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When Michael Jackson anointed himself “King of Pop” over two decades ago, there was considerable rumbling about his hubris: Yes, he may have become a world sensation with record-setting sales of “Thriller,” and yes, he may have had a string of No. 1 hits with smashes like “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” but the KING OF ALL POP MUSIC?

Surely, in a modern music history that has given us Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder and so many musical greats, that title was a more than a bit inflated.

But in actuality, Jackson understated his significance.

While his elaborate, stop-on-a-dime dance moves and sensual soprano may have influenced generations of musicians, Michael Jackson stood for much more than the pop greatness — or tabloid weirdness. One of entertainment’s greatest icons, he was a ridiculously gifted, equally troubled genius who kept us captivated — at his most dazzling, and at his most appalling.

At the height of his fame, he was among the world’s most beloved figures. Heads of state clamored to meet him, screen legends like Elizabeth Taylor were his close friends, and worldwide, simply the mention of his name could make people do the moonwalk, from Los Angeles to Laos (The New York Times once accurately described him as one of the six most famous people on the planet).

His whispery, high-pitched speaking voice was constantly imitated, his fedora hat on his lean frame instantly recognizable, his childlike image endearing.

He influenced artists ranging from Justin Timberlake to Madonna, from rock to pop to R&B to even rap, across genres and groups that no other artist was able to unite. He changed music videos with “Thriller” in 1983, still considered by most to be the greatest music video ever made. Stars like Beyonce still mimic his moves. His one glove, white socks and glittery jackets made him a fashion trendsetter, making androgyny seem sexy and even safe.

Almost everyone wanted that Michael Jackson connection (and those who didn’t were afraid to say so out loud). His celebrity and adoration was staggering.

So when his image began to crumble, becoming twisted and disturbed, that aspect, too, was larger than life. His multiple plastic surgeries and his vitiligo illness, which saw him transform from a masculine looking black man to a wispy, pale-faced, almost noseless figure, was held up as the standard for bad plastic surgery, a freakish-looking character.

His eccentric behavior left people confused, and when allegations (and later criminal charges) that accused him of sexually molesting two separate boys surfaced on two separate occasions, people were repelled by his alleged behavior and the man that their former idol had become.

And yet, it was hard to look away.

In the early days, no one wanted to. Jackson came into our public consciousness as an impossibly cute preteen wonder in 1969, an unbelievably precocious singer of his family band, The Jackson 5. The soon-to-be Motown legend channeled songs like “I Want You Back,” and “I’ll Be There” with a passion and soulfulness that belied his young years. Even then, his dance moves, copped from the likes of James Brown and Jackie Wilson, were exquisite, and his onstage presence outshining season veterans.

The spotlight began to dim when he entered his late teens, however, and while he still had R&B hits with the Jacksons, it seemed as if he would never recapture the pop success that he burst onto the scene with as a child.

But then he met Quincy Jones, and the musical landscape changed. With the legendary producer, Jackson crafted what for most artists would be a career-defining album, from the string-enhanced disco classic “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough,” a party staple which he wrote, to the bitter ballad “She’s Out of My Life.” The best-selling CD showed the world a grown-up Michael Jackson with grown-up artistry, showcasing his breathy alto-soprano voice and providing a springboard to his early videos, which gave a glimpse of the dance wizardry to come.

At the time, it was Jackson’s music that was front and center. A 21-year-old who spoke in a breathy, high voice, still lived at home, had his first, barely noticeable nose job and was a self-claimed virgin in an industry known for his hedonism, he was certainly an odd figure, but his personal life had yet to become intertwined with his public image.

That began to change during “Thriller” — the album that would become his greatest success and his career-defining achievement. Also produced by Quincy Jones, it featured even more of Jackson’s songwriting talents; Selling more than 50 million albums worldwide to become the globe’s best-selling disc, it spawned seven Billboard top 10 hits, including two No. 1s with “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” won an then-unprecedented eight Grammy awards, and numerous other awards.

It was an impact was measured much more than in stats.

