From India’s News – August 7, 2009 -
US reopens visa window as 25,000 H-2B visas still left
Agencies Tags : US jobs, H2B visa, US immigration services Posted: Friday , Aug 07, 2009 at 1037 hrs Washington:
Us flag
US State dept has issued only 40,640 H-2B visa for the fiscal year 2009.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on that it has reopened its window to accept petitions for H-2B visas with immediate effect for the year 2009.
In a statement USCIS said about 25,000 of the Congressional mandated 66,000 H2B visas are still left to be filled out for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009.
On January 7, 2009 USCIS had announced to have received enough applications to fill Congressional mandated cap of 66,000 H2B visas. However, the Department of State received far fewer than expected requests for H-2B visas and as a result, has issued only 40,640 H-2B visa for the fiscal year 2009.
Since there is much less time left between now and September 30, before which all these visas have to be used, USCIS has advised prospective employees and applicants to submit their petitions in the premium processing by depositing an additional fee of USD 1,000.
US Immigration Services Greencard, Citizenship, Visas Forms Official Immigration Applicationswww.Immigrationdirec1-866-973-7515 H1B VisaS Call 1-866-973-7515 Immigration INS Visas,Citizenship,Green Cards, HelpUnitedStates-ImmigraUS Visas 1-888-559-1699 US Inmigracion Visas USA Visas Same Same Day Help Green Card, INSUS-ImmigrationHelp.c
USCIUS said the petitioner must also indicate an employment start date before October 1, 2009. Petitions received on or after October 1, 2009, and/or requesting a starting date on or after October 1, 2009, will be considered towards the fiscal year 2010 H-2B cap and are subject to all eligibility requirements for fiscal year 2010 H-2B filings.
Unlike the H-1B, which is more popular among professionals, H-2B programme allows US employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs for which there is a shortage of available US workers.
Typically, H-2B workers fill labour needs in occupational areas such as education, construction, health care, landscaping, manufacturing, food service/processing, and resort/hospitality services.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-reopens-visa-window-as-25-000-h2b-visas-still-left/499231/
with two very large banner ads for the US Immigration Service
on this page as “related” -
US Air Force sets up new command for nuclear forces
((above link also on the India Express website – ))
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[My Note - I had noticed on the news this morning that the Department of Labor had decided to remove 420,000 people from the numbers of those unemployed which was reported in the reading of the actual report when it was released to the news. How can they arbitrarily remove those people from the workforce and unemployment figures? Why do the labor department officials get away with fudging the numbers to suit themselves? - cricketdiane]
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In New Jobless Stats, Good News Hides the Bad
The dip in the unemployment rate — from June’s 9.5 percent — was the first since April 2008. But by other measurements, the jobless rate is still above 10 percent.
FOXNews.com
Friday, August 07, 2009
438 Comments
The White House, reacting to the latest jobless report showing the unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 9.4 percent in July, predicted that despite the good news the rate would still hit 10 percent before year’s end.
But in effect it already has.
The actual percentage of Americans who remain unemployed — including those who have stopped looking for work — is considerably higher than 9.4 percent and surpassed 10 percent months ago. By one measure, the unemployment rate is really 10.7 percent.
When you count those forced to settle for part-time work, the number is higher still. The 9.4 percent figure represents a very specific measurement of unemployed people that doesn’t factor in everybody.
The Labor Department report Friday was good news nevertheless. It showed the jobless rate fell one tenth of a point, the first decline in 15 months.
President Obama said Friday his administration has rescued our economy from collapse. He said much more needs to be done and that he won’t rest until every American that is looking for a job can find one.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that while there’s still plenty of work to do the report is more evidence that we have pulled back from the edge of a depression.
Employers throttled back on layoffs in July, cutting just 247,000 jobs, the fewest in a year. It was a better-than-expected showing that offered a strong signal that the recession is finally ending.
But if laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have settled for part-time work are included the unemployment rate would have been 16.3 percent in July. That’s down from 16.5 percent in June, which was the highest on records dating to 1994 — but still higher than a few months ago.
Nailing down the actual percentage of unemployed Americans is exceedingly tricky. The Labor Department uses a survey method, like a poll, to gauge unemployment — not a Census-style head count. The survey tries to determine the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labor force, but the labor force is only defined as those who are looking for work.
So many who are technically out of work are not counted in the unemployment rate. One of the reasons the rate went down in July was because hundreds of thousands of people left the labor force. All told, there were 14.5 million out of work in July.
Those who are not working and not looking for work, but indicate they are available for a job and have looked in the recent past, are considered marginally attached workers. Those people are not counted as part of the labor force in the Labor Department’s numbers. Also, discouraged workers, or those who have given up looking for work because of job-market related reasons, are not counted. Naturally, the homeless population would also not be counted by and large because many homeless do not have phones and would not be contacted as part of the survey.
If part-time workers are excluded, but discouraged workers are included, July’s unemployment rate was 9.8 percent.
If that number includes all marginally attached workers, the percentage for July was 10.7 percent. That number topped 10 percent back in April.
But Cato Institute fellow Alan Reynolds noted that all of those alternate unemployment rate figures are down from the month before and reflect a positive trend.
You don’t have to look far in this report to see fairly optimistic signs, he said. There’s a lot of good news in this report.
Even if the unemployment rate hits 10 percent as Obama predicts, Reynolds said, the increase could still reflect positive growth — since it could mean more people are entering the workforce and looking for jobs. Such a development would increase the size of the labor force as defined by the Labor Department, temporarily causing the unemployment rate to rise.
The new snapshot released by the Labor Department on Friday also offered other encouraging news: workers’ hours nudged up after sinking to a record low in June, and paychecks grew after having fallen or flat lined in some cases.
To be sure, the report still indicates that the jobs market is on shaky ground. But the new figures were better than many analysts were expecting and offered welcomed improvements to a part of the economy that has been clobbered by the recession.
Analysts were forecasting job losses to slow to around 320,000 and the unemployment rate to tick up to 9.6 percent.
The dip in the unemployment rate — from June’s 9.5 percent — was the first since April 2008.
Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost a net total of 6.7 million jobs.
Also heartening: job losses in May and June turned out to be less than previously reported. Employers sliced 303,000 positions in May, versus 322,000 previously logged. And, they cut 443,000 in June, compared with an earlier estimate of 467,000.
The job cuts made in July were the fewest since August 2008.
The slowdown in layoffs in part reflected fewer jobs cuts in manufacturing, construction, professional and business services and financial activities — areas that have been hard hit by the collapse of the housing market and the financial crisis. Retailers, however, cut more jobs in July.
Those losses were blunted by job gains in government, education and health services, and in leisure and hospitality.
Still, the worst of the job cuts have passed.
The deepest job cuts of the recession came in January, when 741,000 job disappeared, the most in any month since 1949.
Slower job losses are occurring because companies aren’t cutting investment and spending as drastically as they had been during the depths of the recession which came in the final quarter of last year and carried over into the first quarter of this year.
With companies feeling a bit better about the economy’s prospects and their own, they boosted workers’ hours in July. The average work week rose to 33.1 hours, after having fallen to 33 hours in June, the lowest on records dating to 1964.
And, employers bumped up wages. Average hourly earnings rose to $18.56 in July, up from $18.53 in June. Hourly earnings were stagnant in June. Average weekly earnings, which fell in June, rose to $614.34.
Other recent barometers have shown some improvements in manufacturing, housing and construction activity.
The government reported last week that the economy shrank at a pace of just 1 percent from April-to-June, the strongest signal yet that the recession may be ending.
Many analysts predict the economy could start growing again in the current July-to-September quarter. And, the Fed recently observed that the economy is finally showing signs of stabilizing in some regions of the country — especially in parts of the Northeast and Midwest — bolstering hopes of a broader-based recovery this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/07/unemployment-rate-dips-percent-july-better-expected-showing/
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My Note -
They can’t just choose to not count over 400,000 people that they claim “left the labor force.” How insane is that? The GDP numbers are partly based on this. Projections are based on these numbers and analysts are basing their analyses on these numbers. What kind of nonsense happens over there at the Labor Department which causes them to fudge the numbers, cook the results and lie to the American people. Are they psychotic?
And the US Immigration Services are importing nearly 100,000 people a year from elsewhere to take jobs away from Americans at the same time exporting people out of the country? What kind of nonsense is that?
- cricketdiane, 08-07-09
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New GM gets to skip pollution cleanups
Published: Aug. 7, 2009 at 11:03 AM
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DETROIT, Aug. 7 (UPI) — General Motors Co. avoided millions of dollars in liability for removing pollution at discarded U.S. plants when it emerged from bankruptcy, officials say.
GM was allowed to emerge as a new company and to avoid billions of dollars in liabilities, including government pollution claims, the Detroit Free-Press reported.
The old GM was left with $530 million in environmental liabilities. State and local officials have told the Detroit Free Press they fear the cleanups will be shortchanged, especially in the projected restoration of Buick City in Flint, Mich., which was closed in 1999 and demolished in 2002.
Other states voicing concerns include New York, Ohio, Delaware, Indiana and Colorado.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/08/07/New-GM-gets-to-skip-pollution-cleanups/UPI-82171249657400/
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Security firm denies criminal allegation – Blackwater USA
Published: Aug. 6, 2009 at 2:18 AM
Chairman of Blackwater USA Erik Prince testifies before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on private security contracting in Iraq in Washington on October 2, 2007. (UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch)
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ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 6 (UPI) — Xe, a private security firm formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, has denied claims in court documents that its founder engaged in criminal activity in Iraq.
The allegations are contained in affidavits filed in Virginia in a lawsuit brought by two former employees of Blackwater. The plaintiffs — who are identified only as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 — accuse Blackwater founder and former Chief Executive Officer Erik Prince of murder and other serious crimes in Iraq, CNN reported.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Virginia on behalf of Iraqi families who say relatives were killed by Blackwater personnel.
Xe issued a statement saying it would file a brief Aug. 17 in response to the anonymous unsubstantiated and offensive assertions put forward by the plaintiffs.
The firm was contracted until May by the U.S. State Department to provide security in Iraq. The government did not renew the contract, CNN said.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/08/06/Security-firm-denies-criminal-allegation/UPI-95801249539507/
What does a “bad guy” look like – apparently like this – (my note)
Chairman of Blackwater USA Erik Prince testifies before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on private security contracting in Iraq in Washington on October 2, 2007. (UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch) |
Enlarge 
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U.S. Economy: Payroll Losses Slow, Unemployment Rate Declines
By Shobhana Chandra
Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — The pace of U.S. job losses slowed more than forecast last month and the unemployment rate dropped for the first time in more than a year, the clearest signs yet the worst slump since the Great Depression may be ending.
