Michael Jackson Died Last Week

Michael Jackson died last week. Before that, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon passed. And afterwards, Billy Mayes, the television pitchman for thousands of products, went to sleep and never woke up. Meanwhile, the government in Iran issued harsh repurcussions against protesters who took to the streets following the "re-election" of the much-reviled Ahmadinejad. Bernie Madoff got 150 years for relieving investors of hundreds of millions of dollars in a Ponzi scheme that spanned decades. And the Supreme Court ruled in favor of white, New Haven firefighters who claimed that they were victims of reverse discrimination after being denied promotions based on a test that they passed and African Americans failed. Uh, what? You pass a promotions exam and aren't promoted because you passed the test and somebody else doesn't? Good for the Supreme Court for showing some balls. There is still racism in this country but it works both ways. Things are still far from equal but cheating people out of well-deserved promotions to satisfy appearances or a sense of political correctness only intensifies misunderstandings and anger, while widening the racial gap. The new nominee to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotameyer, was one of the original judges ruling against the firefighters in the lower courts. I think that, if elected to the Supreme Court, she'll interpret the law based on her personal experiences, and while she'll undoubtedly try and be impartial, I just don't believe she's the right person for the job. But, I hope that a suitable replacement is found soon, and that he or she is more open-minded than some of the justices currently serving (ummm, like maybe Scalia), regardless of race or gender.

The rain has temporarily stopped and I am ending this rambling missive and going to the gym.