R.I.P., Freddie Gray

Living and working in Baltimore over the past 6 years, I have really come to enjoy the city - the people and the place. I enjoy the strong sense of community my multiracial neighborhood gives me with some households having been there across multiple generations.

Freddie Gray's brutal death at the hands of the police reminded me of how tenuous that harmony can be. I have seen what many commentators have already expressed: the social fabric of Baltimore was already thin, frayed from a long history of injustice and never really mended in a meaningful way.

This injustice stems from the political and wealth elites' dual economy model, which separates the haves from the have nots into two separate and unequal communities. This model, intentional or not, is racist at its core. It systematically excludes the majority of city residents from equitable access to economic opportunities, public resources and political decision-making, making a mockery of any pretense of a "free market" or democracy.

It is no surprise then to see how many in this city responded to Freddie Gray's tragic death, because it came on top of any number of other similar incidents, many of which they or their families have experienced directly. We need a more intentional effort to restore bonds between all people in this city, across racial and class lines. It is only when we recognize that our individual well-being is connected an interdependent with that of our fellows that we'll maybe then be able to enjoy a just peace.

Shake it, Bubba. Don't break it.

I may be posting this a bit late with recent events in Baltimore having rightly knocked this issue out of the news cycle, but I don't really want to let the Clintons off the hook all the same. Here is yet another example of their political corruption played at a very high, consequential level while still trying to claim they are being transparent and up front with sordid, inner operations of their family foundation.

The only thing transparent about how this family operates is its naked ambition to obtain and consolidate power, which makes them no better or worse than most of their fellow politicians. That's fine. Just please don't make me swallow any more nonsense about some higher calling that motivates their actions. I don't know what makes me want retch more - the hypocrisy or the image of Bill in hot pants. Better bring me a bucket...I think I'm going to be sick.

Bibi Walks This Way

Yikes and Double Yikes!!! It's been more than a year and a half since my last graphic tirade. But injustice has a way of firing me up so that I'm ready to go...cartoon! Sadly it's my wacky cousins out there in Israel who are raising my ire, and one little noodnik in particular - Bibi Netanyahu. His scorched earth tactics in the recent Israeli elections are a nice companion to his land grabbing ways when it comes to his utter disrespect for the Oslo accords. He's a thug, pure and simple, without an ethical bone in his body, which is why it means nothing to him to break a few Palestinian kneecaps and vertebrae just so that he can cling to power. Move over Steve Tyler, here comes Bibi...