Payrolls fell by 247,000, after a 443,000 loss in June, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The jobless rate unexpectedly dropped to 9.4 percent from 9.5 percent.
The figures sent stock indexes soaring to their highs for the year and 10-year Treasuries heading for the worst week since 2003. At the same time, the White House warned the jobless rate is still likely to reach 10 percent, and with companies from Boeing Co. to Verizon Communications Inc. continuing to cut costs, any rebound in hiring may not come until 2010.
“The American consumer is by no means out of the woods, but we are moving in the right direction,” said Richard DeKaser, chief economist at Woodley Park Research in Washington, the only economist to correctly forecast the payroll and unemployment numbers. “We will see moderate growth in the second half and more of a pickup in 2010.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index rose 1.7 percent to 1,013.65 at 11:15 a.m. in New York. Yields on benchmark 10-year notes rose to 3.84 percent from 3.75 percent late yesterday. The dollar climbed 0.9 percent to $1.4220 per euro and 2 percent to 97.38 yen.
“We are pleased, but not satisfied that the rate of that job loss is declining,” said Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary. “Without seeing some genuine, positive, sustained job growth, you’ll likely to see the rate continue to go up,” he added.
Pace of Declines
Revisions added 43,000 to payroll figures previously reported for June and May. The average losses of 331,000 in the past three months are less than half the pace of decline in the first quarter of this year.
The latest numbers brought total jobs lost since the recession began in December 2007 to about 6.7 million, the biggest decline in any post-World War II recession.
“We’ve got a long way to go before we’ve got a normal recovery,” James Glassman, senior U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York, said today in an interview on Bloomberg Radio.
Payrolls were forecast to drop 325,000 after the 467,000 decline initially reported for June, according to the median of 82 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Predictions ranged from decreases of 150,000 to 460,000. Job losses peaked at 741,000 in January, the most since 1949.
Economists’ Forecasts
The jobless rate was projected to rise to 9.6 percent, and forecasts ranged from 9.2 percent to 9.8 percent. A separate Bloomberg survey last month showed the rate may exceed 10 percent by early next year and average 9.8 percent for all of 2010.
Along with projected further increases in unemployment, stagnant wages and falling home values mean a lack of consumer spending will likely curb an economic recovery, analysts say.
Today’s report showed factory payrolls fell 52,000, the fewest in a year, after decreasing 131,000 in the prior month. Economists forecast a drop of 100,000.
That decline came even as 28,200 jobs were created in the automobile industry. The improvement reflected the return of workers at General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, both of which have exited bankruptcy.
GM Cuts
GM may have to cut more U.S. hourly jobs after an offer of buyouts and early retirements fell about 7,500 workers short of the reorganized automaker’s target.
Payrolls at builders fell 76,000 after decreasing 86,000. Financial firms decreased payrolls by 13,000.
Service industries, which include banks, insurance companies, restaurants and retailers, subtracted 119,000 workers after losing 220,000 the month before. Retail payrolls decreased by 44,100.
Government payrolls increased by 7,000 after falling 48,000 the prior month.
Today’s report also showed the average work week expanded to 33.1 hours in July from 33 hours in the prior month. Average weekly hours worked by production workers increased to 39.8 hours from 39.5 hours, while overtime held at 2.9 hours for a second month. That brought the average weekly earnings up to $614.34 from $611.49.
Workers’ average hourly wages rose 3 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $18.56 from the prior month. Hourly earnings were 2.5 percent higher than July 2008. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a 0.1 percent increase from the prior month and a 2.5 percent gain for the 12-month period.
Consumer Spending
Even so, economists predict consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy, will be slow to gain speed. Wages and salaries fell 4.7 percent in the 12 months through June, the biggest drop since records began in 1960, according to Commerce Department data issued this week.
Companies like Verizon and Boeing are still looking to trim expenses through cutbacks in staff. New York-based telephone carrier Verizon last month said it plans to slash more than 8,000 jobs in the second half of the year.
Chicago-based Boeing, which is planning to eliminate about 10,000 workers, or 6 percent of its labor force, has agreed to allow some machinists to volunteer for a “layoff with benefits” to help mitigate job cuts, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said on July 28.
Earnings Pressure
Emerson Electric Co., a maker of industrial equipment, will cut an additional 5,000 to 6,000 positions in the next few quarters, after it posted its third straight drop in quarterly earnings, the longest stretch since 2002. The St. Louis-based company has already eliminated 20,000 jobs.
“Emerson is still seeing very difficult and challenging times around the world,” Chief Executive Officer David Farr said on a conference call on Aug. 4.
Administration officials including Lawrence Summers, director of the White House National Economic Council, predict most new jobs under President Barack Obama’s stimulus program will come only in 2010. Less than 10 percent of the $787 billion plan goes to job creation this year, and the government still expects to save or create at least 3 million jobs, Summers said in an NBC television interview on Aug. 2.
The unemployment rate may not peak until the second half of 2010, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on ABC last week, even as the economy shows signs of improvement. Another extension in unemployment benefits “is something that the administration and Congress are going to look very carefully at as we get closer to the end of this year,” Geithner said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington schandra1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: August 7, 2009 11:34 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGSIJl69yjZI
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MY NOTE -
According to the Wolf Blitzer on CNN – Cafferty File – reported just before 7p.m. edt on CNN Situation Room – 08-07-09 – “1 in 9 Americans are on foodstamps.” They had comments from email about that and there seemed to be a lot of indications about the Underemployment / Part-Time / and long-term unemployment situation in those comments including the fact that it is happening despite college educations and job experience.
I should find that video clip and save it , share it because that is the truth people in America are actually living. The stock market numbers are really not going to make any difference. They have cut costs while real earnings and revenues are slowing and continuing in the same downward spiral partly because people are not buying and not going to be spending since they’ve lost their jobs, are losing their homes and are concerned with the loss of asset values, job insecurity and having the rules changed on them in the middle of the game. It is history in the making.
- cricketdiane, 08-07-09
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Azerbaijan: With departure of two Karabakh mediators, future of talks unclear
Source: EurasiaNet
Date: 06 Aug 2009
Shahin Abbasov
The expected departure of the American and Russian envoys to talks over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory is diminishing Azerbaijani expectations about a potential breakthrough in the peace process.
Russian Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov was the first to announce news of his departure from the so-called Minsk Group, a body created by Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to oversee the Karabakh negotiations, and chaired by envoys from France, the US and Russia. Merzlyakov also indicated that US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, another Minsk Group co-chair, is leaving.
Merzlyakov, who has acted as a mediator since 2002, told the Trend news agency on July 22 that Bryza and he would leave their posts by the end of the year. Merzlyakov claimed that Bryza’s last visit to the region as US ambassador to the Minsk Group would take place in September.
Bryza has worked on the Karabakh talks since 2006 and has also advised on US Caspian Basin energy policy. The US State Department has not issued any official information about Bryza’s departure from the Minsk Group. A State Department source, however, told RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani service on July 31 that Bryza will end his term with the Minsk Group in late September.
Despite Azerbaijan’s growing energy ties with Russia, the news of Merzlyakov’s departure sparked scant reaction in Baku. The departure of Bryza, who enjoys near-celebrity status in both Azerbaijan and Georgia, has re-ignited speculation both about the Karabakh negotiations and his own future career.
In an August 5 interview with the APA news agency, Bryza treaded cautiously on both counts. I don’t know what exactly is going to be next for me, he said. I will have a new assignment soon. . . . I just have to be patient.
Bryza added that I am not done yet with the Minsk Group. The US diplomat said that he will travel to the South Caucasus on behalf of all three co-chairs in roughly 10 days to try and move forward with the updated ideas of the Madrid Document, which we hope will lay the foundation for an agreement soon. .
An updated version of the Madrid Principles is expected in October, when Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan are slotted to meet. Among other provisions, the principles provide for the return of land bordering Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; the right of all Internally Displaced Persons to return to Karabakh; a land corridor linking Karabakh to Armenia; international peacekeeping operations; and, eventually, a referendum to determine Karabakh’s final status.
One Baku expert believes that the discussion about Merzlyakov’s and Bryza’s reported departures suggests that the October summit may prove the last chance for the current Minsk Group to finalize the framework agreement. It could end with a breakthrough and signing an agreement on basic principles in October or with failure. It is difficult to say what the mediators will offer, if the current process fails, noted political analyst Rasim Musabekov.
Another expert, however, contends that Bryza’s and Merzlyakov’s departures will have little or no impact on the negotiations. Diplomats’ personalities are important, but the will of the superpowers’ leadership is a much more significant factor, commented Elhan Shahinoglu of Baku’s Atlas think-tank. If Moscow and Washington will continue to be active in the Nagorno-Karabakh talks as they have been in recent months, there is hope for progress.
One former presidential foreign policy aide, and a critic of the Madrid Principles, agrees.
Neither Bryza nor Merzlyakov, he added, has brought anything serious to the table during their tenures, said Vafa Guluzade, who served as Azerbaijan’s envoy to the Karabakh talks between 1993 and 1998. [L]ittle depends on the Minsk Group’s co-chairs in the conflict resolution process, and their replacement is not going to affect the process seriously, Guluzade said.
Some experts in the United States point out that Bryza is viewed with suspicion by the Kremlin for having a perceived bias for Georgia against Russia. [For background, click here] Thus it is possible that the joint departures of Bryza and Merzlyakov could be a quid-pro-quo move with an eye toward helping Russia and the United States reset relations.
Whatever the case, with a question mark over details of Bryza’s next career move, attention is turning to the empty US ambassador’s post to Azerbaijan. Despite Bryza’s denials, Azerbaijani media continues to cite an article in the June 2009 Foreign Policy magazine that reported that he would be appointed to the job. The previous ambassador, Anne Derse, left Azerbaijan in early July. US President Barack Obama has not yet named her successor.
In mid-July, the Turan news agency, citing unnamed sources in Washington, DC, claimed that the White House, reportedly uncertain whether Congress would support Bryza’s candidacy for ambassador, is now debating his selection. Baku observers differ on the possibility of such an appointment.
Shahinoglu calls the US diplomat a controversial figure despite his constant optimism. Bryza has reportedly close ties with Azerbaijani officials that could spark unease among many Azerbaijanis if he is named ambassador to Baku, the analyst argued. Opposition leaders in Baku are known to be opposed to Bryza’s nomination.
Another Baku expert, Musabekov contended that Bryza’s overly close ties with the Azerbaijani ruling elite are exaggerated.
