Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
Here is what I published within hours after Ye Shiwen of China blew away the field in the women’s 400 individual medley on Day 1: [T]houghts of juiced-up East Germans came to mind when Sun Yang’s first-ever win for a Chinese male swimmer in the men’s 400m freestyle (shattering the Olympic record) was followed in… Read more.
It’s not as if the London organizers were not aware that this might be the case. It boggles the mind, therefore, that they did not enlist tens of thousands of volunteers (from pensioners to school kids) to show up at a moment’s notice to fill seats if ticket holders do not show up. They could… Read more.
Cycling Despite my cynical comments about the men’s road race yesterday, I was positively captivatedby the women’s today; no, not that. It helped though that the women have not been caught in nearly as many doping scandals, which meant that one could be fairly impressed by their remarkable form. What made this race so captivating was the way the 87 miles… Read more.
Over the next 16 days, Olympic competition will be held in 32 sports – from Archery to Wrestling. But even though I shall be indiscriminate in my viewing (on TV and the Internet), I shall be very discriminating in my commenting here. (Incidentally, can somebody explain the appeal of Badminton, which seems to defy gravity by… Read more.
The technological wizardry, choreographed precision and sheer grandeur of everything on display during last night’s Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games kept me in such shock and awe that I was staring at the TV even during commercials. (“Opening Ceremony of Beijing Olympics,” The iPINIONS Journal, August 9, 2008) Granted, expecting London 2012 to… Read more.
Of course Paterno escaped justice in this life when he passed away in January — leaving behind a legacy of nothing but shame, shame, shame. But if there is a God, Paterno must be catching a hell of a lot of heat in the afterlife. (“Paterno Engaged in Pedophile Cover-up,” The iPINIONS Journal, July 12,… Read more.
Surely, with more Americans firing off guns than lighting up cigarettes these days, the wonder is that there aren’t more of these rampages…. Related commentaries: Media adding to tragedy... Read more.
Truly, the only media coverage this tragedy warrants is the few minutes it takes to cite the number of casualties (12 dead, 59 wounded); to carry President Obama’s moving expressions of national sorrow; and to assure the public that the gunman was apprehended on the scene in Aurora, Colorado. Of course, I get that watching this… Read more.
Reports are that the border agents (namely, immigration and customs officials) who are supposed to stop terrorists from entering the UK to strike have themselves decided to strike … over pay and job security. Alas, this only reinforces the impression that a bunch of keystone cops are in charge of security preparations for the London Olympics.… Read more.
My, how far we’ve come from the 1980s, when Tom Wolfe glorified investment bankers as “masters of the universe” in Bonfire of the Vanities. For inasmuch as Wolfe parodied the confluence of their sins (most notably, racism and greed), even he did not fully appreciate the utter venality, vacuity, and depravity of the financial transactions… Read more.
