Michael Jackson's fashion is pure fascism

Okay, so I'm probably the very last person to notice this, but Michael Jackson's style is a page taken straight from Pinochet's playbook. Take an objective look - epaulets, armbands, sashes - they're all military-inspired at best and dictator-inspired at worst:

This is a picture of Mike around the time of his trial in 2005 wearing his typical armband - whose fascist connotations I don't think I really even have to get into - and the Order of Vienna medal. Other medals that he supposedly wears are antiques from WWI, WWII, and the Civil War.



Here's a performance from Super Bowl XXVII which explicitly evokes military imagery. The outfit he's wearing is pretty similar to the one he - well, the statute of him - is wearing on the cover of HIStory.

I mean, it could be a totally innocuous fashion sensibility, a method of promoting an album or two. Dude isn't the first musical act to evoke military and fascism in their image, but he is the only one, to my knowledge, to achieve such massive popularity, to not reference it somewhat ironically in his music, and to use it consistently over the course of his career (and even now, with his career over). If I really wanted to go into it, I'd reference the fascist efficiency of his tunes or the subliminal appeal of fascism and how he incorporated it into pop music. Or you could just say the he's clearly afflicted with major mental illnesses and grandeur is just one symptom among many. But it's late and I'm lazy... so I'll just suggest these things for now.

Doug must be stopped

I really disliked Doug when he started winning a few Jeopardy games a while ago. I knew he would be back, and he is... with a vengance. He embodies everything I hate about Jeopardy contestants. He has a really annoying voice, an arrogant way of clicking the buzzer (hands always folded, buzzer tucked away behind his arms), a weird little flower, and an affected way of writing his name. Also, he's Canadian which isn't a bad thing in and of itself, but it gives him an unnatural advantage on the Canadian province questions. (Jeopardy never asks questions about Canadian history.)

Over the past two weeks, Jeopardy has been running its Tournament of Champions. The most annoying thing about Doug's current run (he'll be playing in the finals on Thursday and Friday) is the way he's totally backed into each of his wins. Last week and again today, he dipped into negative territory. Today he was over $10,000 down to the money leader and managed to get back within striking distance before winning the match by wagering less than anyone else. (Nobody got the Final Jeopardy correct.)

Twice, he's been nearly vanquished by his own tendency to make wild guesses only to be saved by a very fortunate streak. The players have one more chance to put an end to Doug's reign of terror. If only for my sake, please, please beat Doug.