He broke the MTV’s color barrier, becoming the first artist played on the young, rock-oriented channel when the success of “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” became so overwhelming it could not be ignored. He also established the benchmark for the way videos would be made, with stunning cinematography, precision choreography that recalled great movie musicals. Jackson’s amazing talents as a dancer were also displayed to the world during his Emmy-nominated performance for Motown’s 25th anniversary, is still considered one of TV’s most thrilling moments, from his moonwalk strut to his pulsating pelvic movements.

But as Jackson’s fame grew, his eccentricities, from his strange affinity for children and all things childlike, to his at times asexual image to his fascination with plastic surgery, began to dull the shine off of his sparkling image. As the years went by, those “eccentricities” would become more bizarre, and completely tarnish it.

His skin, once a dark brown, became the color of paste, a transition he blamed on the skin disease vitiligo, though some believed he simply bleached his skin in order to appear more Caucasian. That belief was rooted in his frequent plastic surgeries, which whittled his nose from a broad frame to an almost impossibly narrowed bridge. His image was a tough one to look at, much yet embrace.

If his plastic surgery made him disturbingly unwatchable, soon, allegations of child abuse would make him reviled among many. He was first accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 1993; no charges were ever filed, a civil lawsuit was settled out of court and he always maintained his innocence. Although he had a chart-topping album with “HIStory” in 1995 and was still a superstar, he was a damaged one — and would never fully recover from the allegation.

A criminal charge of molestation of another young boy 2004, which resulted in his acquittal in 2005, further stripped his marketability and his legacy; after the trial ended, he went into seclusion, and while top hitmakers from Ne-Yo to Akon courted him to make new music, no new CD was ever released. He was overwhelmed with legal and financial troubles, with what seemed like weekly lawsuits against him seeking money owed.

A comeback seemed to be most unlikely. His reputation was considered irreparably damaged, his image mocked and his name an automatic punchline. But when he announced he’d be doing a series of comeback concerts at London’s famed O2 Arena in London, not only did the initial dates sell out immediately, the demand was so insatiable he was signed on for an unprecedented 50 shows, and was expected to embark on a worldwide tour sometime after the concert series was complete in March.

Of course, there will be no comeback now, no Jackson 5 reunion, no new music to share with millions of fans. But the legacy he leaves behind is so rich, so deep, that no scandal can torpedo it. The “Thriller” may be gone, but the thrill will always remain.

Gazing upon the cliff and glacier-strewn east coast of Canada’s Baffin Island, Dr. Garth D. Jackson squints as he locates himself on the tattered map in his hand. He is standing on a cruise ship deck, and the map of Canada’s High Arctic—which Jackson, 79, helped research decades ago—flaps in the breeze. His memories of the island before him have faded somewhat over time, like the map’s yellowing paper, but there are certain glaring changes to the landscape.

“Some of the glaciers have obviously receded,” said Jackson, an intermittent member of the Canadian Geological Survey from 1965 through 1994. “A lot of Baffin Island’s valley glaciers are still there, but they don’t come as close to the water. And they’re not as thick. Rocks poke through the middle of them, and it wasn’t like that before.”

Jackson retraced some of his decades-old footsteps by chartering an Adventure Canada cruise ship with his family and roughly 90 other passengers. They admired bowhead whales and polar bears from the ship’s deck, explored the many fjords of Baffin Island and made stops ashore to hike the tundra, look for wildlife and visit local communities. There are other trips, too, including one that crosses the fabled Northwest Passage and retraces the paths of some of the world’s most notable (and ill-fated) explorers.

Many of those storied adventurers would not recognize the terrain as it looks now. Climate change, due mostly to the burning of fossil fuels, is leaving a noticeable footprint on Baffin Island and the surrounding area’s fragile ecosystem. Locals find the weather to be increasingly erratic, and many of the glaciers—which are an integral part of animal, plant and human survival in the area—are melting at an unprecedented rate.

