File Under: Charity Begins at Home, Cross-Referenced to Double-Edged Sword of Celebrity and the Madonna Channel

Here it is, the curse of celebrity. Everybody knows everything you do, so danged if you do, danged if you don't.

Even these days, at a time in Her life when Madonna has set aside the shenanigans hijinks nonsense antics of Her colorful youth, She continues to make headlines.

For the record, I was an unabashed Madonna fan until I wasn't.

Whether or not one admits to being a fan, one must admit that She has the great gift of shameless self-promotion reinventing Herself. As She herself freely stated in the sort-of documentary Truth or Dare, She's not the best singer nor the best dancer in the world, but She is mightily blessed with blonde ambition.

I find the news of Her plans to build 10 schools in Malawi rather curious, in spite of my belief that what is good must be good. How can it be a bad thing to build schools? And yet, one can surely sympathize with the chagrin expressed herein:

But John Bisika, Malawi's national secretary for education, science and technology, told the Guardian: "We have had no written or verbal communication. We just read about it in the papers. I don't understand how she can work like that. For someone to go to the papers and say, 'I'm building schools', without telling the government, I find it a strange way of working."

Not that I would have Her curb Her charitable impulses. Not at all. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.

But I wonder whether She had opportunity to consider that there are plenty of schools in Her native country--nay, even in Her native state--that could use a little help.

On the other hand, how many of us have the means (and the hubris) to march into another country and anoint appoint ourselves the new patron saints of education with nary a by your leave, sir to the national secretary for education, science and technology?  (Although upon reflection and having met myself before, I am 100% certain that if I were possessed of the former, I would absolutely make a fool of myself in a million billion gazillion heretofore unimagined ways with the latter.)