Browsing: Opinions

   White Democratic political advisors think African American voters are political Pavlov dogs, so to speak. They believe all that needs to be done is to tell Blacks there is an election in November, and Black voters will run to the polls and vote Democratic like dogs that run to a bowl of dog food.

      The Biden administration continues to act contrary to logic and humane values in response to Israel’s war policies. Despite overwhelming evidence of Israel’s war crimes and acts that constitute genocide, the administration plies the right-wing Israeli government with more weapons. The latest arms package being prepared by the administration will reportedly be the largest since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Valued at around $18 billion, it will include 50 F-15 fighter jets and precision-guided munitions kits as well as more 2000- and 500-pound bombs.

       On the one hand, we’re facing a candidate who spews hatred, advocates violence, and peddles sneakers and bibles while facing astronomical legal costs for his fraud, lies, sexual assaults and lawbreaking. One the other hand, we’re told that to stop him, we have to vote for a president who keeps sending weapons and billions of dollars to a genocidal nation that has killed more than 33,000 people (including more than 12,000 children) since October.

      I have suffered from persistent fatigue in recent months. Fatigue… the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate 3.3 million Americans suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome. It is just one example of hundreds of unseen disabilities people deal with. In my case I’m tired all the time; I fear people will think I am lazy.

     To their credit, many Republican leaders, particularly at the state level, recognize the magnitude of the child care crisis and have been working to address it through various funding fixes (e.g. grants, tax credits) in their respective states. But the reality is that, at the national level, their party remains the principal roadblock to any meaningful, long-term solutions. The ascension of Donald Trump to presidential candidate, moreover, has only complicated the party’s responses to the issue.

     Each year Americans forfeit a sizable slice of their income to the United States Treasury to fund the government. Tax Day is dreaded. No one likes surrendering their hard-earned cash. But rather than a resigned shrug, Americans should look closely at what they are getting for their money when it comes to government services and policy.

     The definition of entropy according the Merriam Webster dictionary is, “a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder,” a good description of post-colonial history not only in Haiti but in Sudan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, and many other places in the Global South dealing with violent conflict today. In a real sense, the disintegration of these countries and others is the end product of the rapacious theft of resources (human and natural) at gunpoint–literally.

     They hated the unruly, rebellious, and confrontational spirit of the Mandingo but they loved the mental and physical strength, the courage, and the warrior soul the Mandingo possessed.