I think he has close working ties with the Azerbaijani leadership, which is normal for a diplomat who has been the Minsk Group’s co-chair for [three] years, Musabekov said. A US embassy spokesperson declined to comment on reports about Bryza’s candidacy for the post.
Editor’s Note: Shahin Abbasov is a freelance correspondent based in Baku. He is also a board member of the Open Society Institute-Azerbaijan. from – Eurasianet
The Central Eurasia Project aims, through its website, meetings, papers, and grants, to foster a more informed debate about the social, political and economic developments of the Caucasus and Central Asia. It is a program of the Open Society Institute-New York. The Open Society Institute-New York is a private operating and grantmaking foundation that promotes the development of open societies around the world by supporting educational, social, and legal reform, and by encouraging alternative approaches to complex and controversial issues. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the position of the Open Society Institute and are the sole responsibility of the author or authors.
The opinions expressed in the documents carried by this site are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by UN OCHA or ReliefWeb.
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***
Rejected by Apple, iPhone developers go underground
* Story Highlights
* Some would-be iPhone developers are turning instead to an unauthorized app store
* The new store, Cydia, specializes in selling apps that Apple would reject or ban
* To use Cydia or the apps available through it, customers must jailbreak their phones
* Cydia operator: Too soon to tell whether store could earn developers stable incomes
updated 2 hours, 26 minutes ago
* Next Article in Technology »
By Brian X. Chen
(WIRED) — Apple is the exclusive gatekeeper to its iPhone App Store, able to reject apps at will — as it did July 28 with Google Voice.
Some would-be iPhone developers, rejected by Apple, are turning to an unauthorized app store called Cydia.
Some would-be iPhone developers, rejected by Apple, are turning to an unauthorized app store called Cydia.
But some developers aren’t taking the rejection lying down: They’re turning instead to an unauthorized app store called Cydia, where forbidden wares continue to exist — and even earn developers some money.
That store is operated by Jay Freeman, more fondly known in the iPhone Jailbreak community as Saurik. Only five months old, his app store Cydia specializes in selling apps that Apple would reject or ban (or already has).
To use Cydia or the apps available through it, customers need to jailbreak their phones — hack them to work around Apple-imposed restrictions — a process that Apple claims is illegal.
Indeed, you can even get a Google Voice app, GV Mobile, through Cydia. After Apple pulled the app from its App Store, developer Sean Kovacs (who is not affiliated with Google) made it available for free through Cydia.
It’s difficult to get accurate data on how many customers have jailbroken their iPhones. But based on the number of unique device identifiers tracked on his server, Freeman claims that about 4 million, or 10 percent of the 40 million iPhone and iPod Touch owners to date, have installed Cydia.
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On a recent day, he said 470,000 people were connecting to the Cydia store, up from 350,000 per day just a few months ago. Among many free apps, there are also 15 paid apps in Cydia, and the store has earned $220,000 in overall sales in just five months.
People are so annoyed by Apple and their s—, and if you give them opportunity to go around it, then they’ll even pay for it, said Kim Streich, a developer whose app 3G Unrestrictor earned $19,000 in sales in just two weeks through Cydia.
Though Cydia is relatively young, the underground Jailbreak community has existed since the first iPhone launched in 2007. That year, Apple didn’t yet have an app store for its iPhone, stifling the true potential of the device. This limitation inspired digital rebels to hack away at the iPhone’s closed platform in an effort to free its mind.
The result? An app called Installer, opening a door for early iPhone owners to add games, utilities and other third-party software coded by developers.
It wasn’t until 2008 that Apple offered a software development kit for third-party coders to make programs for its iPhone. That led to the opening of the official App Store in July 2008. Apple’s store grew rapidly, accumulating 65,000 apps and serving over 1.5 billion downloads to date.
Many developers abandoned Installer for the more popular App Store, leaving behind an underground space where unauthorized wares could continue to exist. Installer died and became reborn as Cydia, which evolved from an app library into a store in March 2009.
To gain access to Cydia, iPhone owners must jailbreak their smartphones using some freely available tools courtesy of the hacker group iPhone Dev-Team. Given the nature of this procedure, it’s clear Cydia’s primary audience consists of nerdy rebels wishing to utilize the full power of their iPhones, restriction-free.
Cydia’s numbers appear small compared to the rare stories we hear about developers turning into millionaires with hot sales of their iPhone apps in the App Store. But the idea behind a store like Cydia is that you don’t have to be huge to make money.
With a smaller market, fewer competitors and a reasonably large customer base, each developer has a higher chance for making a quick buck, Freeman said. Plus, you get more personal attention: Developers submitting their app through Cydia need only contact Freeman, and their app can be made available almost immediately.
That’s an enticing alternative to Apple’s approval process, which can take months and is notoriously opaque: Some App Store developers have faced difficulty getting answers to simple questions from Apple about their apps.
It’s obvious what’s driving iPhone customers toward Cydia: Apple’s rejections and restrictions of major iPhone apps. Most notably, Apple recently banned apps supporting Google Voice, the search giant’s internet-based phone enhancement service that can provide cellphone users with free text messaging and transcribed voicemail.
Angry consumers and developers theorize that Apple banned the Google Voice apps so as not to detract business from its partner AT&T’s phone services. The incident has brewed so much controversy that even the Federal Communications Commission has gotten involved, sending letters to AT&T, Apple and Google inquiring about the reasons for the rejections.
Looks like Apple and AT&T pissed off a lot of people, Kovacs wrote in a July 28 blog post. I’ll be releasing GV Mobile v1.2 on Cydia for free today or tomorrow.
Another high-profile App Store regulation involves SlingPlayer, an app that enables iPhone users to stream video from a Slingbox device hooked up to a TV. When Sling originally submitted the app, it was capable of streaming over both Wi-Fi and the cellular 3G connection. However, Apple requested Sling to modify the app to work on Wi-Fi only. AT&T said this was a necessary move to prevent congestion on its 3G network.
That restriction spawned the most successful Cydia app to date, 3G Unrestrictor, developed by Streich. 3G Unrestrictor, a $2 app that has sold 9,500 copies, allows the iPhone to circumvent any network limitations imposed by Apple. For example, the app enables SlingPlayer users to stream TV over 3G as well as Wi-Fi; and when using the VOIP app Skype to place phone calls, customers can also use the cellular connection, whereas normally the app only enables users to dial over Wi-Fi.
It’s just amazing what you can do on such a little cellphone, and Apple just forbids customers from doing these things, and it’s just a shame, Streich said. That’s why I’m so happy there’s a Cydia store.
Another developer who reports positive experiences with Cydia is Jonathan Zdziarski, who said he has made more money through the unauthorized store than Apple’s App Store. In February, his app iWipe sold 694 copies in Cydia, compared to 91 copies of iErase in the App Store.
I guess you could say the App Store is kind of like Wal-Mart, with more crap than you’d ever want to buy, Zdziarski said. And Cydia is like the general store that has everything you want and need, from fresh cuts of meat to those homemade cookies you can’t get anywhere else.
Though some developers say they’re having better experiences selling apps through Cydia, it’s unlikely they will succeed on a longer term, said Rana Sobhany, vice president of Medialets, an iPhone app analytics company. She said the average consumer would prefer to purchase apps through a well trusted source such as Apple.
There have been all these apps downloaded in the App Store because it’s easy for consumers to find, download and pay for apps, Sobhany said. This model is new because Apple has been training people how to download music to their iPods for years.
However, even in the case of the App Store, developers who strike it rich still face challenges recreating their success, said Phillip Ryu, co-creator of the e-book reader Classics, which has sold over 400,000 copies to date.
If you’re hoping to reach the mainstream, the best you can hope for is your app catches on fire and charts high enough for you to make a windfall, Ryu said. Essentially you aim for the jackpot, and if you don’t hit that, it’s not going to make you a living.
Freeman said it was too soon to tell whether Cydia would provide developers stable incomes, but he recommends they give it a try, considering the successes some are experiencing. He admits, however, he isn’t making much money as the creator of Cydia: Like Apple, he takes 30 percent of each app sale to cover taxes.
I don’t make much money off this project, but I value the community, and I look forward to how this changes the device landscape, Freeman said.
Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT Click here
From CNN and Wired.com
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/08/07/iphone.app.developers/index.html
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Business events scheduled for the coming week
By The Associated Press (AP) – 10 minutes ago
SUNDAY, Aug. 9
President Barack Obama attends the Americas Leaders’ summit in Mexico. Through Monday.
BOSTON — Sen. Thomas Daschle scheduled to deliver keynote remarks at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ 52nd annual Pharmacy & Technology Conference at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
MONDAY, Aug. 10
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Dish Network Corp. reports second-quarter financial results.
HOUSTON — Dynegy Inc. reports second-quarter financial results.
CINCINNATI — E.W. Scripps Co. reports second-quarter financial results.
VEVEY, Switzerland — The world’s biggest food and drink maker Nestle AG reports second-quarter financial results.
LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson estate hearing.
WILMINGTON, Del. — Hearing in federal bankruptcy court for Eclipse Aerospace, which is making a bid to purchase the assets of failed jet manufacturer Eclipse Aviation Corp.
BEIJING — China releases July inflation figures.
TOKYO — Bank of Japan begins two-day policy board meeting.
TOKYO — Japan reports June machinery orders, current account.
TUESDAY, Aug. 11
WASHINGTON — Labor Department releases productivity for the second quarter, 8:30 a.m.; Commerce Department releases wholesale trade inventories for June, 10 a.m.; Federal Open Market Committee meets to set interest rates.
LOS ANGELES — Closing arguments expected in a retrial to determine if Philip Morris USA should be ordered to pay $28 million in punitive damages to the family of a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer.
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 12
WASHINGTON — Commerce Department releases international trade for June, 8:30 a.m.; Treasury releases federal budget for July, 2 p.m.; Federal Open Market Committee meets to set interest rates.
CINCINNATI — Macy’s Inc. reports second-quarter financial results.
CHICAGO — Sara Lee Corp. reports fourth-quarter financial results.
THURSDAY, Aug. 13
WASHINGTON — Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m.; Commerce Department releases retail sales for July, 8:30 a.m.; Commerce Department releases business inventories for June, 10 a.m.; Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates.
DALLAS — Blockbuster Inc. reports second-quarter financial results.
MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl’s Corp. reports second-quarter financial results.
SEATTLE — Nordstrom Inc. reports second-quarter financial results.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. reports second-quarter financial results.
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reports second-quarter financial results.
