Michael Jackson and Climate Change - Is There a Link?

I suppose I would be remiss in not commenting on some of the goings-on lately, though sometimes I want to live in my little bubble of blissful ignorance a little while longer and not really pay attention to things - or just altogether pretend they aren't happening.

First, holy cow, but a lot of people died this week. In addition to my sister-in-law's grandmother, on a national scale we had the deaths of Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and Michael Jackson. Is is just an Ozark saying that people die in threes? Call me superstitious, but it does seem to happen a lot. (Insert Twilight Zone theme music here)

Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon didn't really phase me. I was too young during the part of the 70's I was alive to be impacted by Charlie's Angles or the Farrah 'do. Of course it's tragic that she couldn't beat cancer even as a celebrity, but unfortunately it's a tragedy millions of non-famous Americans deal with daily. As far as Ed McMahon, I'm still trying to figure out what he did to make himself famous.

I was, on the other hand, a bit shocked when I'd heard of Michael Jackson's death, but not really surprised. With all the plastic surgery and who knows what else, it's not really unexpected that his heart would suffer the consequences. I was shocked simply because I thought the guy would never go away. That's not really meant to sound as callous as it does...I think MJ was a really talented guy, and it's been sad over the years seeing him sink lower and lower into what can only be described as a cesspool of madness and delusion. You have to wonder what happens to people as kids to make them such screwed-up adults. It's also obvious and sad that money and fame are the two things, as usual with our society, which kept him out of prison and were actually going to allow him to attempt a comeback. I'm currently temporarily without television, and I'm glad - I have a feeling all tv-watchers are getting hammered incessantly with the who, what, when, where, and whys of this situation, rehashed every which way.

Still, anyone who grew up during the 80's will think of MJ with a bit of fondness, for without him we wouldn't have been shocked and amused to find out his hair caught on fire while shooting that Pepsi commercial, and we wouldn't have ruined countless pairs of socks trying to moonwalk through the living room. (Chad, I'm talking to you.)

Meanwhile, the House VERY narrowly passed the so-called "climate-change bill." *sigh* You know, I want a clean environment as much as anyone. I'm very much an outdoors person, and it kills me seeing litter on the sides of the roads. I hate seeing clear-cuts for new housing developments. I've lectured, lectured, and lectured friends, family, and strangers alike on how irresponsible it is to throw cigarette butts out the car window or on the ground (you KNOW who you are). But, this idiotic excuse for a massive tax increase scares the living daylights out of me. In this administration's short time in office, we've seen government interference into the private sector where government doesn't belong on a scale never before imagined. Government is sticking it's nose into not only our private lives but our pocketbooks with no shame or apologies. All of a sudden, we've got a government-owned car company. We're discussing government-owned banks and government-owned health care. WHY do we think the government can do a better job than the private sector? I challenge anyone to name ONE thing they haven't screwed up. Take the government-run Post Office - it looses millions every year, yet prices for postage keeps going up. Now look at private-sector shipping companies such as UPS or FedEx - efficient, profitable companies - otherwise they wouldn't exist. Bottom line - you get results when you HAVE to make a profit to stay alive, and when you have competition.

But I've gotten off the subject - I was talking climate change bill. Let's forget for a second that, believe it or not, scientists still don't even agree that greenhouse gasses cause climate change...and a rising number of them are now saying that they don't. Personally, I'm not really sure what I believe, but what I DO know that in the earth's history it's been through many heating/cooling cycles without our help. This bill is a perfect, very un-Constitutional example of what this administration believes is appropriate - controlling citizens and changing behavior through taxation. In a nutshell, this bill will tax and put major restrictions on all energy deemed not "green" enough. Don't get me wrong - I DO think we need cleaner energy - I just don't think this is the way to do it. It's my understanding that renewable energy sources just haven't evolved to the point of being as viable or as cheap as gas, coal, and oil. This is going to hit EVERY American right in the wallet, at a time where our economy is struggling. Likely we will use less energy, but it will be forced upon us. I guess we'll just have to see how things play out for now.

On that note, I'm going to get on my gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing lawnmower and mow the yard while I still can. I assume soon we'll all be using scissors. Or goats. Oh wait - no - goats emit methane. Scissors it will be.

You may all now commence trying to moonwalk.