If I hear another political or civic leader calling for a “conversation on race,” I’m going to puke. (“Ferguson Grand Jury Decides: Officer Wilson Walks,” The iPINIONS Journal, November 25, 2014) But leave it to an old lady to explain what the only talk of Black and White at Starbucks should entail. Related commentaries:… Read more.
Archives for 2015
If Championing Michael Brown Was a ‘Mistake,’ Why Champion Martese Johnson?
Jonathan Capehart, the celebrated editorial board member and columnist at the Washington Post, was in the vanguard of those hailing Michael Brown as a Black martyr. Brown, you recall, was the unarmed Black teenager who White officer Darren Wilson shot in Ferguson, Missouri last August, triggering months of (often violent) protests under the galvanizing and… Read more.
Russia Flexing Military Muscles: more Regional Bully than Global Superpower
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet and paratrooper units to go on full alert as part of snap military exercises in the Arctic … to include nearly 40,000 servicemen, 41 warships and 15 submarines. (Reuters, March 16, 2015) A chest-thumping feature of the relationship between nuclear powers (like Russia, China, and the United States) is… Read more.
Israel Votes to Become more like Apartheid South Africa
Election Day in Israel yesterday was full of surprises; none more so than the desperate declarations and exhortations Bibi Netanyahu made to get his supporters to the polls. For he not only declared that there will never be a Palestinian state as long as he’s prime minister, he also exhorted right-wing Jews to help him… Read more.
Republicans Send ‘Mutinous’ Letter to Iran
European allies are joining the Obama administration in criticizing Republican congressional interjection into nuclear negotiations with Iran, saying that an open letter from Republican senators to Iranian leaders has been counterproductive and comes at a particularly sensitive time in the talks… The letter warned Iran that any nuclear agreement signed by Obama could be revoked… Read more.
BBC Puts Brakes on ‘Top Gear’
Top Gear is a British TV show that road tests cars of all types – from Italian Ferraris, British Rolls Royces, and German BMWs to French Citroëns, Russian Ladas, and American SUVs. The premise is to see if the cars perform as their manufacturers claim. But this is hardly a show just for car geeks… Read more.
Shooting Police to Protest Police Brutality in Ferguson, Mo? Idiots.
It was only a matter of time: Two police officers were shot and seriously injured early Thursday near the Ferguson, Mo., police headquarters, an incident that occurred amid ongoing protests in the city. Just hours earlier, the Ferguson police chief had announced his resignation, a decision that came in the wake of a blistering report from… Read more.
Alecia Lightbourne-Morris (aka My Aunt Titt) Is Dead
Growing up in The Bahamas, I was always aware that I belonged to an uncommonly large extended family – composed of men and women who command a great deal of attention and respect. For a shy boy like me, this had many (vicarious and fringe) benefits. But my shyness also meant that I participated as… Read more.
‘The Search for MH370: One Year On’
A year ago this week, the media were regaling us with 24/7 reports on the historic scope of search-and-rescue efforts to find this missing flight. Never mind that their reports consisted of little more than rank speculation – complete with references to pings, beacons, and floating debris, all of which served no purpose other than… Read more.
Commemorating Selma, Recognizing Ferguson: Never Forget, Never Again!
No doubt images from Bloody Sunday are as indelibly seared in America’s national consciousness as those from the Kennedy assassination. And, in each case, a picture is truly worth a thousand words. Therefore, instead of adding yet more words, I shall suffice to reprise excerpts from two previous commentaries. The first is from “Killing… Read more.