The world's weirdest man has managed to top his previous worst week.
Michael Jackson is in the news again. You're all aware of that. Unless you live in a cave. In any case, a person can't actually have a conversation without discussing the latest weirdness. (The talk radio station I listen to had a great bit. The newsroom went down and the talk show host said "I'll do the news. Michael Jackson's house was searched by police. Michael Jackson last ate at McDonald's. Michael Jackson is charged with child molest. Michael Jackson was last seen in Las Vegas. Michael Jackson is weird. The weather is cool and clear.")
Anyhow, here's my two cents. Michael Jackson [i]is[/i] weird. The man is a sad, pathetic, train wreck of a human being. I think he's developmentally and emotionally delayed. I think he's androgynous. I don't believe that he would purposely do anything hurtful to anybody (certainly not out of malice or even gratification). He's an idiot savant who could not survive without a gaggle of advisors and lawyers. He needs to add a couple of shrinks to his coterie.
And who in their right mind would leave their children alone with him? Regardless of the fact that there's a 10 year old living in his head (and what ten year old is capable of caring for the safety and well-being of other children?) there are previous allegations of sexual misconduct with children. I'm not sure I believe that he is capable of molest, but I don't think he's capable of caring for children and I have concerns about the emotional and psychological well-being of his own children.
I rather pity him. It could be a Shakespearian tragedy. After becoming one of the world's greatest entertainers he has created his own Never Land sanctuary only to be driven out by the howling masses. The formula only lacks a suicide for completion.
I heard an interview on the news regarding the wildfires in Southern California and the potential for future wildfires in other parts of California and the country. The conclusion was that global warming is the engine behind the increase in wildfires. Greenhouse gas emissions are creating a hotter, dryer climate.
Please. First of all, the earth has had a wildly vacillating climate for as far back as geologists can see. There is no evidence that tells us whether the current changes in climate are the result of natural temperate changes in Earth's weather patterns or the result of greenhouse gas emissions.
Second of all, Occam's Razor gives us an alternative that is more immediately verifiable and easily remedied. The Sierra Club and the EPA (among others)have spent some decades preventing the clearing of dead wood and scrub from forested areas. In the meantime, the National Park Service and Department of Forestry is expected to battle blazes and prevent them from getting out of hand.
They're fighting a losing battle. As time passes and the available fuel becomes greater it will be more and more difficult to battle the fires after they have started.
To this day, you can drive through parts of Yellowstone National Park and see blackened swathes of land stretching out of sight. Yellowstone has had decades to begin regenerating, but thousands and thousands of acres of soil were sterilized by the heat of the fires. It will take many more decades for bacteria to repopulate the soil and possibly centuries for the forest to return to its former level of growth. The same holds true for Oregon and Colorado and, now, California.
Last night in my TESOL class one of my classmates commented that her Pakistani friend was incensed by the effort American beauracracy puts in to accomodating speakers of other languages.
It seemed an odd comment. Initially, I thought representing multiple languages would make things easier, but it's not really so simple. A moment of reflection makes a person realize that it's not much of a favor at all.
Business is conducted in English, street signs are in English, the vast majority of television and radio is English, shopping is mostly done in English.
In the end, people may be able to squeak by with their first language, but can hardly be successful in America without speaking English. Indeed, it's hard to imagine that they will be able to integrate at all in America without learning English.
So, I can see why it would make the young Pakistani fellow angry. It's almost a subversion of immigrants' attempts to become Americans which is, after all, what they are trying to do.
You can't see me, but I'm dancing a jig. Halloween is over. Of all the rotten holidays, Halloween is the worst. It would be great if it were a children's holiday. I could appreciate that, but in the San Francisco Bay Area Halloween is a wanton adult celebration of degeneracy. Here, Halloween is celebrated with the enthusiasm of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. (Last year they rioted when the booze ran out and broke into a liquor store.)
I think that my real complaint is that Halloween ought to be a celebration of the dead (el dia de los muertos). A day to remember and respect the dead. I guess people (Americans more than most) don't like that idea very much. As a culture we hate death. How many euphemisms can you think of for death? When is the last time you passed a senior nursing home? Do you feel slightly guilty when joking about death?
In any case, we don't celebrate Halloween as we should. We use it as an excuse to behave badly. People seize the day as an opportunity to delve into depravity, lunacy, and, in some cases, thuggery. Teenagers 17 or 18 years old trick or treating with a pillow case and no costume? Adults sinking into debauchery? Gangs of youngsters roaming the streets at night with cartons of eggs? Why are we not using this opportunity to teach the young ones about death, about paying the dead their respects, about leading a good life in spite of the wormy end awaiting us?
I always half expect that the world will end on Halloween just because the mobs will lose their collective wit and revert to howling maddened crowds of club-bearing Neaderthals. It's not a far drive for some of them. I know I'm spitting in the wind. Halloween isn't going anywhere. Nor is it going to change much in my lifetime, but I can do my part to see that it does have a constructive function.
