Month: April 2023

Al Jaffee, Mad magazine’s award-winning cartoonist and ageless wise guy who delighted millions of kids with the sneaky fun of the Fold-In and the snark of “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions,” has died. He was 102. 

Jaffee died Monday in Manhattan from multiple organ failure, according to his granddaughter, Fani Thomson. He had retired at the age of 99. 

Mad magazine, with its wry, sometimes pointed send-ups of politics and culture, was essential reading for teens and preteens during the baby-boom era and inspiration for countless future comedians. Few of the magazine’s self-billed “Usual Gang of Idiots” contributed as much — and as dependably — as the impish, bearded cartoonist. For decades, virtually every issue featured new material by Jaffee. His collected “Fold-Ins,” taking on everyone in his unmistakably broad visual style from the Beatles to TMZ, was enough for a four-volume box set published in 2011. 

Readers savored his Fold-Ins like dessert, turning to them on the inside back cover after looking through such other favorites as Antonio Prohías’ “Spy vs. Spy” and Dave Berg’s “The Lighter Side.” The premise, originally a spoof of the old Sports Illustrated and Playboy magazine foldouts, was that you started with a full-page drawing and question on top, folded two designated points toward the middle and produced a new and surprising image, along with the answer. 

The Fold-In was supposed to be a onetime gag, tried out in 1964 when Jaffee satirized the biggest celebrity news of the time: Elizabeth Taylor dumping her husband, Eddie Fisher, in favor of “Cleopatra” co-star Richard Burton. Jaffee first showed Taylor and Burton arm in arm on one side of the picture, and on the opposite side a young, handsome man being held back by a policeman. 

Fold the picture in and Taylor and the young man are kissing. 

The idea was so popular that Mad editor Al Feldstein wanted a follow-up. Jaffee devised a picture of 1964 GOP presidential contenders Nelson Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater that, when collapsed, became an image of Richard Nixon. 

“That one really set the tone for what the cleverness of the Fold-Ins has to be,” Jaffee told the Boston Phoenix in 2010. “It couldn’t just be bringing someone from the left to kiss someone on the right.” 

Jaffee was also known for “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions,” which delivered exactly what the title promised. A comic from 1980 showed a man on a fishing boat with a noticeably bent reel. “Are you going to reel in the fish?” his wife asks. “No,” he says, “I’m going to jump into the water and marry the gorgeous thing.” 

Jaffee didn’t just satirize the culture; he helped change it. His parodies of advertisements included such future real-life products as automatic redialing for a telephone, a computer spell checker and graffiti-proof surfaces. He also anticipated peelable stamps, multiblade razors and self-extinguishing cigarettes. 

Jaffee’s admirers ranged from Charles M. Schulz of “Peanuts” fame and “Far Side” creator Gary Larson to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, who marked Jaffee’s 85th birthday by featuring a Fold-In cake on “The Colbert Report.” When Stewart and “The Daily Show” writers put together the best-selling “America (The Book),” they asked Jaffee to contribute a Fold-In. 

“When I was done, I called up the producer who’d contacted me, and I said, ‘I’ve finished the Fold-In, where shall I send it?’ And he said — and this was a great compliment — ‘Oh, please Mr. Jaffee, could you deliver it in person? The whole crew wants to meet you,'” he told The Boston Phoenix. 

Jaffee received numerous awards and in 2013 was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame, the ceremony taking place at San Diego Comic-Con International. In 2010, he contributed illustrations to Mary-Lou Weisman’s “Al Jaffee’s Mad Life: A Biography.” The following year, Chronicle Books published “The MAD Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010.” 

Art was the saving presence of his childhood, which left him with permanent distrust of adults and authority. He was born in Savannah, Georgia, but for years was torn between the U.S., where his father (a department store manager) preferred to live, and Lithuania, where his mother (a religious Jew) longed to return. In Lithuania, Jaffee endured poverty and bullying but also developed his craft. With paper scarce and no school to attend, he learned to read and write through the comic strips mailed by his father. 

