on the dig

Let me know what you think about THIS:  In 2002 Ukraine-born John Demjanjuk was stripped of his U.S. citizenship and was awaiting deportation to Germany.  His crime?  Not revealing he was a Nazi guard at a concentration camp where over 30,000 Jews were murdered.  Demjanjuk denied the charge and said he was kidnapped by Germans…

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in a cafe in Bed-Stuy and a sister screamed and threw up her hands. I looked over at her and noticed her laptop screen read Obama Lifts Cuba Restrictions.  Not exactly the whole truth, but I expressed my own excitement, smiled, and sat back in celebration like I was Cuban.…

The U.S. Department of Justice is sponsoring a new community clean-up initiative called Weed and Seed. The structure of the initiative relies on two things:  local law enforcement weeds out violent criminals and drug dealers, and private community organizations seeds in prevention, treatment and neighborhood rehabilitation.  Now I’m no urban planner or licensed realtor, but…

I’ve been fighting with myself over addressing Jimi Izrael’s post about women choosing gay men.  First, I thought I’d leave a comment, but then I thought I should just leave it alone.  I have nothing against Jimi or his perspective.  In fact, I think he’s a breath of realistic air.  However, after reading several of…

Here we go again:  another European innocent poke at Obama’s African ancestry.  [Watch the video].  This time a Turkish news anchor wears black face [I guess he was paying homage to Mister Al Jolson] as he reported on President Obama’s recent trip to Turkey [you know, that country James Baldwin swooned over in the doc…

Now this is some crazy crazy CRAZY crazy:  The Fox Network is developing a reality TV series titled “Somebody’s Gotta Go”.  The gimmick?  Oh, this is a good one.  The series will spotlight small American businesses where employees decide which one of them will be laid off.  What?!?  That’s some chocolate-dipped crazy.  Now, I’ve got…

The cat’s out of the bag by now:  television as we know it is changing.  Black television is nearly obsolete.  In fact, there are only four black sitcoms on the air as I type this post:  Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns, Everybody Loves Chris, and Mara Brock Akil’s The Game. …

On Friday Jiverly Wong, after losing his job and feeling ridiculed by his immigrant classmates, walked into Binghamton’s American Civic Association and killed thirteen people.  Last week a man walked into a senior citizen center in Carthage, North Carolina and open-fired.  Before that another man drove through his Alabama town and killed several.  I don’t…

So here’s the latest:  Madonna had her eye on a three-year old Malawi girl to bring home.  You know, so the little bloke David could have a playmate.  [Why does this sound like activity at a slave auction]?  Anyway, a Malawi judge thwrated Madonna’s gaze by saying “NO” to her request to adopt another child…

CBS will shut down Guiding Light this fall.  After seven decades of daytime melodrama Light is unable to satisfy working mothers and advertisers who rely on reality TV.  Sad yes, but I guess that’s show business.  Well, at least show business during a so-called Recession. Except for a fascination with Tad, Jenny, Jesse and Angie…