THOUGHTS About The News.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

Yahoo: “Tupac’s murder case goes to trial today after 30 years. What took so long?” Tupac Shakur was murdered in 1996 in Las Vegas. The drive-by shooting centers around a casino altercation and a retaliatory gang-related dispute. 

       Personalities linked to the deadly event: <>Marion “Suge” Knight, the co-founder of Death Row Records and driver of the BMW who was grazed in the shooting and is currently serving a prison sentence for an unrelated homicide. <>Sean “Diddy” Combs, founder of Bad Boy Records, whose label was tied to the East-West coast rivalry and the orbit of the South Side Crips. <>The Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace), the Bad Boy Records rapper and friend-turned-rival whose murder six months later remains culturally and historically intertwined with Shakur's. All of these guys are African-Americans or black. 

       The new person linked to the crime? Duane "Keffe D" Davis, another black dude. He allegedly orchestrated the murder, while his nephew Orlando Anderson is widely believed to have fired the fatal shots. So are we nearing the conclusion of this case? Yet I wonder out loud: What if a suspect is white? Or any non-black individual? I bet this case would have been solved years ago? You know where I am going with this, right? ⚖️😒⚖️

Washington Post: “A $20 burrito sparks an online debate among conservatives over affordability.” So a burrito is now a (political) polar extremes dartboard pitch? Only “conservatives” debate the affordability of burritos? Liberals are cool about it? LOL! How idiotic this news report is! 

       Anyhow, the national median price for a restaurant burrito in the U.S. is $13.58. However, the actual cost ranges anywhere from $4.00 to over $20.00, heavily depending on where you buy it, what protein you choose, and if you use third-party delivery services. Okay? As for me, I am not into Mexican foods, except the Mojarra Frita. Are you now asking me about my politics? LOL! 👈☮️👉

Politico: “ICE's detention crackdown overwhelms the courts.” According to the report, one judge said: “Never seen anything like this.” Ah what partisanship-induced drama! This: Before the Obama administration (which began in January 2009), the U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions along the Southwest border were roughly 705,000 in fiscal year 2008 and 858,000 in fiscal year 2007, down from over 1 million per year between 2004 and 2006. Yet Mr Obama removed 400,000 on average in his first term.

      Again, from 2021 to 2024 or in Joe Biden’s years, undocumented crossings went back to 1 million+ av. What would Donald Trump do? No brainer. Exactly what Mr Obama did albeit more focused and intent. Last year, Mr Trump’s Homeland Security deported more than 605,000 individuals. Meanwhile, the U.S. Border Patrol agents recorded approximately 237,500 encounters along the U.S.–Mexico border. This total marked the lowest annual level for illegal border crossings since 1970.

      Of course, the Left isn’t concerned about that. They want “no borders!” instead. Which then brings us to European migrant crossings or the recent incident in Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta. Etc etcetera. I wish I could discuss this (immigration/migrant) issue sans politics, and just focus on numbers and situations. 🗽🏃‍♀️🏃

BBC: “Teen hitmen are being recruited like gamers for killings across Europe.” This isn't really unusual. In the Philippines, at least in the 1980s when I was covering the beat, many urban guerrilla “hitmen” (a.k.a. Sparrow Unit) were teen-agers, as young as 14 years old. Whether they do it per political ideology or common crime, the young are easily recruited. A mix of fiery idealism, allure of perilous romanticism, easy money, daring boast (that they can do it, no problem) and gung-ho risk-taking. Plus, the advent of Social Media ups the adrenaline. They even post their deadly mischief online! This news, Associated Press: “Mexico City murder: A gunman kills a social media influencer during a livestream.” Wild, wild world! ☮️☮️☮️

CNN: “Teen kills classmates, teachers and his grandparents in Thai gun rampage, police say.” Absurd, surreal, bizarre. Mostly, I blame the internet or Social Media’s easy access to hate–for all these. Mass shootings aren’t just an exclusive American “deadly sport” anymore. Other countries do copycat crimes as well. European cities, African towns, everywhere. There’s one two or 3 months ago, perpetrated as well by youths, in the Philippines. Now, in Thailand.

