- The Phone Rang (4/15/2005) - The phone rang this afternoon. A man in a high-pitched youngish voice asked for Mr. Richman and said that he had a few questions about the health of New York City and wouldn't take more than 45 seconds. He sounded like a rushed telemarketer, reading a standard script. I let him ask his question, on the off-chance it was some kind of political poll. "Do you approve of the job that Mayor Mike Bloomberg is… …
- An Opportunity for Electoral Consensus in the Socialist Party USA (4/13/2005) - The Socialist Party USA has a unique opportunity to reach a consensus on electoral activity that can be translated into a coordinated agenda. Much of the debate in the party right now focuses on extraneous arguments about supporting Democrats (which few in the party actually do) or working within the Green Party. But these are pointless arguments if they do not come in the context of our larger strategy. The truth is that the Socialist… …
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- May Day! May Day! (4/13/2005) - This May First, hundreds of thousands of activists will march through the streets of New York. This won't be a traditional May Day parade, not even a watered down "Workers Memorial Day". No, if anything, this "May Day" is more in the nautical vein of "Save us!" On that Sunday, United for Peace and Justice and Abolition 2000 will lead a march down First Avenue, past the United Nations, down 42nd Street and back up… …
- Does the NY Times Have a Homophobic Mandate? (4/9/2005) - Urban life for the straight guy is apparently quite the minefield these days. With all these homosexuals and metrosexuals running around, pinching bottoms and getting pedicures, a regular guy has to be ever-vigilant, lest an innocent dinner with another regular guy friend end in a mutual suck-fest. Thank goodness for those arbiters of social interactions at the NY Times Style section, who this week shine a light on an act that most adult men have… …
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- Hold the Dressing, Please (4/5/2005) - Our brothers on the left have been throwing pies at unsavory capitalists and right-wing politicians at least since the days of Abbie Hoffman, but the frequency of such incidents has been trending upwards in the last decade. Perhaps it's frustration at having our message so thoroughly locked out of the mainstream media, or maybe we're becoming a bunch of sweet and tender hooligans. Last week was a busy one for the freedom food fighters. The… …
- Popeapalooza! (4/2/2005) - As the round-the-clock Pope Deathwatch coverage on the cable news channels shifted from Friday night to early Saturday morning, and the Pontiff stubbornly lived a little longer, I am a little surprised that CNN didn't change their news banner from "Pope Nears Death" to "Pope: Not Dead Yet" or "Pope: Any Minute Now." However, as soon as he passed on (a day after April Fools, alas), the news channels and websites immediately rolled out their… …
- The Pope Is Dead (3/31/2005) - It has been an ignoble death, stretched out over these many months. From the endless teevee news diagrams of his feeding tube to that NY Press cover to all that Pope Watching at the hospital, it has not been a prime example of death with dignity. The Pope still breathes tonight, although he has reportedly received Last Rites. As the Pope has lost the ability to speak for himself, the spokesmen at the Vatican have… …
- Springtime for Hitler (3/18/2005) - "Downfall" is a genocide movie with an ostensibly happy ending: Hitler offs himself and the Nazi regime falls to the advancing Soviets. Made in Germany, the film provoked some controversy there for its humanizing portrait of Adolf Hitler. Swiss actor Bruno Ganz is mesmerizing and utterly convincing as Hitler as he slowly comes to grips with the end of his regime and his life. Still the film does not make him out to be a… …
- Dan Hennessey Has Died (3/14/2005) - I was at a Save the Plaza rally when I heard the grim news that one of my former co-workers, Dan Hennessey, had died on Sunday morning. He was hit by a car near his home in Woodside. Apparently it was all over the news. The Daily News headlined the story, "Queens Grandpa Killed by Driver Fleeing Police." The driver was some jerk who was pulled over by a cop for talking on his cellphone… …
- Kitty (3/13/2005) - I'm haunted by Kitty Genovese, who was murdered 41 years ago, on March 13, 1964. The New York Times reported at the time: For more than half an hour 38 respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens. The lede was slightly exaggerated but close enough to the truth to make the neighborhood notorious. You've probably read something about the case, and, if… …