By his teens, he was settled in New York City and so obviously gifted that he was accepted into the High School of Music & Art. His schoolmates included Will Elder, a future Mad illustrator, and Harvey Kurtzmann, a future Mad editor. (His mother, meanwhile, remained in Lithuania and was apparently killed during the war). 

He had a long career before Mad. He drew for Timely Comics, which became Marvel Comics; and for several years sketched the “Tall Tales” panel for the New York Herald Tribune. Jaffee first contributed to Mad in the mid-1950s. He left when Kurtzmann quit the magazine but came back in 1964. 

Mad lost much of its readership and edge after the 1970s, and Jaffee outlived virtually all of the magazine’s stars. But he rarely lacked for ideas even as his method, drawing by hand, remained mostly unchanged in the digital era. 

“I’m so used to being involved in drawing and knowing so many people that do it, that I don’t see the magic of it,” Jaffee told the publication Graphic NYC in 2009. “If you reflect and think about it, I’m sitting down and suddenly there’s a whole big illustration of people that appears. I’m astounded when I see magicians work; even though I know they’re all tricks. You can imagine what someone thinks when they see someone drawing freehand and it’s not a trick. It’s very impressive.”
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The instruction to feed the hungry is a common philosophy among most major world religions. Muslims are no exception, especially while the observe the fasting month of Ramadan. VOA’s Irfan Ihsan reports. Alam Burhanan and Ronan Zakaria contributed.
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A group of historians from India’s leading universities have slammed recent revisions to school textbooks that include removing or trimming references to Islamic rule in the subcontinent and to the anger among some Hindu extremists at independence leader Mahatma Gandhi’s pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity.

Education authorities have said the history, political science and sociology texts were revised as part of a “rationalization process” but critics charge that the amendments help promote the Hindu nationalist vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

School textbooks issued by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), an autonomous organization under the Education Ministry, are part of the curriculum in thousands of schools across the country.

NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani has denied allegations that the revisions were made with a political agenda and said they are meant to lighten the academic load on students in the aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic, which led to loss of learning.

“It’s a professional exercise meant to help students hit by the pandemic and has no ulterior political motive,” he told television news channel, NDTV.

However a group of 250 historians and academics said that while they understand the need for periodic revisions of school texts, this round “reflects the sway of divisive politics over pedagogic concerns.”

“Selectively deleting several important themes from school textbooks is not only doing great disservice to the composite heritage of the Indian subcontinent, but betraying the aspirations of the Indian masses,” historians and academics from India’s top universities such as Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Ashoka University said in a statement on Friday.

While textbooks have been amended before, critics say the latest changes are efforts to bypass the period when Muslims ruled India.

Passages on Mughals, who ruled in North India between the 16th and 19th centuries, have been either trimmed or removed in secondary and senior school texts. Right wing Hindu groups consider the Muslim rulers oppressors and wanted more focus in history texts on ancient India, which they say reflects the achievements of India under Hindu rulers.

Several towns and streets bearing Muslim names have been renamed with Hindu ones since the BJP came to power.

Prime Minister Modi said at an event last December, that in the name of history, “concocted narratives” were taught to infuse inferiority and there is a need to break free from the “narrow views” of the past to move forward.

Historians underline how diverse races and religions that came to India over the centuries molded its identity.

“With these revisions, future generations of students might lose out on the basic nuances of how that historical progression had taken place in India,” pointed out Archana Ojha, professor of history at Delhi University, who is a signatory to the statement. “You cannot write history on the basis of religion. It is an account of human progression based on political, economic and other changes. For example the process of urbanization of Delhi began in the 13th century with a Muslim ruler. The Mughals were as much Hindustani [Indian] as others.”

Other deletions in the school texts include references to the links between Hindu extremism and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the dislike of his pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity among some Hindus, as well as the ban imposed on the right wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, in the aftermath of his killing. The RSS is called the ideological parent of the ruling BJP.

Among the deleted references is one that says Gandhi “was convinced that any attempt to make India into a country only for Hindus would destroy India.”

References to the riots that wracked Gujarat state in 2002 killing almost a 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, when Prime Minister Modi headed the state have also been dropped. So have some accounts of some social movements and caste-based discrimination in Hinduism.