For example, some of the Devon Island glaciers, which are West of Baffin Island, are receding at up to almost a mile each year, according to Dr. Martin Sharp, professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta. And though the glacier reduction is significant here, it’s even more extreme to the south, in British Columbia and Alberta, which have the nation’s most spectacular ecotourism destinations and, in B.C.’s case, will host the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The mountains obviously aren’t going to fall, but the receding glaciers will set off a chain of reactions that could dramatically change the area’s landscape and ecosystem. The unique beauty of all of these snow-filled places might not be there in a generation. So now is the time to visit these spectacular locales—to experience first-hand the panoramic views of emerald-tinted lakes and glacier-tipped mountains, and to see the impact that climate warming is having on our planet.

One of the most comfortable and luxurious ways to appreciate Western Canada’s spectacular scenery is aboard one of Rocky Mountaineer’s trains, which offer huge windows that extend across the cars’ ceilings. Riding from Banff to Vancouver and Jasper to Vancouver are among the company’s most popular trips.

See our slideshow of Top 10 Glacier Getaways in North America.

Similarly, driving the Yukon’s Top of the World Highway is an amazing way to cross the Arctic Circle’s 66th Parallel while in the comfort of a reclining car seat. The trip offers stunning vistas of untouched wilderness that stretch for hundreds of miles.

For a slightly bumpier and more adventurous ride, grab a seat in a tundra buggy—essentially a small bus with monster-truck tires—as it ventures around Churchill, Manitoba. Though some consider Churchill to be the Epcot Center of polar bear exploration, it is truly one of the world’s best spots for photographing polar bears in the wild.

Revelstoke, B.C. is a popular destination for some of Canada’s best helicopter-accessed terrain for skiing and hiking, and many are drawn to Whistler-Blackcomb’s Horstman Glacier, which is open for skiing even through the dog-days of summer. Some, however, prefer a more rustic approach such as hiking and fly-fishing in Vancouver Island’s picturesque Strathcona Park or helping to lead a real cattle drive in Alberta.

And, of course, there are the many posh, hot water spring spas of Banff, Alberta and Jasper, Alberta, which offer a seemingly endless list of restful treatments that will soothe any ecotourist’s tired muscles.

These pristine, glacier-laden corners of Canada are still there to be appreciated—for now. There is a beauty and serenity to their landscapes that’s unlike anywhere else on the planet, and many visitors develop a fascination and appreciation that they keep for life.

“I’m a little nostalgic,” Jackson said, looking over the Baffin Island shoreline and the blue-green Arctic water lapping at the icebergs. “I worked where things hadn’t been named before. Everything I found was something new. It feels good. It gets into your blood.”

Enough gloom and doom: There’s a prediction from a leading color source that cheerful and sunny yellow will be the influential color of 2009.

Pantone, which provides color standards to design industries, specifically cites “mimosa,” a vibrant shade of yellow illustrated by the flowers of some mimosa trees as well as the brunch-favorite cocktail, as its top shade of the new year. In general, Pantone expects the public to embrace many tones of optimistic yellow.

“I think it’s just the most wonderful symbolic color of the future,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “It’s invariably connected to warmth, sunshine and cheer — all the good things we’re in dire need of right now.”

In the spring fashion collections previewed earlier in the fall for retailers and editors, pops of yellow brightened the runways of Carolina Herrera, who called her favorite shade marigold, Badgley Mischka, Zac Posen and Michael Kors, among others. Kors even included a retro yellow polka-dot bikini that clearly harkened back to a more upbeat time.

The fashion world first embraced orange a few years ago and that has evolved into yellow, which had already been gaining popularity in the home market, too.

“People know yellow lightens up the atmosphere,” Eiseman says.

Home-goods companies based in Paris and Milan, Italy, have already been heavily influenced by yellow, says Tom Mirabile, vice president of global trends and design at Lifetime Brands, Inc., whose portfolio includes Cuisinart, Farberware and Pfaltzgraff.

It helps that it looks good in florals and has a close association with nature, a driving force in the marketplace right now, and it complements current favorites green and purple. (In 2008, “blue iris,” a purple-tinged blue, was color of the year.)

