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Overexposed? Obama Takes it Back to Prime Time
Maybe next time President Barack Obama’s conservative critics would be happier if he puts on a Navy flight suit and hang glides down onto Wall Street into a crowd of hedge fund managers holding aloft a huge banner that reads: “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.” On second thought, they might claim that Obama was stealing their ideas. Taking…
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‘Vegan Soul’ Food, a Tasty Read
It used to be easy to define soul food—black cuisine with a Southern flair. Simmered collard greens with ham hocks or smoked turkey legs immediately spring to mind, steaming on a plate next to fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. But a new generation of chefs is changing what soul food means and Bryant Terry,…
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A World-Class Fix for Schools
“In a 21st-century world where jobs can be shipped wherever there’s an Internet connection, where a child born in Dallas is now competing with a child in New Delhi, where your best job qualification is not what you do, but what you know—education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success, it’s a…
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Young, Broke and Baby on Board
I am still getting feedback from my recession story, “Is College Worth It?” and related blog entries about the challenges of starting your career loaded with debt in a horrible economy. Some parents of high school seniors and asked me what can they say to their children to convince them not to attend an expensive…
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Wednesday's Headlines
NYDN: MTA Raising Fare to $2.50; Thankfully, Cutting Service As Well NYT: E.U. Prez Calls U.S. Stimulus the ‘Way to Hell, Wonders Why Disneyworld Trip Has Hit Snag NYT: UN Officials Call Darfur Aid ‘Tenuous’, Barack Obama Bi-Racial JTA: Netanyahu Call His Gov’t “Partner for Peace”; Palestine Says, “Oh Word?” WP: House Dems Slash $100B…
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Obama's Second Presser Keeps Progressive Pressure On
Barack Obama’s second prime-time news conference as president, held in the East Room of the White House just six weeks after the first, did not provide new, meaty policy prescriptions or one-liners that make for good television. But it did further the sense that, in America, there is a man in charge, and he—to borrow…
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When it Comes to Cancer, Should Black Folks Think Pink?
An article in today’s NEW YORK TIMES suggests that drinkers who turn pink have something serious to be worried about. The phenomenon, known in impolitic circles as “Asian flush,” could actually be a precursor to esophageal cancer: The flushing response, which may be accompanied by nausea and a rapid heartbeat, is caused mainly by an…
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Should Felons Attend Med School?
A year ago one of Sweden’s top medical schools expelled a student for being a Nazi sympathizer and convicted murderer. Well, the student, Karl Svennson, was admitted to another top Swedish med school and then expelled for falsifying records. Crazy and complicated? Yes. But, unlike the good ole U.S. of A., the Swedish government believes…
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Prom Night in Mississippi
I heard about “Prom Night in Mississippi” on local NPR about a week ago, and went out to peep it here at Cleveland International Film Festival. “Prom Night” is a documentary about a town in the South that still has segregated proms until townie and actor Morgan Freeman offers to pay for an integrated one.…
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The Hippest Band You Don't Know
Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia are unlikely pop stars. They’re a middle-aged couple from Mali’s capital city, Bamako, who started playing together in a house band for the city’s Institute for Young Blind People, where Amadou was a music teacher and Mariam a Braille student. Thirty years later, they’ve emerged as global pop’s band to…