Don Winslow is the bestselling author of such crime and mystery novels as Savages. He is currently enjoying critical acclaim, as well as commercial success, with his latest novel, The Cartel, which chronicles the myriad reasons the War on Drugs has been a tragic failure. Of course, one can imagine all too well the “pornography… Read more.
Archives for 2015
Kim Kardashian on ‘Rolling Stone’?! Is Nothing Sacred…?
I’ve been ranting for years about the way postings on social media offend all notions of decency, talent, intimacy, and intelligence. Such commentaries as “Why I Hate Twitter,” February 1, 2013, “Keep Your Selfies to Yourself … Puhleeease!” April 7, 2014, and “Facebook Friends? Try Facebook’s Guinea Pigs,” July 8, 2014, attest to this. I didn’t… Read more.
Obama Leads World to Historic Nuclear Deal with Iran
President Obama commanded special TV time this morning to announce a historic deal to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. It was decades in the making (arguably dating back to 1979), but took his pragmatic and visionary leadership to finally seal it. Therefore, Obama was right to hail this deal as a transformative step towards global peace.… Read more.
Omar Sharif, Prodigiously Talented Prodigal Actor/Gambler, Is dead
Omar Sharif was a man of whom it can fairly be said, courtesy of Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth: Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it. More to the point, paraphrasing another famous saying, never before in the history of film has an actor with so much talent ended up having so… Read more.
Greek Referendum Proves a Poisoned Chalice
Fellow liberals upbraided me last week for arguing – in “Hello … China? Greece Calling,” July 6, 2015 – that: a) Greek leaders were delusional for holding a referendum on Eurozone bailout terms (i.e., instead of humbly accepting them); and b) Greek protesters were hopelessly misguided for expecting a no vote to lead to anything… Read more.
Hail, Serena! Queen of Ace
Serena Williams defeated Garbiñe Muguruza 6-4, 6-4 to win Wimbledon, the 21st grand slam title in her illustrious career… At this year’s U.S. Open, which begins in six weeks, she will attempt to win all four majors in the same calendar year, a feat not achieved since Steffi Graf did it in 1988. Williams now… Read more.
NYSE crash, OPM hack stem from failure to update 20th-century computer systems
The deadline for installing secure operating systems on federal government computers will pass next month with the job incomplete, leaving hundreds of thousands of machines running outdated software and unusually vulnerable to hackers. Federal officials have known for more than six years that Microsoft will withdraw its free support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014.… Read more.
Malibu Billionaires Must Open ‘Private Beach’
For years, billionaires have used their influence to keep ‘riffraff’ off their section of Malibu beach. They’ve been trying to buy private access to public beaches. I decried these efforts a decade ago in my post titled “Rich Snobs Trying to Keep Public off Public Beaches,” April 18, 2005. The media pilloried entertainment mogul David Geffen for leading their futile efforts back… Read more.
Bill Cosby Caught Testifying about His M.O. as a Sexual Predator
Actor/director Judd Apatow and comedian Hannibal Buress made denouncing Bill Cosby, for his sexual predations, a cause celebre this year. But my commentaries — from “Cosby Escapes Sexual Harassment Charges,” February 25, 2005, to “Bill Cosby’s (all too Belated) Fall from Grace,” November 18, 2014 — attest that I’ve been denouncing him for years. A judge has now… Read more.
Off-Field Menace of FSU Quarterbacks
First Jameis, now De’Andre: The State Attorney’s Office released surveillance video today of Florida State University [FSU] quarterback De’Andre Johnson punching a woman at a bar last month. State Attorney Willie Meggs said he decided to charge Johnson, 19, with misdemeanor battery after viewing the footage from the West Tennessee Street bar Yiannis on June… Read more.