Well, it just seems as though the world is crumbling around Dr. Arnie Klein, the dermatologist for the late Mr. Michael Jackson.

A quick personal story: I’ve been out here in L.A. for more than a week now reporting on the aftermath of Jackson’s passing and somehow I got one hell of a bug bite on my neck. It never got better, the red ring of infection around it kept getting bigger by the day. So today I went (on a recommendation from a friend) to a Beverly Hills dermatologist to check it out. The doctor’s office happened to be  directly across the street from Dr. Klein’s office.  A gaggle of cameras was crowded out on the sidewalk and it became clear they were there because the coroner’s office had come calling again for MORE of Klein’s medical records on Michael Jackson. Somehow past trips did not garner everything they needed. (Hmmmmmm. Now, why wouldn’t Dr. Klein just give them all the subpoenaed records to start with?)

After my appointment my doctor recommended I get her prescriptions filled at the Mickey Fine Pharmacy, right there in the lobby of Klein’s office. What a hoot! There I was standing in the very pharmacy at the center of the Klein/Jackson controversy, the store said to have been the one that filled so many scripts for the King of Pop that they finally had to sue him for 100K to get him to pay his bill.

On the drive back to my hotel THIS story about Dr. Klein broke:

Dr. Arnold Klein in a Marijuana Shirt?

Paul Gorhanson, a man who Radar Online reports is claiming to be the former live-in masseuse and former lover of Dr. Arnold Klein, is speaking out about the ways that the dermatologist allegedly helped get him medication.

Gorhanson claims that Klein, who is Michael Jackson’s former dermatologist, wrote prescriptions under his own name for three different medications used by Gorhanson.  via Report: Man Claims Dr. Arnold Klein Wrote Prescriptions Under His Own Name.

So, a doctor writes a lover a script or two, using his own name instead of the real recipient’s.  It’s hardly the type of “crime” law enforcement would pounce on, yet it is a crime.

But in this case the LAPD and the DEA, which are both known to be investigating Dr. Klein (and other doctor’s) script writing practices for Michael Jackson, it could be a compelling clue as to Klein’s past pattern of behavior.

So, let’s re-cap.  Dr. Klein is under both state and federal investigation. He’s been identified as the sperm donor for the two oldest Jackson children, a claim he didn’t exactly deny during recent network TV interviews. His practice has closed down, at least temporarily.  And now a former live-in lover says he broke federal law by giving him prescriptions that were not, legally, filled out for him.

Geez, Arnie … Mercury must be in retrograde or something!

Jon and Maureen in Happier Days

How many times have you heard about a missing person case? To be sure there are hundreds of thousands of Americans reported missing every year. Some come right back home. But too often families of the missing either get the horrible news that their loved one’s body has been found or they continue to suffer with the quiet torment of no news at all.

Then there is the group of missing people who aren’t really missing at all. They are hiding. They’re called the “maliciously missing” by a woman who knows the subject all too well.

Her name is Maureen Reintjes and on May 19, 2005 she kissed goodbye her husband of 24 years at their new home in Las Vegas, Nevada and he disappeared. No warning, no reason, he was just gone. continue »

Even if you don’t believe the repeated allegations about child molestation against Michael Jackson is he  the type of American we want to lionize on a postage stamp or in a congressional resolution? Anorexic, drug abuser, serial         cosmetic surgery patient,  child purchaser, nomad, recluse?
On this House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and I agree.

Michael Jackson supporters outside the US Capitol

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shut the door Thursday to a resolution honoring Michael Jackson because debate on the symbolic measure could raise “contrary views” about the pop star’s life.

Lawmakers are free to use House speeches “to express their sympathy or their praise any time that they wish,” said Pelosi, D-Calif. “I don’t think it’s necessary for us to have a resolution.”

A resolution sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, cites some of the singer’s charitable acts and proclaims him an American legend, musical icon and world humanitarian.

Even before Pelosi’s comments, some Democrats said privately they did not support the resolution and a divisive debate would hurt House efforts to muster the votes for priorities such as health care and climate change.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who posted a video on YouTube calling Michael Jackson a “pervert” and a “pedophile,” has pledged to do all he could to block the resolution.

via Pelosi shuts down resolution on Michael Jackson – Yahoo! News.

Written With Information From 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 information from the source, of course, 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 information about 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.

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.

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Mug Shot and Booking Info Sheet

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? continue »