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’m on record stating how much I dislike the annual Academy Awards show (the Oscars). Because I have little regard for preening, pampered poseurs showing off their borrowed frocks and bling-bling as a prelude to a [nearly four-hour] show — only six minutes of which anyone really cares about (i.e., the time it takes to… Read more.
With all due respect to critics and members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Academy), how much a film makes, not whether it wins an Oscar, is the generally recognized measure of its success. Especially considering that winning an Oscar is more the result of crass political campaigning than any assessment of… Read more.
The ‘King of Pop’ was found dead in his home under mysterious circumstances. What did Michael Jackson’s children and trusted staff witness prior to his sudden death? Did his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, cause Jackson’s demise? Some suggest Jackson took his own life and others claim he was murdered by those who thought Jackson’s… Read more.
Most news organizations cover riots, terrorist attacks, and natural or manmade disasters more as boon for ratings than tragic events. Now they’re covering the presidency of Donald J. Trump … as both. But one can hardly blame them. After all, his Barnum & Bailey-esque antics are such that even his news conferences are like high-wire… Read more.
The only point of agreement in Washington these days is on the clarion call for Congress to investigate Russia’s hacking of last year’s presidential election. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a Republican or Democrat who is calling for Congress to investigate China’s perennial hacking of US technologies and trade secrets, giving new meaning to the… Read more.
Frankly, not since the Draft-era Vietnam War have there been so many illegal crossings of America’s northern border into Canada. That’s how scary the Trump presidency is turning out to be. Almost three months after Bashir Yussuf watched Donald J. Trump win the presidential election, he made his way to Noyes, Minn., where he set… Read more.
UConn won its 100th game in a row Monday night. … It’s an almost unfathomable achievement, a milestone that belongs right alongside UCLA’s 88-game streak and the New England Patriots winning 18 in a row in 2007; or Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak and Byron Nelson’s 11 consecutive PGA Tour wins. Yet in some corners,… Read more.
I suspect it will surprise no one who read “The Grammys: Adele Sang and Won; Beyoncé Performed and … Reigned?” February 13, 2017, that I took a lot of flak. You were probably among those who thought I was crazy in love with Adele because I heaped so much praise on her for shutting Beyoncé out.… Read more.
Here is how I framed this recurring international “crisis” just months ago in “Groundhog Day: North Korea Tests Nukes and World Explodes with Outrage … Again,” September 9, 2016. _____________________ North Korea is commanding world attention again, after testing another nuclear bomb. Duly spooked, leaders from China to America are reacting like alarmed parents chastising an… Read more.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should begin with this: Lady Gaga literally personifies the triumph of packaged and formulaic acts over talented performances. Which is rather a shame because this girl can sing. … By sterling contrast, Adele not only sings like an angel, she might just be the music industry’s saving grace. Unfortunately, this industry… Read more.
