Category Archives: humor

A buy from Amazon is a vote for wage slavery

Posted on March 6, 2014 by oddmanout215

I read a piece in Salon about Amazon’s business model and almost throttled my friend Swamp Rabbit, I guess because he was the only creature in sight. But I was glad to see that at least one media writer wasn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in down and out, economic collapse, globalization, humor, mainstream media, plutocracy, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Porn flick about Comcast would be called ‘Insatiable’

Posted on February 14, 2014 by oddmanout215

Swamp Rabbit and I were reading that Comcast, the nation’s No. 1 cable services provider, has bought out Time Warner Cable, the No. 2 provider. I wondered aloud what’s become of the Federal Communications Commission, the outfit that is supposed … Continue reading →

Posted in campaign finance reform, City Paper, humor, life in the big city, mainstream media, Philadelphia | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Regarding Coca-Cola (corporate America’s rotgut)

Posted on February 12, 2014 by oddmanout215

I recently discussed with my friend Swamp Rabbit the sappy Coca-Cola commercial that features, as Guardian UK put it, “a multi-lingual rendition of ‘America the Beautiful’ sung by children and illustrated with a diversity of New Americana scenes…” The usual … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, campaign finance reform, Congress, down and out, globalization, humor, mainstream media, movies, Occupy Wall Street, plutocracy, The New Depression, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Virginia Woolf almost does the Super Bowl

Posted on February 3, 2014 by oddmanout215

Most years, I persuade a famous novelist to write a 500-word recap of the Super Bowl — Dostoyevski and Faulkner, among others, have donned their sportswriters’ caps to appear in this space — but this year Virginia Woolf phoned at … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, fiction, humor, mainstream media, pop music, sports | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Ever-so-gentle rabble-rouser’ Pete Seeger dies

Posted on January 28, 2014 by oddmanout215

I was away from the swamp, stealing potatoes at the local Super Fridge, when I heard about Pete Seeger. This will be a rough day, I thought. Swamp Rabbit is an old leftie with a soft spot for New Deal-influenced … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, Great Depression, history, humor, mainstream media, Obama, Occupy Wall Street, pop music, The New Depression | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

50 years after ‘Strangelove,’ Gen. Jack Ripper on drugs

Posted on January 28, 2014 by oddmanout215

This January marked the 50th anniversary of the release of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. From a New Yorker story about the mainstream critics who dismissed the movie’s storyline as implausible: Despite … Continue reading →

Posted in apocalypse, arts, humor, mainstream media | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

What ‘non-organic’ meant at Whole Foods

Posted on January 21, 2014 by oddmanout215

Swamp Rabbit was complaining about the weather, a pointless and self-defeating exercise. “This here winter is like a roller coaster ride, with temps up to fifty-something one week and a blizzard the next. How we gonna eat if you can’t … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, food, humor, plutocracy, unemployment | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Beware the polar Gore-Tex… or is it cortex?

Posted on January 8, 2014 by oddmanout215

It seemed I might be able to change my socks two days in a row, but then Arctic air crept in on big bear claws and pushed the swamp back into the deep freeze. Swamp Rabbit, flipping out from cabin … Continue reading →

Posted in apocalypse, climate change, down and out, fiction, globalization, humor | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Poverty gets more expensive every day

Posted on January 5, 2014 by oddmanout215

Yesterday at the shack we woke to bone-chilling wind and a blanket of ice. Swamp Rabbit was huddled in a corner with a bottle from the case of Wild Turkey I stole to help him get through his post-holiday funk. … Continue reading →

Posted in down and out, economic collapse, food, humor, mainstream media, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The ill logic of the lower classes

Posted on December 29, 2013 by oddmanout215

It’s the Eighth Day After the Solstice, and I’m back at the shack after checking up on my old house, which stopped feeling homey after a tree fell on it last year. Some of my old neighbors are doing OK, … Continue reading →

Posted in Congress, down and out, economic collapse, fiction, globalization, humor, life in the big city, mainstream media, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment