Enough with Jacko already
I know it’s customary to talk well of the recently departed, but the massive glorification of Michael Jackson is beginning to get on my nerves. I can understand why many appreciate him as an artist, but the quotes from memorial ceremony go way beyond that. Here are a few quotes from civil right activist Al Sharpton to illustrate what I’m talking about:
“Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of color way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama”
“I want to say to Michael’s children, there wasn’t nothing strange about your daddy, it was strange what your daddy had to deal with. He dealt with it anyway. He dealt with it for us.”
“If you look at how they deal with Michael’s so-called shortcomings and then the shortcomings of Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley, it’s nowhere in the same world.”
Michael Jackson bleached his skin, narrowed his nose and straightened his hair – he did everything he could to look as white as possible. As a “person of color” he seems to have been ashamed of him self.
As for his personal conduct, I too would like to say to his children that there was nothing strange about him. But that’s simply not true. If a grown man has sleep-overs with children there is something very strange about him. If he pays 22 million dollars to shut their parents up then in my book he is a child molester. I know some will say “innocent until proven guilty”. But in that case rich people who can settle out of court are always innocent. At some point you have to rely on your own judgement. And if you can’t puzzle this one together you’re simply in denial.
I don’t think we should judge Jackson too hard though. He was by all accounts robbed of his own childhood. And he might have had a genetic predisposition. Who knows what made him what he was? There is good and bad in all of us. But like congressman Peter King says, it’s the soldiers, firemen, people who work with aids patients and so forth that should be honored. The media have indeed disgraced themselves by treating him as some kind of saint.
Filed under: Arts & Culture, Crime, Entertainment, Ethics, Media, Racism, Society | Leave a Comment
Tags: Michael Jackson, Peter King
According to a recent poll 17 percent of the population in eastern Germany, formerly the DDR, say that the communist era was better than the current situation.
This may seem surprising since DDR was a totalitarian society with one Stasi agent on every 166 inhabitants, spying and reporting on what people were talking about in private conversations. Anyone saying the wrong things about the government risked prison or even an informal execution without trial.
The other side of the coin is that most people were fairly well off and didn’t have to worry so much about money. Not that they were rich but no one was outright poor either. Just being a citizen of the DDR meant that you had access to healthcare, education and such things that many in the West have to struggle for without necessarily achieving it. This, no doubt, gave rise to a sense of pride.
Today eastern Germany is the poor underdeveloped part of the country that isn’t getting anywhere. Many realize that the freedom of capitalism without money is sometimes less than the freedom back in the DDR. And the pride of being Germans was also lost when they became the “Ossis”, a financial burden of the “Wessis”. In the poll 52 percent say they feel like second class citizens.
I news-googled this poll and got one (sic) hit, this paper in Singapore. Apparently this is not something the mainstream media wants to talk about. But that’s less surprising since they are in deep symbiosis with the political establishment.
I sometimes wonder if capitalism is like a pyramid scheme: best for the early adopters and the gradually worse the later you’re on board.
Filed under: Politics, Society | 2 Comments
Tags: DDR, Ossis, Stasi
Film review: Knowing (2009)
In 1959 a group of schoolchildren send messages in a time capsule in the form of drawings depicting how they imagine the world will look like in 50 years. Except for one disturbed little girl, Lucinda Embry (Lara Robinson), that writes down a code. When the capsule is opened 50 years later Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury), son of MIT professor John Koestler (Nicholas Cage), receives the code, which his father deciphers to find a dark and prophetic message to him personally. He know abandons his scientific world view to confront a different form of reality as the events foretold by Lucinda come true.
I liked most things about this movie: the acting, the cinematography, the story. It does tap into the supernatural experience in a suggestive way that I think a lot of viewers will appreciate. It’s not just a lot of New Age elements cobbled together; it’s done in a way that rings true. The special effects were okay, but nothing more than that – which is a good thing in a film that works more on psychological than visual level.