DENVER — Elected officials from around the west gather for Project New West Summit. Robert Redford and U.S. Senator Tom Udall to keynote. Special guest T. Boone Pickens. Through Friday.
FRIDAY, Aug. 14
WASHINGTON — Labor Department releases Consumer Price Index for July, 8:30 a.m.; Federal Reserve releases industrial production for July, 9:15 a.m.
NEW ALBANY, Ohio — Abercrombie & Fitch Co. reports second-quarter financial results.
PLANO, Texas — J.C. Penney Co. reports second-quarter financial results.
[From Google and The Associated Press]
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jNQlFgiCBPB3hqldTup8YjeEhd9gD99U88A80
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jacko-brain-450px-multicrop-pic-getty-84362178.jpg
Michael Jackson gets his brain back
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By Ryan Parry in Los Angeles 8/08/2009
Jacko Gets his Brain Back
Michael Jackson has got his brain back – paving the way for his funeral.
Coroners had held on to the brain while toxicology tests were carried out.
But yesterday it was returned to his family. Los Angeles County assistant chief coroner Ed Winter said: “They have it all.”
Undertakers at Hollywood’s Forest Lawn Cemetery will now be able to put Jacko’s brain back in place and prepare his corpse so he can be laid to rest.
Jacko’s family is said to is said to be considering placing him in an unmarked grave because they fear souvenir hunters. A family friend said: “They were afraid someone might desecrate the grave site or even steal the body.”
A coroner’s source yesterday said an autopsy on the 50-year-old’s body found widespread skin discolouration of chest, hands, back and genitals.
It is believed this was a result of Jacko spilling a skin bleaching agent on himself while trying to compensate for the effects of vitiligo, a pigment disorder that causes discoloured patches.
There were dark patches around his cheeks that were concealed with heavy foundation. The report also found an indentation on his left nostril due to trauma or previous biopsy and numerous “prosthetic augmentations” on his nose.
The Mirror recently revealed Jacko’s prosthetic nose was missing when witnesses saw his body. The coroner is yet to formally rule on the cause of death. But Jacko is widely reported to have died of a drug overdose.
Colony Capital, the investment firm that now owns Jacko’s ranch Neverland could dismantle it and move it to Las Vegas to become a tourist attraction, it was claimed yesterday.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/08/08/michael-jackson-gets-his-brain-back-115875-21581246/
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Aug 6 2009 12:34 PM EDT
Michael Jackson Estate Plans To Sell Clothing, Downloads And More
Merchandise rollout includes everything from Second Life tattoos to a museum exhibition.
By Gil Kaufman
Views 24,234
Considering the reported $400 million in debt he carried at the time of his death, it’s no wonder the administrators of Michael Jackson’s estate are planning to roll out tons of merchandise to cash in on the current interest in the late pop star.
According to a Los Angeles Times report, estate administrators have sketched out plans for everything from a major motion picture to a TV special, tribute concert and reams of MJ tie-ins ranging from Second Life-ready tattoos to high-end clothing and USB drives.
A court filing from last week by Jeryll S. Cohen, a lawyer for estate administrators John Branca and John McClain, said they anticipate the various products could generate tens of millions of dollars for the singer’s estate. The papers were dated July 6, 12 days after the singer’s death at the age of 50. The details of the multiple deals were redacted in the 500-plus-page court filing that was made public on Tuesday at a hearing in which Jackson’s mother withdrew her bid to become one of the administrators of his estate.
Among the known deals is the $60 million pact with Columbia Pictures to make a feature-length movie out of the more than 100 hours of high-definition footage of rehearsals for Jackson’s planned This Is It 50-date residency at the O2 arena in London. Jackson’s estate would receive 90 percent of the profit from the film, with the remainder going to concert promoter AEG Live. There are also plans for a soundtrack, a director’s-cut DVD, two special editions of the film after its theatrical run and a stipulation that Branca and McClain can produce at least one tribute concert as long as the broadcast doesn’t interfere with the film rollout.
A wide-ranging deal with merchandising powerhouse Bravado highlights plans to produce a wide variety of Jackson-related memorabilia, from photo books and trading cards to lithographs, buttons, live recordings on USB drives, online games and denim and high-end clothing. There are also proposals for digital clothing, tattoos and accessories for VR worlds like Second Life and Stardoll, embossed wine decanters, theme packs for the Xbox and wallpaper and screensavers for cell phones.
Among the other plans is a proposal for a traveling “MJ Exhibition” of memorabilia from the late singer to be shown at museums, which will also be accompanied by exhibition-related merchandise. A petition filed by Cohen on Monday also mentions a deal “very favorable for the estate,” with iTunes parent company Apple Inc. for the promotion and distribution of Jermaine Jackson’s rendition of “Smile,” which Michael’s brother performed at his memorial service.
All the plans are subject to the approval of a Los Angeles probate judge who, according to the Times, will review the documents at a hearing Monday.
Comments on this Article – 89 Comments
Elijah
Elijah posted on 08.07.09 at 12:15pm
Wow, I agree, you dont want people as administrators who do that, unload the house. I understand the fear they had, its reflex, the act now or get burned feeling, but they goofed taking rented furniture. However, if the furniture was rented from elsewhere (not coming with the premises), then its a ploy or game the administrators are playing here saying that to the public. I don’t trust them either. It’s no crime to erase the drives. And nor should anyone be concerned with clearing his debts. Vultures are vultures, they pick up what’s remaining, all of you.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1617736/20090806/jackson_michael.jhtml
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AP source: Jackson doc gave sedatives before death
By THOMAS WATKINS and JUSTIN PRITCHARD (AP) – 3 hours ago
LOS ANGELES — Hours before Michael Jackson’s death, his doctor administered multiple sedatives along with a powerful anesthetic the pop star used to sleep, according to a law enforcement official. It’s a safe combination if done properly; potentially lethal if not.
The official said the type of sedatives Dr. Conrad Murray gave Jackson were benzodiazepines, often used to calm patients before surgery. Murray told investigators the doses were within normal medical guidelines, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Even at acceptable levels, benzodiazepines can intensify how the anesthetic propofol depresses breathing, so strict monitoring and careful dosing is required. The balance can be tricky, a slip-up disastrous.
Murray, who administered the drugs to Jackson in a room at the pop star’s rented mansion, told investigators Jackson stopped breathing the morning of June 25 and he was unable to revive him. The doctor is the central figure in what police term a manslaughter investigation, but authorities have not classified him a suspect.
In a written statement Thursday, Murray’s lawyer, Ed Chernoff, dismissed as ridiculous the official’s assertion that Murray gave Jackson multiple drugs.
We are not going to be responding to any accusations from any unnamed sources, Chernoff said.
As investigators build their case, a central issue is what drugs were in Jackson’s system when he died. The official said preliminary toxicology tests detected the propofol, a drug normally used to render patients unconscious for medical procedures but that Jackson used as a sleep aid.
Further analysis will determine whether other drugs were present and in what quantity, allowing the coroner to conclude whether they contributed to the death.
If a twice-delayed final toxicology report reveals an array of drugs, the answer to the simple question What killed Michael Jackson? will become a complex medical and legal dispute, especially if authorities can’t prove Murray knew everything Jackson was taking. That would complicate any prosecution.
If the results show a bunch of stuff together, unless one of them is sky high it’s going to be really tough to give the cause of death to one drug, said Dr. Richard Clark, director of the division of medical toxicology at the University of California, San Diego.
The Los Angeles County coroner uses a form that allows for three causes of death, plus a fourth line for other contributing factors. Given Jackson’s long history with prescription and other drugs, Clark said he expects the coroner’s office will conclude Jackson died from multiple drug toxicity.
Anna Nicole Smith and Heath Ledger were found to have died from lethal combinations of drugs.
Craig Harvey, chief investigator at the coroner’s office, declined to discuss any findings from the toxicology report or autopsy. He said delays in releasing the findings were due to investigative issues.
A discovery of several substances in Jackson’s system could benefit Murray should he face criminal charges, said Steve Cron, a criminal defense attorney and adjunct professor at Pepperdine University’s law school.
The more drugs in his system, the more deniability (a doctor) has, Cron said, provided Murray could show he didn’t know Jackson was on the other drugs.
But what did the doctor know? Cron asked. Did he do his due diligence by trying to find this stuff out, or just look the other way?
Murray has talked to detectives but has not spoken publicly since Jackson died. Chernoff has said Murray gave Jackson nothing that should have killed him and specifically said the physician did not give Jackson the narcotic painkillers Demerol or OxyContin.
The law enforcement official said Demerol was not found in Jackson’s home, but the official said a large amount of propofol and several types of benzodiazepines were in a walk-in closet and the room where Jackson slept his last night.
Benzodiazepines, the mother’s little helper Mick Jagger sang about, include such widely used antianxiety drugs as Valium and Xanax, as well as Ativan and Versed. The law enforcement official wouldn’t name which benzodiazepines Murray told investigators he gave Jackson.
Combining propofol with benzodiazepines is common in operating rooms. Doing so in a private home is not, and it raises numerous safety issues.
Murray, a cardiologist who was hired as Jackson’s personal physician in May, is not an anesthesia specialist, and medical experts question whether he had proper monitoring and lifesaving equipment when he administered the propofol to Jackson.
Propofol is extremely powerful, and even a small miscalculation in a dose can cause a dangerous drop in breathing and heartbeat. Some benzodiazepines also affect breathing rate, making the combination potentially deadly, according to several anesthesiologists including Dr. John Dombrowski, a board member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists who runs the private Washington Pain Center.
While anesthesiology is rooted in science, some of its top practitioners describe balancing the doses of several drugs as an art. Patients can react differently to the same drugs, especially if they have built up tolerance through long-term use or abuse.
People not properly trained in such nuances are playing within a small margin for error, Dombrowski said.
We’ve made it look so simple, Dombrowski said. Nonspecialists may view it as, `Well, it should be pretty straight forward,’ and they get caught with their pants down.
[includes information from Associated Press]
FILE – In this July 7, 2006 file photo, Dr. Conrad Murray poses for a photo in Houston. A law enforcement official says Michael Jackson’s doctor gave the pop star multiple sedatives along with a powerful anesthetic that the singer used to sleep. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, File) MANDATORY CREDIT: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iMkoNA7ANMxeUu2iZ9hdf_Vr1FfQD99U52L03
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Michael Jackson Doc, Conrad Murray Injected Deadly Drugs
TheImproper.com – ?1 hour ago?
By TheImproper.com The police have zeroed in on Dr. Conrad Murray as the source of a lethal cocktail of drugs that likely killed pop star Michael Jackson. …
AP source: Jackson doc gave sedatives before death The Associated Press
Report: Michael Jackson’s Doctor Also Administered Sedative To Singer Radar Online
Michael Jackson ‘given sedatives’ The Press Association
Examiner.com – TheInsider.com
all 469 news articles -
ABC News
INSIDE STORY: The Two Sides of Dr. Conrad Murray
People Magazine – Mark Gray – ?Aug 1, 2009?
Since Michael Jackson’s death, the picture emerging of Dr. Conrad Murray has become increasingly grim. Strapped for cash, the physician left …
Michael Jackson and Dr. Conrad Murray: Can Police Find a Propofol … Associated Content
Michael Jackson And Dr. Conrad Murray Met In 2006 Right TV
Live Michael Jackson Hearing – Propofol, 19 Aliases and Dr. Conrad … National Ledger
Rolling Stone – Entertainment and Showbiz
all 952 news articles »
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Jackson ‘given multiple sedatives’
(UKPA) – 9 minutes ago
Michael Jackson’s doctor gave the pop star multiple sedatives along with a powerful anaesthetic that the singer used to sleep, a law enforcement official has said.
Dr Conrad Murray administered benzodiazepines, which are often used to calm patients before surgery, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The combination is safe if it is administered properly – but it is potentially lethal if not.
The official said Murray told investigators the doses were within normal limits. But even at acceptable levels, benzodiazepines can intensify how the anaesthetic propofol depresses breathing.
In a written statement, Murray’s lawyer Ed Chernoff said the claim Murray had given Jackson multiple drugs was ridiculous .
We are not going to be responding to any accusations from any unnamed sources, said Mr Chernoff.
Murray, who administered the drugs to Jackson in a room at the pop star’s rented mansion, told investigators Jackson stopped breathing the morning of June 25 and he was unable to revive him. The doctor is the central figure in what police term a manslaughter investigation, but authorities have not classified him a suspect.
As investigators build their case, a central issue is what drugs were in Jackson’s system when he died. The official said preliminary toxicology tests detected the propofol, a drug normally used to render patients unconscious for medical procedures but that Jackson used as a sleep aid.
Further analysis will determine whether other drugs were present and in what quantity, allowing the coroner to conclude whether they contributed to the death.
from – The Press Association
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hQuVv025nOaKEG0HNqhgziUQ0tog
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Michael Jackson Bloody Shirt: The Closet Truth
August 8th, 2009 – 2:44 am ICT by GD Tell a Friend -
michael-jackson
No stranger to controversy in his lifetime, even in death, the shroud of mystery that surrounds the circumstances of the King of Pop’s death, keep getting murkier and murkier by the day, with every successive update contributing to the complexities of the tragedy.
In a latest development, photographs taken at the scene of Michael’s death, in his rented Holmby Hills, California mansion, in days following his death, reveal a bloody shirt in the Pop-sensation’s closet. The blood splattered piece of garment, happens to be a white women’s blouse, going by the label which reads, “Women’s Clothing-Casual Top”. The photos also reveal the visible price tag, still attached to the female apparel, bearing a price of $3.99.
The discovery of the shirt/blouse, has not only served to heighten speculations as to the circumstances surrounding Jackson’s death, with conjectures being made about the shirt having been used in all probability to mop or wipe blood, especially since it doesn’t seem to have been worn.
But having accepted that explanation, questions that remain unanswered, are why the shirt was hung back in the closet where it was found on a hanger, and why the bloody garment had not been seized as evidence in the course of the investigation. Apparently, the Los Angeles Police Department didn’t have emphatic explanations for either of the questions.
Meanwhile, reportedly, this apparent lapse on the part of the investigating authorities, has sparked off a volley of questions from distinguished members of the legal fraternity, who seem to be wondering why such a vital piece of evidence hadn’t been seized and incorporated as evidence.
Sphere: Related Content
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/michael-jackson-bloody-shirt-the-closet-truth_100229205.html
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Jackson Toxicology Report — Propofol Plus …
Posted Aug 7th 2009 3:10PM by TMZ Staff
Multiple law enforcement sources tell us the toxicology report in the Michael Jackson case shows Jackson had a lethal amount of the anesthetic Propofol in his system — but that wasn’t the only drug.
We’re told the toxicology findings show there was also alprazolam — also known as Xanax — in Jackson’s system. Xanax is used to treat anxiety.
But our sources say Propofol was — as one source put it — front and center in terms of why [Jackson] died.
See Also
* Jackson Insurance Policy May Be Worthless
* Authorities On Hunt For Propofol with Murray
* Dr. Murray to Cops: I Gave Jackson Propofol
* Jackson Addicted to Xanax, Bodyguard Says
* Raid at Jackson’s Netted Heavy Drugs
Tags: coroner, death, drugs, michael jackson, MichaelJackson, propofol, toxocology, xanax
http://www.tmz.com/2009/08/07/jackson-toxicology-report-propofol-plus/
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Michael Jackson Insurance Policy
Posted on August 7th, 2009 in AEG, Michael Jacskon by lalate
Michael Jackson Insurance Policy
Details of the Michael Jackson AEG insurance policy are out. The Michael Jackson insurance policy for the AEG London concert dates was with Lloyd’s of London.
The policy doesn’t cover loss indirectly resulting from illegal drug use. No surprise there.
The policy obtained by the L.A. Times reportedly states:
“This insurance does not cover any loss directly or indirectly arising out of, contributed, to, by or resulting from … the illegal possession or illicit taking of drugs and their effects.”
AEG reportedly claims losses of $30 million.
http://news.lalate.com/2009/08/07/michael-jackson-insurance-policy/
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INSIDE STORY: The Two Sides of Dr. Conrad Murray
By Mark Gray
Originally posted Saturday August 01, 2009 02:00 PM EDT
Dr. Conrad Murray and Michael Jackson Photo by: Houston Chronicle / AP; GlobeINSIDE STORY: The Two Sides of Dr. Conrad Murray
Since Michael Jackson’s death, the picture emerging of Dr. Conrad Murray has become increasingly grim.
Strapped for cash, the physician left his low-income patients and signed on as Jackson’s personal physician for $150,000 a month, only to become a target of a manslaughter investigation amid reports he injected the pop icon with a powerful anesthesia the night before his death.
But to those who have long known him and been his patients in Texas and Nevada, the 56-year-old doctor from Grenada is no Hollywood Dr. Feelgood. He’s a hero, a lifesaver. For these people, the drumbeat of news reports has been met with bafflement and anger. In one section of Houston, Murray is credited with bringing a medical facility where others dared not go. He volunteered to teach elementary school and cared so much about his patients that he offered to do video conferences with them when he couldn’t personally attend to them.
In 2000, Murray opened Global Cardiovascular Associates in Las Vegas just east of the Strip, where his clientele spanned the Vegas caste system from the less fortunate to, patients say, several unidentified officials in Vegas government.
I looked forward to going to see him because he was very warm, very good-hearted, Las Vegas patient Donna Digiacomo told PEOPLE just days after discovering her doctor was the man in the middle of the Jackson media circus. He’s not getting a fair shake at this. He’s the most beautiful man you would ever know.
Humble Beginnings
Although his name will forever be associated with the King of Pop, it wasn’t always glitz and glamour for Murray. Until the age of 7, he was raised by his grandparents, both of whom were farmers in Grenada. He later moved to Trinidad and Tobago to be with his mother. A hard worker, Murray bought his first house at 19, a home he would later sell and use the profits from to put himself through college. It wasn’t until he was 25 when he finally met his father, who was also a doctor.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Murray headed for medical school, at predominantly African-American Meharry Medical College in Nashville. Murray eventually opened a practice in Houston, the Acres Homes Heart and Vascular Institute.
We have been so lucky to have Dr. Murray and that clinic in this community, Houston patient Ruby Mosley told PEOPLE. There are many, many patients that thank God this man was here for them. Mosely said there are even prayer rituals for Murray in the community.
Backlash & Money Woes
For every supporter, though, there are detractors. The backlash he’s faced since Jackson, 50, died last month has been so severe that Murray now has a bodyguard.
Police arrive at Dr. Conrad Murray’s community Photo by: INFINSIDE STORY: The Two Sides of Dr. Conrad Murray| Crime & Courts, Michael Jackson
Murray, a cardiologist, has been M.I.A. at his medical practices in Houston and Las Vegas since the death, but it’s not because he doesn’t want to be there. He is harassed no matter where he goes, his attorney Ed Chernoff said in a statement.
Lately it hasn’t just been Jackson fans who have been hounding him. In a period of a month, Murray’s businesses were hit with more than $400,000 in judgments from unpaid bills and child support obligations. It was against this financial backdrop that he accepted a job to be Jackson’s personal physician during his 50 London concerts as part of the This Is It tour, a job that would have reportedly paid Murray $150,000 a month. In a letter sent to many of his patients just 10 days before Jackson’s death, Murray called the job a once in a lifetime opportunity.
His financial struggles don’t end there though. More recently, the Clark County (Nevada) Recorder’s Office confirmed that Murray owes $15,000 in back payments on his 5,268-square-ft. home in the ritzy Red Rock Country Club, a guarded, gated community about 20 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip. This was the home searched last month by authorities seeking evidence of propofol, the anesthesia that may have contributed to Jackson’s death, and signs of prescriptions written under aliases, a felony.
According to county records, Murray bought the home in Oct. 2004, less than two years after meeting Jackson for the first time when the King of Pop brought in one of his children to be treated for a minor illness.
Friendship with Jackson
From that, a friendship later developed. Why would Michael Jackson, a man known to keep a tight inner circle, let this man in? His patients say it’s his kindness and his concern for people first and foremost. One patient said Murray performed angioplasty on him three years ago without ever being guaranteed he would be paid.
Fernell Hogan, who founded the nonprofit Houston Community Education Council, said Murray is a symbol of what was right in their community. Here we have a black doctor who’s actually working in a black community servicing his own people, which is very rare. I have a campaign called Anything Is Possible to encourage kids and [Murray] is a symbol of that.
• Additional reporting by ANNE LANG and SHERMAKAYE BASS
from Huffington Post
PHOTOS: Jennifer Lopez At 40: A Fashion Retrospective
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http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20295384,00.html
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Michael Jackson’s Bloody Shirt Found in Closet
4 comment(s)
August 07, 2009 03:57:53 GMT
One of the photos taken in the late singer’s rented Holmby Hills, California mansion, reveals a shocking evidence.
Michael Jackson
See larger image
© /PR Photos
A new speculation of Michael Jackson’s cause of death emerges as a picture of bloody shirt inside his closet is found. A white shirt, similar to the ones that the King of Pop frequently uses, is smeared with red stain and hung in the closet with the price tag still attached. Presumably, the shirt was used to wipe blood instead of worn.
