- The Whole World Should Be Watching (9/25/2005) - Over a quarter of a million people filled the streets of Washington yesterday to protest the war in Iraq and the Bush regime, but our nation's corporate media has given the event scant coverage. The demonstration itself, with a large turnout from labor, was broad and impressive. There is much debate in the anti-war movement about the value of these large mobilizations. The side that I am on argues that these are the most visible… …
- Everyone You Know Someday Will Die (9/20/2005) - This is going to be unforgivably morbid. A lawsuit has been filed against the Port Authority by the kin of those who died in the 1993 car bombing of the World Trade Center. Without comment on the lawsuit, which has serious merits, one motivation is dubious. According to the NY Times: "Among survivors of the first attack, which left six people dead and more than 1,000 injured, there has long been a feeling of neglect,… …
- Instant Run-off’s Gonna Get You (9/15/2005) - Anthony Weiner's concession in advance of the Democratic primary run-off is the best possible result of Tuesday's election, and not least of which because I have no intention of voting for Whitey (whatever name he may go by). Freddy Ferrer, whose campaign has been rather timid until now, deserves the chance to finally take on Mayor Mike directly, without diminished strength and campaign funds. His "two New Yorks" theme from four years ago was exactly… …
- The Rats and the Big Rats (9/14/2005) - The Bush appointed National Labor Relations Board is poised to curtail the use of those giant inflatable rats that we've grown to love. A staple of labor demonstrations for the last decade, the rats are apparently a victim of their own success: increasingly viewed as a signal to the public not to patronize certain ratty, union-busting establishments. That any branch of the government would ban an effective tactic of the labor movement should come as… …
- The Aristocrats (9/8/2005) - "The Aristocrats" is a disappointment. For all the talk of how the World's Dirtiest Joke is like some great jazz improv, which improves with each new teller's unique voice, mostly, it's the same joke. There's diarrhea, there's incest, there's Joe Franklin and the same lame punchline. I always thought the joke was that aristocrats (like England's royal family) actually engage in some of the child-fucking, shit-eating acts described in the joke's set-up. In fact, the… …
- Left Field Day at Shea (9/7/2005) - Join the Socialist Party on Tuesday, September 13 at 7:00 for "Left Field Day at Shea." We've got a block of seats for the Mets vs. Nationals baseball game, so the New York Mets will welcome the Socialist Party on the scoreboard! Tickets are only $5, and we'll all be sitting together way out in the left field upper deck. Despite a few bad games lately, the Mets are in a wild card race, so… …
- “Children by the Million” (9/2/2005) - The disastrous magnitude of Hurricane Katrina's impact on the Gulf Coast is almost inconceivable. I'll hardly bother with a political commentary on the government's woefully inadequate response to, and preparation for, this utterly predictable storm. I don't think that we, as a society, are going to learn the lessons we need from this. Global climate change is real, and it's magnifying the size and impact of storms like Katrina, but don't expect Bush to sign… …
- “You just don’t fit in.” (8/30/2005) - Apparently, to soften the blow from being fired from her reality show, contestants on Martha Stewart's new version of "The Apprentice" will be told, "You just don't fit in." Ha! Where have I heard that one before? …
- Great Live Concert Moments (8/29/2005) - Former Washington Post music critic David Segal just published the sort of "goodbye to all that" article that gives rock-n-roll nerds like me big 'ol boners. Segal writers about the Ahab-like quest for "great live concert moments" - moments during a live concert that are so unique and memorable that you realize you are sharing a special intimate moment with the band a few hundred fans (I don't attend arena concerts as a rule, so… …
- The Soul of Street Art (8/27/2005) - It's hard to decide which side is more annoying in the recent furor over subway graffiti, art and New York's bad old days. On the one side, you have Mark Echo, a former graffiti artist and current clothing designer and mini-mogul. Echo recently held a 'graffiti party,' in which a couple dozen artists tagged up a totally fake-looking cardboard facade of a subway car, in a supposed celebration of the street art and hip hop… …