegedly arrested for drug possession in 2004 (now there’s a connection that seems to fit) and…and…
I’m sure there are plenty more pieces of this puzzle yet to come.

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