"From the U.S. Capitol Building to the White House, our national symbols that represent freedom to so many of us, were built by people who were anything but free."
--Gary Ackerman
By Alex P. Vidal
WASHINGON D.C. -- When I returned here from New York City for the fourth time on June 3, 2017, the first imposing monument that greeted me when I emerged from the Union Station was the newly-refurbished golden U.S. capitol dome.
I went to my first teenage wedding my senior year of high school. A few weeks shy of homecoming.
It felt like playing dress-up when I picked out a waffle iron from a Target gift registry, signing the gift from myself and my high school sweetheart. We drove in his parents’ truck, make-believing we were grownups before heading back to our respective homes to finish our homework for AP government. The breakfast appliance loomed between us as I made guesses about the style of dress the teenage bride might wear and whether or not she was pregnant.
A fellow son of Saint Petersburg — in those days, Leningrad — Nikolai Patrushev climbed the ranks in Russian intelligence in step with Putin. Sergei Shoigu, a fixture in the public eye for more than a quarter century who helped pave Putin’s political path, went from frenetic emergency minister to leader of an emboldened Russian military. The old-guard pair, representing Russia’s muscular security and war-fighting powers, have outlasted turmoil to remain at Putin’s side — and both are in play to step in if there is a sudden vacancy at the top.
The wigs and weaves are hard to miss at Diishan Imira’s office in downtown Oakland. In place of file cabinets and watercoolers are long Naomi Campbell locks and billowing Brazilian tresses with hot-pink tips, perched atop mannequin heads. Far from a colorless workplace, the headquarters of Mayvenn — the Amazon.com of hair extensions — is a vivid love letter to the beauty of Black hair. Exquisite twists, natural hairdos, curls, braids, Afros and everything in between.
"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."
-- Mark Twain
By Alex P. Vidal
FAIRFAX, Virginia -- A septuagenarian Fil-Am religious leader has called on all faithful in the Philippines and the United States to unite and rally behind President Rodrigo Duterte as the latter faces the "difficult" task of solving both the insurgency and terroristic problems in his first year in office.
"I support the style of President Duterte. I can connect with his brand of leadership. We all need to support him," suggested Mariano C. Evangelista, preacher and head of the Falls Church-based Christian Evangelization Ministry.
Houston oil man Alfred Glassell Jr. landed a 1,560-pound black marlin off the coast of Cabo Blanco in northern Peru on August 4, 1953, bagging himself a world record that stands to this day. He hooked the fish at the once-legendary underwater canyon known as Marlin Boulevard and eventually landed it after fighting the sea beast for nearly two hours. Footage of the fish leaping out of the water in an attempt to get free of the hook was used in the 1960 film of Ernest Hemingway’s classic The Old Man and the Sea.
Before and after, there’s the bachelor/bachelorette party, the rehearsal dinner and the day-after brunch. There’s the photo booth, which is a definite necessity these days. And what couple doesn’t have a website designed to share with the world the first time they laid eyes on each other?
The sane person will certainly agree with sociologist and sexologist Dr. Pepper Schwartz when she says, “The whole thing has gotten way out of hand.” The whole thing being the never-ending list of costly accompaniments that now come along with planning a wedding.
