What do you take with a generous dose of gossip?

Many things come to mind but that question will be answered down the line in this post. Gossip can be a double-edged sword: both good and bad and often mutually exclusive.

Speaking of exclusives, there was one by Mr. Robin Leach - that name rings rather loudly in entertainment circles, especially in the old days of the 1980s.

Anyway, he reported on his online site about two days ago that Michael Jackson was in need of an emergency lung transplant!

A life threatening condition that could not be carried through because of Michael's health condition. I thought to myself, "Michael has lost his voice!"

The relevant excerpt had it as follows: [....Marlene Erven, executive director of the American Alpha-1 Association, which represents sufferers, told the British newspaper: “This is a rare disorder. There is a protein deficiency that prevents the lungs from being properly protected during the everyday act of breathing. Patients often develop emphysema and either lung or liver disease, which can be fatal.”....]

As with all gossip, I took it with a pinch of salt and decided to wait three days before writing about. That paid off because it was a huge hoax, it turned out!

Michael Jackson is busy preparing for his world music concert tour and for any funny surgery, according to E! Online!

That's a classic example of the importance of getting news from reliable sources, independent sources - if possible.

And that's what differentiates the lowly published rags of the Leaches, leeches, lech's, and wretches from the legitimate media of The Times and Suns of this world..

Here below in black and white is the real truth about Michael's great - not just good - health:

[.....Jackson spokesman Dr. Tohme Tohme said of Halperin's in-the-works bio, which claims that the Thriller artist is suffering from a genetic condition called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency that could require a lung transplant to save him. "Mr. Jackson is in fine health, and finalizing negotiations with a major entertainment company and television network for both a world tour and a series of specials and appearances.....]