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Michael Jackson's Music Sales Skyrocket After His Death

Posted by ChasinDatPaper on June 27, 2009 at 11:00am

NEW YORK (AP) -- Michael Jackson's death has led to skyrocketing sales of his music and videos, with major retailers like Amazon.com Inc. and Barnes and Noble Inc. selling out of products that have regained immense popularity overnight. Bill Carr, Amazon's vice president of music and video, said Friday that once the world learned that the pop icon had died Thursday, the Web site sold out within minutes all CDs by Michael Jackson and by the Jackson 5, the group Jackson and his four older brothers formed out of Gary, Ind., in the late '60s. Sixty percent of Amazon's CD orders Thursday were for Michael Jackson music, something Carr called "stunning." He said he'd "never seen anything like this" before at Amazon after the death of a pop culture icon. As of Friday afternoon, Jackson's albums accounted for all 10 of Amazon's "Bestsellers in Music" list, with the 25th anniversary edition of the celebrated "Thriller" album taking the top spot. Meanwhile, Barnes and Noble's Web site and retail stores are currently sold out of most Jackson CDs, DVDs and books, Chief Merchandising Officer Jaime Carey said. Like Amazon, its 10 bestselling CDs were Jackson titles. Both companies said they were working to get the products back in stock. Apple Inc. would not describe the level of demand for Jackson's music at its iTunes online store, but his dominance of iTunes' top-seller lists Friday speaks for itself. Around the time of Jackson's death, only one of his albums ranked in the top 100 on iTunes in the United States. By Friday morning, eight of the top 10 albums were Jackson's. An "Essential" collection of Jackson's songs compiled by Apple's iTunes music team was the top-selling album, followed by "Thriller." Five of Jackson's singles made it to iTunes' list of most-purchased tracks -- "Man in the Mirror," ''Thriller," ''The Way You Make Me Feel," ''Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," and "Smooth Criminal" -- in what may be one of the best barometers to gauge his most popular songs. With Amazon sold out of Jackson CDs, Carr said many customers were buying Jackson's music in digital form. Sales of Jackson-related videos are also up on Amazon -- Carr said most DVDs, including the 1978 movie musical "The Wiz," are currently out of stock. Carr said it was difficult to say whether the increased sales would persist, saying Amazon for now was taking things "minute by minute" and reacting to customers' orders. "They love him, he's a legend, and they're anxious to make sure they have his music in their collections," he said. Source : Zap2It
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Michael Jackson CPR Mystery Unfolds

Posted by ChasinDatPaper on June 27, 2009 at 10:30am
Dr. Conrad Murray

One question investigators will have for Michael Jackson's personal physician -- did he botch early CPR efforts on the King of Pop? On the 911 tape obtained by TMZ, one of Jackson's staffers tells the dispatcher that Jackson is "on the bed" and that a "doctor is here." The doctor is Dr. Conrad Murray. Several EMTs tell us it's odd that a veteran cardiologist like Murray would attempt CPR while Jackson was on a bed. Common CPR practices call for the patient to be on a hard surface -- because it is difficult to compress the chest on a soft surface. The 911 operator told the staffer to "get him on the floor." Cops have yet to officially interview Dr. Murray, but this will almost certainly come up. Source : TMZ
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U.S. Study to Target Blacks in Vitamin D, Fish Oil Test

Posted by ChasinDatPaper on June 27, 2009 at 10:07am

Two of the most popular and promising dietary supplements — vitamin D and fish oil — will be tested in a large, government-sponsored study to see whether either nutrient can lower a healthy person's risk of getting cancer, heart disease or having a stroke. It will be one of the first big nutrition studies ever to target a specific racial group — blacks, who will comprise one quarter of the participants. People with dark skin are unable to make much vitamin D from sunlight, and researchers think this deficiency may help explain why blacks have higher rates of cancer, stroke and heart disease. "If something as simple as taking a vitamin D pill could help lower these risks and eliminate these health disparities, that would be extraordinarily exciting," said Dr. JoAnn Manson. She and Dr. Julie Buring, of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, will co-lead the study. "But we should be cautious before jumping on the bandwagon to take mega-doses of these supplements," Manson warned. "We know from history that many of these nutrients that looked promising in observational studies didn't pan out." Vitamins C, E, folic acid, beta carotene, selenium and even menopause hormone pills once seemed to lower the risk of cancer or heart disease — until they were tested in big studies that sometimes revealed risks instead of benefits. In October, the government stopped a big study of vitamin E and selenium pills for prostate cancer prevention after seeing no evidence of benefit and hints of harm. Vitamin D is one of the last major nutrients to be put to a rigorous test. For years, evidence has been building that many people are deficient in "the sunshine vitamin." It is tough to get enough from dietary sources like milk and oily fish. Cancer rates are higher in many northern regions where sunlight is weak in the winter, and some studies have found that people with lower blood levels of vitamin D are more likely to develop cancer. Fish oil, or omega-3 fatty acid, is widely recommended for heart health. However, studies of it so far have mostly involved people who already have heart problems or who eat a lot of fish, such as in Japan. Foods also increasingly are fortified with omega-3, so it is important to establish its safety and benefit. "Vitamin D and omega-3s have powerful anti-inflammatory effects that may be key factors in preventing many diseases. They may also work through other pathways that influence cancer and cardiovascular risk," Manson said. However, getting nutrients from a pill is different than getting them from foods, and correcting a deficiency is not the same as healthy people taking large doses from a supplement. The new study, which will start later this year, will enroll 20,000 people with no history of heart attacks, stroke or a major cancer — women 65 or older and men 60 or older. They will be randomly assigned to take vitamin D, fish oil, both nutrients or dummy pills for five years. The daily dose of vitamin D will be about 2,000 international units of D-3, also known as cholecalciferol, the most active form. For fish oil, the daily dose will be about one gram — five to 10 times what the average American gets. Participants' health will be monitored through questionnaires, medical records and in some cases, periodic in-person exams. "We're hoping to see a result during the trial, that we won't have to wait five years" to find out if supplements help, Manson said. Researchers also plan to study whether these nutrients help prevent memory loss, depression, diabetes, osteoporosis and other problems, Buring said. The $20 million study will be sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and other federal agencies. Pharmavite LLC of Northridge, Calif., is providing the vitamin D pills, and Ocean Nutrition Canada Ltd. of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, is providing the omega-3 fish oil capsules. Source: BlackNews
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French cosmetics giant L’Oréal guilty of racial discrimination