The historians, several of whom had worked on the syllabus in the past, said in their statement that the attempts in the earlier texts were to make them as inclusive as possible, and to provide a “sense of the rich diversity of the human past both within the subcontinent and the wider world.”

Calling for the changes to be recalled, the statement said that “removing entire periods of history from textbooks would not only perpetuate misconceptions and misunderstandings, but would serve to further the divisive communal and casteist agenda of the ruling elites.”

“When we revise history we do so on the basis of new evidences, new sources or what is found in archival records which may have been overlooked. It is not done on the basis of what politicians or a certain class of people want it to be,” said Ojha. She pointed out that “in the latest revisions, there are just deletions, no new additions.”

In an editorial last week, the Indian Express newspaper, said that while curriculum reforms should be par for the course, the recent ones “excise content related to chapters in history that have acquired political overtones under the current regime.”

The newspaper said the deletions from the textbooks invite the charge “that not only does the government wish to escape unpalatable facts, but it also wants to ensure that students do not engage with social and political realities with a critical attitude.”
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A British performance of “The Bodyguard” musical ended in unrequited love for some audience members who couldn’t refrain from singing along to the anthemic finale. 

The show at the Palace Theatre in Manchester screeched to a halt Friday when two unruly patrons were ejected for joining the lead in singing “I Will Always Love You,” the soaring, emotional ballad made famous by Whitney Houston. 

It was not supposed to be a singalong. Ushers carried signs saying, “Please refrain from singing” and announcements were made in advance that patrons would have a chance to join along at the end but not to sing during the show, said Tash Kenyon, an audience member. 

During the closing number, somebody shouted, “Does this mean we can start singing now?” Kenyon said. A tone-deaf voice projected from the balcony and competed with the vocals of Melody Thornton, a former member of The Pussycat Dolls. 

Laughter then turned to anger and confusion, Karl Bradley told the Manchester Evening News. 

“The stage then just went black again and that’s when it really started to kick off on the higher tier, you could really hear screams and audible gasps,” Bradley said. “Everyone starting standing up and looking over. There was chants of ‘out, out, out’ to get them gone.” 

When the lights came up, the unwanted backup singers were being hauled out of their seats by theater security and audience members began cheering. 

But the music and show were over. 

A spokesperson for the theater said the show was canceled because disruptive fans who refused to stay seated had spoiled the performance. 

Thornton posted a video on Instagram thanking respectful fans and apologizing for those who weren’t. 

Greater Manchester Police said it spoke with the two people who were removed by security and would review evidence before taking any action. 
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Jon Rahm turned the longest day into his sweetest victory, starting Sunday with a four-shot deficit in the morning chill and finishing in fading sunlight as the fourth Spaniard to become a Masters champion. 

Rahm closed with a 3-under 69 to pull away from mistake-prone Brooks Koepka. He won by four shots over Koepka and 52-year-old Phil Mickelson, who turned in a tournament-best 65. He is the oldest runner-up in Masters history. 

It was Mickelson who declared Rahm would be among golf’s biggest stars even before the Spaniard turned pro in 2016. Rahm now has a green jacket to go along with his U.S. Open title he won in 2021 at Torrey Pines. 

Rahm made up two shots on Koepka over the final 12 holes of the rain-delayed third round and started the final round two shots behind. He seized on Koepka’s collapse and then surged so far ahead that Mickelson’s amazing closing round — the best final round ever at Augusta National for the three-time Masters champion — was never going to be enough. 

Nothing was more satisfying than an uphill climb to the 18th green to claim the green jacket on a day when Spanish stars aligned. Sunday is the birthdate of his idol, the late Seve Ballesteros, and this is the 40-year anniversary of Ballesteros winning his second Masters title. 

Rahm embraced his wife and two children, and as he walked toward the scoring room, there was two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal in his green jacket for the strongest hug of all. 

Rahm won for the fourth time this year — just as Scottie Scheffler did a year ago when he won the Masters — and reclaimed the No. 1 world ranking from Scheffler. 

