Author Archives: Tony

Bush and the Republican Mutiny

Posted on January 3, 2006 by Tony

Huggy-Bear McCain has proved a more nettlesome opponent to Bush than the Dems A little over a year ago, my then-weekly appearance on CNN International happened to coincide with President Bush’s inauguration, so I found myself in the unusual position … Continue reading →

Posted in Situation Report | 5 Comments

Another ‘Flesh Wound’ for Chalabi

Posted on December 22, 2005 by Tony

Remember that scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail in which the Black Knight loses three limbs in a sword fight and ends up hopping around on one leg, insisting that he’s suffered only a flesh wound, and insisting … Continue reading →

Posted in 99c Blogging | 4 Comments

The Price of Solidarity

Posted on December 20, 2005 by Tony

Driving my kids to school through the gridlocked streets approaching the Brooklyn Bridge Tuesday morning, past picket lines of dreadlocked transit workers chanting “No contract, no work!” — their action paralyzing a mass transit system that ferries 7 million people … Continue reading →

Posted in New York Moments | 11 Comments

Making the Muslim World Laugh

Posted on December 20, 2005 by Tony

Okay, kudos to Albert Brooks for his new film Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, which parodies U.S. ignorance of the lands it is trying to transform. The plot line has Brooks playing an unemployed comedian contracted by the … Continue reading →

Posted in 99c Blogging | 6 Comments

Who’ll Stop Brazil?

Posted on December 10, 2005 by Tony

Ronaldinho: For the defending team, a player who smiles that much on the ball is just plain scary Premilinary Thoughts on the World Cup Draw There’s Brazil, and then there are the rest. I recently had a look at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Glancing Headers | 24 Comments

Are Jews White?

Posted on December 5, 2005 by Tony

A Jewish convict in California has applied to the state’s courts to have the penal system reclassify him from “white” to “other”, for practical reasons of personal security: When the prison is locked down because of any clash among prisoners, … Continue reading →

Posted in A Wondering Jew | 95 Comments

Don’t they know it’s Kwanzaa?

Posted on December 5, 2005 by Tony

Published in the Cape Times, December 1997 Only in America, as the saying goes. Africans spending their first holiday season in New York are usually surprised to find that sharing equal billing with Christmas and Chanukah (which gets pretty much … Continue reading →

Posted in The Whole World's Africa | 10 Comments

Will U.S. Troops Leave Iraq?

Posted on December 5, 2005 by Tony

Yes, there will be a big change next year in the number and nature of U.S. forces deployed in Iraq, and in their location and mission. But no, this is not a prelude to a full and expeditious departure desired … Continue reading →

Posted in Featured Analysis | 20 Comments

Singh Country

Posted on November 11, 2005 by Tony

How about a nice cup of chai? Hollywood’s traditional idea of a New York cabbie is probably Robert De Niro’s alienated Vietnam vet Travis Bickle, or the wiseguy Jews, Italians and Poles of the 1970s TV hit show “Taxi.” But … Continue reading →

Posted in Cuisine | 4 Comments

Jihadists vs. Baathists: The Amman Bombing and the Iraqi Insurgency

Posted on November 11, 2005 by Tony

Saddam and King Abdallah compete for pride of place in an Amman storefront The alliance between the global jihadists of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the various Baathist and other national Islamist and nationalist forces who make up the vast … Continue reading →

Posted in Featured Analysis, Situation Report | 12 Comments