Posted by ChasinDatPaper on June 26, 2009 at 10:00am

L’Oréal, the French cosmetics giant, whose advertising campaigns proclaim “because you’re worth it”, was found guilty of racial discrimination for considering black, Arab and Asian women unworthy of selling its shampoo. France’s highest court was told that the group had sought an all-white team of sales staff to promote Fructis Style, a haircare product made by Garnier, L’Oréal’s beauty division. The word went out that Garnier’s hostesses should be BBR — “bleu, blanc, rouge” — the colours of the French flag. The expression is widely recognised in the French recruitment world as a code for white French people born to white French parents, a court was told, in effect excluding the four million or so members of ethnic minorities in France. La Cour de Cassation, the equivalent of the US Supreme Court, said that the policy was illegal under French employment law, upholding a ruling given by the Paris Appeal Court in 2007 That image already suffered a battering when L’Oréal executives were forced to deny claims that they had lightened the singer Beyoncé Knowles’s skin for a campaign last year. The ruling also hinted at widespread prejudice among French shoppers since L’Oréal believed that they were more likely to buy shampoo from white sales staff, the court was told. The ruling will fuel anger among black and Arab French people, who complain that they face widespread discrimination when seeking employment. The court ruled that Adecco, the temporary recruitment agency whose Districom division hired the hostesses, was also guilty of racial discrimination. The Paris Appeal Court had fined both L’Oréal and Adecco €30,000 (£25,500) and ordered them to pay a further €30,000 each in damages to SOS Racisme, the anti-racist campaign group, which brought the case. The court upheld the fines but told the appeal court judges to reconsider the damages. L’Oréal expressed “disappointment” at the judgment, which ends three years of legal wrangling over the discrimination claims. Adecco declined to comment. Samuel Thomas, the vice-chairman of SOS Racisme, described the ruling as a “very great victory”. He said: “Whatever the size of the company, none is able to escape prosecution.” The court was told that a Districom executive had sent a fax to its headquarters in 2000 saying that Garnier’s hostesses should be aged 18 to 22, wear size 38 to 42 clothes (British sizes 8 to 12) and be “BBR”. Prosecutors said that Garnier wanted to exclude members of the ethnic minorities on the ground that they would be less likely to sell its shampoo in French shops. The court was told that only 4.65 per cent of the hostesses hired for Garnier’s campaign were black, Asian or Arab. Before the BBR fax went out, the agency had been offering a pool of candidates in which 38.7 per cent were from ethnic minorities, suggesting that they had been blocked during the final stages of recruitment. Districom employees said that they were given oral instructions to favour white sales staff. But Thérèse Coulange, the deputy managing director of Districom, who sent the fax, said that she had merely wanted hostesses able to “express themselves correctly in French”. She said that the fax had been a personal initiative and not the implementation of company policy. Laurent Dubois, Garnier’s former managing director, told a lower court that he had “never given the slightest order to discriminate against anyone” and described racial prejudice as “foreign to L’Oréal’s genes”. Source: Times Online
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Michael Jackson Doctor M.I.A.

Posted by ChasinDatPaper on June 26, 2009 at 9:53am

We've learned law enforcement is looking for a doctor who lived at Michael Jackson's home -- and the doctor is nowhere to be found. Law enforcement sources tell us a BMW belonging to the doctor was towed from Jackson's home last night. Cops are looking to interview the doc. A law enforcement source says the doctor gave Jackson an injection before he died. Jackson reportedly may have OD'd on Demerol. As we first reported, family members were concerned that Jackson was taking too much morphine. Source : TMZ
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Perez Hilton Sticks His Big Foot In His Mouth Regarding Michael Jackson's Death

Posted by ChasinDatPaper on June 25, 2009 at 10:38pm

One would think Perez Hilton would be on his best behavior. Earlier in the week, Perez completely disrespected the Gay community by calling Will.i.am a “faggot.” Well, against all odds, Perez Hilton became a bigger douche this week. Immediately after reports surfaced that Michael Jackson had a heart attack, Perez basically called the entire event a sham. But don’t take my words for it, read what Perez wrote…. “We knew something like this would happen!! Michael Jackson was taken by ambulance from his Holmby Hills home to a nearby Los Angeles hospital on Thursday afternoon!! Supposedly, the singer went into cardiac arrest and the paramedics had to administer CPR!!! His mother is even on the way to visit him!!! We are dubious!! Jacko pulled a similar stunt when he was getting ready for his big HBO special in ‘95 when he “collapsed” at rehearsal! He was dragging his heels on that just like his upcoming 50 date London residency at the 02 Arena, of which he already postponed the first few dates!!! Either he’s lying or making himself sick, but we’re curious to see if he’s able to go on!!! Get your money back, ticket holders!!!!” Source : Blog.InGameNow
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