The shocking photo is one of the pictures taken by investigators inside Michael’s mansion shortly after he died of cardiac arrest on June 25. Other photos, which are all acquired by RadarOnline, also include the bed where Dr. Conrad Murray tried to revive Michael, and other rooms such as the kitchen and the bathroom.
The closet in the photo reportedly also reveals more than just a bloody shirt. Dr. Murray allegedly kept a large amount of powerful anesthetic Propofol and I.V. equipment in the space. Investigations are still undergoing to determine whether the personal physician to Michael is illegally supplying him the drugs.
The results of Michael’s autopsy is not yet released.
http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00026255.html
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Michael Jackson was scheduled for a second physical
Lloyd’s, the British carrier underwriting the majority of the risk for the pop star’s planned comeback concerts, insisted on follow-up tests by a London physician.
By Harriet Ryan
August 7, 2009
Michael Jackson was scheduled to undergo a second physical by an insurance company doctor at the time of his death, according to the terms of the policy purchased by the promoter of his planned comeback concerts in London.
A New York doctor gave Jackson a battery of medical tests in February so promoter AEG Live could get insurance for a portion of the performances, but the British carrier underwriting the majority of the risk, Lloyd’s, insisted on a follow-up physical by a London physician closer to the July 13 kickoff show.
Under the terms in place when Jackson died, the $17.5-million policy covered only losses — cancellations or non-appearances by the pop icon resulting from accident. That coverage could have been expanded to include shows scuttled by a death from natural causes or by illness, but only after insurance officials had reviewed the results of the second medical examination and watched a run-through of the show at the O2 Arena.
Jackson, 50, died June 25, the week before he was to travel to London.
On Thursday, AEG Live provided a copy of the policy to Jackson’s mother, Katherine, in what the company said was an effort to quell misinformation about its terms. The entertainer’s father, Joe Jackson, suggested in an interview Sunday with Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera that there was something suspicious about the AEG policy.
According to a copy obtained by The Times, the policy specifically prohibited a payout if cancellations were related to illegal drug use.
This insurance does not cover any loss directly or indirectly arising out of, contributed to, by or resulting from . . . the illegal possession or illicit taking of drugs and their effects, the policy read.
Jackson, who had struggled with prescription drug addiction, was taking medication at the time of his death. Authorities are investigating the role drugs may have played in his death and are mulling charges against his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. The L.A. County coroner’s office has not yet released the results of a toxicology screen. AEG has said that the company is awaiting an official determination of death before trying to collect on the policy.
L.A.-based AEG has said getting insurance coverage for the troubled singer’s comeback effort was difficult. The Lloyd’s policy covered the income expected to be generated during the first 13 of the 50 planned concerts.
The promoter’s chief executive, Randy Phillips, has said the company spent up to $30 million mounting the elaborate show but expects to recoup the investment by collecting on the insurance policy and embarking on various deals with the Jackson estate, including a documentary film.
Much of the policy appears standard, but aspects testify to Jackson’s global fame. In an effort to guard his privacy, Jackson was referred to throughout the policy as Mark Jones. The policy also indicates the high stakes in keeping Jackson healthy. With a common cold carrying a potential cost in the millions, the policy barred Jackson from holding meet-and-greets with fans.
The policy, finalized in April, also covered Jackson’s then-manager, Dr. Tohme Tohme.
I think they put me on the insurance because we were traveling together and we were going to be together, the businessman said.
harriet.ryan@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-jackson-insurance7-2009aug07,0,5290158.story
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My Note -
What kind of doctor would know that the patient he gave powerful drugs to is in cardiac arrest and in trouble at 9 a.m. and not tell anybody for over three hours? What kind of doctor would know the drugs suppressive effects of the drugs he has given this patient and once the patient is obviously not coming to consciousness, would fail to give him the appropriate drugs to remove those suppressive effects? What kind of doctor knowing the drugs and the effects of those drugs that he gave to that patient would try to do CPR on that patient to revive him instead of calling 911 and getting the patient to a hospital where real and appropriate measures could be taken to help him and save his life?
What kind of idiots would choose to come into a house where a death had occurred and not secure the scene despite being considered police detectives and world class criminal investigators in the LAPD? What kind of police investigators would choose to neglect the evidence at that scene which could suggest a suspicious circumstances? What kind of department is that?
What kind of insurance policy would not have the actual legal name of the person whose life and activities are covered by it, especially one involving literally billions of dollars of income and liability? What kind of operation would allow such a thing to occur and sign off on it? What kind of legal team would’ve negotiated that policy and the bizarre omissions included in it? Who did those terms between AEG, Lloyd’s and the Michael Jackson management?
What kind of criminal procedure would not have included an immediate look at a doctor whose actions and activities did not make good sense from the viewpoint of administering the drugs he was giving Michael Jackson to the actions he neglected to take to save Michael’s life on the day he died? What kind of criminal prosecution would neglect to hold that doctor accountable for that day when he skirted his responsibilities, reacted by slowing down the time when his patient could receive appropriate life-saving medical care, refused to admit the drugs he had given his patient such that any team could revive him, and even after the paramedics has arrived, demanded that they work with Michael Jackson there rather than transporting him immediately to a hospital two miles away where he could’ve been revived and his life saved? What did those criminal investigators see that turned away their common sense about the criminality and suspicious circumstances of this situation?
- cricketdiane, 08-07-09
U***
Michael Jackson : MJ’s body looked like a frail, old sickly man’s body
* Posted by admin in Celebrities
* 0 Comments
Paramedics who rushed Michael Jackson to hospital have revealed that they mistook the King of Pop’s body for that of an old man.
It was after 10 minutes that they realised that the victim was none other than the ‘Thriller’ hitmaker himself.
It just looked like a frail, old sickly man, the Sun quoted an emergency worker as saying. Last week, the medics had revealed that it appeared that Jackson was already dead of a cardiac arrest by the time paramedics arrived at his rented mansion in LA.
According to US websites, Jackson had flatlined – in medical jargon, there was no electrical activity in his heart. There were also no other signs of life. The paramedics claimed they wanted to pronounce the singer dead at the scene, but his cardiologist Dr. Conrad Murray, who was at the house and is now under a manslaughter investigation, insisted he be transported to hospital .
It has also been reported that cops found a stash of drugs at the singer’s house, including the powerful anaesthetic Propofol, which is believed to have killed Jackson. It was apparently hidden in the closet of a guest room, where Dr. Murray stayed.
Related posts:
1. Michael Jackson: Now Dr. Conard Murray’s assistant being hunted by cops
2. Michael Jackson: MJ’s doctor “blurted out” the hiding place for drugs
3. Michael Jackson: MJ’s private doctor flees Los Angeles
4. Michael Jackson: Dr. Conrad Murray made Prince watch MJ die ?
5. Michael Jackson: The mysterious death of Michael Jackson
http://www.entertainmentandshowbiz.com/michael-jackson-mjs-body-looked-like-a-frail-old-sickly-mans-body-2009080718630
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Michael Jackson: Dr. Conrad Murray made Prince watch MJ die ?
* Posted by admin in Celebrities
* 2 Comment
Michael Jackson’s son Prince Michael was made to watch his father die by the pop legend’s personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray, it has emerged.
Dr Steven Hoefflin, the icon’s cosmetic surgeon and family friend, said that that the Jacksons told him that the live-in physician, who was treating the singer in his final moments, allegedly made the 12-year-old boy witness his unsuccessful try at cardiac resuscitation.
The surgeon mentioned that it was a horrific and very traumatic scene and the boy was understandably traumatized.
The family apparently believes that the physician has a hand in the King of Pop’s death, the Sun reports. They reportedly said that Murray got the child to personally come into the bedroom to watch him perform CPR on his father.
He wanted the child to understand the fact that he was doing the CPR procedure correctly. However, the family is of the opinion that it was just a gimmick and the pop icon was already dead.
To add to it, the paramedics have suggested that Murray wouldn’t let them act in the ambulance and also would not stop performing CPR until they reached the hospital where the late singer was pronounced dead.
Meanwhile, the police have made progress in the investigation, according to Hoefflin.
He said: I can also tell you the police have now pieced together every minute of the last 12 hours before Michael died.
http://www.entertainmentandshowbiz.com/michael-jackson-dr-conrad-murray-made-prince-watch-mj-die-2009080418513
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Michael Jackson Doctor Faces Tax Lien
Los Angeles
(August 6, 2009)
By WebCPA Staff
Dr. Conrad Murray, the doctor who attended Michael Jackson during his last days, is facing a $21,728 tax lien from the state of California.
The state filed the tax lien on June 16, only nine days before Jackson died, according to the Detroit News. The address listed on the lien is the $1.1 million Las Vegas home that authorities have searched in the days after Jackson’s death.
Michael Jackson
The doctor is said to be under investigation by authorities for providing drugs that may have led to the pop star’s death. Murray has reportedly admitted to authorities that he administered a powerful sedative, propofol, also known as Diprivan, on the day Jackson died.
Murray’s home is reportedly close to foreclosure after he fell behind more than $100,000 since his last mortgage payment. The doctor has experienced tax problems in the past. He filed for bankruptcy in 1992 and had a series of tax liens filed against him in both California and Arizona between 1993 and 2003.
http://www.webcpa.com/news/Michael-Jackson-Doctor-Faces-Tax-Lien-51304-1.html
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Michael Jackson : MJ’s doc also catered to drug-addled James Brown’s needs
If reports are to be believed, late King of Pop Michael Jackson’s doctor was part of a group of “feel good” physicians who catered to the needs of celebrities in the 1990s.
According to a former law-enforcement source, Dr. Conrad Murray, who is under investigation for Jackson’s death, had also catered to the needs of drug-addled Godfather of Soul James Brown.
“James Brown and Michael Jackson were inseparable and they used the same ’safe doctors’ — doctors who would get them anything they wanted,” the New York Post quoted Brown’s long-time producer and assistant, Jacque Hollander, as saying.
“If James Brown wanted drugs, he knew he could get them from these safe doctors in Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas and Los Angeles,” Hollander said.
Brown died of congestive heart failure in 2006, and it was reported at the time that he was battling an addiction to painkillers and PCP.
His wife, Adrienne, had also been one of Murray’s patients when she died 10 years earlier in LA under mysterious circumstances, and the immediate cause of her death was given as being due to PCP intake coupled with heart disease.
Charles Bobbit, Brown’s personal assistant and business manager in the last four years of his life, said that he knew who Murray was before Jackson’s death.
