Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama made a political and moral virtue out of his promise to close the infamous prison at Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo). And he vindicated all of the HOPE supporters like me vested in him when he signed an executive order with a bang to do just that within 48 hours after being… Read more.
[Author’s Note: To hail the ban on burqas coming into force in France yesterday, I have decided to reprise my July 20, 2010 commentary supporting it.] In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity… The burqa is not a religious sign;… Read more.
When I surmised that it was only a matter of time before Gbagbo was ousted, I had in mind days. But reports are that, just hours after publishing my commentary this morning, French Special Forces (with Ouattara forces in tow) stormed his residence and took him into custody. To avoid Ouattara looking like a stooge… Read more.
This does not bode well; not least because Gbagbo now has an even firmer grip on the military and police forces than his dubious mentor, Kibaki, had on similar forces in Kenya. Moreover, if it persists, he seems quite prepared to order them to squash this unrest by any means necessary. (Africa’s democratic despots now… Read more.
A last minute budget deal, forged amid bluster and tough bargaining, averted an embarrassing federal shutdown and cut billions in spending…. (Associated Press, April 9, 2011) No shit! But to listen to media reports this week you’d think the U.S. federal government were going to disappear or explode at midnight on Friday if this deal… Read more.
Donald Trump is nothing more than the P.T. Barnum of business: a huckster who thrives on the maxim that “there’s a sucker born every minute.” Now he seems to believe that being rich is the only qualification he needs to be president of the United States: Part of the beauty of me is that I… Read more.
Ai Weiwei is the celebrated Chinese artist who gained international fame (and won critical acclaim) for his design of the stadium, nicknamed the The Bird’s Nest, that was the centerpiece of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. But Chinese authorities must have known they had created a political monster when, instead of using his new-found fame… Read more.
Notre Dame and Texas A&M played for the NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Championship last night. But you can be forgiven for having no clue because, instead of commanding network coverage like the men’s championship game between UConn and Butler, the women’s was relegated to cable. This, of course, guaranteed only a fraction of the… Read more.
It seems everyone – from seasoned sports analysts to President Obama, a self-proclaimed expert – failed to pick a single team that ended up in the Final Four, let alone picking Duke or Butler to win the championship. This should finally disabuse all of us of the rational expectation that the most talented team will… Read more.
No doubt you’ve heard President Obama being criticized variously for taking too long to launch military action to aid rebel fighters in Libya and for refusing to target dictator Muammar Gaddafi for assassination. But I thought these criticisms amounted to nothing more than a misguided and irresponsible attempt to goad Obama into war. This is why I… Read more.
