Not just because Malcolm Gladwell demonstrated in David and Goliath that underdogs often possess more strengths than their adversaries realize; but also because you can usually count on the Groundhog to predict the opposite of what will actually happen. And, for the record, despite the media hovering over trash-talking cornerback Richard Sherman like flies over… Read more.
Archives for 2014
Forget Lame Duck; Obama’s the Incredible Shrinking President
Obama should thank God for that presidential megaphone because it’s the only thing that gets him any notice these days. Related commentaries: State of the Union Address… Read more.
Forget Angelina! Hannah’s the Breast-Cancer Survivor Worthy of Praise
Angelina Jolie famously elected to replace her healthy breasts with implants because she feared she might develop terminal cancer … someday. And she won near-universal praise for doing so. TIME magazine even ran a May 27, 2013 cover heralding “The Angelina Effect” she would have on women. I, however, stood virtually alone in pooh-poohing the hosannas to her.… Read more.
Pete Seeger, Legendary Folk Singer and Social Activist, Is Dead
I’m embarrassed to admit that I know even less about Folk Music than I do about Theoretical Physics. (I flunked Physics 101.) But it’s a testament to the impact Pete Seeger had beyond his genre that I know far more about him than I do about Stephen Hawking. I actually began singing the Seeger song… Read more.
State of the Union Address: ‘A Political Spectacle’ … Take 2
Below is what I wrote after last year’s State of the Union Address. Alas, this occasion has become such a redundant and irrelevant spectacle that I’ve decided to mark it this year and henceforth by publishing an equally redundant and irrelevant commentary. It is noteworthy, though, that last night’s spectacle was compounded by Republican members of… Read more.
Super-Rich Persecution Complex: Billionaires Feeling Like Jews Facing the Holocaust
The Obama presidency is as replete with historical firsts as it is with historical ironies. Nothing demonstrates the latter quite like those who have benefitted most under his leadership being the ones who are complaining most about it. Mind you, it would be one thing if, like billionaire Warren Buffet, they were complaining about Obama… Read more.
The Grammys (or the Mr. and Mrs. Carter Show?)
I don’t care too much for his acting (as seen on NCIS: Los Angeles), but LL Cool J is so good hosting the Grammys that he’s fast becoming as identified with this awards show as Ellen DeGeneres is becoming with the Oscars. Tonight was his third-consecutive gig (for The 56th Grammy Awards), and he did… Read more.
Forget Muslim Terrorists; Beware Russian Cossacks
Like me, you probably find this cartoon chilling and amusing in equal measure. President Vladimir V. Putin has offered one clear new direction for the country: the development of a conservative, nationalist ideology… The Kremlin is dipping into a deep pool of history: Cossacks are revered here for their bravery and pre-modern code of honor, like… Read more.
Facebook ‘Like’ an Infectious Disease
I’m not a stock analyst, and I don’t play one on this site. That said, here’s what I wrote two years ago about the social contagion Facebook had become: [L]et’s face it, haven’t you had enough of the mundane and often-recycled crap your ‘friends’ share … every day, several times a day? Even worse are the hucksters… Read more.
“Thug” the Politically Correct Word for Nigger?
It speaks volumes that the media have spent more time replaying and analyzing Richard Sherman’s postgame rant about being the best cornerback in the NFL than they have replaying and analyzing the play he made that sealed the Seattle Seahawks’ win over the San Francisco 49ers, 23 to 17, in Sunday’s NFC Championship game. For… Read more.