Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
Natural disasters, like droughts and pandemics, are commonplace in Africa. As I write this, for example, drought is decimating East and Southern Africa while a new Ebola outbreak is raging across the Democratic Republic of Congo and threatening to spread beyond. Hell, you’d be forgiven for thinking that God is continually unleashing plagues to get… Read more.
Of course, only an asshole like him would do so. President Trump’s dismissal of Haiti, El Salvador and all of Africa as ‘shithole countries’ whose inhabitants are not desirable for U.S. immigration shocked people around the world and provoked swift condemnation. The president made the remarks Thursday during a White House meeting with lawmakers and suggested… Read more.
Africans selling Africans Like many people, you might think Europeans captured Africans to enslave them in the so-called New World. This, however, is one of history’s greatest misconceptions. After all, for centuries before Europeans set foot on the continent, Africans had been capturing and enslaving fellow Africans. Moreover, they were aping the customary practices of ancient civilizations… Read more.
You might notice that this blog does not feature any revenue-generating ads. That’s because, when I launched it 12 years ago, I wanted to make plain my primary interest in contributing to informed public debate on an eclectic array of topics. This has distinguished it over the years from the blogs of far too many… Read more.
It is so often thus, in so many facets of life, no…? Related commentaries: Woman power… Read more.
[NOTE: In light of the pandemic coverage of Ebola, I have decided to reprise this commentary, which I published originally on September 26. In the two weeks since, U.S. officials have held so many press conferences to hail the resources available to treat victims here (compared to what’s available in Africa) that they bordered on… Read more.
If Taylor of Liberia can be hauled to The Hague and tried for aiding and abetting atrocities that were committed in Sierra Leone, why shouldn’t Putin of Russia face the same fate for aiding and abetting similar atrocities now being committed in Syria? (“Liberian president Charles Taylor Convicted in The Hague,” The iPINIONS Journal, April… 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.
Fifty years ago, when everything white was right, it should have come as no surprise that little black girls preferred white dolls – as psychologist Kenneth Clarke showed in his seminal 1954 experiment. But it came as a disheartening surprise in 2005 when a similar experiment by a racially conscious high-school student, Kiri Davis, showed… Read more.
My first impression upon reading the BBC headline ‘Pope warns of ‘new colonialism [in Africa]’ was that Pope Benedict XVI was decrying the way communist China was buying up political influence all over the continent. After all, China’s dealings with the genocidal government of Sudan makes it patently clear that it will not allow moral… Read more.
