- More On Wal-Mart (2/23/2005) - My letter to Newsday was published on Tuesday the 23rd. It's essential to keep up the opposition to Wal-Mart's siege of our union cities. Wal-Mart opened a store in Garden City a few weeks ago. It's their first significant toe-hold in the New York metro region, as they seek to open stores in Rego Park and the Bronx. Cities like Detroit and Boston are also on Wal-Mart's hitlist. Wal-Mart is anti-competitive. They engage in predatory… …
- Save the Plaza (2/18/2005) - There's long been speculation that the Plaza Hotel would close its doors. Hotels don't seem to have a very long shelf life these days. New amenities are rolled out by competitors, new audio-visual and networking technologies are introduced, new demands are made of conference and banquet space. New hotels can build for the modern marketplace, but older hotels have to pay a fortune to be retro-fit. Add to that the usual wear and tear that… …
- Shit In, Shit Out (2/17/2005) - Harvard President Lawrence Summers is sunk. He's catching a lot of hell from his faculty and students over some stupid remarks that he made, by way of explaining Harvard's gender imbalance in the sciences, that suggested that women aren't as good as men at math and science. The controversy hasn't let up, and as Summer's character has been debated in the national press have come repeated complaints of his bullying and autocratic style, and constant… …
- The Music: The Movie! (2/16/2005) - "Ray" is not a very good movie, but, as it is essentially a string of re-enacted musical performances, on the chitlins circuit, in the studio and in "mixed-race" concert halls, you won't really notice until the end of the movie. When the last three minutes of the movie are narrated by on-screen captions that begin "For the next 40 years...," it feels like the shortcut of lazy screenwriters (which it is), but the truth is… …
- The End of “The Song About The Record Company” (2/15/2005) - Wow. Oh, boy. Five bands on four stages. Simultaneously. How could it fail? Sunday night's Grammy's telecast was the second lowest rated, ever. There are many observations one could make about the Grammy's, but why bother? Dead people win awards, the best new artist will be forgotten in ten years time, the alternative award is an alternative to nothing, blah, blah, blah. The real lesson from Sunday is that music is just not a mass… …
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- We Built This City on Rock-n-Roll? (2/13/2005) - I don't have much sympathy for the plight of the oh-so glamorous Village and Lower East Side. This is the bitter little Holden Caufield in me winning out over the urban planning nerd and the socialist. I just feel like the invading Darwinist hordes, the yuppies, limeys and spoiled NYU students who priced out the previous residents, will get what they deserve. Either they too will one day be priced out, or they will be… …
- A Letter to the Editor, Re: Wal-Mart (2/11/2005) - The news that the UFCW had organized a Wal-Mart store in Quebec was hailed as a real breakthrough in some quarters of the labor movement. Quebec has a card-check authorization law, which means the union merely has to present union cards that represent a majority of the workers in the bargaining unit in order to be certified. This avoids the bruising, months-long anti-union campaigns that employers like Wal-Mart engage in when unions in the U.S.… …
- That’s Entertainment: Child Molestation, Genocide and Abortion (2/10/2005) - As if unemployment isn't depressing enough, try ducking into a movie theater for a matinee to escape your problems for a couple hours. It's awards season, so Hollywood and Indiewood trot out their "issues" pictures and tearjerkers. A few weeks ago, Alan Amalgamated and I had to walk clear across town to avoid cinematic child molestation, genocide, abortion and assisted suicide in search of a few laughs. We found them, finally, with "Life Aquatic," which… …
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- Recipe: Steamed Salmon with Honey Sauce (2/9/2005) - Salmon is a great fish. Cheap and plentiful if farm-raised, it doesn't have a very strong "fishy" flavor. In fact, it's very good at absorbing flavors, which is what makes steaming it so much fun. You can experiment with all sorts of liquids. I find that sherry gives the salmon a pleasant sweetness. I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so this recipe is a bit like candy. If you want to eat more… …
- Trainspotting (2/8/2005) - I don't know when or how I became a trainspotter. I just find myself walking through the older neighborhood to my south, Richmond Hill, to clear my head and wait for the odd train to pass by. Richmond Hill was established in the late-19th century to be "country homes" for New York commuters. Eventually, the rest of the city grew out around the neighborhood, which simply became a part of New York City, although a… …