Category Archives: mainstream media

Another mainstream lie – populists are ‘taking over’


My friend Swamp Rabbit was trying to make me stop reading a lengthy op-ed with the provocative headline “Plutocrats vs. Populists.” “This paper ain’t fit to wrap fish in,” he said. “Even virtual fish.” He’s right. The New York Times … Continue reading

Posted in mainstream media, New York Times, Obama | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Was Lou Reed rock ’n’ roll’s last outsider?


My friend Swamp Rabbit, who only likes bluegrass and Bulgarian folk music, asked me about Lou Reed: “If this guy was an outsider, how come insiders sing his praises?” The rabbit was referring to the subhed of The New York … Continue reading

Posted in arts, history, mainstream media, police state, The New Depression | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Obamacare in the land of the yahoos


Swamp Rabbit swam two laps around the swamp then dragged himself onto the porch, where I was commenting on the virtual secessionists who are still fighting Obamacare, a.k.a. the Affordable Care Act. “I can’t get my head around this one,” … Continue reading

Posted in Great Recession, health care, humor, mainstream media, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Power broker vs. broken newspaper


Swamp Rabbit chugged his hangover remedy, a carrot juice and swamp grass mix, as I complained to him about the sorry state of the mainstream news media — in this case, The Philadelphia Inquirer, which is owned by the same … Continue reading

Posted in humor, life in the big city, mainstream media, movies, New York Times | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Today’s GOP — morons or monsters?


Swamp Rabbit and I were laying down planks to fix the hole in the floor of my shack and arguing about Republicans in Congress who shut down the government this week. Is their bad behavior grounded in stupidity or malice? … Continue reading

Posted in climate change, Congress, health care, history, humor, mainstream media, taxes | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Walter White says bye-bye, ‘Baby Blue’


Walter White to his long-suffering wife Skyler in their final scene together: “I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really… I was alive.” Breaking Bad was an unusually good TV show … Continue reading

Posted in arts, economic collapse, fiction, mainstream media, pop music, The New Depression | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Media still propping up economic recovery myth


My shack in Tinicum was in a miserable state, so I paid Swamp Rabbit to help me clean and paint it. Afterwards, the place looked good from the porch but when I stepped inside, I fell through the floor into … Continue reading

Posted in economic collapse, health care, humor, mainstream media, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stranger than Strangelove


I was back at the shack, beside myself with angst, reading to Swamp Rabbit about a catastrophe that almost happened a half-century ago: A secret document, published in declassified form for the first time by the Guardian today, reveals that … Continue reading

Posted in arts, economic collapse, fiction, history, humor, mainstream media, movies, Philadelphia, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Summers’ end (exit Iago)


“Look, it’s Larry Summers,” said Swamp Rabbit, pointing at an oil slick on the wetlands that surrounds my shotgun shack in Tinicum. “I think he’s heading north, maybe back to Harvard.” “No way,” I said. “He gambled away a big … Continue reading

Posted in economic collapse, Goldman Sachs, Great Recession, mainstream media, New York Times, Obama, The New Depression, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

J.D. Salinger groupie tells all — again!


My friend Swamp Rabbit, an autodidact who tries to hide his deep knowledge of American literature, was surprised and appalled by a recent piece in The New York Times by the writer Joyce Maynard. It began: In the 50 years … Continue reading

Posted in arts, fiction, mainstream media, movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment