General

The Queen: Future King? God save me! Think whatever you will of the British royals, there are at least some depths to which Her Majesty will not sink! The Palace announced today that Queen Elizabeth II has refused to dignify the marriage of Prince Charles and his mistress with Her presence. And, of course, this… Read more.

When Robert Johnson purchased the Charlotte Bobcats last year, he became the first black owner of a team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In so doing, he pierced one of the few remaining bubbles of racial segregation in America: team owners of the NBA. Johnson is an entrepreneur who amassed a fortune as the… Read more.

Quit smoking? Caramba! For decades, Fidel Castro boasted that his Communist government provided Cubans the best health care in the entire world. But his claim only ever amounted to ash because per capita smoking in Cuba has always been worse than in any other country. Now, however, Castro has decreed that, henceforth, there shall be… Read more.

Today has been designated “Free Mojtaba and Arash Day” by the Committee to Protect Internet journalists. The Committee is calling on the worldwide community of Internet journalists to do what it can to help raise awareness of the plight of Mojtaba and Arash. They have been jailed by the mullahs in Iran for daring to… Read more.

But Baby Eyadema sits uneasily on his throne. Because ECOWAS and the African Union (with a paternal assist from Europe and the United States) prevailed upon the Togo’s National Assembly to reverse its rubber-stamp approval of the army’s installation of Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema to replace his father as President. This is an unprecedented stand for… Read more.

Last Friday, Philadelphia prosecutors announced that Bill Cosby will not face charges stemming from a woman’s allegation that he fondled her at his suburban mansion after giving her medication that made her woozy. Cosby confessed to committing adultery with his accuser (think Kobe Bryant) but denied any criminal wrongdoing. The prosecutors said they found “insufficient… Read more.

**Update** – Despite vowing to ride-out the rest of his contract, Reuters reports that Rudd Lubbers has just quit the United Nations under pressure from sexual harassment allegations. Can his boss, Kofi Annan, survive his mounting scandals? See original commentary here. News and Politics Read more.

Today the New York Times published excerpts of private conversations between (then) Governor George W. Bush and Doug Wead, an Assembly of God Evangelist who secretly taped their discussions. Call me cynical but I’ve read (and heard) the excerpts; And, I smell a rat! The Times and almost every political pundit seem to have bought… Read more.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan: What, me worry? It takes a remarkable record of professional incompetence to provoke the (liberal) New York Times to join the (conservative) Wall Street Journal in calling for one’s resignation. Yet Kofi Annan has just achieved this dubious distinction – and deservedly so. Annan was elected Secretary General on 1… Read more.

Jose Canseco’s book Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big has been greeted by almost everyone associated with this “all American” sport with a whole lot of sanctimonious blather: Fellow players profess incredulity at Canseco’s claims that he and many of baseball’s best players were (and are) juiced-up on steroids.… Read more.