This Masters had a little bit of everything — hot and humid at the start, a cold front with wind that toppled three trees on Friday, putting surfaces saturated from rain on Saturday and a marathon finish Sunday as Rahm and Koepka went 30 holes. 

Koepka helped to pave the way with one miscue after another, losing the lead for the first time since Thursday afternoon when he chipped 20 feet past the hole from behind the par-3 sixth and made his second bogey. There would be more to come. 

Worse yet, Koepka went 22 consecutive holes Sunday without a birdie — from the par-5 eighth hole in the morning of the third round until the par-5 13th in final round. By then, he was three shots behind and Rahm all but sealed it with his next shot. 

He hit a low cut around a tree from right of the 14th fairway and it caught a slope just right on the 14th green and fed down to 3 feet for a birdie. When Koepka three-putted for bogey, it was a matter of finishing. 

Rahm hooked his tee shot into the trees on the final hole and didn’t reach the fairway. No matter. He played up the fairway, hit wedge to 3 feet and tapped in for the victory. 

The leaderboard was littered with major champions and a tinge of Saudi-funded LIV Golf. Mickelson and Koepka both are part of the rival circuit. Former Masters champion Patrick Reed, another player who defected to LIV, closed with a 68 and tied for fourth with Jordan Spieth (66) and Russell Henley. 
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Muslims across South Africa are observing Ramadan with prayer and fasting. But some also see the holy month as an opportunity to reach out to those in need within their communities. Zaheer Cassim spoke to residents in Johannesburg and has the story.
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Despite their country’s economic challenges, Muslims in Sudan are observing the holy month of Ramadan with customs that include sharing iftar with travelers. Sidahmed Ibraheem spoke to residents in Khartoum and has this story.
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China feels it has the “right to redefine the global world order,” Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei told AFP on Wednesday ahead of the opening in London of his first design-focused exhibition. 

The show at the Design Museum features hundreds of thousands of objects collected by the Chinese artist since the 1990s, from Stone Age tools to Lego bricks, and draws on his love of artifacts and traditional craftsmanship. 

The son of a poet revered by former communist leaders, Ai, 65, is perhaps China’s best-known modern artist and helped design the famous “Bird’s Nest” stadium for Beijing’s 2008 Olympics. 

But he fell out of favor after criticizing the Chinese government, was imprisoned for 81 days in 2011 and eventually left for Germany four years later. 

Among the artifacts in the new exhibition are thousands of fragments from Ai’s porcelain sculptures, which were destroyed when the bulldozers moved in to dismantle his studio in Beijing in 2018. 

In launching the show, Ai said he believed China was “not moving into a more civilized society, but [had] rather become quite brutal on anybody who has different ideas.” 

“Tension between China and the West is very natural,” added the artist, who has lived in Europe since 2015. 

“China feel they have their own power and right to redefine the global world order,” he said. “They think China can become an important factor in changing the game rules, basically designed by the West world.” 

And he said that even though Europe had been relatively peaceful for 70 years, there were many problems, including much less concern for “humanity” and threats to “freedom of speech.” 

The objects to go on display include 1,600 Stone Age tools, 10,000 Song Dynasty cannon balls retrieved from a moat, and donated Lego bricks that the artist began working with in 2014 to produce portraits of political prisoners. 

The exhibition will also feature large-scale works installed outside the exhibition gallery. 

They include a piece titled “Colored House” featuring the painted timber frame of a house that was once the home of a prosperous family during the early Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). 

Exhibition curator Justin McGuirk said the things Ai had been collecting over the years represented “a body of evidence about different histories, different cultural moments in China’s history [that]  maybe have been forgotten or not thought about enough.”  

“Ai Weiwei always makes something out of destruction and plays on the idea of construction,” he added.
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Cambodian communities in California organized a parade and cultural festival ahead of this month’s solar new year. For VOA, Genia Dulot has our story from Long Beach.
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For many people in the U.S. holidays mean enormous lawn decorations. But generally, these decorations coincide with Western holidays. Now, some Muslim families are finding unique ways to celebrate Ramadan. VOA’s Dhania Iman reports. Videographer: Andri Tambunan 
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