“Mr. Brown may have been sneaking around behind my back with this doctor,” Bobbit said, but he added that he never saw Brown use drugs.
Murray has been under intense scrutiny since Jackson died June 25 of cardiac arrest and investigators removed drugs from the singer’s Bel Air estate. (ANI)
http://www.newspostonline.com/entertainment/michael-jackson-mjs-doc-also-catered-to-drug-addled-james-browns-needs-2009080664999
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Michael Jackson : Jacko’s stomach had to be pumped regularly to remove drug cocktails: Ex-nanny
* Posted by newspostraj in Entertainment
The former nanny of Michael Jackson’s children has said the singer’s stomach had to be pumped on a regular basis to remove dangerous cocktails of drugs.
Grace Rwaramba, who worked for Jackson for more than a decade before being dismissed last December, claimed the King Of Pop often mixed too many drugs at the same time.
The Thriller hitmaker is thought to have been taking up to eight different drugs a day, including three narcotic painkillers, in the days leading up to his death.
“I had to pump his stomach many times. He always mixed so much of it,” the New York Daily News quoted Rwaramba as telling British newspaper The Times.
“There was one period that it was so bad that I didn’t let the children see him . . . He always ate too little and mixed too much,” she added.
The 42-year-old, from Rwanda, began working as an office assistant before becoming nanny to Jackson’s kids, Michael Jr, known as Prince, 12, Paris, 11, and Prince Michael II, 7.
Jackson’s increased drug dependency was said to have begun taking its toll on his mental and physical health days before he died on Thursday.
The 50-year-old was claimed to have suffered further exhaustion stemming from rehearsals for his 50 comeback concerts, which were due to begin in London at O2 arena on July 13.
Medical examiners in Los Angeles are yet to determine the cause of his sudden death, but coroners confirmed Jackson was on prescription medication. (ANI)
June 28, 2009
http://www.newspostonline.com/entertainment/michael-jackson-jackos-stomach-had-to-be-pumped-regularly-to-remove-drug-cocktails-ex-nanny-2009062861570
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Michael Jackson : Cop claims MJ’s doctor pumped him with strong anesthetic before he died
* Posted by newspostraj in Entertainment
* 0 Comments
Michael Jackson’s personal physician injected him with strong anesthetic propofol and officials investigating the star’s death think the drug took the singer to his end, a police official has claimed.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Dr. Conrad Murray regularly pumped the King of Pop, who reportedly suffered insomnia, with propofol to help him sleep, a practice not meant for the drug’s intended use.
Jackson, who died aged 50 on June 25, was said to have received the drug after midnight and authorities believe that it was propofol that caused the singer’s heart to stop, reports The Telegraph.
Cops discovered propofol and other drugs, an IV line and three tanks of oxygen in Jackson’s bedroom, and 15 more oxygen tanks in a security guard’s shack during a search at the superstar’s LA mansion.
Murray’s attorney Ed Chernoff previously insisted the medic did not administer any drug that contributed to Jackson’s death. (ANI)
http://www.newspostonline.com/entertainment/michael-jackson-cop-claims-mjs-doctor-pumped-him-with-strong-anesthetic-before-he-died-2009073164573
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Michael Jackson : MJ ‘died in his doctor’s bed’
King of pop Michael Jackson died in his doctor’s private quarters, it has been revealed.
According to some of the US websites, investigators believe the ‘Thriller’ hitmaker preferred to sleep in Dr Conrad Murray’s room so he could be pumped full of drugs undisturbed, reports the Daily Star.
Cops originally thought that the singer was found unconscious in his own room before being rushed to hospital.
However, reports say that he spent his final nights hidden away in Murray’s private quarters.
Murray, who’s facing manslaughter allegations, is believed to have given Jackson strong Propofol through a drip to help him sleep at night.
But it is thought the doctor, 56, may have fallen asleep on the night the singer died and woke when it was too late.
Police sources have also said that MJ had become irritated by close family and staff wandering into his bedroom at his rented mansion in Los Angeles.
The staff said Murray would show up at night and leave first thing every morning. Paramedics say they found an IV stand, an empty bag and oxygen cylinders in the doctor’s room. (ANI)
http://www.newspostonline.com/entertainment/michael-jackson-mj-died-in-his-doctors-bed-2009080564866
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Cops discovered propofol and other drugs, an IV line and three tanks of oxygen in Jackson’s bedroom, and 15 more oxygen tanks in a security guard’s shack during a search at the superstar’s LA mansion.
http://www.newspostonline.com/entertainment/michael-jackson-cop-claims-mjs-doctor-pumped-him-with-strong-anesthetic-before-he-died-2009073164573
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Michael Jackson : MJ ‘killed by Demerol shot given by aide as personal doctor slept’
* Posted by newspostraj in Entertainment
Michael Jackson reported suffered a heart attack after an aide injected him with a shot of powerful painkiller Demerol, while the star’s personal doctor was sleeping.
Dr. Conrad Murray was said to have previously admitted to police that he administered surgical anaesthetic Propofol to the King of Pop that same day.
It was alleged that the aide gave the shot to Jackson on the superstar’s demand, reportedly causing his heart to stop.
“Murray would set up a system to give Michael a steady intravenous release of Diprivan through the night,” British tabloid The Sun quoted a case insider as saying.
“But this time Michael woke up before Murray did and asked one of his aides for some Demerol.
“The aide gave it to him, but it was too soon after receiving the anaesthetic. That’s what killed him,” the insider added. (ANI)
http://www.newspostonline.com/entertainment/michael-jackson-mj-killed-by-demerol-shot-given-by-aide-as-personal-doctor-slept-2009080765031
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Michael Jackson : Jackson may have been saved with antidote, says leading Brit doctor
* Posted by newspostraj in Entertainment
* 0 Comments
A leading British doctor has said the sad demise of Michael Jackson may have been averted had proper medical procedures been followed.
Dr Michael Serpell, leading expert on pain management at Glasgow University, said if the King of Pop was showing adverse effects, such as suppressed beathing, caused from painkiller Demerol, then he should have been given mouth to mouth resuscitation and a dose of Nalexone which acts as an antidote to Demerol.
“A dose of Nalexone completely wipes out the effects of Demerol. He would wake up and be breathing again. It’s life-saving. I have done it myself,” The Daily Express quoted Dr Serpell as saying.
“If we were giving this drug by injection we would give it in a secure setting such as a hospital as the risks are high. Doctors administering this should always have the antidote available to give in case of adverse reactions.
“Patients should be monitored very closely because the risk of overdose with this drug is significant. If there are signs that breathing is suppressed then the antidote should be given. Even if there were other drugs involved it is still worth giving, and there are antidotes to the other drugs which can be given too,” he added.
Dr Russell Newcombe, one of the countries’ leading drug experts, also said a combination of Demerol and its antidote may have worked as a safer alternative.
Dr Newcombe said: “It seems hard to understand why Jackson was given this drug when a combined pill with an antidote was available, particularly as he may not have been well.”
According to entertainment news website TMZ, the Thriller hitmaker got a shot of Demerol on Thursday, the day he died.
Other reports suggested the 50-year-old’s increased drug dependency made him take cocktails of various drugs.
Medical examiners in Los Angeles are yet to determine the cause of his sudden death, but officials confirmed Jackson was on prescription medication. (ANI)
June 28, 2009
http://www.newspostonline.com/entertainment/michael-jackson-jackson-may-have-been-saved-with-antidote-says-leading-brit-doctor-2009062861575
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BloodyShirt.jpg
Posted on Aug 06, 2009 @ 04:07PM
Random Things
RadarOnline.com has obtained never-before-seen, bombshell photographs taken inside Michael Jackson’s bedroom, where he went into cardiac arrest on June 25 — the day Jackson died.
See more photos taken inside Jackson’s mansion after his death.
http://www.radaronline.com/photos/image/15318
One shocking photo shows a bloody shirt hanging in Michael’s closet. Surprisingly, the shirt has a price tag still attached to it, suggesting that the shirt was never worn, and perhaps was used to wipe up blood. If that is the case, the big question is – why wouldn’t investigators have removed it from the scene as evidence into the probe into the pop icon’s death?
The chilling photos were snapped just days after Jackson’s stunning death as the case became a criminal investigation.
In the same closet where the bloodied shirt was found, sources say Dr. Conrad Murray — Jackson’s personal physician — had stored large amounts of the powerful anesthetic Propofol along with I.V. equipment.
Other photos show the bed where Dr. Murray tried to revive him. RadarOnline.com has also obtained pictures of the kitchen, Jackson’s bathroom, and the living areas of the Holmby Hills, California mansion, which Jackson was renting.
In the bedroom, where Michael spent his last hours alive, chairs are now gathered on one side of the room. They were likely pushed out of the way during the desperate attempt to save his life.
Dr. Murray remains a focus of the investigation into Jackson’s death. Federal and state authorities have searced his offices in Houston and Las Vegas as they try to determine if Murray was illegally supplying and administering Propofol to the King Of Pop, and if that led to his death.
Results of Jackson’s autopsy have yet to be released.
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/08/exclusive-shocking-photos-bloody-shirt-found-inside-michael-jackson%E2%80%99s-bedroom
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Michael Jackson Toxicology Tests Indicate Lethal Amount of Propofol, Xanax
August 7th, 2009 5:16 PM by Free Britney
Tags: Michael Jackson
Multiple law enforcement sources report that the toxicology reports in the Michael Jackson case shows that the late music star had a lethal amount of the anesthetic Propofol in his system, as expected – and that wasn’t the only drug.
The toxicology findings show there was also alprazolam – also known by the brand name Xanax – in Jackson’s system. Xanax is used to treat anxiety.
Sources say Propofol is “front and center in terms of why [Jackson] died.”
Despite the suspicions surrounding his untimely demise, a third Jackson autopsy will not be performed, according to people connected to the case.
Vintage Michael Jackson
R.I.P. Michael Jackson (1958-2009).
The center of the investigation into Michael’s death remains his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who police believe gave Jackson Propofol.
DEA agents and police have raided his offices in Houston and Las Vegas in search of evidence. The doctor has been interviewed multiple times.
Law enforcement sources say Jackson received IVs of Propofol regularly, and may have even died in Murray’s bed as it was being adminstered.
