REST IN PEACE MICHAEL JACKSON * Sarah Palin is doing the right thing

MICHAEL JACKSONS MEMORIAL SERVICE

Right now, news helicopters are hovering over our house which is near the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, where the Jackson family is convening after the amazing memorial service.

The saddest part: Paris Michael Katherine, 11, broke down in sobs and said "My daddy was the best father you could ever imagine..."

Jermaine Jackson touched me deeply, with his beautiful voice and quiet suffering, singing "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin, Michael's favorite song from "Modern Times."

I adore Jermaine, and got to introduce him on Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve. What a loving, gentle soul.

Brooke Shields was wonderful too.

To all the cynics who believe he was guilty: he was innocent. Not only was he found innocent by a jury of his peers, but at the deepest level he was the purest soul. he was COMPLETELY innocent of all charges, and I know it as I know my own children, as I know the sun will come up tomorrow.

People just can't understand a pure soul. If anything, Michael was asexual.

Rest in Peace, Michael.

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From 5pm, MTV News will be covering the event with a special 1 hour build -up to the show, followed by the full star-studded service which will include the likes of Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Usher and Stevie Wonder.

Also performing is 12-year-old Britain's Got Talent star Shaheen Jafargholi who will sing his rendition of Who's Lovin You.

The full line-up confirmed so far include Kobe Bryant, Mariah Carey, Berry Gordy, Jennifer Hudson, Magic Johnson, Martin Luther King III, Bernice A. King, John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Brooke Shields, Usher, Shaheen Jafargholi and Stevie Wonder.

An estimated one billion viewers worldwide will watch today's event as mourners tune into Jackson's send-off at the Los Angeles stadium.

Update: I actually find myself liking Sarah Palin now. Today I watched her again when she made her resignation announcement from Wasilla, and I saw a sweet, world-weary, vulnerable woman with a deep sadness and disappointment in Washington for its prissy, 7th grade Gossip Boy mentality, and for the predators in the media.

Look, I had nothing good to say about her during the disgusting election campaign — and was horrified that she used race-baiting and right-wing fringe-loony baiting, in saying President Obama was "paling around with terrorists". And at the time I judged her harshly and assumed she was a narcissist. Even now I have no idea if she's being authentic right now, but I suspect her heart has been damaged by the ugliness of politics. I actually think she is making the smartest decision for her family. Anyway, as Abraham Lincoln said: "A winner never quits and a quitter never wins." So she wouldn"t stand a chance winning the GOP nomination.

"It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit." - Anna Quindlen

All the recent deaths have made some of us wake up and realize life is too short. We have to cherish our loved ones and go for our dreams.

After reading Anna Quinlan's letter about family values, I admire Sarah Palin for choosing to get out of politics, and I will take her at her word.

As a mom, from a mom's point of view — with so many people in the public eye dying lately -- it brings home the fact with startling poignancy — that life is too short to waste a moment being unhappy and ruining your children's lives.

I think maybe she woke up in the nick of time and realized her blind ambition was destroying her family.

I blinked and my kids were in puberty. I was too busy for a few minutes and they went from being sweet 10 and 11 year olds to obnoxious jerks!! I wish I had savored the sweet phase a little longer.

I have a hunch she read the following speech and decided life was too short to abandon her children for the dirty mud-slinging world of politics.

This was a speech made by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Anna Quindlen at

the graduation ceremony of an American university where she was awarded an

Honorary PhD.

Most brilliant, to the point speech to get all of us thinking....

"I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't

ever confuse the two, your life and your work. You will walk out of here

this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be

hundreds of people out there with your same degree: there will be thousands

of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only

person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your

entire life. Not just your life at a desk or your life on a bus or in a car

or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your

heart. Not just your bank accounts but also your soul.

People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to

write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is cold comfort on a

winter' night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've

received your test results and they're not so good.

Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never

to let my work stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider

myself the centre of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am

a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what

they say. I am a good friend to my friends and them to me. Without them,

there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard

cut out. But I call them on the phone and I meet them for lunch. I would be

rotten, at best mediocre, at my job if those other things were not true.

You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you are. So

here's what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a manic

pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger pay cheque, the larger house. Do

yo think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm

one afternoon or found a lump in your breast?

Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a

breeze at the seaside, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed

hawk circles over the water, or the way a baby scowls with concentration

when she tries to pick up a sweet with her thumb and first finger.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love

you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone.

Send an email. Write a letter. Get a life in which you are generous. And

realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business

taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to

spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beer and give it to

charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister. All of you want

to do well. But if yo do not do good too, then doing well will never be

enough.

It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes. It

is so easy to take for granted the colour of our kids' eyes, the way the

melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is

so easy to exist instead of to live.

I learned to live many years ago. I learned to love the journey, not the

destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is

the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world

and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and

utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had

learned. By telling them this: Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the

fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the back yard with the sun on your face.

Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness, because if you

do, you will live it with joy an passion as it ought to be lived".

Here is a picture of Lake Geneva in Wisconsin, my son took this with his i-phone last week.

DRUG ABUSE IN AMERICA

We are here

to learn to love.

Before we get to today's topic and update on Michael Jackson's new autopsy, I would like to take a moment to say that I'm in shock at the news this morning that Billy Mays died. He is the OxyClean pitchman. My son happens to love his Discovery Channel show "Pitchmen." He was only 50.

Mays was one of the passengers aboard a plane that blew a tire and landed very roughly at Tampa International Airport yesterday. He told a local FOX affiliate he was hit on the hard on the head by falling items. Apparently he told his wife he didn't feel well when he went to bed.

So far, in the recent past we've lost: Paul Newman, Heath Ledger, Natasha Richardson, David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith, James Baker Hall, poet, Kentucky Laureate; Bob May (Robot from Lost in Space) Huey Long (The Ink Spots, 105 years old!) ....who else? Please leave comments.

I still can't get over the death of John Ritter, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemon or Peter Sellers!

And of course, my sweet brother. I had a dream about him not long ago — and he was totally healed, radiant as if he had been put back together. I had never dreamed about him since he died. But this dream was so real, I reached out and said "You're healed. Your heart is healed. You look great, you're alive!" And he grinned and said, "Yes, I'm fine now."

I had found his body on December 1, 1995. This was more than a dream.

Doesn't this make you think that life is precious? There is so much to see and do, so much beauty in the world. It sounds cliche, but we have to make the most of every single day, every moment. Grab life and live your dreams. Do what you really want to do in your heart.

I do not believe in death, I really think we are here to learn to love.

Go for your dreams. Cherish your loved ones. Find the gifts inside you and use them now. Life is short, art is long.

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DEA RENEWS WARNINGS ON PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE.

Update: Jackson family wanted to admit Michael to drugs clinic two weeks ago as he was danger to himself. New Fox Report: Michael's second autopsy reveals he was mixing various drugs: Demerol, Vicodin, Oxycontin, Dilaudid, and more...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Amid questions about the possible role of drugs in Michael Jackson's demise, the US Drug Enforcement Administration Friday renewed concerns about rising deaths from misuse of prescription pills.

It warned that more people died from drug abuse than in shootings, and in the category of accidental deaths it came only second to car accidents.

The overuse of prescription pain-killers, stimulants or tranquilizers — either opium-based or synthetically manufactured — is on the rise in the United States.

In 2005, the last year for which figures are available, there were more than 8,500 deaths nationwide, an increase of 114 percent on 2001.

Hospital admissions due to an overdose of such drugs leapt 74 percent from 2002 to 2006, and emergency room visits were up 39 percent, the DEA said.

Most of those needing treatment were aged between 18 to 25, the agency added, and said that between 2003 to 2007 some six percent of Americans in that age group had admitted using prescription drugs for non-medical uses. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j5swrIt6MmiD52e27apQjYRr24SQ
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MORE ON MICHAEL JACKSON:

Michael Jackson's family were so concerned about his addiction to powerful painkillers they considered forcibly admitting him to a rehabilitation clinic just two weeks before he died.

The plan - which would have involved psychiatrists trying to convince a judge he was a danger to himself and others - was abandoned only because of Jackson's resistance, and the overwhelming pressure to fulfil his concert commitments in London.

Instead, he agreed to consult a controversial therapist known as 'Doc Hollywood' and to allow a 'sober coach' to accompany him to Britain, to stay with him constantly to try to wean him off drugs. By CAROLINE GRAHAM Daily Mail, UK

Go for your dreams. Cherish your loved ones. Find the gifts inside you and use them now. Life is short, art is long.

Today's quote: “Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.” George Carlin

TWO NEW ANGELS: MICHAEL JACKSON & FARRAH FAWCETT

DOUBLE SHOCKER! First Farrah, now Michael Jackson

Rest in peace Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.. two of the sweetest souls on the planet. Too sensitive for this world.

My friend Vicki Coggins:

I was still in tears about Farrah's death..... Michael Jackson??? this is too much. We're rejoicing that you have two new beautiful angels in your loving arms right now but we ask your healing hands hold the hearts of their grieving families, and all those people whose lives they touched. God bless the families in their mourning. Amen

Pop icon Michael Jackson dies at 50

Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop," has died after suffering cardiac arrest at his Los Angeles home. The singer had been preparing for a major comeback after years of seclusion.

Twitter Updates:

Rest in peace Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.. two of the sweetest souls on the planet. Too sensitive for this world.

RT @aplusk heres the link http://bit.ly/S4xDa TMZ saying Jackson is dead

Michael Jackson has been rushed to the hospital, cardiac arrest.

Omigod! Did someone say Michael Jackson died? I just did a blog about Farrah Fawcett. Rest in peace.. and God Bless these sweet souls.
about 1 hour ago from Twitter/LydiaCornell

REST IN PEACE FARRAH! WE LOVE YOU
Farrah Fawcett, former Charlie’s Angels actress has passed away at the age of 62. Fawcett had been diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and died at 9:28 a.m. PST at St. John’s Heath Center in Santa Monica, Calif. Her longtime partner, Ryan O’Neal, was with her when she died.

Farrah was my idol for a time. I loved her soft sweetness. She had class and humility. I was a feminist, but had to dumb myself down to make it in Hollywood. She seemed to be a bit too real for this town, and too sensitive. I wish she had found AA or any 12-step program for dealing with her demons. It's the fastest way to real peace.

Farrah wasn't arrogant as the posers are today. Sorry Paris, but you introduced the "smirk" and the home porno tape — along with Pam Anderson — and you ruined a generation of girls.

Though the show I did with Ted Knight "Too Close For Comfort" was in the 80's, we all copied Farrah's hairstyle. I had the feathered-back wings. You could land a 747 on my head.

'Charlie's Angel' Farrah Fawcett dies at 62

By BOB THOMAS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Farrah Fawcett, the "Charlie's Angels" star whose feathered blond hair and dazzling smile made her one of the biggest sex symbols of the 1970s, died Thursday after battling cancer. She was 62.

The pop icon, who in the 1980s set aside the fantasy girl image to tackle serious roles, died shortly before 9:30 a.m. in a Santa Monica hospital, spokesman Paul Bloch said.

Ryan O'Neal, the longtime companion who had reunited with Fawcett as she fought anal cancer, was at her side, along with close friend Alana Stewart, Bloch said.

"After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away," O'Neal said. "Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world."

"Farrah had courage, she had strength, and she had faith. And now she has peace as she rests with the real angels," Jaclyn Smith said.

Said Cheryl Ladd: "She was incredibly brave, and God will be welcoming her with open arms."
Fawcett burst on the scene in 1976 as one-third of the crime-fighting trio in TV's "Charlie's Angels." A poster of her in a clingy swimsuit sold in the millions.

