Journalism
A news story based on a report of racial imbalance at the Philadelphia Inquirer carefully avoids the word “racist,” which is the inescapable conclusion. I know this will cheer critics of the newspaper, who are numerous here. No accusation of racism ever cheers me, but it does make me think
Jim Kenney
For the past couple of years, as we sailed into October, I noticed the city put out a notice that City Hall would be closed on the second Monday, for “a holiday.” It did not mention the name of the holiday. Sssssh. Columbus Day. Mayor Kenney now has abandoned flying
Uncategorized
Having watched three Democratic members as prosecutors of former President Donald J. Trump, I am now watching another eight prosecutors — CNN anchors and hand-picked experts, all sharing one anti-Trump brain. So let me turn down the volume and share my impressions. First, in a completely predictable outcome, the Senate voted
Journalism
In a newsroom filled with larger than life characters — Jack McKinney, Pete Dexter, Bill Conlin, Larry Fields, Chuck Stone — Joe Clark appeared to be smaller than life, but that was deceptive. The blue-eyed, curly haired Irishman out of Southwest Philly was more “Philadelphia” than any of them, and went about
Super Bowl
Many of you are consulting sports books, touts and friends to help you with your Super Bowl picks. Meet Nicholas, a rescued bottlenose dolphin who lives at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. He was rescued after being stranded, years ago. Nicholas was presented with two footballs - one with the logo
Police
Anti-cop critics may not have to actually “defund the police.” Philadelphia police are depopulating their own ranks in an unprecedented dash for the doors. More Philadelphia police officers have put in for DROP this past year than in any year in the past decade, except for one, which indicates deep
Uncategorized
Ever play with matches when you were a kid and burn yourself? You learned not to play with matches again. Pain can be a great teacher, but not if you are a Democrat planning to impeach (ex) President Donald J. Trump a second time, having failed to convict him the
Joe Biden
Hey! Have you heard about Kamala Harris? She’s the first a) woman, b) African-American, c) Southeast Asian to be vice president of the United States. If you haven’t heard, you must have been under a rock for the past three months. I’m not mocking her. Hers was
Racism
I don’t pretend the know the ins and outs of how Philly Fighting COVID, which seems to have been an after school extracurricular activity, became Philadelphia’s No. 1 supplier of COVID testing, and then vaccine. Some of it was explained in an Inquirer story that had several notable
Police
In a harsh assessment of the city’s actions last spring during the George Floyd protests, City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart correctly lays the blame at the feet of Mayor Jim Kenney, but gets it partially wrong on the use of police force. The force mentioned by the report says tear
Journalism
Americans’ regard for journalism is lower than whale poop — and it was plenty low long before Donald J. Trump started his “Fake News” tirades, most of them based on his lies. Not all of his accusations were false, because responsible journalists do occasionally get things wrong, and when they do,
Culture
When you think of America’s “most glamorous cities,” Philadelphia might not be in the top 5 — but are we really less glamorous than. . . Cleveland? That is not my opinion, I get it from an online outfit called LawnStarter which does a lot of this kind of pop “research.” Mostly