Monthly Archives: March 2013

Easter story, updated


And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? — Mark 16:3 My friend Jesus the taqueria owner was whacked on Friday by demented jerks with nail guns. It wasn’t pretty. … Continue reading

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‘The Next Day’ a surprise gift to Bowie fans


David Bowie’s low visibility in recent years led to rumors he might be dying, or simply too bored to record again. At some point, he got over his ennui, if that’s what it was, and began working on The Next … Continue reading

Posted in arts, humor, mainstream media, pop music, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cruising mean streets in the popemobile


The mainstream media love big, easy stories — natural disasters, inaugurations, papal elections. The election by the College of Cardinals of Jorge Bergoglio was a softball lobbed right over the plate, and the media knocked it out of the park. … Continue reading

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Are perfect storms the wave of the future?


The Day After Tomorrow (2004) has a cheesy script, but the spectacle of New York City immersed except for the upper floors of its tallest buildings is worth the DVD rental fee and doesn’t seem silly in our post-Hurricane Sandy … Continue reading

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Shoeshine boys debate job creation


[The job creators] have no intention of creating jobs now or in the future. They don’t have to create jobs and there’s nobody out there to make them do it. They simply will reduce the number of jobs they have … Continue reading

Posted in economic collapse, Great Compression, life in the big city, mainstream media, Philadelphia, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Being white in Philly Mag


[Update: I walked into a South Philly CVS and saw that headline again, screaming at me in bold white caps, and I thought oh no, race war, end of the world!] It’s hard to read Philadelphia Magazine‘s March cover piece, … Continue reading

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Chavez was flawed, but he had Bush’s number


Right-wingers celebrated the death this week of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, calling him a dictator and much worse, but only because he wouldn’t play ball with American oil companies or refrain from criticizing hypocrites who put a noble spin on … Continue reading

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Thank Obama, the anti-FDR, for the sequester


America is waiting for a message of some sort or another. – David Byrne and Brian Eno It ain’t pretty, the damage Barack Obama has done to working people by trying to cozy up to Republicans over the last four-plus … Continue reading

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Scalia’s mission: resurrect Jim Crow


The idea that progress is an inexorable force is naive. Civilization’s big steps forward are often followed by big steps back. The civil rights movement triggered a backlash that continues to this day. Progressive laws are still on the books, … Continue reading

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