What I didn’t like was the blending of genres. It starts out very much like a supernatural thriller in the vein of Dean Koontz (more of that please!), but changes towards the end into something more like a religious drama. That was a bit disappointing because the build up of the thriller then ends in something completely unexpected but also somewhat anticlimactic.
But the end – which I won’t give away here of course – was not so bad as to ruin the film, far from it. So all in all, I’d recommend this one.
Filed under: Arts & Culture, Entertainment, Movies & TV, Religion, Science, The Paranormal | 1 Comment
Tags: Knowing, Nicholas Cage, review
Why feminism makes women unhappy
According to a study by US National Bureau of Economic Research women today are not any happier than they were 40 years ago. They’ve actually grown more and more unhappy in comparison to men during this time period, in spite of getting more rights, education and income.
There are a number of theories on this but no one knows exactly why. Some say it’s the fact that women are rised to be pleasing and nurturing and feel uncomfortable in competitive situations. Others claim it is related to the increasing divorce rate but, according to the article refering to the study, this doesn’t match the happiness levels of women who divorced.
Although there are no convincing evidence there is, says Andrew Oswald, professor of economics at Warwick University, a “lead theory that women’s lives have become more complicated in many dimensions, unlike men who have to balance a smaller number of balls.
Personally I think Oswald is partially right, but more to the point I think that gender equality lowers womens life quality, at least in the Western world. Women simply don’t marry men who earn less than they do. Here in Sweden, one of the most equal countries in the world, even the elite feminists manage to find men with higher income or education than themselves. And there aren’t a lot of men to choose from.
This is hardly surprising. There is a body of evidence that shows that men and women prefer to live in relationships where the man earns more than the woman. There is also evidence that suggests that the opposite leads to divorce. So as womens incomes rise the number of available men decline. This means that todays women can’t find men, or live in shorter unsatisfying relationships. Regardless of marital status they will be unhappier than back when they made less money.
But if so, why aren’t men equally unhappy? Because they don’t care as much about long term relationships as women. Sure, men can enjoy longer more meaningful relationships, but it’s nothing they actively search for. Men don’t read books on how to form long term relationships or how to fix a relationship that is deteriorating. They read books on how to pick women up. And the book women should read if they want a realistic approach is the one that featured in a Saturday Night Live sketch, entitled “No, He’s Not Out There”. It’s a cruel irony that feminism has succeeded in giving women what they thought they wanted, but ultimately left them worse off than before.
So is it time to turn the clock back? No, that’s hardly a realistic option. But maybe if we created a more equal society people in which money wasn’t such a big deal then more marriages would work. If we spread the wealth, as Obama puts it, we would also spread a little more happiness.
Filed under: Economy, Politics | 8 Comments
Tags: Andrew Oswald, feminism, happiness, National Bureau of Economic Research
First a lot of liberals claimed that Obama could never win the election because of the wide-spread racism plaguing America. Then, when the polls said otherwise, they claimed that he wouldn’t win by much because of the racism. And when that happened Bill Maher said sure, he won but he’s not as black as rapper Flavor Flav. As if a genuine racist would vote for a black person as long as his skin was light brown.
And now actress and comedian Janeane Garofalo says the Boston Tea Party protesters are racists because they haven’t protested against the former president and his fiscal imprudence. It seems like the American left are in desperate need of racists. Why is that? Is it because the they can’t offer an alternative and instead cling – hehe – to their old marxist dogma? If you can’t promote yourself you can always slander your opponents.
As a leftist myself, I don’t believe Republicans are very racist at all. And I can fully understand that someone who isn’t as wealthy as Garofalo or Maher doesn’t want to pay high taxes to a lot of corrupt bureaucrats.
The left need to come up with new ideas on how to bring about a more equal society. And those supposedly leftists who are so well off they don’t really want that blessed Change® should stop kidding themselves and just vote Republican, instead of calling other people racists. (Way too long sentence…)
Filed under: Politics, Racism | 4 Comments
Tags: Bill Maher, Boston Tea Party, Janeane Garofalo, Racism
Female fashion designer meets young female model. It sounds like cliché but this is 1972 long before lesbians became a common spice in the movies. Besides, this film is not very sexy.