Her full, layered hairstyle became all the rage, with girls and women across America adopting the look.

She left the show after one season but had a flop on the big screen with "Somebody Killed Her Husband." She turned to more serious roles in the 1980s and 1990s, winning praise playing an abused wife in "The Burning Bed."

She had been diagnosed with cancer in 2006. As she underwent treatment, she enlisted the help of O'Neal, who was the father of her now 24-year-old son, Redmond.

This month, O'Neal said he asked Fawcett to marry him and she agreed, but they were unable to wed before she died.

Her struggle with painful treatments and dispiriting setbacks was recorded in the television documentary "Farrah's Story." Fawcett sought cures in Germany as well as the United States, battling the disease with iron determination even as her body weakened. NBC estimated the May 15, 2009, broadcast drew nearly 9 million viewers.

In the documentary, Fawcett was seen shaving off most of her trademark locks before chemotherapy could claim them. Toward the end, she's seen huddled in bed, barely responding to a visit from her son.

Charlies Angels

Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Smith made up the original "Angels," the sexy, police-trained trio of martial arts experts who took their assignments from a rich, mysterious boss named Charlie (John Forsythe, who was never seen on camera but whose distinctive voice was heard on speaker phone.)

The program debuted in September 1976, the height of what some critics derisively referred to as television's "jiggle show" era, and it gave each of the actresses ample opportunity to show off their figures as they disguised themselves in bathing suits and as hookers and strippers to solve crimes.

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. Aesop

NEDA SOLTAN: ICON OF RESISTANCE

The World Mourns Neda‎
Her name was Neda Agha-Soltan. She was 26 and loved pop music. She was killed by the Basij and has become an icon of the resistance.



TWITTER UPDATES

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LydiaCornell

THE GOOD FROM IRAN: First victory: World doesn't look at us as terrorists anymore! #iran #iranelection

PRAY FOR NEDA, her family and all Iranians

1. Could anything be more bizarre than calling yourself a Christian, but doing the opposite of everything the Great Peacemaker taught?39 minutes ago from web
2. "Stay away from the Bible Belt; they have GUNS down there!" Funny line from Alan Arkin film. These "Christians" are the opposite of Christ.41 minutes ago from web
3. @kittenramone Maybe they don't know that Christ is the root of the word Christianity because the vowel sounds are different!about 1 hour ago from web in reply to kittenramone
4. Good News From Iranian Tweet: "
First victory: World doesn't look at us as terrorists anymore." #iran #iranelectionabout 12 hours ago from web
5. RT @slpHDtwitts Nobel Peace Prize winner Iranian feminist Shirin Ebadi calls fr new election http://bit.ly/ka4P2#iranelection #NEDA #gr88about 12 hours ago from web
6. People can be restored, revived, reclaimed and forgiven. Never throw out anyone.about 22 hours ago from webAMAZING FOOTAGE OF STREET CLASHES BBC ON YouTubeDo Not Post The Names Of Iranian Tweeters!!! #iranelection #neda #gr88Neda is our Hoseine Fahmide #iran #iranelction

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HEALTH CARE, LIKE POLICE & FIRE DEPT

SHOULD NOT BE FOR PROFIT!

WHY ARE THEY SO AFRAID?

Republican lawmakers are afraid of a lower cost health care option, because they are afraid people will choose it!

Medicaid and Medical are already the best socialized medicine we have in this country. Of course in France they have a much better system, as in every other industrialized nation.

BREAKING NEWS: During the last five years, over 1,000 people on Terror Watch list bought guns. "Gun rights advocates said showing up on a terrorist watch list should not be grounds for being denied a gun." - New York Times

Read more below, but first, let's say a prayer for Neda, the young woman killed in Iran simply for kneeling in protest. And then this weird story..

___________________________________

I have to post this again from the New York Times: "Gun rights advocates (NRA) said showing up on a terrorist watch list should not be grounds for being denied a gun."

ARE THEY CRAZY??

A VIDEO-CAMERA ON EVERY CORNER? SPYING FOR PROFIT ON AMERICANS

Is this right? 165 closed Circuit TV cameras spying on the city of Lancaster, which has a population of 55,000. Who is watching everyone through these cameras all day long? Not the government, but a private company that says it wants to reduce crime. Hmmm. Sounds suspicious. What about our rights to privacy? Could evidence on these tapes ever be used to blackmail people in divorce cases? Could evidence ever be misinterpreted? Isn't it kind of creepy to be watched from every corner all day long? "No one has the right to see who comes in and out of my front door," says one L.A. Times reader. This has crossed the line, don't you think? Or do you. Maybe I'm wrong.

MASSIVE REPUBLICAN PROPAGANDA AGAINST LOW-COST HEALTHCARE FLOPS: 72% WANT A CHOICE! Republican lawmakers are afraid of a lower cost health care option, because they are afraid people will choose it!

When It Comes to Health Care, Why Do Republicans (and Some Centrist Democrats) Hate Americans? by Mitchell Bard, 06.22.2009 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mitchell-bard

You see, the Republicans are speaking out of both sides of their mouths. They are quick to tell you, as Graham did, how terrible government-run health care would be, with long waits for inferior service. But when you argue for a public option, with people being given the chance to keep what they have (with private insurers) or opt for a new public option (especially for those who don't currently have any insurance) that would compete with the private companies, then the Republicans say that the private insurers would be driven out of business because they can't compete with the public plan. But if the government-run plan would be so bad, why would the private insurers lose to it? Shouldn't Americans, terrified at the big bad government trying to run their health care decisions, run screaming away from the new public plan and into the arms of the wonderful private insurers they adore? What is the risk? And if the government-run plan is so good it would be an improvement over the private insurers, why are the Republicans against it (if they can't admit that they are protecting the business interests over the health of Americans)? Isn't the goal better care at lower costs?

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On Terrorist Watch List, but Allowed to Buy Guns
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
June 20, 2009

WASHINGTON — People on the government’s terrorist watch list tried to buy guns nearly 1,000 times in the last five years, and federal authorities cleared the purchases 9 times out of 10 because they had no legal way to stop them, according to a new government report.

In one case, a person on the list was able to buy more than 50 pounds of explosives.

Gun purchases must be approved unless federal officials can find some other disqualification of the would-be buyer, like being a felon, an illegal immigrant or a drug addict.

“This is a glaring omission, and it’s a security issue,” Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, the New Jersey Democrat who requested the study, said in an interview.

Mr. Lautenberg plans to introduce legislation on Monday that would give the attorney general the discretion to block gun sales to people on terror watch lists.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/us/politics/20watch.html
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BEAUTIFUL WOMEN

Below is a wonderful poem Audrey Hepburn wote when asked to share her 'beauty tips.' It was read at her funeral years later.

AUDREY HEPBURN'S BEAUTY SECRETS

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.

People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed.

Never throw out anyone.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself,

And the other for helping others.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This was an email I received to send to all my beautiful woman friends, but EVERY WOMAN IS BEAUTIFUL, so this is for you.

Audrey Hepburn has always been my all-time favorite female celebrity.

Share this with another woman and you will boost another woman's self esteem, and she will know that you care about her.

Quotes for the day:

Every person has a spark of divinity built into their very molecules which is compelled to make a major contribution. Like a blueprint you were born with, this unique gift works through you and is committed to lifting the suffering of others through the expression of a specific virtue. When you are living in alignment with your blueprint, invisible hands seem to assist your every effort.
- from the Amazing Darren Gibson's website.

If news is not really news unless it is bad news, it may be difficult to claim we are an informed nation. - Norman Cousins, editor of Saturday Review

"Give up the need to be more, better or different. Give up wanting to be like or liked by someone else."

And here is my other favorite actress of all time: Julie Christie, pictured here in Dr. Zhivago