If the Supreme Court Says Its Constitutional...
Saying, “I told you so,” is not becoming. So I won’t say it.
But I will remind folks of all those columns I wrote about the need for states to do something proactive about the problem of illegal immigration since members of the United States Congress have repeatedly fallen down on the job.
Frankly, I stopped writing about it because I figured anyone who was interested in the topic had already formed an opinion and nothing I would write would change any minds. Also, because there was the hate mail I got after I refused to call people who enter this country illegally “undocumented workers.” [click to continue…]
by Diane on January 3, 2011
Thinking of Ways to Make a Safer and More Just World
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the commandment to “Love Thy Neighbor as Yourself” was the only law we needed?
Strictly adhered to that would be enough to curb crime in a big way. There would be no murder, assault, fraud, burglary … well, you get my drift.
But as this New Year dawns we all understand that we’re way past biblical pronouncement at this point. Today society must have laws and rules and regulations. But I often heave a big sigh and wish they worked better to get crime under control!
In years past I’ve used this first column of each New Year to list my wishes for the crime and justice system. For 2011 the list is pretty simple … [click to continue…]
by Diane on August 31, 2009
Addicts Need Tough Love
Who is to blame when a drug addict dies?
We now know the L.A. County Coroner considers the death of Michael Jackson to have been a homicide caused by acute Propofol intoxication and the effects of five other powerful prescription drugs found in his system.
If the L.A. District Attorney chooses to charge Michael Jackson’s personal doctor, Conrad Murray, it could very well be for manslaughter.
Realistically speaking it was more like assisted suicide.
Michael Jackson had flooded his body with drugs for years. [click to continue…]
by Diane on July 27, 2009
Brains Reveal Secrets
Imagine the hushed, sterile atmosphere of an autopsy room. A body arrives and a team of forensic experts quietly gets to work to try to determine cause of death. Scientific evidence is gathered to determine whether a crime was committed to cause the death, whether it occurred from natural, unavoidable causes or if it was death by suicide.
In many cases, such as that of retired NFL quarterback Steve McNair, the cause of death is pretty obvious. McNair, was found sprawled on his condo’s couch, shot twice in the head and twice in the chest. Nearby was the dead body of his 20 year old mistress, a gun underneath her. It was quickly ruled a murder/suicide.
But other deaths are not so clear cut. Take the case of 50 year old infomercial scream-seller Billy Mays … [click to continue…]
by Diane on July 19, 2009
Christmas Time With "Uncle Arnie", Who Now Says He's the Real Daddy of Two
As I’ve already reported in this space the mystery sperm donor for Michael Jackson’s two oldest children, 12 year old Prince Michael and 11 year old Paris Katherine, is Jackson’s dermatologist for the last 25 years.
Now, the London Daily Mirror reports the beleaguered Dr. Arnold Klein, already in the cross hairs of a joint DEA/LAPD investigation into whether he illegally wrote prescription drug orders for Jackson, plans to jump into the official custody battle for the kids. According to this report Klein has told friends he wants to take a DNA test and prove once and for all he is the Baby Daddy.
No word on whether Dr. Klein would also want to take custody of 7 year old Blanket whose parentage is still a mystery. In nearly every instance judges like to keep siblings together. My question is why Klein’s sudden interest in playing Daddy? Does he think law enforcement might ease up on him if he’s suddenly responsible for children?
QUOTES FROM THE LONDON DAILY MIRROR :
“Now the 64-year-old millionaire has told friends that he IS the biological father, he wants to bring them up and he is consulting lawyers about his options. A custody application filed with Los Angeles Superior Court in which Klein formally acknowledges he is Prince Michael and Paris’s father would be one of the most sensational developments yet in the entire Michael Jackson saga.
Klein’s intervention threatens to throw into total chaos the custody deal that was pending between the children’s biological mother, Debbie Rowe, and Jackson’s mother Katherine. A well-placed source, who is close friends with one of Klein’s inner circle, told the Sunday Mirror yesterday: “Arnie is planning to fight for custody of Prince Michael and Paris. “He says he can prove he is their father with Debbie.” via Michael Jackson’s doctor to stake custody claim on his kids saying: ‘I’m the daddy’ – mirror.co.uk.”
Now that Dr. Klein apparently plans to fight for custody. Boy, this could really get ugly. And the kids are the real victims.
