Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
A Black James Bond has become a meme. But, like most memes, I hope it amounts to nothing more than a fleeting fancy. A Black James Bond is unrealistic Interestingly enough, Sony executives themselves raised the prospect of a Black James Bond. Last year, leaked e-mails revealed they were considering Idris Elba to replace Daniel Craig. I registered my take in “A… Read more.
Violence and looting overtook much of West Baltimore on Monday, seriously injuring several police officers and leaving a store and several vehicles in flames. At least seven police officers were injured in a clash that began near Mondawmin Mall and spread toward downtown… Demonstrators pelted officers with rocks, bricks and bottles and assaulted a photojournalist… (The Baltimore Sun, April 27,… Read more.
A powerful earthquake struck Nepal Saturday, killing [2,200 people and counting] across four countries as the violently shaking earth collapsed houses, leveled centuries-old temples and triggered avalanches on Mt. Everest. It was the worst tremor to hit the poor South Asian nation in over 80 years. (Al Jazeera, April 25, 2015) This earthquake registered a… Read more.
‘100 YEARS OF DENIAL’ Yesterday was Armenian Remembrance Day. It commemorates the killing of approximately 1.5 million people in Turkey, by Young Turks, from 1915-23. Despite Turkey’s impassioned insistence that there was no genocide, instead labeling the Armenians as casualties of warfare and traitors who tried to bring down the Ottoman Empire, Armenians are making sure… Read more.
We are surprised and dismayed that Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons would permit Dr. Mehmet Oz to occupy a faculty appointment, let alone a senior administrative position in the Department of Surgery. (CBS News, April 16, 2015) I was not surprised last week when a group of prominent doctors called on Columbia University… Read more.
Gore Vidal vs. William F. Buckley Jr. shocked the world in the late 1960s, when Vidal began shooting holes in the intellectual blimp that kept Buckley’s ego afloat. What’s more, the hype and blows that attended their political debates rivaled those that attended heavyweight bouts between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Well, not since then has… Read more.
I am an unabashed liberal. But I can’t tell you how often my ideological comrades upbraid me for proffering discordant views on controversial issues. Such was the case earlier this year, when I sang out of tune with their chorus of support for the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists. I reasoned in “Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie,”… Read more.
The death of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and dealings of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma have dominated the news coming out of Southeast Asia thus far this year. Actually, you could be forgiven for thinking that Western media place a quota on coverage from this region, and that… Read more.
The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA). These learning goals outline what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge… Read more.
I am still nursing the virtual wounds real friends inflicted after reading yesterday’s commentary, in which I dismissed the social media they revel in as “a vast wasteland of cultural hedonism.” Never mind that they ended up making my point. For they had nothing to say when I asked follow-up questions about their enthusiastic participation in the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. That, of… Read more.
