SOUTH AFRICA SPY LEAKS: LIARS, DUPES, SCHEMERS & IDIOTS

intelligence, israel, benjamin netanyahu, iran, george w bush, barack obama, libya, iraq, south africa, leaks

PIMPS AND THE PIMPED: GREECE’S AUSTERITY BATTLE WITH EU

How’s this for a surreal landscape within a modern Western economy: people who have Master’s degrees live in homes with no heat and electricity because their jobs as coffee shop servers make home utilities luxury items; minimum wage has dropped by 40 percent; the dire economic circumstances have sparked a meteoric rise in adult suicides; […]

BEYONCÉ WAS NOT WONDER-FUL

I checked out Beyoncé’s Stevie Wonder tribute performance, but did it differently from many of you. I closed my eyes, and then listened. The musical arrangements were tight—I picked that up straightaway. I then—still with closed eyes—focused on Beyoncé’s vocals and asked myself at the end of her performance, “If Beyoncé released the three Stevie […]

EU GIVES RUSSIA THE UKRAINE HEAD FAKE – AND OTHER NEWS

Russia President Vladimir Putin must be having a Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot moment after the latest Ukraine events. Putin negotiated with Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s François Holland in Minsk for hours to hammer out a ceasefire agreement between the Ukrainian government and the eastern Ukraine rebels. As a side note, the US was […]

ISLAMIC STATE BRINGS HIGH DEFINITION BEHEADINGS TO LIBYA

I just watched the latest Islamic State video where they simultaneously beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians on the Libyan coast, and while horrifying to watch, I am struck by the way these made-for-social media productions eerily resemble something which director Michael Mann would construct: beautiful, vacation-like scenery wihich is paired with bloody violence. As typical with […]

LAND OF THE FREE NOW RANKS 49TH IN WORLD FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

Reporters Without Borders released its 2015 World Press Freedom Index, and has ranked America the 49th most free nation in the world—a deterioration of three places since the previous year. 180 countries were ranked. To phrase this differently, there are 48 countries ahead of the US where journalists and netizens feel more free to write […]

BOEHNER IS DUMB. PLUS HE DOESN’T LOVE AMERICA.

As pressure against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed US visit to address a joint session in Congress grows, I can’t help but think how US Speaker John Boehner—the person who extended the invitation to Netanyahu—doesn’t seem to behave with the rationality or intellect that would befit the third most powerful government official in America. And […]

AURAL DIVE: YOUNG DAVID – FUERTE (RICHARD E REMIX)

Fans of late-night Lounge tracks will dig this—Young David’s Fuerte on the Swedsh Brandy label received a proper remix treatment from Further Out‘s Richard E. Awash with grooving, analog-sounding House Disco-isms, and supported by a Velcro bass line—try getting the latter out of your head to see what I mean—Richard E. demonstrates a smooth hand at shaping three-and-a-half […]

AN ADDITIONAL COUNTRY HELPS AL-NUSRA GROW

Not to be outdone by Boko Haram and Islamic State, terrorist group al-Nusra Front has upped its stake in the global caliphate race by claiming a part of Northern Syria, thus making the current Syria war even more complicated, deadly and difficult to resolve. And history books years from now will be able to cite […]

BLIZZARD BREAD-CHASERS

This is a summary of conversations I had today with a bunch of people about my response to NYC’s Snowmageddon: They: Did you go shopping for the blizzard? Me: Nah. They: Why not? It’s supposed to be a serious storm. Me: I buy food every week, and have a pantry that’s probably good for two months. Why […]