Friday, June 26, 2009

Privacy, cont'd

I published the previous post too soon.

Last year, when I was informed of the trickiness and potential severity of my situation, I was given a choice of the two medical centers who were equipped to handle my case. UCLA, or UC Irvine.
UCLA, plainly speaking, is 'The Shit' when it comes to medical centers in southern California. UC Irvine, in Orange County, is just as good, but lacks the imprimatur of Hollywood stardom.

I chose Irvine, saying to the referring physician "UCLA? Isn't that where celebrities go to die? Their medical records sold to TMZ? No thanks. I'm going Irvine."

Lead in aside:
Floating around, and seen on TV, is the *'last photo' of Michael Jackson.

It shows Michael strapped to a gurney with a respirator over his face as he was loaded into the ambulance outside his home.
Obviously a cell-phone capture. Also released: a photo of the life support monitor inside the ambulance.

I don't know for what price the EMT sold out his patient to the media, but any media outlet who displayed these photos should be ashamed of themselves.
And the EMT should be dragged off, disemboweled and gibbeted.

It's a shame that in a man's last dying moment, some pathetic, 15-minute, small dick mutherfuker in a position of trust finds it necessary to betray that trust.

But, such is the culture of UCLA Medical Center, where the celebrities go to heal and die.

They got some issues with their professionalism at that place. Seriously, the admin of that hospital needs to do some real sterilization of their own. What is happening there in regards to patient confidentiality is uncalled for, and inexcusable.

But I also place the blame on the media outlets and tabloid vultures, whose combined actions all too often blur the distinctions between what is 'news' and what is just trashy sensationalism.

(* If you are curious about the image in question, that image that nobody has a 'right' to see, I won't post it for you. Instead, go here. )

7 comments:

Robi1 said...

That IS disgusting, and ethically corrupt. Fortunately, none of my friends or family are famous, so I can be assured that I will not have to see any of THEIR faces be published from a gurney or morgue table...

Granted, the guy's been in the media spotlight since his early days - but that does NOT mean that we have to bear witness to his last days. The media is handling this like rubber-neckers at a crash site.

Robi1 - out.

Jade said...

This kind of thing turns my stomach, right up there with the paparazzi motherfuckers who whip out their cameras and get into celebrity's faces. If I lived in L.A. and saw that happening I would not be able to hold myself back from stepping in.

They give legitimate photographers a bad name.

And these prime time gossip-centric shows that try to pass themselves off as "celebrity news", along with the 4.2 billion gossip "news" websites - the ones who by the fucker's photos - make me sick.

W.B. Picklesworth said...

Getting exposed to celebrity news causes depression. At least I feel crappy whenever it crosses my path. I don't care to know anything about these people. They don't know how to live life, failure dogs their every step, their ignorance is pungent like a skunk. I'll slap a Mr. Yuck sticker on it and walk away.

Gino said...

here ya go ben: a mr yuck smilie >:P

lumberjack said...

You're not going to change that to:
"They don't know how to live life, failure cats their every step.." Gino?

Gino said...

'failure' and 'cats' must never be spoken in the same breath.

lumberjack said...

Ah, forgot that tenet.