“I’d say you should get used to seeing yellow in places you’re not used to seeing it,” Eiseman says.

Ukraine and Poland pledged here on Monday to solve their many problems in jointly hosting the 2012 European Championship.

“We will approach 2009 as a single team and will get all cities ready for Euro 2012 in a responsible fashion,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Vasyunik told a news conference after talks with visiting Polish Sports Minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki.

“Our new structure gives us reason to believe that we will forma unified team to tackle all tasks in 2009 and in staging the tournament,” said Vasyunik.

Vasyunik said the main issue weighing down Ukrainian organizers had been resolved: increased financing to renovate the stadium in Kiev, due to host the final, and start building a facility in the western city of Lviv.

He added that work was under way to upgrade Kiev’s international airport.

“We have seen considerable progress in the relations between our two sides to do away with critical problems,” Drzewiecki said.

Preparations in Ukraine have been heavily criticized by UEFA and others. Officials dissolved an agency overseeing preparations and formed instead a 50-member “coordinating bureau” directly responsible to the government.

Beneath the once tough family planning policy, there have appeared a measure of soft touch. “Private chat room” has become more and more popular among country women. There, they are free to talk with doctors on puberty care, premarital hygiene, wedding night experience, gestation health, contraception, menopause care, and prenatal and postnatal care.
Even traffic police have begun to show some gentilesse in traffic control. Such rude slogans as “Violations shall be punished” have totally disappeared. In their place are such eye- catching banners inscribed with “No haste, just take a break when red light’s on” and “A good measure of care would put your family full at ease” and other slogans to caution drivers.
In remote Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the regional government has decided earlier this year to allow employees to go and visit their inland family and relatives with pay every three years instead of four formerly.
Even the once banned lottery has occupied a place in the people’s life. Welfare lottery and sports lottery have created quite a number of upstarts with the windfalls while beefing up the welfare undertakings for the handicapped and sports facilities.
The government has worked out a package of incentives to encourage people to spend their money and improve their life instead of urging them to zip up their purses and tighten their belts while the government is going all out to advocate for thrifty government spending.
“A nation full of human interest and sentiments makes people feel happy from the bottom of their hearts,”, said NPC deputy Chi Li,who is a well-known woman novelist. “China is moving rapidly toward this direction.”

Inflationary pressure and economic uncertainty further undermined consumer confidence in the first quarter of the year, a widely watched index showed Wednesday.

The National Bureau of Statistics said the consumer confidence index dropped 1.7 percentage points to 94.8 from the fourth quarter of last year, a signal consumers’ willingness to open their wallets is waning. In February, confidence slid to an 18-month low of 94.3 when inflation gained 8.7 percent, a 12-year record high.

An index measuring shoppers’ confidence in the economy also declined slightly to 90.8 from 92.5 in the fourth quarter of last year, when another index measuring consumers’ outlook for the next three months declined to 97.5 from 99.1.

Zhuang Jian, an economist with the Asian Development Bank said: “Concerns about inflation and uncertainty about the economy have cast a cloud over consumer confidence.

“The sluggish stock market also forced consumers to tighten their purse strings because of the depreciated financial investment.”

Consumer inflation has been on the rise since last year, largely due to soaring food prices. Mounting inflationary pressure then caused the government to adopt a slew of austerity measures to dampen investment and cool down the economy.

Combined with the turmoil in the international financial market, the move is now creating concerns the world’s fourth-largest economy might undergo a major slowdown this year.

The uncertain outlook has triggered a slide in the local stock market. Since the beginning of the year, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index has shed about 40 percent, partly due to concerns about the profitability of listed companies in a weakened economy.

“The drop in consumer confidence is still moderate, and the potential consumption decline in the coming months is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the overall economy,” Zhuang said.

Currently, consumption accounts for less than 50 percent of China’s economic growth, compared to about 70 percent in the United States.

“Once inflationary pressures ease, consumer confidence may pick up again,” Zhuang said.

