jesse jackson is on the scene. he is speaking for michael jackson's family, saying they want a second autopsy. jackie mason once said that jesse had a map to every tragedy in the world. he may have a point.

why do we need to know that the jackson family wants a second autopsy? why do we need to know who is going to get the children? then there are the pain meds, and the various doctors who prescribed them, and the debts, and so on. and the thing is, we don't really care, for if we did, we wouldn't have created a world where so many people need to be medicated. in the end, it's all just something to do. it's really all about us. it keeps us occupied, like the oj trial, or a presidential election. it keeps us from thinking about starving children. we have no answers to the real problems, so we focus on an alternative set of concerns. then, we get to blame and scapegoat and debate...who should keep the children? was he really a child molester? was he trying to become white? whatever comes to mind, there are a million others thinking the same things, as a way to keep from thinking about more important matters.

it's all happened before. we waste millions on sporting events and hair products and viagra and plastic surgeries and movies, while millions go without food and water and housing. as the four tops remind us, it's the same old song. but sadly, with the same meaning since mj's been gone. of course, sinatra tells us it's the same old song and dance, but since i have three left feet, i decided to quote the tops tune. an even better group was the four bottoms, but sadly, ed sullivan would only film them from the waste up.

so, where do we go from here? where is there to go?

well, we can talk about who should get the children. i don't mean to sound cold, but who cares about the children? i mean, really cares about them? not this orchestrated media jerk off shit, but a real concern? and if we are concerned about these three children, what about the millions of children who are starving, or have diseases, or are being bombed by our hero war criminals? does iraq not have children? are there not children in pakistan? are the ghettoes in detroit and philly not filled with children worthy of our concern and care? what of the hungry young ones in africa, asia, and latin america? have we no compassion for them? it's a shame these children lost a father, but they will be given every possible advantage compared to most of humanity. i don't envy them, but their plight does not rank highly on any decent list of tragedies. and by the way, whatever happened to anna nicole smith's child? remember her lawyer, a fellow by the name of howard stern? it's always about the child, at least when it's the child of a dead celebrity. or when it's an unborn fetus. then, some of us may just need to kill born doctors to show our love for all things living.

yes, the state of our culture has been on my mind a lot these last couple of days. perhaps a similar disdain for our bruised and battered world led a friend of tilberg's to say, on mj's passing, "i'm happy for him."

"i'm happy for him."

yeah, i hear it.