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You are here: Home / 2014 / Archives for January 2014

Archives for January 2014

Forget Angelina! Hannah’s the Breast-Cancer Survivor Worthy of Praise

Friday, January 31, 2014 at 5:52 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall
Breast cancer survivors and the Angelina effect

Angelina Jolie famously elected to replace her healthy breasts with implants because she feared she might develop terminal cancer … someday. And she won near-universal praise for doing so. TIME magazine even ran a May 27, 2013, cover heralding “The Angelina Effect” she would have on women. I, however, stood virtually alone in pooh-poohing the hosannas to… Read more.

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Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: Angelina Jolie, Body Image, breast cancer, Cancer Survivors, celebrity culture, Hannah Foxley, Mastectomy, Medical Ethics, women's health.

Pete Seeger, Legendary Folk Singer and Social Activist, Is Dead

Thursday, January 30, 2014 at 5:56 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

I’m embarrassed to admit that I know even less about Folk Music than I do about Theoretical Physics. (I flunked Physics 101.) But it’s a testament to the impact Pete Seeger had beyond his genre that I know far more about him than I do about Stephen Hawking. I actually began singing the Seeger song… Read more.

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Filed Under: General Tagged With: Folk Music, Pete Seeger

State of the Union Address: ‘A Political Spectacle’ … Take 2

Wednesday, January 29, 2014 at 6:57 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

Below is what I wrote after last year’s State of the Union Address. Alas, this occasion has become such a redundant and irrelevant spectacle that I’ve decided to mark it this year and henceforth by publishing an equally redundant and irrelevant commentary. It is noteworthy, though, that last night’s spectacle was compounded by Republican members of… Read more.

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Filed Under: General Tagged With: State of the Union Address

Super-Rich Persecution Complex: Billionaires Feeling Like Jews Facing the Holocaust

Tuesday, January 28, 2014 at 8:19 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

The Obama presidency is as replete with historical firsts as it is with historical ironies. Nothing demonstrates the latter quite like those who have benefitted most under his leadership being the ones who are complaining most about it. Mind you, it would be one thing if, like billionaire Warren Buffet, they were complaining about Obama… Read more.

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Filed Under: General Tagged With: super-rich, Thomas Perkins

The Grammys (or the Mr. and Mrs. Carter Show?)

Monday, January 27, 2014 at 12:12 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

I don’t care too much for his acting (as seen on NCIS: Los Angeles), but LL Cool J is so good hosting the Grammys that he’s fast becoming as identified with this awards show as Ellen DeGeneres is becoming with the Oscars. Tonight was his third-consecutive gig (for The 56th Grammy Awards), and he did… Read more.

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Filed Under: General Tagged With: Beyonce, Jay Z, LL Cool J, The Grammys

Forget Muslim Terrorists; Beware Russian Cossacks

Saturday, January 25, 2014 at 8:23 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

Like me, you probably find this cartoon chilling and amusing in equal measure. President Vladimir V. Putin has offered one clear new direction for the country: the development of a conservative, nationalist ideology… The Kremlin is dipping into a deep pool of history: Cossacks are revered here for their bravery and pre-modern code of honor, like… Read more.

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Filed Under: General

Facebook ‘Like’ an Infectious Disease

Friday, January 24, 2014 at 7:25 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall
Facebook as infectious disease

I’m not a stock analyst, and I don’t play one on this site. That said, here’s what iPINIONS wrote two years ago about the social contagion Facebook had become: [L]et’s face it, haven’t you had enough of the mundane and often-recycled crap your ‘friends’ share … every day, several times a day? Even worse are the hucksters… Read more.

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Filed Under: General Tagged With: digital virality, Facebook, Facebook viral spread, social media contagion, social media epidemic, viral phenomenon

“Thug” the Politically Correct Word for Nigger?

Thursday, January 23, 2014 at 8:53 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

It speaks volumes that the media have spent more time replaying and analyzing Richard Sherman’s postgame rant about being the best cornerback in the NFL than they have replaying and analyzing the play he made that sealed the Seattle Seahawks’ win over the San Francisco 49ers, 23 to 17, in Sunday’s NFC Championship game. For… Read more.

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Filed Under: General Tagged With: AFC Championship, NFC Championship, Richard Sherman

America, Stop the Scaremongering Over Sochi Olympics!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at 12:12 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

The irony seems completely lost on American media that they’re the ones terrorizing us by featuring so many politicians and security experts stoking mundane fears about Russia’s ability to prevent terrorist attacks during next month’s Winter Olympics. Not to mention their hysterical reporting on a cell of black-widow suicide bombers now allegedly lying in wait… Read more.

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Filed Under: General Tagged With: black widow, Sochi Olympics, terrorism

The Gall of Haiti’s Wyclef Jean Criticizing International Donors

Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at 7:17 AM
Written by Anthony L. Hall

No doubt you recall how governments around the world made quite a show of pledging billions to help relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti after that catastrophic earthquake in 2010. While those governments were basking in praise for their generous pledges, however, I was sounding this cautionary note: I just hope this outpouring of support is coordinated… Read more.

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Filed Under: General Tagged With: Haiti earthquake, Wyclef Jean

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Anthony L. Hall is the founding columnist of The iPINIONS Journal, where he’s published sharp, independent commentary on global affairs since 2005. Read more.

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