World No 2 Annika Sorenstam will make her maiden appearance in a professional tournament in China when the Swede competes in the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open from Oct 30 to Nov 2.

The event, tri-sanctioned by the Ladies Asian Golf Tour (LAGT), Ladies European Tour (LET) and the China Golf Association, will have special significance for the former world No 1 as this will be the final time that she will compete in a professional tournament, having announced that she is stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the season.

The event will offer the prize purse of 200,000 euros ($290,385) and will be held at Suzong Taihu International Golf Club, in Jiangsu province.

“I’m delighted to be coming over to play in the first ever Ladies European Tour event in China. Having started my professional career in Europe, I feel a very strong bond with the Tour and to be able to share this historic moment with my fellow European players is a big thrill,” Sorenstam said.

“It’s great also to see that the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open 2008 is a true international event with not only competitors from the Ladies European Tour but also a large number from Asia, and particularly from China. China represents the future and I would love to see women’s golf develop strongly there.”

“We’re delighted that the Ladies European Tour is coming to China,” said Zhang Xiaoning, deputy chairman and secretary-general of the China Golf Association. “And we’re particularly proud that one of the all time great players in women’s golf, Annika Sorenstam, will compete. It presents Chinese lady professionals with some really tough competition and will be a great motivation for them to raise their performance to the highest level.”

“It’s our first event ever in China and will be a historic occasion for us,” Alex Armas, executive director of the Ladies European Tour said. “At a time of year when the weather in Europe is turning against us, it’s important to be able to extend the Tour’s season and give our players an opportunity to come here to compete.”

LAGT chief executive Aylwin Tai welcomed the new event and thanked Suzong Taihu International Golf Club for its foresight in sponsoring this event.

“The LAGT events are getting bigger and bigger. We need to elevate the status and prestige of LAGT,” he said. “We have been very successful as a few players on our Tour have already chalked up victories in the US LPGA and Japan LPGA, and also did relatively well in the LET tournaments.”

Wall Street headed toward a lower open Wednesday, as investors try to assess how bad the global economic slump is and worry about the trend in consumer spending.

The market, which fell for the second-straight session on Tuesday, will get an update from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on the government’s financial rescue package at 10:30 a.m. EST. There are no major economic reports due to be released during the session.

There was fresh evidence that the financial crisis is causing consumers to tighten their purse strings.

Department store operator Macy’s Inc. reported a loss of $44 million for the third quarter as results were weighed down by charges related to a consolidation of several divisions. The consumer electronics chain Best Buy Co. cut 2009 guidance on fears that consumer spending will erode even further.

A big drop in consumer spending is a major concern since it drives more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy. Investors are also awaiting the government’s retail sales figures on Friday and earnings from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Thursday.

Battered shares of the top U.S. automakers might again come under pressure. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants Congress to support a financial bailout for the troubled U.S. auto industry, which is suffering under the weight of poor sales, tight credit and a sputtering economy.

President-elect Obama, when he met with President Bush at the White House on Monday, urged Bush to support aid for struggling automakers, and Democrats in Congress have begun drafting legislation that would give General Motors, Ford and Chrysler access to $25 billion of the rescue funds.

Dow futures shed 59, or 0.69 percent, to 8,578. Standard & Poor’s 500 futures dropped 4.60, or 0.52 percent, to 888.40. Nasdaq 100 index futures stumbled 10.20, or 0.84 percent, to 1,212.80.

On Tuesday, the Dow fell nearly 180 points as it became clearer to investors that it’s going to be hard to rely on the average consumer to pull the economy out of its downturn. The market also closed lower amid similar concerns on Monday.

Government bond prices, which did not trade Tuesday because of Veterans Day, moved higher as investors looked for safer investments. The three-month Treasury bill’s yield fell to 0.21 percent from 0.22 percent late Monday, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.74 percent from 3.76 percent late Monday.

Lower yields indicate stronger demand.

