The Democratic convention formally nominated Hillary Clinton for president on Tuesday, making history by choosing a woman to be the first standard-bearer of a major political party, a breakthrough underscored by a deeply personal speech by Bill Clinton calling her ‘the best darn change-maker I have ever known’… Mrs. Clinton’s primary rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, played… Read more.
Archives for July 2016
‘An Open Letter to J.K. Rowling: Please, Just Stop.’
I used to admire J.K. Rowling … a lot. Not because I’m a man-child who found her Potter novels spellbinding, mind you. In fact, I was never even tempted to read any of them. Instead, I admired her because she helped millions of kids discover the love of reading. But my admiration waned when she started… Read more.
Real Captain Piccard Flies Like No Man Has Flown Before
The first round-the-world solar powered flight has been completed, after the Solar Impulse aircraft touched down in Abu Dhabi. Bertrand Piccard piloted the plane for a final time, steering it safely from the Egyptian capital Cairo to the UAE. He has been taking turns at the controls with Swiss compatriot Andre Borschberg, with the mission… Read more.
IOC Failure to Ban Russia Proves It’s in Putin’s Pocket
I was in the vanguard of those calling on the IOC to ban the entire Russia team from the Rio Olympics. I argued in “Track Officials Ban Russians from Rio Olympics for Doping,” June 18, 2016, that: I suspect Track and Field athletes are being punished for the sins of Russian athletes in every other sport.… Read more.
President Erdogan unleashing his inner Dr. Frankenstein to excise ‘cancer’ of Turkey’s coup plotters
Prognosis? Be afraid. Be very afraid. Turkey’s parliament backed emergency measures Thursday giving authorities broad powers to pursue alleged supporters of a failed coup, even as the government said it has rounded up nearly 10,000 people since the attempted military takeover… The strengthened hand for authorities — with tens of thousands of others under scrutiny or… Read more.
Trump’s ‘Law and Order’ Doublespeak Has RNC Raving and Roiling
Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman whose outsider campaign has both galvanized millions of voters and divided the Republican Party, is the 2016 GOP presidential nominee. The New Yorker’s embrace by the Republican National Convention (RNC) marks a remarkable moment in U.S. political history and validates a campaign that shattered precedent, defied pundits and usurped the… Read more.
Women Complain Fox News Head, Roger Ailes, Has Dick for Brains
As a chorus of prominent Fox News women have gone public defending Roger Ailes against the wave of sexual-harassment allegations sparked by former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit, the network’s biggest star, Megyn Kelly, has been conspicuously silent… According to two sources briefed on parent company 21st Century Fox’s outside probe of the Fox… Read more.
A Rant about Stupid Voters re Grexit, Brexit, the NRA, and Trump
I have been utterly stupefied lately by voters expressing remorse after getting exactly what they voted for. Not least because it was plain to see in each case what the fallout would be. Cases in point: Greek voters buying the Syriza promise that they could have their euro and spend it too with respect to… Read more.
Clarion Call to Ban All Russian Athletes from Rio Olympics for Doping
On June 16, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published a damning report on state-sponsored doping among Russian Track and Field athletes. On June 18, a month ago today, I published “Track Officials Ban Russians from Rio Olympics for Doping,” in which I argued that athletes in other sports had to be doping too. ______________________ I suspect… Read more.
Turkey: Bungled Coup Fails. Grave Purge Begins
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan landed at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport Saturday morning and declared the attempted coup against his government to be a failure, but also a ‘gift from God…’ He vowed to ‘clean up’ the armed forces and ‘eradicate’ those who had operated aerial forces against his government. As of Saturday morning, nearly 3,000… Read more.