Drugs
I’ve never been much interested in head shops. As in drug paraphernalia. Never been a druggie — wrong generation. My drugs were tobacco and alcohol, both legal. At least for now. My interest in the coming closing of Wonderland, near Rittenhouse Square, was just academic. I know the store because
Culture
He was a hero to me, and a disaster for bigots. Sidney Poitier was all the things bigots said Blacks were not -- handsome, athletic, smart, articulate, elegant. Not just on-screen, but off-screen too. He was America’s first Black leading man, the first to win an Academy Award as
Democracy
Today is Jan. 6, and I felt I had to do something, and thought this was an important piece. Normally, I would post this on Facebook, but I am still wrongly jailed. So it goes here. PolitiFact knocks down some of the lies before and after the January 6 riot.
Slavery
Sad to say, The New York Times’ controversial 1619 Project opens with a lie that it never quite recovers from. The project -- challenged by numerous historians and journalists such as George Will https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/17/new-york-times-1619-project-historical-illiteracy-rolls-on/ -- begins with the premise that slavery in
Mummers Parade
The 2022 Mummers Parade probably had the lowest turnout and offered the least controversy in recent memory. Past controversy was sparked by actual wrongdoing -- such as 1 out of 10,000 Mummers smearing blackface (banned for more than 50 years) on their faces -- or imagined wrongdoing, such as
Journalism
At this time of year, columnists and essayists have a choice of three hackneyed traditional topics to write about -- year in review, predictions, resolutions. They’ve been done to death. Always a trail-blazer, I am going to combine all three. I expect Loyal Readers will be able to recognize
Immigration
Let’s talk about lies, and where some lead. “There are three types of lies,” said Benjamin Disraeli, “lies, damn lies, and statistics.” I disagree, at least as far as the media is concerned. I think there are black lies, white lies and casual lies, the last being the most
Christmas
Always read the small print. As I took it out of its envelope, this is how the Christmas card looked — all lush colors and ingratiating words. It kind of made me feel all gooey and appreciated, a great feeling for Christmas morning. Then I opened and read the message inside.
ACCT Philly
The other shoe has dropped on ACCT Philly, the city’s animal control agency, with a suit filed by Tiffany LaVelle, described as the heart-broken owner of Saint, a 5-year-old dog that was wrongfully euthanized by the city-funded agency. I first reported the case back in Novemberand in Philadelphia Weekly.
God
Continuing an annual conversation between Your Favorite Columnist and God that stretches back almost two decades. Stu: God, you are getting on my last nerve. God: What’s got your shorts in a bunch, Sonny? Stu: Don’t call me Sonny. We soldiered through COVID-19, your 2020 “gift” to humanity,
Christmas
Merry Christmas! Really? With Omicron raging, backing up Delta, with homicides exploding, authoritarianism gaining ground here and there, our racial crisis still unresolved, with its parallel effect — woke notions that merit and math are racist. Yes, even with that. Not for families who have lost a loved one, but that
Larry Krasner
In a rare story critical of D.A. Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia Inquirer produced a report that has his own staff indicting Larry, a legal action to which he seems averse when it comes to criminals. I’ve written many times about Let ‘em Loose Larry. You know how I