Global

Desecrating, then burning the Holy Quran in Sweden has, once again, raised a political storm of condemnation, but also of justification, if not outright approval.   

 Such acts are protected by law, top Swedish and EU officials have declared.  

 But why are the rights of those who oppose western agendas, colonialism, imperialism, Zionism and military interventions not equally protected by law? 

 The Palestine boycott movement, BDS, for example, is constantly fighting in western societies and institutions for the right to use certain language or merely challenge, though non-violently, Israeli occupation and apartheid. 

 “The Fukushima Disaster, The Hidden Side of the Story,” is a just-released film documentary, a powerful, moving, information-full film that is superbly made. Directed and edited by Philippe Carillo, it is among the strongest ever made on the deadly dangers of nuclear technology.
It begins with the words in 1961 of U.S. President John F. Kennedy: “Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by an accident, or miscalculation or by madness.”
It then goes to the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plants in Japan after they were struck by a tsunami. Their back-up diesel generators were kicked in but  “did not run for long,” notes the documentary. That led to three of the six plants exploding—and there’s video of this—“releasing an unpreceded amount of nuclear radiation into the air.”

A tiny piece of news out of Florida the other day poked me, you might say, in the rear end. The nation’s prison population — we’re number one! — expanded slightly, as did the concept of crime itself.

A couple in Daytona Beach, Florida — two police officers — put their 3-year-old son in jail two days in a row, handcuffing him, letting him sit in the cell wailing, because he . . .

Pooped in his pants.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not just against the establishment of a Palestinian state, he wants to eliminate the very aspirations for such a state.  

 This was the gist of Netanyahu's remarks, made at a meeting of the Israeli Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. They were reported in Israeli media on June 26.

 Some, including officials in the Palestinian Authority (PA), seemed oddly surprised following the release of the reports, as if Israel's intentions regarding Palestinian freedom and statehood are not known even to a political novice.

The Extreme Court may have struck down affirmative action, but nevertheless, 2023 is shaping
up to be a superlative year for debuts and revivals of Black-themed dramas treading the boards of
Los Angeles’ stages. This bumper crop currently electrifying L.A.’s theater scene include: June
Carryl’s police brutality two-hander Blue (see https://www.roguemachinetheatre.org/); Katori
Hall’s Dr. King one-acter The Mountaintop (see: https://www.geffenplayhouse.org/); plus an
adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth starring African American thesp Max Lawrence in the title
role (in repertory at https://theatricum.com/).
Now we can add to this already auspicious list Will Power’s thought-provoking, perplexing
Fetch Clay, Make Man, directed by Debbie Allen. As the newly minted Muhammad Ali (Ray
Fisher, reprising the role he first played a decade ago) prepares for his 1965 rematch with ex-
champ Sonny Liston, the heavyweight champion summons Stepin Fetchit (Edwin Lee Gibson) to