Crude slipped below $59 a barrel Wednesday on the growing realization that global economic growth next year will slow more than originally feared, cutting demand for crude products such as gasoline. Light, sweet crude was down 85 cents to $58.48 a barrel, after earlier falling as low as $58.55, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In corporate news, American Express Co. is said to be seeking about $3.5 billion from the U.S. government to help boost its balance sheet, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the situation. AmEx, the No. 4 U.S. credit card issuer, won approval Monday from the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company.

Prudential Financial Inc. said late Tuesday its 2008 annual dividend will be roughly half of what it paid out to shareholders last year. The insurer said it will pay a dividend of 58 cents per share on Dec. 19 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 24. Last year, the company paid a dividend of $1.15 per share.

After the closing bell, semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials Corp. and Computer Sciences Corp., an information technology outsourcing firm, are also set to report.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei closed down 1.29 percent and Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 0.73 percent. In European trading, London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.52 percent, Germany’s DAX fell 0.22 percent, and France’s CAC-40 added 0.11 percent.

The 42-year-old from Wisconsin rallied on the back-nine for a one-shot victory in the Zurich Classic on Sunday — exactly 200 starts from the last time he picked up the champion’s check.

“It can’t feel much better than to win a golf tournament,” Kelly said as he polished off a tray of charbroiled oysters that his favorite New Orleans restaurant delivered after the win.

Kelly, who combined a week of restaurant hopping with golf, dropped in a 2 1/2-foot putt on 18 to earn $1.1 million, an exemption through 2011, and invitations to the Masters, World Golf Championships and the Mercedes-Benz Championship.

“This has been a long time coming,” Kelly said.

Kelly went into the final round with a three-stroke lead and offset bogeys on No. 8 and No. 10 with birdies on Nos. 5, 11 and 14 for a 1-under 71. He finished at 14-under 274, ahead of Charles Howell, Rory Sabbatini (67) and Charlie Wi (68).

Howell took advantage of Kelly’s mid-round stumble with one of his six birdies on 11, which gave him a two-stroke lead. But bogeys at the 15th and 17th left him with a 68 on the day.

“It’s frustrating,” said Howell. “I got up to 15, and had every chance to do it. I just couldn’t finish it off.”

Kelly, an admitted leaderboard watcher, said seeing Howell take the lead at No. 11 took some of the pressure off him.

“You know, it wasn’t my tournament to lose anymore,” Kelly said. “It was my tournament to go get. And that’s the mind-set I took after 10.”

Steve Marino, playing with Kelly, stayed within a shot until the 18th. Instead of getting the victory or forcing a playoff, he hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker and then needed two putts. The bogey gave him a round of 70 and a tie for fifth, two strokes back.

“I thought I hit a great third shot in there, and it just came off like half a club short in that bunker,” Marino said. “And that was it.”

Kelly’s first title since claiming the Sony Open and Advil Western Open in 2002 provided his biggest payday ever. The winning purse moved Kelly from No. 97 to No. 14 on the money list with $1.4 million.

It also netted him 500 FedEx Cup points, moving him to 17th in the standings.

David Toms, who won this tournament in 2001, had five birdies for a 68. He tied Marino for fifth, climbed in the FedEx Cup standings and into the Players Championship.

Airport of Paris announced on Saturday to deploy 500 more staffs, accompanying European new safety regulations which is to be taken into effect on Monday.

“From November 6, the new safety measures decided by the European Commission are to take effect in all the European airport. From this date, for the liquid over 100 ml, it is authorized to take onboard only if bought in the airport’s duty free shops,” Airport of Paris said in a statement.

Under the new regulation, passengers would be able to carry 100 ml containers of liquid on flights in a transparent closed plastic bag.

The new regulation make an exception for medicines and dietary supplements needed during a trip and baby food.

The measures, which are introduced to fight against “new dangers of liquid explosive”, would likely to prolong “the time of baggage check”, said the statement.

The airport would deploy 500 more staffs in all the terminals in Paris.

To avoid “chaos” in the check point, Airport of Paris advises the passengers to get to the airport earlier and to make contacts with their airline company before their arrival to the airport.