Marcus Perez
On his first day of freedom, Thursday, June 17, Marcus Perz stayed up until 1 a.m., because he could. In the morning, he awakened at 5 a.m. because of the force of habit. That was just before the time convicts were awakened in the corrections facilities where he
Uncategorized
No joke. The company that handles my mail alerts tells me it is overwhelmed by reports from my subscribers that this is spam. God knows I’ve been called worse, but everyone on this list did what you did and signed up. Two weeks ago, I received an email from
Joe Biden
During the 3+ hours the heads of the world’s two greatest nuclear powers met, Joe Biden warned Vladimir Putin against any cyberattacks on what he said were 16 clearly defined areas of U.S. critical infrastructure. The 16 “should be off-limits,” Biden reportedly said. I’ve got about 16
Journalism
The Associated Press gets a lot of respect, largely because it is so large, it has so many newspaper members, it has lasted so long (since 1846) and has great branding. Who hasn’t heard of the AP? Because it has 1,400 member newspapers, plus broadcasters, to create conformity
Immigration
The epiphany was like a lightning bolt, a brief flash in the dark. Sule Cakir was talking to her sister Tugba about a planned visit later this month to Turkey, from where she migrated when she was 7. After the visit, Tugba said, they would return home. It struck Sule,
Journalism
It’s been five days since my last post and when I take that many days off, I hear from some of my subscribers — people who think my mail server is on the blink again, or I have fallen ill. It is neither. I have been occupied reading a proof
Black Lives Matter
How do you feel about Black Lives Matter? Wait! Stop! That’s a poor question, because Black Lives Matter isn’t a single thing. First is the idea, the principle, that Black Lives Matter (also). Second is what I call Black Lives Matter, Inc., which is the Marxist-led political/social
Animals
I’m a long time removed from my native New York, but I keep an eye on it, sometimes for nostalgia, sometimes for inspiration. Right now, I am looking at Curtis Sliwa for inspiration. You may know his name. In the late ‘70s, when New York’s ticket had been
Politics
Sometimes, without meaning to, Philadelphia’s city government stumbles into doing something right. One thing last week was the approval of a new citizens advisory board to oversee the police department. Philly has had one for a while, but it was underfunded, understaffed, and had few teeth for enforcement. It
Democracy
We are falling apart, becoming the Disunited States of America. I have never seen anything like it before. Red States, Blue States. Neighbor against neighbor. Once shared American values have evaporated, like steam from a kettle. Everything — from our history and national identity, to our reliance on capitalism — is in
Culture
One Liberty Place is beautiful — and I was wrong. It was shortly after I moved here in 1966 that a controversy erupted over Philadelphia’s “gentleman’s agreement” (so sexist!) that no building could be higher than the statue of Our Founder © William Penn atop City Hall. A lot of
Israel
For the record, editorial cartoons are not obligated to be accurate or fair. It’s better, maybe, when they are, but those virtues are not required. The idea is to take a simple idea and drive it home. I try to not blow my stack when I disagree with them,