We’ll just have to agree to disagree about his relationships. I still find Deepak to be rather self-serving and his rush to judgment, along with Brian Oxman, fueled the media circus that has followed Michael’s death. These concerns should have been made privately to the coroner’s office and the LAPD. Michael had osteoarthitis in his lower back so he had a justifiable reason to want pain medication. Usually sufferers are encouraged to lose weight to control their symptoms, maybe that’s why he stayed skinny after the trial.

I do not see Michael as a drug addict of choice, I think that he suffered from chronic insomnia and anxiety; unfortunately tolerance quickly builds with benzos and sedatives. They also leave you drowsy and lethargic throughout the day, so I can see why he would be attracted to Diprivan which has a very short half-life. Yoga and meditation are only temporary solutions to PTSD driven insomnia. Even troops are placed on medication during their treatment; however, they also have access to group therapy and support groups – Michael would have benefitted from that if his privacy was guaranteed.

Michael would still be alive if Dr. Murray had all of the necessary equipment to keep him breathing and had called 911 right away. At the end of the day, this is a case of medical malpractice and negligence and less about Michael’s “issues”.

In an early interview (I think he was nineteen or twenty), Michael said he could reveal all her secrets to Diana Ross. He had people to talk to. When he was a child, he had unconditional love from his mother (whom he could not tell everything) and his tutor, a little Jewish lady who, he said, traveled with all those black guys and kids and introduced herself in airports as the mother. So the picture is so complex.

I want to run to Chopra’s defense, without knowing him. He did indeed talk about Michal’s drug abuse directly after his death, but that could have been because he had seen so much of it over the years and he was so disgusted by the doctors who prescribed the drugs. He wanted them punished, so he revealed it. He himself never gave Michael narcotics though asked repeatedly. Michael considered him his friend. I think Deepak would like Murray, Klein and some others in court. Who wouldn’t. So he did what he could to achieve that.

I was talking about the kind of love where you can bear your soul to someone without fear of judgment, pity or contempt and tell all your gut-wrenching secrets.

When you are famous, you have to worry about having your secrets and fears exposed if the relationship sours. Of those you mentionned, I would add Miko. Even Grace did a negative interview after she was fired, Lisa Marie spoke of their marriage with regret when he was alive, and Deepak has been a media whore since Michael died and speculated that he was addicted to narcotics at the time of his death. Utimately, only Michael knows who his real friends were, I’m just on the outside looking in. In my work experience, I’ve found that people feel lonely for valid reasons, they have people who care for them but have few intimate and authentic long-term relationships.

That being said, I think that the abuse and emotional deprivation he suffered is what did him in. Being beaten in anger because your performance doesn’t meet your parent’s expectations makes you feel anxious and inadequate for the rest of your life – you are left with a profound fear of failure and need for perfection. Therapy rarely helps because the client’s emotional response to stressors was ingrained when their brain was developing. As an adult, part of them still expects to get hit whenever they make a mistake.

We do not know whether or not Michael received counseling during his lifetime. His former wealth advisor said that he read a lot of psychology and sociology books; he likely did try to get “help” at some point. I used to be a mental health professional and observed that counseling alone rarely makes a difference in people’s lives without a strong network of social support and authentic relationships – Michael had neither. Secondly, the psychological scars from child abuse do not heal, especially when the parent continues to intimidate their child – Joe coerced Michael into hiring Leonard Rowe a couple of months before his death, the abuse never stopped.

What Michael really needed was to be loved and appreciated for who he was and not what he did. His fame and family dynamic made that almost impossible. Elizabeth Taylor was probably his only true friend.

I recently read an old review from the last tour they did together, the Victory Tour. The journalist is wondering why Michael is not alone, because he is the one everyone wants to see, not the others. The contrast was so sharp.

After having supported him for years, in spite of all he did (which I think plays a huge part in why Michael is in his grave right now instead of on the stage) Michael has the right to stop the cash flow. Joe has nine living children – why won’t they pay him? If he has that kind of bills, someone must pay him already, btw.

As for DR, all we know is she wants to see the kids, probably to make sure they are OK. Katherine seems to have put a stop to that. If DR has to make use of custody “threat” as a leverage, I understand her. I’m not going to judge or second guess her until she actually does something stupid.

Poor kids. They don’t really stand a chance. I hope they’ll get through their childhood unscathed.

Doesn’t this confirm the impression that Ms. Rowe considers custody of the children to be a bargaining chip, rather than an expression of real concern? At any rate, at their ages, the children are allowed a voice in their custody arrangement. No court would allow Ms. Rowe to arbitrarily disrupt their lives – they seem to be doing well – or separate them from the sibling she has no ties to, especially if it’s evident that it’s only to get more money.

moko “MJ’s will called for three executors, but Barry Siegel resigned from this role in 2003.”

Anyone know why Siegel resigned?