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* No Third Autopsy For Michael Jackson
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* Michael Jackson Movie Rights Purchased For $60M
* Dr. Arnold Klein, Rumored Biological Father, Wants Say in How Michael Jackson’s Kids are Raised
* Katherine Jackson Awarded Full Custody at Hearing
http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2009/08/michael-jackson-toxicology-tests-show-propofol-xanax/
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Page last updated at 07:20 GMT, Friday, 7 August 2009 08:20 UK
Warhol’s Jackson goes on display
(Green) Michael Jackson 1984 – by Andy Warhol
The portrait was painted at the height of Jackson’s career
A portrait by Andy Warhol of the late singer Michael Jackson has gone on display in London for three days, ahead of being auctioned in New York.
The artwork is at the O2 Arena as part of the British Music Experience exhibition, where the late singer had been due to hold his comeback concerts.
The 1984 portrait was commissioned to celebrate the world record breaking sales of Jackson’s Thriller album.
The painting will go on sale with a starting price of $800,000 (£476,000).
The sale will take place on 18 August at the Vered Gallery.
‘The moment’
Art dealer Janet Lehr, who is acting on behalf of the owner, said: “I can tell you that the owner is a true art collector, a lover of paintings.
“He bought the painting because he loved the painting.
“After Michael’s death I went to the client and said this is the moment.
“There is no question that as with the death of some other very famous artists, performing artists, painters, their value catapulted in great excess of previous numbers.”
Warhol’s painting of actress Elizabeth Taylor, fetched $23.7m (£14m) in 2007.
In the same year, the 1963 painting Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) – depicting an overturned car on fire – sold for $71.7m (£42.8m), a record for a Warhol piece.
The US artist was a leading figure in the Pop Art movement, creating artworks from mass-produced images in American popular culture.
He died in 1987 following a gall bladder operation.
The British Music Experience will be the only European exhibition to host the 1984 portrait ahead of the auction.
Speculation continues about the possible role prescription drugs played in Michael Jackson’s death.
The singer suffered a cardiac arrest at his Los Angeles home on 25 June at the age of 50.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8188996.stm
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MICHAEL JACKSON 1958-2009
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8188996.stm
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Page last updated at 09:00 GMT, Wednesday, 29 July 2009 10:00 UK
Jackson doctor’s phones ‘seized’
Michael Flanagan of the DEA describes the operation
Police have searched the Las Vegas home and offices of Michael Jackson’s doctor as part of a manslaughter investigation into the singer’s death.
Dr Conrad Murray’s lawyer, Edward Chernoff, said officials were looking for the star’s medical records.
The search is the second in a week following a similar operation at the doctor’s Houston clinic on 22 July.
Dr Murray, who was with Jackson and tried to revive him before he died, has not been named as a suspect.
In a statement, Dr Murray’s lawyer Edward Chernoff said the warrant “authorised investigators to look for medical records relating to Michael Jackson and all of his reported aliases”.
He added Dr Murray was present during the search of his home and assisted the officers, who seized mobile phones and a computer hard drive.
Toxicology results
Reports suggest the investigation around Jackson’s death is focusing on his use of powerful painkilling drugs.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has been involved in the investigation because the agency licenses doctors to administer controlled pharmaceuticals.
Searches at the clinic and another site rented by Dr Murray in Houston, Texas, were carried out last Wednesday after a warrant was issued by a judge in the city.
Dr Conrad Murray
Dr Murray has already been interviewed twice by police
The warrant, filed in Harris County District Court, said authorities were looking for “items constituting evidence of the offence of manslaughter that tend to show that Dr Conrad Murray committed the said criminal offence”.
Such charges against a doctor for the death of a patient are extremely rare and require authorities to show there was a reckless action that created a risk of death.
Items seized during the searches included 27 tablets of the weight loss drug Phentermine, a tablet of the muscle relaxant Clonazepam, two hard drives, notices from the Internal Revenue Service and a registration for controlled substances.
Police have said Dr Murray is co-operating in the investigation.
Paramedics were called to Jackson’s Los Angeles mansion while Dr Murray was performing CPR on the singer on the day he died, according to a recording of a 911 call.
Speaking a few days after Jackson’s 25 June death, Mr Chernoff, denied his client administered painkilling drugs that could have contributed to the singer’s death.
An official determination of what killed Jackson will not be made until the results of a toxicology report are disclosed.
Video
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8173484.stm
[From - ]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8173405.stm
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MJ’s body too “sliced and diced” for third autopsy
ANI Tags : michael jackon, autopsy, king of pop
Posted: Friday , Aug 07, 2009 at 1232 hrs London:
Michael jackson
Michael Jackson’s body is too “sliced and diced” and a third autopsy would be useless, it has emerged.
Michael Jackson’s body is too “sliced and diced” and a third autopsy would be useless, it has emerged.
Los Angeles Deputy Medical Examiner Dr Paul Gliniecki said a new autopsy “would be pointless”.
“During an autopsy, everything is sliced and diced… it all mixes. Even a second autopsy is compromised,” the Mirror quoted him as saying.
The doctor suggested that all organs and tissues needed have already been removed from the icon’s corpse.
However, the pop legend’s mother Katherine has reportedly ordered new tests, as she is convinced of foul play.
Meanwhile, the coroner has still not confirmed the reason behind Jackson’s sudden death.
The King of Pop died of an apparent cardiac arrest at his LA home on June 25.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/MJ-s-body-too–sliced-and-diced–for-third-autopsy/499265
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Using the right words flavors the message
By John Leo
Published: Mar 05, 2006 12:00 am
A career alternative enhancement program means a layoff.
We are awash in euphemisms and evasive language.
Hull loss, a term used by the airlines, means a plane crash in ordinary English. A pluralistic plan is a hiring quota, and semantic violence usually means criticism or yelling.
Mercenaries are now security contractors. Sheltering in place is a happy-talk reference to quarantine, according to an NPR report. New Orleans police rejected the term looting after Katrina, but they conceded the possibility of appropriation of non-essential items from businesses.
William Lutz, author of Doublespeak, reports that if a doctor in Britain removes the wrong kidney, this is written down as an error of laterality. Also in Britain, the Church of England suggests that the words living in sin should be banished and replaced by a covenanted relationship.
In Santa Barbara, patrons in an adult club cannot hand a tip to the exotic dancers, but they are urged to put money into a non-human gratuity receptacle.
In the insult war on the Web, irate liberal bloggers call their opponents wingnuts, whereas angry conservative bloggers prefer to call liberal antagonists moonbats.
The word liberal continues to fade. Those on the left prefer progressive, and the term liberal Republican is now obsolete. The media use moderate Republican, which has the added polemical advantage of implying that conservative Republicans are immoderate. Advocacy is the generic Washington word for lobbying. Out of the mainstream means not on our side.
Individual congressmen are enriching the language. Sen. Charles Schumer contributed deeply held beliefs, a reference to his fear that a Catholic on the Supreme Court might vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Rep. John Murtha gave us the euphemism redeployment, which is smoother than simply saying, Let’s quit Iraq now.
Leaking closely held government or corporate information is a terrible offense, a gross violation of duty and maybe even treason. Unless, of course, you agree with the leaker. In that case, he is a whistleblower. If demonstrators and agitators take their case to the streets, even in a muscular and intimidating way, we needn’t worry. They are simply engaging in direct action, which sounds much better than Brownshirt behavior.
Torture and torture-light are discussed in calming language: environmental manipulation, stress positions, sensory manipulation. Enhanced interrogation (torture) has been used so much that it seems to be settling in as a normal term, even though such enhancement can be fatal. The same sort of semi-acceptance may explain why extraordinary rendition (outsourced torture) is mostly dropping its extraordinary and entering the common language as just plain rendition.
The Palestinians made a language breakthrough after a few, um, activists who were trying to shoot a missile into Israel managed to blow themselves up instead. The Palestinians referred to this as a work accident. Targeted killings, which will need to be replaced with a true euphemism, is a preferred new term of choice for assassination. Soft compliant entry is militarese for a raid on an Iraq dwelling that doesn’t force allied troops to kick down the door.
Educationese continues to favor words that cloak failure, so as not to impair self-esteem. Negative gain sometimes appears as a description of falling test scores. A number of schools have eliminated F as a mark, and suboptimal outcome means failure. In Britain, members of the Professional Association of Teachers suggested that schools drop the word fail. The teachers wanted to use deferred success, as in, Good news, Mom I’ve been successful on my math test, in a positive, deferred way. Aren’t you proud?
Other additions to educationese include mandatory discontinued attendance (suspension) and post-instructional behavioral adjustment period (detention).
In U.N.-speak, the term unsafe abortions means illegal abortions. It is used by those who wish to correct the lack of safety by making abortion a legal right worldwide. Anti-Zionism at any U.N. gathering translates easily as anti-Semitism.
Cruelty-free was a term used by animal rights activists to lament testing of drugs and consumer products on animals. Now the term has migrated to cruelty-free cream made of soy and cruelty-free chocolate made with no milk, though the old-fashioned cruel chocolate probably tastes better. A flexitarian is one who eats vegetarian dishes at home, but will eat meat, fish or fowl at times, usually when dining out.
On our madcap campuses, PC folk keep inventing terms that make speech sound like action, so if they want to punish someone, they can do so while strongly (and hypocritically) defending free speech. Expressive behavior, verbal conduct and verbal action all mean speech. Non-contact sexual harassment includes jokes, rumor, or any comment that a woman might consider inappropriate.
The language game requires players to insert a strong negative word for what your opponent wants (e.g., the death tax) and eliminate similar hot-button words used on your side. Just as abortion has virtually disappeared from the names and language of abortion-rights groups, the word embryo is fading from the vocabulary of those who favor embryonic stem-cell research. Since polls show that the public reacts negatively to the news that minute human embryos are created and destroyed in the research, the media now speak of early stem cells. The troubling word cloning is fading too; therapeutic cloning is replaced by its technical term, somatic cell nuclear transfer.
Massive layoffs in the auto industry have given us volume-related production schedule adjustment (GM usage) and career alternative enhancement program (Chrysler usage). And when the boss says, We have to leverage our resources, he means, You will be working weekends. If you don’t, you risk being deinstalled (fired).
John Leo is a syndicated columnist.
http://www.sunjournal.com/node/76654
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Finally, one other anoxic zone. The Saanich Inlet on Vancouver Island, Canada, has a “sill” near the mouth of the inlet, about 70 meters deep, which restricts the exchange of water from the Pacific Ocean and the bottom of the inlet. For the same reasons given above, the bottom waters of the Saanich below 100 meters are also anoxic, and sediments from the Saanich have been studied to provide information about changing environmental conditions on the western coast of Canada. The Saanich sediments are particularly valuable because the have annual layers (varves). The study of the Saanich sediments can be compared to tree rings from trees over 12,000 years old that were found in a nearby lake.
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