Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
I was among those who not only panned the puerility of turning the derring-dos of a comic-book hero into a Broadway show, but also ridiculed the technical difficulties producers had trying to replicate them on stage. Last night’s opening preview of Broadway’s most expensive production ever, Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, was an epic flop… Read more.
You could be forgiven for thinking there’s merit in Phil Jackson, the most successful coach in NBA history, comparing Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant as Basketball players. But such comparisons are good for nothing more than stirring up argument among friends, preferably at a neighborhood sports bar. For, as Kobe shrewdly tweeted on May 17, 2013 in response… Read more.
My cynicism about the cult of celebrity in our society is such that it would not surprise me to learn that kids trust their favorite movie or rock star more than they trust their parents or pastor/priest/rabbi. It would be one thing if I could dismiss this plainly misplaced trust as a teenage rite of… Read more.
I first became aware of the Cannes Film Festival’s relevance and influence in 1976 when Taxi Driver won the Palme d’Or. Back then, Cannes seemed to recognize films for their artistic merit rather than box-office potential. That distinction mattered. Without winning the Palme d’Or, some of my favorite films would probably never have gotten funding for… Read more.
My commentaries on terrorism are replete with remonstrations about the way Western media and political leaders hasten to call any murder perpetrated by a Muslim an act of terrorism. But I am convinced that the reflexive way they conflate murder with terrorism in this context only ensures more of both. For example, there were 16… Read more.
In 2005, as displaced, disaffected and disillusioned immigrants were on their twelfth-consecutive night of rioting, which began in Paris then spread all over France, I felt moved to write “World Beware: French Riots Affects Us All,” The iPINIONS Journal, November 8, 2005. In it I warned that the same social, political, economic and racial grievances… Read more.
No doubt you recall that conservative economists were warning in 2009 that President Obama’s stimulus package would lead to a double-dip recession and trillion-dollar deficits in perpetuity. His stimulus measures were aimed at boosting economic recovery by, among other things, increasing government spending on everything from infrastructure to unemployment insurance. But Republicans claimed that, by implementing… Read more.
I pledged some time ago to stop commenting on natural disasters that seem so commonplace these days. Naturally, I convey my condolences to the loved ones of the 24 people who died when massive tornadoes ravaged the entire suburb of Moore (just outside Oklahoma City) yesterday. I also extend my thoughts and prayers to the… Read more.
The point is that FOX News, which operates as the media arm of the Republican Party, has been doing its damnedest to be to Benghazi what the Washington Post was to Watergate… Comparisons between Benghazi and Watergate are fundamentally flawed; and here’s why: Nixon actively participated in both the conspiracy to burgle the Watergate headquarters… Read more.
Dear Readers I originally published this tribute on May 6 in the immediate aftermath of Tim’s death. I am reprising it today in light of his funeral, which will be held tomorrow in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands. I appreciate your understanding. ALH ____________________ It is axiomatic that parents should not have to bury… Read more.
