Train in India Hits Elephants

Photograph: The Daily Mail

“Train in India Hits Elephants Crossing Track” (NYT, 11/15/13) may be the saddest story reported this year. There have been many terrible stories. Certainly the carnage following the typhoon in the Philippines is a constantly unfolding Pandora’s Box of horrors. Add to that the case of Ariel Castro (“Death in Prison of  Man Who Held Ohio Women Captive Prompts Investigations, NYT, 9/4/13)  and the kidnapped girls in Cleveland, the young woman recently shot in the face in Chicago (“Fatal Shooting of Black Woman Outside Detroit Stirs Racial Tensions," NYT, 11/14/13), the 9 year old boy killed (“Boy, 9, Is Killed by S.U.V. in Brooklyn,” NYT, 11/2/13) when a SUV jumped the curb in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, the twisters that recently reeked havoc in the Midwest. Add to that the suffering that still lies in the wake of Sandy and the fact that there are people in New York and New Jersey whose lives have still not returned to a semblance of normality (one displaced family was reported eking out an existence cramped into a Times Square hotel room where they have subsisted on fast food). Rob Ford continues to provide comic relief as North American’s resident Falstaff and George Zimmerman keeps getting arrested. The power of poetry is that it contains eternity in a finite number of words. The elephants are like poetry. The image of them being destroyed epitomizes both the sentiments of helplessness and senselessness which is the essence of pure tragedy. In addition elephants are large and stately, fitting the Aristotelian view of tragedy, which alludes to the fall of a person of greatness. What could be a greater representation of the greatness itself than the elephant? There was one female elephant who the Times said literally “fell into a ravine below the tracks." The Times quoted a statement Hiten Burman West Bengal’s forestry minister gave to the Associated Press to the effect that “The herd scattered but returned to the railroad tracks and stood there for quite some time before they were driven away by forest guards.” The image is awful and yet also creates its own brand of awe. “More than 26,000 elephants are believed to live in India, where they are closely associated with the Hindu god of wisdom,” was how the Times writer Hari Kumar began his concluding paragraph.

The Rob Ford Center

Miami-Dade County Mug Shot of Rob Ford Upon Arrest for DUI  Charges in l999

Gerald Ford never had a Ford dealership named after him, but there is a Betty Ford Center. Now the question is, is there a Rob Ford Center lurking in the future of the beleaguered Toronto mayor? As everyone knows Rob Ford was videotaped smoking crack, which, when you think of it, is probably a first for the mayor of a major metropolis on the continent of North America. New York was a wide open city during the administration of Abe Beame during the 70’s. New York’s infrastructure was crumbling (an infamous Daily News Headline read “Ford to City: Drop Dead”) and flesh was cheap, but City Hall was not a crack house. The question is what do Toronto’s inhabitants see in Rob? Well for one he’s a strong willed individual who blames his problems with crack on drink. If he hadn’t been drinking he wouldn’t have smoked crack. Rob’s mother and sister suggest solving the problem by putting a breathalyzer in his car. Ostensibly, the breathalyzer would enable Rob to monitor himself so that he didn't get shit-faced enough to smoke crack. The National Post (“Rob Ford’s Mother Thinks Her Son’s Biggest Problem Is His Weight,” 11/7/13) commented thusly, “Diane and Kathy Ford said Mayor Ford needs to lose weight, get a breathalyzer to start his car and see a counselor, but he doesn’t need to go to rehab and he doesn’t need to resign.” If Rob Ford ever has a clinic named after him, this then could be one of the treatments. On the basis of Ford’s own behavior, it would be a unique clinic for heavy drinkers who don't want to face the consequences of their actions. Those who attended The Rob Ford Center would learn how to drink without smoking crack. Patients who liked to do controlled drunk driving would also be offered their own personalized breathalyzer.