Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
In “G8 Summit ’05: Rich Nations Pledge (again) to End Poverty,” May 27, 2005, I decried the way extreme poverty persisted in developing countries, despite global pledges and efforts to end it. Here is an excerpt. __________________ It is a glaring indictment of our shared humanity that rich countries revel in obscene wealth, while poor… Read more.
Comedian Larry David debuted his impersonation of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on last weekend’s edition Saturday Night Live (SNL). I’ve seen the viral clip of his performance. He was hysterical. But the media worship was such that he could be forgiven for feeling like the king of comedy. Never mind that David sounded more… Read more.
Almost four years ago, President Obama announced a provisional agreement to settle longstanding claims of institutional racism, which Black (and Indian) farmers filed against the federal government. This announcement made me as proud of Obama as I was pleased for the farmers. Here, in part, is how I commented in “Government Finally Settles Billion-Dollar Discrimination… Read more.
Playboy is covering up. For 62 years, the iconic adult magazine has fueled sexual fantasies with glossy fold-out spreads of fully nude women. Furtively hidden in adolescent bedrooms and defiantly plastered on college dorm room walls, it helped spark America’s sexual revolution and tested the country’s acceptance of photos that in an earlier day passed for pornography. Now, however, in… Read more.
Dear Reader, We’re Closing Comments The Independent Online is South Africa’s “premier online news source.” The above is how it headlined a transformative open letter to readers yesterday, becoming the latest on a growing list of news sites and weblogs banning comments. Here, in part, is how the editor explained IOL’s reason for doing so:… Read more.
Former NBA star Lamar Odom was on a days-long bender before he fell unconscious at a brothel on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said Wednesday… Love Ranch employees confirmed that Odom had taken at least 10 sexual performance-enhancing herbal supplements over a three-day period at the brothel, and that he’d taken cocaine on Saturday. Odom, 35, was reportedly… Read more.
Throughout his career, Quentin Tarantino has been dogged by criticism over his Tourette’s-like use of the word “nigger” in his films. Therefore, it’s noteworthy that he decided to finally address this criticism. He did so in an interview with Bret Easton Ellis as part of a lengthy profile for the October 12 edition of the… Read more.
P.T. Barnum had an uncanny knack for getting poor people to part with their hard-earned money just to marvel at his “elaborate hoaxes.” His rival huckster, David Hannum, famously scoffed at this with the cynical observation that, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Tens of thousands of Black folks vindicated Hannum’s observation when they heeded Minister Louis Farrakhan’s… Read more.
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Frankly, the only thing I found shocking or disappointing about this viral tweet is that it provoked so much genuine outrage. After all, here is how I presaged this years ago in “Twitter Rant: Take 2,” November 27, 2012. ___________________ What is surprising, however, is that erstwhile pillars of Western civilization are taking to Twitter like… Read more.
