SUNDAY SMACK: IS HILLARY CONFLICTED?

My Sunday Smack deals with the last Presidential primary debate, where candidate Hillary Clinton tried to assure viewers of her ability and willingness to regulate Wall Street: I have a plan that most commentators have said is tougher, more effective and more comprehensive … The topic of financial services regulation remains a hot topic since […]

TEAM SNYDER LIED — THEY KNEW FLINT RIVER WAS WACK AND SHIPPED IN CLEAN WATER

“Appears certain state departments are concerned with Flint’s [water quality]. I will return the call.” Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s Menace to Society moment has been accidentally brought to you in part by Mike Prysby, an engineer from the state’s Department of Environmental Quality, in January, 2015. Progress Michigan uncovered this email as well as others. […]

EPA’S LACK OF COURAGE MEANS FLINT’S WATER CRISIS CAN SPREAD

While it became increasingly clear that the Flint, Michigan water crisis is one of the largest leadership, environmental and human rights disasters in American history, I was bollixed about why federal Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 administrator Susan Hedman silenced EPA team member Miguel del Toral and hid the most damaging parts of Toral’s memo […]

I WANT TO SEE GOV. SNYDER DRINK FLINT RIVER WATER – AT A UN HEARING

[T]he linkages between human rights and access to water and sanitation are deeply interwoven. And because water, as a fundamental resource, cuts across all aspects of sustainable development, recognizing this connection is not only critical to achieving [Sustainable Development Goal 6 regarding water and sanitation] but the broader 2030 Agenda. — Michel Jarraud, United Nations […]

CLINTON AND SANDERS HEAT UP ODD DEBATE

Last night’s Presidential primary debate to help determine who will represent the Party of No Guts this November was packaged less like a debate and more like a survey of how yet another oddly-scheduled event will compete with Americans’ other pressing downtime priorities like enjoying the MLK holiday weekend or watching the Critics’ Choice Awards. […]

SUNDAY SMACK: WHY DO ONLY FEW PEOPLE KNOW THE REAL MLK?

” …Some respectable Negro leaders who are more concerned about being invited to the White House then invited to the cause of justice … ” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speech in Cleveland, OH, April 28, 1967 For a while, I’ve been writing about the Martin Luther King Jr. no one mentions. An MLK […]

GOODBYE DAVID BOWIE, AND THANK YOU

It’s been almost 24 hours since I heard about David Bowie’s leaving this planet, and I still can’t compute. This isn’t the time to do name-calling, so I’ll simply say that some artists — you know, the ones whose reputations lead with the cars they drive or consumer product tattoos on their faces — will […]

SUNDAY SMACK: WILL CONSERVATIVES DIE OFF?

To those who believe the last deaths of the current wave of Angry Old White Men will lead to the disappearance of American Conservatism — this Sunday Smack is for you. Let’s run with your grey hair extinction premise for a moment and imagine a United States run by Liberals in the executive and legislative […]

BROWNSVILLE BROOKLYN RAPE IGNITES RACE MEMES

Hearing about an 18-year old woman being raped at gunpoint by five males in Brownsville, Brooklyn disgusts me. Everyone should feel the same way. My disgust is operating on two levels. First — the act itself. It’s no wonder why women in America don’t feel any more safe than their peers who live in war-torn […]

SUNDAY SMACK: SAVE BILL COSBY OR SAVE HIS RACE?

With Bill Cosby now facing his first criminal court case out of the approximately five dozen women who accused him of sexual assault, my Sunday Smack for the week comes from a March 2015 Washington Post article written by Jewel Allison, an African descendant and one of Cosby’s accusers. Allison, who happens to be a […]