Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
Much has been made of the way Russian President Vladimir Putin meddled to get Donald Trump elected president of the United States. The prevailing view – in both Russia and the United States – was that a grateful or compromised Trump would do Putin’s bidding. The great expectation in this respect was that Trump would… Read more.
The Republicans’ ‘Seven-Year War’ to repeal the Affordable Care Act appears dead. Last night, three GOP senators bucked their party and president, siding with Democrats to vote down a last-minute effort to repeal portions of the law. … After this, it seems unlikely that Republicans will revive their legislative campaign against Obamacare. (Washington Post, July… Read more.
Angelina Jolie is opening up about her difficult year, from a Bell’s Palsy diagnosis to her split from Brad. In a Vanity Fair cover story, Jolie reveals that in addition to high blood pressure, she developed Bell’s Palsy, a condition resulting from damage to facial nerves, which caused one side of her face to droop. (USA… Read more.
The Taliban have received improved weaponry in Afghanistan that appears to have been supplied by the Russian government, according to exclusive videos obtained by CNN, adding weight to accusations by Afghan and American officials that Moscow is arming their one-time foe in the war-torn country. US generals first suggested they were concerned the Russian government… Read more.
Donald Trump assured the world that the only thing needed for peace in the Middle East was his ability to broker a deal and his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s ability to manage it. He did it not only as political schtick throughout the campaign but even as government policy during the early days of his presidency.… Read more.
That, of course, is the gene that causes their “biological” children to be born all-white. Fans got a first glimpse of Janet Jackson’s baby boy, Eissa, via the pop star’s website and social media on Friday. ‘My baby and me after nap time,’ Jackson wrote in the photo she shared that shows her hugging Eissa… Read more.
I have written many commentaries on the infamous O.J. Simpson saga, including on the occasion of his first parole hearing in “O.J. Simpson: He’s Baaaack,” May 15, 2013. In each I made clear my belief, beyond any reasonable doubt, that he is an unrepentant, even remorseless double murderer. This is why I greeted his conviction… Read more.
Venezuela has been on a political and economic descent into the heart of darkness for years. I have bemoaned this unfolding tragedy in many commentaries, including most recently in “Venezuela’s Death Spiral of Recession, Protest, and Repression,” April 24, 2017. But it speaks volumes that so much is being made of Sunday’s pyrrhic reprieve –… Read more.
Venus [Garbine Muguruza of Spain] powered her way to her first title at Wimbledon and second at a Grand Slam tournament Saturday, beating a fading Venus Williams 7-5, 6-0 by claiming the final’s last nine games. … At 37, Williams was bidding for her sixth championship at the grass-court major, 17 years after her first.… Read more.
Liu Xiaobo, the renegade Chinese intellectual who kept vigil at Tiananmen Square in 1989 to protect protesters from encroaching soldiers, promoted a pro-democracy charter that brought him a lengthy prison sentence and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while locked away, died under guard in a hospital on Thursday. He was 61. (New York Times,… Read more.