The plot revolves around a love and power theme: how in a relationship one person gets the upper hand while the other gets needy and clingy. In this case the main character, Petra von Kant (Margit Carstensen), is a fashion designer who’s success destroyed her marriage. Now she is alone and miserable until one day a friend introduces her to Karin Thimm (Hanna Schygulla), a beatiful young girl with dreams of making it as a model. And now Petra throws herself at Karin and finds herself in the inferior position. Hence the bitter tears.
The film is really low budget; it’s all shot in just one interior setting. But I soon forgot that since all the actors are so good. The director Rainer Werner Fassbinder is easily the best German director in film history and really brings out the best in the cast. It’s a heavy psychological drama with a lot of angst, so you need to be in the right mood for it. But don’t assume it’s pretentious crap on account of the genre – Fassbinder delivers the goods. The authenticity is what captures the viewer. And it’s not all darkness, there is a touch of comedy and a good and surprising ending too.
Filed under: Arts & Culture, Movies & TV | Leave a Comment
Tags: film review, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Obama’s Tour de Europe is over. It’s amazing how popular he is here. This of course because of his personality and eloquence, but also because Europeans are more liberal and the fact that George W Bush was a semi-literate bully.
But at some point he’ll have to start delivering something in terms of real politics. And what he said during his stay in Europe was not as inspiring as I suspect his fans had hoped for. A request for more troops to Afghanistan won’t win him any popularity points. Why get into a war that is practically impossible to win? Several Europeans countries are instead gradually legalizing heroin and thus putting the Talibans out of business. In comparison Obama’s conventional warfare seems obsolete and inefficient. No change or hope there.
He also advocated that Turkey should be allowed into the EU. It will “strengthen” Europe according to the president. Doesn’t he know that half of Turkey already migrated to the EU, or that people from Muslim countries are about as overrepresentated in violent crime as African Americans are in the US? (And it’s not like we took them here as slaves – they asked to come.) Or that close to 40 percent of young Muslims in Britain want sharia laws? Methink we should trade Muslims for Mexicans so that America can be “strengthened” instead. Deal? No, didn’t think so.
If George W was still in office and delivered this crap everyone would boo. But clearly people are still so mesmerized by Obama’s charisma that he can say pretty much anything and get applause for it. He’s so elegant and sophisticated that his poor wife looks clumsy and awkward next to him – what’s a First Lady to do? Eventually though, reality will crack the facade and show Obama for what he really is – just another politician.
Filed under: Politics, Religion, Terrorism | 4 Comments
Tags: Afghanistan, EU, Obama, Turkey
A few years ago I got a really bad stomach illness. They never discovered what it was and after two weeks or so I was back to normal – except as a little memento I was left with a acid reflux condition. I always thought that only happened to fat people but according to my doctor I most likely have a congenital weakness (I hope no insurance company is reading this). Apparently my esophagus is a born slacker, literally, who only waited for an excuse to take a permanent vacation.
So I’ve been on medication since then. But last Friday I began eating yogurt with my breakfast cereals and by chance I ran out of meds the same day. Oddly enough I woke up the next morning without having had any discomfort during the night. So I kept eating yogurt and stayed of the medication and nine days later I’m still doing fine. No symptoms whatsoever.
Yogurt is much cheaper than any medication and it has other health benefits too. But my doctor never suggested it. She only recommended different forms of medication, one of which I got a really bad side effect from. Maybe I’m a little paranoid here, but I suspect that most doctors are in bed with Big Pharma and don’t want their patients to know about yogurt and other cheap remedies. About five percent of the population suffers from acid reflux, that’s a lot of money we’re talking about.
So if you have this problem, just try a little mild low-fat yogurt. You may or may not want to consult your doctor first, if you get the hint.
