Who Killed Michael Jackson?

No, I don't believe there was any foul play involved. It is less evident than that. The answer is we all killed Michael Jackson. The obsession with him by the public and, most assuredly, his father's push to make him a star lead him down the path that caused his untimely death on Thursday, June 25, 2009.

Thanks to my 7 year-old and his new found interest in Michael, I have spent the weekend watching the video retrospective on VH1 Classic. Looking back at Michael before the scandals and the newly elevated paparazzi culture, I could see the real Michael Jackson. He was a young man with an incredible talent, a talent that others profited from as much as he did. It has to be a lonely life to know that you have few, if any, people you can really trust. Everyone wanted a piece of Michael Jackson. While those around him are the most guilty of this, the public shares a piece. Along the way we lost sight of Michael's talent and focused on the scandals that plagued him at the turn of the millennium. I firmly believe that he never abused any children. Did he use poor judgment as a public figure? Yes! This came from the fact that he longed to recreate a childhood that he was denied by his rise to fame at a young age, a rise that his father orchestrated.

I was never a huge Michael Jackson fan, but his music is the soundtrack of my childhood. Who can forget the first time they saw the video for "Thriller?" This album is still the number one selling album of all time. Michael stand along side Elvis and The Beatles as the most influential artist of all time. All the pop records that we hear today are a result of what Michael Jackson did. Also of equal importance are the various humanitarian acts, including the $50 million dollars he raised with "We are the World." This single helped children in Africa at a time when others were turning a blind eye. These are the things that I hope Michael Jackson is remembered for. I believe we owe him at least that much for all that we took from him.

Congrats Mayor Don!

I almost feel stupid saying congratulation to Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic because there was never any question how this would turn out, and it seems silly to congratulate someone for some thing that should have never happened in the first place.

The people of Akron have spoken loudly with 75% against the recall. That margin is wonderful because it is a clear win and it shows that Akron found Warner Mendenhall to be a joke and a whiner. They were right on both accounts. But of course it is too much to hope for that Mendenhall will just ride off into the sunset and begin paying his taxes. Instead, we will have to hear from him, and his wife, as he begins her campaign for city council. Yippy!

Today the Joke is over

Today is the recall election in Akron. It is a joke. Mayor Don will be mayor in the morning and hopefully he can get on with the business of running the city without Mendenhall continuing to be a "pest." I am sure that we will have to hear from Warner that the Mayor stole this election. also. To that I say "blah, blah, blah."

On a more serious note, I am encouraging everyone to write their state rep. and senator to encourage them to stop the cuts to library funding that Gov. Strickland is proposing. Libraries are key to young people becoming readers. The research is clear that children who visit libraries regularly are better readers, do better in school, and choose to further their education. Libraries are especially key in lower socio-economic areas where the education of parents is often low. Children have an opportunity to get their hands on books when their parents either can't afford them or choose not to buy them. Here is a link to the Ohio House of Representative. There is a easy to use search tool on this page to help you find your rep. if you don't know who it is.

Enjoy the sunshine!

Obama and Notre Dame

Here is a news flash for all these people who are bitching about Obama speaking at Notre Dame's commencement - we have a separation of church and state. While I understand that Notre Dame is a Catholic institution and because of that has to reject the women's right to get an abortion, it should not preclude the President of the United States from speaking there. Now in Notre Dame's defense, I believe little of this is coming from the school but is, instead, coming from the Christian Right, including the jerk-off I just saw on MSNBC. This jerk-off said that letting Obama speak is promoting abortion. Yes, that is it. I have said this a thousand times. There is no such thing as pro-abortion. No one is encouraging people to get abortions. We are simply protecting a woman's right to choose. I find it so demeaning to think that these Christian Right people think that women go to an abortion clinic like it is a trip to McDonald's. This is a serious choice, which I would figure very few women take lightly. But, again, it is their choice.

The bottom line is the job of the President is to uphold the Constitution. That is what it says in the oath. He places his hand a Bible but swears to the Constitution. That Constitution gives me and every other woman in the country the right to seek an abortion, if we choose. There continues to be a debate about Obama's remarks during his campaign when he was asked by Rick Warren when life begins. Obama responded that answering that question was above his pay grade. I think that was the perfect answer. It is above his pay grade and the paid grade of every other mortal. Only God has the true answer to that. We can all have an opinion but that is one of life's mysteries that will never be solved. The one mystery that is not up for debate is who owns my uterus. I do and until we decide to abandon the idea of the separation between church and state, I would appreciate everyone keeping their Bible off of my uterus.

The Smell of Hipocracy Brings Me Back!

I have been on a posting hiatus for the semester due to a family emergency that made it impossible to keep up with blogging, teaching, and family.

However, I must speak out against my biggest pet peeve - hypocrisy. It seems like Mendenhall and the other jokers at Change Akron Now will have the necessary signatures to trigger a recall election. What a waste of tax payer money. Mayor Don will stay mayor, and the only thing we will have to show for this is wasted time and bad press for the city.

Of course, since Mendenhall seems to think that paying taxes is for the rest of us and doesn't apply to him, he doesn't seem to care about spending tax money. I, also, find it funny that he would care about how the mayor is spending everyone else's tax money. Hypocrite!

If I have to read another bullshit post on a blog or ohio.com about Mayor Don cheating in the last race I am going to flip my lid. This sounds like something my kindergartner says when he comes home from school. Are we really to believe that no media outlet in this city would have found this out if it happen? Oh, that is right. The media is in Don's back pocket, too. Give me a break. I have nothing but respect for the media people in this city. They are fair. If the mayor had broken campaign finance rules in the way Mendenhall claims, it would have been a lead story. The fact of the matter is Joe Finley was a crappy candidate, who has rejected the recall, and no one came out to vote because they knew there was less than a chance in hell that Joe would win. This is the reason why the recall is even possible. Had there been an election that Akron actually cared about, Mendenhall wouldn't have had a hope or a pray of getting the required number of signatures. Since so few people turned out, the number of required signatures was very low.

I am still in shock that this recall was even suggested. I have to rehash the reasons why this is so stupid. Out of the major cities in Ohio, Akron is the only one that isn't cutting services and losing jobs in droves. Over his time as Mayor, Akron has redeveloped itself from a Rust Belt nightmare into a modal of economic development. The neighborhoods in Akron look better than they have in the 30+ years I have lived in this area. Overall, Akron is a pretty nice place to live.

Beside the factors above, there is the fact that Don has made a name for himself across the country and the world. That takes travel. Travel that gets things done for this city. Would Mendenhall advocate just sitting back and hoping that jobs and federal money finds its way to us through osmosis? That is not the way it happens. Good politicians know that you have to lobby for these things and the best way to do that is in person. I have reviewed the spending reports, and I don't see anything out of order. People eat when they are way from home. People fly places. People stay in hotels. I wouldn't expect the Mayor to travel like a pauper. It looks bad for the city. He could be staying at much fancier places and eating a fancier restaurant. If Mendenhall was capable of running a successful business, he would know that many important things are discussed over lunch. It is part of the business world.

I believe that the people involved in this recall are people who blame their life's misfortunes on others when the reality is they have made bad choices (See the poster child - Warner Mendenhall). Much of it is a lack of education. Maybe some of it is bad luck, but I am pretty sure none of it is the fact that Mayor Don flew to Germany one too many times.