Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
It has become de rigueur for celebrities from around the world to make pilgrimages to South Africa just for self-indulgent photo ops with Nelson Mandela. Nobody has lamented this trend more than I: He’s treated more as a tourist attraction these days (like the Statue of Liberty or, perhaps more to the point, a Carnival… Read more.
There is nothing new about female sex tourism. It’s only that women who travel for sex have been more discreet than men who do. Female sex tourism The Cannes Film Festival is famous for launching modest films into worldwide acclaim. Some of those films even become blockbusters. That was the case, for example, with Fahrenheit… Read more.
NATO countries bombed Serbia in large measure because the Serbs were ethnically cleansing Muslims from “their” country. Therefore, the unconscionable and untenable irony cannot be lost on NATO leaders that they are now aiding and abetting Libyan rebels who are ethnically cleansing black Africans from their country. Every day these rebels are betraying hints that… Read more.
Julius Malema (30) is president of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) – the youth arm of South Africa’s ruling party. Unfortunately, he behaves more like a wannabe gangsta than a future political leader. It’s arguable though that he’s merely emulating the behavior that catapulted his mentor, Jacob Zuma, to the presidency. This explains why… Read more.
I am acutely mindful that my commentaries on the growing pains of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are taking on the specter of flogging a dead horse. This is why I am loath to write yet another one on the following regressive phenomenon that is now unfolding there: African leaders once personified unbridled despotism. Now they’re… Read more.
Truth be told, there was always a disconnect between Winnie Mandela’s behavior and the Joan-of-Arc vestments she wore during the last throes of Apartheid rule in South Africa. More to the point, her behavior always gave the impression that those vestments were covering up character traits that were more Ma Barker than Indira Gandhi. But anti-Apartheid supporters in the West overlooked her intemperate,… Read more.
Yesterday, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir became the first sitting head of state to have a warrant issued for his arrest. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued it pursuant to an indictment against him for war crimes and crimes against humanity, all stemming from the atrocities Arab Muslims perpetrated against black Africans over the past six years in the Darfur region of Sudan. In fact, reports are that… Read more.
They should please not choose someone of whom most of us would be ashamed. Our country deserves better. We’re very worried that [Zuma] had relations with a woman who regarded him as a parent; and, although he is very likable, we have to ask ourselves: ‘What is happening in the ANC?'” (Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond… Read more.
Sadly, nobody will be surprised by the word association of basket case and contagion with Africa. Moreover, I am acutely aware that bailout fatigue to save the American economy makes pleas to bail out any African economy seem foolhardy. Not to mention reports that a record number of Americans (31.5 million) now rely on food stamps.… Read more.
During the presidential debate on Tuesday night, Barack Obama won praise from the worldwide liberal establishment when he said that the US has a moral obligation to use military force for humanitarian purposes. He stressed, however, that just as the US must eschew unilateral action in favor of multilateral action in fighting the war on… Read more.
