It's just craziness. Apparently it's possible to treat JavaScript like a real programming language. Very exciting stuff, given that it seems to be becoming the ethernet of programming languages - despite many and varied shortcomings it's versatility, ubiquity, and low barriers to entry are likely to ensure it sees off any competitors.
Here ( http://www.crockford.com/javascript/private.html ) is a handy clip and keep guide of how to implement common object orientation patterns. James Crockford's excellent musing continue through to inheritance too, http://javascript.crockford.com/inheritance.html
Make no mistake, I don't love Javascript, but it's got a lot of momentum. We (the technically involved population) should embrace patterns of Javascript use that will make it sustainable into the future. We need to embrace the sane subset of the language's use.
node.js is good; mongodb and couchdb are stubbornly continuing to exist, and web browsers (whether on smart phones, or desktops) aren't going anywhere. Javascript is a fact, get used to it.