Filed under: Economy, Health, Science | 9 Comments
Tags: acid reflux, Big Pharma, yogurt
Swedish film is Ingmar Bergman and not much else, so I was very skeptical of the vampire flick that has been getting such overwhelming reviews. Especially since I’ve read the novel it’s based on, a rather cheap Stephen King knock off. But it turned out the critics were right; this is one of the best horror movies I’ve seen since, well, maybe The Abandoned in 2006.
It takes place in the 1970s, in a suburb of Stockholm where 12-year old Oscar lives with his divorced mother in a dreary apartment. Oscar is bullied in school but finds a friend and ally in Eli, a girl who moves in next door. But Eli is not a girl (this much is revealed early on). And she says she is 12 like Oscar but that she’s been 12 for a very long time. Like him she appears to live with one parent, but it is not her father (something only Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman didn’t get) it’s a creepy sugar daddy. While the friendship or romance between Oscar and Eli grows, a series of murders take place in the area by someone who drains his victims of their blood. Gradually Oscar finds out what’s going on…
Genre-wise, this film blends horror with drama, something that is rarely attempted but which in the past has produced really great films like Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, Pan’s Labyrinth and The Innocents. This film isn’t quite on that level but not far off, maybe on par with The Innocents. Its strength lies in its realism. Both on a psychological and mundane level it looks and feels very real; there is no pulp or campiness to distract the viewer. Instead you’re drawn into it by the beautiful cinematography and melancholic music, and of course, the fate of the characters.
The actors are very good by Swedish standards, although this is the films weak spot. Swedes just aren’t good actors. But Lina Leandersson (who judging by her looks isn’t all that Swedish) does a good job. Kåre Hedebrant who does the role of Oscar is not quite as good, but he his performance does not spoil the movie. Per Ragnar, who does Eli’s sugar daddy, is also good, mainly because he is kind of scary in real life too.
To summarize, this is a beautiful, creepy and touching film, unlike any vampire film you’ve seen before. It’s not a masterpiece but close enough to become a part of film history. So don’t wait for the sucky remake. Endure the subtitles – it’s well worth it.
Filed under: Arts & Culture, Entertainment, Movies & TV, The Paranormal | 4 Comments
In Pennsylvania an 11-year-old boy named Jordan Brown shoots his father’s new girlfriend in the back of the head with a shotgun. Although no one knows exactly how it happened the boy is now in jail charged with homicide. What strikes me as odd is the way the news media focus on the boy, “the little boy killer”, as FOX calls him, but shy away from the important questions in which the facts are known.
Like the fact that an 11-year-old is being tried as an adult and sent off to jail. Where do you draw the line, 10, 9… 4? Some states have no age limit for trying a child as an adult; technically the could put an infant on trial. How can this be? I’m not denying the boy did it; evidence seem pretty strong. But how much can you hold an 11-year-old accountable for?
And why is nothing said about the adults that so clearly are partially responsible for this? His dad for one. He gave his son the shotgun as a present. No parent with a minimum of sense would do such a thing. The gun manufacturers should also be held responsible. It turns out it was a specially designed shotgun for kids! The idea seems like something spawned at a survivalist boot camp. And let’s not forget the politicians and legislators who decided that it was okay to put this deadly toy on the market without it even needing to be registered.
That’s a whole bunch of adults who enabled this tragedy with their combined lack of judgement and/or intelligence. And yet all people see is a 11-year-old kid holding a gun, and off to jail he goes. Justice served?
Filed under: Crime, Media, Society | 2 Comments
Tags: gun control, homicide, Jordan Brown, Pennsylvania
Recent Entries
- Enough with Jacko already
- DDR nostalgia – why do some people prefer totalitarianism?
- Film review: Knowing (2009)
- Why feminism makes women unhappy
- Janeane Garofalo and the pressing need for racism
- Film review: The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)
- How long will Obama live on his charisma?
- Yogurt, acid reflux and the Big Pharma conspiracy
- Film review: Let the Right One In (2008)
- First we give little Timmy a shotgun, then we try him as an adult
- What women want
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