THE RICES AND ‘THE LESSON’

I tried to resist hammering away at Ray Rice’s domestic assault episode and his two-game NFL suspension since I think many other people made valid points. But…Rice’s statement after learning of his suspension sticks in my craw: “It is disappointing that I will not be with my teammates for the first two games of the season, but that’s […]

UKRAINE: NOT ABOUT DEMOCRACY

Look, I’m not an obsessed conspiracy theorist who labors in a grandmother’s basement day and night until he can connect every news item to some American grand scheme for world domination. (Laughing) I’ll offer my previous post as partial evidence. Most people who meet me would say I’m a rational guy who likes to ask simple […]

HEARING IT: CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT

I can partially understand Classic Jazz purists who jump into the pit of nostalgia as a refuge from the assault of generic modern music, but that method of escape also means they risk missing brilliant young talent like Cécile McLorin Salvant. She’s earned the right to be recognized as an individual with a great voice, but for […]

1964 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT AT 50 – NEITHER A BEGINNING NOR END

I’ll mark today’s 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act by reading you a piece of legislation: [W]ith a view to affording reasonable protection to all persons in their constitutional rights of equality before the law, without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude… Sounds familiar? I have […]

UKRAINE, PIMPED-OUT, SHOT-UP AND LEFT TO BLEED

I’ve been telling you for a while that despite America’s, uh, polite meddling for regime change in the name of freedom, hardly anyone gives a rat’s butt-rape about Ukraine as a republic. Its geographic location, proximity to US rival Russia, as well as its possibility of being another source of consumers and low-cost laborers for […]