Category Archives: police state

We pay million$ each year for cop misconduct


A typical September da in Philly. Oppressive humidity. Swarming flies. Cicadas making eerie outer-space sounds. In the media, another story about bad cops: The city of Philadelphia will pay $2,000,000 to a Black woman who was pulled from a car, … Continue reading

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Tech changes. Cop culture doesn’t.


Swamp Rabbit was yapping about the Derek Chauvin trial. “Too bad he was wearin’ a mask. I wanted to see the look on his face when the judge read them guilty verdicts.” I recalled watching Chauvin on TV last May, … Continue reading

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Who do you believe, police or your lying eyes?


Swamp Rabbit wanted to know what I thought of the four Minneapolis cops who were arrested and charged in the killing of George Floyd. I told him lying with impunity used to be one of the perks of the job, … Continue reading

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Killing dissent softly at the DNC


I like to run the streets to calm the demons in my head before bedtime. It’s like meditation or prayer, except you need good shoes and plenty of water, especially during heat waves like the one we endured while the … Continue reading

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Outlaw bikers with badges and benefits, aka NYPD


Is it possible to be paranoid and arrogant as hell at the same time? Sure it is, if you’re a cop. Swamp Rabbit asked me how I could say such a thing. I told him to check out the NYPD … Continue reading

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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

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Bagel bomber busted at Vital Records


My plan was to hitchhike from Tinicum swamp past the junkyards and into Philly through the backdoor. My friend Swamp Rabbit tried to discourage me, but I had no choice, a temp agency was insisting on proof that I really … Continue reading

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Stalin would have smiled at Manning’s sentence


Ben Wizner of the ACLU sums up why he thinks decent people everywhere should be disgusted by the 35-year prison sentence imposed on Bradley Manning this week: When a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished … Continue reading

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In today’s U.S.A., Ellsberg would be deep-sixed


Regarding a convergence of stories about truth tellers: Last week I watched The Most Dangerous Man in America (2009), about Daniel Ellsberg’s decision to shred the web of lies spun by government officials in their successful effort to pursue full-scale … Continue reading

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In guns we trust


Frank Rich says America’s love affair with guns is something that will have to be chipped away at; that guns… …have always been intrinsic to the very idea of America and “freedom” – enshrined in our Constitution’s Second Amendment (however … Continue reading

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