South Africa’s eNews Channel Africa revealed today that Thamisanqa Jantjie, the fake sign language interpreter who famously stood near President Barack Obama and other world leaders during the Mandela memorial, had faced charges of “rape (1994), theft (1995), housebreaking (1997),
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), has effectively declared war against the conservative members of the GOP caucus, as well as the Tea Party and other outside conservative groups. Not only did he attack outside groups twice in as
The editor of the Cape Times, the leading English-language morning paper in the South African coastal city of Cape Town, has been fired after declining to lead last Friday’s coverage with the story of the death of Nelson Mandela, the
Fake sign language interpreter Thamsanqa Jantjie told a local radio station on Wednesday: “I’ve been interpreting for the quite number of events. And then now–I’m very sad now, because they are the ones who are supposed to protect me….They are supposed
South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), has spent twenty years enthusiastically blurring the boundary between the ruling party and the state. It has appointed cronies (“cadres”) to every office, taken over all independent state institutions, enriched itself
I find myself in rare agreement with Ta-Nehisi Coates on the question of violence as a political tactic, which has been debated in the wake of Nelson Mandela’s passing. Coates notes that “Americans should understand” that “violent resistance to tyranny”
South Africans gave positive reviews to President Barack Obama’s speech at the memorial for Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The popular local cartoonist Zapiro (a.k.a. Jonathan Shapiro) drew Obama capturing the essence of the man, drawing South Africa’s own
Thamsanqa Jantjie, the fake sign language interpreter whose performance at the memorial to Nelson Mandela on Tuesday sparked international outrage and national embarrassment, lashed out against his critics in an interview with local radio station Highveld 94.7 on Wednesday, saying
In pushing the case for war with Syria in September, Secretary of State John Kerry insisted that the majority of rebels were “moderates,” and not Islamists. Three months later, the top “moderate” general, Salim Idris, was pushed out of the
Illinois reported only 7,043 enrollments in Obamacare in the first two months of the program, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Chicago Tribune reports. The eventual goal is 300,000 Illinois enrollments. The actual number of Illinois residents
One of the main arguments that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is using in favor of the budget deal struck with Sen. Patti Murray (D-WA) is that the next wave of sequester cuts under the Budget Control Act would hurt the
Some influential Senate Democrats are folding on new Iran sanctions under pressure from the Obama administration, giving tacit endorsement to a faulty nuclear deal with Iran that accepts nuclear enrichment by the regime–a position recently unthinkable, and against UN Security
Officials in the Obama administration have admitted privately that Israel was correct about the value of sanctions relief in the deal on Iran’s nuclear program struck in Geneva last month, according to Ha’aretz. In defending the deal at the time,
On Tuesday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) announced that they had reached a deal on the federal budget for the next two years. The GOP would agree to ease the sequester by $62 billion. In return,
President Barack Obama sparked controversy by shaking the hand of Cuban dictator Raúl Castro on Tuesday at the memorial for Nelson Mandela in South Africa. He avoided greeting Zimbabwean tyrant Robert Mugabe, however. Assuming that these two gestures were by
Talk show host Mark Levin told House Budget Committee Chair Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) that the budget deal announced today with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) was a “Mickey Mouse” deal, tinkering at the margins of the federal budget, undoing the
Secretary of State John Kerry appeared before the House Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday to defend the recent nuclear deal with Iran and to oppose new sanctions. He fielded questions from members of both parties about the terms of the
Earlier Tuesday, NBC News reported that President Barack Obama had shaken hands with Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe. However, the UK Telegraph’s Josie Ensor reported that Obama “was asked to take his seat just before reaching Mugabe.” Complicating matters, another article
President Barack Obama did not, apparently, shake the hand of Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe at Tuesday’s memorial for Nelson Mandela. NBC News reported that Obama had shaken hands with Mugabe “on his way to the rostrum.” However, the UK Telegraph
The handshake between President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro is being described as a spontaneous gesture. However, the State Department has a large bureaucracy devoted to diplomatic protocol that would surely have kept Obama from greeting Castro if
President Barack Obama has hired Bill Clinton’s former White House Chief of Staff, John Podesta, to help him salvage his second term. According to the Washington Post, Podesta will return to the White House to advise Obama on “climate-change issues
Former President George W. Bush, as the American left gleefully observed, was booed by some in the audience at the memorial for Nelson Mandela at the First National Bank in Soweto, Johannesburg on Tuesday. President Barack Obama, in contrast, received
The reading from Scripture chosen for Nelson Mandela’s funeral was the story of the Prophet Elijah’s ascent to heaven in a chariot of fire after passing on the mantle of leadership (2 Kings 2). The example was a curious one,
Freshman Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has surged to a seven-point lead over incumbent Democrat Mark Pryor, according to a poll provided by a conservative group to Politico on Monday. The poll, if accurate, shows that the ongoing failure of Obamacare
President Barack Obama shook hands with Cuban leader Raúl Castro at the memorial for the late President Nelson Mandela in Soweto, Johannesburg on Tuesday morning. Raúl Castro has served as president since his brother, Fidel, was incapacitated by ill health.