      Meanwhile, from 1999’s Columbine massacre in Colorado, the “video-game” styled killing rampage in the U.S. hasn’t subsided. That’d include my once-peaceful city of Asheville. And when the community talks about the horror, the tone of the discussion is expectedly, Left vs. Right, or blame Trump. Me, I’d rather not engage in a discourse. I just stay safe when I am out there, which is pretty much an average of 2 errands (out in town) a month. ☮️☮️☮️

THOUGHTS About The News.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

GMA: “Cambridge professor resigns amid plagiarism and 'academic qualification' allegations.” I read a number of posts about this news story on Facebook, mostly in defense of Jason Arday, the professor, as though they are part of the investigating team. Mr Arday is black so this issue easily turned into a racially-fueled placard. The fact is, there have been a lot of firings and controversies about professors and students using AI. Meanwhile, shrinks and writers/journalists, surgeons and IT people (yes!) use AI, too. It really depends on whether your employment allows the e-crap or not. So if Jason was found to violate that job SOP, then he had to go. 

       Anyhow, months ago: <>A history professor at Alcorn State University, Jason Gibson, went viral on TikTok after posting a video explaining how 32 of his 35 students failed a portion of the midterm after they used AI to write their discussion post response. <>Northeastern University senior Ella Stapleton demanded an $8,000 tuition refund after catching her business professor, Rick Arrowood, secretly using generative AI tools like ChatGPT to create course notes and slides. <>BTW, Mr Gibson is black, but Mr Arrowood is white. You dig? Now, you may issue your insight, LOL! 🤨😞🤨

Rolling Stone: “Elliot Page explains why Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' felt so unforgettable.” Not commenting on Elliot (although I can talk about her exemplary performance in 2007’s "Juno") but responding to current cinema’s obsession with “reimagining” classics to fit their side in this annoying “culture war” caterwaul. We are not talking about Homer’s work’s philosophical wisdom anymore or the way he wrote it. We are talking about the “correctness” of Odyssey's supposed political extremity this time, based on how Hollywood prefers it.

      Meanwhile, whatever Ian Fleming or Mary Shelley or Jane Austen or William Shakespeare wrote has lost its bite, in favor of how their masterpieces are now “rewritten” to fit our Left or our Right. 🎥📹📽

Yahoo News: “Senate committee votes to hold Fauci in contempt over COVID hearing.” True, anybody cannot be punished or criminally charged simply for refusing to answer police (or government inquiry) questions. The Fifth Amendment protects people from self-incrimination, double jeopardy, and loss of life, liberty, or property without due process. Given. But in the case of Mr Fauci, it is a bit tricky. The people want to know the lowdown. 

       You see, during the COVID-19 pandemic, rapid emergency spending and broken supply chains triggered widespread corruption, including billions of dollars in mismanaged public contracts and international price-fixing cartels. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the POTUS in those years, knows stuff. Of course. But he refuses to talk. 🏛🗽🏛

CNN: “Iran's Hormuz plan is taking shape — but it clashes with Trump's vision.” What is the plan? That Iran "controls" the Strait of Hormuz? That’s always been the case. Along with Oman, Iran exerts territorial power over this vital energy chokepoint, where roughly 20 percent of global petroleum liquids consumption and a massive share of liquefied natural gas pass through its narrow shipping lanes daily. What is the media telling us now that we already know? 

       And what is Mr Trump's vision, which was shaken after his (military) hand was forced by the IRGC? No brainer, I must say. Trade. Economics. A playbook that coincides with the Arab League and China/BRICS, but not with Israel or those in Washington who use Bibi Netanyahu’s Israel as “bogeyman” for obvious reasons (don't we know?) ☮️☮️☮️

Washington Post: “Trump challenged Hegseth after learning of depleted weapons stockpiles, sources say.” / CNN: “The Navy's $275 billion battleship plan faces skepticism from military experts.” Depleted weapons stockpiles? Hard to believe this. Why? Pentagon's 2026 base discretionary budget is $838.7 billion; total allocated defense funding for FY 2026 reached $1 trillion. That is around 5x more than what China allocates to “defense.” In America, all I see/read is lotsa money for arms and stuff. Or billions$ sent continually to Ukraine and Israel. Yet no money to improve U.S. warfare? So $275 billion for a Navy battleship is such a big deal? (My sarcastic eyebrows, arching.) 🏛🗽🏛

THOUGHTS About The News.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

BBC: “U.S. launches 'heavy' strikes on Iran after attempted attack on American troops.” / Associated Press: “How views on Trump's handling of Iran have shifted, according to a new poll.” It’d be an understatement to say that the major storyline in Trump years is for him to fail. No matter what, he has to. That’d usher in a long discussion, essentially how the geopolitical grid shook as the 21st century strode in. There are many factors and variables to discourse but by pointing at Mr Trump, it sort of simplifies it all. I guess.

