With a New ‘Barbershop,’ Malcolm D. Lee Blends Comedy and Commentary

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — In the 2002 comedy “Barbershop,” the most worrisome problem facing the shop owner Calvin Palmer (Ice Cube) is a duplicitous loan shark who wants to turn the neighborhood fixture into a strip club. Two years later, in “Barbershop 2: Back in Business,” Calvin’s biggest headache is competition from Nappy Cutz, a… Read More With a New ‘Barbershop,’ Malcolm D. Lee Blends Comedy and Commentary

As Campaigns Seek Delegates, Ordinary Voters Feel Sidelined

WASHINGTON — When it comes to nominating presidential candidates, it turns out the world’s foremost democracy is not so purely democratic. For decades, both major parties have used a somewhat convoluted process for picking their nominees, one that involves ordinary voters in only an indirect way. As Americans flock this year to outsider candidates, the… Read More As Campaigns Seek Delegates, Ordinary Voters Feel Sidelined