HALLOWEEN 2022

In Brazil, the voting public, as in the USA, returned to the presidency an old-time liberal politician, kicking out the ultra-conservative miscreant, another Donald Trump.  Not to say that the new president is the equivalent of Joe Biden, for Luiz Inácio LULA da Silva was a former president who was convicted of graft and served 580 days in jail.  He is 77, and Biden was elected to the White House at the same age.  

Lula just this May got married for the third time, to a 55-year old sociologist.  About incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, he is the model of Trump, with integrity and conspiracy problems, also blaming the loss on crooked counting.  The results were close, with Lula getting less than 51% and Jair more than 49%.  Certainly, Bolsonaro will maintain a Trump-like effort to legally or illegally maintain power.  I don't think, for example, that he has yet conceded.  Also, he has been blamed for mishandling the pandemic.  Brazil is #2 to the USA in total COVID-19 deaths.

Halloween does come with candy, but the backdrop is a range of scary human emotions.  Never before had this "celebration" gone so far as to kill more than 150 and injure another 150 or so, as what happened in Itaewon, South Korea.  I go there virtually every time I visit the country.  Halloween is not a big deal in the country, for there is no trick-or-treating.  However, Korea recently removed restrictions, and this was the first opportunity for party-goers to publicly celebrate.  Halloween costumes were aplenty in the deadly stampede  There were 137 police officers already present, and Itaewon is not all that spread out.

In another part of the world, Saudi Arabia once banned Halloween. This year, the government sponsored a “horror weekend.”  Just another measure to modernize the country.  Riyadh was crowded with people wearing spooky outfits.  But no crush of people.

What is this? 

Well, it's Halloween, and on the left is Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly reimagined as Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee.  Frankly, I am only vaguely familiar with Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, and certainly haven't the faintest idea who Megan Fox is, nor Machine Gun Kelly.  So I googled, and now you too know who they are if you click on those links.

As must know by now, today is Halloween, a tradition supposedly originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain 2000 years or so years ago, when bonfires were lit and people wore costumes.  

• This celebration first came to the U.S.in the 1840's when Irish immigrants escaped their potato famine.  Coincidentally, there is an Irish practice where going door-to-door to collect soul cakes and offerings for dead relatives was traditional.  Failure to supply a treat could result in some practical joke.  Even the Jack-o'-lantern can be linked to Irish folklore. 
• Thus the pumpkin industry in the U.S.  
• The first official citywide celebration was held in Anoka, Minnesota in 1921.  
• People will this year spend $5 billion just for Halloween costumes.

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