      Meanwhile, I read a lot of “Trump’s war” or “Trump started this war” etc etcetera as though this is the first time that the U.S. is at war overseas. Fact is, America is never without a war. The first foreign war fought by the United States was the First Barbary War, 1801 to 1805, off the coast of North Africa or in modern day Libya. From that point, the U.S. military never had rest. Yet today’s media makes Americans feel disgust and shame that the U.S. is at war with Iran, because of one man, Donald Trump. As though we are all 12-year olds. Uh huh. ☮️☮️☮️

Reuters: “Top U.S. commander warns troops that cellphone videos posted online can help Iran.” Not just videos posted by active soldiers (which must be officially banned) but videos and memes and many more that are posted in Social Media are dangerous. There must be a way to cut on these (mostly juvenile) shenanigans and hate-smothered mischief which cower behind the “shield” of the First Amendment. 

       Journalism these days doesn’t really give us the lowdown-info. They “influence” us to think or act this way or that way, mostly on the basis of partisan politics. And then mentally bothered individuals on Social Media pick `em up like jellybeans on a grocery shelf. These are the real threats in our midst. 🗣📲💻

USA Today: “Economists concerned as 300,000 Haitian migrants set to lose protected status.” Again, the media wants us to swallow the narrative that deportation of illegal migrants pummels the U.S. economy per se. Yet the real concern? Because these workers are undocumented, they are paid measly coins with no benefits of any kind. They are ghosts, not counted as individual human beings but as “nameless” throngs of modern slaves. Removals = loss of revenue for corporate farms and factories mostly.

      Tracking the exact number of “illegals” in the U.S. workforce is difficult due to the hidden nature of informal labor. Major research groups track totals using government census data but that isn’t very reliable. Sources say 8 million to 10 million undocumented immigrants participate in the labor force, making up nearly 5 percent of all civilian workers nationwide. But this: An average of 1 million+ crossed the border illegally from 2021 to 2024. Figure that out. 🗽🏃‍♀️🏃

Yahoo Sports: “LeBron's decision leaves Steph Curry facing the Warriors' biggest reality check.” / “The 76ers built a title contender around LeBron. How it could actually work.” LeBron can still play, in fact, a lot better than most stars ten years younger than he is. (He is 41.) But I don't think LeBron, in the case he opted to join the Warriors, would matter that much. Golden State has to rebuild. Steph is 38, and although he can still shoot magnificently, his bones are weakening. He is perennially hurt.

      Meanwhile, Mr James in Philadelphia wouldn’t mean the Sixers are easy title contenders either. Joel Embiid isn’t really healthy. Tyrese Maxey will still be the main dude although Jaylen Brown has joined them. Basketball is still a team effort. Which makes the New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, and OKC Thunder top favorites, regardless of Giannis A. moving to Miami. 🏀⛹️🏀

The Hollywood Reporter: “Noah Kahan slams Trump's use of his song and says he'd 'never approve'.” Here we go again! Repeat: Recording artists don't really own the 100 percent right to their songs, regardless that they solely wrote them. The Big Guy who signed them owned the copyrights, primarily. Mr Kahan is under Republic Records or Mercury Records, which is owned by Universal Music Group, based in New York City.  

      Aging, retirable superstars also sold their catalog to corporate gods. Yup, that’d include perennial (political) whiners Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. Another Trump-hater, Jon Bon Jovi has not sold his music catalog though. However, his former guitarist and co-writer, Richie Sambora, sold his share of Bon Jovi’s catalog rights to Hipgnosis in 2020.

      Reason why other acts, albeit less popular, shunned the trend. Example: Ani DiFranco released and published virtually all her own music and albums through her independent label, Righteous Babe Records. Ironically, she isn’t as loud (beyond music) as the others. Meanwhile, sure artists can always protest and stuff. That’d be marketing or PR, which are mostly facilitated by their Boss Company to sell the songs or products. 🎸🎼🎸