CHINA’S NAVY JOINS RUSSIA TO END SYRIA BLOODSHED

I guess Russia — and now China — are fed-up with the roles America, Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council have been playing to overthrow the Syrian government through supporting terrorists disguised as rebels. In addition to Russia’s military buildup in Syria to fight the Islamic State (ISIL), Al-Qaeda, as well as the myriad […]

SCHOOL SEGREGATION — NYC STYLE

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was not fooled — not even for a minute. And if some of you didn’t shut down your MLK studies immediately after reading his “I Have a Dream” speech, you wouldn’t be so surprised that members of the White/Liberal/Hipster/Wall Street/Creative/Techie class in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, New York have […]

HAPPY BORN DAY, TRANE.

Thinking about John Coltrane’s birthday today reminds me of what Carlos Santana had to say about the late creator: “When you listen to the sound resonant vibration, that flows freely from the center of his luminous spirit, you remember at a molecular level, that we are all holy, sacred and divine.” Enough said …

WHAT BAY RIDGE, BROOKLYN CAN TELL YOU ABOUT THE NEXT FINANCIAL CRASH

The Bay Ridge couple I recently saw in the Whitehall Street subway station☆ may provide a clue about the fate of the US economy. But I should first describe Bay Ridge, so that you can see what I mean. A predominantly Irish and Italian neighborhood for much of the 20th century, and popularized by the […]

WHAT IT MEANS WHEN GM EXECUTIVES PAY TO GET AWAY WITH KILLING PEOPLE

Six hundred dollars. That’s the figure I came up with when I tried to distill the meaning of General Motors’ nine hundred million dollar settlement with the US government to avoid being charged with knowingly selling cars with defective ignition switches — vehicles which I can arguably call pending death sentences — to you non-oligarchs. […]

US, OUTSMARTED, HOLDS SYRIA TALKS WITH RUSSIA

Remember when I discussed how Russia’s latest military buildup in Syria will prove to be too brilliant for America’s central military planners who claim to be focused on purging Islamic State from the region, but seem to be hell-bent on regime change in Syria instead? If America attempts to stop Russia’s stated anti-terror operation to […]

HENRY GRIMES’ LIGHT SHINES EVEN BRIGHTER

If it’s even possible for the statuses of pop artistsTaylor Swift, Beyoncé Knowles or J.Cole to be upgraded beyond their current recognition as some of the brightest lights in the history of entertainment, I could imagine that sort of elevation becoming a near certain probability if they ever appear in nearly 90 recordings with world renowned […]

TA-NEHISI COATES IS A 2015 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS NONFICTION FINALIST

For some reason, I’m not surprised that Ta-Nehisi Coates made the National Book Awards long list of nominations for Nonfiction. No offense, Dr. West. Temporarily setting aside arguments about whether or not Coates’ book Between the World and Me reflects a proper descendancy from Baldwinism, or an adequate rebuttal of neo-liberalism and all artifacts which […]

BB KING – BORN ON THIS DAY

Losing music great BB King earlier this year is still a load on my mind, but I try to remain thankful for what he gave the earth—an inimitable style and a strong wave of influennce. I don’t know of any serious guitarist who didn’t admire him. Since King would have turned 90 today, I shared […]

MARILYN HACKER AND TERRANCE HAYES MAKE 2015 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS POETRY LONG LIST

After announcing the 2015 National Book Awards long list for Young People’s Literature yesterday, the National Book Foundation did the same for the Poetry category this morning. Two previous winners of the Awards made this year’s list: Marilyn Hacker and Terrance Hayes from 1975 and 2010 respectively. Looking at the list each year reaffirms for me what excellent […]