The start to the new year has been pretty eventful. With internationally important and not-so-internationally-important people saying and doing not-so-commendable things. Here are the top three:
Thumbs down to François Hollande. The French president was recently caught with his pants down and helmet on. The whole world was privy to his affair with mistress French actress Julie Gayet thanks to pictures published by Closer magazine, showing the 59-year-old man on a two-wheeler visiting a flat in Paris… apparently Gayet’s. Meanwhile, his partner and first lady (though it’s never been official as they aren’t married, her status is all the more unclear now) Valérie Trierweiler is still recovering from depression and shock in a hospital. No surprise that Hollande has threatened legal action against the magazine and that he addressed a press conference yesterday requesting privacy and stating that it was a “painful and difficult” time for him and Trierweiler. I can’t help but say that those who live in glass houses — and even those who don’t, for that matter — must stay away from other bedrooms and other women. And juvenile it may be, but “Cheater, cheater!”
Thumbs down to Pope Francis. For comparing abortion to food wastage. He criticised the reigning “throwaway culture” that discarded not only food and disposable objects but human beings too. According to the man, abortion is “horrific”. Well, what I’d like to tell the former nightclub bouncer is that there are more horrific things than the act of abortion itself. For one, bringing an unwanted child into the world — which could well be the result of rape or contraception carelessness — and failing to provide for the child due to financial, emotional or psycho-sociological issues. Food wastage, however, does figure on the list of horrific things plaguing today’s world.
Thumbs down to the rage within that can drive our society to insane degrees of violence. What must have gone though 71-year-old Curtis Reeves’ mind when he shot 40-something Florida resident Chad Oulson dead in a movie hall for texting during the film? Apparently, his text message concerned his three-year-old daughter (and could actually been important). We could point fingers at our cellphone-dependent, or even cellphone-obsessed society. But that’s how we’ve evolved (obviously, not all evolution is good). Sure, the blinding light emanating from a mobile phone screen in an almost pitch-dark movie is annoying and distracting, but murder? Seriously?
Image courtesy: Reuters
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