The End Result of Confidential Sources
Every investigative journalist must rely on confidential sources. Their inside information is the only way truth leaks out from government, institutions, corporations or celebrity entourages. And every good investigative journalist will tell you that what a single source says is never enough. You take the information from the source but then you must confirm it in other ways before making it public. Confirmation can come from other inside sources, from public documents, from sworn testimony – from all sorts of corroborating subjects. My most visible investigative efforts have come from my work looking into entertainer Michael Jackson. My work began in 1993, with the first allegations of child molestation against Jackson, were renewed in 2003 when a second young boy’s claims caused the story to erupt again and culminated when I covered the Jackson’s criminal trial in 2005. I wrote a book about my findings. All this work flowed from those brave enough (yes, brave enough) to come forward to reveal what they thought was important information. Some said they were sick at heart that children were being molested, some told me they feared for Jackson’s physical safety because of his addictions to drugs and alcohol, some were members of law enforcement and child protective services upset that the system was bending to celebrity worship. Since Michael Jackson’s death I’ve been flooded with e-mails, both admiring and attacking, about this body of work. I’ve been astounded that some angry Jackson fans continue to demand I give up my sources. They feel that what I’ve been reporting over all these years cannot possibly be true because I haven’t revealed the genesis of the information. In the forward to my book, “Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case,” I take special pains to thank all those countless sources of information I’ve had on the Jackson story. I wrote, “To all my sources over the years; you helped me understand the nuances. I couldn’t have asked for better navigators over difficult waters. A reporter’s work is only as good as her sources. Most of you were seeking truth as was I.” So to all those Jackson fans who continue to write in, adamant that I reveal where I’ve gotten my information: It’s not going to happen. 
Let's Admit - There Was A Dark Side
When I was plying my trade as an investigative reporter the most famous criminal defendant I ever covered was entertainer Michael Jackson. Boy, did I cover him! From breaking the first news about the molestation claims against him back in 1993 to being the first to report the 2003 abuse allegations of a young boy who was a cancer patient when he first met the King of Pop. I was there for every day of the criminal trial and I wrote a book drawing on what I’d learned about the man over the course of the decade I’d investigated his story. Now, Michael Jackson is dead at age 50. Since his death, likely related to his long term drug abuse and anorexia, I’ve been asked to explain the fascination so many have for this Pop Icon. What was it about Jackson that caused the great worldwide crowds of people we saw to drop everything and gather in public forums to mourn his passing? … [click to continue…]
by Diane on June 30, 2009
Mom and the King of Pop - but not the Pop of the Kids
Those of us who’ve covered the Michael Jackson beat have long known that Michael Jackson’s children are NOT biologically related to him. I’ve been saying that on national television since the death of the King of Pop. I think the kids now deserve to know their true lineage. A few of us reporters actually knew the identity of the sperm donor who entered into a three way agreement with Jackson and Debbie Rowe to create the two oldest Jackson children. On Entertainment Tonight and the Insider I challenged the sperm donor to come forward and help out the children since biological Mom Debby Rowe seems disinterested in them. Today the latest bombshell in this fast moving story….Us Weekly Magazine and a team of reporters and editors had the guts to go for it. [click to continue…]
by Diane on June 28, 2009
Paris and Prince sans Blanket
First, I must apologize for my absence from the written page for the last few days. I’ve been swamped with work following the death of Michael Jackson. As the author of a book about my investigative findings of his life I’ve been overwhelmed with requests for interviews and articles and OpEd columns. But THIS I had to stop and share with you. Grace Rwaramba has spoken, in an article in the London Times! In the world of Michael Jackson this is equivalence of a nuclear bomb going off. Grace Rwaramba the closest thing to a wife Michael Jackson ever had. When the children arrived it was Grace who was there to swaddle them, hold them, feed them and give them the only “Mother Figure” they’ve ever known. She was like a roommate to Michael Jackson for some 15 years – and was rewarded for her devotion, she says, by repeatedly being fired and rehired. When her lupus flared to an alarming degree she finally decided she would never go back. Now that the biological mother of the oldest two children, Debbie Rowe, says she doesn’t want custody Grace could have a shot at gaining custody of the kids. Or maybe the sperm donor (which Rowe now acknowledges) would come forward. (He is a long time friend/business acquaintance of both Jackson and Rowe) The bottom line to the immediate nuclear fallout here: Grace is finally confirming the bizarre, nomadic, delusional and dangerous way Michael Jackson lived his life. She also reveals that the matriarch of the family – Katherine Jackson – called her after Michael died to quiz her about “where the money was hidden.” Grace says there wasn’t any. The article is written by journalist Daphne Barack.
Grace Rwaramba, the Nanny, Spills Secrets
Grace was a witness to Jackson’s abuse of prescription drugs. She said he took a mixture of them — in her words, “he always ate too little and mixed too much”. “I had to pump his stomach many times . . . He always mixed so much of it. There was one period that it was so bad that I didn’t let the children see him.” She claims he was furious with her for getting his mother and sister Janet to help. “We tried to do an intervention. It was me, Janet, his mother. I co-ordinated it. He was so angry with me. “He screamed at me, ‘You betrayed my trust. You called them behind my back.’ I told him, ‘Michael I didn’t betray your trust. I try to help you.’ But he didn’t want to listen. That was one of the times he let me go.” via What nanny who worked for Michael Jackson saw – Times Online.
UPDATE FOR THE RECORD:
Grace Rwaramba has issued a partial denial to the above story. Most specifically she denies ever having pumped Michael Jackson’s stomach. Her statement, issued on the web site of a friend, also denies she ever spoke to the Times of London.com. But the story posted there is NOT from a Times of London reporter it was written under the by-line of freelance journalist Daphne Barack. It is interesting to note in her statement Rwaramba does not deny other major portions of the story by Barack. Most notably she does not deny Jackson’s rampant drug abuse.
